Jeffrey is back on schedule with me and delivers another of his letter substitution puzzles. The letter "W" replaces "QU" in a varied group of common phrases. To understand how his mind must work, you need to think of the sound of "QU." From the dictionary, "quick/kwik/." So he is just removing the "k."
As I solved it seemed he was going for another group where all of the switched letters preceded the same vowel, but that was not to be. Instead, he ramped up the difficulty by adding some very original fill and his usual witty cluing. His long non-theme fill shows three introductions, highlighted in BLUE and one second-appearance highlighted in GREEN. He packs all of this into a 70-word gem. AIR TANK, ALGIERS, ALL TAKEN, APHELION, MAGNOLIA, TIRE CARE, TRAIN SET and TSUNAMIS are his sparklers.
16A. Colbert et al.?: WITS FOR THE NIGHT (15). JW, which comes first, the idea of QU to W or does a specific fill pop into your head?
29A. Part of a candlemaker's design process?: WICK DECISION (11). I am glad he didn't clue this with a reference to this MOVIE. Definitely R-rated for violence.
34A. Outdoor wedding guests on a steamy day?: WILTING PARTY (11). When my son married they chose June in Florida for an outdoor wedding at the Miami Botanical Gardens. Oops.
51A. What a hiker might do after a nap on the trail?: WAKE IN ONE'S BOOTS (15). I always take mine off before sleeping in the forest.
Across:
1. New England's only National Park: ACADIA. In Maine.
7. Eponymous explorer of Australia: TASMAN. I do not think ABEL TASMAN was much of a devil, just an explorer.
13. Pressure sensors attached to buoys are parts of their warning systems: TSUNAMIS. A learning moment.
15. Recorded, in a way: ON TAPE.
18. Useful thing: ASSET.
19. Additionally: TOO.
20. Coastal raptor: ERNE. Also known as the SEA EAGLE. They are a link to the Dinosaurs but not vegetarians.
21. Something to file: NAIL. Why do we file files but don't nail nails?
22. Frond source: PALM. There are a lot of old fronds of mine here.
23. With 53-Down, maxim: OLD. 53D. See 23-Across: SAW. A proverb or maxim, as in "Mom's always repeating the old saw, "Haste makes waste". This term uses saw in the sense of saying, and old in the sense of wise rather than old-fashioned.
25. Ob-__: GYN. A CSO to my dear departed mother who worked in that field for 50 or so years.
26. Jacket fabric: DENIM.
27. First name in a 2010s first family: MALIA. Means "Mary" in Hawaiian. Perfect for a Hawaiian born father.
31. Subarctic forest: TAIGA. Taiga, also called a boreal forest, biome (major life zone) of vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees, found in northern circumpolar forested regions characterized by long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation. Who knew?
33. Hawke of "Boyhood": ETHAN. Two weeks ago, it was ETHAN ALLEN.
38. "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN. Somewhere was not in the title, and it was written specifically for the movie. Harold Arlen only wrote the music but this is a classic sung by so many. HISTORY. Judy Garland's version is embedded in the link.
39. Bowling venue: ALLEY. Another CSO to Boomer and TTP.
40. PD alert: APB. It has taken me a while to adjust to PD not meaning PUBLIC DEFENDER. With all the police procedurals on TV, I finally got it.
43. Understand: GET. Thee to a nunnery.
44. Oil equipment: RIGS.
45. "Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself" org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.
46. Meditation goal: CALM.
49. Keurig Dr Pepper brand: BAI. "Bai's mission is to share the powerful antioxidant goodness of coffee's superfruit and always move toward optimum, healthy living." I missed the $18,700,000,000.00 acquisition by Keurig in 2018. Their list of brands is very impressive and hard to avoid. LIST.
55. Gift with tracks: TRAINSET. We took the family on a BRIGHTLINE train ride, and my 2-year-old grandson loved the ride. He now owns a beginner train set.
56. Absinthe herb: FENNEL. Traditional absinthe is made of anise, fennel, and wormwood (a plant), and various recipes add other herbs and flowers to the mix. Did you hallucinate when you tried it?
57. Chocolates, e.g.: SWEETS.
Down:
1. "You've heard this from me before ... ": AS I SAY. Over and over again.
2. Replaces a dancer: CUTS IN.
3. Adams with negatives: ANSEL. This PHOTOGRAPHER.
4. Bonkers: DAFT. Two old terms for mentally unwell.
5. "Here's a thought," briefly: IMO. In My Opinion.
6. Reef diver's need: AIR TANK. Most divers use scuba tanks filled with simple compressed air (filtered and dehumidified).
7. Sock part: TOE.
8. Prince Harry's aunt: ANNE. Elizabeth II's children are Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
9. Ado: STIR. About nothing?
10. Early Mississippi flag symbol: MAGNOLIA.
11. Farthest-from-the-sun orbital point: APHELION. The perihelion is the point on the orbit of a planet or comet that is closest to the sun. The point on the orbit farthest from the sun is the aphelion. The speed of a body in the solar system is greatest at the perihelion and least at the aphelion.
12. Monarch catcher: NET. Butterflies. Hey- double CSO to John Lampkin, who was the constructor that introduced APHELION to the crossword world as well as teaching us about butterflies.
13. Country music sound: TWANG.
14. Unexcitable: STOLID.
17. Marseille man: HOMME. French.
22. Pie-topping nut: PECAN. A perfect almost Thanksgiving fill.
24. Newscaster Rather: DAN.
27. Daydreaming Walter: MITTY. 1947
28. Wan: ASHY. Pale, white.
29. Bic's __-Out: WITE. Oh, gee.
31. Car manual topic: TIRE CARE.
32. Like the seats in an SRO performance: ALL TAKEN. Somewhat tortured way to get there.
34. Funny one: WAG.
35. She never went to 50-Across ceremonies: GARBO. 50D. 1954 Honorary Award for 35-Down: OSCAR.
36. Flexible: PLIANT.
37. North African capital: ALGIERS.
40. Confront boldly: ACCOST. You need to careful these days.
41. China pieces: PLATES. Not Hong Kong and Mongolia.
42. Pop: BURST. My sons never call me burst.
45. Together: AS ONE.
47. Corned beef order: LEAN.
48. Tiny insect: MITE. All you did not want to know about these arachnids. Mites are not actually insects but belong to the related class Arachnida, which also includes spiders, scorpions, and ticks. The major morphological differences between mites and insects are found in the number of major body parts and the number of legs.
LINK.
50. "Hamilton" award: OBIE. Off-Broadway.
51. Scrabble-like app, briefly: WWF. Words With Friends.
52. Puckish org.?: NHL. Punishing pun dropped here.
Before we go, I must go back to my early life and remember this date in 1963 when the history of this country was changed forever. Not a perfect man but a memorable one. RIP.
Always a pleasure to be the caddy for our prolific Friday legend. I
hope you had as much fun as I did and thanks for your views and your words. We all exist only because of you who read. Happy
THANKSGIVING!
Lemonade out!
