Four common terms containing a country name as a descriptive adjective, are modified into amusing new version that sound alike but have very different meanings. This is the first Friday pangram in a long while and my first from Mike in a long while as well. As with many of his works, lots of 4 and 5 letter fill with some interesting medium words like IS INTO, OAXACA, PEG LEG, SEANCE, AT WORST, EQUINES, TEXAS TEA, UNALLIED. I know you are worn out from cooking, smiling at relatives and eating, so on with the show.
20A. WWII personnel from Rio? : BRAZILIAN WACS (13). The base phrase is Brazilian Wax, referring to the complete removal of pubic hair. The HISTORY of the term is debatable, but it may just be that the indigenous tribes that were there before European were one of the Asian strains which grow very little body hair.
25A. Yoko Ono, in spirit? : JAPANESE BEATLE (14). The destructive Japanese Beetle does in fact come from Japan, which has more natural beetle predators to limit their damage. Not to be confused with the German Beetle.
46A. Andalusian plains? : SPANISH STEPPES (14). (Spanish Steps in Rome are must see according to my traveling son. LINK). Steppe is defined as "one of the vast usually level and treeless tracts in southeastern Europe or Asia." (MW).
52A. Brussels-born lumberjack? : BELGIAN LOGGER (13). Belgian Lager beer. They produce over 700 kinds of beer in Belgium, but most are ales. READ. Either of my sons can answer this one better than I. I did stand in line to buy the Trappists' Westveleran XII when it came out.
Across:
5. Old lab burners : ETNAS. I will let our scientists get into a BUNSEN vs. ETNA discussion.
10. Julia's "Ocean's Twelve" role : TESS. First name of actress = first name of character.
14. Teeny bit : IOTA.
15. Repeat exactly : QUOTE.
16. Bar __ : EXAM. February 1974.
17. Wii alternative : XBOX. gaming systems.
18. Prefix with marine : ULTRA.
19. Lawless role : XENA. Nicely phrased; Lucy will live on so people can find an X to grind into a puzzle.
23. Reds, on scoreboards : CINcinnati.
24. French pronoun : CES. Their.
33. EPA standard : AQI. Air Quality Index.
34. 1986 Best New Artist Grammy winner : SADE.
35. Kingdom : REALM.
37. Accumulate : RUN UP. Think of your bar tab.
40. Rio maker : KIA.
41. Leader's prerogative : SAY SO. He has the last word.
42. Place for sweaters? : SAUNA. Rather indelicate... sweat-ers.
43. Place Sundance liked : ETTA. Classic clue misdirection as her name was Etta Place, and the clue masks the capital letter which would have exposed the answer by having the word first in the progression.
45. Illegal turn, maybe : UIE.
50. Joseph Smith's denom. : LDS. Latter Day Saints.
51. __ hours : WEE. Where you could often find my sons playing the Wii.
59. It's done in parts of Switzerland : FINI. French misdirection; c'est fini.
60. Giant or Titan, briefly : NFLER. With the ever increasing size of footballers, this is becoming a doubly true clue.
61. VIII squared : LXIV. Roman math, reminds me LINK. (2:47).
63. Der __: Adenauer epithet : ALTE. Old one.
64. Island tubers : TAROS.
66. Techie, stereotypically : NERD.
67. Wrigley brand : ORBIT. This is my gum of choice.
68. Fishing leader? : GONE.
Down:
1. B'way pickups : TIX.
2. Former Virginia senator Charles : ROBB. Married one of LBJ's daughters and despite rumors and scandals, they are still together.
3. "Like __ not ..." : IT OR.
4. Veracruz neighbor : OAXACA.
5. Some dams : EQUINES. Horsies.
6. Rock's Jethro __ : TULL. Very distinct sound.
7. Claim of innocence : NOT I.
8. Gillette brand : ATRA.
9. Medium setting : SEANCE. Not on your electric razor, but where the psychic's work.
10. Jed Clampett's discovery, in a sitcom theme song : TEXAS TEA. LINK in case you want to memorize the song.
11. Suit : EXECutive.
12. Without : SANS. A French word incorporated into our language.
13. "He'll hae misfortunes great an' __": Burns : SMA. small.
21. Cab cousin : ZIN, Cabernet and Zinfandel.
22. Erodes : WEARS.
25. Shakes : JARS. I guess...
26. Blue shades : AQUAS.
27. Betty Grable, e.g. : PIN UP. very popular with our boys during WWII, I have read.
28. Benefits : SAKES. For all of our sakes, I hope you sussed this.
29. WWI first lady Wilson : EDITH. Woodrow's second wife and the President after his stroke.
30. Pulsates : BEATS.
31. Easy two-pointer : LAYUP.
32. Dinsmore of children's books : ELSIE. No clue, all perps. LINK.
36. Duff Beer seller : MOE'S. Mo' Simpsons and a CSO to our own Chairman.
38. Neutral : UNALLIED.
39. Ohio-based consumer products giant, familiarly : P AND G. Proctor & Gamble.
44. In the most dire circumstance : AT WORST.
47. Has a passion for : IS INTO. Also, 59D. Buff : FAN. He is a car buff was popular when I was a kid
48. Wave checker: abbr. : EEG. Electroencephalogram. brain waves.
49. Stereotypical pirate : PEG LEG. My ex-wife hated that as a nickname.
52. Venom : BILE. One of the first 4 elopements.
53. __'acte : ENTR. French for between.
54. Hardly close : AFAR.
55. Union-mgmt. mediator : NLRB. National Labor Relations Board.
56. Sainted pope called "the Great" : LEO I.
57. Nat, before 2005 : EXPO. Base ball teams, one in Montreal which is now in Washington, both abbreviations.
58. It was nothing for Louis XIV : RIEN. More simple French, and bi-lingual pun.
62. Vacation starter? : VEE. First letter in the word, and the last clue in the puzzle. Still recovering from all the tryptophan in the turkey. Relax and enjoy, thank Mike and thank you C.C., Argyle, JzB, Steve, marti, Splynter and each and everyone of you.
Lemonade out.
