17A. Man-made organic pump : ARTIFICIAL HEART
27A. Dish not made from the reptile it's named for : MOCK TURTLE SOUP. Food! The old recipe on Wikipedia is not for the faint of heart.
46A. Pseudonym : FICTITIOUS NAME
62A. Finger-pointing perjury : FALSE ACCUSATION
Welcome to the new week - Steve here pinch-hitting for Argyle whose computer has got a fit of the sulks (I think that's the technical term).
After the conniptions of the last couple of puzzles this was a perfect antidote; pretty much a top-to-bottom solve. The theme was crisp and there was no unifier so "figure it out yourself". Two 15 and two 14-letter theme entries made for a nice grid.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Campus drilling gp. : R.O.T.C. I just realized I didn't know what the acronym stands for and had to look up "Reserve Officers' Training Corps". Now I know.
5. Repairs, as a lawn's bare spot : SODS
9. On the higher side : UPPER
14. Fictional lab assistant : IGOR. Bonus points for knowing the movie with the line "No, it's pronounced "Eye-gor".
15. Be certain : KNOW
16. Garbo of the silver screen : GRETA. Her feet were not large - the rumor was started by the columnist Walter Winchell when she turned down his request for an interview.
20. Take care of : SEE TO
21. Start of Caesar's incredulous question : ET TU
22. GI rations : M.R.E.s We had a discussion recently about the accuracy of "Meals, Ready to Eat".
23. 1040 publisher: Abbr. : I.R.S. So last week.
25. Prefix meaning "high" : ALTI-
34. Kissing pair : LIPS. Nice cluing.
35. Out __ limb : ON A
36. Get a feeling about : SENSE
37. Feed bag morsel : OAT
38. Like a soloist on a dark stage : SPOTLIT
41. Fill up on : EAT
42. Barn-raising sect : AMISH. Are the Amish the only group that barn-raise? Seems a very sensible approach to a problem.
44. Electrified particle : ION
45. Falls behind : LAGS
50. "The Lord of the Rings," e.g. : EPIC. Because "bloated nine-hour CGI mega-movie franchise that takes terrible liberties with the books" didn't fit.
51. Encouragement "on the back" : PAT
52. Bog fuel : PEAT. We've had PEAT a couple of times recently, including "(Three) PEAT" yesterday.
55. Capone nemesis Eliot : NESS.
 |
| "Speak softly and carry a big Thomson Sub-Machine Gun" |
65. Sing like Bing : CROON
66. 50+ org. : AARP. I'm eligible to join, but I seem to get just as good deals with AAA.
67. Company with bell ringers : AVON. If you don't have a doorbell, what do they do?
68. Shell out : SPEND
69. Zebras, to lions : PREY. It strikes me as odd that in "The Lion King" you never see Scar and company actually eating anything. It does give me an excuse to link to this song though.
70. Actor Hackman : GENE
Down:
1. Narrow inlets : RIAS
2. Folklore monster : OGRE
3. Carryall with handles : TOTE
4. They give films stars : CRITICS. Nice clue again.
5. Slalom item : SKI
6. It may be enough : ONCE
7. "Just __": Nike slogan : DO IT. The Nike "Swoosh" logo was designed by a student at Portland State University and sold to Phil Knight for $35.
8. Try to whack, as a fly : SWAT AT
9. "Gross!" : UGH
10. Logical proposition : PREMISE
11. Apple relative : PEAR
12. To be, to Brigitte : ETRE. One of our "French 101" words.
13. "Peanuts" phooey : RATS
18. Tuning __ : FORK. I tried to use one of these once to tune my guitar. I had to abandon the idea and go back to my electronic tuning meter.
19. Break in the action : LULL
24. Break in the action : STOP. Neighboring Clechos.
26. Word with tube or pattern : TEST
27. Florida metropolis : MIAMI
28. Vision-related : OPTIC
29. Game with Skip cards : UNO. I've never played this game - anyone?
30. Mathematical comparison : RATIO
31. Wee hr. : ONE A.M.
32. Grammarian's concern : USAGE
33. Lizards and snakes, for some : PETS
34. Do nothing : LOAF
38. Use FedEx : SHIP. Hey Splynter - your competition just got name-checked. What's that all about?
39. Comical Costello : LOU
40. Clouseau's rank: Abbr. : INSP. Did you know the good Inspector has been played by Peter Sellers, Alan Arkin, Roger Moore and Steve Martin?
43. Cowboy's hat : STETSON. I was in Texas last week and treated myself to a fine pair of cowboy boots. I drew the line at the hat though.
45. Reason for an ump's safe call : LATE TAG. C.C. can explain this if we need clarification.
47. Emmy winner Fey : TINA
48. Arctic expanse : ICECAP
49. It means nothing to Juan : NADA
52. Inferiors of cpls. : PFCS. My only misstep to day was to put "PVTS" here first. Privates, First Class is the correct answer.
53. Tombstone lawman : EARP.
54. Burn-soothing substance : ALOE
56. Mark from a surgical procedure : SCAR
57. Having no doubt : SURE
59. Occurring as you watch it : LIVE
60. Huckleberry Hound, for one : TOON
61. Songstress Murray : ANNE
63. Conclusion : END. Except it's not, there's one more answer ...
64. Plant gathering information : SPY. Saving the best until last; this was my favorite clue today.
That's all I've got - everyone have a good day!
Steve
