One of my Friday regulars, Bruce Haight is back with his position paper on the NFL. All five of the themers are two-word phrases with the second word representing a football player's role. The clues all mention football players but the fill has an alternate meaning totally unrelated to the sport. It would have been super cool if he could have presented the offensive line in order, but hey I am feeling greedy. As always he fills in the blanks with some fun words and phrases like PANACHE, TAKEN TO, CLAM ROLL, FLIED OUT, I AM TOAST, and ON COURSE. Well luckily DORIAN did not stay on course to destroy us, so let's solve a puzzle.
18A. Philanthropic football player?: GIVING BACK (10). I like the pseudo alliteration
24A. Football player who's PR-savvy?: MEDIA CENTER (11). Do people still have these central places for TV, music, DVDs, etc?
36A. Football player with a line?: FISHING TACKLE (13). Football players don't usually use a line, though form one.
50A. Football player with management skills?: BUSINESS END (11). I associate that phrase with the barrel of a pistol.
57A. Football player at the beach?: COAST GUARD (10). I grew up near the Coast Guard Academy and was going to go there for college until they learned how blind I really was.
Across:
1. Source of seasonal color: LEAF. One of the things I miss about New England.
5. Like bubble baths: SUDSY. Silly.
10. Golfer at Royal Troon, often: SCOT. I want to go in the spring.
14. "I'm buying!": ON ME.
15. "America" soloist in "West Side Story": ANITA.
16. It parallels a radius: ULNA. He is trying hard to trick you, mathematics people.
17. Hot spot: OVEN. Not for a computer or a cellphone.
20. Varieties: KINDS.
22. "Diana" singer: ANKA.
23. Stooge Howard: MOE. We all miss Chairman Moe and his contributions.
27. Head for the hills: RUN.
28. Spots: ADS.
29. Groovy cousin: RAD. More like an evil nephew.
30. Usher: ESCORT.
32. No different from, with "the": SAME AS. Same old, same old.
35. "One more thing ... ": ALSO. Remind you this?
40. Work out ahead of time: PLAN. Oo is a planner, I am not.
41. Appropriate: SEEMLY.
42. Targets: AIMS AT.
45. Fjord kin: RIA. Water, water everywhere.
46. Book jacket info: BIOgraphy.
49. Goal feature: NET. Soccer (futbol) basketball and more.
54. Hubbub: ADO.
55. Fictional hunchbacked helper: IGOR. Eegor, or Eyegor?
56. Like many windows: PANED. Also many bad puns - pained ones.
61. It's abuzz with activity: HIVE. Who doesn't love bee humor?
62. Cover for an ear: HUSK. And corny humor!
63. Ending with poly-: ESTER. Want a cracker.
64. Chills: ICES.
65. "At Last" singer James: ETTA.
66. Monopoly stack: DEEDS.
67. Friend of Mary Poppins: BERT. Dick Van Dyke.
Down:
1. Start of a kid's show-offy cry: LOOK MA. Seen in many professional sporting events.
2. Painfully wished one had: ENVIED.
3. Changes, as a law: AMENDS.
4. Luxury handbag brand: FENDI. This BRAND.
5. Give somewhat: SAG.
6. Start to cycle?: UNI.
7. Backless sofa: DIVAN. This is a long low sofa without a back or arms, typically placed against a wall.
8. Period of work: STINT. Meh.
9. "Sandman" or "Joltin' Joe": YANKEE. CSO to Tinman.
10. Long sandwich: SUB. A mini-clecho with...
11. Seafood sandwich: CLAM ROLL.
12. Headed the right way: ON COURSE.
13. Fallen for: TAKEN TO.
19. Long-nosed fish: GARS. Gar, any of seven species of large North American fishes of the genera Atractosteus and Lepisosteus, in the family Lepisosteidae. Gars, which are related to the bowfin in the infraclass Holostei, is confined chiefly to freshwater, though some of the species descend to brackish or even saltwater.
21. Joe's 2008 election counterpart: SARAH. I have almost forgotten her. Governor PALIN?
25. Lingerie item, briefly: CAMI. LINK.
26. Blissful settings: EDENS. Our garden is growing here.
31. Like dried mud: CAKY.
32. Govt. IDs: SSNS.
33. Time of one's life?: AGE.
34. Harsh: STERN. Howard?
36. Hit one that was caught on the warning track, say: FLIED OUT. Baseball for C.C.
37. Acknowledgment of being sunk?: I AM TOAST. Slang meaning "a goner, person or thing already doomed or destroyed" is recorded by 1987, perhaps from the notion of computer circuits being "fried."
38. Parisian friend: AMIE. Just French.
39. Hold tight: CLASP.
40. Pizazz: PANACHE. What a fun word, meaning flamboyant confidence of style or manner.
43. Barely more than not at all: A BIT.
44. Pulled: TUGGED. Carol Burnett's ear?
46. "No fighting, now": BE NICE.
47. "The nerve!": I NEVER.
48. Weird to the max: ODDEST.
51. Drunkard: SOUSE.
52. Ticked off: IRATE.
53. Indian title of respect: SAHIB. This is a word of Arabic origin meaning "companion". As a loanword, it has passed into several languages, including Persian, Kurdish, Turkish,[1] Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Pashto, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and Somali.
58. Reggae relative: SKA.
59. Wine choice: RED. White? Rosé? Another Moe, CSO.
60. No and J: DRS. The Bond movie and the basketball player.
We are past our first hurricane scare in two years, and now the days are getting shorter but the puzzles are not. I really like the rotation of Friday constructors that Tom and I get to discuss. Now if we had a couple of female creators, it would be in balance. Be well all. Lemonade out.
