You Get What You Pay For. The last word of each theme answer is a Public Utility.
17. One who doesn't fit in: A FISH OUT OF WATER.
26. Measure of what you can buy: PURCHASING POWER.
46. Drove faster: STEPPED ON THE GAS.
And the Unifier:
60. Providers of the necessities that end 17-, 26- and 46-Across: PUBLIC UTILITIES.
Lots of names in today's puzzle, which will probably bother some of our solvers. But let's look at that as a learning experience. Maybe we will make some new friends.
Across:
17. One who doesn't fit in: A FISH OUT OF WATER.
26. Measure of what you can buy: PURCHASING POWER.
46. Drove faster: STEPPED ON THE GAS.
And the Unifier:
60. Providers of the necessities that end 17-, 26- and 46-Across: PUBLIC UTILITIES.
Lots of names in today's puzzle, which will probably bother some of our solvers. But let's look at that as a learning experience. Maybe we will make some new friends.
Across:
1. Really dig: ADORE.
6. Prohibition incursion: RAID.
10. Baking device: OVEN.
14. Coming-out: DEBUT.
15. Grabbing-the-tab words: ON ME. My treat.
16. "Scream" star Campbell: NEVE. Neve Adrianne Campbell (b. Oct. 3, 1973) is a Canadian-born actress best known for her roles in horror films.
20. Library sect. for Christie books: MYST. Dame Agatha Christie (née Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller; Sept. 15, 1890 ~ Jan. 12, 1976) wrote over 65 mystery books.
21. Maiden name lead-in: NÉE. This word has become a crossword staple. It is quite appropriate today with all the names.
22. The Governator, as he might pronounce it: AHNOLD. Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (b. July 30, 1947) got his start as a bodybuilder. He served as the 38th Governor of California. He was formerly married to Maria Shriver of the Kennedy clan.
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| Before and After |
23. Rocks in bars: ICE. Sorry, Tin!!!
25. Oklahoma city: ENID. I learned of this Oklahoma city from doing the crosswords.
34. Mayo is fifth in it: AÑO. Today's Spanish lesson. May is the 5th month in the calendar year.
35. Makes right: AMENDS.
36. Herr's honey: FRAU. Today's German lesson.
37. Hoof sound: CLOP.
39. Fig. with a radius: CIR. A circle has a radius.
40. Bother: FUSS.
41. Utensil sticker: TINE.
Anatomy of a Fork
42. Smooth transitions: SEGUES.
45. WSJ competitor: NYT. As in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
49. Brazilian soccer legend: PELÉ. Pelé (né Edson Arantes do Nascimento; Oct. 23, 1940) is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time.
50. Tailor's alteration: HEM.
51. Lampoon: SATIRE.
54. Piece of poetic praise: ODE.
56. Diamond Head locale: O'AHU. The Hawai'ian name is Le'ahi, which means "brow of the tuna" due to its shape. The name Diamond Head came about after 19th century British sailors though they had discovered diamonds on the slope and near by beaches. Turns out, the "diamonds" were nothing more than shiny calcite crystals.
It does rather resemble the fin of a tuna.
63. Face-to-face exam: ORAL.
64. Bad thing to blow on the road: TIRE.
65. Horror or humor: GENRE.
66. Blackens: TARS.
67. It may be reserved: SEAT.
68. Mary of "The Maltese Falcon" (1941): ASTOR. Mary Astor (née Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 ~ Sept. 25, 1987) portrayed Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon. She began her movie career in the silent films.
Down:
1. Eaton of the Washington Nats: ADAM. Adam Cory Eaton (b. Dec. 6, 1988) is an outfielder for the Washington Nationals.
2. Buck: DEFY. Nice misdirection. I was thinking of the deer.
3. Eastern sashes: OBIs.
4. Backwoodsy: RUSTIC.
5. Horn of Africa country: Abbr.: ETH. As in Ethiopia. The Horn of Africa is the peninsula in Africa that is home to Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
6. Scoundrel: ROUÉ.
7. Required Hold 'em bet: ANTE.
8. Texter's two-cents intro: IMO. Textspeak for I My Opinion.
10. Intermittent: ON AND OFF.
11. Quash, as a bill: VETO.
12. Daredevil Knievel: EVEL. Evel Knievel's given name was Robert Craig Knievel (Oct. 17, 1938 ~ Nov. 30, 2007). He boasted that he could jump the Grand Canyon on his motorcycle. Shockingly, the Federal Government would not give him permission to attempt this stunt. He did, however, perform numerous other stunts. He also was involved in numerous crashes and suffered numerous broken bones.
13. Dorky sort: NERD.
18. An hr. past midnight: ONE A.M. Also the name of a silent Charlie Chaplin film.
19. Beat into a froth: WHIP.
24. When doubled, a dance: CHA.
25. Evasive maneuver: END RUN.
26. Agreements: PACTS.
27. Lacking illumination: UNLIT.
28. TV sports pioneer Arledge: ROONE. Roone Pickney Arledge, Jr. (July 8, 1931 ~ Dec. 5, 2002) was the creator of Monday Night Football and 20/20.
29. Formally break away: SECEDE.
30. Architect Jones: INIGO. Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573 ~ June 21, 1652) is the first significant architects of "modern" times, despite the fact that he lived over 400 years ago. He was also very instrumental in the theater and stage design. I always think his first name is Indigo, but of course, that is found in ROY G BIV.
31. Twisted dry: WRUNG. My grandmother had a wringer washer. I always thought it was fun to help her on laundry day because I just loved the wringer. I was still quite young when she got a more modern washer that had a spin cycle instead of a wringer.
32. Course that helps your GPA: EASY A.
33. Corrodes: RUSTS.
38. Uppers, drug-wise: PEP PILLS. Saturday Night Live once had a skit with Gilda Radner and Lorraine Newman about Puppy Uppers and Doggie Downers. This clue reminded me of that skit.
42. Culls: SELECTS.
43. Merman on Broadway: ETHEL. Ethel Merman (née Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; Jan. 16, 1908 ~ Feb. 15, 1984) had a distinctive voice and was in a lot of Broadway musicals.
44. Pronoun for many an individual: SHE.
47. "Frasier" actress Gilpin: PERI. Peri Gilpin (née Peri Kay Oldham; b. May 27, 1961) played Roz Doyle on Frasier.
48. Chews the scenery: EMOTES.
51. __ card: two through nine in each suit: SPOT. I was not aware that these cards had a name.
52. Ghostly glow: AURA.
53. Alpine transport: T-BAR.
54. __ vez: another time, in Spanish: OTRA. Today's Spanish lesson.
55. Losing proposition?: DIET. Cute clue.
57. "If it __ broke ... ": AIN'T. Don't fix it even though it should be: If it Isn't Broken ...
58. Protagonist: HERO.
59. Computer operator: USER.
61. One-eighty: UIE. Last week the turn was spelled correctly!!!
62. "Hometown Proud" supermarket chain: IGA. As in Independent Grocers Alliance.
Here's the Grid:
Here's the Grid:
QOD: Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something. ~ Frederick W. Smith (né Frederick Wallace Smith; Aug. 11, 1944), Founder of FedEx
