Title 2 + 2 = 4.
In their third LAT collaboration of 2016, Tony (Anon-T) and C.C. take well known phrases or products which include a number and add 4 (four) to get the theme answer. The reveal is really cute, especially if you like golf. Not an easy puzzle, but it went smoothly. And we have a mini-Trojan War theme. It does feature quite a bit of interesting intermediate fill such as ALKALI, DUELED, ORTEGA, B.B.KING, AENEAS, CLAUDE, EAT DIRT, UPBRAID, COROLLA, KNESSET, LIONS DEN, TENOR SAX...where do they all come from?
On with the show:
17A. Dutch vodka brand : KETEL FIVE (9). Ketel One plus four equals the joke.
24A. End of an Ernie Banks catchphrase about doubleheaders : LET'S PLAY SIX (11). Let's PLAY TWO showed the enthusiasm he always had for the game, and how nice to see Mr. Cub so soon after the Series.
36A. Powerful Detroit group : THE BIG SEVEN (11). The old line automobile BIG THREE are back on top after Toyota and Honda peaked.
47A. NCAA hockey semifinal group : FROZEN EIGHT (11). The FROZEN FOUR are the four finalists who vie for the NCAA men's hockey championship.
The reveal -
57A. Traditional golf pants, and a hint to why certain puzzle answers are wrong : PLUS FOURS (9).
Plus-fours are breeches or trousers that extend 4 inches (10 cm) below the knee (and thus four inches longer than traditional knickerbockers, hence the name). As they allow more freedom of movement than knickerbockers, they have been traditionally associated with sporting attire from the 1860s and onward, and are also particularly associated with golf. wiki. Revived in golf by Orville Moody and the late Payne Stewart.
Across:
1. Photoshop maker : ADOBE. Perhaps more famous for PDF.
6. Late __ : FEE.
9. Average Joes, e.g. : MALES.
14. Fishing needs : LURES.
15. Bill's future, maybe : LAW. No not our bicycle riding macchiato swigging Bill G., but a bill offered in congress.
16. Troy story : ILIAD. I love the simplicity and subtlety of this clue dredging up both the ancient myth and the modern myth - Toy Story.
19. Coin receivers : SLOTS. And that is why they are called slot machine.
20. Round orders : ALES. This round is on me!
21. Extraction target : ORE. There are no three letter teeth and SPY just did not work.
22. Hide in a crowd : BLEND. (in?)
23. Piano part : LEG. Piano leg has become a pejorative.
27. State bordering six others and the Canadian mainland : IDAHO. I was sorry to see the number in the clue. Canada gave away the answer for me.
29. Beam : RAY.
30. Beats Electronics co-founder : DRE. Only in America...BILLIONAIRE?
31. Rebuke : UPBRAID.
35. Checks out : VETS. In the strange history of American English, this term comes to us from horse racing. To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by a veterinarian before being allowed to race. Thus, it has taken the general meaning "to check" various.
38. Powerful pair : ACES. Bullets.
40. Parliament of Israel : KNESSET. They have a unicameral legislature. Formed in 1949, from Mishnaic Hebrew keneseth "gathering, assembly," from stem of Hebrew kanas "he gathered, assembled, collected."
41. Former Texas Rangers manager Washington : RON. He is the most successful manager in their HISTORY.
42. Grafton's "__ for Alibi" : A IS. The alphabet mysteries which started when she was 42 and have made it to X.
43. 2014 Olympics city : SOCHI. It was exciting then but NOW?
52. Chuckle online : LOL.
53. Borneo swinger : ORANG.
54. Jessica Rabbit feature : GAM.
55. Composer __ Maria von Weber : CARL.
56. Mascot once awarded a Doctor of Bovinity degree : ELSIE. From the Ohio State University, I am told.
59. Santa __ : CLARA. Who lives there?
60. Charged particle : ION.
61. Bhopal locale : INDIA. Looks kind of dead center to me?
62. Burdens : TAXES.
63. Sitter's charge : TOT.
64. In dire straits : NEEDY.
Down:
1. Caustic potash, e.g. : ALKALI. More than you need to KNOW.
2. Fought, in a way : DUELED.
3. Company with a Taco Club : ORTEGA. I have linked their bottle a couple of times.
4. Contests whose competitors stand in place : BEES. While they do stand in a spelling bee, not so much in a quilting bee.
5. Course for some U.S. arrivals : ESL. English as a Second Language was very important for my wife and I. Without it we would not have been able to successfully....
6. Tease : FLIRT.
7. Gutter sites : EAVES.
8. Woolly mama : EWE. Another sounds almost like clue (woolly mammoth).
9. Lose : MISLAY.
10. Way behind buildings : ALLEY. I like it!
11. Hostile place : LION'S DEN. The image comes from the Torah where Daniel is cast into the lions den by the Babylonians.
12. Swallow one's pride : EAT DIRT. A straight forward metaphor, but nice phrase.
13. Campus org. revived in 2006 : SDS. Popular once again.
18. Un-friend? : FOE. Another use of modern slang to beef up a simple fill.
22. Grass components : BLADES.
24. Bound : LOPE.
25. Finicky sort : PRISS.
26. Marks with two intersecting lines : XES.
28. Confused sounds : HUHS.
32. Blues singer in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1987 : B. B. KING. Link.
33. Word before repeat : RINSE. On every shampoo bottle.
34. Sensitive subject for some : AGE.
35. Reject : VETO.
36. Clinton's instrument : TENOR SAX. I thought Monica said it was a cigar...
37. A tie may be partly under one : VEST.
38. Pound sound : ARF. Nice rhyme.
39. Toyota model : COROLLA.
42. Trojan who survived the sack of Troy : AENEAS. Aeneas was the son of Anchises and Venus. He was a cousin of King Priam of Troy, and was the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies during the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, he led a band of Trojan refugees to Italy and became the founder of Roman culture (although not of the city of Rome itself). The story is told in this WORK.
44. First name in impressionism : CLAUDE. MONET. He did not do a good King Louis.
45. Plain awful : HORRID.
46. "Amen to that!" : I'LL SAY.
48. Rumble in the Jungle setting : ZAIRE. Where Ali unveiled the "rope-a-dope" to defeat George Foreman.
49. Inuit home : IGLOO.
50. More than skinny : GAUNT.
51. Bounty title : HMS. His/her Majesty's Ship. True STORY.
55. Pine __ : CONE. Tree fit too.
56. Outside: Pref. : ECT. Endo and ecto...
57. Casino area : PIT.
58. Shark feature : FIN. Fin is also French for the the end, which means it is time for us to say adieu. Always such fun to blog a puzzle from C.C. University. Thank you Tony, C.C. and all of you.
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Hahtoolah, who never comes to the blog without an inspiring quote. Like Lucina, Hahtoolah has traveled extensively. She is also an avid reader.
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