Friday, January 12, 2024, Emma Oxford

Thanks, again, Lisa for your help a couple of weeks ago.

This week, however, you may be missing the mark.

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here from the land of frozen (and decidedly not warm) waters to bring you today's recap.  Our puzzle setter is Emma Oxford and, at four places within the grid, she has provided us with amusing takes on familiar two-letter abbreviations.  Let's take a look:

18 ACROSS:  Big bash honoring detectives?: PI DAY CELEBRATION.  PI DAY comes on March 14th of each year because 3 can stand for March the value of Pi (the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter) is roughly 3.14.  In this case, however, P.I. is referring to Private Investigator.  PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR DAY CELEBRATION.

27 ACROSS:  Take steps to prevent patients leaving mid-appendectomy?: FIGHT OR FLIGHT.  We are all, of course, familiar with the FIGHT OR FLIGHT response but, in the puzzle, O.R. is used as the abbreviation for Operating Room.  FIGHT OPERATING ROOM FLIGHT.

47 ACROSS:  Certain facial recognition pro?: THE WIZARD OF ID.  The WIZARD OF ID is a cartoon strip by Parker and Hart.  In this answer, though, the reference is to identification as in (e.g.) I.D. Card.   THE WIZARD OF IDENTIFICATION.

The Wizard of ID

63 ACROSS:  Really annoy the computer help desk?: TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT.  A familiar expression recast as TAKE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO THE LIMIT.

This is how it appears in the grid:

. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Chasm: ABYSS.

6. Every which way: AMOK.  A little bit of a stretch definition-wise.

10. Worry about: SWEAT.  Both FRET and STEW were too short.

15. "Better in Time" singer Lewis: LEONA.   This could have been clued with a reference to the Queen Of Mean - LEONA Hemsley.

16. Placemat, in some restaurants: MENU.  Serving double duty.

17. Shelf: LEDGE.

21. Running wild: ON A TEAR.

22. Try and fail to walk on ice: SLIP.  Thanks for the reminder to put on those cleats.

23. __-Magnon: CRO.  What did CRO-Magnons call Rock, Paper, Scissors?  Rock.

24. Rock gp. sometimes joined by Young: CSN.  More abbreviations.

25. Signifies: MEANS.  MEAN sure does have a lot of meanings.

26. Besmirch: TAR.  As in to TAR one's reputation.

32. Kid-friendly card game: UNO.

33. Laze: LOAF.

34. "__-daisy!": OOPSY.  All about OOPSY-daisy

38. Certain English collegian: ETONIAN.

41. Oregon port named for a fur merchant: ASTORIA.  In addition to the fur trade, John Jacob ASTOR was involved with smuggling opium into China.

43. Grayish green shade: LODEN.  A deep olive green with shorter wavelengths.

44. Fictional terrier from Kansas: TOTO.  Clever.  A puzzle with references to both the Wizard of Id and the Wizard of Oz.

46. Bobby of the Bruins: ORR.  Not a UCLA reference.

52. Sleeve: ARM.

55. Matter basics: ATOMS.  I got arrested for having one sodium ATOM and one chlorine ATOM.  They said I committed a salt.

56. Pub bill: TAB.  As is to run a tab.

57. Actress Seydoux: LEA.  Unkown to this solver but easily perped.

58. Pool division: LANE.

59. Uneasy feeling, with "the": WILLIES.  Where Did This Expression Originate

66. Neptune's realm: OCEAN.

67. Home of the Blue Devils: DUKE.  DUKE University.

68. "Into the Woods" song sung by two princes: AGONY.  Last week, I went from AGONY to ecstasy in a span of a few days.  At this rate, I’ll finish reading the dictionary in a month or so.

69. [I have no idea]: SHRUG.

70. Missouri River Native: OTOE.  Frequent visitors.

71. Pick up: SENSE.  

Down:

1. Pet food brand: ALPO.

2. Form of nonviolent protest: BE IN.  The first Human Be-In (get it?) was held in Golden Gate Park in 1967.

3. Jedi voiced by Tom Kane on "The Clone Wars": YODA.

4. Seize: SNATCH.  I will not seize the moment, but, rather, let this moment pass.

5. "What __ thou?": SAYEST.   SAYEST is an archaic second person singular of say.

6. Pt. of USA: AMER.  United States of AMERica

7. First name of two Spice Girls: MEL.  MELanie Brown went by the stage name of Scary Spice and MELanie Chisholm went by the name of Sporty Spice.

8. Reflexive pronoun: ONESELF.

9. __ Khan: KUBLAI.  Mongol general and grandson of Genghis.

10. Paul Newman hockey film: SLAP SHOT.

11. Sopping: WET.

12. Decree: EDICT.

13. Ancient Greek marketplace: AGORA.

14. Hero in operas, typically: TENOR.  See also 52 Down.

19. __ oil: CANOLA.  RAPESEED (from which CANOLA oil is made) was more a more difficult name to merchandise.

May the Schwartz Be With You

20. Key spot: RING.  Not a reference to something important. Not a reference to a small island.

25. Juilliard deg.: MFA.  Master of Fine Arts

27. Gasohol, e.g.: FUEL.  A mixture of gasoline and alcohol.

28. Division word: INTO.

29. Yummy: GOOD.  Some things do not get better with age:

30. "Sons of Anarchy" actor Perlman: RON.

31. Furthermore: TOO.  AND would have fit the allotted space.  ALSO would not.

35. Univ. lecturer: PROF.  PROFessor

36. iPad speaker: SIRI.  "She" speaks out loud.  Not the audio speaker built into your iPad.

37. Gridiron unit: YARD.   I recently found a round, black piece of plastic with a hole in the middle and grooves on both sides. I picked it up and threw it. It flew for more than 300 yards.  I'm sure that must have been a record.

39. Wind up with: NET.  If you ever wonder "What's my NET worth?" it's probably less than you paid for it.

40. Getting some air: INHALING.  Not out for a walk.

41. "One __ time!": AT A.

42. Foray: SORTIE.

44. Call from a coach: TIMEOUT.

45. Wt. units: OZS.  OZ, as the abbreviation for ounce, came from the Italian onza meaning ounce.

48. Coup d'__: ETAT.  One of  Today's French lessons although thoroughly incorporated into English usage.  French for "stroke of state".   A coup d'ETAT is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership.

49. Is unacceptable: WON'T DO.

50. Mavericks city: DALLAS.  A basketball reference.

51. Do a favor for: OBLIGE.  They are then OBLIGatEd to you.

52. Unlikely heroines in operas, typically: ALTOS.  See also 14 Down.

53. Get to: REACH.  I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him fifty bucks that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf.  He declined the bet saying, "No, the steaks are too high."

54. Creative sort: MAKER.  Earlier in the week this might have been clued as Coffee ______ .

59. Cry of delight: WHEE.

60. "That's my cue!": I"M ON.  What are you on, dude?

61. __, zwei, drei: EINS.  Today's German lesson. 1, 2, 3.

62. Eye affliction: STYE.  A frequent affliction in our puzzles.

64. Mer contents: EAU.  Another of today's French lesson.  Mer = Sea and EAU = water.

65. Fight-ending letters: TKO.  A boxing reference.  Technical KnockOut

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