TITLE: Time for bed Princess Winnifred the Woebegone; you must chose your bed. We wouldn't want you to pea in bed.
We are welcoming back Jake who first appeared in this themeless just over one year ago where HG presented Jake's background. He is also creating and promoting a musical based puzzle platform discussed HERE. Perhaps we will inspire him to come by and tell us more.
Today we have another version of a classic Friday theme, remove something from the fill but clue it so the solvers can find what is missing. Today we have a reveal accompanying the 4 bed sizes and they are located in ascending order of size and they descend the grid.
We also have some fun 7 and 10 letter fill to wrap around the 9 and 11 themers. ARTICLE, ATE INTO, THE FLEA, ADRENALINE, DIDGERIDOO, OPEN SESAME and WAYNE MANOR. All distracting a bit from a simple theme.
20A. *Aircraft with dual turboprops: (TWIN) ENGINE PLANE (11). Self-explantory.
38A. *Gutsy wager on "Jeopardy!": TRUE DAILY (9) (DOUBLE). I know many cornerites also love Jeopardy and the late Alex Trebek, but it was the professional gambler James Holzhauer who taught all-time champion Ken Jennings that strategy.
44A. *Wildflower also known as wild carrot: (QUEEN) ANNE'S LACE (9). Queen Anne's lace the herb (Daucus carota) can reach heights of about 1 to 4 feet (31-120 cm.) high. I did not know this.
57A. *Tennyson poetry series set in Camelot: IDYLLS OF THE (11) (KING). Our literati really praise this book but when I tried to read when I was 12 years old, I did not finish it. I have never gone back, though I love the Arthurian stories and legends. I really liked the BBC TV series MERLIN many of the books on this bigger than life man and even the silly movie A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
72A. With 73-Across, space-saving furniture, and what the answers to the starred clues each do: HIDE. 73A. See 72-Across: A BED. And if you hadn't sussed the theme before the reveal, you have it here. I am thinking about a Murphy bed but my wife does not like Mrs. Murphy.
Across:1. Pataky of the "Fast & Furious" films: ELSA. Do you like the double with 1D. "Anything __?": ELSE.
5. Pronoun on a coffee mug, maybe: HERS. These days we must be politically correct, right?
9. "What Unites Us" writer Rather: DAN. A collection of essays on patriotism by the long time CBS news man.
12. Profit (from): LEARN. Ideally we should learn from experience, individually and as a nation. No politics.
14. Musical narrated by Che: EVITA. Here it is starring Madonna.
17. With 65-Across, seat of California's Orange County: SANTA. 65A. See 17-Across: ANA.
18. Illuminated: LIT UP. If I were Boomer, I might say the Marlin's bullpen keeps getting lit up.
19. Beats by __: DRE. Have I told the story of an early date with Oo where we ended up at Brands Mart to shop for a birthday present for her son back in Thailand. I learned one of my first words of Thai... แพง (pronounced
22. Stylist's option: GEL. Do you gel your hair? Ladies? Gentleman? Uncommitted?
23. Rom-__: COM. RomANTIC ComEDY.
24. "Dark Phoenix" superheroes: X-MEN. There have been 13 including the DEADPOOL ones. DARK PHOENIX starred Sophie Turner from the GAME OF THRONES.
29. Manual readers: USERS. Really? We are not a culture of manual readers.
34. Babysitter's handful: BRAT. Why do they need to eat while taking care of a child?
36. Get to the point?: TAPER. Like a candle? Or an anteater?
40. "See ya!": BYE. You can't get rid of me yet.
41. Eroded: ATE INTO. Like a drip of water on a rock.
43. Salsa, e.g.: DIP. I have watched many J Lo and Shakira videos and the dips are exciting.
46. Curling piece: STONE. You women are tough if you use stones to curl your hair.
48. Class struggle?: TEST. Ha Ha, not a Karl Marx struggle, just a learning class. Or is it?
49. Butt heads: CLASH. Who is Beavis then?
51. Groundbreaking tools: HOES. No cheap off color humor from me. Any more.
52. Repast: MEAL. How can you re-past? Why does this mean to eat?
54. Wow: AWE. Shucks ma'am.
56. "Montero" singer Lil __ X: NAS. Of course...rated XXX. LINK at your own risk.
66. Farm song refrain: EI EI O. Rated e i e i o.
67. Jetson who attends Little Dipper School: ELROY. So cute.
68. "Loki" actor Hiddleston: TOM. He has played Loki in many movies and a series. LINK.
69. "¿Cómo está __?": USTED. Hi Lucy.
70. French flower: SEINE. He even includes the flower/flower misdirection and some...
71. Mined find: ORE. Rhymed guide.
Down:
3. Squealed: SANG. If you want to know why, ask.
4. Encyclopedia entry: ARTICLE. Lots of them.
5. Toolbar button with a question mark: HELP. I am not familiar with this,
6. Diabolical: EVIL. Diabolical is a characteristic of the Devil.
7. EGOT winner Moreno: RITA. The EGOT is back.
8. Wow: STUN. I know my sense of humor sometimes stuns.
9. Australian wind: DIDGERIDOO. The didgeridoo is a wind instrument, played with continuously vibrating lips. The didgeridoo was developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia. Women are not supposed to play as they believe it may cause infertility.
10. Fight-or-flight hormone: ADRENALINE. Pleasure hormone melatonin, pain hormone...don't pay her.
11. Oasis guitarist Gallagher: NOEL. "Some day you may find your hero; some day you may lose your mind."
13. Technology prefix: NANO.
15. High point: APEX. ACME; pay your money, take your chances.
21. CGI bird in Liberty Mutual ads: EMU. It is hard to believe a non-existent computer image has become a very hated spokes creature.
25. CFO's degree: MBA. Master of Business Administration.
26. Ready to swing: AT BAT. I did not realize swingers had expressions to show they were ready. I guess visually...
27. Gothic estate in Gotham City: WAYNE MANOR. Bruce will you have tours when you rebuild?
28. Words that provide access: OPEN SESAME. The phrase first appears in Antoine Galland's French translation of One Thousand and One Nights (1704–1717) as Sésame, ouvre-toi (English, "Sesame, open yourself").
30. Great deal: STEAL. I do not think we should be encouraging crime.
31. CNN correspondent Hill: ERICA. I have never seen her either on CBS or CNN but learned today she is from Clinton Connecticut, about an hour SW of where I grew up and next to where my uncle who was a doctor would rent a house for a month every summer in Beach Park. I also learned Beach Park does not exist anymore.
32. Ancient characters: RUNES. Not all the old crazies but their alphabet. The one from the Vikings is the most well known, I think.
33. All ready: SET. Go!
35. Sorts: TYPES. It seems like I have been sorting this write-up for hours.
37. Dorm figs.: RAS. Resident advisers, who as far as my experience with two sons who stayed in campus facilities, they mostly advised about the good party spots. We are in Florida after all.
39. __ Equis beer: DOS. The most interesting beer? They fired the guy. Then they hired him back when sales plummeted. EVERY TV AD
42. "CrazySexyCool" singers: TLC. The STORY.
45. Unreliable stat from the fashionably late: ETA.
47. John Donne poem featuring an insect: THE FLEA. The LINK. Is this a sex poem?
50. Owns: HAS.
53. In __ of: LIEU.
55. Burdens: WOES.
56. Org. with an alphabet: NATO. The Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear code words for communicating the letters of the English alphabet, technically a radiotelephonic spelling alphabet. Wiki.
58. Menu item: DISH. I prefer food.
59. Creature in Tibetan myth: YETI. These mythical creatures have been written about for millennia. Alexander the Great demanded to see a Yeti when he conquered the Indus Valley in 326 B.C. But, according to National Geographic, local people told him they were unable to present one because the creatures could not survive at that low an altitude.
60. Wasn't truthful: LIED. They were not under oath...
61. Mined find: LODE. I told you there would be another rhyme at some time,
62. Windy City paper, with "the": TRIB. The HISTORY.
63. Polish: HONE. When I was young I was confused why a local softball team would call themselves the Polish Citizens.
64. Sized up: EYED. I see this as a creepy way to end an otherwise fun puzzle. but that is just me.
