Theme: Peanuts and Crackerjack - it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ballgame!
17A. *Mechanical plaything: WIND-UP TOY. I remember the disappointment as a kid when you overwound the toy and it never worked properly afterwards.
25A. *Dark as can be: PITCH-BLACK. Something along these lines. It's funny, if you Google "pitch-black" you'll find a few of these pictures:
35A. *Duke led one: SWING BAND. Duke Ellington. I was led astray by the school in North Carolina with my thinking at first, then I saw the connection. Let's Take the "A" Train
52A. *Nursery rhyme arachnophobe: MISS MUFFET. She was fond of cottage cheese, evidently, but not such a big fan of the spiders.
61A. Ump's call, often based on a sequence found in the answers to starred clues: STRIKE ONE!
Fun theme from Jeffrey today. The stats put this puzzle firmly in the "Monday" category, but the cluing is tricky in some places hence the Thursday time-slot. Let's take a quick tour.
Across:
1. Puts at ease: CALMS
6. Pinot alternative: CAB. Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon are perhaps the best known, but there are quite a few other pinots and cabs.
9. Something about a painting?: FRAME
14. Ryan of "Paper Moon": O'NEAL
15. Brouhaha: ADO
16. Paint choice: LATEX
19. __-garde: AVANT
20. Ambulance gp.: EMS. Emergency Medical Services.
21. Quick inhalation: GASP
22. Horseshoe-shaped letter: OMEGA
23. Pennant __: RACE. Quite a lot of baseball references today. C.C. will be happy.
28. Patronizes, in a way: STAYS AT
30. "Insecure" actress/writer Issa __: RAE. Thank you, crosses.
31. Enero, por ejemplo: MES
32. Foil alternative: EPÉE. The first of three answers with "É" today.
33. Rock's __ Supply: AIR. They still tour (at least when touring is something you can do). Here's their best-known hit.
34. Campus suffix: EDU
40. Keeps in the email loop: CC'S
43. Comprehend: SEE
44. Litter's littlest: RUNT
47. Chef's dish words: À LA
48. Med. country: ISR.
49. Web page banners: HEADERS
55. Barter: SWAP
56. Cause friction: CHAFE
57. Be up against: ABUT
59. Diner slice: PIE
60. Scoville unit food: CHILI. I've been on the hunt recently for dried smoked ghost peppers, I finally found them on Amazon. A ghost pepper clocks in at over a million Scoville heat units. A jalapeño is around 4,000. I like spicy food!
63. Muscle beach bro: HE-MAN
64. Bedazzle: AWE
65. When left turns are rarely allowed: ON RED. A guy ran a red light last Friday and totalled Jill's car. She wasn't badly hurt, thank God, "just" a couple of broken ribs, bruising, burns from the airbags and shock. The car came off badly, but thank heavens for German engineering.
66. Off-mic comment: ASIDE
67. Furry foot: PAW
68. Fills up: SATES
Down:
1. Hides in fear: COWERS
2. Do some work at Pixar: ANIMATE
3. Protective camera piece: LENS CAP
4. Sore: MAD
5. Whack over the wall: SLUG. More baseball. Jeffrey must be a fan.
6. Keep a Persian company, perhaps: CAT-SIT
7. Take in, as a Persian: ADOPT. I laugh when I hear people say that they "rescued" a cat or a dog. I tell them they just got a free pet from the shelter.
8. Huck Finn, for one: BOY
9. Served blazing: FLAMBÉ
10. "Bolero" composer: RAVEL
11. In the ballpark?: AT A GAME. It really is baseball season today. It must be something to do with the fact that there's no sports going on at the moment.
12. Intimidated: MENACED
13. Interoffice no.: EXT.
18. Bear whose bed was too hard: PAPA
22. Maureen of "Rio Grande": O'HARA
24. Focuses on, as the catcher for signals: EYES
26. Bed with sliding sides: CRIB
27. Sunflower St. school: K.S.U. Kansas State U, home of the Wildcats.
29. Patch, perhaps: SEW
33. Ticket price determinant, at times: AGE
36. A single Time?: ISSUE
37. Soft ball: NERF
38. New Deal agcy.: N.R.A. National Recovery Administration. I had to look that up, I'm not sure I knew what it stood for.
39. Outfit: DUDS
40. Engine part: CAM
41. Trite expressions: CLICHÉS
42. Bento box selection: SASHIMI. Food!
45. Jazz festival site: NEWPORT. Where Bob Dylan went electric and caused all kinds of wailing and teeth-gnashing among the folk-nerds.
46. One learning the ropes: TRAINEE
48. "Nothing's wrong": I'M FINE
49. Bar mitzvah language: HEBREW
50. Notions case: ETUI. Thank you, Crosswords Past.
51. Races round the bases: SPEEDS. Play ball! Again!
53. Caesar __: SALAD. Food! Caesar Cardini is credited with inventing this dish in 1924 in Tijuana, Mexico. If you make it at home, don't use those store-bought croutons, make your own. Tear the bread from a french loaf or similar into chunks, give them a light coating of olive oil and maybe some garlic powder and roast them in the oven.
54. Mufti's proclamation: FATWA
58. 17 of Laila Ali's wins, for short: TKO'S. I love Laila Ali. She's a great cook too, she won celebrity "Chopped" and she's back on the show again right now. 24 fights, 24 wins, 21 by TKO's or knockouts. She doesn't look any the worse for wear either!
60. "__-ching!": CHA
61. Weaken: SAP
62. "Bambi" doe: ENA
And I think that about wraps it up for me today. Keep well!
Steve
17A. *Mechanical plaything: WIND-UP TOY. I remember the disappointment as a kid when you overwound the toy and it never worked properly afterwards.
25A. *Dark as can be: PITCH-BLACK. Something along these lines. It's funny, if you Google "pitch-black" you'll find a few of these pictures:
35A. *Duke led one: SWING BAND. Duke Ellington. I was led astray by the school in North Carolina with my thinking at first, then I saw the connection. Let's Take the "A" Train
52A. *Nursery rhyme arachnophobe: MISS MUFFET. She was fond of cottage cheese, evidently, but not such a big fan of the spiders.
61A. Ump's call, often based on a sequence found in the answers to starred clues: STRIKE ONE!
Fun theme from Jeffrey today. The stats put this puzzle firmly in the "Monday" category, but the cluing is tricky in some places hence the Thursday time-slot. Let's take a quick tour.
Across:
1. Puts at ease: CALMS
6. Pinot alternative: CAB. Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon are perhaps the best known, but there are quite a few other pinots and cabs.
9. Something about a painting?: FRAME
14. Ryan of "Paper Moon": O'NEAL
15. Brouhaha: ADO
16. Paint choice: LATEX
19. __-garde: AVANT
20. Ambulance gp.: EMS. Emergency Medical Services.
21. Quick inhalation: GASP
22. Horseshoe-shaped letter: OMEGA
23. Pennant __: RACE. Quite a lot of baseball references today. C.C. will be happy.
28. Patronizes, in a way: STAYS AT
30. "Insecure" actress/writer Issa __: RAE. Thank you, crosses.
31. Enero, por ejemplo: MES
32. Foil alternative: EPÉE. The first of three answers with "É" today.
33. Rock's __ Supply: AIR. They still tour (at least when touring is something you can do). Here's their best-known hit.
34. Campus suffix: EDU
40. Keeps in the email loop: CC'S
43. Comprehend: SEE
44. Litter's littlest: RUNT
47. Chef's dish words: À LA
48. Med. country: ISR.
49. Web page banners: HEADERS
55. Barter: SWAP
56. Cause friction: CHAFE
57. Be up against: ABUT
59. Diner slice: PIE
60. Scoville unit food: CHILI. I've been on the hunt recently for dried smoked ghost peppers, I finally found them on Amazon. A ghost pepper clocks in at over a million Scoville heat units. A jalapeño is around 4,000. I like spicy food!
63. Muscle beach bro: HE-MAN
64. Bedazzle: AWE
65. When left turns are rarely allowed: ON RED. A guy ran a red light last Friday and totalled Jill's car. She wasn't badly hurt, thank God, "just" a couple of broken ribs, bruising, burns from the airbags and shock. The car came off badly, but thank heavens for German engineering.
66. Off-mic comment: ASIDE
67. Furry foot: PAW
68. Fills up: SATES
Down:
1. Hides in fear: COWERS
2. Do some work at Pixar: ANIMATE
3. Protective camera piece: LENS CAP
4. Sore: MAD
5. Whack over the wall: SLUG. More baseball. Jeffrey must be a fan.
6. Keep a Persian company, perhaps: CAT-SIT
7. Take in, as a Persian: ADOPT. I laugh when I hear people say that they "rescued" a cat or a dog. I tell them they just got a free pet from the shelter.
8. Huck Finn, for one: BOY
9. Served blazing: FLAMBÉ
10. "Bolero" composer: RAVEL
11. In the ballpark?: AT A GAME. It really is baseball season today. It must be something to do with the fact that there's no sports going on at the moment.
12. Intimidated: MENACED
13. Interoffice no.: EXT.
18. Bear whose bed was too hard: PAPA
22. Maureen of "Rio Grande": O'HARA
24. Focuses on, as the catcher for signals: EYES
26. Bed with sliding sides: CRIB
27. Sunflower St. school: K.S.U. Kansas State U, home of the Wildcats.
29. Patch, perhaps: SEW
33. Ticket price determinant, at times: AGE
36. A single Time?: ISSUE
37. Soft ball: NERF
38. New Deal agcy.: N.R.A. National Recovery Administration. I had to look that up, I'm not sure I knew what it stood for.
39. Outfit: DUDS
40. Engine part: CAM
41. Trite expressions: CLICHÉS
42. Bento box selection: SASHIMI. Food!
45. Jazz festival site: NEWPORT. Where Bob Dylan went electric and caused all kinds of wailing and teeth-gnashing among the folk-nerds.
46. One learning the ropes: TRAINEE
48. "Nothing's wrong": I'M FINE
49. Bar mitzvah language: HEBREW
50. Notions case: ETUI. Thank you, Crosswords Past.
51. Races round the bases: SPEEDS. Play ball! Again!
53. Caesar __: SALAD. Food! Caesar Cardini is credited with inventing this dish in 1924 in Tijuana, Mexico. If you make it at home, don't use those store-bought croutons, make your own. Tear the bread from a french loaf or similar into chunks, give them a light coating of olive oil and maybe some garlic powder and roast them in the oven.
54. Mufti's proclamation: FATWA
58. 17 of Laila Ali's wins, for short: TKO'S. I love Laila Ali. She's a great cook too, she won celebrity "Chopped" and she's back on the show again right now. 24 fights, 24 wins, 21 by TKO's or knockouts. She doesn't look any the worse for wear either!
60. "__-ching!": CHA
61. Weaken: SAP
62. "Bambi" doe: ENA
And I think that about wraps it up for me today. Keep well!
Steve
