Good morning, curciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here wishing everyone a terrific Thursday.
Our constructor today is Chris Sablich who had his debut puzzle reviewed here on June 21st of this year. Welcome back, Chris. For today's theme, Chris has chosen something to which almost all Cornerites can, as we used to say, relate (we all seem to enjoy groaners).
STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE
Here is the unifier:
49. Dated jokes ... and what the ends of four Across answers are, in a way: STALE MATERIAL
At four places in the grid (he said that, didn't he?) we find anagrams of STALE:
19. Kin of urban legends: OLD WIVES TALES. Supposed truths which are actually spurious.
25. Possible result of a bankruptcy filing: CLEAN SLATE. A new beginning.
35. Minimally: AT LEAST.
43. "That's some bargain you got!": WHAT A STEAL. Idiomatic. Not a misdemeanor.
Here is how this looks in the grid:
Now that Chris has teed it up for us, let's see if we can have a bit of fun with a stale joke or two.
Across:
1. Group for whom "Drive" was a Top 10 hit, with "The": CARS. The CARS front man, Ric Ocasek, often makes appearances in crossword puzzles.
5. Sarge's charges, briefly: PFCS. Private(s) First Class
9. Finishes in the bakery: ICES. What does Frosty The Snowman like on his cupcakes? Icing.
13. Part of an agenda: ITEM.
14. Fracas: MELEE. A confused fight or struggle.
15. Bar purchase: SOAP. I used to be addicted to SOAP but I'm clean now.
16. Wanted things: DESIDERATA. A bit arcane. DESIDERATA means those things desired as essential. Max Ehrmann wrote an eponymous poem in the early 1920s. It begins, "Go placidly among the noise and the haste." Readings have been recorded by Les Crane and Leonard Nimoy, among others. In 1972, The National Lampoon released a parody called DETERIORATA.
18. Santa __: Sonoma County seat: ROSA. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released a song called "Santa Rosa" on the album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy.
21. Shows: BARES. Why was the tomato blushing? She saw the salad dressing.
23. Wander: ROVE. I just flew in from the coast. Boy are my arms tired.
24. James of jazz: ETTA. ETTA visits quite often.
Etta James
31. ERA, for example: STAT. A baseball STATistic. Earned Run Average. Misdirection in that the clue could also have been referring to a period of time or to the Equal Rights Amendment.
32. Suffer: AIL. Did you hear that the CEO of Fox News had died? I wonder what AILed him.
33. Some, in Potsdam: EINES. Today's German lesson.
34. Dirt alternative, at times: TAR. A road surface reference. Do you know what I love about baseball? The pine TAR and the dirt. . . . and that's just in the hot dogs.
38. Member of the 2019 World Series champs: NAT. The Washington (D.C.) NATionals. Champs is a shortened version of Champions, ergo . . .
39. Large quantity: OCEAN. What did the ocean say to the shore? Nothing. It just waved.
41. Beethoven preceder: VAN.
42. "¿Qué __?": PASA. Today's Spanish lesson. "What's up?"
46. Assist badly?: ABET.
47. Indian nurse: AMAH. An Indian or East Asian nursemaid who takes care of children and frequents crossword puzzle the world over.
48. Jacques' title, in a children's song: FRERE. One of today's French lessons.
55. Guitarist's gadget: CAPO. Allows one to play in different keys without having to learn a new set of chords.
56. Tennessee Williams specialty: ONE ACT PLAY. He wrote more than seventy.
59. King toppers: ACES. A playing card reference. I ACEd my chemistry quiz on the PH scale. It wasn't difficult. In fact, it was really basic.
60. Brazilian range __ do Mar: SERRA. "Mountain Range of the Sea". It would be nice to swim along that coast someday.
61. Architect Saarinen: EERO. He often stops by to visit because his first name is a four-letter word containing three vowels.
62. Leader: BOSS. My boss says that I have a preoccupation with vengeance. We'll see about that.
63. Egyptian vipers: ASPS. A snake charmer was bitten on his lips. He didn't know his ASP from his oboe.
64. "Glee" character, usually: TEEN. The TV show.
Down:
1. "Le __": 1636 Corneille play: CID. Not the 1961 motion picture, El Cid. Not the actual historic figure (1043 - 1099). Same subject matter, though.
2. Put away: ATE. Constructors/Editors love to clue with words whose tenses are ambiguous. Could have been EAT.
3. Vacation destination: RESORT AREA. Did you hear about the professors who went to a RESORT AREA to discuss research paper titles? It was a topical vacation.
4. Greet with a grin: SMILE AT. What is the longest word in the English dictionary? SMILEs, because there is a mile between the first and last letters.
5. Prefix meaning "all around": PERI. A learning moment.
6. Rapper with a clock necklace, familiarly: FLAV. The clock was hungry so it went back for seconds.
Flavor Flav
7. Et __: CETERA.
8. Salt, say: SEASON. Used, here, as a verb. SEASONing would not fit in the allotted space.
9. Begin, for one: ISRAELI. A play on words. Not "commence" but, instead, an ISRAELI Prime Minister.
10. Hip: COOL.
11. Alleviate: EASE. My friend pushed a book across the table to me. It slid with EASE. It was non-friction.
12. Places to relax: SPAS. Not many people know that the local SPA has closed. Apparently, they did not get the massage,
14. Cry from a litter: MEW.
17. ADA member: DDS. Americans with Disabilities Act? No. American Dental Association. Dentist.
20. Tube, so to speak: TV SET. Slang. Sometimes, boob tube.
21. Grant: BESTOW.
22. Staple, e.g.: ATTACH. Staple is used, here, as a verb.
25. Monopoly token that replaced the iron: CAT.
26. Unlike Abner, actually: LIL. Al Capp's LIL Abner was not a small fellow.
27. École attendee: ELEVE. Another French lesson. École is school and ELEVE is student.
28. "Kingdom by the sea" maiden of poetry: ANNABEL LEE.
28. "Kingdom by the sea" maiden of poetry: ANNABEL LEE.
29. Come-on: TEASER.
30. Executor's concern: ESTATE.
35. "What's in __?": A NAME. That which we call a rose . . . .
36. Motorists' org.: AAA.
37. NBC weekend show: SNL. Saturday Night Live. Since 1975.
40. Clueless: AT A LOSS.
44. Stuffed Indian pastry: SAMOSA. Samoza (with a z) was a Nicaraguan dictator.
45. Macduff and Macbeth: THANES. In Scotland, THANES are the chiefs of clans.
48. Hale: FIT. You cannot FIT inside a tuna can. But some tuna can.
49. Sign of healing: SCAB. Sometimes, SCAR.
50. Snack from a truck: TACO. Did you hear about the tortilla rebellion? It was a hostile TACO-ver.
51. Primatologists' subjects: APES. Why did the giant APE climb up the skyscraper? The elevator was not working.
52. UMD athlete: TERP. University of Maryland TERraPins
53. Some crop units: EARS. As in corn, wheat or rice. The grain-bearing tip of the stem. Why do scarecrows find it difficult to keep a secret? Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears.
54. __ Building, now 30 Rockefeller Plaza: RCA. Known as the RCA Building from its completion in 1933 until 1968. Known as the GE Building from 1968 until 2015 and, subsequently, as the Comcast Building. Frequently called 30 Rock.
57. Exist: ARE.
58. "... the morn ... / Walks o'er the dew of __ high eastward hill": "Hamlet": YON. Meaning over there or in that direction.
Headin' Toward YON High Hill
________________________________________________
