Theme: Acronym Antics - the revealing acronym tells us what ties the theme entries together, to whit:
66A. Bottomless buffet acronym spelled out by the ends of 17-, 31-, 43- and 60-Across: A.Y.C.E.
So we go back and find:
17A. "Are we done here?": IS THAT ALL?
31A. "Tsk tsk": SHAME ON YOU
43A. "Might be able to help": I THINK I CAN
60A. "Not hungry, but not not hungry either": I COULD EAT
I'm super-conflicted about this puzzle - on the one hand, the fill was wonderful - modern cultural references, unusual but great words, fresh clues for old chestnuts - "A"'s all around. And then we get to the theme. I just thought it was a lot less than lackluster - the theme words were, well, the same as the theme words. The "ALL YOU CAN EAT" reveal has theme entries which end in the same word, with the same part of speech or definition. It was all just "meh". I'd have preferred the theme entries to end with those letters, not with that word. In fact, almost to point up the example, I COULD EAT has CAR SEAT directly above it. I'd call that out as bad anyway, but it served a purpose to make my point.
I've been binge-watching "The Great British Bake-Off" recently, so in the words of one of the judges who, while always critical, looks for the positive "Your flavors were great, but it looked terrible".
Let's trot smartly along and look at the sparkle:
Across:
1. Dermatology issue: CYST. ACNE went in, ACNE came out. What did I say about being too impulsive?
5. Sources of foreign aid?: AU PAIRS. Great clue. I fondly remember Jette, a Danish au pair I dated in London so many moons ago the moon was still young.
12. Learned: HEARD. "So I heard".
14. Sacagawea's people: SHOSHONE. Nailed it! Getting better at American history. Sure taken long enough!
16. Aquarium growth: ALGAE
19. Rio neighborhood of song: IPANEMA. I've been fortunate to visit Ipanema. I walked by the beach, and ate a snack of grilled chicken hearts with a mid-morning beer. It was the weekend, in my defense, but I do enjoy the Brazilian vibe.
21. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. Great author, not to everyone's taste.
22. Takes turns?: SPINS. Spins around, turns around.
24. Coarse cloth: TWEED
25. When an early voyage may start: AT DAWN. On the morning tide.
28. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminum/Aluminium. Spell-check likes them both, to my delight.
33. Harsh cry: YAWP. Great fill. Could be many things, YELP disqualified because of 2D, but what a great word. This one made my Word of the Day list.
37. Light touch: PAT
38. Chocolate treat: BROWNIE. Are all brownies chocolate? A question I've never asked myself, I suppose they are.
40. Letter before sigma: RHO
41. __ song: SWAN
45. "... let's play two!" ballplayer Banks: ERNIE. The Cubs' legend was a journalist's dream for quotes, this one:
"It's a beautiful day for a baseball game, let's play two!" and this after he retired from playing a game he loved: "I've never worked a day in my life". What a great man. Banks was named to the CTA board in 1969 and said "For one thing, I want to make sure that the "E" always stops at Wrigley".
47. Set of chromosomes: GENOME
48. Avalanche: SPATE. I see a spate as a minor avalanche. From the same family though.
51. Din: NOISE
53. Traveling tot's spot: CAR SEAT
56. Sounded indignant: SNORTED. You can snort when you laugh, snort when you're indignant, or snort when you're an overpaid bond trader. We'll leave that one alone.
62. Of service: UTILE. I wish this word was "utilized" more often. It's so elegant.
63. A-ha hit that won six MTV Video Music Awards: TAKE ON ME
64. Assisted through difficulty, with "over": TIDED
65. Macy's logo feature: RED STAR. Also a Serbian soccer team with a great history. "Red Star Belgrade" in English, "FK Crvena zvezda" in their native tongue. Hard to see how to get one from the other.
Down:
1. Tazo choice: CHAI
2. App with many pans: YELP
3. "Star Wars," for one: SAGA
4. Classic Pontiac: TRANS-AM
5. Malay or Mongol: ASIAN
6. Stammering syllables: UHS. Hesitant syllables, yes, stammering? No. I stammered quite terribly as a child and a teen, I couldn't make a phone call until I was in my early 20's. I found my own answer, but watching "The King's Speech" was difficult.
7. Kettles and kitties: POTS. "Kitties" had me wondering, then - Oh! The ante in a poker game - pay into the kitty, or the pot.
8. Second African-American inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE. Pop quiz - who was the first?*
9. "There was no other choice": I HAD TO.
10. Disintegrate, as old wood: ROT AWAY. Fresh, nice fill.
11. Drum kit item: SNARE
13. Area that's hard to find while surfing?: DEEP WEB. You'll never find it while you're surfing. The parallel universe of the internet.
15. "A Jew Today" writer Wiesel: ELIE
18. Trip letters: LSD. Leave by Saturday Dinnertime? No, not quite.
20. Study on the side: MINOR IN. The verb, not the noun. I was a little stumped by this one. I got MINOR through crosses, then tried to see what would slot in the last two squares.
23. Pouring instruction: SAY WHEN. Don't ask me that.
25. Well of Souls threats in "Raiders of the Lost Ark": ASPS. Yay! Not a "Nile biter". Huzzah for Indiana Jones!
26. Soften: THAW
27. Info: DATA
29. Actress Anderson: LONI
30. Bringing up to speed: CUING IN. I think this is wrong. If I was bringing someone up to speed, I'd "clue them in". If I was marking their entrance, I'd "cue them in",
32. Formal "It wasn't me": NOT I
34. With the bow, in music: ARCO. Cheap gas in SoCal, that's how I remember this one.
35. "Pow!" relative: WHAM
36. Fried Dixie bread: PONE
39. Just makes: EKES OUT
42. Kimono sash ornament: NETSUKE. A lovely word. A storage purse which hung from the obi which evolved into a highly-decorative item. I know a Japanese lady who has a beautiful scrimshaw netsuke hard-carved around 150 years ago.
44. Subject of Newton's first law: INERTIA
46. Nearly fell: REELED. You reel from a punch, but don't go down.
48. Poli __: SCI. I was wondering about this the other day - what is the curriculum for Political Science? It seems to me to be more of an art form. I need to read up on it.
49. Agreement: PACT
50. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR
52. JusSimple juicer maker: OSTER. I will remember this brand until the day I day. I think I told you before, I dropped an Oster blender jug and tried to cushion the impact on my tile kitchen floor with my bare foot. The result? The jug bounced off my foot, cracked a toe and shattered anyway when it hit the floor. I was picking up shards of glass for days.
54. Foofaraws: ADOS
55. Camping gear: TENT
57. Orderly: TIDY
58. Power co. output: ELEC. Least favorite fill of the day.
59. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE
61. Doc's org.: A.M.A.
And so to close, to sleep, to dream. Here's the grid!
Steve
66A. Bottomless buffet acronym spelled out by the ends of 17-, 31-, 43- and 60-Across: A.Y.C.E.
So we go back and find:
17A. "Are we done here?": IS THAT ALL?
31A. "Tsk tsk": SHAME ON YOU
43A. "Might be able to help": I THINK I CAN
60A. "Not hungry, but not not hungry either": I COULD EAT
I'm super-conflicted about this puzzle - on the one hand, the fill was wonderful - modern cultural references, unusual but great words, fresh clues for old chestnuts - "A"'s all around. And then we get to the theme. I just thought it was a lot less than lackluster - the theme words were, well, the same as the theme words. The "ALL YOU CAN EAT" reveal has theme entries which end in the same word, with the same part of speech or definition. It was all just "meh". I'd have preferred the theme entries to end with those letters, not with that word. In fact, almost to point up the example, I COULD EAT has CAR SEAT directly above it. I'd call that out as bad anyway, but it served a purpose to make my point.
I've been binge-watching "The Great British Bake-Off" recently, so in the words of one of the judges who, while always critical, looks for the positive "Your flavors were great, but it looked terrible".
Let's trot smartly along and look at the sparkle:
Across:
1. Dermatology issue: CYST. ACNE went in, ACNE came out. What did I say about being too impulsive?
5. Sources of foreign aid?: AU PAIRS. Great clue. I fondly remember Jette, a Danish au pair I dated in London so many moons ago the moon was still young.
12. Learned: HEARD. "So I heard".
14. Sacagawea's people: SHOSHONE. Nailed it! Getting better at American history. Sure taken long enough!
16. Aquarium growth: ALGAE
19. Rio neighborhood of song: IPANEMA. I've been fortunate to visit Ipanema. I walked by the beach, and ate a snack of grilled chicken hearts with a mid-morning beer. It was the weekend, in my defense, but I do enjoy the Brazilian vibe.
21. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. Great author, not to everyone's taste.
22. Takes turns?: SPINS. Spins around, turns around.
24. Coarse cloth: TWEED
25. When an early voyage may start: AT DAWN. On the morning tide.
28. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminum/Aluminium. Spell-check likes them both, to my delight.
33. Harsh cry: YAWP. Great fill. Could be many things, YELP disqualified because of 2D, but what a great word. This one made my Word of the Day list.
37. Light touch: PAT
38. Chocolate treat: BROWNIE. Are all brownies chocolate? A question I've never asked myself, I suppose they are.
40. Letter before sigma: RHO
41. __ song: SWAN
45. "... let's play two!" ballplayer Banks: ERNIE. The Cubs' legend was a journalist's dream for quotes, this one:
"It's a beautiful day for a baseball game, let's play two!" and this after he retired from playing a game he loved: "I've never worked a day in my life". What a great man. Banks was named to the CTA board in 1969 and said "For one thing, I want to make sure that the "E" always stops at Wrigley".
47. Set of chromosomes: GENOME
48. Avalanche: SPATE. I see a spate as a minor avalanche. From the same family though.
51. Din: NOISE
53. Traveling tot's spot: CAR SEAT
56. Sounded indignant: SNORTED. You can snort when you laugh, snort when you're indignant, or snort when you're an overpaid bond trader. We'll leave that one alone.
62. Of service: UTILE. I wish this word was "utilized" more often. It's so elegant.
63. A-ha hit that won six MTV Video Music Awards: TAKE ON ME
64. Assisted through difficulty, with "over": TIDED
65. Macy's logo feature: RED STAR. Also a Serbian soccer team with a great history. "Red Star Belgrade" in English, "FK Crvena zvezda" in their native tongue. Hard to see how to get one from the other.
Down:
1. Tazo choice: CHAI
2. App with many pans: YELP
3. "Star Wars," for one: SAGA
4. Classic Pontiac: TRANS-AM
5. Malay or Mongol: ASIAN
6. Stammering syllables: UHS. Hesitant syllables, yes, stammering? No. I stammered quite terribly as a child and a teen, I couldn't make a phone call until I was in my early 20's. I found my own answer, but watching "The King's Speech" was difficult.
7. Kettles and kitties: POTS. "Kitties" had me wondering, then - Oh! The ante in a poker game - pay into the kitty, or the pot.
8. Second African-American inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE. Pop quiz - who was the first?*
9. "There was no other choice": I HAD TO.
10. Disintegrate, as old wood: ROT AWAY. Fresh, nice fill.
11. Drum kit item: SNARE
13. Area that's hard to find while surfing?: DEEP WEB. You'll never find it while you're surfing. The parallel universe of the internet.
15. "A Jew Today" writer Wiesel: ELIE
18. Trip letters: LSD. Leave by Saturday Dinnertime? No, not quite.
20. Study on the side: MINOR IN. The verb, not the noun. I was a little stumped by this one. I got MINOR through crosses, then tried to see what would slot in the last two squares.
23. Pouring instruction: SAY WHEN. Don't ask me that.
25. Well of Souls threats in "Raiders of the Lost Ark": ASPS. Yay! Not a "Nile biter". Huzzah for Indiana Jones!
26. Soften: THAW
27. Info: DATA
29. Actress Anderson: LONI
30. Bringing up to speed: CUING IN. I think this is wrong. If I was bringing someone up to speed, I'd "clue them in". If I was marking their entrance, I'd "cue them in",
32. Formal "It wasn't me": NOT I
34. With the bow, in music: ARCO. Cheap gas in SoCal, that's how I remember this one.
35. "Pow!" relative: WHAM
36. Fried Dixie bread: PONE
39. Just makes: EKES OUT
42. Kimono sash ornament: NETSUKE. A lovely word. A storage purse which hung from the obi which evolved into a highly-decorative item. I know a Japanese lady who has a beautiful scrimshaw netsuke hard-carved around 150 years ago.
44. Subject of Newton's first law: INERTIA
46. Nearly fell: REELED. You reel from a punch, but don't go down.
48. Poli __: SCI. I was wondering about this the other day - what is the curriculum for Political Science? It seems to me to be more of an art form. I need to read up on it.
49. Agreement: PACT
50. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR
52. JusSimple juicer maker: OSTER. I will remember this brand until the day I day. I think I told you before, I dropped an Oster blender jug and tried to cushion the impact on my tile kitchen floor with my bare foot. The result? The jug bounced off my foot, cracked a toe and shattered anyway when it hit the floor. I was picking up shards of glass for days.
54. Foofaraws: ADOS
55. Camping gear: TENT
57. Orderly: TIDY
58. Power co. output: ELEC. Least favorite fill of the day.
59. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE
61. Doc's org.: A.M.A.
And so to close, to sleep, to dream. Here's the grid!
Steve
