We have the LAT debut of Mr. Bywaters who just had an initial publication on December 13th in the NYT. 63 theme squares left little room for long fill but METEORITE and IN LINE WITH were nice. The rest of the fill seemed a tad easy for a Friday. Of the five theme fill, we have one EX in the beginning, one at the end and the other three somewhere in between. This is difficult to keep balanced. The rest played out pretty easily with GEHRY being my all perp fill. Test these waters by Bywaters.
17A. Illicit buzzing in the hive? : BEE SEXTING (10). A plain old bee sting gets remodeled with the EX showing up.
24A. Slipshod building addition? : RAGGEDY ANNEX (12). The Raggedy Ann doll is next to get an EX.
40A. Beginning of a very thorough biography? : FETAL EXPOSITION (15). Starting a biography at birth needs an EX added as well.
50A. Aerosol product that will help you fit in in Houston? : SPRAY ON TEXAN (12). Spraying on your tan gives you a Texan when you add the EX.
64A. Too much shooting at the table? : EXCESS POOL (10). We have single word having the EX added at the beginning.
And the reveal:
72A. They sometimes intrude at weddings, and also in this puzzle's theme : EXES.
Across;
1. Clever stroke : COUP. Coup de grâce; coup d’etat...nice French to start the day.
5. Stage genre : DRAMA.
10. Secured, in a way : TIED.
14. Too : ALSO. So easy I hesitated.
15. Actor Firth : COLIN.
16. Initial contribution : ANTE.
19. Surplus : GLUT.
20. Painful spots : SORES.
21. Speak or creak : VERB.
23. Altar promise : I DO.
28. Zodiac animal : RAM.
31. Aran Islands country: Abbr. : IRE.
32. Chopping tool : HOE.
33. Always : EVER.
35. Parker's rank in "McHale's Navy": Abbr. : ENS. This was my introduction to the great Tim Conway. The show was really a step child of the success of Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko character. LINK.
37. Pincered insect : EARWIG. This what I think about when I see this WORD.
43. Strands at the lodge, maybe : ICES IN.
44. Six-pack set : ABS.
45. Jazz singer James : ETTA.
46. Nevada was the first st. to allow it : OTB. Off Track Betting.
47. Clickbait site, as of Sep. 2016 : OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
49. Metaphorical hiding place : HAT. Keep it Under your hat. LINK.
56. Athlete lead-in : TRIathlete. 62A. Immune lead-in : AUTO.
57. French honey : AMIE. Girl friend in French.
58. Coffee shop order : MOCHA. Not sure why but I plunked this right in and it stuck.
67. Thought : IDEA.
68. Architect Frank : GEHRY. Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect known for postmodern designs, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. ... he was born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto, Canada on February 28, 1929 and still lives.Various.
69. One of three in "To be or not to be" : IAMB. Short and long in a metric foot. Poetry 101.
70. Office staple : DESK.
71. Donkeys : ASSES.
Down:
1. Uber competitors : CABS. I think it is the other way around.
2. Margarine : OLEO.
3. Many a typist, nowadays : USER.
4. Fake : POSER.
5. Early 7th-century year : DCX. The random Roman numeral glue.
6. Go bad : ROT.
7. Still in play : ALIVE.
8. Like much ore : MINED.
9. Hot : ANGRY.
10. Identification method : TAG.
11. Conforming to : IN LINE WITH.
12. Chopin work : ETUDE. The entire STORY. One listen....hard not to love Chopin.
13. Rehab process : DETOX.
18. Actor Morales : ESAI. If only he had as many roles as he has had puzzle apearances.
22. Religion founded in Persia : BAHAI. Another answer that went in and stayed. I learned about this from Vic Damone and Diahann Carroll.
25. Gullible : GREEN.
26. Group including some Brat Pack members : GEN-X.
27. Mazatlán-to-Chihuahua dirección : NORTE. Spanish.
28. Monthly pmts. reducer : REFInance.
29. "Voulez-vous coucher __ moi?" : AVEC. I cannot resist LADY MARMALADE.
30. Falling stars that reach the ground : METEORITES.
34. Many a reggae artist : RASTA.
36. Eponymous Belgian town : SPA.
37. English county on the North Sea : ESSEX. In between Kent and Suffolk.
38. Tiny bit : IOTA.
39. Airborne pest : GNAT.
41. OPEC member since 1962 : LIBYA. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it in January 2016, but decided to suspend it again in November 2016; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership in December 1992, but reactivated it in October 2007; Angola (2007); and Gabon (1975) - terminated its membership in January 1995 but rejoined in July 2016. OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.
42. High wind? : OBOE. My third word that I just put in.
48. Lake makers, at times : DAMS.
50. Unwavering : STAID. If overdone can make you a ...
51. Goody two shoes : PRUDE.
52. End of a series : OMEGA. Alpha to....
53. Vetoes : NIXES.
54. They may deal with freezes : TECHS.
55. Fabled lost mittens punishment : NO PIE.
BY MOTHER GOOSE
The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,
That we have lost our mittens."
"What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Meow, meow, meow."
"Then you shall have no pie."
59. Cajole : COAX.
60. Residence : HOME.
61. Priestly garments : ALBS. Once a very common fill and I beleive the only four letter possibility for the plural.
63. Shade provider : OAK. Lots of oaks in Florida.
65. Poetic word of order : ERE.
66. Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYStem.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and I will back next week for my final
2016 write up. Thanks - do you all agree " A little D.A.B. will do you. Lemonade out.
1. Clever stroke : COUP. Coup de grâce; coup d’etat...nice French to start the day.
5. Stage genre : DRAMA.
10. Secured, in a way : TIED.
14. Too : ALSO. So easy I hesitated.
15. Actor Firth : COLIN.
16. Initial contribution : ANTE.
19. Surplus : GLUT.
20. Painful spots : SORES.
21. Speak or creak : VERB.
23. Altar promise : I DO.
28. Zodiac animal : RAM.
31. Aran Islands country: Abbr. : IRE.
32. Chopping tool : HOE.
33. Always : EVER.
35. Parker's rank in "McHale's Navy": Abbr. : ENS. This was my introduction to the great Tim Conway. The show was really a step child of the success of Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko character. LINK.
37. Pincered insect : EARWIG. This what I think about when I see this WORD.
43. Strands at the lodge, maybe : ICES IN.
44. Six-pack set : ABS.
45. Jazz singer James : ETTA.
46. Nevada was the first st. to allow it : OTB. Off Track Betting.
47. Clickbait site, as of Sep. 2016 : OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
49. Metaphorical hiding place : HAT. Keep it Under your hat. LINK.
56. Athlete lead-in : TRIathlete. 62A. Immune lead-in : AUTO.
57. French honey : AMIE. Girl friend in French.
58. Coffee shop order : MOCHA. Not sure why but I plunked this right in and it stuck.
67. Thought : IDEA.
68. Architect Frank : GEHRY. Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect known for postmodern designs, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. ... he was born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto, Canada on February 28, 1929 and still lives.Various.
69. One of three in "To be or not to be" : IAMB. Short and long in a metric foot. Poetry 101.
70. Office staple : DESK.
71. Donkeys : ASSES.
Down:
1. Uber competitors : CABS. I think it is the other way around.
2. Margarine : OLEO.
3. Many a typist, nowadays : USER.
4. Fake : POSER.
5. Early 7th-century year : DCX. The random Roman numeral glue.
6. Go bad : ROT.
7. Still in play : ALIVE.
8. Like much ore : MINED.
9. Hot : ANGRY.
10. Identification method : TAG.
11. Conforming to : IN LINE WITH.
12. Chopin work : ETUDE. The entire STORY. One listen....hard not to love Chopin.
18. Actor Morales : ESAI. If only he had as many roles as he has had puzzle apearances.
22. Religion founded in Persia : BAHAI. Another answer that went in and stayed. I learned about this from Vic Damone and Diahann Carroll.
25. Gullible : GREEN.
26. Group including some Brat Pack members : GEN-X.
27. Mazatlán-to-Chihuahua dirección : NORTE. Spanish.
28. Monthly pmts. reducer : REFInance.
29. "Voulez-vous coucher __ moi?" : AVEC. I cannot resist LADY MARMALADE.
30. Falling stars that reach the ground : METEORITES.
34. Many a reggae artist : RASTA.
36. Eponymous Belgian town : SPA.
37. English county on the North Sea : ESSEX. In between Kent and Suffolk.
39. Airborne pest : GNAT.
41. OPEC member since 1962 : LIBYA. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it in January 2016, but decided to suspend it again in November 2016; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership in December 1992, but reactivated it in October 2007; Angola (2007); and Gabon (1975) - terminated its membership in January 1995 but rejoined in July 2016. OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.
42. High wind? : OBOE. My third word that I just put in.
48. Lake makers, at times : DAMS.
50. Unwavering : STAID. If overdone can make you a ...
51. Goody two shoes : PRUDE.
52. End of a series : OMEGA. Alpha to....
53. Vetoes : NIXES.
54. They may deal with freezes : TECHS.
55. Fabled lost mittens punishment : NO PIE.
BY MOTHER GOOSE
The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,
That we have lost our mittens."
"What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Meow, meow, meow."
"Then you shall have no pie."
59. Cajole : COAX.
60. Residence : HOME.
61. Priestly garments : ALBS. Once a very common fill and I beleive the only four letter possibility for the plural.
63. Shade provider : OAK. Lots of oaks in Florida.
65. Poetic word of order : ERE.
66. Part of CBS: Abbr. : SYStem.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and I will back next week for my final
2016 write up. Thanks - do you all agree " A little D.A.B. will do you. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
Happy 72nd Birthday to our dear Misty, who's visiting her Aunt in Austria at this moment. Thanks for the love and warmth you've brought to our little corner, Misty!
