Theme: FOOT PARTS (35A. This puzzle's theme if you listen to the beginnings of 20-, 40- and 59-Across and 11-Down) - The start of each theme answer is a homophone of foot part.
20A. Proverbial advice to a physician: HEAL THYSELF. (Heel). The epithet of St Luke, a patron saint of doctors, as used by Paul in Colossians 4:14. Early 15th century King James version, the meaning is that before attempting to correct others you should make sure that you are not guilty of the same faults. "First do no harm" is part of the Hippocratic oath all doctors must take. If you read the warnings about any drug, "no" must have a rather loose definition.
40A. Scold vigorously: BAWL OUT. (Ball).
59A. Certain no-parking area: TOW-AWAY ZONE. (Toe).
11A. Motown genre: SOUL MUSIC. (Sole). Also a book by Terry Pratchett.
Al here, guesting once more. Yesterday's many three-letter answers have been upgraded to fours and fives, but still a pretty easy puzzle for a Wednesday.
Across:
1. Basic Latin lesson word: AMAT. He/She/It loves.
5. Bedtime story preceder, perhaps: BATH.
9. '70s dance club: DISCO.
14. Dancer Falana: LOLA. Appeared on the Muppet Show and posed for Playboy. Not at the same time.
15. Canyon effect: ECHO. A nymph in Greek tragedy who was condemned to speak only by repeating what others had spoken. She also fell in love with Narcissus, who did not return her love, so Echo prayed that he would fall in love with himself. On his death he was transformed into the flower narcissus and as some varieties of this flower contain a sleep-inducing drug, the word "narcotic" was used to describe it. So, from the interwoven Greek myth, we have gained the word "echo", "narcissism" meaning self love, "narcissus" the flower and "narcotic" the effects of certain drugs.
16. Not whispered: ALOUD.
17. Response bias may affect one: POLL. Very difficult to compose neutral questions, especially around politics. Do they really care about your responses? Or is the whole point to simply influence the person being polled without seeming to...
18. Weak, as a novel plot: THIN.
19. Piccolo, e.g.: FLUTE. A half-sized one.
23. "__ Miz": LES. Les Misérables, the miserable ones.
24. Stick: ADHERE.
25. Reasoned belief in a supreme being: DEISM. Derived from the latin word "Deus", meaning god, which also gave us Zeus.
27. Scaredy-cat: SISSY.
30. Appoint as a posse member, say: DEPUTE. This word is technically correct, but my preference outside of crosswords would be to use "deputize" instead. Too many old westerns, perhaps.
33. Huck's transport: RAFT. Huckleberry Finn.
36. Consider: DEEM. To pronounce judgment on something or someone.
38. Obama's younger daughter: SASHA. Natasha. Her older sister is Nalia, lots of vowels and common consonants. (Correction: It's Malia, not Nalia.)
39. "The Name of the Rose" writer: ECO. Umberto.
42. Damaged, as mdse.: IRR. Irregular is not necessarily damaged. Navajo blankets anyone?
43. BP merger partner: AMOCO. Beyond Petroleum. They kind of downplayed the original British Petroleum name when they bought the AMerican Oil CO.
45. Stretch of time: SPAN. Interminable if you are forced to watch C-SPAN.
46. Bra size: B-CUP. Made you look...
47. Falling star: METEOR. Meteor vs meteorite vs meteoroid
49. Lesley of "60 Minutes": STAHL.
51. Model's array: POSES. What were they thinking?
53. "Get lost!": BEAT IT. Don't 'cha make me repeat it.
57. Defense gp.?: ABA. American Bar Association. Why "Bar"? In the 1550s, from the railing that separated benchers from the hall in the Inns of Court. Students who had attained a certain standing were "called" to it to take part in the important exercises of the house. After c.1600, however, this was popularly assumed to mean the bar in a courtroom, which was the wooden railing marking off the area around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood for arraignment and where a barrister stood to plead.
62. Brink: VERGE. Edge, rim. Different origin than Converge, which is "bent together".
64. Hit the ground: ALIT.
65. 1814-'15 exile site: ELBA. Napoleon technically ruled there during exile, but wasn't allowed to leave.
66. River romper: OTTER.
67. Titicaca, for one: LAKE. Borders on Peru and Bolivia, one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. The largest lake in South America by volume.
68. Cause a stench: REEK.
69. Natural homes: NESTS.
70. Author Bagnold: ENID. National Velvet.
71. Norms: Abbr.: STDS. Standards.
Down:
1. Top dog: ALPHA.
2. Was heard from the herd: MOOED.
3. Muslim god: ALLAH. Apparently has more than 99 names.
4. Like a basketball team's center, usually: TALLEST.
5. National Institutes of Health city: BETHESDA. Maryland.
6. In need of a massage: ACHY. I'll spare you from linking Billy Ray Cyrus today...
7. "Now hear __!": THIS.
8. Sharpened: HONED.
9. Most goofy: DAFFIEST.
10. Laid up: ILL.
12. Adorable: CUTE. A Japanese Bento box. (someone's lunch)
13. Shelley works: ODES. Percy Bysshe Shelley.
21. Prefix with sect or cycle: TRI. Trisect: to divide a line or an angle in three equal parts.
22. Captained: LED.
26. Hot tub: SPA. Balneotherapy
28. Monopolizes, with "up": SEWS.
29. Kennel sounds: YELPS.
31. No __ traffic: THRU.
32. O.K. Corral fighter: EARP. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan.
33. 500 sheets: REAM. 24 sheets: quire. 10 reams: bale.
34. Zenith: ACME. From the Greek word: Akme. Apex is from Latin.
37. Defensive trench: MOAT. Similar to a ha-ha around a British garden (to keep cattle out originally).
40. Fans: BOOSTERS.
41. With sustained force: UNABATED. Unlike your breath, when you wait for something important.
44. Jobs, vis-à-vis Apple Inc.: CEO. Steve Jobs, (not employment jobs).
46. Oregon NBA team, familiarly: BLAZERS. Portland Trailblazers.
48. Old touring car: REO. Ransom Eli Olds.
50. "Yo!": HEY. Yo, Adrian!
52. Low, moist area: SWALE.
54. Apartment sign: TO LET.
55. Asleep, probably: IN BED.
56. Tropical hardwoods: TEAKS. That would be multiple species of teak, I guess...
57. Stratford's river: AVON.
58. __ noire: BETE. Literally "black beast", an insufferable person.
60. Actor Rickman: ALAN. Professor Snape from Harry Potter, Hans Gruber in Die Hard, and Metatron (the voice of God) in Dogma. He can play any character type, good, bad or in-between.
61. Collaborative Web site: WIKI. "Simple" database software so that anyone can contribute without having database experience. A Hawaiian word for "fast", it has been "bacronymed" to mean "What I Know Is". A Bacronym is a made up phrase after a word is already in use to try to make an acronym of it, such as POSH, which does not actually come from port out starboard home...
63. Figure out: GET.
Answer grid.
Al
20A. Proverbial advice to a physician: HEAL THYSELF. (Heel). The epithet of St Luke, a patron saint of doctors, as used by Paul in Colossians 4:14. Early 15th century King James version, the meaning is that before attempting to correct others you should make sure that you are not guilty of the same faults. "First do no harm" is part of the Hippocratic oath all doctors must take. If you read the warnings about any drug, "no" must have a rather loose definition.
40A. Scold vigorously: BAWL OUT. (Ball).
59A. Certain no-parking area: TOW-AWAY ZONE. (Toe).
11A. Motown genre: SOUL MUSIC. (Sole). Also a book by Terry Pratchett.
Al here, guesting once more. Yesterday's many three-letter answers have been upgraded to fours and fives, but still a pretty easy puzzle for a Wednesday.
Across:
1. Basic Latin lesson word: AMAT. He/She/It loves.
5. Bedtime story preceder, perhaps: BATH.
9. '70s dance club: DISCO.
14. Dancer Falana: LOLA. Appeared on the Muppet Show and posed for Playboy. Not at the same time.
15. Canyon effect: ECHO. A nymph in Greek tragedy who was condemned to speak only by repeating what others had spoken. She also fell in love with Narcissus, who did not return her love, so Echo prayed that he would fall in love with himself. On his death he was transformed into the flower narcissus and as some varieties of this flower contain a sleep-inducing drug, the word "narcotic" was used to describe it. So, from the interwoven Greek myth, we have gained the word "echo", "narcissism" meaning self love, "narcissus" the flower and "narcotic" the effects of certain drugs.
16. Not whispered: ALOUD.
17. Response bias may affect one: POLL. Very difficult to compose neutral questions, especially around politics. Do they really care about your responses? Or is the whole point to simply influence the person being polled without seeming to...
18. Weak, as a novel plot: THIN.
19. Piccolo, e.g.: FLUTE. A half-sized one.
23. "__ Miz": LES. Les Misérables, the miserable ones.
24. Stick: ADHERE.
25. Reasoned belief in a supreme being: DEISM. Derived from the latin word "Deus", meaning god, which also gave us Zeus.
27. Scaredy-cat: SISSY.
30. Appoint as a posse member, say: DEPUTE. This word is technically correct, but my preference outside of crosswords would be to use "deputize" instead. Too many old westerns, perhaps.
33. Huck's transport: RAFT. Huckleberry Finn.
36. Consider: DEEM. To pronounce judgment on something or someone.
38. Obama's younger daughter: SASHA. Natasha. Her older sister is Nalia, lots of vowels and common consonants. (Correction: It's Malia, not Nalia.)
39. "The Name of the Rose" writer: ECO. Umberto.
42. Damaged, as mdse.: IRR. Irregular is not necessarily damaged. Navajo blankets anyone?
43. BP merger partner: AMOCO. Beyond Petroleum. They kind of downplayed the original British Petroleum name when they bought the AMerican Oil CO.
45. Stretch of time: SPAN. Interminable if you are forced to watch C-SPAN.
46. Bra size: B-CUP. Made you look...
47. Falling star: METEOR. Meteor vs meteorite vs meteoroid
49. Lesley of "60 Minutes": STAHL.
51. Model's array: POSES. What were they thinking?
53. "Get lost!": BEAT IT. Don't 'cha make me repeat it.
57. Defense gp.?: ABA. American Bar Association. Why "Bar"? In the 1550s, from the railing that separated benchers from the hall in the Inns of Court. Students who had attained a certain standing were "called" to it to take part in the important exercises of the house. After c.1600, however, this was popularly assumed to mean the bar in a courtroom, which was the wooden railing marking off the area around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood for arraignment and where a barrister stood to plead.
62. Brink: VERGE. Edge, rim. Different origin than Converge, which is "bent together".
64. Hit the ground: ALIT.
65. 1814-'15 exile site: ELBA. Napoleon technically ruled there during exile, but wasn't allowed to leave.
66. River romper: OTTER.
67. Titicaca, for one: LAKE. Borders on Peru and Bolivia, one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. The largest lake in South America by volume.
68. Cause a stench: REEK.
69. Natural homes: NESTS.
70. Author Bagnold: ENID. National Velvet.
71. Norms: Abbr.: STDS. Standards.
Down:
1. Top dog: ALPHA.
2. Was heard from the herd: MOOED.
3. Muslim god: ALLAH. Apparently has more than 99 names.
4. Like a basketball team's center, usually: TALLEST.
5. National Institutes of Health city: BETHESDA. Maryland.
6. In need of a massage: ACHY. I'll spare you from linking Billy Ray Cyrus today...
7. "Now hear __!": THIS.
8. Sharpened: HONED.
9. Most goofy: DAFFIEST.
10. Laid up: ILL.
12. Adorable: CUTE. A Japanese Bento box. (someone's lunch)
13. Shelley works: ODES. Percy Bysshe Shelley.
21. Prefix with sect or cycle: TRI. Trisect: to divide a line or an angle in three equal parts.
22. Captained: LED.
26. Hot tub: SPA. Balneotherapy
28. Monopolizes, with "up": SEWS.
29. Kennel sounds: YELPS.
31. No __ traffic: THRU.
32. O.K. Corral fighter: EARP. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan.
33. 500 sheets: REAM. 24 sheets: quire. 10 reams: bale.
34. Zenith: ACME. From the Greek word: Akme. Apex is from Latin.
37. Defensive trench: MOAT. Similar to a ha-ha around a British garden (to keep cattle out originally).
40. Fans: BOOSTERS.
41. With sustained force: UNABATED. Unlike your breath, when you wait for something important.
44. Jobs, vis-à-vis Apple Inc.: CEO. Steve Jobs, (not employment jobs).
46. Oregon NBA team, familiarly: BLAZERS. Portland Trailblazers.
48. Old touring car: REO. Ransom Eli Olds.
50. "Yo!": HEY. Yo, Adrian!
52. Low, moist area: SWALE.
54. Apartment sign: TO LET.
55. Asleep, probably: IN BED.
56. Tropical hardwoods: TEAKS. That would be multiple species of teak, I guess...
57. Stratford's river: AVON.
58. __ noire: BETE. Literally "black beast", an insufferable person.
60. Actor Rickman: ALAN. Professor Snape from Harry Potter, Hans Gruber in Die Hard, and Metatron (the voice of God) in Dogma. He can play any character type, good, bad or in-between.
61. Collaborative Web site: WIKI. "Simple" database software so that anyone can contribute without having database experience. A Hawaiian word for "fast", it has been "bacronymed" to mean "What I Know Is". A Bacronym is a made up phrase after a word is already in use to try to make an acronym of it, such as POSH, which does not actually come from port out starboard home...
63. Figure out: GET.
Answer grid.
Al
