Theme: Dearborn's Finest - the first words of the theme entries are all model names of Ford cars
20A. Accommodating work hours: FLEX SCHEDULES
32A. Market research panel: FOCUS GROUP
41A. Frito-Lay is its title sponsor: FIESTA BOWL
52A. Culinary combination: FUSION CUISINE
and the unifier:
65A. Company that manufactures the starts of 20-, 32-, 41- and 52-Across: FORD
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| "Any color you like as long as it's black" |
Top o' the morning to you all. Steve here with an entertaining and alliterative "F" theme from David. Very nicely done, and some crisp fill also. Let's check out the rest.
Across:
1 Chiang Mai native: THAI
5 Dance moves: STEPS. My dance moves are hilarious. A girlfriend and I took dancing classes once and we weren't allowed to graduate from Ballroom 101. Mostly my fault.
10 Cheerful: GLAD
14 Mint, e.g.: HERB. If you plant it in your garden don't put it directly in the ground unless you don't want anything else in five year's time - it spreads like crazy. Plant it in a pot in the dirt.
15 Ira Gershwin contribution: LYRIC
16 Indiana neighbor: OHIO
17 Palindromic fashion mag: ELLE. My favorite palindrome is a tribute to the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps: "A man, a plan, a canal. Panama."
18 More aloof: ICIER
19 “Walking in Memphis” singer Cohn: MARC. With 10D this was close to a personal natick for me - I wasn't familiar with either name. I knew the song though - a nice live version here.
23 Large amount: TON
24 “O Sole __”: MIO
25 Harper’s __: BAZAAR
28 Chewie’s shipmate: HAN. A youthful-looking Harrison Ford as Han Solo with his furry sidekick in the original Star Wars movie.
29 Béchamel base: ROUX. Food! The butter-and-flour mixture before the milk is added to complete the sauce.
31 Monopoly deed abbr.: AVE
36 Laundry cycle: SPIN
37 Fairway boundary: ROUGH. I'm very familiar with these parts of every golf course I've played.
38 Part of i.e.: EST. Id Est. Literally, "that is".
39 Biblical prophet: HOSEA. Perps all the way. I need to brush up on my biblical prophets one day.
40 “Yikes!”: OH NO!
43 Mark of Zorro: ZEE. It would be ZED if Zorro was English.
44 Action on eBay: BIDS.
45 USN rank: ENS. I believe that an Ensign is the lowest-ranking commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy
46 Acquirer of more than 1,000 patents: EDISON
48 It includes mayo: AÑO. My favorite clue/answer combo today. The month of May in the Spanish-language year. Purists might want to see mayo capitalized, but I'm fine with the misdirection (From C.C.: Spanish months are not capitalized, yes?)
49 SUV part: Abbr.: VEH.
56 Roger Rabbit or Bugs Bunny: TOON
58 Heart of Paris?: COEUR. Because L'arc de Triomphe doesn't fit.
59 Old Norse poetry collection: EDDA
60 Bring in: EARN
61 Rockne of Notre Dame fame: KNUTE. He of locker-room speech fame.
62 Look slyly: LEER
63 Multitude: ARMY
64 “Bullitt” director Peter: YATES
Down:
1 Taking the wrong way?: THEFT
2 Nametag greeting: HELLO, my name is Steve
3 “Over the Rainbow” composer: ARLEN. If you've never heard this version by Hawaiian legend Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole you're in for a treat.
4 Wild mountain goat: IBEX
5 Deli worker’s chore: SLICING
6 Danish astronomer Brahe: TYCHO. World Champion Mustache-grower too.
7 Toledo’s lake: ERIE
8 Mottled: PIED. The Mottled Piper of Hamelin doesn't have the same ring to it, somehow.
9 Prepare for surgery: SCRUB UP
10 Lefty in Cooperstown: GOMEZ. I'm sure C.C. has heard of Vernon "Lefty" Gomez, legendary pitcher for the Yankees and the Washington Senators, but an unknown for me and a near-Natick with 19A. (From C.C.: I'm sure Tinbeni had it correct. I wanted GROVE!)
11 Small Asian pooch bred as a watchdog: LHASA APSO
12 Balloon filler: AIR
13 Medical nickname: DOC. 56A's "What's up?"
21 Big success: SMASH
22 Lenient: LAX
26 Miller’s “__ From the Bridge”: A VIEW
27 Kidney-related: RENAL
28 “Les Misérables” author: HUGO
29 Derby prize: ROSES. The Kentucky Derby is promoted under the tag line "The Run for the Roses". The winning horse is draped in a blanket made of roses. The winning owner gets $2,000,000, out of which the trainer and the jockey get a cut.
30 Ways of escape: OUTS
32 Succumbed to stage fright: FROZE
33 Wondered aloud?: OOHED. In the "in awe of the fireworks" sense rather than the "what the heck were those explosions"?
34 Babylonian writing system: CUNEIFORM
35 Senate majority leader since 2007: REID. Nevada Democrat Harry Reid.
36 Weeps convulsively: SOBS
39 Capital west of Haiphong: HANOI. A trip to Vietnam is on my must-do bucket list.
41 Hard to please: FINICKY. Fun word.
42 Grants permanent status to, as a professor: TENURES
44 A.L. East team: BOS.
47 Golf-friendly forecast: SUNNY. It was sunny here in LA when I played on Sunday, but I'm not sure it was particularly golf-friendly - it was 103F.
48 Like the accent in “entrée”: ACUTE
49 Wedding memento: VIDEO. Not "Ball and Chain"?
50 Rear-__: ENDER
51 Found out: HEARD
53 Chaplin’s last wife: OONA
54 Neither masc. nor fem.: NEUT. English is a gender-neutral language as far as nouns are concerned.
55 Narcissist’s love: SELF
56 Darjeeling, e.g.: TEA. A beautiful region of India
57 Scull propeller: OAR. Strictly speaking, a scull is propelled by scullers using sculls, but I'll give this one a pass.
That's it from me - see you all next time.
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Tickets are still available for "An Evening with the Puzzle Master". Will Shortz, editor of NY Times
crossword, is visiting Minnesota tomorrow (Sept 12, 2013). He'll
answer all questions about puzzles. Click here for
details. Are you coming, Qli? Other North Dakota or our Wisconsin readers? It's really a great opportunity to meet with Mr. Shortz, all Twin Cities constructors and other crossword lovers
2) Marti mentioned yesterday that Montana is visiting her son in CT, and they're planning to meet
for lunch in Hartford next Monday September 16. Dudley our dashing pilot & Feng shui expert (OK, maybe not expert yet) will be there too. Any other members of the Corner New England
contingent can make it? Please contact Marti (HeartRx@me.com) for more details. I thought of LaLaLinda (The Saturday Stud misses your comments!) & Hondo, but health may prevent them from making the trip.
3) Happy 67th Birthday to dear Husker Gary! Love his captions. Gary helped us through an chaotic time last year when our blog went blank. His daily musings are always fun to read, full of trivia & some pithy life observations.
From Gary:
"Here's a picture of Joann and me at the Crazy Horse Memorial that was mentioned in our puzzle last week and also in celebration of my completion of 67 orbits of the Sun today. I hope this September 11th is a good one for all, free of the tragedy of past ones."
"Here's a picture of Joann and me at the Crazy Horse Memorial that was mentioned in our puzzle last week and also in celebration of my completion of 67 orbits of the Sun today. I hope this September 11th is a good one for all, free of the tragedy of past ones."
