It is the not uncommon double dose of Jeffrey and me. I have never understood Rich's scheduling parameters, but looking back I only know that I have written up back to backs before. As we take the day to recover from the fun and frolicking associated with celebrating my 72nd birthday we are treated to an "add a bigram" and make everyone laugh puzzle. This is among my favorite of JW's silly puzzles. He once again uses the 15 x 16 grid to feature a central themer and to avoid using any cheater squares. He also blended in such fun fill as ERASERS, FLEXION, MALAISE, PLUNGES, POPE LEO, ROSETTE, BENTO BOXES, and DIVVYING UP. Again, the ones in red are major puzzle originals.
On to the tour.
19A. False claim about one's pioneer ancestors?: WESTWARD HOAX (12). Things I learn blogging. Did you know Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England? Steve? This is a reference to the generic call for the early Americans to go west. HOAX is too political a word to comment.
25A. Medieval German spendthrift?: PRODIGAL SAXON (13). The Bible tells us of the Prodigal Son, a son who receives his inheritance and travels to a distant country, wastes all his money in wild extravagance, becomes desperately poor, returns to his father, and is received with open arms. Saxons were a group of early Germanic peoples who fought the Anglos.
41A. Transmitted documents with Red Riding Hood's location?: FAXED TO THE WOLVES (16). Fed to the wolves was the plan for Red, but the image of the wolf in the forest receiving a facsimile transmission showing the way to gramma's house is priceless.
52A. Beauty treatment for poultry?: CHICKEN WAXING (13). Thinking of taking a simple chicken wing and adding two letters to create the image of a big fat chicken at the salon getting her bikini wax...(Brazilian) disturbing.
63A. Big-screen entertainment for angels?: IMAX IN HEAVEN (12). You lose an apostrophe to get this wonderful fill, picturing the angels watching the movies.
And the rest.
Across:
1. Quick blow: JAB. A quick start and a "J.'
4. Weary worker's sigh: TGIF. Thank God It's Friday.
8. Dives: PLUNGES.
15. 4 x 4, briefly: UTE. Utility vehicle.
16. Six-ton predator: ORCA.
17. Leopard spot: ROSETTE. My last fill; I learned that many of the spots are not spots at all, but clusters of black, yellow, and tan markings called “rosettes”. These patterns are unique to each leopard, like a human fingerprint.
18. ICU staffer: LPN. Licensed Practical Nurse.
21. Taking courses?: EATING. Haha. Eating a three-course meal.
23. Crest box abbr.: ADA. American Dental Association.
24. Crafty: SLY.
30. Honey, in slang: BAE. This is a common fill.
31. Zip: PEP.
32. Lot choice: SEDAN.
36. Wall St. event: IPO. Initial Public Offering.
38. Enforcer of some ACA provisions: IRS. Affordable Care Act.
39. Vague unease: MALAISE.
45. Bending movement: FLEXION. The action of bending or the condition of being bent, especially the bending of a limb or joint.
46. __ clear: ALL. on the western front.
47. Large receptacle: VAT.
48. Nods, maybe: YESES.
49. It was precious to conquistadores: ORO. There's gold in them there clues.
50. Oliver Twist or Tiny Tim: BOY. So simple, this was hard.
58. Half-hearted: WAN. This was a stretch that took perps.
61. "There's __ in team": NO I.
62. Laundry employee: IRONER. A real word. Meh.
68. Hurdle for srs.: GRE. Graduate Record Examinations.
69. First religious leader of his title to be called "The Great": POPE LEO. Thank you, Joe Deeney and HG for teaching me this Saturday. This is another silly dupe with 57D. Rich does not seem to care.
70. Guy: MALE.
71. Charlottesville sch.: UVA. University of Virginia. My brother dated a woman who was teaching at the medical school.
72. Tools for some crossword solvers: ERASERS. Or backspace.
73. 500-mile race: INDY. The Indianapolis 500.
74. Furry friend: PET.
Down:
1. Derby cocktail: JULEP. Churchill Downs has promoted Mint Juleps since 1938. Each year around 120,000 this classic mint julep recipe are served over the 2 day race period. That’s a lot! While Woodford Reserve is the official whiskey of the Kentucky Derby, we chose another Kentucky Bourbon, Knob Creek, which is one of our favorites.
2. For face value: AT PAR.
3. Japanese takeout orders: BENTO BOXES. They are popular in Thailand as well. We had some at Zen, 2 Mahidol Rd, Hai ya Subdistrict | Central Airport Plaza Level 1, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand
4. Many an off-campus local: TOWNIE. Initially, I read this as "locale." In prep school, there were great conflicts with the townies.
5. An Allman brother: GREGG. He was no Duane, but he did marry Cher.
6. Suffix with robot: ICS. -ics. a suffix of nouns that denote a body of facts, knowledge, principles, etc., usually corresponding to adjectives ending in -ic or -ical: ethics; physics; politics; tactics.
7. Budgetary excess: FAT. Politics.
8. Fendi rival: PRADA. A learning week as I bet you didn’t know that in 1999, the LVMH group and Prada purchased 51% of Fendi.
9. Seuss activist: LORAX. Geopolitical STORY.
"Unless someone like you
Cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.
It’s not."
10. Amer. capital: USD. Money.
11. Bk. before Esther: NEHEMIAH
12. Classic muscle cars: GTOS. Gran Turismos.
13. Shorthand for unlisted items: ET AL.
14. Alluring: SEXY.
20. With 35-Down, papery construction best left alone: WASP. 35D. See 20-Down: NEST. A wasp nest is made from chewed wood that gives them their distinctive papery walls.
22. Filmmaker Lupino: IDA. Her IMDB.
26. Blacksmith wear: APRON.
27. For fear that: LEST.
28. Capital on a fjord: OSLO. CSO to our Norwegian friends.
29. Patricia of "Hud": NEAL. Paul Newman's wife.
Dividing up.
34. Like pirates, often: ASEA.
36. Uncertain: IFFY.
37. Part of IPA: PALE.
38. Midori in a rink: ITO. Time flies.
39. Gourd fruit: MELON. An anagram of LEMON...
40. Piercing tool: AWL.
42. Corner off. occupant: EXECutive.
43. Share juicy details: DISH.
44. Fabled braggart: HARE. The tortoise and...
49. Dust Bowl migrant: OKIE.
50. Dancing dinosaur: BARNEY. And I learned so much more about THIS.
51. Kitchen gadget maker: OXO.
53. __ circle: INNER. When I was representing AXE before they got their record deal, they rehearsed at SIR Studio in NYC and INNER CIRCLE was also their rehearsing.
54. Pacific salmon: COHOS. Sockeye is an oilier fish with deep red flesh, sockeye salmon also high in heart-healthy omega-3s but has a stronger flavor and stands up well to grilling. Coho is milder and often lighter in color
55. Brandish: WIELD.
56. Guts: NERVE.
57. "That's what I'm talking about!": GREAT. More greatness.
58. Sanitizing cloth: WIPE. The be-all and end-all of MONK.
59. Latin love: AMOR.
60. California tourist valley: NAPA. Don't whine. This VALLEY.
64. Kisses, in love letters: XES. And OOs. And at my house.
65. Paris' __ de la Cité: ÎLE. Tourists flock to Notre Dame, located on Île de la Cité, but few take the time to discover the island’s many parks, shops, and cafés.
66. "What __ missing?": AM I. Looks like the French AMI.
67. FedEx fleet member: VAN.
You may get a week off next week, but we never know. I really had a great !~ time on this one and I hope you all did. So much to learn. Thanks, Jeffrey and thank you all, Lemonade out.
