Theme: Celebrations
17A. *Lightweight kitchen appliance : HAND MIXER. This is my hand mixer. It's called a whisk. Sometimes we like to over-complicate things.
24A. *"Let me help" : WHAT CAN I DO? You can whisk the egg whites, thanks!
37A. *Not doing one's job : DROPPING THE BALL. What if you're a soccer referee? That's part of your job!
50A. *Romance : LOVE AFFAIR. A tennis match before anyone scores a point?
61A. Wayne's World catchphrase, and a hint to the end of the answers to starred clues : PARTY TIME!
Morning all - Steve here pinch-hitting for JzB, who unfortunately can't join us today. I'll do my best on his behalf.
Four types of mostly formal gatherings in the thematics today (and the first time I've been able to link a song from my theme title!) I think of "do" as a "British" thing; however it was first used in the US in this sense in a magazine article in 1952, so it's been in the vocabulary for over 60 years so let's call it "assimilated".
Wayne's World is almost as old, most skits airing on "Saturday Night Live" between 1989 and 1992.When I saw the reveal, I wanted "Party On" rather than "Party Time" - our reveal is missing the "Excellent", so I'm underwhelmed by that. Minor nit, but it was a little awkward for me.
I don't often look too closely at grid designs, but the "extra" nine-letter entries at 13A and 67A made me wonder what caused that to happen. This is a 78-word puzzle (the maximum for an LAT 15x15) and there are already 42 black squares, so shortening the two 9's to two 8's would break Rich's 43-maximum count rule - you'd have 44. There are already six cheater squares in the grid, so there's not much wriggle room left.
OK, enough of that - let's trot down the rest of today's challenge:
Across:
1. "__ to Be Square": Huey Lewis & the News hit : HIP. I think we might have a retro theme working here - a 1986 Billboard #3 leads us off.
4. Pair on a rowing club wall : OARS
8. Press __ : CORPS. As we're on a history trip, I encourage you to read "Once Upon a Distant War" by William Prochnau - the story of the journalists Halberstam, Sheehan, Arnett and others trying to make sense of the early years of the Vietnam war.
13. "David Copperfield" blackmailer : URIAH HEEP. One of the odd 9-letter outliers.
16. Humble : ABASE
18. Himalayan region : TIBET
19. Thing on a ring : KEY
20. Story : YARN
22. Nevertheless : BUT
23. Energy : PEP
27. "To be continued" installment : PART TWO
29. "The Simpsons" shop owner : APU. Copyright rules forbid me to link the wonderful "Who loves the Kwik-e-Mart? I doooooo" clip. You may like to search for yourselves.
30. Works in a museum : ART
31. Father : SIRE
33. Brits' raincoats : MACS. The Mackintosh (note the "k") is a rubberized overcoat to keep out the rain. They also, being rubberized, keep in the sweat, so you're as wet with perspiration on the inside as you keep the precipitation out on the outside. Hopefully not made nowadays!
42. Since, in a seasonal song : SYNE
43. Nerd : GEEK
44. When repeated, a Kenyan rebel : MAU. "Rebel" might be a kindly word, but we tend to forgive.
45. Play about Capote : TRU
48. De __: strictly proper : RIGUEUR. Word of the day. I had "RIG" and I knew - KNEW! it had to be EUR but. Gosh darn it, I will remember that extra "U" for ever.
55. Game console letters : NES. Nintentdo Entertainment System. More time-warp. 1983? Later? Earlier? Who knows.
56. Saloon order : ALE
57. Says lovingly : COOS
58. Flop opposite : HIT
59. Capital of Belarus : MINSK
66. Bring to mind : EVOKE
67. Made a point of? : SHARPENED.
68. Mail in, as payment : REMIT
69. Bordeaux belief : IDÉE. Idea. French.
70. African antelope : GNU
Down:
1. "Say what?" : HUH?
2. Portfolio element, for short : I.R.A. I'm waiting for the "Irish Republican Army" to make a debut
3. Eponymous detective agency founder : PINKERTON
4. "Yowza!" : OH MY!
5. Sashimi tuna : AHI
6. T. __ : REX
7. "Ciao!" : SEE YA!
8. Forty winks : CATNAP
9. Geisha circler : OBI
10. Torah teacher : RABBI
11. False: Pref. : PSEUD. Not really, unless slang is inferred. PSEUDO might be accurate.
12. Little fight : SET-TO
14. Masterful : ADEPT
15. Backside, slangily : PRAT. Only in the "prat-fall" context. I'm not sure anyone fell on their "prat", or had a kick up the "prat". I'm sure Dictionary.com will have a different opinion, but I'm just working on common usage here.
21. "In the Year 2525" record label : RCA.
23. Fencing deflection : PARRY
24. Battle of the Bulge conflict, briefly : WWII
25. French __ : HORN. What a wonderful-looking instrument. Ron - can you play one of these?
26. Feeling nothing : NUMB
27. Paw parts : PADS
28. Chef's meas. : TSP.
32. Bird-to-be : EGG
34. First-name-only gathering : A.A. MEETING
35. Santa __ : CLAUS
36. Put-down : SLUR
38. Tennis great Sampras : PETE. I see that the Wimbledon Championships are being trailed on TV right now. Who are your favorites? Please "boo" any sports announcer who pronounces it "Wimble-Ton", It's a "D" and has been for *cough* couplehunderdyears *cough*. I used to live a couple of miles away from the venue - I have to confess I never saw a match at the All-England Club,but I did have a few beers at the Rose and Crown on Wimbledon Common.
39. Actress Hatcher : TERI
40. Will beneficiary : HEIR
41. Pre-op test : E.K.G.
46. Clamor : RACKET. Or racquet, at Wimbledon. "Quiet Please!"
47. What a weather balloon may be mistaken for, briefly : U.F.O.
49. Make one : UNITE
50. Less credible, excuse-wise : LAMER
51. Greenish color : OLIVE
52. Stingray secretion : VENOM
53. Fancy dressers : FOPS
54. Beer brand from Tokyo : ASAHI. Not Kirin? Damn. Do-Over.
58. Promote aggressively : HYPE.
60. Deal with moguls : SKI. Or pratfall, mostly, in my case
62. "Far out!" : RAD!
63. Afternoon ora : TRE. Ouch!
64. Patriarchy rulers : MEN
65. Kin of gov : EDU. There's COM, ORG, NET and all sorts to keep you company on your journey around the World Wide Web!
Apologies for the brevity - busy week this week! If you're confused about anything here, you've got my email address.
Look forward to seeing you all soon! Here's the grid:
Steve
17A. *Lightweight kitchen appliance : HAND MIXER. This is my hand mixer. It's called a whisk. Sometimes we like to over-complicate things.
37A. *Not doing one's job : DROPPING THE BALL. What if you're a soccer referee? That's part of your job!
50A. *Romance : LOVE AFFAIR. A tennis match before anyone scores a point?
61A. Wayne's World catchphrase, and a hint to the end of the answers to starred clues : PARTY TIME!
 |
| I think Gareth forgot the "Excellent" |
Morning all - Steve here pinch-hitting for JzB, who unfortunately can't join us today. I'll do my best on his behalf.
Four types of mostly formal gatherings in the thematics today (and the first time I've been able to link a song from my theme title!) I think of "do" as a "British" thing; however it was first used in the US in this sense in a magazine article in 1952, so it's been in the vocabulary for over 60 years so let's call it "assimilated".
Wayne's World is almost as old, most skits airing on "Saturday Night Live" between 1989 and 1992.When I saw the reveal, I wanted "Party On" rather than "Party Time" - our reveal is missing the "Excellent", so I'm underwhelmed by that. Minor nit, but it was a little awkward for me.
I don't often look too closely at grid designs, but the "extra" nine-letter entries at 13A and 67A made me wonder what caused that to happen. This is a 78-word puzzle (the maximum for an LAT 15x15) and there are already 42 black squares, so shortening the two 9's to two 8's would break Rich's 43-maximum count rule - you'd have 44. There are already six cheater squares in the grid, so there's not much wriggle room left.
OK, enough of that - let's trot down the rest of today's challenge:
Across:
1. "__ to Be Square": Huey Lewis & the News hit : HIP. I think we might have a retro theme working here - a 1986 Billboard #3 leads us off.
4. Pair on a rowing club wall : OARS
8. Press __ : CORPS. As we're on a history trip, I encourage you to read "Once Upon a Distant War" by William Prochnau - the story of the journalists Halberstam, Sheehan, Arnett and others trying to make sense of the early years of the Vietnam war.
13. "David Copperfield" blackmailer : URIAH HEEP. One of the odd 9-letter outliers.
16. Humble : ABASE
18. Himalayan region : TIBET
19. Thing on a ring : KEY
20. Story : YARN
22. Nevertheless : BUT
23. Energy : PEP
27. "To be continued" installment : PART TWO
29. "The Simpsons" shop owner : APU. Copyright rules forbid me to link the wonderful "Who loves the Kwik-e-Mart? I doooooo" clip. You may like to search for yourselves.
30. Works in a museum : ART
31. Father : SIRE
33. Brits' raincoats : MACS. The Mackintosh (note the "k") is a rubberized overcoat to keep out the rain. They also, being rubberized, keep in the sweat, so you're as wet with perspiration on the inside as you keep the precipitation out on the outside. Hopefully not made nowadays!
42. Since, in a seasonal song : SYNE
43. Nerd : GEEK
44. When repeated, a Kenyan rebel : MAU. "Rebel" might be a kindly word, but we tend to forgive.
45. Play about Capote : TRU
48. De __: strictly proper : RIGUEUR. Word of the day. I had "RIG" and I knew - KNEW! it had to be EUR but. Gosh darn it, I will remember that extra "U" for ever.
55. Game console letters : NES. Nintentdo Entertainment System. More time-warp. 1983? Later? Earlier? Who knows.
56. Saloon order : ALE
57. Says lovingly : COOS
58. Flop opposite : HIT
59. Capital of Belarus : MINSK
66. Bring to mind : EVOKE
67. Made a point of? : SHARPENED.
68. Mail in, as payment : REMIT
69. Bordeaux belief : IDÉE. Idea. French.
70. African antelope : GNU
Down:
1. "Say what?" : HUH?
2. Portfolio element, for short : I.R.A. I'm waiting for the "Irish Republican Army" to make a debut
3. Eponymous detective agency founder : PINKERTON
4. "Yowza!" : OH MY!
5. Sashimi tuna : AHI
6. T. __ : REX
7. "Ciao!" : SEE YA!
8. Forty winks : CATNAP
9. Geisha circler : OBI
10. Torah teacher : RABBI
11. False: Pref. : PSEUD. Not really, unless slang is inferred. PSEUDO might be accurate.
12. Little fight : SET-TO
14. Masterful : ADEPT
15. Backside, slangily : PRAT. Only in the "prat-fall" context. I'm not sure anyone fell on their "prat", or had a kick up the "prat". I'm sure Dictionary.com will have a different opinion, but I'm just working on common usage here.
21. "In the Year 2525" record label : RCA.
23. Fencing deflection : PARRY
24. Battle of the Bulge conflict, briefly : WWII
25. French __ : HORN. What a wonderful-looking instrument. Ron - can you play one of these?
26. Feeling nothing : NUMB
27. Paw parts : PADS
28. Chef's meas. : TSP.
32. Bird-to-be : EGG
34. First-name-only gathering : A.A. MEETING
35. Santa __ : CLAUS
36. Put-down : SLUR
38. Tennis great Sampras : PETE. I see that the Wimbledon Championships are being trailed on TV right now. Who are your favorites? Please "boo" any sports announcer who pronounces it "Wimble-Ton", It's a "D" and has been for *cough* couplehunderdyears *cough*. I used to live a couple of miles away from the venue - I have to confess I never saw a match at the All-England Club,but I did have a few beers at the Rose and Crown on Wimbledon Common.
 | |
| I never went here |
 |
| I went here a lot |
40. Will beneficiary : HEIR
41. Pre-op test : E.K.G.
46. Clamor : RACKET. Or racquet, at Wimbledon. "Quiet Please!"
47. What a weather balloon may be mistaken for, briefly : U.F.O.
49. Make one : UNITE
50. Less credible, excuse-wise : LAMER
51. Greenish color : OLIVE
52. Stingray secretion : VENOM
53. Fancy dressers : FOPS
54. Beer brand from Tokyo : ASAHI. Not Kirin? Damn. Do-Over.
58. Promote aggressively : HYPE.
60. Deal with moguls : SKI. Or pratfall, mostly, in my case
62. "Far out!" : RAD!
63. Afternoon ora : TRE. Ouch!
64. Patriarchy rulers : MEN
65. Kin of gov : EDU. There's COM, ORG, NET and all sorts to keep you company on your journey around the World Wide Web!
Apologies for the brevity - busy week this week! If you're confused about anything here, you've got my email address.
Look forward to seeing you all soon! Here's the grid:
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Just got this cheerful update from Joann:
"Good news! For now no surgery. Dr wants to wait and see if the small
intestine will open up more. Walking will help so we walk a lot at the
hospital. No food or drink yet for now; IV's give him nutrients and
meds. Dr told Gary that if he were in Gary's shoes he would wait and
see if this works. If not then last resort he will do surgery.
This will mean remaining in the hospital for a while longer but we both agreed we can live with that. We
got a kitty last September so she has been a god send to both of us.
Gary does miss seeing here but I send him lots of videos on his phone.
Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming okay?"
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