Puzzling thoughts:
FIR but with several spelling errors - and one major w/o: I put RAGE in 29-Down. Which was supposed to be WAGE (clued as: Carry on)
So how many of you "ran out of GAS" trying to figure this Bryant White puzzle? This Author/Cartoonist/Crossword Puzzle Constructor from British Columbia, Canada (CSO to CanadianEh!) must've taken a couple of Beano tablets before constructing this puzzle, as there was no GAS to be found anywhere ... at least in 6 of the entries to the puzzle.
How so you ask?
I don't normally place the reveal at the beginning of my recap, but today it makes more sense to.
34-Across. Incapacitating agent of pulp detective and sci-fi novels ... and a hint to solving this puzzle's starred clues: KNOCK OUT GAS.
First example:
17-Across. *Throw for a loop: FLABBER[GAS]T. So as (50-Across. Homer's bartender:) MOE was solving the puzzle, he realized after a few perps that 17 Across had to be "FLABBER" something, and once the reveal was sussed, the theme hit him. When you KNOCK OUT (remove) the word GAS from the starred clue answers, you're left with the "correct" answer for today's puzzle.
18-Across. *Traditional jack-o'-lantern sources in the British Isles: RUTABA[GAS]. Moe didn't know that RUTABAgas are British jack-o'-lantern sources, but he'd heard of the vegetable
As Moe likes to solve his puzzles from top left to bottom right, he next encountered two "down" entries:
24-Down. *Gourmet: [GAS]TRONOME. A GASTRONOME is a person who loves good food; a gourmet. There is a "science" attached to a gastronome and Moe puns it in the following haiku:
Gourmet loves to fart
Whilst studying the stars. That's
Called: GAStronomy
26-Down. *World's second-largest island country: MADA[GAS]CAR. The world's fourth-largest island in size is actually the second-largest island country, as New Guinea and Borneo are part of Indonesia. Greenland is the world's largest island country
But what about Australia, Moe? Isn't that larger than MADAGASCAR? Or Greenland? Well, technically, Australia is a continent though some refer to it as an "island continent"
52-Across. *Adele and Cher, e.g.: ME[GAS]TARS. MEGA STARS. Oddly, this one came to the Chairman almost as quickly as:
55. *Buffet variety: SMOR[GAS]BORD. By then, I had figured out the theme. One more haiku? OK!
Bryant White gave the
EPA a break, 'cause of
His GAS omissions
Across:
1. With 41-Across, "Cloud Shepherd" Dadaist: JEAN (41. See 1-Across:) ARP.
5. RR depot: STA. Why is it that when I want this answer to be STA, it's always STN? And vice-versa
8. Elbow grease: EFFORT. I have yet to use either of my elbows - other than to support my forearms when typing - to write the recaps.
FUN FACT: When Moe was in grade school the grading letters were: E as in excellent; G as in good; F as in fair; and P as in poor. So when I first heard the term "A for EFFORT" I was a bit perplexed
14. Hoosier: INDIANAN. Nope; sorry guys. I'm not a native Hoosier but I doubt that many of them call themselved INDIANANS
16. Storied restaurant: ALICE'S. How more often do we see the songwriter's name ARLO in puzzles than ALICE's? Impressive that he could recite this considering the amount of lyric
19. Worthlessness metaphor: FIG. As in "not worth a FIG"
20. "__ Weapon": LETHAL. Whatever happened to Mel Gibson?
22. 1921 robot play: RUR. Have any of our Cornerites ever seen this play?
23. Surfers' find: SITE. WAVE and FOAM fit, too, but this surfer travels on the internet
25. Warring son of Zeus and Hera: ARES. The God of War
26. __ Scarlett: MISS. MISS Scarlett, in the kitchen, with a knife. That's my guess. I never got bored by that board game
27. Only Canadian MLB city: TOR. Another CSO to CanadianEh!
28. Half-Betazoid sci-fi counselor: TROI. WAG for me. I am not a huge sci-fi fan but Margaret is. She introduced me to all of the Marvel movies
29. Draw to a close: WANE.
30. Four quarters: ONE. As in ONE dollar
32. Spanish inns: POSADAS. Needed ESP to solve this ONE. CSO to my Phoenix area neighbor, Lucinda
36. Illegal "Risky Business" business: BROTHEL. BROTHEL scene:
37. NRC forerunner: AEC. NRC = Nuclear Regulatory Commission; AEC = Atomic Energy Commission. Per the NRC website: the Federal agency (known as the AEC), which was created in 1946 to manage the development, use, and control of atomic (nuclear) energy for military and civilian applications. The AEC was subsequently abolished by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and succeeded by the Energy Research and Development Administration (now part of the U.S. Department of Energy) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
38. Avatar of Vishnu: RAMA. WAG #2. This is the only "RAMA" that Moe knows:
39. Blanket __: FORT. I wasn't expecting this one! My sister and I used to build a blanket FORT in the back of our parent's station wagon when we went on road trips back in the late '50's, early '60's
44. Copacetic: JAKE. Another video clip for your entertainment: "Do what I tell you, and everything will be JAKE"
The Sting (1973)
45. Nickname of NBA great Oscar Robertson: BIG O. Oscar Robertson's nickname. Played college ball at U of Cincinnati and then starred in the NBA for the Cincinnati Royals. The Cincinnati Royals was a professional basketball team in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Royals originated in Rochester, New York, but moved to Cincinnati in 1957 where the team played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1957 to 1972. Robertson eventually ended his career with the Milwaukee Bucks. For a couple of seasons, Robertson averaged a "triple-double", meaning he had a double-digit average in points, rebounds, and assists
46. Branch headquarters?: TREE. Nice play-on-words
48. Songlike: ARIOSE.
57. Flora and fauna of different regions: BIOTAS. A very infrequent visitor to crossword fill
58. Liqueur made with coffee beans: TIA MARIA. It is also a relative of Kahlua
59. Actress Dash: STACEY. Needed ESP to suss this one. This is she (or is it, this is her?):
60. Sun. delivery: SER. My mind first went to something to do with a newspaper, but landed on the abbreviation for SERmon
61. Hat-tipper's address: MA'AM. A palindrome. Maybe it should be said to women with the name EVE or ANNA, or (47-Across. Actress Gardner:) AVA
Down:
1. Wink: JIFF. JIFF is an abbreviation for JIFFY
2. Beat the draft?: ENLIST. Nice play-on-words. Back when MOE was eligible for the draft (Selective Services) he considered enlisting, but was in college at the time. Nixon called off the draft when MOE was a senior and he chose not to ENLIST
3. "Moonlight Sonata" opening movement, e.g.: ADAGIO. ADAGIO means "slow tempo", as Beethoven demonstrates in this iconic piece:
4. Penpoint: NIB. "the pointed end part of a pen, which distributes the ink on the writing surface"
5. Dagger of yore: SNEE. A bit of crossword-ese but a useful word; not used anymore outside of puzzles
6. Fish-and-chips sauce: TARTAR. "TARTAR sauce is a condiment made with mayonnaise, pickles, capers, lemon juice, and herbs. It's often served with seafood but can be a great addition to many other dishes, too." FUN FACT: MOE likes to use malt vinegar on his Fish-and-chips
7. Studiers of human ancestry: ANTHROPOLOGISTS. 15-letter fill words and/or phrases are always fun, especially when they fit so nicely into the middle of a puzzle
8. Viscounts' superiors: EARLS. According to Wikipedia dot com, "The ranks of the English peerage are, in descending order, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron". So DUKES could also have fit this answer
9. Winter bug: FLU. With all of the news about COVID over the past two years, I wonder if anyone still gets the FLU? Of course they do; and perhaps, going forward, a COVID booster will be administered and/or given alongside a FLU shot to those who want that extra protection
10. Be the right size: FIT. We always hope that the answers we put into crossword puzzles FIT correctly
11. Panpipe relatives: OCARINAS. This:
12. Picture puzzles: REBUSES. I have to admit to a mistake I made in a comment on this past Sunday's puzzle. I thought that a REBUS puzzle contained a group of letters that when placed in a "down" position completed a phrase. I was wrong. According to Oxford Languages, "a REBUS is a puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters; for instance, apex might be represented by a picture of an ape followed by a letter X"
13. Winter Palace figures: TSARS. In St. Petersburg Russia. That's one big house!
15. Cutting the mustard: ABLE. The origin of this phrase
21. Vital quintet in English literature: AEIOU. Interesting clue for all 5 vowels
28. Georgia __: TECH. Here's a bad joke that C MOE heard, many moons ago:
At a dinner party a group of guys were discussing southern colleges. One fellow challenged another when he mentioned Georgia TECH. The fellow said, "Georgia TECH has only two attributes: they have great football players and prostitutes!" To which the other said, "Well it just so happens that my wife gradutated from Georgia TECH!" And just as quickly the fellow asked, "What position did she play?"
31. "__ bad idea": NOT A.
33. Runs or walks, e.g.: STAT. In Major League Baseball runs scored and walks issued are among many STATistics
34. Volcano in the Sunda Strait: KRAKATOA. Here is a clip of a 1960's movie called "KRAKATOA, East of Java"; which is a bit of a misnomer, as KRAKATOA is actually west of Java:
35. Russian milk drink: KEFIR. This was one of Moe's many misspellings; he had an "A" instead of an "E". KEFIR is not one of his favorite beverages, despite the health benefits. According to Healthline dot com: "Adding KEFIR to your diet can be an easy and delicious way to increase your intake of probiotics. However, drinking too much can have several side effects, including digestive issues. It also contains carbs and a small amount of alcohol, so it may not be suitable for everyone"
36. Go out into the storm, say: BRAVE IT. Folks here in AZ are told not to BRAVE IT when our Monsoon season produces a rainstorm, as the lack of permeable soil induces a lot of flash floods. Vehicles that attempt to cross over a flood-filled "wash" and get stuck can be fined
40. Dorm pal: ROOMIE. I had a ROOMIE in college that resembled Art Garfunkel
42. Ride-hitching fish: REMORA. These guys; I wonder if Malodorous Manatee ever had one of these "hangers-on"?
43. Everycity, USA: PEORIA. PEORIA, IL is well-known in the marketing industry as a place to test new products. "Will it play in Peoria?"
44. Door parts: JAMBS. KNOBS also fit; how about a haiku?
When Jim Morrison
And the Doors played, would they
Have a JAMB Session?
45. Very low: BASSY. Definitions dot net says: BASSY (adjective) Describing the reproduction of sound that overemphasizes low-frequency sounds"
46. __ paper: TERM. Many a college students' assignment
49. Skyrocket: SOAR. One more visit from our Thesaurussaurus
51. Red-wrapped cheese: EDAM. Another crossword staple
53. LAX tower service: ATC. Air Traffic Control
54. Issa of "Awkward Black Girl": RAE. Issa has taken the place of Martha when referring to the surname "RAE"
56. Emeril catchword: BAM.
And the grid:
Comments welcome
