Title: To B? Yes!
A quick turn around for me with another Friday JW special. This is an add a letter puzzle with the simplicity and consistency that are hallmarks of his work. "B" is added to the first word of the 1st and 3rd theme fill and to the last word of the 2nd and 4th. The resulting fill is very amusing and clued to enhance the humor. But the touch that makes this a Jeffrey creation- each word that has the added letter originally started with a "U." This is the least used of the vowels, so I guess it was chosen to make the puzzle more of a challenge to create. In our afternoon at the airport, we did not discuss this puzzle, but he did mention challenging himself. While I did not discuss the changed clues, I did ask about a few. As always, Jeffrey has variety and some Will Shakespeare, as well as much fun sparkle like: ADULATE, BANK JOB, CRUELLA, ETERNAL, FLEECED, GO BELOW, HINGE ON, HOWARDS, LAST ONE, MODESTY, RETORTS, SANDFLY, and READ A POST which is introduced to the LAT here.
17A. Total confusion at the creamery?: BUTTER CHAOS (11). This is a fun image with all kinds of slapstick being churned up.
30A. Foot condition seen in oaters?: WESTERN BUNION (13). The slight outlier, as the pronunciation of the added B-word is changed. I was in my 40s before I knew a bunion is a painful bony bump that develops on the inside of the foot at the big toe joint.
35A. Comparison of a motorcoach to all other travel options?: BUS VERSUS THEM (13). I also think this is pretty funny.
52A. Barista's occupational hazards?: COFFEE BURNS (11). Our local Starbucks staff are more careful than that.
Across:
1. Long-nosed fish: GAR. Gar, is any of seven species of large North American fishes of the genera Atractosteus and Lepisosteus, in the family Lepisosteidae.
4. Took to the cleaners: FLEECED. A subtle CSO to me and the Golden Fleece.
11. With 29-Down, anticipates potential trouble: HAS. 29D. See 11-Across: AN OUT. The escape route.
14. Burns wrote one on a louse: ODE. This POEM talks about how we are all equal to a louse.
15. "After this, no more questions": LAST ONE. Is this your clue Jeffrey? See how demanding I am now that he cooperated once. JW's response: My clue: When it’s gone, you’re left empty-handed.
16. Tahiti, to Gauguin: ILE. French.
19. Actor Cage, casually: NIC. He changed his name to Nicolas Cage (no H, just like his birth name Nicolas Coppola) after the comic book anti-hero LUKE CAGE who you may not know.
20. Avoided a family affair, perhaps: ELOPED. Very nice clue/fill.
21. Fabled beast: ASS. I wonder which one this refers to? Buridan's Ass?
22. Golden __: AGER. That's us, baby.
23. Carefree adventure: LARK. Not sure why, but this popped into my head.
24. Little tunneler: ANT. Hey, John Lampkin how are you?
25. "The L Word" co-creator Chaiken: ILENE. I did not know of this successful PRODUCER with a varied background from the Fresh Prince of Belair to Empire and Stumptown.
26. Giant among Giants: OTT. A nice clue for some old-time crossword glue.
27. Alicia Keys record label: RCA. Who really knows or cares? I think she is very talented and attractive but who buys records?
29. Without markup: AT COST.
34. Checked the latest blog entry, say: READ A POST. A nice CSO to each and every one of you.
39. Gershwin classic: SWANEE. The PERFORMANCE is very un-pc.
41. Ike's WWII command: ETO. European Theater of Operations. (Thank you anon. Sometimes I forget what I am doing. Comes with age)
42. Prefix with laryngology: OTO.
43. Throws the game: TANKS. No doubt written for all the Dolphin fans. Of course, they ruined their perfect season by beating the Jets last Sunday.
44. O'er and o'er: OFT. Archaic synonyms.
46. Thunderstruck: AWED.
47. Synagogue storage cabinets: ARKS. Where the Torahs stay when not in use. A nice one at our synagogue.
48. T'ai __: CHI. Tai chi, short for T'ai chi ch'üan or Tàijí quán, is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training, its health benefits, and meditation.
49. Compassionate words: WE CARE. Do you really?
51. TX library honoree: LBJ. There are a few.
54. "Don't Bring Me Down" gp.: ELO. Electric Light Orchestra.
55. Fur-loving de Vil: CRUELLA. Do you like the Emma Stone version?
56. "Who __?": New Orleans Saints chant: DAT. The entire chant is: "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" "Who dat" may also be used as a noun, describing a Saints fan.
57. Lee follower: REB. R.E. LEE, makes sense.
58. Beach pest: SANDFLY. Rhymes with...
59. "You __ devil!": SLY.
Down:
1. Visit the engine room, perhaps: GO BELOW. A CSO to Spitzboov and others.
2. Put on a pedestal: ADULATE. A word directly from Latin meaning to fawn over, praise (someone) excessively or obsequiously. It probably is not as familiar to your ear as ADULATION but it is the same thing.
3. Sharp answers: RETORTS. Which has nothing to do with TORTS? How can we re-tort anyway? Nero Wolfe solved one of his cases when the young killer fell for, "So have they taught you how to draft a tort yet?
4. Head for the hills: FLEE.
5. Frying medium: LARD. Two weeks in a row with pork fat.
6. It's NW of QWERTY: ESC. Literal look at the keyboard.
7. Allen of Vermont: ETHAN. Furniture guru? A fellow Connecticut boy, Ethan Allen was born in 1738 in Litchfield, Connecticut. He fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. He shares his BIRTHDAY with the Corner.
8. "See the ___ clear'd, and then we will depart": "King Henry VI": COAST. JW's weekly Will Shakespeare clue. Act I, Scene 3.
Lord Mayor of London.
See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart.
Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!
I myself fight not once in forty year.
9. Grandson of Adam: ENOS. Enos or Enosh (Hebrew: אֱנוֹשׁ ʾĔnōš; "mortal man." Son of Seth.
10. __ Arc, Arkansas: DES. The obscure Friday clue. Thank you for the perps.
11. Require for success: HINGE ON. Hinge is back without any dating app.
12. Ones from afar: ALIENS. Another interesting word that can mean someone from 50 miles away in Mexico or from light-years away on Alpha Centauri.
13. It may be hard to keep: SECRET. Generally bad for all involved.
18. State hwy., often: TPK. Turnpike. For you young'uns an expressway, especially one on which a toll is charged.
22. "Jo's Boys" author: ALCOTT. I recently reread Little Women, but not any of the sequels.
24. "Storage Wars" network: A AND E. Arts and Entertainment kept only its acronym.
25. "I speak the truth": IT IS SO. Make it so is more familiar to me.
27. Brand munched by E.T.: REESES. Pieces. We all know that during the production of E.T., Amblin Productions approached Mars, Inc. about a possible tie-in between M and Ms and the film. For whatever reason, Mars said “No” to the proposition.
28. Want badly: CRAVE. Want some M and Ms?
31. Boxer's boxers: TRUNKS. Cute clue. Is it your clue Jeffrey? I’m pleased to say that this is my clue. I’m quite happy that Rich used it. However, moving on...
32. Gold __: BAR. Very random- -BUG, CUP, BAR... this is not mine. I loved "[Where a priest and a rabbi might share a joke?]." Too many words?
33. Agitated: UPSET.
35. Many a heist: BANK JOB.
36. E.M. Forster's "__ End": HOWARDS. No apostrophe.
37. Opposite of momentary: ETERNAL.
38. Reason for a cover-up?: MODESTY. Do you all recall BLAISE?
39. Less fresh: STALER. Meh.
40. Emulate a nightingale: WARBLE. Maybe "(of a person) sing in a trilling or quavering voice."
44. "Whoop-de-doo": OH FUN. Is this serious or sarcastic?
45. Played a piccolo-like instrument: FIFED. (verb) ARCHAIC -play the fife.
46. Needle front?: ACU. This was very hard to parse. Once the lightbulb came on with acupuncture, it seemed so right.
48. "Downton Abbey" countess: CORA.
countess cora
49. Deftly: WELL.
50. StubHub parent: EBAY. They bought the ticket exchange company for $310,000,000.00 in 2007. Now the PLAN has changed.
52. IV units: CCS. Also measured in mLS, milliliters. They have a one to one ratio. These are cousins of milihelens, for those who remember.
53. 2003 holiday film: ELF. We end with an early Christmas reference to a new classic.
I had a very nice time as we were led on a wonderful JW treasure hunt, unlocking little gems along the way. The solve took a bit longer than usual but I did keep distracting myself, chasing down rabbit holes. We are supposed to get our first "cold spell" nothing in the 80s! Life is hard. Thank you, Jeffrey and all who read. Lemonade out.
