Returning to the perch he ruled in 2016, is JW with a superb reveal. With two grid spanners and two 13 letter fill, he packs 56 letters in the theme answers, each of which has WIN inside twice. This would be a somewhat pedestrian theme for a wit like JW, but for the perfect 15 letter reveal. In life I am tired of people trying to talk me into WIN WIN situations but the puzzle was great. There is so much nice fill such as INNARDS, EGOTIST, DISRAELI, ESTONIAN, SCARED OF, THE PRADO, IS IT ENOUGH, I WON'T DANCE. Let's solve this puppy!
17A. Its B-side was "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" : BLOW'IN IN THE WIND (15). I really lucked out here as I was a big Bob Dylan fan when this came out. I saw the WIN WIN right away. I used sing Don't Think Twice, It's All Right to myself in my Junior year in high school. LISTEN.
25A. Portable ventilation option : TWIN WINDOW FAN (13). I was not positive THIS existed, but it had win/win, so....
The reveal!
57A. Mediator's goal ... and what's found in three puzzle answers : WIN WIN SITUATION (15).
Across:
1. British prime minister before and after Gladstone : DISRAELI. If you like history this was quite a RIVALRY.
9. Fifth-century conqueror : ATTILA. He is extremely popular in the Xword world.
15. Baltic native : ESTONIAN. Across the sea from Finland sits this COUNTRY.
16. A quarter of the time? : SEASON. Really fun clue and fill; one of the four seasons.
19. Flower part : SEPAL.
20. Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE. From LOST to the reboot of Hawaii 5-0, he works. LINK.
21. Bony opening : OSTEO.
22. Arising from : BORN OF.
24. Miss, say : ERR.
31. 1976 African uprising site : SOWETO. This HISTORY is too political to discuss here, but....
32. Longtime NBC hit : SNL. Saturday Night Live.
33. Flip-flop revelations : TOES. What a cute way to clue feet and toes.
36. Armada leaders? : PROWS. They stick out in front as they are the portion of a ship's bow above water
37. Bewilder : STUMP.
38. Email status : SENT.
39. Sallie __ : MAE. Student loan debt.
42. Bad mark : STIGMA.
46. Criterion: Abbr. : STD. Standard.
48. Cast components : ACTORS.
49. Overflowing (with) : AWASH.
51. Suffix indicating residency : ITE.
52. "Just like me" : AS AM I.
60. Los Angeles region bordering Tarzana : ENCINO.
61. Fearing : SCARED OF.
62. Judged : DEEMED. A favorite word in Orders.
63. Where to see Velázquez's "Las Meninas" : THE PRADO. The MUSEUM for art in Spain.
Down:
1. Aristocratic newcomers : DEBS. Debutantes.
2. Key : ISLE. A gimme for any Floridian.
3. Block : STOP.
4. Seats by the orchestra pit : ROW A. This took an extra second to parse.
5. Blue dye : ANIL.
6. A, in Augsburg : EIN.
7. Applied, as stucco : LAID ON.
8. Working parts : INNARDS. Does not sound like a real word but it IS.
9. Etna ejection : ASH. Volcanic by nature.
10. Irk : TEE OFF .3. Slang To make angry or disgusted: The impertinent remarks teed the speaker off.
11. Shooting marbles : TAWS. plural noun: taws, a large marble. Nope, not me.
12. "Can we do more?" : IS IT ENOUGH. Perps all the way.
13. Hardly a bon vivant : LONER. One who loves life is seldom alone.
14. Words with a slash : AND/OR.
18. Mortise partner : TENON. You want know HOW?
22. CV section : BIO. The CurriculumVitae has education, work and biographic information.
23. Symbol of wisdom : OWL. I see a mini-theme. The modern West generally associates owls with wisdom. This link goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where Athens, noted for art and scholarship, and Athena, Athens' patron goddess and the goddess of wisdom, had the owl as a symbol. Add this to 30D. Story of Greek origin : ATTIC. This was a nice twist to force us to recall that in ancient Athens where the dialect of Greek used and the chief literary form of classical Greek was Attic.
25. Kitchen amts. : TSPS.
26. Modeled : WORE.
27. Jerome Kern title lyric preceding "don't ask me" : I WON' T DANCE. Nit. The music was written by Mr. Kern but not the lyrics. There were two sets of lyrics with the one sung by Fred Astaire in the movie Roberta, the one that became famous. Sinatra also covered the song.
28. Never before experienced by : NEW TO.
29. Oz. and lb. : WTS. Weights.
34. Soaps actress Rylan : EMME. We had her in September. Anyone remember?
35. Luxuriating locales : SPAS.
37. RR map dot : STN. Station.
39. __ drop : MIC. Filled by perps but it is POPULAR.
40. They're against it : ANTIS.
41. Tough person to bargain with : EGOTIST. You think it was accidental this clue is next to...
42. Kim, to Khloé : SIS.
44. "Hawaii Five-0" extra, perhaps : WAHINE. All of our past corner Hawaii people know this is a Polynesian woman or wife.
45. Unfortunate sort : WRETCH.
46. Cut : SAWED.
47. It's often found in a ball : TWINE. Cute.
50. Part of an exercise regimen : SWIM.
52. Marketer of Medigap insurance plans : AARP.
53. Dump annex? : STER. Dumpster.
54. Opera set in Egypt : AIDA.
55. Disposition : MOOD.
56. It may be classified, briefly : INFO.
58. Okay : NOD.
59. Home of the Burj Kalifa: Abbr. : UAE. United Arab Emirate. There are SEVEN emirates. The Burj is the 163 story tallest structure at the moment.
Well we have done it again, and for last time in 2016. Thank you all for riding with us most Fridays; thank you Jeffrey for providing so many great Friday puzzles, and of course thank you C.C. for this blog and for being who you are. Lemonade out
