Title: A puzzle you can sink your teeth into.
Jeffrey provides a delightful birthday present for my sweet bride, and I am sitting in on a Thursday for the first time in a long while. I need to approach this write up backward, beginning with the reveal and then finding the themers. Because this basically is a visual puzzle, there was much room for sparkly fill. This was a puzzle that the theme did not jump out, even after the reveal. I was looking for the grid to look like Michael Strahan. But no, it was actually simpler than that. When in doubt, you had to realize that GAP TOOTHED needed symmetrical balance. In this case, we are sent back to our old friend - the third row. We find:
17A. Very loudly, in music: FORTISSIMO. 19A. Logan of "60 Minutes": LARA. MOLAR. Next, we have:
27A. Iconic 1962 role for Gregory: ATTICUS. 29A. Frittered (away): PIDDLED. CUSPID. Balanced with:
42A. "Salvator Mundi" artist: DA VINCI. 46A. Between-course refreshers: SORBETS. INCISOR. SEE CONSTRUCTOR COMMENTS AT THE END OF THE WRITE-UP.
Bringing us full circle to:
57A. Like some smiles in an orthodontist's office ... and like three puzzle rows: GAP TOOTHED.
A very clever creation, which also provided room for these lovelies.
WABBIT, ATTICUS, DAVINCI, PIDDLED, SCRUGGS, SLOTS IN, SORBETS, CAR TITLE, GET THERE, I SEE THAT, NEONATAL, FORTISSIMO with the ones in RED making a debut.
Across:1. Business issue since 1979: INC. A magazine, not a problem.
4. Compares: LIKENS. Who can you compare to JW?
10. Cyberspace gatekeepers, for short: ISPS. INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS. The second "S" is a cheat.
14. Org. supporting museums: NEA. National Education Association.
15. Skink or skunk: ANIMAL. Skinks abound in South Florida.
16. German refusal: NEIN. Non. no, Nannette.
20. Savvy about: ON TO.
21. Archipelago unit: ISLET.
22. Culture medium: AGAR.
23. __ Jordan: sports brand: AIR.
24. Simple top: TEE. In the old days, this would be followed by a titillating pic.
25. Hill group: SENATE. Too soon.
30. Prefix with -lithic: PALEO. older or ancient, especially relating to the geological past.
31. New Mexico tribe: ZUNI. The Zuni are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley.
33. Boggy area: FEN. A CSO to Steve and did you know Red Sox owner John Taylor claimed he named the park Fenway because of its location which had been partially created decades earlier by filling in marshland or “fens/”
34. Forest floor litter: TWIGS.
39. 13-digit ID since 2007: ISBN. International Standard Book Number.
41. Caravan stops: OASES.
48. Whiteboard accessory: ERASER.
49. Skedaddled: RAN.
50. Wager: BET.
51. Discover alternative: VISA.
52. Functional: UTILE.
54. Spillane's "__ Jury": I THE. A wonderful Mike Hammer novel, if you like hard-boiled detectives.
56. Like many breakfast bars: OATY.
59. Quelques-__: a few, in French: UNES. Un peu de Francais ce matin.
60. Novelist Graham: GREENE. AUTHOR.
61. "__ you quite finished?": ARE. Not even halfway.
62. Hawaiian staple: TARO.
63. Smoothing tool: SANDER.
64. Score half: TEN. Very witty, half of a score (20) is ten.
Down:
1. Data, e.g.: INFO.
2. Like a hospital ward with a tiny population?: NEONATAL. Another very cute clue
3. Jaguar documentation: CAR TITLE. Not the animal.
4. China's Chou En-__: LAI.
5. Where it originally was: IN SITU. Latin.
6. Some canoodling: KISSES. yummy
7. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" actor Hirsch: EMILE.
8. Put a handle on: NAME.
9. Adds, as an appointment to a busy schedule: SLOTS IN. meh
10. Away from shore: INLAND.
11. Action star Steven: SEAGAL.
12. Hook, for one: PIRATE.
13. Caught: SNARED.
18. Parliament figures: TORIES. More from across the pond; this would have been great for Steve.
26. Prose pro: EDITOR. We get lots of mixed response to crossword editors and all the clues they change.
27. Msg. to the squad: APB. Police Squad?
28. Scientific calculator function: COSINE.
29. Many a dad joke: PUN.
31. __ master: ZEN.
33. "The X-Files" org.: FBI.
35. Bugs, to a toon hunter: WABBIT. Wascally at that.
36. "It's quite clear now": I SEE THAT. Mira!
37. Arrive: GET THERE.
38. Air fryer sound: SSS.
40. Country legend Earl: SCRUGGS.
43. "7 Rings" singer Grande: ARIANA.
44. Even more expansive: VASTER.
45. Laying-down-the-law words: I SAY SO. Yes ma'am!
46. Like most peanuts: SALTED.
47. Low-scoring tie: ONE-ONE. A classic football score for a Brit.
49. Mature on the vine: RIPEN.
53. "Sharknado" actress Reid: TARA.
55. Fall setting: EDEN. The fall from grace, not the change of season.
58. "Save me, and hover __ me with your wings": Hamlet: O'ER. A perfect way to end a Jeffrey puzzle, with Will Shakespeare.
Regarding the clue for 42-Across, Da Vinci is not the artist’s name. In “Leonardo da Vinci”, the term “da Vinci” simply indicates that the artist was born in the town of Vinci. The artist’s name is Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci is acceptable as a name with an explanatory modifier, but never Da Vinci alone. When the book “The Da Vinci Code” was published, there was a collective howl from the art world, particularly from Renaissance specialists, bemoaning the improper use of da Vinci as a name. Essentially, the book title means “the code from the town of Vinci.” As a former museum curator whose field is visual art, I feel I must point this out. The original clue was [Part of a Renaissance man’s moniker]. “Moniker” was used instead of “name” because NAME is the answer to 8-Down.
Thank you, Jeffrey, to all who read and write. Lemonade out.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy
birthday to Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword. Rich helps
constructors improve the theme set and he often writes half or more of
the clues of every grid. New solvers probably don't know this.
Rich is also a master constructor, both themed and themeless grids.
 |
| Rich and his wife Kim |
2) Happy birthday also to Lemonade's beautiful wife Oo. This is a picture from their 2017 trip to Oo's homeland.
