Friday, August 9, 2024, Ed Sessa

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here asking the question of the day:  What the H is going on here?  Let's try to answer that.

Today's puzzle setter is the prolific and always entertaining Ed Sessa.  In today's puzzle, Ed has dropped the H sound from the SH start to the first words of four common two-word expressions and, thereby, morphed the expressions to provide fitting answers to the clues - at least phonetically.  Here is where he has done this:

17 Across:  Principle behind "speak softly and carry a big stick"?: SUBTLE DIPLOMACY. From Shuttle Diplomacy.  Drop the H and we get "SUTTLE".  Correct the spelling and we get the answer.  Shuttle Diplomacy is the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact.  Personally, I never thought there was much subtlty involved in TR's advice/approach.

31 Across:  Grumblers left holding the bag?: SOUR CADDIES.  A golf reference.  From Shower Caddies.  Drop the H and we get "SOWER" which works phonetically if we retain the pronunciation from SHOWER and don't decide to start a garden,  Again, correct the spelling and, well, you get it.

40 Across:  Some Lakota winter supplies?: SIOUX STORES.  From Shoe Stores.  Many moons ago, this reviewer watched a TV sitcom in which an Eastern European and a Native American went into the retail business together.  They opened a shop called The Sew And The Jioux.  I wonder if Ed saw that same show.

56 Across:  Item in a moth-infested closet?: SUIT FULL OF HOLES.  From Shoot Full Of Holes.

Here is a look at the completed grid:

Here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Gymnastics event, informally: BARS. (Uneven) parallel bars.  As used at the Olympic Games.

5. Soccer star Kelley who hosted a "Just Women's Sports" podcast: OHARA.  Might have been clued with a GWTW reference.

10. Cobbler's item: SOLE.  Not a baking reference.  Cobbler's material would have let this solver first think of something other than AWL (too short, anyhow).  Speaking of close but not quite (homophone-wise):

Yardbirds - 1965

14. Cyan kin: AQUA.  See also 49 down.

15. Lavender kin: LILAC.  A reference to the color (not the plant).

16. "Metamorphoses" poet: OVID.

20. When doubled, very affectionate: KISSY.

21. Superlative ending: EST.  Anyone remember Erhard Seminars Training?

22. Perambulates: WALKS.  For pleasure.

23. Fictional archaeologist Lara: CROFT.

25. Hair salon supply: GEL.  DYE would have fit.

26. Church ensemble: CHOIR.

28. Law expert: JURIST.  By definition.

34. __ sale: TAG.  AKA garage sale.

36. Cartoon corporation: ACME.  Wile E Coyote's supplier of choice.

37. Maze features: TURNS.

38. The Met __: annual NYC fundraising event: GALA.  Formerly called the Costume Institute Benefit, the Met GALA is the annual fund raising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The GALA has been highly publicized in recent years.

39. Extinct New Zealand bird: MOA.  For extinct birds they sure do appear regularly.

42. Peppers used in mole: ANCHOS.  Today's Mexican cuisine reference.

44. Gouges: SOAKS.  Hand up for first thing of something to do with cutting a groove in a piece of wood.  Colloquialism for taking advantage of someone financially as in price gouging.

45. Lady bird: HEN.  Not a reference to LBJ's spouse.

46. Fingerprint feature: WHORL.

48. __ New Guinea: PAPUA.

51. Sci. course: BIO.  Several to choose from.  Thanks, perps.

52. Split up: APART.

59. Long-winged sea eagle: ERNE.  Sometimes we see TERN.

60. It means a lot: MUCHO.  One of today's Spanish lesson and not the first of several possible answers that came to mind.

61. Lustrous fabric: SILK.  Two SILK worms had a race.  They ended up in a tie.

62. "The Jellicle Ball" musical: CATS.

63. Like a loud crowd: AROAR.  A sound often heard in our puzzles.

64. __ Pueblo, New Mexico: TAOS.  Located north of the modern city of TAOS, TAOS Pueblo has a thousand-year history.

Down:

1. Enjoy the sun: BASK.

The Sunrays

2. Here, in Spanish: AQUI.  Another Spanish lesson.

3. Spice blends: RUBS.  This confirmed BBQ smoker liked this one.

4. College admission factor: SAT SCORE.

5. Flamenco shout: OLE.

6. Like most TVs: HI DEF.  HIgh DEFinition 

7. Top tier: A-LIST.

8. Spellbound: RAPT.

9. Knee injury initials: ACL.  Anterior Cruciate Ligament

10. Mogadishu resident: SOMALI.  Mogadishu is the capital city.

11. Like some rugs: OVAL. There were quite a few possibilities with this one.

12. Guitar riff: LICK.  Everybody has thier personal favorites.

13. Ice cream brand: EDY'S.

18. Melodious: LYRIC.  Shouldn't this be LYRICal?

19. People in debt: OWERS.  Has anyone ever heard this useage?

24. Special delivery?: ORATION.  Not a USPS reference.  Delivery of a speech.

25. "I suppose": GUESS SO.  Something that someone might say, I suppose.

26. Swiss Miss product: COCOA.  Not a reference to Heidi.

27. Not perfect: HUMAN.  To err is Human....

28. "We said the same thing!": JINX.  CSO!

29. Unembellished: STARK.  How refreshing to see this clued without a "Game of Thrones" reference.

30. Chaucer collection: TALES.

31. Heughan of "Outlander": SAM.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, perps.

32. Olympic badminton teams, e.g.: DUOS.  There are other, less obscure, ways to clue this but (a) it is topical and (b) it is Friday.

33. R&B's __ Hill: DRU.

35. Mini mover: GAS.  A bit of a stumper at first.  The clue seems to refer to the Mini Cooper automobile.

38. End zone upright: GOAL POST.  Often used in a metaphor.

40. Wheat bundle: SHEAF.

41. Bat mitzvah scroll: TORAH.  The first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

43. Half of a board game: CHUTES.  Cute clue.

46. "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" indie band: WILCO.  Being unfamiliar with the band this one was a bit difficult.  The NATO alphabet and radio lingo answer (Will Comply) seem to go well to gether.

47. Rumpus: HOO-HA.  I am pretty certain that I recall this word being used in a quite different context on "Two And A Half Men".

48. Min. fraction: PSEC.  Often, we get NSEC.  PicoSECond.  One trillionth of a second.

49. Energy field: AURA.  See also 14 Across.  According to ancient Japanese lore, the colour of a person’s aura changes when they leave the room.  Cyan-aura.

50. Pub order: PINT.

51. Cloudiness: BLUR.  Not sure if the forms of the clue/answer match up?  It's a bit of a BLUR.

53. Et __: and others: ALIA.  Sometimes we get ALII.

54. Move for one's co., say: RELO.  RELOcate.

55. Clucking sounds: TSKS.  Sometimes we get TUTS.

57. Thurman of "Red, White & Royal Blue": UMA.

58. Pro: FOR.  Not anti / against.

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