I usually save the puzzle grid for the end of my recap, but I think it's appropriate today to see how the entries and "reveal" emerged, based on the clue for 67-Across: "Preceded by 1-, 9- and 65-Across, what each circled word literally suggests: LEAF. I've highlighted the reveal and entry words . . .
I was scratching my head trying to figure out this puzzle and its theme correctly. Apparently I couldn't see the forest for the trees, as I was focusing on how the circled words in the puzzle RELATED to the theme instead of just looking below them. Thanks to C.C. (who read my late night post on Wednesday) I got an email from her suggesting where I should focus my view. Et voila! There it was. As obvious as the nose on my face! Just below the words "SPIN", "BEND", and "EDDY" is an anagram of the word "LEAF"! And since the words SPIN, BEND, and EDDY all mean "TURN", then they do, literally TURN, OVER A NEW "LEAF". And since FLEA is the only recognized anagram of the word LEAF, all three of the ones highlighted in the puzzle grid are truly NEW. Wow!
Now, if your puzzle came with no circled letters for those 3 synonyms, then you'd probably be "SOL".
As Lemondade714 pointed out in a previous recap, Friday puzzles are most often ones with fewer "blocks" (the black squares) and a higher letter count. All 15x15 puzzles have a total of 225 squares to fill. But to use all four of the corners (NW, NE, SW, SE) for the reveal (each being a four-letter word), as well as having all three entries be four-letter words, and then having THOSE words fall on top of the anagrams of LEAF . . . Paul DEFINITELY used some construction "magic".
Yes, there are 46 blocks; pretty high number for a Friday, but the grid still looks "open". Which left 76 words and 179 letters to fill. 24 of these were 4-letter words, and 13 were 3-letter words. Again, a pretty high count. But as I look at the words he used, none of the 37 short words seemed forced or unusual; either as an abbreviation OR an actual word, with one or two exceptions. I doubt it was easy for him to design and fill this
Anyhow, let's visit the clues and answers to see how this all fits together! I'm sure that Paul will stop by and add his comments . . .
Across:
1. Go bad: TURN. First word of the reveal. A nice easy start to the puzzle. D-Otto must be pleased! ;^)
5. Heart: CRUX. #3 from our Thesaurussaurus
9. Finished: OVER. Second word of the reveal. Somehow the video clip below came to mind when I saw the word "OVER"
13. Successor org. to the Bureau of Labor Standards: OSHA.
14. Cooked: DONE. Finished; OVER
15. Follow: TRACK.
Runner who follows,
Not leads, just entered in a
TRACK and 'yield' event
16. Passes (by): GOES. Another unforced 4-letter entry
17. Public relations staple: SPIN. Were the letters in your puzzle circled? Mine were. A theme entry identifier; and if you rearrange the four letters below it, you have LEAF
18. Character in all but one "Star Wars" film, familiarly: AR TOO. Just heard from Ms. Moe that a new COVID variant has surfaced called R1. Guess the next one CAN'T be named R2, as that would thoroughly p**s off C3PO
19. Certain ranch: CATTLE FARM. These steers had other ideas . . .
22. Healthy-looking, in a way: ROSY. A popular phrase back in the mid-1800's, it's making a comeback. As Dictionary dot com defines: (especially of a person's skin) colored like a pink or red rose, typically as an indication of health, youth, or embarrassment.
"the memory had the power to make her cheeks turn ROSY"
23. Unexpected result: UPSET. This could also be an "expected" result, as proved by this Moe-ku (here's hoping):
Coach Nick Saban's team
Was trounced by Ole Miss, and he's
UPSET with UPSET
27. Excise: CUT OUT. Similar to 23-Across, in that the word has two very different meanings depending on whether it's a verb, noun, adverb, etc. This one's the verb: "the precision with which surgeons can EXCISE brain tumors"
31. Cafeteria patrons: EATERS. This clue's OK; I might've used "Ant" or "Odor" followers
33. Playwright's vehicle: ASIDE. Similar to 23 and 27-Across. This one's the noun version: "Shakespeare's use of ASIDEs and soliloquies"; as opposed to the adverb: "they pushed their plate ASIDE"
34. Relent: BEND. 2nd of the theme entry identifiers; and if you rearrange the four letters below it, you have another LEAF! BEND is also a town in Oregon; with Mt Hood in repose
37. Ashtabula's lake: ERIE. There it is! Just ENE of Cleveland, along the shores of Lake ERIE
38. Father's love, say: PATERNAL FEELING. Appears as though this word phrase was last used in a crossword puzzle 5 years ago, but it also served as a key phrase for solving the reveal
41. Many a newspaper one is written well in advance: OBIT. Does OP ED fit this clue? Asking for a friend . . .
42. Blue dye: ANIL.
Papa Smurf is quite
Fastidious. Because he's
ANIL-retentive
43. __ wrench: ALLEN. Also the name of this wrench-wrangler, aka "Tim the tool man":
44. Scheduled: SLATED. The device shown on his wrist in the cartoon below wasn't SLATED to appear (for real) until the 21st Century. But then again, Fred did work for a MR SLATE
46. Forceful words after "because": I SAY SO. Or perhaps this?
Seamstress and her boss
Argued, 'til the boss cried out:
"Because I say SEW!"
47. As a friend, to François: EN AMI. Splynter always referred to this as "Frawnch"
48. Christian Science founder Mary Baker __: EDDY. 3rd of the theme identifiers. It sits directly atop the letters FELA in 50-Across; another anagram for LEAF. With regard to Mary Baker EDDY, there's a lot of info about her here
50. Morning drink choice: CAFFE LATTE. My morning drink choice is caffè nero. My caffè nero mug:
55. Divert: AMUSE. First one listed!
59. Cinematic beekeeper: ULEE. Becoming a staple entry; crossword-ese?
60. Make: EARN. As in wages. As we progress through generations, the amount we EARNed then, compared to what the same jobs pay now, seems so deflating
62. Outdated: PASSE.
Football team drafted
Lots of running backs. Must feel
To pass is PASSE
63. Teri of "Mr. Mom": GARR. She too is quite popular in crossword puzzles
64. Charity: ALMS. ALMS is one of those words that reminds me of biblical times. One hardly ever hears the word now. Charity and charitable are more common. And being charitable isn't just a good thing to do; it really makes you feel good when you do it! So remember that, if this happens to be me in a few years . . .
65. From the top: ANEW. Part of the reveal
66. Salt Lake City team: UTES. The University of Utah UTES football team is currently 2-2, and in 3rd place in the PAC-12 South
Down:
1. Deck (out): TOG. Clothe
2. Summer Games org.: U.S.O.C.. United States Olympic Committee
3. Saturn's second-largest moon: RHEA. All perps. Has anyone of us BEEN to Saturn?? Or seen its moons? Picard, might you have any photos to share with us re: RHEA?
4. Tammany Hall caricaturist: NAST. Before CATTLE FARM emerged I thought it could be NASH. Always get those two mixed up
5. Input feature of many laptops: CD SLOT. Not anymore. CD SLOTs are becoming quite "62-Across" (PASSE)
6. What pros know, with "the": ROPES. This pro knew the ROPES very well; as in ROPE-a-dope
7. Ally: UNIFY. Verb form of ally: (to) combine or unite (UNIFY) a resource or commodity with (another) for mutual benefit
8. TV role for Lucy: XENA. Lucy Lawless; not Lucy (Lucille) Ball. Wonder what Lucille Ball might look like as XENA Warrior Princess? Any photoshoppers out there? To photoshop is above this blogger's paygrade . . .
9. Bruins legend: ORR. If ORR wasn't a legend in hockey, he'd certainly be one in crossword puzzles
10. Winery vessel: VAT. KEG and TUN also fit. Here is a link to the world's largest wine VAT
11. Tourism lead-in: ECO. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) has quite the website
12. "Suspicion" studio: RKO. Offical trailer; movie was an RKO Radio release starring Cary Grant (IM's favorite!) and Joan Fontaine. Never watched it. Guessing it must be available somewhere on one of the streaming movie channels
15. Eastern Gulf Coast city: TAMPA. A CSO to both Wilbur Charles and Tinbeni who live close by this largest of the cities in Florida, population-wise
20. More loyal: TRUER. It fits
21. Paris's __ la Paix: RUE DE. According to Crossword Tracker, this two-word French reference to the beginning of a road name hasn't been seen in over a half a decade.
Isn't it great that crossword puzzles allow Frawnch, Spanish, German, Italian and Latin words? It definitely helps those who construct puzzles to get through some awkward corners
24. Stanley's wife in "A Streetcar Named Desire": STELLA. I'd be remiss if I didn't put in this iconic video clip
25. How a campfire story might be told: EERILY. This is a unique clue for EERILY. Paul, yours or Rich's?
26. Groups of three: TRINES. The only group of three that I can relate to are:
27. Mob leaders: CAPOS. The "evolution" of the word "capo" (plural, capos) started in the 1800's. Its origin is Italian (capo tasto) which translates to "head stop". The term CAPO can also refer to the clamp that fits across a stringed instrument to raise its tuning. The reference to CAPO meaning a "crime boss" has a North American origin, and whose popularity as a word has grown considerably through the end of the 20th C to the present
28-Down, Functional: USABLE, an adjective. 57-Down, Apply: USE, a verb
29. One-named Venetian master: TITIAN. Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio, known in English as TITIAN, was a Venetian painter during the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, 'from Cadore', taken from his native region. Wikipedia. One of his paintings:
30. One-named folk singer: ODETTA. Enjoy the classic ballad in the video below
32. Repeat symbol, in music: SEGNO. OK, Paul. I gave you plaudits for the fill of this puzzle; up until now, though! ;^)
The TRINE of TITIAN, ODETTA, and SEGNO certainly qualifies this as a "Friday" puzzle. Technically, it's "Dal SEGNO" which means "from the sign".
This sign:
34. Prohibition: BAN. I thought it meant those years when folks started making bathtub gin
35. Either Bush, in school: ELI. George Herbert Walker and George Walker Bush. Presidents 41 and 43, and Yale University grads in 1948 and 1968, respectively
36. Draft org.: NFL. SSS (Selective Service System) also fit. The SSS chose #47 as my lottery "draft position" number back in 1972
39. First name in 1970s gymnastics: NADIA. Didn't she score the first perfect "10" in Olympics history?
40. No-sweat class: EASY A. I never had a "no-sweat" class throughout my educational years. I didn't always work too hard to get an "A" grade, but I don't think many of them were "EASY"
45. Host: EMCEE. I've never been an EMCEE but think it would be a fun job
46. Goof-offs: IDLERS. I knew my fair share in school. I was always "goofy" but never a "goof-off"
48. Key of Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto: E FLAT. A little snippet for your listening pleasure: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat "Emperor", Op. 73 - Adagio un poco mosso
49. Caterpillar rival: DEERE. "Nothing rides like a DEERE"
51. Risky-to-eat puffer fish dish: FUGU. Add this one to the TRINE of TITIAN, ODETTA, and SEGNO, and voila: a QUARTET of unknowns are in the "down" position. Has anyone ever heard of the FUGU before this puzzle emerged? Looks like something I'd unhook and throw back if I caught it
52. Marsh duck: TEAL. And a favorite color of many. Kind of a greenish-blue IIRC
53. It may be a tall one: TALE. Related to Dad jokes, perhaps?!
54. Columnist Bombeck: ERMA. As with ULEE in 59-Across, ERMA shows up quite a bit in xword puzzles
55. Therapists' org.: APA. Abbreviated form of "American Psychological Association". This association is for therapists and psychologists, who can talk to and counsel you about your mental condition(s), but cannot prescribe any medication
56. Guy: MAN. Too easy!!
58. Capt.'s heading: SSW. Appropriate abbr. for that corner of the puzzle. Though the SSW corner had one glitch (for me) and that was the abbr "APA". Not as common as ADA or AMA. So Paul, might these two other ways of filling that corner have been any easier? Sorry Paul. I had to go in and look! Damn Crossword Compiler software!! ;^)
61. Troubling bank msg.: NSF. I vaguely recall this from a recent recap I did. L714 correctly advised me that it stands for "Non-Sufficient Funds"
Are we done already? Is it finally OVER??!! Thanks for adding to the blog with your comments! If I'm not here first thing this morning it's probably because I am out doing this (Moe hiking in the Superstition Mountains):
