C.C. and her brother Andy had a Monday puzzle on July 5th of this year and have followed that up with a Saturday themeless. C.C. last saw her brother in 2002 but keeps in frequent contact with him via WeChat (see some random Chinese screen shots below*). He is a logistics supervisor for an electronic commerce company in Xi'an, China. C.C. said, "We learned English in high school. His spoken English is not good. But his written English is not bad."
C.C. wrote to show me their first puzzle which you see at the left below. She said Rich changed the red area SHEN -> THEN and she and Andy changed the green area SOMEN -> RAMEN. SHEN Yun is returning to Omaha in February and this is SOMEN . We have seen SHEN Yun advertised a lot around here and I think I would have sussed out SOMEN eventually but Rich's changes made things much easier. It seems to me that Rich let some harder words go by in Stella's puzzle of last week but I enjoyed both of them.
Andy and C.C.'s submission Rich's edited version
Across:
1. Chinese New Year tradition: LION DANCE - Appropriate
10. They may be inflatable: RAFTS.
15. Over and over and over ...: AD NAUSEAM - Car insurance commercials
16. Plugged in: AWARE.
17. Leads: GOES FIRST - Traffic is stopped for this leader
18. Degas contemporary: MONET - Do you know which is which? You connoisseurs will know but I will put the answer at the bottom **
19. Mel who gave Archie a batting tip in "Field of Dreams": OTT - Here is young Archie Graham batting in the uniform of Mel OTT's Giants.
20. Top choice: FAVE.
21. Called out: YELLED.
22. Momentarily: SOON.
24. Hold in a match: NELSON - It's been around for a quite a while.
26. Like: ALA.
27. "I got this": ON IT - I'm ON IT not It's ON ME
29. Cartoon shopkeeper: APU - The cast of The Simpsons are crossword staples
30. Help on the job: ABET.
31. "What a relief!": THAT WAS CLOSE - but he kept taking pictures!
35. __ Slam: tennis coup: SERENA - SERENA Williams has twice held all four major tennis championships but not in the same calendar year.
37. Puts on again: REAIRS - It cost Netflix $500,000,000 to REAIR these episodes
38. Product whose proteins are aligned in manufacturing: STRING CHEESE - New to me but easy to fill
40. Bust maker: NARC - Oh, bust as in arrest
41. Scrape (out): EKE - You just 42. Recognize: KNOW EKE will show up often in cwds
45. Before now: AGO.
46. 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup champions: FLYERS.
49. Korean jjigae, e.g.: STEW -A Korean stew usually served from a communal pot Pronounciation
51. Where Alexander the Great overthrew Darius III: PERSIA.
53. Thailand neighbor: LAOS.
55. Stick in the water: OAR - as opposed to being a "stick in the mud". Fun!
56. Plant from the Greek for "flame": PHLOX - Word derivation
57. "I'm serious": IT'S NO JOKE.
59. Free: LOOSE.
60. Cloud content: DATA FILES - My DATA FILES are saved on iCloud
61. Convenient breakfast choice: EGGOS.
62. Complex unit: APARTMENT.
Down:
1. Nigerian National Museum site: LAGOS.
2. "Same here!": I DO TOO.
3. Pickup capacity: ONE TON.
4. Rapper who co-founded Mass Appeal Records: NAS - Google if you must
5. Rear end: DUFF - Hillary DUFF and her...
6. Georgian, e.g.: ASIAN - A state that really doesn't give a hoot that the Atlanta Braves won the World Series
7. __ ending: NERVE.
8. Basis for legal precedent: CASE LAW - Case law is law that is based on judicial decisions rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. A famous one:
9. CPR pro: EMT.
10. Budget noodle dish: RAMEN - As you read, Andy and C.C. replaced SOMEN with RAMEN and altered the corner
11. Nowhere to be seen: AWOL.
12. Creative works by devoted followers: FAN LABOR.
13. Like steppes, mostly: TREELESS - What is now downtown Lincoln, Nebraska in 1868, long before Arbor Day
14. It's fixed: SET DATE - My granddaughter's wedding day was a SET DATE and then Covid hit...
21. "Here's the thing ... ": YOU SEE.
23. Kind of acid: NITRIC - NITRIC acid can react with toluene to form a familiar crossword substance
25. Alley pickup: SPARE - Boomer prefers "lane" to "alley"
28. In that case: THEN - Rich took issue with SHEN and redid this area
30. Scary 1986 sequel: ALIENS - A sequel to 1979's Alien
35. Improv spotlight usurper: STAGE HOG - Many say Jerry Lewis was a big one
36. Techie's diagnostic list: ERROR LOG - I called Spectrum with a problem getting a picture on my MacBook. I took a screen shot of the ERROR message I was getting and we worked it out.
38. "Made from the Best Stuff on Earth" drink brand: SNAPPLE.
39. Shoe lift: HEEL TAP.
43. "Becket" star: OTOOLE.
44. Sap: WEAKEN.
46. Tight spots: FIXES.
47. Follower of Jah: RASTA - Jah is the Rastafarian name for God
48. Sub system: SONAR.
50. Yank: WREST - Football tacklers are always looking to yank/WREST the ball away from the ball carrier
58. "Mad Money" host Cramer: JIM - On his Daily Show, Jon Stewart aggressively scolded JIM Cramer for giving lousy investment advice during the 2008 mortgage crisis on his show Mad Money
*Screen shots of WeChat in Chinese
** Degas is on the right
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Big Easy (George)! Here he is with his wife Diane, the Louisiana
Tennis Hall of Famer.
Every time I blog - or solve - a David Alfred Bywaters' puzzle I am impressed by his use of common words and phrases, and offering the solver a decent chance to FIR (finish it right). I decided today to tap into my inner Husker Gary, and reach out to DAB in an email. He may stop by later to offer more insight to this particular puzzle. He has a website that offers not only puzzles, but also a blog about his other love, Victorian novels. And while I can't say that I am a big lover of Victorian novels (or any other novels, for that matter), he is; and if you are, then I highly recommend opening up that tab while you're there, visiting.
I mentioned to David that I, too, am a big lover and user of puns, both in my blog, comments, and even in a few of the puzzles I've had published. So now, "TERN" about is fair play! Let's get started with the explanation, though forgive me if I might appear to be "winging it"!
Today's puzzle - though quite worthy of a Friday or late-in-the-week puzzle - started out fairly easy. I used perps to assist me, and looked at the plethora of 3-letter entries to get a foothold. And while there're over 20 3-letter's used, very few were abbreviations: MRI, HMS and ATT. The rest were all real words. That was my first sign that this puzzle was well-constructed. And though I cheated a bit by reading through the clues to "look" for a reveal, I discovered there was none. These longish entries would be the unifiers in the solve. For example:
17-Across. Bird's perspective?: ORIOLE VIEW. This was my first "theme" solve, and I saw the similarity to the more common phrase, "AERIAL VIEW". The use of the word "ORIOLE" made me think of my title for this puzzle, that this is for the birds. And speaking of "birds" and "ORIOLES", I couldn't help but compare that the baseball team from Baltimore nicknamed the ORIOLES have an aerial view of sorts. Unfortunately (forgive me, waseeley) their "view" lately has been from the bottom, looking up! The ORIOLES, aka the "Birds" have languished in last place in their division four of the last five years. This certainly is not the organization I knew growing up, just 50 miles north of Baltimore. Their 1966 team, and their 1969-1971 teams were stellar
26-Across. Nurtured by a bird?: GROUSE FED. Ha! GROUSE FED! Who wouldn't choose a sirloin steak that was GROUSE FED? Well, maybe if it were GRASS fed instead. And as your head Stooge, here is a snippet from one of our (The Three Stooges) shorts, "Pop goes the Easel"
38-Across. Amorous bird?: TANAGER IN LOVE. Does the early bird who clicks on Moe's links get the earworm??
51-Across. Bird painting?: OWL FRESCO. OK. Moe "got it" but had to dig a little to "get" the clue. Al fresco - the common phrase - means "in the fresh air", which is why diners love to choose a restaurant with outdoor tables. Be aware, though, that in Italy if you were to ask your waiter to dine "al fresco" it could translate that you prefer eating "in prison"!
AnyHOO, the word "FRESCO" can also mean this, according to Wikipedia: FRESCO is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall.
So DAB's clue to create the pun was spot on. He wasn't flocking with us . . .
60-Across. Bird-wrestling move?: THRUSH HOLD. HaHa. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I would've found a THRUSH carrying its mate over the threshold, but in keeping with the clue, I found this instead:
5 - count 'em - 5 punny bird phrases. Could David have used these five instead?
1) Bird's disappearing act? BLACKBIRD ERASER
2) What do you call the act of an old bird who marries a younger one? ROBIN THE CRADLE
3) Op-ed from a shore bird? ERNEings REPORT
4) Bird-owned sardine factory? CANARY ROW
5) Unit of bird communication? TERN SIGNAL
Please add your own in the comments section below; "fowl" language is allowed! Here's the grid, and then on to the rest of the clues:
Across:
1. Pageantry: POMP. Confirmed by the Thesaurussaurus
5. Italian sports cars, briefly: ALFAS. ALFA Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian premium car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. They are now a part of Fiat Chrysler
10. Showed up: CAME. Past tense of come
14. Garage mechanic's goal, maybe: PURR. I should probably leave the cat cartoons and videos to CED, but this one describes the clue perfectly:
15. Dance studio fixture: BARRE. This entry could've also been clued: "Leaf-peeping destination in New England". But David doesn't use many proper name entries in his puzzles. Which of course prompted a Moe-ku:
Vermont ballet group Gives ballerina lessons: BARRE in Barre
16. Product of Queensland: OPAL. A fiery gemstone found in abundance in Australia
19. Place in the woods?: NECK. Clever
20. Child: TOT. First of the 3-letter entries; no abbreviation here
21. Pt. of AAA: ASSOC. So David decided to abbreviate a 5-letter, instead!! American Automobile ASSOCiation
23. Put off: REPEL. Also part of the word "repellent". The mosquitos have been quite active here in the VOTS this year
30. Take a good look at: EXAMINE. A refreshing change from some of the other "look at" clues that are associated with LEER, OGLE, et al
32. Convert to something better: PARLAY. As in betting. Often a gambler will PARLAY a wager to increase the payout. For example:
33. Respectful title: SIR. I notice that Millenials and Gen-X'ers will often address me as "SIR"
34. Muscly: TONED. "Muscly" is not a word too often used in crossword puzzles, but when it is, I see the synonyms "ripped", "strong", and "bulked" as clues. But as I dug deeper, the word "TONED" more often refers to a female physique
37. Shock, in a way: TASE. I'm of the belief that the words TASE or TASER are becoming "no-no's" to some puzzle editors given recent events. I've never been TASED nor would I want to. Here is a brief clip of some celebrities who got TASED voluntarily
42. Scots Gaelic: ERSE. Perhaps the one bit of crossword-ese in today's puzzle
43. Composer expelled from the Paris Conservatoire in 1882: SATIE. From Wikipedia: Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire but was an undistinguished student and obtained no diploma. In the 1880s he worked as a pianist in café-cabaret in Montmartre, Paris, and began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his Gymnopédies. He also wrote music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly attached. A brief bit of Gymnopédies:
44. Impressed word: OOH. I'm impressed that I entered OOH instead of OHH
46. In one's slip?: MOORED. Another fun clue with misdirection. Anyone else think of this:
49. Sizable snit: TANTRUM. According to kids health dot org, TANTRUMs are a normal part of child development. They're how young children show that they're upset or frustrated. Tantrums may happen when kids are tired, hungry, or uncomfortable. They can have a meltdown because they can't get something (like a toy or a parent) to do what they want
54. Main points: GISTS. Clearly, Chairman Moe gives your readers more than just the GISTS of the puzzle!!
55. Park __: BENCH. PLACE also fits. I always seemed to land on that space in Monopoly; especially when another player owned it, and had a hotel there
56. Verizon rival: ATT. Fourth of the 3-letter entries; first abbr
57. "__, Can You Hear Me?": "Yentl" song: PAPA. I would've preferred this song reference; recorded by the original group, Undisputed Truth:
65. Round figure: OVAL. OK, I'll go with this. Nice mis-direction, but an OVAL is round. As is an OPAL - see 16-Across
66. Couldn't sleep __: A WINK. Where did the term "winks" originate for sleep? Here, perhaps?
67. Vase-shaped pitcher: EWER. A word used in "still life"; not so much in "real life"!
68. Hollow: DELL. Because "farmer in the hollow" would not have fit the song!
69. Uses light surgically: LASES. As in LASER surgery; also rhymes with TASES - see 37-Across
70. Causing head-turning, perhaps: SEXY. Another song
Down:
1. Dr.'s network: PPO. Oops - forgot that this 3-letter is an abbreviation, though no one ever calls this network: Preferred Provider Organization. Where you choose your medical provider(s), not the network
4. President __: PRO TEM. An abbreviation of the Latin, "PRO TEMpore" which means "for the time being". A member of the U.S. senate and usually a leader of the majority party who is chosen to serve as presiding officer of the senate in the absence of the vice-president. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is our current one
5. Be an accessory to: ABET. Not to be mistaken with 32-Across, PARLAY, which is A BET
6. Loo: LAV. Loo is British; LAV is American. CAN fit; HEAD did not
7. Religious brother: FRIAR. FRIAR Tuck is the one that came to mind; a cartoon image:
8. Kid's retort: ARE SO. AM TOO fit. Are these phrases used whilst having a TANTRUM??
9. Clinches: SEWS UP. Sports metaphor. The Atlanta Braves SEWS UP the National League title to play for the World Series . . . which they won, BTW
10. Piece that often includes one or two cadenzas: CONCERTO. Per Wikipedia, in music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord; a technically brilliant sometimes improvised solo passage toward the close of a CONCERTO
11. Mimic: APE. Easy Friday clue/entry
12. Bud: MAC. PAL fits, too
13. Caribou cousin: ELK. A trio of 3-letter "down" clues; none abbreviated
18. Literature's Dolores Haze, familiarly: LOLITA. I was a toddler when this book was published in 1955, so this was a learning moment for me. Wikipedia states: "LOLITA" is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a French middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with an American 12-year-old girl, Dolores Haze, whom he sexually molests after he becomes her stepfather. "Lolita" is his private nickname for Dolores
22. Spanish she-bear: OSA. Lucina may comment on this further, but I associate the letter "A" at the end of a Spanish proper noun to indicate the female gender; an "O" represents the male gender. A Spanish "he-bear" would be OSO
23. Follower of hi or lo: RES. Or, what the "defintion" of "definition" is. HI RES, or LO RES
24. Airline seating for the able-bodied: EXIT ROW. It usually comes with extended leg room, but a narrower seat, as the distance between the row in front of it is too far to allow for a pull-down tray table, and the EXIT ROW seats have a tray built into the arm rest
25. Sun screen: PARASOL. Arts and Culture dot com says: "Generally, an umbrella has a curved handle to allow for easy grip and storage. A PARASOL, however, (in Latin para for “shelter or shield” and sol “sun”) is typically constructed from more delicate fabrics such as lace, cotton, silk, linen, canvas and plastic ..."
26. Preservers of proclivities: GENES. I LOVE alliterative clues! Proclivity means: "a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing". Your GENES are units of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and are held to determine some characteristic of the offspring
27. Alters the taste of: FLAVORS. Adding salt, e.g.
28. Depart cautiously: EASE OUT. Dictionary dot com says: "Extract or remove someone or something gradually or gently. For example, He carefully EASEd the car OUT of the garage, or we were trying to EASE him OUT of office without a public scandal
29. Alter the color of: DYE. A DYED Easter Egg, for example, alters the color of the egg, unlike salt which would alter the taste of it
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31. Holiday drink: NOG. As in EGG NOG, which is not made with leftover Easter Eggs!
35. Historical segment: ERA. David could've use the abbreviation for Earned Run Average, but he must've known that I would be counting the abbr's in this puzzle!!
40. Actress Long: NIA. David also does not like to use many proper names in his puzzles. NIA Talita Long is an American actress who has received such accolades as three NAACP Image Awards and a Black Reel Award. Long is best known for her roles in the films Boyz n the Hood, Love Jones, Soul Food, The Best Man and its sequel The Best Man Holiday, Big Momma's House and its sequel Big Momma's House 2. She "arrived" the same year as the NERF BALL
41. Horse race margin: LENGTH. In Horse Racing, a "LENGTH" roughly refers to the length of the horse itself. So, if a horse wins "by a LENGTH" it is approximately 8 feet - see the photo below. This horse officially won by three-quarters of a LENGTH
42. Soul-baring pop music genre: EMO. Could be another abbr., as the term refers to an EMOtional expression through confessional lyrics (Wikipedia)
45. "__ Pinafore": HMS. Her Majesty's Ship. The comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore had a few PARASOLs as props
47. Before, to a bard: ERE. A contraction; not an abbreviation. Perhaps I should've focused on a more abbreviated blog, given my attention toward abbreviations today!!
48. Employee benefit option: DENTAL. My Medicare Advantage plan includes full DENTAL coverage
50. Some church donations: TITHES. One-tenth. Many churches ask their parishoners to TITHE when their annual gift-giving campaign begins. It helps them to prepare and cover expenses as well as charitable contributions
52. Dumb sound?: SCHWA. Examples of a SCHWA: the "a" in balloon; the "e" in problem; or the "i" family. The clue confirms this, as none of those vowels are stressed in the pronunciation of the word
53. Nickname akin to Topher: CHRIS. Hey! A SO to yours, truly! Though I never used nor thought of using "Topher" as a nickname for CHRIStopher. As I said to David in my email, had he found a way to use CHAIRMAN or MOE in the puzzle, this would have truly been serendipitous. Picture of me when I still had hair on my head
56. Sets as a price: ASKS. The "ASKing" price is usually used in auctions as a starting place. eBay is notorious for these, though some auctions allow you to offer a better, or "best" price
57. Pea place: POD. A bit of a misnomer; isn't there just one "P" in POD?
58. Many a Monopoly prop.: AVE. Short for AVEnue. There are 17 of them in the game, Monopoly. Don't believe me? Then look it up!! ;^)
59. Chum: PAL. MAC and BUD fit, but they were already used as either a clue or an entry
61. French article: UNE. Frawnch for "one"
62. Be indebted to: OWE. "Neither a lender nor borrower be". I have very few debts and pay off my credit card balances monthly
63. First name in supervillains: LEX. As in, LEX Luthor from DC Comics
64. Drip-__: DRY. This symbol on a laundry tag on clothing; something that you should hang to dry, not place in the clothes dryer
Please add your thoughts and comments below. Ending with a limerick, with apologies to Longfellow:
Listen my children, especially daughters This did not show on any police blotters. If Paul Revere had just chose To sum up this blog in prose He'd say: "One if by land, and two if Bywaters"
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy
birthday to Rich Norris, editor of the LA Times Daily Crossword and the brain behind many terrific clues and theme entries. Here
is Rich with his wife Kim from a past ACPT tournament. Both of them are
super fast crossword solvers.
2) Happy birthday also to Lemonade's beautiful wife Oo. This is a picture from their 2017 trip to Thailand.
Our constructor today is Roland Huget who has made many visits to
the Corner (over 40). Here's a review by Gary from December 5,
2020, with a bit of
biographical information on Roland. One piece of information he mentions in that review is no longer
true, as he finally stopped by for a
Sunday puzzle, blogged by C.C on August 22, 2021.
I should start with a
SPOILER ALERT. This puzzle is an extended CSO to one of our tangier reviewers,
who tag teams on Fridays with one of our wackier reviewers. I'll
leave it to you to figure out which is which.
Here are the themers:
20A Wind tunnel test object:
AIRPLANE MODEL. Here's a description of
Wind Tunnels for grades K-4, a CSO to our Maître des avis, Husker.
34A. Keats work
with the line, "She dwells with Beauty--Beauty that must die":ODE ON MELANCHOLY.Here's the poem as
published in the spring of 1819 , although Keats
shortened it before publication. 40A. Note instruction:
PAYABLE ON DEMAND. This usually applies to private loans, especially those between
relatives. I've never loaned or have been loaned money with the
stipulation that it be payable on demand, and if plan to you'd
better read
the fine print.
Here's the tasty reveal:
50A. Tart drink concentrates, or what's literally found in 20-, 34-
and 40-Across:LEMONADE MIXES. I like mine with a sprig of mint, and toward evening a jigger of
Stoli, the cruciverbalist's favorite. And of course chilled, with
NO ICE. Hi TIN!
On to the main course:
Across:
1. __ cake: CRAB. A subject near and dear to Marylanders'
hearts. The secret to good CRAB CAKES is
good crab meat. Teri insists on Jumbo Lump crab meat and uses this classic recipe
from
Old Bay Seasoning. BTW, the word CRAB is derived from the Greek
Callinectes, meaning
Beautiful Swimmers.
The Blue Crab
5. Floor plan unit: ROOM. Something you might be urged "to
get" if you're caught in a PDA!
9. App runner: PHONE. For an APP you may be interested in
if you own a piano see 64A.
14. "It can't be true!": OH NO.
15. Humorist Bombeck: ERMA. Erma Louise Bombeck
(néeFiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an
American humorist and columnist.
Erma Bombeck
16. Like some whiskey barrels: OAKEN.
17. Test version: BETA. My 2012 Ford 150 was a
BETA version.
18. Too much sun, they say: AGER.
19. Common chord:
TRIAD. In music,
a triad is a set of three notes
that can be stacked vertically in thirds. The term
"harmonic triad" was coined by Johannes Lippius in his
Synopsis musicae novae (1612). Triads are the most common chords in
Western music.
Types of Triads
23. Article in Die Zeit: EIN. Today's German lesson.
"Die Zeit" is "The Times" and "EIN" is an indefinite article.
25. Snares with loops: LASSOS.
A.K.A.
LARIAT, RIATA, or REATA (trigger warning, contains verbification!). Also
TED LASSO, the protagonist of a popular streaming series.
29. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit: ADIA. About the song. The song:
31. Catch: NAB.
37. Was short: OWED.
38. TiVo predecessor: VCR. IMHO they've both been made obsolete by
streaming.
39. Arabic for "commander": EMIR. Had this guy last time.
Pass.
58. Jazz guitar lick, say: RIFF. Here's Wes Montgomery's riff on
"Here's That Rainy Day", a
popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke,
published in 1953:
59. Daily delivery: MAIL.
61. Send over the moon: ELATE.
62. Play starter: ACT I. With the exception of course of
One-act plays.
63. One may be a lot: ACRE. We've got 2/3's of an ACRE and it's
getting to be more than a lot.
64. Pitch adjuster: TUNER. I'm not trying to put anyone out
of a job, but if you own a piano and like to keep it "well-tempered", you might want to consider these
piano tuning apps.
65. Top-quality: BEST.
66. Shake off: SHED.
Down:
1. Cygnet's father: COB. Also a popular way to eat "corn
on". It goes great with 1As!
2. Pampas bird: RHEA. Rheas are large ratites, in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the
ostrich and emu (of whom we seem to see more in these parts).
Rheas
3. Contrarian prefix: ANTI. I think the current era will go down
in history as "The Age of Contrarianism".
4. Beast with tusks: BOAR. It is always my hope that I don't BOAR
you too much with these reviews.
5. Truthful representation, in art: REALISM. My favorite realist
painter is
Will Wilson of Baltimore, a friend
of a friend. Here's a painting of his wife:
6. Instrument with pipes: ORGAN. The "King of Instruments". In Bach's time organs were the most complex and sophisticated
machines on Earth. Johann Sebastian Bach not only knew how to fix them, he was the king of composers
for them:
7. Sign: OMEN.
8. Stable parent: MARE56D's better half.
9. River to Chesapeake Bay: POTOMAC. The
Potomac River is found within the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows
from the Potomac Highlands into the Chesapeake Bay. The river (main stem and
North Branch) is approximately 405 miles (652 km) long.
10. "The Revenant" Oscar nominee Tom: HARDY. I've not seen
this film and first filled it with HANKS, until I saw it wasn't
working. Apparently
the movie and the book are based on a true story.
11. Dust Bowl migrant: OKIE.
A native or inhabitant of Oklahoma. Millions of migrants from Oklahoma and surrounding states were
displaced from their homelands by the Great Depression and the storms of the
Dust Bowl. The privations of this period were the inspirations for artists such
as John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, and
photographer Dorothea Lange:
31. Wanderer: NOMAD. For some NOMADS, it's a way of life, moving
their flocks from one pasture to another to graze. For others it is
hopefully temporary, the result of religious persecution or some privation,
e.g., the OKIES at 11D.
32. 1955 Dior innovation: ALINE. Art, music, and fashion seem to
cycle from simplicity to complexity, and then back again, e.g. from the
"classical" to the "romantic", and then a return to the "neoclassical".
French designer Christian Dior, rather than to keep an old style afloat returned to simplicity with his
A-line dress.
33. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" band, with "The": BYRDS. Lyrics by Qoheleth,
the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3:
35. "Oh, when will they __ learn?": Seeger lyric: EVER. From
"Where have all the Flowers Gone", by Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)
, an American folk singer and social activist. Both this and the
preceding song were very popular in the 60s. I wonder if Roland intended
these two clues back to back?
36. Sphere opener: HEMI.
41. Gag reel scene: BLOOPER. I don't think
Mama and Eunice
were playing from the same script on this one:
44. Wells' fruit eaters: ELOI. A reference to H.G. Wells' Sci-Fi
novel
The Time Machine. The ELOI were fruit eaters and the MORLOCKS were
ELOI eaters.
48. Hit hard: SMITE.
49. Some lanes allow only them: LEFTS. In New Jersey you
can only make LEFTS from the RIGHT LANE,
via a JUG HANDLE. We have one in Maryland (that I know of) in Finksburg.
50. Humdinger: LULU. Also the "opener" to
LuluLemon sports apparel. I wonder if Lemonade gets royalties from this company?
51. Dashing style: ELAN. Iconic of this style was the Englishman
T.E. Lawrence, who led the ARAB REVOLT against the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
T.E. Lawrence in 1918
52. Many a Mideast native: ARAB. Most, but not all are
ARABS, the notable exception being
the natives of IRAN, who speak PERSIAN, known to its native IRANIAN speakers as
FARSI.
53. Board game pieces: DICE.
54. Time to put up lights, briefly: XMAS. Contrary to what some
moderns might believe, Xmas was not originally intended as a secularization of
Christmas.
Here's the real story. But nevertheless we sign our cards "MerryChristmas".
55. A head: EACH. Also PER or A POP.
56. Equine parent: SIRE. This refers specifically to the male
horse. The female is referred to as a BROOD MARE.
The history of horse breeding goes back thousands of years. In fact the 52Ds are masters of the art and
ARABIAN horses are highly valued for their speed and stamina.
57. First day of spring, in Hanoi: TET.
Tết at the Saigon Tax Trade Center (2012) courtesy of
Prenn, Vietnam
60. Commanded: LED. Also an acronym for
Light Emitting Diode. LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources, including
lower power consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller
size, and faster switching.
Here's the grid:
waseeley
And thanks to Teri for proofreading and constructive criticism. And we pray for healing and a complete recovery for our good friend Lemonade.
17. Was armed, in old-fashioned slang: PACKED HEAT.
24. Making slow but steady progress: PECKING AWAY.
35. Eat every bit of meat from, as a bone: PICK CLEAN.
51. Small change: POCKET MONEY.
61. Prepared to be bussed: PUCKERED UP.
Simple vowel progression theme here: A, E, I, O, U. Nice tight theme with two-word phrases all beginning with P-words.
Across:
1. Italian province or its capital: PARMA.
6. Make an impression: ETCH. "To cut, bite, or corrode with an acid or the like." Bite?
10. Big mouths: MAWS. The mouth or gullet of a greedy person.
14. Acid used in soap: OLEIC. Good crossword word - 5 letters with 3 vowels. An omega-9 fatty acid. It can be made by the body. It is also found in foods. Highest levels are found in olive oil and other edible oils. Oleic acid is most commonly used for preventing heart disease and reducing cholesterol.
15. Terrible time?: TWOS. Haha. But it's also a very sweet time - I still miss it. Grandkids help ;).
16. Like neatniks: ANAL.
19. __-bitty: ITTY.
20. "Peter Pan" pirate: SMEE.
21. Scuttlebutt: DIRT. Slang for rumor or gossip. Deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain).
22. Bickering: AT IT. Remember The Bickersons?
23. The fox in Disney's "The Fox and the Hound": TOD.
27. "Skyfall" singer: ADELE.
29. Italian cheese: ASIAGO.
30. Overhaul the lawn, maybe: RESOD.
31. Cake with a dish: SOAP.
34. Stimpy's sidekick: REN.
39. Pet rocks, once: FAD.
42. Evil alter ego of fiction: HYDE. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1886. The names of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two alter egos of the main character, have become shorthand for the exhibition of wildly contradictory behavior, especially between private and public selves.
43. Jumps (out): BAILS.
47. Black Sea port: ODESSA.
50. Under attack: BESET.
56. Absorbed, as a cost: ATE.
57. __ fixe: PRIX. A a meal consisting of several courses served at a total fixed price.
58. Med school subj.: ANAT. Anatomy. Massage school subject, too.
59. Lo-cal: LITE.
60. Arouse: STIR.
63. Pedal pushers: FEET. Great clue.
64. Wait at a light, say: IDLE.
65. Oklahoma Air Force base: VANCE.
66. What gamblers weigh: ODDS.
67. Financial aid criterion: NEED.
68. Smith, at times: SHOER. Ohh, blacksmith. Blacksmiths who specialize in forging shoes for horses are also known as farriers.
39. Metrosexual: FOP. The difference between Fop and Metrosexual When used as nouns, fop means a vain man, whereas metrosexual means a man concerned with personal appearance, such as personal grooming, fashion, and aesthetics in general. (usually urban, heterosexual, often affluent).
40. Put into effect, as a resolution: ADOPTED.
41. Strongly disapproved of: DECRIED.
44. "To repeat ... forget it!": I SAID NO. Three words!
45. Part of a BLT: LETTUCE. Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.
46. Harder to climb: STEEPER.
48. Gets around: SKIRTS.
49. Census datum: SEX.
52. "All in the Family" spinoff: MAUDE.
53. Le frère d'un père: ONCLE. French: A father's brother = uncle.
54. Like undisguised truth: NAKED.
55. High season on the Riviera: ETE. French word for summer.
59. Jacob's first wife: LEAH.
60. Airport near OAK: SFO. Bay area airports.
61. Brooch holder: PIN.
62. Campers, briefly: RVS. Recreational vehicles.
Melissa
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 75th birthday to Husker Gary's amazing wife Joann (right with a vest) and her twin sister
Joyce. Here they're with their mom Martha.
