theme: POWER TRIP. each theme answer consists of two words, each of which can precede the word POWER.
17A. *Career soldier : MILITARY MAN. Military power / Manpower
24A. *1995 movie flop dubbed "Fishtar" by some critics : WATERWORLD. Water power / World Power
29A. *Much-sought-after celebrity : SUPERSTAR. Superpower / Star power
44A. *Sun emanation responsible for the northern lights : SOLAR WIND. Solar power / Wind power
49A. *Petal pusher? : FLOWER GIRL. Flower power / Girl power
62A. Brangelina, e.g.—or, in a way, each of the answers to starred clues : POWER COUPLE
melissa here. SIX power-packed theme answers, love that. lots of great fill, too - let's power through …
across
1. Pressured, with "on" : LEANED
7. NASA citrus drink : TANG. engineered to taste like orange.
11. Digital doc format : PDF
14. Cry from an oversleeper : I'M LATE. i saw a white volkswagen rabbit once with the license plate ML8ML8.
15. Smokehouse order : RIBS
16. Meyers of "Kate & Allie" : ARI. vaguely remember that show. would love to see this POWERful-voiced ari clued.
19. Quaint curse : POX. a pox on you!
20. Yellowish green : OLIVE. drab.
21. "Gotcha!" : I SEE
22. Small craft concern : GALE. and 40d. Take a trip by ship : SAIL
she's a good old boat, and she'll stay afloat
through the toughest gale, and keep smiling
23. End of a New Year's song : SYNE. same old lang syne.
26. Word before chi or after mai : TAI. i recommend both.
28. Long tale : SAGA
35. Baker's 13 : DOZEN. from wikipedia: "Bakers who were found to have shortchanged customers could be subject to severe punishment including judicial amputation of a hand. To guard against losing a hand to an axe, a baker would give 13 for the price of 12 in order to be certain of not being known as a cheat."
38. Campfire residue : ASH
39. Beijing-born, say : CHINESE
41. Madhouse : ZOO. like it.
42. Green stuff : MOOLA.
46. Unveiler's cry : TA DA. or solver's cry.
48. British verb ender : ISE. ex: british english - realise vs. american english - realize.
54. Walrus feature : TUSK
58. Dieter's gain? : LOSS. nice.
59. Singer Erykah : BADU
60. Political channel : C-SPAN
61. Word of repulsion : UGH. because ew.
64. "__ Big to Fail": 2009 account of the financial crisis : TOO
65. Gets to : IRKS
66. Mourn : GRIEVE
67. Clairvoyant's gift : ESP
68. Soft "Yo!" : PSST
69. Beginning bits : INTROS
down
1. Oscar night rides : LIMOS
2. "Our Town" girl : EMILY. thornton wilder play.
3. Too pooped to pop : ALL IN
4. Unworldliness : NAIVETE. great word.
5. Sermon ending? : ETTE. sermonette. in my experience, these are rare.
6. Deal-busting org. : DEA. drug enforcement agency.
7. Behind-closed-doors event : TRYST
8. 'Til Tuesday lead vocalist Mann : AIMEE
9. Cavs and Mavs : NBA-ERS
10. "The Pyramid" channel : GSN. game show network.
11. 29-Across chasers : PAPARAZZI (29a = super star). just great.
12. Dryly amusing : DROLL
13. Not likely to move : FIXED
18. River valley formation : RIA. new to me. wikipedia: coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley.
22. Disco adjective : GO-GO. leftover from yesterday?
24. Fingers-crossed thought : WISH
25. Angler's gear : WADERS
27. Place to play "Space Invaders" : ARCADE
29. "Skyfall" director Mendes : SAM. 2012 james bond movie.
30. GI's hangout : USO
31. Image-editing software : PHOTOSHOP
32. "__ a pity" : 'TIS. first part of the title of a john ford play. second half wouldn't pass the breakfast test.
33. Year abroad? : AÑO. spanish year.
34. Fam. reunion attendee : REL. relative.
36. Years and years : EON
37. Bob of hope, maybe : NOD. awesome.
43. Congressional output : LAWS
45. Triathlon attire : WETSUIT
47. Vine yards? : ARBORS
49. Champagne glass : FLUTE
50. Java's coffee cup et al. : LOGOS
51. Stares stupidly : GAWKS
52. Latin clarifier : ID EST. that is.
53. 1921 robot play : R.U.R. crosswordese.
55. Shoe top : UPPER
56. Simultaneous weapons discharge : SALVO. didn't remember this. "the simultaneous release of a rack of bombs from an aircraft."
57. Oft-patched clothing parts : KNEES
60. Trite stuff : CORN. as in corny.
62. Humdinger : PIP
63. Software-driven film effects, for short : CGI. computer generated imagery.
melissa
Notes from C.C.:
I just received this email from Norma Rosenfield of Marbles: The Brain Store:
"Marbles: The Brain Store’ will host its fifth annual charity crossword tournament at several U.S. Locations the weekend of April 20-21. Competitors will solve unpublished crossword puzzles provided by Will Shortz. The event will benefit the Brain Research Foundation - http://www.thebrf.org/
More information and to register:
http://www.
The L.A. event will be held at the Fashion Square mall location in Sherman Oaks.
INTERESTING SIDE NOTE: One of our L.A.-based judges is David Steinberg, a teen-ager from Palos Verdes, CA. David submitted a crossword puzzle to Will Shortz/NYT when he was 12; Shortz rejected it but told him not to give up. He didn't, and on his 17th try, when he was 14, David got the letter he had been waiting for and a check for $200. His puzzle ran June 16, 2011. Since then, David has had five more puzzles published in the Times.
More on David here: http://www.ocregister.com/
melissa
Notes from C.C.:
I just received this email from Norma Rosenfield of Marbles: The Brain Store:
"Marbles: The Brain Store’ will host its fifth annual charity crossword tournament at several U.S. Locations the weekend of April 20-21. Competitors will solve unpublished crossword puzzles provided by Will Shortz. The event will benefit the Brain Research Foundation - http://www.thebrf.org/
More information and to register:
http://www.
The L.A. event will be held at the Fashion Square mall location in Sherman Oaks.
INTERESTING SIDE NOTE: One of our L.A.-based judges is David Steinberg, a teen-ager from Palos Verdes, CA. David submitted a crossword puzzle to Will Shortz/NYT when he was 12; Shortz rejected it but told him not to give up. He didn't, and on his 17th try, when he was 14, David got the letter he had been waiting for and a check for $200. His puzzle ran June 16, 2011. Since then, David has had five more puzzles published in the Times.
More on David here: http://www.ocregister.com/
