Theme Back to Front - each theme entry reverses direction.
20A. Parvenu's business venture?: UPSTART STARTUP
25A. Quarterback's nonchalant move?: OFFHAND HAND-OFF. As demonstrated by Penn State QB Antony Morelli to RB Austin Scott.
42A. Down Under withdrawal?: OUTBACK BACKOUT
48A. TSA agent's perfected search technique?: DOWN PAT PAT-DOWN. I've had more than my share of these in my time.
A very neat theme from Robert, and going by the blog history this is his LA Times debut. I don't see him in any of the other major publications, so congratulations if this is indeed the first.
A quick Google search turns up a gentleman here in Los Angeles who is an accomplished pastry chef, cookbook author and lecturer on the culinary delights that are the dessert course. Are they one and the same?
Let's look and see what we've got to chew on in the fill!
Across:
1. Diamond problem: FLAW
5. Plush carpet: SHAG
9. Test versions: BETAS
14. Feminist poet Adrienne: RICH
the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of the disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.
From "Diving into the Wreck" (1972)
15. It's partially submerged: HULL. I tried HULK at first but that led to the odd-looking GKUT. Happy coincidence with the extract above!
16. Valuable violin: AMATI. Could be "STRAD" so wait for some confirmation.
17. Italian wine region: ASTI. If you only do crosswords, you'd think this was the only wine region in Italy. Strictly speaking, Asti isn't a wine region, it's part of the Piedmont region and a DOCG.
18. Founder of Edom: ESAU. Thank you, crosses.
19. R2-D2 or BB-8, e.g.: ROBOT. or Droid. Both characters from "Star Wars", the former much more familiar than the latter.
23. Beantown NHL nickname: ESPO. Boston Bruins legend Phil Esposito.
24. "__ whiz!": GEE
32. Vague time period: WHILE
33. Spots for AirPods: EARS. Fun clue. AirPods are those wireless Apple earbuds. Personally I'd rather have my earbuds connected, so I don't lose one or drop one down a drain (and I would!) They're also ferociously expensive.
34. One may be decorated for the holidays: FIR
35. Sprightly: AIRY
36. Marmalade bits: RINDS
38. __ Ren, "Star Wars" villain: KYLO. More "Star Wars". Completely unknown to me, but the crosses were sound.
39. Trig. function: COS. I remember SOHCAHTOA from my high school math days, but I've no idea what the significance of the cosine being a function of length of the adjacent side of the triangle over the hypotenuse. It was terribly important when I was 15, but I've not really needed it since. The hypotenuse does feature in a rather jolly Gilbert and Sullivan song, here rendered by the English National Opera.
40. Aloha State bird: NENE
41. Plumlike fruit: SLOES
46. Disney doe: ENA, or "Aunt Ena" as she is known in the movie.
47. It's just over a foot: SHIN
55. Tropical porch: LANAI
56. Murdoch who received the 1978 Booker Prize for "The Sea, the Sea": IRIS. It could have been Rupert, as his tabloid empire published as much fiction as the entire history of Booker prize nominees and winners combined and still continues to do so.
57. "What's the big __?": IDEA
58. Habituate: INURE
59. Retail outlet: MART
60. Mattress option: KING
61. Zaps: TASES
62. Neverland pirate: SMEE
63. What this puzzle does here: ENDS. I like this, but it's an item for friendly argument. In numerical order, indeed it's the last clue, but in the common style of across, then down, then the end would be LIT in this puzzle. My puzzle ended with DENEB when the crosses helped me out.
Down:
1. German spouse: FRAU. Could be "HERR" so don't jump to conclusions.
2. Speech therapy target: LISP
3. Tries to look: ACTS
4. Plant leaf pest: WHITEFLY
5. Himalayan guide: SHERPA
6. "Prizzi's Honor" director or actress: HUSTON. Anjelica, the actress, and father John, the director.
7. Word of regret: ALAS, poor Yorick!
8. Excess: GLUT
9. Scrubby wastelands: BARRENS. This as a
10. Chewed the scenery: EMOTED
11. Perfume that sounds forbidden: TABU. Apparently, it "features a dazzling mixture of jasmine, narcissus, rose, ylang-ylang and amber notes." So now you know. Suitably dazzled.
12. Surmounting: ATOP
13. "Pull up a chair": SIT
21. Arthur in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE
22. Seaweed-based thickeners: AGARS
25. Buckeye State sch.: OHIO U. They're the Bobcats, the Buckeyes, with something of a lack of imagination, are Ohio State, or THE Ohio State University, as they like to style themselves.
26. Leading: FIRST
27. Brightest star in Cygnus: DENEB
28. Taken in: HAD
29. "All Because __": 2005 U2 song: OF YOU. Not one of their best-known tracks, but the video is a lot of fun.
30. Steakhouse order: FILET
31. Picked dos: 'FROS
32. Dr Pepper Museum city: WACO. I've been to the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. It was oddly very interesting.
36. Postgame postmortem: RECAP
37. Skin pics: INK
38. Yukon gold rush region: KLONDIKE
40. Au pairs: NANNIES
41. Burlesque bit: SKIT
43. "'__ the Jabberwock, my son!'": Carroll: BEWARE "... Beware the Jabberwock, and shun the frumious bandersnatch." What a great flight of fancy that poem is.
Interestingly, in some published versions, the line is "Beware the Jabberwock, and shun. The frumious bandersnatch". I'll try to find a copy of the manuscript to check this one out, but I suspect the period is a mistake because the first line of each verse is capitalized per the convention of the day.
"Beware the Jabberwock and shun
The frumious bandersnatch".
44. Have great plans: ASPIRE
45. Pure: CHASTE
48. Mike's "Wayne's World" co-star: DANA. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.
49. Obligation: ONUS. Sometimes a burden. If it's an obligation it's on us.
50. Gets in the crosshairs, with "at": AIMS
51. Disneyland transport: TRAM
52. Norse god: ODIN
53. Make (one's way): WEND
54. Old horses: NAGS. Old horses never die, they just say "neigh".
55. Put a match to: LIT
... and I think that pretty much wraps it up. An enjoyable debut from Robert. Here's the grid!
Steve
