Good morning Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's puzzle recap. Our puzzle setter today is Pawel Fludzinski. There is information about Pawel to be gleaned if you perform a web search. If you include the words Crossword Corner in the search terms, the returns should include past Crossword Corner writeups containing quite a bit of information thanks to the efforts of Husker Gary.
Today's puzzle features a word ladder that leads us from HATE to LOVE. A word ladder puzzle is one in which a given word is converted into another by way of a series of words each formed by changing just one letter of its predecessor.
Let's start with the unifier:
73 Across: Mushy message, and the end of a sequence that progresses through the answers to the starred clues: LOVE NOTE. LOVE is the final rung on the ladder.
41 Across: *"So Much to Say" Grammy winners: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND. Change to T to V and we have DAVE. For fans of the band:
53 Across: *Fits together neatly: DOVETAILS. At the risk of stating the obvious, changing the A to O gives us DOVE.
Then at 73 Across change the D to L.
Here is a look at the completed grid:
. . . and the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
9. Administer an oath to: SWEAR IN.
16. 2018 SAG Life Achievement Award honoree: ALAN ALDA. Eight letters four of which are A's. A constructor's friend. Perped.
17. Above it all, in a way: TALLEST. A bit of an odd use of "Above it all" unless you're talking about a mountain or a building. Thanks for the "in a way" tipping us off to the clue taking a bit of liberty.
18. Featured dishes: SPECIALS.
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19. Grassy expanse: PRAIRIE. One night Johnny Carson got to talking about his Nebraska roots and he told this allegedly true story during a sketch scene. Johnny mentioned that the most fearsome Indian tribe were not the Sioux, nor the Apache or even the Comanche Indians. No they were the Fahkarwee tribe!
Johnny went on to explain,: Almost every wagon train that crossed the prairie on their trek to California were known to have their wagon masters and scouts constantly scanning the horizon ahead the entire trip asking, "Where the Fahkarwee?"
20. Impassive: DRY EYED.
22. Skewed view: BIAS. I think that it is best to cut vegetables diagonally but I am BIASed
23. Walk leisurely: AMBLE.
29. Beers served with lime: CORONAS.
32. Grubhub link: MENU. Grubhub says that it "is part of a leading global online food delivery marketplace."
33. Persia, today: IRAN. Everything You Want To Know About The Change of Name
34. "Hidden Figures" org.: NASA. "Hidden figures" is a movie about the early days of NASA and the contributions of a team of African-American women.
36. Jazz great who was the first African-American man to win a Grammy: BASIE. The best motion picture cameo ever?
Blazing Saddles - 1974
45. Nocturnal sound: SNORE.
46. 50+ group: AARP. Formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons. It was formed in 1958 as a sister organization to the National Retired Teachers Association. At its core, an insurance marketing device.
47. Microsoft search engine: BING. Used for about 2.5% of web searches worldwide.
48. Spring: LEAP. Combine this answer with 3 Down and you get (see 3 Down).
51. Pungent cleanser: AMMONIA. Why do chemistry students learn about AMMONIA first? It's pretty basic stuff.
58. Put into words: UTTER.
59. Disney's "__ and the Detectives": EMIL. First, it was (and still is) a book but I guess the movie is more widely known.
60. Hailed: GREETED. Not the frozen precipitation.
History Of The World - Part I - 1981
63. Philadelphia school whose teams are the Explorers: LA SALLE. The addition of the team name to the clue was helpful.
65. Lucrative venture: GOLD MINE. What do you get when you drop a piano down a gold mine? A flat minor. No, not a person not yet of legal age. See 71 down.
70. Harness racer: TROTTER.
71. Minor issue?: AGE LIMIT. Clever cluing. A minor is a person under the age of 18 or 21 depending on the issue at hand.
72. Stops: ARRESTS. In criminal matters, ARRESTS sometimes follow stops, in mountain climbing the terms are synonymous.
Down:
1. Consumes: HAS. Eat? Wrong tense. Ate? Wrong tense. Aha, HAS.
2. Swiss mountain: ALP.
3. __ kwon do: TAE.
Tae Kwon Leap
4. Env. insert: ENC. ENClosure in an Envelope
5. __ name: MAIDEN. Usually, we get the answer NEE.
6. Banned fruit spray: ALAR. Widely used as a growth regulator sprayed on apple trees. It cut waste and labor by preventing the fruit from falling before it was ripe. It also had toxic effects on humans.
7. Without much thought: IDLY.
8. Performed light surgery on?: LASED. Light as in ray of light not as in minor. Minor as in the opposite of major not as in 71 Across. Major not as in army rank.
9. Fla. recreation spot: ST PETE. Recreation spot was a bit more misleading than simply referring to a city in Florida.
10. Norton in "The Shawshank Redemption," for one: WARDEN. A great movie with Bob Gunton cast as Warden Norton William Sadler.
11. Portuguese feminine pronoun: ELA. Why, in puzzles, does the use of Portuguese seem less fair than Spanish or French?
12. Excuse: ALIBI.
13. Outfit again: RERIG. Usually referring to a seagoing vessel.
14. Whitlock Jr. of "The Wire" and "Veep": ISIAH. As with ISIAH Thomas, there is some question as to whether the bestower of the name knew how to spell.
15. Arms treaty subj.: N TEST. Nuclear TEST. Unless, of course, you're George Bush.
21. Big name in pianos: YAMAHA. Big name in motorcycles, too.
23. Corrosive compounds: ACIDS.
24. Colonel called "the second most dangerous man in London" by Sherlock Holmes: MORAN. Second to Professor Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian "Basher" MORAN first appeared in the 1903 short story The Adventure of the Empty House.
25. "Way to go!": BRAVO. If the clue was not in quotes, indicating something that someone might say, the answer might have been a synonym of ROUTE.
26. Introvert: LONER.
28. Worn-down pencils: NUBS.
30. Santa __ winds: ANA. A bit of local SoCal meteorology that often blows through the puzzles
31. Posed (for): SAT.
35. Swingline insert: STAPLE. Swingline is a brand of STAPLErs.
37. Cloister leader: ABBOT. ABBESS was just a bit too long.
38. Canonized one: SAINT.
39. Concave navel: INNIE.
40. Painter Degas: EDGAR. His first name is almost an anagram of his second. He seems to have had a real affinity for ballet . . . or, at least, for ballerinas.
42. Cheesy sandwich: MELT.
Tuna Melt Sandwich
43. Pitching stat: ERA. A baseball reference. Earned Run Average.
44. Typing stat: WPM. Words Per Minute
49. Young bird of prey: EAGLET.
44. Typing stat: WPM. Words Per Minute
49. Young bird of prey: EAGLET.
50. Broadcasters: AIRERS. Meh.
52. Confuse: MUDDLE. I prefer to MUDDLE jalapenos.
53. Atlanta-based airline: DELTA. Always highly ranked even in these trying flying times.
54. Astrologer Sydney: OMARR. 1926 - 2003 His column appeared in more than 200 newspapers.
55. Cap brim: VISOR.
56. Thrill to pieces: ELATE.
57. "The Goldbergs" actor George: SEGAL.
61. Like deli orders: TO GO.
62. Hgt.: ELEV. Height ELEVation. The first of four abbreviations in a row.
64. Capt.'s underlings: LTS. Second. Captains and LieuTenantS.
66. Max. opposite: MIN. Third. Maximum MINimum
67. "I think," in texts: IMO. Fourth. In My Opinion
68. Minor quibble: NIT. At this point you may have had one to pick.
69. Bastille Day time: ETE. French for summer. Bastille day is celebrated on le 14 juillet.
A bientot,
le lamentin
P.S. Pawel, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the Comments section below. We'd love to hear from you.
P.P.S. As the theme of today's outing ended up being LOVE, I could not pass on the opportunity to insert the following. It was written by Chet Powers (who used the stage name Dino Valenti) but it was popularized by Jesse Colin Young's band, The Youngbloods. Hmmm, maybe I should have gone with something by Arthur Lee's band, Love. In any event, have a terrific Thursday and a wonderful weekend, everyone.
Get Together
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