The only question on this fine puzzle was whether Timothy was going to group the first or second words of the starred clues below for the theme.
Across starred clues
1. *Subject of a San Francisco museum : CABLE CAR - A mobile National Landmark
37. *Unpretentious : OLD SHOE - The billionaire "Oracle of Omaha" fits this description
12. *Torque-providing component : DRIVE SHAFT - Gets the RPM's from the engine to the wheels
66. Office building feature, which can precede the ends of the answers to starred clues: ELEVATOR - (LIFT to our resident Brits)
ELEVATOR CAR - Here's one for your, uh, car
ELEVATOR SHAFT - Bruce Willis in just such a place in Die Hard
ELEVATOR SHOE - Vive la différence
9. Speculate : WONDER - "I WONDER, WONDER who, be-do-do who, Who wrote the book of love"
15. Intimate meeting : ONE-ON-ONE - Kobe in an intimate ONE-ON-ONE
16. Reluctant : AVERSE
17. Five-pointed, say : STARLIKE
18. Coordinated health program : REGIME - I prefer the word REGIMEN here. Harvard comma redux, anyone?
19. Ticked-off state : IRE
20. Honorary law deg. : LLD - Doctor of Laws (Canon and Civil), hence the two L's. Can also be honorary
21. Debussy contemporary : RAVEL - Most of all remember what happened in this scene with RAVEL's Bolero in the background
22. December purchase for many : TREE - It's been artificial TREES for us our entire marriage
24. Singer Lenya married to Kurt Weill : LOTTE - Kurt's wife LOTTE LENYA is immortalized in his most famous song Mack The Knife
26. Stood the test of time : LASTED
29. Damage : MAR
30. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTA - My Hispanic friend always answers "Muy Bien". She's aware I probably wouldn't understand any other response.
33. Egyptian city on the Nile : ASWAN - Its dam as seen from space
34. Clever : CUTE
35. Laugh syllable : HAR - End of a Ralph Kramden line
40. 1970 Jackson 5 chart topper : ABC - "Simple as ABC, 1, 2, 3, Do Re Mi, Baby You and Me"
41. __ Andreas Fault : SAN - The plate on the ocean side is carrying LA north @ 1.3 "/yr. It could be a suburb of San Francisco in a few million years!
42. Works in un museo : ARTE - Art in a Spanish Museum
43. M16, for one : RIFLE
45. Sharpen : EDGE - At the nursery, we used honing stones to put an EDGE on our knives
47. Half a Western couple : ROY - Roy and Trigger?
48. Less than broadcast : HINTED - Literal me prefers not to have something HINTED at
49. Polite title : MADAM - Dolly played a MADAM named Miss Mona in this film
51. Fermented beverage usually served warm : SAKE
52. Take five : PAUSE
54. N.L. East team : ATL - BOS Braves, MIL Braves and now ATL Braves
55. Nutritional stat : RDA
58. Steal, Western-style : RUSTLE - Even today in Iowa
60. Random way to decide : COIN TOSS
63. Bay windows : ORIELS - Not a stranger here
64. Arrived at, Western-style : RODE INTO - Silly riddle - "A cowboy RODE INTO town on Friday, stayed three days and rode out on Friday" How? Answer below.
65. Rite-related : SACRAL
Down
1. Right triangle ratio: Abbr. : COS - COSINE = Adjacent side/Hypotenuse ratio
2. Naysayer : ANTI - The word that drives our partisan Congress
3. Really hard test : BEAR
4. Lynn with the album "I Remember Patsy" : LORETTA - Before she played Mrs. Clark Griswold, Beverly d'Angelo was Patsy Cline in Coal Miners Daughter
5. Phot. lab request : ENL - Enlarge
6. Ready to strike : COILED
7. Bracelet site : ANKLE - Yeah, I put WRIST first too
8. Sax, e.g. : REED
9. Simple card game : WAR - High card wins
10. Out in the open : OVERT - As opposed to HINTED
11. Prove false : NEGATE
13. Salinger title 13-year-old : ESME - For ESME - With Love And Squalor
14. Rod attachment : REEL
23. Clinton's attorney general : RENO - Janet got the high profile Elian Gonzalez and Waco Compound cases
24. Shop class fixture : LATHE - C.C.'s favorite use of a LATHE
25. Longtime Hydrox competitor : OREO
26. Run out : LAPSE
27. Syrian leader : ASSAD - He seems unable to stop the horrors going on in his country
29. Dank : MUSTY - Crank up that dehumidifier
31. Set aside : TABLE - Where legislation goes to die
32. Moved like a pendulum : ARCED
34. Data storage medium : CD ROM - The more likely modern choice below
39. Composer Satie : ERIK - French composer and pianist unknown to me
44. Sluggishness : INERTIA - Newton's first law of motion - Objects at rest want to stay at rest
46. Parade time : EASTER
48. Silver __, compound used in film : HALIDE
51. Bar patron's option : STOOL
52. J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson, e.g. : PROS - Pro golfers. Bubba has made over $6,000,000 so far this year
53. Atmosphere : AURA
54. Part of a plot : ACRE
56. "Stop it!" : DON'T
57. About : AS TO
59. Immigrant's subj. : ESL - English as a Second Language is a big deal here with our influx of Hispanic workers
61. Ariz. neighbor : NEV - That's how they share the Hoover Dam
62. Campus org. : SOR - My daughters were in the same ∏ßØ Sorority
Riddle Answer - His horse was named Friday. Note to self - "Keep day job!"
I'm sure your comments on the next page will give us all a LIFT!
Husker Gary
Notes from C.C.:
Crosswords LA Tournaments
will be held on Oct 24, 2015 (Saturday) at the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
You don't need to be a wizard solver to participate. As you can see, they have four
brackets for different skill levels. Or you can just be a spectator,
solving at the same time with other competitors but your grids won't be
scored.
It's an annual charity event Elissa Grossman started in 2009 to raise money for Reading to Kids. I'm honored to be one of the constructors this year. The editor (Puzzle Wrangler) is the amazing Todd McClary, a regular contributor to the CrosSynergy puzzles.
I
hope our readers in LA area will attend the event and mingle with your
favorite constructors, bloggers & fellow solvers. Will you be there,
Steve?
