Theme: "I Kid You Not!"
The unifier can be found in the middle of the grid today:
40-Across. Troubled youth literally hiding in each answer to a starred clue : CRAZY MIXED UP KID. Today is anagram day, with four of them hidden in common phrases.
18-Across. *Filet mignon dish named for a goddess : STEAK DIANE.
24-Across. *Emergency supplies : FIRST AID KIT. or FIRST AID KIT. It would be better to avoid this type of ambiguity, but there really are no other common 11-letter phrases that use that particular sequence. And you really want to have all the anagram possibilities.
52-Across. *Pipe-smoking royal : OLD KING COLE.
63-Across. *Fictional rank above Padawan : JEDI KNIGHT.
Just missing the "Q" for a pangram. Did it seem especially easy for a Thursday? Some of the clues were a little tricky, but I found the fill to be very Monday-level, with nary an obscure name in the bunch!
Across:
1. "Are you serious?" : WHAT. (Usually pronounced as WHAAAA??)
5. Handicapper's concern : ODDS.
9. Class __ : CLOWN. I bet CrossEyedDave was the class clown in his school.
14. Doth possess : HATH.
15. Los Angeles, for one : PORT.
16. High nest : AERIE.
17. Opposed party : ANTI.
20. Jet sounds : ROARS.
22. Proactiv target : ACNE.
23. Was in the vanguard : LED.
27. Dog in Baum stories : TOTO.
28. Dangerous fly : TSE TSE.
33. Puffin kin : AUK. Seems they have a playful side, too.
36. Sizable music combo : NONET.
39. Planted : SOWN.
44. Fable : TALE.
45. Makes the scene : COMES.
46. I trouble? : EGO.
47. Slob's napkin : SLEEVE.
50. Spheres studied by Mendel : PEAS. From them, he eventually developed his "Laws of Inheritance."
58. Tailless primate : APE.
61. Explorer on Nick Jr. : DORA. The Explorer.
62. Art support : EASEL.
67. Pro __ : RATA.
68. Where the action is : ARENA.
69. Former Neet rival : NAIR.
70. Similar : AKIN.
71. Face-off locales : RINKS. Hockey face-offs. Hey, Splynter!
72. Low joint : KNEE.
73. Wings, for instance : BAND. Paul McCartney's band on the run...
Down:
1. Marina structure : WHARF.
2. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum city : HANOI.
3. Rose essence : ATTAR.
4. Need of a 53-Down : THIRST. and 53-Down. Solution for 4-Down : DRINK.
... of 12-Down. Riesling product : WINE? ...or 48-Down. Stoli and SKYY : VODKAS??
5. Brief missions? : OPS. (Operations.)
6. Hi and Lois's daughter : DOT. Her twin brother's name is "Ditto."
7. Foreboding : DREAD.
8. Cupboard arrangement : STACK.
9. Officers-to-be : CADETS.
10. Floral wreath : LEI.
11. Word-of-mouth : ORAL.
13. Aid factor : NEED.
19. Grow together : KNIT...as, a broken bone.
21. Rock-filled : STONY.
25. It can be viewed with a scanning tunneling microscope : ATOM. Invented by Roher and Binnig. Read more about how it works here.
26. Column style : IONIC. I always want to put "doric" first. Hi Dudley!
29. Paranormal ability : ESP.
30. Tip for a croupier : TOKE. We have had this recently, I think.
31. Large gulp : SWIG.
32. Prefix with skeleton : ENDO. And a clecho with 37-Down. Prefix with skeleton : EXO.
33. Book after John : ACTS. (of the Apostles)
34. River through Orsk : URAL.
35. Broccoli relative : KALE.
38. Metronome settings : TEMPI. Plural variant of tempos.
41. Prize component? : ZEE.
42. "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" author Paula : DEEN. Her recipes always seem to begin with "Add two cups of sugar to three pounds of butter..."
43. Stylebook subject : USAGE.
49. Tar Heel State campus : ELON. Just outside Greensboro, N.C.
51. Egyptian amulet : SCARAB.
54. 2010 Supreme Court appointee : KAGAN.
55. Honshu port : OSAKA.
56. Admit to the club : LET IN.
57. Twisty-horned antelope : ELAND.
58. Admitting a breeze, perhaps : AJAR.
59. "Frasier" actress Gilpin : PERI. She played Roz, Frasier's radio producer.
60. Shangri-la : EDEN.
64. Press coverage : INK. OK, I had to think about this. Does the clue literally refer to the ink that covers the printing press roller? Or, does it mean column space in the newspaper ("J-Lo sure gets a lot of ink.") I'll leave it to you to decide.
65. Make haste : HIE.
66. Uno e due : TRE. One + two = three, in Italian.
And that's a wrap for me this week!
Marti
Note from C.C.:
Charlotte, Lemonade's beautiful granddaughter, turned one year old.
Look how pretty she is. Click on the first picture, you'll see how incredible long her eyelashes are. It's in the genes. Lemonade said he used to have long eyelashes before his corneal transplants. Click here to see all the cute Charlotte pictures in my Ginger Roots archive.
