3-Down. "Sesame Street" segment with Dorothy the goldfish : ELMO'S WORLD.
4-Down. Combat with one survivor : FIGHT TO THE DEATH.
9-Down. Input for a personnel interviewer : FIRST IMPRESSION.
31-Down. "Dolphin Tale" co-star : ASHLEY JUDD.
And the reveal:
39-Across. Lullaby setting, and a hint to the starts of 3-, 4-, 9- and 31-Down : TREETOP. My reaction? 62-Down: AHA! "Now it's clear!" I honestly did not see the theme until the reveal. Nicely done, with the four theme answers going down the grid, with the TREE at the TOP of each one, all three letters. Very consistent. Let's see what else Jeffrey has to offer.
Across:
1. Took in : ATE.
4. Cartoon huntsman : FUDD.
8. One of the five Olympic rings : AFRICA. The original designer (Pierre de Coubertin) chose the colors from the flags of all the countries involved in the Olympics. Before 1951 the Olympic Charter did specify that blue = Europe, yellow = Asia, black = Africa, green = Australia/Oceania and red = America. That statement was later removed, since it did not appear to be the designer's original intention.
14. __ Harbour, Fla. : BAL.
15. Memo term : IN RE.
16. Jeweled headgear : DIADEM.
17. Electrical unit : OHM. And 28-Across. Power units : WATTS.
18. France, in the time of the 6-Down : GAUL. And 6-Down. Pre-Christian Celtic priests : DRUIDS.
19. Julio's partner in wine : ERNEST. The Gallo Brothers.
20. Sponge : MOOCH.
22. The Beatles' "__ Just Seen a Face" : I'VE. I refuse to link songs any more. You Tube has put annoying ads on every page now.
24. ERA and others : STATS.
25. Enchant : BESOT.
26. Mark : DENOTE.
30. Thought before taking a risk : DO I DARE? (Oh sure, go ahead!)
34. Excessively affected : TOO TOO.
36. First name in Chicago politics : RAHM. Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago.
37. Pathetic : SAD.
38. Good Friday mo., often : APR.
41. Group __ : HUG. Awww, how sweet!
42. 4-Across frame : CEL.
43. Golden __: Drake's ship : HIND. Forgot the name of his ship - she was originally called Pelican, but he changed the name half way around the world.
44. How aspirin is taken : ORALLY.
46. Single sock, e.g. : ODDMENT. I don't think I've ever seen this ODD word before.
48. "We hold __ truths ..." : THESE.
49. Superfan : ADORER.
51. Art nouveau, say : STYLE.
54. Musical flip : B-SIDE.
57. Sumac of song : YMA. She could span more than four octaves with her voice.
58. Man of letters? : SAJAK. "Wheel of Fortune." (Can I buy an __ ?)
59. Hard to believe : UNREAL.
61. __ B'rith : B'NAI.
63. Down Under school : UNI. Late week doesn't indicate "for short." Kazie, do you call university "UNI"?
64. Mutual respect : COMITY. Another word that took all the perps to see.
65. Second : ECHO. "I ECHO your thoughts."
66. "Football Night in America" co-host Patrick : DAN.
67. Envelop : SWATHE. Another late-week word.
68. List maker : DEAN. DEAN's List.
69. More than scratch the surface : DIG.
Down:
1. Enola Gay payload : A BOMB.
2. Lake bordering the Silver and Golden states : TAHOE.
5. Actress Merkel : UNA. She was big in early Hollywood.
7. Go deeply (into) : DELVE.
8. Citrusy drink : ADE.
10. Carried on : RANTED.
11. "The very __!" : IDEA.
12. "__ la vie!" : C'EST. "That's life!"
13. Figs. : AMTS. Amounts. Not to be confused with FIGs from today's tree.
21. Oft-checked item : COAT. Nice misdirection.
23. Use as a terminus : END AT.
27. "I know! Pick me!" : OOH OOH!
29. Città on the Po : TORINO. "Turin," in Italian.
32. Castro of Cuba : RAUL. Fidel's little brother.
33. Neither cool nor collected : EDGY.
34. Food truck offering : TACO.
35. Non-news page : OP ED. "OPposite the EDitorial"
36. It may precede meat and potatoes : RED. I was thinking of an appetizer or salad at first. RED meat / RED potatoes.
40. Sweepstakes mail-in : ENTRY.
45. Sleuthing films canine : ASTA.
47. Got there : MADE IT.
48. Semiconscious state : TRANCE.
50. Set : EMBED.
52. Island only 2% owned by Hawaii : LANAI. The other 98% is privately owned by Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle.
53. Barely acquiring, with "out" : EKING.
54. Tampa NFL team : BUCS. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
55. Bamboozle : SNOW. We only got about three inches of bamboozle from the big storm this week.
56. "__ la Douce" : IRMA.
60. Pipe cleaner : LYE. I wanted those fuzzy arts & crafts things...
62. "Now it's clear!" : AHA. Just as I said at the beginning!
That's it for me today. See you next week!
Marti
