Theme: SANDWICH (70A: Lunch order that can follow the starts of 1-, 35- and 43-Across)
1A: Bar mixer: CLUB SODA
35A: Jerusalem prayer site: WESTERN WALL
43A: Unrestricted trading areas: OPEN MARKETS
What kind of bread do you use for WESTERN SANDWICH? I've never heard of it before.
I used to love baguette with crudité, jambon et gruyere, you know, those delicious sandwich you find at every boulangerie in Paris. Now my lunch are mainly onigiri (rice balls).
Interesting that SANDWICH is placed symmetrically with CLUB SODA. We don't often see unifying theme answer positioned in such a way.
I enjoyed the puzzle. Food-themed grid is always pleasant to solve.
Across:
2A: Long pace: STRIDE. And TROTS (51A: Easy gaits).
15A: Tangy dessert: LEMON PIE. Have never had this dessert. Sounds tart.
16A: Deceive: LEAD ON
18A: In the prior month: ULTIMO. Next month is PROXIMO. And the current month is INSTANT. All new to me.
19A: Precisely: TO A T. Or TO A TEE.
22A: Beat overwhelmingly: CRUSH. And CLUTCH (1D: Shifting mechanism). Both terrific fills, with only one vowel.
24A: Taxing mo.?: APR. Don't feel question mark is needed.
25A: Title role for 13-Down: FATSO. And DOM (13D: Actor DeLuise). DOM is short for Dominick. I've never seen the film. Not familiar with the actor either.
30A: Riled (up): HET. Dialectal variant of "heated".
31A: Has much too much, briefly: ODS. What's the clue in your paper?
37A: Negri of silents: POLA. I can never remember this girl's name. She's Pol-ish.
41A: Pelota catcher: CESTA. The jai alai basket. Learned from doing Xword.
42A: Buck tail?: AROO. Buckaroo. "Buck tail?" can clue EYE too. Buckeye.
46A: Le Car maker: RENAULT. Citroën has 7 letters too.
47A: "Michael Collins" actor: REA. Liam Neeson played Michael Collins. One of my favorite IRA themed films. Stephen REA's "The Crying Game" is still the best.
48A: Spaniards roll theirs: ARS. I did not know the spelled-out form of letter R is AR.
52A: UFO pilots, in theory: ETS. Why "in theory"?
54A: Discover with effort: DIG UP
56A: Wild West showman: CODY. I did not know Buffalo Bill's real name is CODY.
58A: Edge (out): NOSE
59A: Community west of Montebello, Calif.: EAST LA
63A: Unwavering: RESOLUTE
68A: Like much of Rossini's work: OPERATIC
69A: Groups of eight: OCTADS
Down:
2D: Lost love in "The Raven": LENORE. No idea. All I know about "The Raven" is "nevermore". LENORE is short for Elenore.
3D: Düsseldorf feature?: UMLAUT. The diacritical dots mark above letter ü.
6D: Brief photo sessions?: OPS. Photo OPS.
8D: Man of many morals: AESOP. The adjective of fable is fabulous.
9D: Disparaging remark: SLUR
10D: 1977 Bronson/Remick mind-control thriller: TELEFON. No idea. The poster does not look interesting. TELEFON is German for telephone.
11D: Stoolie: RAT
12D: First name in tyranny: IDI. Uganda's IDI Amin. Shame on me for thinking of MAO first. MAO is a surname. Chinese put family in front of given name. Yao Ming's surname is Yao.
14D: Rock producer Brian: ENO. He created the Windows 95 startup sound, using his Mac. How ironic!
24D: Said positively: ASSERTED
26D: Former Sanyo competitor: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002.
28D: WWII French battle site: ST LO
29D: Nobel Peace Prize city: OSLO. All the other prizes are presented in Stockholm.
36D: "Mustn't do that": TSK. Ah, vowelless fill.
37D: Computer connection: PORT
38D: Letters near zero?: OPER. Phone button.
44D: Like Mr. America: MUSCLED. Too much.
48D: Rabbitlike rodent: AGOUTI. Wikipedia says AGOUTIS give birth to litters of two to four young after a gestation period of three months. Some species have two litters a year in May and October while others breed year round. The same with rabbits I suppose.
49D: Backwoodsy: RUSTIC
50D: Soapbox output: SPEECH
53D: Greenhorns: TYROS. I am not a crossword TYRO any more.
55D: Marriage acquisition: IN-LAW. I love being married.
61D: Met: SAT. As a meeting. "The council met in session last night." or "The council SAT in session last night." (From Argyle).
62D: Defunct flier: TWA. Howard Hughes owned TWA from 1939 to 1966.
64D: AQI user: EPA. AQI is Air Quality Index.
65D: One of a D.C. 100: SEN. Yeah, Al Franken was finally swore in several weeks ago. Now we have 100 senators.
66D: Former Monterey Bay fort: ORD. Fort ORD was closed in 1994.
Answer grid.
C.C.
1A: Bar mixer: CLUB SODA
35A: Jerusalem prayer site: WESTERN WALL
43A: Unrestricted trading areas: OPEN MARKETS
What kind of bread do you use for WESTERN SANDWICH? I've never heard of it before.
I used to love baguette with crudité, jambon et gruyere, you know, those delicious sandwich you find at every boulangerie in Paris. Now my lunch are mainly onigiri (rice balls).
Interesting that SANDWICH is placed symmetrically with CLUB SODA. We don't often see unifying theme answer positioned in such a way.
I enjoyed the puzzle. Food-themed grid is always pleasant to solve.
Across:
2A: Long pace: STRIDE. And TROTS (51A: Easy gaits).
15A: Tangy dessert: LEMON PIE. Have never had this dessert. Sounds tart.
16A: Deceive: LEAD ON
18A: In the prior month: ULTIMO. Next month is PROXIMO. And the current month is INSTANT. All new to me.
19A: Precisely: TO A T. Or TO A TEE.
22A: Beat overwhelmingly: CRUSH. And CLUTCH (1D: Shifting mechanism). Both terrific fills, with only one vowel.
24A: Taxing mo.?: APR. Don't feel question mark is needed.
25A: Title role for 13-Down: FATSO. And DOM (13D: Actor DeLuise). DOM is short for Dominick. I've never seen the film. Not familiar with the actor either.
30A: Riled (up): HET. Dialectal variant of "heated".
31A: Has much too much, briefly: ODS. What's the clue in your paper?
37A: Negri of silents: POLA. I can never remember this girl's name. She's Pol-ish.
41A: Pelota catcher: CESTA. The jai alai basket. Learned from doing Xword.
42A: Buck tail?: AROO. Buckaroo. "Buck tail?" can clue EYE too. Buckeye.
46A: Le Car maker: RENAULT. Citroën has 7 letters too.
47A: "Michael Collins" actor: REA. Liam Neeson played Michael Collins. One of my favorite IRA themed films. Stephen REA's "The Crying Game" is still the best.
48A: Spaniards roll theirs: ARS. I did not know the spelled-out form of letter R is AR.
52A: UFO pilots, in theory: ETS. Why "in theory"?
54A: Discover with effort: DIG UP
56A: Wild West showman: CODY. I did not know Buffalo Bill's real name is CODY.
58A: Edge (out): NOSE
59A: Community west of Montebello, Calif.: EAST LA
63A: Unwavering: RESOLUTE
68A: Like much of Rossini's work: OPERATIC
69A: Groups of eight: OCTADS
Down:
2D: Lost love in "The Raven": LENORE. No idea. All I know about "The Raven" is "nevermore". LENORE is short for Elenore.
3D: Düsseldorf feature?: UMLAUT. The diacritical dots mark above letter ü.
6D: Brief photo sessions?: OPS. Photo OPS.
8D: Man of many morals: AESOP. The adjective of fable is fabulous.
9D: Disparaging remark: SLUR
10D: 1977 Bronson/Remick mind-control thriller: TELEFON. No idea. The poster does not look interesting. TELEFON is German for telephone.
11D: Stoolie: RAT
12D: First name in tyranny: IDI. Uganda's IDI Amin. Shame on me for thinking of MAO first. MAO is a surname. Chinese put family in front of given name. Yao Ming's surname is Yao.
14D: Rock producer Brian: ENO. He created the Windows 95 startup sound, using his Mac. How ironic!
24D: Said positively: ASSERTED
26D: Former Sanyo competitor: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002.
28D: WWII French battle site: ST LO
29D: Nobel Peace Prize city: OSLO. All the other prizes are presented in Stockholm.
36D: "Mustn't do that": TSK. Ah, vowelless fill.
37D: Computer connection: PORT
38D: Letters near zero?: OPER. Phone button.
44D: Like Mr. America: MUSCLED. Too much.
48D: Rabbitlike rodent: AGOUTI. Wikipedia says AGOUTIS give birth to litters of two to four young after a gestation period of three months. Some species have two litters a year in May and October while others breed year round. The same with rabbits I suppose.
49D: Backwoodsy: RUSTIC
50D: Soapbox output: SPEECH
53D: Greenhorns: TYROS. I am not a crossword TYRO any more.
55D: Marriage acquisition: IN-LAW. I love being married.
61D: Met: SAT. As a meeting. "The council met in session last night." or "The council SAT in session last night." (From Argyle).
62D: Defunct flier: TWA. Howard Hughes owned TWA from 1939 to 1966.
64D: AQI user: EPA. AQI is Air Quality Index.
65D: One of a D.C. 100: SEN. Yeah, Al Franken was finally swore in several weeks ago. Now we have 100 senators.
66D: Former Monterey Bay fort: ORD. Fort ORD was closed in 1994.
Answer grid.
C.C.
