D is for David Alfred Bywaters who removes himself from the theme answers by ejecting the letter "D" from a word in a common phrase. The symmetry with D at the end of three of the fill and at the beginning of the last two is great. The wit of the resulting phrases is also very pleasing. Parsing the D from dejection into d-ejection was also very impressive. Like most of the DAB Friday efforts, there are many short fill, especially here where he has six theme answers. He does offer OIL BASE, PRESOAK, SEE HERE and TROTSKY as long fill. I seldom nitpick but I wish he had not used
ADD at 45 across. If we had AWL (leatherworking tool) crossed by WISC. (Minn. neighbor) and MOLE (Mexican sauce) the only D in the puzzle would have been DEJECTION/DIM. That would have been elegant. IMO.
16A. Shakespeare's riverside haunt?: BAR
24A. Snow-day play?: SLUSH FUN
35A. Essential pig?: KEY BOARD (7). Pig, hog, and boar essentially describe the same animal, but there are some distinctions. A boar is an uncastrated male domestic pig, but it also means a wild pig of any gender. A hog often means a domestic pig that weighs more than 120 lbs. (54 kilograms). Pigs are also called swine. Wiki
38A. Biblical voyage serving that probably upset some passengers?: DARK MEAT (7). Myoglobin is the hemoprotein (an oxygen-carrying protein) responsible for giving dark meat its reddish color. The more myoglobin, the darker the meat and the richer the nutrients. Myoglobin provides muscles with the oxygen they need during exercise or movement. Since chickens are flightless birds, they use their legs and thighs to get around, making them darker than the breast or wings. Various.
47A. Poor wig maintenance?: DRUG ABUSE (8). The funniest of the theme fill, as the picture of someone abusing their toupee, is pretty rib-tickling.
And the reveal-
59A. Sadness ... or, read another way, what five puzzle answers have in common: D-EJECTION.
1. IMDb listing: CAST. I like it when a puzzle begins with a hidden anagram.
5. Sylvester and others: CATS.
9. Biblical voyager: NOAH. Did you all like this version?
LINK.
13. Put out in the open: AVOW.
14. Predecessors of much email: Abbr.: LTRS.
15. Pasta tubes: PENNE. Penne is the plural form of the Italian penna, deriving from Latin penna (meaning "feather" or "quill"), and is a cognate of the English word pen. Wiki.
18. Spanish wine region: RIOJA. Our own Chairman Moe could explain it; all I have is this LINK.
19. On fire: LIT.
20. Irresistible desire: LUST.
21. Plead to be given: BEG FOR.
22. Overjoys: ELATES. A favorite word of C.C.
26. Need to return the favor to: OWE. To all of our teachers, I think the "to" in the clue is unnecessary.
27. Decks: KAYOS. K. O., informal - knock (someone) to the ground with a punch.
28. Fake: SHAM.
31. Ambitious sort: TYPE A. Type A personality behavior was first described as a potential risk factor for heart disease in the 1950s by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. It is a personality type characterized by ambition, high energy, and competitiveness, and thought to be susceptible to stress and heart disease. Wiki.
32. H.S. course: SCI.
40. Cork's place: Abbr.: IRE. The largest county in Ireland - LINK. The county is in dark green.
41. "There's no choice for me": I MUST.
43. Takes responsibility for: OWNS. To all of our teachers, I think the "for" in the clue is unnecessary.
44. Shut: CLOSE.
45. Tack on: ADD.
50. Nap: SIESTA.
54. Kind of family: ONE CAR. Oo and I have decided to listen to this ADVICE.
55. World's most cultivated avocado, named for its developer: HASS. The LINK.
57. Roleo surface: LOG. This is the rodeo inspired name for the SPORT of log-rolling.
58. Goes down: SINKS. In the early days of the blog, this would have generated many DF comments.
61. Steps over a fence: STILE. Definition: an arrangement of steps that allows people but not animals to climb over a fence or wall.
62. Line 32 items on 1040 forms: IRAS. A new clue for one of the most common crossword words. I do not have the FORM memorized.
65. Cousteau's milieux: MERS. French for seas.
66. Not as much: LESS.
Down:
1. Internet provider: CABLE.
2. Help: AVAIL.
3. In a way, in a way: SORTA.
4. __-faced: TWO. Worse than a one car family.
5. Sentence component: CLAUSE.
6. Off-road rec equipment: ATVS.
7. Lenin frenemy: TROTSKY. Two weeks in a row - what are the odds?
8. Nine-digit ID: SSN.
9. Horseplay outbursts?: NEIGHS.
10. Switch words: ON/OFF.
11. Pear variety: ANJOU.
12. Basketball Hall of Fame announcer Chick: HEARN.
15. Treat before washing: PRESOAK.
17. Went really fast: FLEW.
21. Seller's need: BUYER. Such a simple concept.
23. Sepulcher: TOMB.
25. Wash against gently: LAP AT. The waves from the ocean here in Pompano Beach are usually quite gentle.
28. __ patrol: SKI.
29. QE2 designation: HER. Spitzboov will remind us why ships are shes.
30. Word of assent: AYE. Aye aye, good juxtaposition.
31. Bridge support: TRUSS. I had this fill less than a month ago on April 22, 2018.
32. Finalize, with "up": SEW.
33. Cylindrical container: CAN.
34. Word often improperly punctuated: ITS.
36. Kind of paint: OIL BASE.
37. Pepé Le Pew's pursuit: AMOUR. Un autre chat comme Sylvester.
39. Fashion: MODE.
42. "Wait a minute!": SEE HERE.
44. Barnyard sound: CACKLE.
45. Gauge: ASSESS.
46. Pancake, for one: DISC.
47. Martini partner: ROSSI. Not a nice Caprese salad, but the vermouth partner.
48. Apartments or condos: UNITS.
49. "Friend Like Me" singer in "Aladdin": GENIE. The late great Robin Williams.
51. Arrive at a base, maybe: SLIDE. A baseball reference for C.C.
52. Trade things: TOOLS.
53. Keats' "The Eve of St. __": AGNES. The first stanza of a long poem (the indents are the authors)
St. Agnes' Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
Numb were the Beadsman's fingers, while he told
His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old,
Seem'd taking flight for heaven, without a death,
Past the sweet Virgin's picture, while his prayer he saith.
56. Open slightly: AJAR.
59. Badly lit: DIM.
60. Shop __ you drop: TIL. Not anymore.
Another D-day here on Friday. My grandson is already 8 months old. It is raining, raining and raining and I am okay. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle, thank you David and all of you reading these words. Lemonade out.
