Greetings!
The themers for today's puzzle are word pairs: the first an anagram of the
second, the second an animal of some sort:
17A. *Bovine that doesn't waste words?: TERSE STEER. He doesn't chew his cud twice ...
24A. *Dog that had a few too many?: LOOPED POODLE. Here's lickin' at ya kids. Hic!
34A. *Sheep that can't see over the pasture wall?:
WEE EWE. She's so wee that we can't even see her.
41A. *Insect that caught some rays?: TAN ANT. I thought this guy was one of the latest regenerations of Dr. Who. Here he is with his sonic screwdriver, a must have for MacGyvers. I betcha Anon-T would love to add one of those to his toolkit!
48A. *Weasel-family critter wearing clothes?: GARBED BADGER. Badgers, like skunks, are members of the family Mustelidae and distant relatives of 18D.
And the reveal: 60A. Leave one's car unlawfully ... or where you might
expect to find the creatures in the answers to starred clues?:
DOUBLE PARK. This is one of the many ways to park illegally, but
perhaps one of the potentially most serious, especially if the blocked vehicle
belongs to an on call EMT. I get the DOUBLE in the first half of the
answer, but I'm MIA on PARK. Ants and badgers perhaps, but not
steers and poodles (except maybe on a leash).
The rest of the clues:
Across:
1. Arizona locale for MLB spring training fans: MESA . And here's where
the fans sit, in Hohokam Stadium. Named for the Hohokam Indians, a tribe
indigenous to the Mesa area. They were an agricultural society, known for
building extensive networks of irrigation canals. They prospered in this area
until their civilization was destroyed by a great drought in the mid 15th
century.
5. __ breath: bouquet filler: BABY'S.
10. Human rights lawyer Clooney: AMAL. Rosemary's
niece-in-law.
14. Enthusiastic: AVID.
15. Crush the final: ACE IT.
16. Nosh: BITE.
19. Class struggle?: EXAM.
20. Court events: TRIALS.
21. Glitz: GLAM.
23. Central Park tree: ELM
27. Approach evening: LATEN. I thought this was a language?
30. __ Canadiens: Montréal team: LES.
31. Stenographer's stat: WPM.
32. Big Ten sch.: OSU.
33. "I __ had!": WAS.
37. Choice cut: SIRLOIN. Shouldn't that be "Soreloin?" Ouch!
40. Fair treat: CORN DOG.
42. Scatter, as seed: SOW.
43. Having one sharp: ING. IIRC the same an an A Flat. CSO to any
musicians out there ...?
44. Morning hrs.: AMS
45. Downed: ATE
46. Tests for future OBs: MCATS.
52. 2019 event for Pinterest, briefly: IPO. Well picture that!
53. Legal wrong: TORT. Scrumptious...
54. Ultimatum words: OR ELSE.
58. Border: ABUT. Politer synonyms: tush, keister, derriere.
62. Mudville number: NINE.
63. Exclusive, as a community: GATED. Also an internet routing
protocol, for all you Linux geeks.
64. Pop singer Sands: EVIE.
65. "Meet the Press" moderator: TODD.
66. Perfect places: EDENS. In Xwds EDENS are always depicted as
"perfect", but I think there was a snake in the grass there (or in a tree
maybe).
67. Talk back to: SASS. When you're a little kid this is a great
way to get your ivories cleaned with Ivory soap.
Down:
1. "The Simpsons" creator Groening: MATT. Has anybody seen this?
I watched it only when it was used to close the old Tracey Ullman Show and
then lost track of it. I'm familiar with a lot of the characters though
because the show is virally mnemic, especially in Xwd puzzles. I hear it's
pretty funny.
2. "Did you __?!": EVER. I haven't lived long enough yet.
3. iPhone assistant: SIRI. Ssh. I hear she might be listening!
4. Source of website revenue: AD SALE.
5. Low voice: BASSO. Very profundo.
6. Take steps: ACT.
7. Disco trio with a Grammy Legend Award: BEE GEES. Another CSO
to Anon-T.
8. Cedes the floor: YIELDS.
9. Guitar band: STRAP. CSO to HuskerGary who told the funny story
about his guitar strap breaking while he was performing at a friend's
wedding?
10. Prez on a penny: ABE.
11. Eclectic art technique: MIXED MEDIA.
12. In the least: AT ALL. Or a bar order, particularly for a
double shot of whiskey?
13. "I wanna!": LEMME.
18. SpaceX CEO Musk: ELON. see 48A.
22. Links machine: MOWER. Our lawn tractor is on the blink and Dw
has been keeping the lawn trimmed with a hand mower, as YT is now "too busy"
to do it.
25. Have in mind: PLAN. IMHO planning is a lost art.
26. Links event: OPEN. I don't watch much sports on TV, but I do
find watching golf to be very relaxing.
27. Without a clue: LOST. Welcome to a large and growing
group.
28. Bangkok locale: ASIA.
29. React to a missed exit: TURN AROUND.
33. Clever one: WIT.
34. "Holy moly!": WOW. A mincing of the phrase "holy Moses",
popularized in the 1940s by the character Captain Marvel in the DC Comics'
comic book of the same name.
35. Habit: WONT.
36. Breakfast fare: EGGS.
38. Moussaka meat: LAMB. See 34A. The absolutely best thing
to make with eggplants. We had a bumper crop this year.
39. Start: ONSET.
40. Like some dorms: COED.
42. Law: STATUTE.
45. Visiting Vietnam, say: ABROAD.
46. Scant: MERE. Also a French Mama.
47. Breakfast fare: CREPES. 46D's make them a lot.
48. Colossal: GIANT. I read recently that some archaeologists now
believe that Goliath wasn't nearly as tall as his press agents claimed him to
be.
49. Sitcom set in a H.S. science class: AP BIO. Didn't have these
back in the day. Did take advanced biology with Mr. Pottler though.
Great teacher.
50. Duck: DODGE.
51. Desired medals: GOLDS.
55. Etna output: LAVA.
56. Hindu titles: SRIS.
57. Scrapes (out): EKES. As opposed to "eeks", freaks out.
59. "Ideas worth spreading" conference: TED. Well, some ideas
anyway.
61. Folds of music: BEN.
Here's the grid:
I thank you all for coming, and as this is my first outing I thank CC for inviting me to the party, and for MalMan, Moe, TTP, and Anon-T for keeping me from drowning in the puns bowl.
Notes from C.C.:
