Merry Christmas, everyone! This was a very fun puzzle, hiding Santa's little helpers in the grid.
18. Eponymous Detroit exec : EDSEL FORD.
19. Speaks for __ : ITSELF.
31. Keebler cookie brand : E.L. FUDGE.
32. "Go right ahead" : FEEL FREE. Help yourself to another E.L. FUDGE cookie, Santa!
54. Actress Jenna et al. : ELFMANS. I remember her from "Dharma & Greg."
55. Third quarters? : TWELFTHS. 1 quarter is a quarter, 2 quarters are eighths, and 3 quarters are twelfths?
36. Seasonal children's book about a watchful worker, who is graphically represented eight times in this puzzle : THE ELF ON THE SHELF. The book comes with a posable elf.
Unusual grid, with 16 columns instead of the typical 15. And unusual theme, but really cute with all those ELFs posing on their 3-black-square-shelves! (See diagram at the bottom.) I found this one to be Friday-tough in certain sections. I'm curious to see if you had the same problems I did, so let's go over them one by one:
Across
1. Resting places : CAMP SITES. Not sure how the two are necessarily related, but perps forced me.
10. Port south of Hamilton, Ont. : ERIE, PA. Shout out to Abejo!
16. Approximately : ON OR ABOUT.
17. One in a shower : METEOR. Great clue. I was picturing something like this.
20. "Gnarly!" : RAD.
21. Lean-__ : TOs. In your resting place?
22. Bit of baby talk : GOO.
23. Vine genus : CLEMATIS. A couple perps gave me this one - I grow them every summer on a trellis in my garden.
27. Gains : PROFITS.
33. Star Wars letters : SDI. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.
34. Author Fleming : IAN.
35. Swiss river : AAR.
43. Feminine principle : YIN. Male is Yang.
44. Guitar, slangily : AXE. This took three perps. But the ELF nailed it, I bet.
45. __ green : PEA.
46. Dives : PLUMMETS.
50. Gives a hand : DEALS TO.
56. '80s Peppard co-star : MR. T. On "The A-Team."
57. Pres. after JAG : CAA. James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.
58. Canada's smallest prov. : P.E.I. Prince Edward Island.
59. 1962 Best Picture title locale : ARABIA. Lawrence of.
62. Refuel, as red blood cells : OXYGENATE. I filled it in immediately.
66. House speaker before Boehner : PELOSI. She, on the other hand, took a couple perps.
67. House flipper, e.g. : RENOVATOR. The ELF did a Mickey Mouse job on his kitchen reno.
68. 2002 eBay acquisition : PAYPAL.
69. False claims : PRETENSES.
Down
1. Pressure : COERCE.
2. Still __: nonetheless : AND ALL.
3. Rapper who played Chuck Berry in "Cadillac Records" : MOS DEF.
4. Calculus lead-in : PRE.
5. Pitcher Maglie : SAL.
6. Pugilists' org. : IBF. International Boxing Federation. Of course, the ELF nailed it.
7. Schoolmate of Blair, Jo and Natalie on "The Facts of Life" : TOOTIE. The brace-wearing, roller-skating girl who always said "We're in trouuuu-ble!"
8. Barcelona bread : EUROS. So much easier to remember the currency of all the European countries now, isn't it?
9. Criteria: Abbr. : STDS. Standards.
10. Ellis Island arrival : ÉMIGRÉ.
11. Update the workshop : RETOOL. Santa promised that next year, the ELF would actually get some power tools.
12. Cancellation notice : ITS OFF.
13. Big shoes to fill? : EEE.
14. Beltway insider, for short : POL. The Capital Beltway in Washington, D.C., that is.
15. Sound from the pound : ARF.
24. Deliberate : MUSE. The verb, not the adjective.
25. Extra: Abbr. : ADD'L.
26. "I've waited all week for this!" : TGIF. My regular comment every Friday.
27. Phnom __ : PENH.
28. Requiem title word : IRAE. "Dies Irae," or "Day of Wrath."
29. Blue-green shade : TEAL.
30. Medieval peon : SERF. I kept reading this as "Medieval POEM."
32. The way it goes : FATE.
34. "New Sensation" band : INXS. I always used to pronounce this as "inks," until I found out it should be "In ex-ESS."
36. Kind : TYPE.
37. Incline : HILL.
38. Ample, informally : ENUF. Have you had ENUF with the ELF, already?
39. Feed in a stable : OATS.
40. Sport with blades : EPEE.
41. Elite commando : SEAL. Acronym for SEa, Air and Land.
42. Word with mile or marathon : HALF.
47. 1997 Hanson #1 hit : MMMBOP. Never heard this one. It reached #1 in 27 countries, including the US.
48. Tomei of "My Cousin Vinny" : MARISA. Ah, MARISA, good to see you back!
49. Require : ENTAIL.
50. Wrestler Johnson known as "The Rock" : DWAYNE.
51. March observance, for short : ST. PATS.
52. Hall of Fame placekicker Lou Groza's apt nickname : THE TOE. I totally forgot this one.
53. Basketry twigs : OSIERS.
55. One imposing levies : TAXER.
57. Inc. cousin : CORP.
59. Online store offering : APP.
60. Stephen of "In Dreams" : REA.
61. Prince __ Khan : ALY.
63. Grasped : GOT.
64. Christmas __ : EVE. Bad ELF! You get coal in your stocking this year.
65. Indian flatbread : NAN.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good...morning?
Marti Elf
Notes from C.C.:
1) Please click here for a special "Gift Exchange" puzzle from Erik Agard, who made two of my favorite LA Times Monday puzzles last year. Quite a few bloggers, crossword constructors, top solvers contributed to the clues.
2) Happy Birthday to our always positive and caring Yellowrocks (Kathy). Hope you have a fantastic visit with your son, grandson and daughter-in-law today. We also say Happy Birthday to our math professor Fermatprime, who's been with the blog since 2009. Happy Birthday also to car expert Zcarguy, who pops in to the blog from time to time. I faintly recall Zcarguy grew up in Lebanon.
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| Kathy & Buddha, Japan, 2008. Kathy speaks Japanese. |
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| Fermatprime (Lorraine) |
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| Zcarguy & his wife |
