17. Proverbial flying companions? : BIRDS OF A FEATHER flock together. You can judge them by the company they keep, on land or in the air.
24. Proverbial pavers? : GOOD INTENTIONS. The road to hell is paved with them, it's said. This can either suggest that “The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley,” or be an admonition not to let your good intentions languish due to lack of action. Which meaning do you take?
42. Proverbial loser? : HE WHO HESITATES is lost. On the other hand, look before you leap. So - who ya gonna believe?
56. Proverbial pyrite? : ALL THAT GLITTERS is not gold. This could be interpreted as meaning that gold does not glitter. As a child, I found that to be confusing. In German, IIRC, it's Alles ist nicht Geld was glänzt, or all is not gold that glitters. Not so easy to misinterpret. Pyrite, iron sulfide, is a yellowish glittery mineral, called fool's gold.
Hi gang, JzB here. Let's boldly plunge into this puzzle. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained., and fortune favors the bold. So onward - there's no time like the present. I've included some pictures and videos, thereby saving thousands of words.
Across
1. House of Dana fragrance : TABU. Perfume.
5. Hiccups cure, so they say : SCARE. BOO!
10. Wilson's predecessor : TAFT. U. S. Presidents. Is the plural of POTUS POTI?
14. Economist Greenspan : ALAN. Famous quote from the emeritus Fed Chairman. "Clearly, sustained low inflation implies less uncertainty about the future, and lower risk premiums imply higher prices of stocks and other earning assets. We can see that in the inverse relationship exhibited by price/earnings ratios and the rate of inflation in the past. But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?"
— "The Challenge of Central Banking in a Democratic Society", 1996-12-05
15. Senate aides : PAGES. To the best of my knowledge, they are not characterized as recto and verso. They serve primarily as messengers, distribute copies of The Congressional Record and other relevant documents, and assist in other ways.
16. On a cruise : ASEA. Literally, upon the sea.
20. Bare runners : STREAKERS. Also literally.
21. Explosive trial : N-TEST. Nuclear bomb testing.
22. GPS suggestion : RTE. Route. Note Abrvs.
23. __ Miguel, largest of the Azores : SAO. This scenic archipelago is an autonomous region of Portugal, located in the north Atlantic, about 850 miles off the coast of continental Portugal.
33. Fencing equipment : EPEES. Dueling swords, not pickets.
34. Bow (out) : OPT. To OPT is to make a choice among various possibilities. This clue is far too specific.
36. Real bore : DRAG. Time DRAGs when you're bored.
37. Station : DEPOT. For trains or buses.
38. Sorority letters : PHIS. Though groups could OPT for other letters, such as alpha and gamma. The letters are the initial letters of the organization's motto or slogan in the Greek language, which is often a secret.
39. Tended little ones : SAT. Baby sitting.
40. President before and after Medvedev : PUTIN. Hero or villain, depending on which position you OPT for
41. Move stealthily : SLINK. Sneaky.
45. Sue Grafton's "__ for Outlaw" : O IS. One book of the Kinsey Millhone [English] alphabet mystery series. I got bored with it somewhere around E.
46. Ocasek of the Cars : RIC. You know what he wants.
47. Unskilled workers : PEONS.
50. Lose it : GO BANANAS. Or berserk, have a fit, hit the ceiling.
58. Muse of history : CLIO.
59. Gauchos' gear : BOLAS. South American cowboys alternative to the lariat.
60. Whistle-blowing Brockovich : ERIN. She built a case against Pacific gas and Electric for contaminating drinking water with highly toxic hexavalent chromium.
61. Great Smokies st. : TENNessee.
62. "I'm at your disposal" : USE ME. Could be a dangerous offer.
63. Lays down the lawn : SODS. Green side up. Nice word play. A clue can be both straight-forward and clever.
Down
1. Keep __ on: observe : TABS. To keep "tabs" (or "a tab") on someone, is short for "tablet" in the sense of "writing tablet," i.e., an account book or written record. Thus, when Santa Claus is described as "making a list and checking it twice," he is "keeping a tab" (or "tabs") on all those naughty and nice kiddies. This use of "tab" is relatively recent, first appearing in the late 19th century. The same sense of "tab" meaning "written account" is found in "tab" meaning "restaurant check." [Edited quote from here.]
2. Came down to earth : ALIT. Remember when returning astronauts ALIT ASEA?
3. "Last Comic Standing" judge Roseanne : BARR. Occasionally funny.
4. Long shot : UNDERDOG. Proverbial loser. Occasional winner.
5. Already claimed, with "for" : SPOKEN. The meaning is clear enough, I guess, but I can't find any history on this usage.
6. Stylish eatery : CAFE. This comes from the French word for coffee, and can indicate a small restaurant selling light meals and drinks, not necessarily upscale.
7. Biology lab gel : AGAR. A gelatinous material obtained from red sea weed.
8. Officiates, briefly : REFS. At a sporting event. Briefly indicates a shortened form of referee.
9. Jargony suffix : ESE. I guess this means the suffix indicates jargon, as in legalese, rather than being jargony itself.
10. Parlor art : TATTOO. Skin decoration. Pick an image.
11. Stadium named for a tennis great : ASHE. Arthur, 1943-1993, winner of three grand slam titles.
12. Late charges, e.g. : FEES. Also payments made for services rendered.
13. Lemony : TART. Sour.
18. Nightie material : SATIN. A smooth glossy fabric. Pick an image.
19. Diarist Nin : ANAIS. She was free-spirited before it was cool, acted in movies, was a pioneer in female erotica, for which she was supremely qualified and had two simultaneous marriages in New York and California. Must have been tiring.
23. Never mind, to an editor : STET. Let it stand as written.
24. Meanders : GADS. To meander is to take a winding route to your destination. To GAD about is to visit many pleasurable places, while avoiding other duties and responsibilities. I don't see the equivalence.
25. Talk show for 25 seasons, familiarly : OPRAH.
26. Deliver an address : ORATE.
27. Spots for caps and crowns : TEETH. Not têtes.
28. "Silas Marner" foundling : EPPIE. "The narrator describes her as 'a creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires, seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and living movements'; she loves flowers and butterflies, and birds and animals. Basically, she's the exact opposite of Silas."
29. Glowing signs : NEONS. Light bulbs in which ionized gases [not necessarily NEON] emit light via fluorescence.
30. Like four Sandy Koufax games : NO-HIT. A baseball game in which one team finishes without reaching base via a hit.
31. Book back : SPINE. Writing there usually identifies the title and author. But don't judge a book by its SPINE.
35. Chiding sounds : TSKS. Disapproving tongue clicks.
37. Teams on police shows, often : DUOS. They usually travel in pairs
38. Calms using concessions : PLACATES. Only works for a little while. Then they want more.
40. Scam using spam, perhaps : PHISH. Internet slang for an attempt to fraudulently obtain confidential information or personal data. The scammer wants to snag you like a fish.
41. Stretch in the service : STINT. The length of time a member of the armed forces commits to serving.
43. Chinese dumpling : WONTON. I think every nationality has their equivalent.
44. Hold 'em declaration : I RAISE. Poker term for raising the stakes of a bet on a given hand.
47. Kyoto Protocol, e.g. : PACT. A formal agreement among the involved parties.
48. Fashion monthly : ELLE. Named for a French female pronoun. Here is the French Canadian edition featuring Elle, an Australian model on the cover.
49. Lena of "Chocolat" : OLIN. A movie she was in.
50. Pontiac muscle cars : GTOS.
51. Eye lasciviously : OGLE. Something a gentleman would never do.
52. "Kapow!" : BLAM. Explosion noises.
53. Wolfe of fiction : NERO. A armchair detective created in 1934 by American writer Rex Stout.
54. Like Arizona's climate, largely : ARID. Hot and dry, difficult for vegetation to survive.
55. Some employee IDs : SSNS. Social Security Numbers.
57. __ Dhabi : ABU. The largest of the seven emerates in the United Arab Emirates, a country at the Southeast end of the Arabian peninsula, and also the name of the capital city. Plus it's almost as much fun to say as Kuala Lumpur.
OK. That's it. Hope you kept your nose to the grindstone. If not, don't cry over spilt milk. You'll live to fight another day.
Cool regards!
JzB
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