Monday, February 9, 2015 Joel Mackerry

Theme: Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights. The lights come back on when the start of these five seemingly random entries are brought together by the unifier.

17A. *Handy tool to have when you're out of loose-leaf paper : HOLE PUNCH. Black Hole - where the car keys go.

29A. *Amulet : MAGIC CHARM. Black Magic - how the keys disappeared.

37A. *Prime ballpark accommodation : BOX SEAT. Black Box - in the news all to often.

39A. *Architectural style featuring geometric shapes : ART DECO. Black Art - without an 's' on Art, it is African American Art.

44A. *Stand-up venue : COMEDY CLUB. Black Comedy - definitely two meanings; comedy that employs morbid, gloomy, grotesque, or calamitous situations in its plot or comedy either by African Americans or shows featuring characters of African ethnicity. Redd Foxx had it all covered.

60A. Ostracize ... and what the first words of the answers to starred clues comprise : BLACKLIST. In our sense, BLACK LIST.

Argyle here with another debut and a good one at that. A few tough words and some crosswordese but all in all, a good start to the week.

Across:

1. "The Alphabet Song" opening : A B C D

5. Closed : SHUT

9. Postpone : DEFER

14. Lemony in taste : SOUR. Our first CSO. (Coincidental Shout Out)

15. "__ Lisa" : MONA

16. Overjoy : ELATE. If Mona was elated, she didn't show it.

19. Red-suited reindeer driver : SANTA. My personal CSO.

20. China's Zhou __ : ENLAI

21. Forming a queue : LINING UP

23. Memory aid, such as "HOMES" for the Great Lakes : MNEMONIC

26. Amount paid : COST

34. Sch. in the smallest state : URI. (University of Rhode Island)

35. T-shirt sizes, for short : SML. small, medium, large

36. Sound portion of a movie : AUDIO

41. Amazed : IN AWE

42. Regret : RUE

43. "__ Misérables" : LES

48. French father : PÈRE

49. Kids' show host with a "Neighborhood" : MR. ROGERS

51. "Will you marry me?" is one : PROPOSAL

55. Flusters : FAZES

59. Deceived : LED ON

63. Submit tax returns online : eFILE. Timely.

64. Actor Lugosi : BELA

65. Sulk : MOPE

66. Small and unimportant : DINKY

67. Cheese from the Netherlands : EDAM

                  Gill Brooks

68. Winter fall : SNOW. Enough already!

Down:

1. Arthur of tennis : ASHE. Crossword's favorite player.

2. Timely benefit : BOON

3. Select with care : CULL

4. Imagined while sleeping : DREAMT. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

5. Church-founded Dallas sch. : SMU. (Southern Methodist University)

6. Luv : HON. Not exactly abbreviations; I'm not sure what to call them.

7. Clean with Liquid-Plumr : UNCLOG

8. Hummus paste : TAHINI

9. Dry up : DESICCATE. The little packages you find with some items is desiccant.

10. Vivacity : ELAN

11. Vampire tooth : FANG. Normally, they come in pairs.

12. Caesar's immortal "And you?" : "ET TU?"

13. Gather in a field : REAP

18. Bowler's target : PIN. CSO Boomer.

22. Actor Cage, in tabloids : NIC

24. Austen heroine : EMMA. "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich."

25. Milkshake additive : MALT. How common is it? You have to ask for it around here.

26. Like Rubik's creation : CUBIC

27. Maine college town : ORONO

28. Early riser's hr. : SIX AM

30. 1963 Paul Newman film : "HUD"

31. Dancer Astaire : ADELE. She was Fred's elder sister, and his partner in a 27-year career in vaudeville and theater, beginning when he was five and she was eight.

32. Potato cutter : RICER. I wouldn't want to be that potato; Julia looks demented.

33. Bullwinkle, for one : MOOSE

35. Start-up cash : SEED MONEY

38. Nor. neighbor : SWE. Norway/Sweden

39. Cut __: dance, in old slang : A RUG

40. Hick : RUBE

45. 1520 and 2015, e.g.: Abbr. : YRs

46. Buster who played Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon : CRABBE. He was raised in Hawaii. I didn't know that. Wiki link

47. Lazed : LOLLED

48. Biblical songs : PSALMS

50. Bobby's monogram, in '60s politics : RFK. Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy

51. Argued in court : PLED

52. Lower-interest mtge. : REFI. (ReFinance)

53. Norse war god : ODIN

54. President when Texas was annexed : POLK

56. Utah national park : ZION

57. 1960s-'70s Boston Bruins nickname : ESPO. Phil Esposito

58. Hearty dish : STEW

61. Pie __ mode : À LA

62. Pic taker : CAM. picture/camera

Argyle

Note from C.C.

Happy Birthday to our talented Saturday Stud Splynter! Hope you're having fun making the board/card game during your precious one-week vacation. I love reading what you think of the  puzzle every Saturday and getting a glimpse of what's going on in your life. Thanks for all your hard work, Splynter!

Sunday, February 8, 2015 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme:  "Movie Trailers". Our lovely Marti has appended a word to familiar movie titles and then hilarity ensued as the resulting phrase made sense but in a fun way. My favorite was 

56A. Movie about a morning mixer? : THE BREAKFAST CLUB SODA, which in this case seems to be Coca Cola and not CLUB SODA. Gotta love product placement fees!
 

22A. Movie about a second-place swordsman? : BLADE RUNNER UP - Probably had a bad epee

39A. Movie about a case of brilliance? : THE SHINING EXAMPLE

80A. Movie about remedial grammar? : BACK TO THE FUTURE TENSE - When we hit 88 mph, we will have returned to 1985

96A. Movie about a gabfest getting out of hand? : RAGING BULL SESSION (not much gabbing going on in this session)

119A. Movie about a Brownie coming of age? : GONE GIRL SCOUT - she sold me some Thin Mints and then split

I always have a good time with Marti's puzzles and this was no exception. I'll bet her fertile brain produced a big bone pile of rejected entries that didn't make the cut. 

After blogging for C.C. two weeks ago and Marti today, may I submit a humble entry - "Strength Of An Attractive Female"
 

                        Power"  

Get your popcorn, turn off your cell phones, sit back and enjoy the show! 

Across        

1. "Shucks!" : AW GEE

6. Alley roamers : TOM CATS - a venue our kitty will never see

13. Relatives of bolts : SCREWS - Betcha you've got a drawer at home full of both like we do

 

 

19. Contemporary of Burns : BENNY

20. Central __ : AMERICA - I only know Panama and Guatemala on a map for sure. You?

 

 

21. Red choice : CLARET - Yup, it's Marti's puzzle!

24. Went around : ROTATED - We ROTATED kids every 12 weeks for 34 years so I got everyone of the 400+ Eighth graders. No wonder I can't remember them!

26. Fifth-century invader : ATTILA - Romans called him "The Scourge of God"

27. As above, in footnotes : IDEM - Not IBID. Footnoting was "The Scourge of College" for me. 

28. Logan of "60 Minutes" : LARA

29. Con opening : NEO

30. It might include problems : TEST - Was that Central America test above a problem?

32. Syria's most populous city : ALEPPO - Millions have fled

35. Stupefyin' Jones creator : CAPP - Julie Newmar wowed 'em in that role on Broadway and reprised the character in the 1959 movie version of Lil' Abner.
 

36. Rocks, maybe : ICE - not allowed in some venues ;-)

44. "Finale Ultimo" chorus in "The Sound of Music" : NUNS - Reprise #2. The NUNS sang Climb Every Mountain against this fabulous backdrop.

 

 

46. Dire destiny : DOOM

47. Actress Vardalos : NIA - Tom Hanks' wife Rita Wilson, of Greek heritage, convinced him to see NIA's play and then Hanks' company, Playtone, got the movie off the ground.

 

 

48. Mudville dud : CASEY - He shouldna taken two strikes!

49. Per se : AS SUCH

52. Cocktail word for "strained" : COLADA - Learning for me. I've strained to get to the car after too many pina coladas.

54. "12 Angry Men" actor Cobb : LEE J - Did that kid really kill his dad or not?

61. Rembrandt van __ : RYN - He went by his first name like Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 

62. One who gives a hoot : OWL

63. Some "MIB" characters : ET'S -  I liked 'em better in Close Encounters

64. Prefix with metric : ISO - As in ISOMETRIC exercise. Let's all pause for three reps!

 

 

65. Guns : REVS - Followed by "She's real fine my 409..."

67. 1977 Steely Dan album : AJA - Pronounced Asia, the name of a Korean bride taken by Donald Fagen's friend's brother's wife

68. Fisher daughter on "Six Feet Under" : CLAIRE

70. Eur. peak on the Decade Volcanoes list : MT ETNA - Lots of company.

 

 

73. Slammer : PEN

74. Milkweed features : PODS - Here is a piece of Milkweed Pod art by our constructor Marti that she calls Parakeets. Yeah, I know, she's pretty talented! 
 

76. 911 responder, for short : EMT

77. Game-winning line : O O O 

 

 

78. Austrian article : EIN - Ich bin EIN Berliner still gives me goosebumps 

79. Bard's preposition : ERE

86. River islets : AITS - sometimes, what gets learned here, stays here

87. Steps in for : ACTS AS - In the last Husker bowl game, another coach had to ACT AS the head coach for fired Bo Pelini

88. One might get a return : SENDER - Only Big Girls Don't Cry kept Elvis' Return To SENDER from the #1 spot in December 1962

89. Pre-Little League game : T-BALL

92. "Selena" star, to fans : J LO

93. Ton : SLEW

95. Paper or plastic alternative : TOTE
 

102. Agree silently : NOD 

103. Solo often in Italian : ARIA - I'll take Nessun Dorma

104. It had a big part in "The Ten Commandments" : RED SEA - Big "Part"? Good one Marti!

105. Tater : SPUD 

107. Denver winter hrs. : MST

108. Big do : FETE

109. Popular tablet : I PAD - Don't ask Joann to choose between her iPad and me!

113. Blows : ERUPTS - See map at 70A for examples

117. Naval attire : PEA COAT - I'd be willing to bet there's some of these hanging in closets among our sea-going (sea-went) sailors here at the Corner.

 

 

122. Laid-back : AT EASE - Now if the space is between the A and the T...

123. Like the Empire State Building : ART DECO

124. Helped by the jet stream, as a flight : EARLY - A BOAC flight from NY to London arrived an hour and a half early recently as a 200 mph jet stream pushed it up to near the speed of sound

125. ATM part : TELLER

126. "Ah, it's clear now!" : YES I SEE

127. Inscribed pillar : STELE

Down:

1. Group whose logo looks the same in a mirror : ABBA - Hey, this would work, but not as I just typed it.

 

 

2. Shoemaker's strip : WELT

3. Flying pest : GNAT

4. Call the whole thing off : END IT - "Just take one dip and END IT!"

 

 

5. Lace hole : EYELET

6. Start of ancient Troy? : TAU - τροία

7. Upscale hotel chain : OMNI

8. Heal : MEND 

9. First Nations tribe : CREE 

10. Aviator : AIRMAN - Sgt. Major Dickerson had trouble with this AIRMAN.

 

 

11. Horned Frogs' sch. : TCU

12. Flower in trees? : SAP - Aha, Marti, you didn't get me!

13. Pickle : SCRAPE

14. Laundry brand : CLOROX

15. Pro __ : RATA

16. The Gay '90s, e.g. : ERA

17. Messy-meal handouts : WET-NAPS - With a side of ribs

18. Church feature : STEEPLE - C'mon, you've made this STEEPLE, haven't you?

 

 

23. Impetuous : RASH

25. Grumpy companion : DOPEY

28. Evian Championship co-sanctioning org. : LPGA

31. CNN founder Turner : TED

33. Godiva competitor : LINDT
 

34. "Giant Brain" introduced in 1946 : ENIAC

35. Key of 20 Haydn symphonies : C MAJOR

36. Caught : IN A TRAP - Speaking of Elvis, which of his songs has "IN A TRAP" in the lyric? It's my favorite.

37. Plum position : CUSHY JOB - Thanks for the raise, Dad!

38. Baja city : ENSENADA - Inlet or cove in español

40. Put (away), as money : SOCK

41. Bojangles, e.g. : HOOFER 

42. "Sorry, can't stop to chat" : I'M LATE - I'M LATE, for a very important date...

43. Whizzes : ACES

45. Hero : SUB

50. Gator relative : CROC 

51. Computer company co-founder Bill : HEWLETT - Garage in Palo Alto, CA where Bill started. California named it "The Birthplace Of Silicon Valley".
 

53. Braying beast : ASS

54. Sheen : LUSTER

55. Piano keys not played in a 35-Down scale : EBONIES - Not a sharp or flat in sight.

 

 

57. Los __ : ALAMOS - A more destructive birthplace

58. A bad one can raise one's score : LIE

59. Trust : DEPEND ON

60. Put off by : AVERSE TO 

66. Showed disdain : SNEERED - What Elvis did when he sang Return To Sender

69. Hairy sitcom cousin : ITT

70. Airy dessert : MOUSSE - You can see some of that air here.
 

71. Bottom lines : TOTALS

72. Hold 'em opener : ANTE

75. Colleague of Thomas : SCALIA

77. O'er and o'er : OFT - Tis OFT we see ere and o'er 

81. Brickmaking tool : KILN

82. Lecture sites : HALLS

83. Paris' __ des Beaux-Arts : ECOLE

84. Doesn't allow to gather dust : USES -  Our theme song?

 

 

85. Otolaryngology doc : ENT - An ENT had my head scanned and it revealed nothing. Wait a minute... 

89. Lady's friend : TRAMP

90. Stool, often : BAR SEAT

91. Inflame : AGITATE

92. Patron saint of lost causes : JUDE

94. "America's Dairyland": Abbr. : WIS - Maybe not... 
 

97. Washday challenge : GREASE

98. Outdo : BETTER - What musical featured, Anything You Can Do, I Can Do BETTER?

99. Superdome team : SAINTS - Their post-Katrina success culminating in the 07/08 Super Bowl win really help put NOLA back on its feet

100. GM subsidiary : OPEL

101. Drinks on a 90-Down : NURSES

106. Old Venetian coin : DUCAT

108. Mustang that just arrived : FOAL - cute

110. Mani go-with : PEDI - had one last year, haven't been back

111. A long time : AGES

112. Rollers for high rollers : DICE

114. Tiny sweater? : PORE - cute too

115. Eponymous 18th-century agriculturist Jethro __ : TULL - His invention of the horse drawn seed drill helped fuel the British Agricultural Revolution.

 

 

116. Eye sore : STYE

118. Animation still : CEL - This 1935 CEL, the first with Mickey Mouse in color, sold for $420,000. Most, if not all, animators are now laid off.
 

119. Lively : GAY

120. Vein contents : ORE

121. Anagram of 120-Down : ROE - nice coupling finish!

No puzzle to do, no blog to write and I sang and played in church last night. Hmmm... I wonder if that old sock drawer needs a look-see. 
 

Saturday, Feb 7th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 72 (missing K,Q,W,Y,Z)

Blocks: 27

  Ah, a Silkie, and since I unofficially call his puzzles a "theme", that's two in a row for me~!  Pretty blank on the first pass, with triple 11-letter stacks in the Across, and then triple 8's in the Down corners to work with.  Slowed down by the proper names again, but I seem to be getting more open-minded about how I go about the solve (*); guess I've done my share of Saturday crosswords, and a good number of Mr. Silk's at that....all in all, a fairly fun solve.  Some of the longer fill;

15a. Reversible chemical process : ION EXCHANGE - I had the "X" from 5d., and not that I've heard of this process, but it sounded pretty good; think water softeners

14d. Followers : APOSTLES - pondered BOOSTERS ( had the --OST--S), then GNOSTICS; I got there eventually

67a. Bank counter convenience : DEPOSIT SLIP - becoming obsolete in my world; I can now run my checks thru the ATM ( in a stack of up to 30, not that I would ever have that many ) and get a print-out of the check on my receipt - no deposit slip required

37. Loiters : HANGS OUT

ONvacationWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Three-volume biography of Winston Churchill : THE LAST LION - no clue to start, but that rarely fazes me anymore

12*. Summer, at times : CPA - open-minded; a "sum-mer", like my friend Ed, who does my taxes

16. Material flaw : RIP - I went with "RUN", but you know where my mind usually is....

17. Collectible late-'50s auto : EDSEL RANGER - I took time to read over some of the reasons for this epic failure, and found some of it quite fascinating

18. Mattel game since 1992 : UNO - I am working on a board/card game of my own right now, with the hope of selling it through my buddy Mike's company, Kid Agains - he's really taking off with the brand; in fact, he's in China now working out the details of the next 3 games they're producing for him this year.  I have a lot of work to do at the restaurant, and with the threat of more snow, I decided to take a week of vacation from UPS.  Any free time next week will be spent working on the game.

19. Inventing initials : TAE - Thomas Alva Edison

20. Almost null? : EINS - cute.  Zero and one in German

21. Dodges : EVADES - I went with AVOIDS; that's 67% technically, but the key was having the "V" in the right place

23. Four-time All-Star Oriole outfielder Jones : ADAM - C.C. would know more

25*. Former prime minister who grew up in Milwaukee : MEIR - WAG

27. Raise : ERECT

28*. Certain red giant : C STAR - here's what I mean; in past puzzles, we've seen "-"STAR, so I filled that part in, and WAGed a "G" to start

30. One often looking down : SNOB

32. File, for one : TOOL - Tried MENU.   Was 100%.   Wrong.

33. 54-Across holder : TUB - ah, didn't get enough circumreferential yesterday~?

35. Lucrative venture : GOLD MINE

37. They don't sound as welcoming as they are : HOSTELS - One would hope the environment is not "Hostile"

41. Bolivian president Evo : MORALES - mostly perps

42. Net : AFTER TAX

44*. Blues musician Mahal : TAJ - sensible WAG, but then I wondered if it might be "Raj", or something like that

45. NASCAR Hall of Fame locale: Abbr. : N. CARolina

46. Go (through) : SIFT - I tried PASS

48. Goes for : COSTS - picking up my new phone tomorrow.  There was nothing wrong with my old one, but I am really excited to start using the new Ryobi Phone Works tools - I have the scope, the moisture meter, and will probably buy the stud finder ( yes, it might just be a metal detector, HeartRx~! ) as well.  My new plan COSTS more than the last one because I added a 'hot-spot' device so I can print Home Inspection reports in the field - that is, from the trunk of my car.

52. Capturer's triumphant words : GOT 'EM

54. 33-Across filler : LARD - uh, see 33a?

56. Cheer : ROOT - not RAVE, not RANT

57. Tannery output : SUEDES

59. Smoke, perhaps : CURE - ah, like meat; think Beef Jerky

61. Fr. title : MME

62. "... and the __ below / As hush as death": "Hamlet" : ORB

63. Asset disposal option : AUCTION SALE

66. Original "Burn Notice" airer : USA - I tried the show; I liked it, but couldn't stay with it.  I am happy to see "Sirens" is back - more Denis Leary

68. Rx notation : TER - Dah.  Went with TID

69. Runoff facilitators : STORM DRAINS - went with GRATES to start

DOWN:      

1. Haberdashery item : TIE-TAC

2. Beginners with boards : HO-DADS - Dictionary.com calls this person a "non-surfer who spends time at the beach masquerading as a surfer"

3. Put on a throne : ENSEAT

4. Author Harper : LEE

5*. Wheelbarrow feature : AXLE - did my share of assembling these last summer ( not sum-mer ); how many 4-letter parts does one of these have, anyway~?

6. Open-weave fabric : SCRIM - new word for me; frequently used as a lighting filter and stage backdrop

7. Old Scottish officials : THANES - half perps, half WAG

8. Capital on the Grand River : LANSING - JazzB nailed it, right?

9*. Like Dvorák's Symphony No. 8 : IN G - more of that crossword intuition; it's going to be "IN" A,B,C,D,E,F, or G....

10. Fancy molding : OGEE - messed up my AVOIDS, but I am working on a new project at the restaurant - they're looking for some "wow" when they re-open for Valentine's Day, so the owner opted for a true 'fish house' look; chalkboards and subway tile - I like the contrast, and I love doing the work - the split between the two is the height of the chairs.  Hence, I am installing chair rail.  When I primed the wall, you could really see the dings from the backs of the seats

11. Audacity : NERVE

12. Well target : CRUDE OIL

13. Organ with scales : PINE CONE - well, uh, that's one way to describe it

22. Would-be designer, perhaps : ART MAJOR - the "J" from 44a. helped immensely

24. Had an impact : MATTERED

26. Basic rental : ROOM - Ah.  Not AUTO

29. Who's sorry now : RUER

31. Smudge : BLOT - not SPOT, so I took it all out - but was half right in the first place

34. Alphabetical orders? : BLTs - Odd, but I went with RSVP

36. Literary count, familiarly : DRAC - or VLAD~?  All I had was the "A"

38. "For certain" : "OF COURSE~!"

39. Regulatory legal association : STATE BAR

40. Breeze (through) : SAIL

43. Hard-to-define influence : X FACTOR

47. Platitude : TRUISM

49. Shilling spender : SOMALI

50. 2003 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recipient : TOMLIN

51. Marinates : STEEPS

53. Honey beverages : MEADS

55. Sci-fi figure : DROID - my "GRATES" led me to try ZERO G - hey, that's sort of a "figure"

58. Haggis ingredient : SUET

60*. Start of an intermission? : ENT'R - ACTE; seen this in enough crosswords, so I was not fooled

64. USCG rank : CPO

65. Federal benefits org. : SSA

Splynter

Friday February 6, 2015, Paul Coulter

Theme: Where can I hide the theme?  On the edges...

This puzzle was easier to fill than to discuss, especially to a crowd that does not like cross-referential cluing. (Sorry Barry G.). Each outside edge of the puzzle consists of three (3) four (4) letter fill, where the first and third fill together are the clue for the middle word. When combined, words 1+3  create a compound word, hence the reveal COMPOUND FRACTURE i.e., the compound word is fractured (broken) into two pieces. This was a hard Friday for me, and I hope you all stuck with it because there were lots of learning moments. This appears to be a debut LAT for a very active poster on puzzle blogs, so welcome Paul.

1A. Predicament : BOAT (4) a very tricky clue (in the same boat, being the easiest way to explain clue/fill) paired with 9A. Mutual fund charge : LOAD (4) (funds are no load, front load, or back end loaded) gives the clue for 5A.  Boatload: *1-/9-Across : HEAP which describes how much trouble you would be in if you did not see this gimmick.

73A. "Easy to be Hard" musical : HAIR (4) paired with 75A. Business : LINE (4) leaves the compound word clue for 74 A. Hairline: *73-/75-Across : THIN (4) as in a hairline fracture.

1D. Overdue, as pay : BACK (4) paired with 53D. Converse : TALK (4) produces the clue for 29D. Backtalk *1-/53-Down : SASS (4).

16D. Stern : HARD (4) paired with 64D. Reactor part : CORE (4) results in  the clue for : Hardcore: 39D. *16-/64-Down : AVID such as the fans for the Patriots or AC Milan, the soccer club.

The reveal is also cross-referential:
32A. With 49-Across, bad break ... and what each answer to a starred clue creates vis-à-vis the answers that define it : COMPOUND (8) 49A. See 32-Across : FRACTURE (8). A Compound fracture of a bone, as opposed to a simple clean break. (Hence bad break).

Add to the fun, the very difficult pair 62D. With 29-Across, Balkan city on the Danube : NOVI. 29A. See 62-Down : SAD.  Novi Sad according to wiki is  the second largest city in Serbia, the administrative seat of the province of Vojvodina and of the South Backa District. It is located in the southern part of the Pannonian Plain, on the border of the Backa and Srem regions, on the banks of the Danube river, facing the northern slopes of Fruška Gora mountain.

This is a very odd and very hard Friday, it seems like it should be easy with forty 4 letter fill, but the short ones like ABU, ARA, ELAH, AMUR  and the few long ones like  TONSURE, TREATED, TRUSTER , AMARETTI,  AVE MARIA, HEREFORD and RARE COIN were not gimmes.

I can hear all the grumbling, but when you consider he found 4 compound words which clued 4 letter fill, with each compound word 8 letters long that broke into 4 letter parts, and was revealed by two 8 letter reveals, the math is awesome. The architecture is very impressive. On with the show.

Across:

13. Up to it : ABLE. I was able and I finished without cheating, but it was work.

14. Prefix with plasm : ENDO. Already the ECTO/ENDO debate.

15. 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient : OPRAH. I did not recall but the OP___ had to be.

17. Nocturnal critter : COON. Aside from any politically unacceptable existence, is the reference to 'critter' enough to evoke the regionally popular abbreviation?

18. Source : ROOT. Of all evil?

19. Adams' "Nixon in China," for one : OPERA. I had LOAD, LOOSENS and OPP and wondered about OP--- over OP---. I have heard of but not listened to this work.

20. Handled vessel : KETTLE. Finally a stout clue.

22. Pouches : SACS.

24. Orch. section : STRings. JzB, is this abbreviation ever used as a notation in preparation for a concert?

25. Site of unexpected change? : SOFA. Wonderful clue/fill. So evocative and misleading.

27. Didn't trick, maybe : TREATED.

34. Prayer set to music by Schubert and Gounod : AVE MARIA.

36. Choice to sleep on : SERTA. Of course SEALY also fits.

40. Diva highlights : SOLI. In Latin the plural of a word ending in O (SOLO) can become I.

41. Distillery founder John : DEWAR. A CSO to Tin and all of our scotch drinkers.

44. "Ray Donovan" star Schreiber : LIEV.

45. Aptly named bird : SWIFT.  LINK.

47. Italian almond cookies : AMARETTI.

52. British pen pal's last letter? : ZED. A nice misdirection as this replaces our American ZEE as the last letter of the alphabet.

53. Part of a Buddhist monk's ordination : TONSURE.

56. Ridge just below the surface : REEF.

58. "Father of," in Arabic : ABU. I had the pleasure of portraying Auda Abu Tayi, who along with the Lawrence was a hero of the Arab revolt. He had married 28 times, which may explain why he has no fear going into battle.

59. Identical : SAME.

61. Place where cheap shots are a good thing : CLINIC. Wonderful clue, especially now during flu season.

65. Allow to attack : LET AT. I nominate this as my meh clue, while accurate, it does not sound like a real phrase.

67. Dagwood's annoying little friend : ELMO. A new/old clue for this fill.

69. Inflict on : DO TO. Others.

70. 1985 Chemistry co-Nobelist Jerome : KARLE. Really hard for me. Embarrassed to say I had NO IDEA.

71. "Avatar" race : NA'VI. I hope no one blue this easy clue.

72. Always : EVER. Always and forever and more.

Down:

2. Instrument to which an orchestra tunes : OBOE. JzB, please explain again.

3. Bushels : A LOT.

4. Pitchers' places : TENTS. Very difficult to suss, especially with 1A a tough fill, but when I understood the theme and backed into BOAT, this made sense as one pitches a tent.

5. White-faced cattle breed : HEREFORD. I grew up driving by large herds of cows, who were the weather forecasters of my youth.

6. Roxy Music co-founder : ENO. Brian has become a staple.

7. Stirs : ADOS.

8. Knish filling : POTATO. No doubt most popular knish thought kasha and meat are also out there.

9. Unfastens : LOOSENS. This was the key word in loosening up the North and getting me the theme, along with....

10. Up and down, say: Abbr. : OPPosites.

11. "Give it __" : A REST.

12. Puccini's "Vissi __" : D'ARTE. An ARIA from Puccini's Tosca. If you listen, read the comments if you like to see debate about Opera, I love that it crosses 19A.

21. Like "la vida" in a Ricky Martin hit : LOCA. An odd duplication as VISSI is Italian for "I lived" and vida is "life" in Spanish.

23. French vineyard : CRU. Staying in romance languages, Alex, we have a French WORD, and then another.

26. Gallic girlfriend : AMIE. And another. 38A. Idée source : TETE.

28. Jane Eyre's charge : ADELE. Like ELMO above, the popular singer gets replaced by an old clue last seen here in a marti puzzle I blogged in 2013.

30. Declare : AVOW.

31. Where to find a hero : DELI. A common pun in the xword world.

33. Play with, in a way : PAW AT. Something for all our cat lovers.

35. Irritates : MIFFS.

37. Cheese holder : RITZ. This one cracked me up.

42. Russia-China border river : AMUR. Nope, no idea.

43. Numismatist's find : RARE COIN. Since coins are their interest...

46. Reliant soul : TRUSTER.

48. Casting aid : REEL.

50. Constellation near Scorpius : ARA.

51. Bind : CEMENT. Your friendship?

54. West Indian folk religion : OBEAH. I know of voodoo and santeria but not this GROUP.

55. __Sweet: aspartame : NUTRA.

57. Friend of Che : FIDEL. A recent picture is being shown on Television purporting to show a healthy Fidel.

60. Where Goliath was slain : ELAH. We recently debated the use of a sling versus sling shot, but where did it happen? HERE.

63. Rte. through Houston : I-TEN. I-Twenty, I-Forty all major E to W routes

66. Will Smith title role : ALI.

68. DIII doubled : MVI. For all you Roman math scholars...

A very long uphill battle, that some will love and some will hate, but welcome Paul; come share your commentary at this the friendliest blog on the web. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Yellowrocks asked if Lucina wore a wimple the other day. Here are two pictures of what Lucina's veil looked like when she was a Sister of the Precious Blood Community. You can click here for a clearer image. She was with her sister and her mother in the second picture.