Theme: Where did I hide my computer?
Each of the four sets of words has the names of a computer manufacturing companies overlapping the adjacent fill, with a reveal. The first row and the last row each result in two companies, the middle two rows use all three clues to create a single company.. You have to see a puzzle as row 1 through 15 to understand the reveal. This was one of the hardest themes in a long time for me to suss out even though I said earlier I love run-ons, as well as puns and anagrams. To use up 5 complete rows (1/3 of the grid) for a theme is awesome. I am always surprised when a theme starts with 1A, but Steve has made us work even on his Monday and Tuesday efforts. This is his 11th LAT published in less than 2 years, along with a NYT in April. I missed blogging his only other Friday when our Steve took over while I was out for the New Year holiday a couple of months ago. Lots of nice fill like EL PASO, EVEN SO, LETHAL, MINGUS, SESAME, SPOT ON, DAMAGES, SEE TO IT, HIGHNESS, LEMONADE, DATE STAMP and GENE AUTRY.
1A. Brother of Raúl and Juanita : FIDEL along with 6A. Purple candle scent : LILAC. This gives us DELL computers. Living in So.Fla, Fidel was a gimme. 11A. Poetic time reference : ERE. ACER.
20A. Calendar entry : EVENT and 21A. Kyrgyzstan city : OSH and 22A. Construction beams : I-BARS. TOSHIBA. If you want to know more about OSH, this is a LINK.
58A. Source of much Indian tea : ASSAM. A very productive REGION. 60A. Sky light? : SUN. How cute is this for a three letter fill. 61A. Pumpkin, e.g. : GOURD. SAMSUNG.
69. Diddy ditty : RAP. Another cute three letter one. Has Sean Combs changed his name again, or only P. Diddy? 70A. Arraignment answers : PLEAS. APPLE. Arraignment is the first step of any criminal case where you say guilty or not guilty. 71A. "That's all __, dude": "Not my fault" : ON YOU. SONY.
and the unifier, which shows you the name of the computer companies are chopped in pieces (hacked)
40A. Web concerns ... and based on six familiar names hidden in rows 1, 4, 12 and 15 of this puzzle grid, what the black squares in those rows symbolize : COMPUTER HACKERS. Interesting theme which certainly did not help solve any of the puzzle.
Across:
14. Tequila source : AGAVE.
15. Month in Madrid : ENERO. Spanish January.
16. Sprinkling on French fries? : SEL. French salt.
17. Uses as a reference : CITES.
18. Many pets : MUTTS. Mongrels, apparently shortened from muttonheads.
19. For example : SAY.
24. Julia's "Ocean's Twelve" role : TESS.
25. Legend of the links : SNEAD. Slammin' Sammy, still three victories ahead of Tiger.
27. Old __, Connecticut : LYME. Near where I grew up.
28. "They went __ in a Sieve, they did": Lear : TO SEA. A shout out for our own OwenKL, as Mr. Lear was a renowned limercist and poet. UPDATE: It appears Mr. Lear may have started all this Limerick stuff. LINK.
30. Logan of "60 Minutes" : LARA. A South African raised journalist involved in controversy.
32. Words in a dish : À LA. Mode anyone?
34. Relinquish : CEDE.
36. Jazz double bassist Charlie : MINGUS. Fun fill. I defer to JzB to discuss this ARTIST. (5:03)
43. West Texas city : EL PASO.
44. Approaching : NIGH. Basically near. Did you all watch the Professor Proton, Bill Nye the science guy episode of TBBT?
45. Tiny complaint : NIT. marti?
46. Uno y dos y tres : SEIS. One plus two plus three equals 6, but more Spanish.
48. Migratory birds : GEESE.
50. Oaf : LOUT.
53. Some Staples employees : TECHS.
55. Bear whose bed was too hard : PAPA. Goldilocks, where are you?
62. Moo __ pork : SHU.
63. Graduated series : SCALE. On a scale of 1 to 10 what did you think?
65. 10th-century Holy Roman emperor : OTTO I. Constructors like his vowels.
66. Mountain end : EER. Mountaineer.
67. Increases, with "up" : RAMPS.
68. "It Wasn't All Velvet" memoirist : TORME. The Velvet Fog. JAZZ.
Down:
1. Aspect : FACET.
2. "Just tell me" : I GIVE. Guess who gave me all the answers to the test? I do not know, just tell me. I give.
3. Librarian's device : DATE STAMP. Nice long fresh fill. Not to be confused with the mark you get put on your hand when you are out at the club getting hammered.
4. Nevertheless : EVEN SO.
5. Out of concern that : LEST.
6. Summer quaff : LEMONADE. Thanks Steve for the major shout out on a Friday. Steve B. comments at puzzle blogs often.
7. Taken : IN USE.
8. More than harmful : LETHAL.
9. Works on walls : ART. Not re-wallpapering.
10. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI. A tribute (?) to Women? LINK.
11. David Sedaris work : ESSAY. This GUY.
12. Lack faith in a truce, maybe : RE-ARM.
13. "Family Ties" mother : ELYSE. The lovely Meredith BAXTER.
23. Space on a form : BLANK.
25. "I want results!" : SEE TO IT. My mental PICTURE. (0:15).
26. Lawsuit goal : DAMAGES.
29. "__ Me While I Kiss This Guy": book of misheard lyrics : SCUSE. My unknown of the day; the lyric is from Jimi Hendrix; he was kissing the sky.
31. Loaded, in Limoges : RICHE. French, like our friend the Nouveau riche.
32. Big club : ACE. Or big spade, or big heart or big diamond. I guess this does not conflict with the hidden ACER above.
33. Cyberchuckle : LOL. So many old people thought this meant 'lots of love'.
35. Predatory bird : ERN.
37. Singer and longtime owner of baseball's Angels : GENE AUTRY. My favorite singing COWBOY.
38. Sch. 30 miles south of Providence : URI. University of Rhode Island.
39. Bygone boomer : SST. The Concorde.
41. Elbows to nibble : PASTA.
42. Royal title : HIGHNESS. You think because they sat on thrones?
47. Bagel choice : SESAME. Sez who?
49. Perfect : SPOT ON.
50. __ tag : LASER. The reigning CHAMPS? (0:35).
51. "Ulysses" actor Milo : O'SHEA. He died this year. LINK.
52. Take by force : USURP.
54. Apology ending : CULPA. Latin: Mea Culpa.
56. Teaser : PROMO.
57. Parting mot : ADIEU. More French.
59. Dealership amt. : MSRP. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.
61. Attend : GO TO. Where did you go to college? Was it in....
64. Western st. : CALifornia?
Nope I am a UConn Husky. And a tired one at that, having conducted 8 real estate closings yesterday. Well we are sneaking up on Thanksgiving and my time to thank C.C., each and everyone of you, and each person who has contributed over the years. It is great fun to do this for those who read and discuss the puzzles and the perspectives. I also want to thank Argyle who is amazing, melissa, Ron and Steve, who are fun and funny, marti who is divine and Splynter who is incomparable. Also Mr. Blais, thank you also for the puzzle. Finally, 50 years ago, I was coming back to my dorm room after an intramural football game, when I saw the events in Dallas. I remember it like yesterday.
Lemonade
