Theme Partial Periodic - four of the elements are name-checked in the theme entries:
17A. Getting on in years: GROWING OLD. It beats the alternative.
25A. Gets plastered: TIES ONE ON
38A. Owns part of: HAS AN INTEREST IN
47A. Classified item: FOR SALE AD It took me a little while to figure this one out, I was looking for something "secret" at first.
and the reveal tells us what to look for:
59A. Holmes' comment about the ends of the four other longest Across answers?: ELEMENTARY. Did you know Conan Doyle's Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson"?
A neat theme from Bruce and some tidy construction - those stacked nines in the down entries are nicely done and there's some sparkle in the fill which is always good to see. The two nines, two tens and a grid-spanner for the theme entries account for a satisfyingly weighty contribution to the acrosses.
Let's take the tour:
Across:
1. Mind: OBEY
5. Old lemon: EDSEL
10. What's under a beret: TÊTE. I think I'd have liked more of a nod to a French word in clue, but no harm done.
14. Oxford tightener: LACE It's the lace that defines the style; they have "shoelace eyelet tabs that are attached under the vamp". So now we know, I thought it was a plain shoe with a toecap.
15. Pledge drive gifts: TOTES. Here's one from the folks at our favorite online encyclopedia:
16. YouTube journal: VLOG. From "video log". They can get quite addictive - there's one that I follow by a chap who lives aboard a narrow boat on the UK canal system. He's oddly entertaining.
19. Lobed organ: LUNG. Nor EARR then.
20. Web pioneer: AOL. Trying to cram Tim Berners-Lee in there didn't work too well, so I cast around for alternatives.
21. Polish place: NAIL. Polish or polish?
22. Couldn't help it: HAD TO
23. Document feature with size options: FONT
28. "See You on the Radio" essayist Charles: OSGOOD. Also the host of CBS News Sunday Morning. I heard him say once that he imagined he was just talking to his sister when he broadcast.
30. Dull sound: THUD
31. Transplanting need: SOIL. Nice cluing today. Potting compost didn't fit, so soil it had to be.
32. Some allergy symptoms: RASHES. I don't really have any allergies, but any I do manifest in sneezing fits. There is a specific combination of some kind of chili pepper together with cumin that sets me off. I've never figured out exactly what the magic formula is that sets me off.
35. "So that's what's going on here!": AHA!
41. Well-suited: APT
42. With enthusiasm: AVIDLY
43. Ronnie in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: LOTT
44. Rtes. often numbered: AVES
45. Pack animals: LLAMAS
52. "Let's do it!": I'M IN
53. European toast: SKOAL. I tried SKOLL first, but that didn't work that well with the china. I associate "Skoal" most with the snuff, not the Swedish toast.
54. Chucklehead: BOZO
56. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC. Somewhat in the news at the moment.
58. Document settings: TABS
62. "Return to Mayberry" grown-up: OPIE
63. Frost-resistant flower: ASTER
64. Golfo contents: AGUA
65. Ice cream buy: PINT. Tried "cone", was wrong.
66. __-Japanese War: RUSSO. My first thought was SINO, came up a little short on the letter count.
67. One of the Ivies: PENN
Down:
1. "Quantum of Solace" actress Kurylenko: OLGA. Thank you, crosses.
2. Cake on a dish: BAR OF SOAP.
3. EPA scientist: ECOLOGIST. Let's give a little sympathy to the EPA scientists in the light of the recent government decisions to roll back a lot of the protections. Say no more.
4. Longbow wood: YEW. A longbow is as tall as the archer, that's one hell of a big bow. You can make a longbow from a single piece of wood, or from laminate. The English got pretty good at archery due to the on-again off-again fight with the French over eight hundred years or so. There is still a law in England that you have to practice your archery every Sunday or be fined three pence. The "two-fingered salute" hails from those times.
5. Italian smoker: ETNA. Here's my favorite Italian smoker - Sophia Loren.
6. Slack off: DOG IT
7. Skyy shelfmate, familiarly: STOLI. I don't buy either, but I'm familiar with the brands.
8. __ sauce: sushi condiment: EEL. So not SOY.
9. Trippy '60s drug: LSD
10. Cable network with classic sitcoms: TV LAND. I'm sure more viewers over the past few weeks as people delve into the archives whilst "working from home"!
11. Get past: ELUDE
12. Jay Silverheels role: TONTO. Heigh-o Silver!
13. Prod: EGG ON
18. "What have I gotten myself __?": INTO
22. __ cat: HOUSE
24. Mardi Gras acronym: NOLA
26. Musical star Merman: ETHEL
27. Grammy winner Crow: SHERYL. She got into a little argument for her "Tuesday Night Music Club" album which was a collaboration with other artists. However, the first single from the album is nothing if not catchy!
28. Hazmat monitor: OSHA
29. Rot: DRIVEL
33. Sambuca flavoring: ANISE. I once set my face alight with flaming Sambuca, that's a story for another day.
34. Avg.: STD.
35. Period spawned by the Manhattan Project: ATOMIC AGE. Lovely clue/entry. I wanted "nuclear era" at first, then saw the space I had to work with and the crosses.
36. Baseball strategy for a contact hitter: HIT AND RUN. Bothered by "hitter" in the clue, I held off filling in the entry until it was apparent that was the correct response. Maybe "contact batter" would have worrked better?
37. Little marchers: ANTS
39. Maritime: NAVAL
40. Bridge feat: SLAM. A grand slam, to be perfectly correct. All 13 tricks. EUCHRE! is my midwest shout. I was taught to play by a friend from Ohio. He was bummed when I figured it out.
44. How china is sold: AS A SET. My last fill, complicated by not-smart decisions on the crosses.
46. Fuzzy film coward: LION
47. Shooter's setting: F-STOP. Wide for depth of field. Narrow for sharp focus. Or was it the other way around? Hello automatic camera.
48. Congo critter with striped legs: OKAPI. Funny, I thought this was the plural. I guess there's no Okapo. Nor Okape.
49. Dick Grayson's alter ego: ROBIN. Batman buddy. I always loved the sight of them walking up the side of a building on a rope. Holy vertical drop, Batman!
50. Does some fencing, maybe: ABETS. Great clue. In my memory, you can't aid or abet singularly, you are always nabbed for "aiding and abetting". A two-fer when the magistrate hands down the sentence.
51. Stadium toppers: DOMES. No, the sky tops my favorite stadia.
55. Terrible test score: ZERO
57. Ink cartridge color: CYAN. Did anyone know cyan or magenta were even colors before inkjet printers? "OK, we need four colors - black, yellow, that's easy - then we need ummmm wait, cyan, there we go and what else? Oh! Magenta! Stupid us!"
59. Corn serving: EAR. Not COB then. Goof.
60. 2020 NCAA FBS champs: LSU. Lousinana State U. It almost seems odd that a sporting event was played out in front of a full crowd. Our perspectives have changed.
61. Touch-screen touch: TAP. When a tap doesn't seem to cut it, try a prod or a poke. A stab sometimes is more effective. In extremis, a reboot generally sets things right.
I think that's me done. Here's the grid, thanks again to Bruce, please all be vigilant and keep safe.
I saw a gaggle of cyclists yesterday ride past my house, no masks, "sponsored" jerseys, pretending they were all riding the Tour de France or some nonsense. You might be fit, healthy and 30, but you're not immune, nor are the people you come into contact with.
Wake up.
On the plus side, I had a great conversation with one of our blog readers who lives not too far away from me and reached out for a chat. If this goes on, then let's think about a group "puzzle solve" happy hour on Zoom.
Be safe!
Steve
17A. Getting on in years: GROWING OLD. It beats the alternative.
25A. Gets plastered: TIES ONE ON
38A. Owns part of: HAS AN INTEREST IN
47A. Classified item: FOR SALE AD It took me a little while to figure this one out, I was looking for something "secret" at first.
and the reveal tells us what to look for:
59A. Holmes' comment about the ends of the four other longest Across answers?: ELEMENTARY. Did you know Conan Doyle's Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson"?
A neat theme from Bruce and some tidy construction - those stacked nines in the down entries are nicely done and there's some sparkle in the fill which is always good to see. The two nines, two tens and a grid-spanner for the theme entries account for a satisfyingly weighty contribution to the acrosses.
Let's take the tour:
Across:
1. Mind: OBEY
5. Old lemon: EDSEL
10. What's under a beret: TÊTE. I think I'd have liked more of a nod to a French word in clue, but no harm done.
14. Oxford tightener: LACE It's the lace that defines the style; they have "shoelace eyelet tabs that are attached under the vamp". So now we know, I thought it was a plain shoe with a toecap.
15. Pledge drive gifts: TOTES. Here's one from the folks at our favorite online encyclopedia:
16. YouTube journal: VLOG. From "video log". They can get quite addictive - there's one that I follow by a chap who lives aboard a narrow boat on the UK canal system. He's oddly entertaining.
19. Lobed organ: LUNG. Nor EARR then.
20. Web pioneer: AOL. Trying to cram Tim Berners-Lee in there didn't work too well, so I cast around for alternatives.
21. Polish place: NAIL. Polish or polish?
22. Couldn't help it: HAD TO
23. Document feature with size options: FONT
28. "See You on the Radio" essayist Charles: OSGOOD. Also the host of CBS News Sunday Morning. I heard him say once that he imagined he was just talking to his sister when he broadcast.
30. Dull sound: THUD
31. Transplanting need: SOIL. Nice cluing today. Potting compost didn't fit, so soil it had to be.
32. Some allergy symptoms: RASHES. I don't really have any allergies, but any I do manifest in sneezing fits. There is a specific combination of some kind of chili pepper together with cumin that sets me off. I've never figured out exactly what the magic formula is that sets me off.
35. "So that's what's going on here!": AHA!
41. Well-suited: APT
42. With enthusiasm: AVIDLY
43. Ronnie in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: LOTT
44. Rtes. often numbered: AVES
45. Pack animals: LLAMAS
52. "Let's do it!": I'M IN
53. European toast: SKOAL. I tried SKOLL first, but that didn't work that well with the china. I associate "Skoal" most with the snuff, not the Swedish toast.
54. Chucklehead: BOZO
56. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC. Somewhat in the news at the moment.
58. Document settings: TABS
62. "Return to Mayberry" grown-up: OPIE
63. Frost-resistant flower: ASTER
64. Golfo contents: AGUA
65. Ice cream buy: PINT. Tried "cone", was wrong.
66. __-Japanese War: RUSSO. My first thought was SINO, came up a little short on the letter count.
67. One of the Ivies: PENN
Down:
1. "Quantum of Solace" actress Kurylenko: OLGA. Thank you, crosses.
2. Cake on a dish: BAR OF SOAP.
3. EPA scientist: ECOLOGIST. Let's give a little sympathy to the EPA scientists in the light of the recent government decisions to roll back a lot of the protections. Say no more.
4. Longbow wood: YEW. A longbow is as tall as the archer, that's one hell of a big bow. You can make a longbow from a single piece of wood, or from laminate. The English got pretty good at archery due to the on-again off-again fight with the French over eight hundred years or so. There is still a law in England that you have to practice your archery every Sunday or be fined three pence. The "two-fingered salute" hails from those times.
5. Italian smoker: ETNA. Here's my favorite Italian smoker - Sophia Loren.
6. Slack off: DOG IT
7. Skyy shelfmate, familiarly: STOLI. I don't buy either, but I'm familiar with the brands.
8. __ sauce: sushi condiment: EEL. So not SOY.
9. Trippy '60s drug: LSD
10. Cable network with classic sitcoms: TV LAND. I'm sure more viewers over the past few weeks as people delve into the archives whilst "working from home"!
11. Get past: ELUDE
12. Jay Silverheels role: TONTO. Heigh-o Silver!
13. Prod: EGG ON
18. "What have I gotten myself __?": INTO
22. __ cat: HOUSE
24. Mardi Gras acronym: NOLA
26. Musical star Merman: ETHEL
27. Grammy winner Crow: SHERYL. She got into a little argument for her "Tuesday Night Music Club" album which was a collaboration with other artists. However, the first single from the album is nothing if not catchy!
28. Hazmat monitor: OSHA
29. Rot: DRIVEL
33. Sambuca flavoring: ANISE. I once set my face alight with flaming Sambuca, that's a story for another day.
34. Avg.: STD.
35. Period spawned by the Manhattan Project: ATOMIC AGE. Lovely clue/entry. I wanted "nuclear era" at first, then saw the space I had to work with and the crosses.
36. Baseball strategy for a contact hitter: HIT AND RUN. Bothered by "hitter" in the clue, I held off filling in the entry until it was apparent that was the correct response. Maybe "contact batter" would have worrked better?
37. Little marchers: ANTS
39. Maritime: NAVAL
40. Bridge feat: SLAM. A grand slam, to be perfectly correct. All 13 tricks. EUCHRE! is my midwest shout. I was taught to play by a friend from Ohio. He was bummed when I figured it out.
44. How china is sold: AS A SET. My last fill, complicated by not-smart decisions on the crosses.
46. Fuzzy film coward: LION
47. Shooter's setting: F-STOP. Wide for depth of field. Narrow for sharp focus. Or was it the other way around? Hello automatic camera.
48. Congo critter with striped legs: OKAPI. Funny, I thought this was the plural. I guess there's no Okapo. Nor Okape.
49. Dick Grayson's alter ego: ROBIN. Batman buddy. I always loved the sight of them walking up the side of a building on a rope. Holy vertical drop, Batman!
50. Does some fencing, maybe: ABETS. Great clue. In my memory, you can't aid or abet singularly, you are always nabbed for "aiding and abetting". A two-fer when the magistrate hands down the sentence.
51. Stadium toppers: DOMES. No, the sky tops my favorite stadia.
55. Terrible test score: ZERO
57. Ink cartridge color: CYAN. Did anyone know cyan or magenta were even colors before inkjet printers? "OK, we need four colors - black, yellow, that's easy - then we need ummmm wait, cyan, there we go and what else? Oh! Magenta! Stupid us!"
59. Corn serving: EAR. Not COB then. Goof.
60. 2020 NCAA FBS champs: LSU. Lousinana State U. It almost seems odd that a sporting event was played out in front of a full crowd. Our perspectives have changed.
61. Touch-screen touch: TAP. When a tap doesn't seem to cut it, try a prod or a poke. A stab sometimes is more effective. In extremis, a reboot generally sets things right.
I think that's me done. Here's the grid, thanks again to Bruce, please all be vigilant and keep safe.
I saw a gaggle of cyclists yesterday ride past my house, no masks, "sponsored" jerseys, pretending they were all riding the Tour de France or some nonsense. You might be fit, healthy and 30, but you're not immune, nor are the people you come into contact with.
Wake up.
On the plus side, I had a great conversation with one of our blog readers who lives not too far away from me and reached out for a chat. If this goes on, then let's think about a group "puzzle solve" happy hour on Zoom.
Be safe!
Steve
