Theme: The Byrds Songs - what better to celebrate a nice punning puzzle with a reminder of Roger McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker?
I'm assuming I don't have to explain the puns, they're pretty obvious, so let's call out the theme entries and move on.
17A. Devious nestling's cry?: CHEEP TRICK. Here's Cheap Trick for color (or black and white in this picture, darn).
27A. Early-rising duck's call?: QUACK OF DAWN
46A. Prizeworthy cornfield sounds?: CAWS CÉLÈBRE. Not sure about the definition in the clue here. "Prizeworthy" doesn't ring true. Controversial or unpopular in my dictionary.
62A. Elegant dove's murmur?: COO DE GRÂCE. Filling up my quota of diacriticals here.
I was interested to see that two of the four punning entries had been used before - no knock on Paul´s elegant puzzle, but both had appeared in the NYT, granted 20 years apart, but the most recent was 2017. I like how Paul pulled everything together with the aviarian theme though. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Red ink list: DEBTS
6. Editor's "never mind": STET
10. Fast one: SCAM
14. Naturally lit courtyards: ATRIA
15. Mex. title: SRTA. Senorita. Not just Mexico, any Spanish-speaking country.
16. Roughly: OR SO
19. Word on diet food packaging: LITE
20. Like a coach after a rough game, maybe: HOARSE
21. Marriott-owned hotel chain: SHERATON. Marriott and Hilton have pretty much acquired every other hotel chain on the planet.
23. Sets, as a price: ASKS
24. Div. won by the Braves 13 times: N.L.E. Atlanta of the National League East.
26. Besmirch: TAR
32. __ Maria: TIA. I tried AVE first, which didn't work so well. A non-religious friend of mine works with some parochial schools, and was reading a hymn sheet. She asked me why "Avenue Maria" was part of a prayer.
35. Big bully: BRUTE
36. Protected at sea: ALEE
37. Counselor: ADVISER
39. Watch for money, usually: BABYSIT
42. Four-time Grammy winners Kings of __: LEON. I decided not to link one of my favorite songs of theirs - it has the s*x word in the title, and I didn't want to upset anyone.
43. Backspace over: ERASE
45. Hosp. areas: O.R.'S My first full-time job out of high school was as a cleaner in the county hospital. I'm not sure how many O.R's and E.R's I cleaned up. That was a good education for a precocious 17-year-old. It certainly taught me a couple of life lessons.
49. Amigo: PAL
50. Letters from the Civil War: CSA
51. Mine bonanza: LODE. Is there a father lode? I know there's a mother one.
55. Skated on thin ice: RAN A RISK
59. Look into again, as a cold case: REOPEN
61. Brought into play: USED
64. Many a retired thoroughbred: SIRE
65. "It __ up to me": ISN'T
66. Catcher's interference, in baseball rules: ERROR
67. Kit Carson House site: TAOS
68. Throw away: TOSS. Nicely proximate to TAOS.
69. Nostalgically fashionable: RETRO
Down:
1. Russian country house: DACHA
2. Cultural spirit: ETHOS
3. Work stoppage?: BREAK
4. Elaborate cake layers: TIERS. I guess "elaborate" because a tier needs to be stacked on something?
5. Easy marks: SAPS
6. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr.: S.S.R. Soviet Socialist Republic.
7. Split into thirds: TRISECT. Quite an uncommon word, but perfectly logical.
8. Inscribe: ETCH
9. Start liking: TAKE TO
10. Astronomical time period: SOLAR DAY. The time it takes for a planet to rotate on its axis so that the sun appears in the same place in the sky. 24 hours on Earth, 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds on Mars.
11. Lit __: CRIT
12. In the matter of: AS TO
13. Kohler rival: MOEN
18. Academic goal: TENURE
22. Churchill's "so few": Abbr.: R.A.F. The Royal Air Force. "Per Ardua Ad Astra". I'm sure you all know the full quote:
25. Bay leaf source: LAUREL
27. Moon and Starr of the NFL: QB'S. Nice clue. Warren Moon and Bart Starr. Bart Starr led the Green Bay Packers to the first two Superbowl wins. He passed away recently, in May.
28. Skewered fare: KEBABS. I wait for crosses, as "KEBOBS" is equally valid. Also "KABOBS/KABABS".
29. "And another thing ... ": ALSO
30. 2003 Masters champ Mike: WEIR. A Canadian leftie, winning the Masters was the highlight of his career.
31. Brings home: NETS
32. Locker room sprinkle: TALC
33. Brain wave: IDEA
34. Admit frankly: AVOW. I had "AVER" first which slowed me down a little.
38. To a great degree: IN SPADES
40. Equally hard to find: AS RARE
41. Contest where participants stand for a spell: BEE. Is the National Spelling Bee done? What, eight joint winners after the organizers ran out of words this year? It seems a little silly now, especially with all the professional coaching that seems to be compulsory to give the kid a chance to compete. Let's just call it a day and move on.
44. Figures: RECKONS
47. Elevator __: CAR
48. Bring out: ELICIT
51. He played Ugarte in "Casablanca": LORRÉ. ¨He goes strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorré, contemplating a crime¨.
52. Eyeball benders: OP ART. I posted an example of this a couple of years ago, and spent the night with my eyes spinning and I couldn't sleep. Google at your own (pleasure) risk.
53. HGTV topic: DECOR
54. Two before marzo: ENERO. Spanish months, January and March.
55. Reddish shade: RUST
56. Where to find Java: ASIA. Also, my kitchen, with a pound of Blue Mountain coffee brought back from Jamaica. I use it sparingly, it's delicious but expensive.
57. Student of Seneca: NERO
58. Just all right: SO-SO
60. Hungarian wine region: EGER. Not one of the most well-known regions, but some nice reds are produced there. You need to be careful, a lot of the wineries load up the wines with a ton of alcohol, not the most subtle approach.
63. Rehab symptom, for short: DT'S. Delirium Tremens, or visions of pink elephants and the shakes, much the same that anyone would experience watching the latest Disney remake of "Dumbo". What were they thinking?
Well, that about wraps up another Thursday from me. Here's the grid and I'll get my coat.
Steve
I'm assuming I don't have to explain the puns, they're pretty obvious, so let's call out the theme entries and move on.
17A. Devious nestling's cry?: CHEEP TRICK. Here's Cheap Trick for color (or black and white in this picture, darn).
27A. Early-rising duck's call?: QUACK OF DAWN
46A. Prizeworthy cornfield sounds?: CAWS CÉLÈBRE. Not sure about the definition in the clue here. "Prizeworthy" doesn't ring true. Controversial or unpopular in my dictionary.
62A. Elegant dove's murmur?: COO DE GRÂCE. Filling up my quota of diacriticals here.
I was interested to see that two of the four punning entries had been used before - no knock on Paul´s elegant puzzle, but both had appeared in the NYT, granted 20 years apart, but the most recent was 2017. I like how Paul pulled everything together with the aviarian theme though. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Red ink list: DEBTS
6. Editor's "never mind": STET
10. Fast one: SCAM
14. Naturally lit courtyards: ATRIA
15. Mex. title: SRTA. Senorita. Not just Mexico, any Spanish-speaking country.
16. Roughly: OR SO
19. Word on diet food packaging: LITE
20. Like a coach after a rough game, maybe: HOARSE
21. Marriott-owned hotel chain: SHERATON. Marriott and Hilton have pretty much acquired every other hotel chain on the planet.
23. Sets, as a price: ASKS
24. Div. won by the Braves 13 times: N.L.E. Atlanta of the National League East.
26. Besmirch: TAR
32. __ Maria: TIA. I tried AVE first, which didn't work so well. A non-religious friend of mine works with some parochial schools, and was reading a hymn sheet. She asked me why "Avenue Maria" was part of a prayer.
35. Big bully: BRUTE
36. Protected at sea: ALEE
37. Counselor: ADVISER
39. Watch for money, usually: BABYSIT
42. Four-time Grammy winners Kings of __: LEON. I decided not to link one of my favorite songs of theirs - it has the s*x word in the title, and I didn't want to upset anyone.
43. Backspace over: ERASE
45. Hosp. areas: O.R.'S My first full-time job out of high school was as a cleaner in the county hospital. I'm not sure how many O.R's and E.R's I cleaned up. That was a good education for a precocious 17-year-old. It certainly taught me a couple of life lessons.
49. Amigo: PAL
50. Letters from the Civil War: CSA
51. Mine bonanza: LODE. Is there a father lode? I know there's a mother one.
55. Skated on thin ice: RAN A RISK
59. Look into again, as a cold case: REOPEN
61. Brought into play: USED
64. Many a retired thoroughbred: SIRE
65. "It __ up to me": ISN'T
66. Catcher's interference, in baseball rules: ERROR
67. Kit Carson House site: TAOS
68. Throw away: TOSS. Nicely proximate to TAOS.
69. Nostalgically fashionable: RETRO
Down:
1. Russian country house: DACHA
2. Cultural spirit: ETHOS
3. Work stoppage?: BREAK
4. Elaborate cake layers: TIERS. I guess "elaborate" because a tier needs to be stacked on something?
5. Easy marks: SAPS
6. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr.: S.S.R. Soviet Socialist Republic.
7. Split into thirds: TRISECT. Quite an uncommon word, but perfectly logical.
8. Inscribe: ETCH
9. Start liking: TAKE TO
10. Astronomical time period: SOLAR DAY. The time it takes for a planet to rotate on its axis so that the sun appears in the same place in the sky. 24 hours on Earth, 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds on Mars.
11. Lit __: CRIT
12. In the matter of: AS TO
13. Kohler rival: MOEN
18. Academic goal: TENURE
22. Churchill's "so few": Abbr.: R.A.F. The Royal Air Force. "Per Ardua Ad Astra". I'm sure you all know the full quote:
"Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few".
25. Bay leaf source: LAUREL
27. Moon and Starr of the NFL: QB'S. Nice clue. Warren Moon and Bart Starr. Bart Starr led the Green Bay Packers to the first two Superbowl wins. He passed away recently, in May.
28. Skewered fare: KEBABS. I wait for crosses, as "KEBOBS" is equally valid. Also "KABOBS/KABABS".
29. "And another thing ... ": ALSO
30. 2003 Masters champ Mike: WEIR. A Canadian leftie, winning the Masters was the highlight of his career.
31. Brings home: NETS
32. Locker room sprinkle: TALC
33. Brain wave: IDEA
34. Admit frankly: AVOW. I had "AVER" first which slowed me down a little.
38. To a great degree: IN SPADES
40. Equally hard to find: AS RARE
41. Contest where participants stand for a spell: BEE. Is the National Spelling Bee done? What, eight joint winners after the organizers ran out of words this year? It seems a little silly now, especially with all the professional coaching that seems to be compulsory to give the kid a chance to compete. Let's just call it a day and move on.
44. Figures: RECKONS
47. Elevator __: CAR
48. Bring out: ELICIT
51. He played Ugarte in "Casablanca": LORRÉ. ¨He goes strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorré, contemplating a crime¨.
52. Eyeball benders: OP ART. I posted an example of this a couple of years ago, and spent the night with my eyes spinning and I couldn't sleep. Google at your own (pleasure) risk.
53. HGTV topic: DECOR
54. Two before marzo: ENERO. Spanish months, January and March.
55. Reddish shade: RUST
56. Where to find Java: ASIA. Also, my kitchen, with a pound of Blue Mountain coffee brought back from Jamaica. I use it sparingly, it's delicious but expensive.
57. Student of Seneca: NERO
58. Just all right: SO-SO
60. Hungarian wine region: EGER. Not one of the most well-known regions, but some nice reds are produced there. You need to be careful, a lot of the wineries load up the wines with a ton of alcohol, not the most subtle approach.
63. Rehab symptom, for short: DT'S. Delirium Tremens, or visions of pink elephants and the shakes, much the same that anyone would experience watching the latest Disney remake of "Dumbo". What were they thinking?
Well, that about wraps up another Thursday from me. Here's the grid and I'll get my coat.
Steve
