Theme: "T" Times - punning clues to a phrase with an added "T".
20A. Place to mingle on the slopes? : SINGLES T-BAR. There's an aprés-ski joint in Val d'Isère called "Dick's T-Bar." I had many a post-piste pick-me-up there back in the 80's. The bar has outlasted the T-bar style lifts. Those things were tricky.
34A. Misplace a casual top? : LOSE YOUR T-SHIRT. Two theme entries in one T-shirt:
39A. Take Rover to Ruth's Chris? : GIVE A DOG A T-BONE. Funny how many people want to call this steakhouse chain "Ruth Chris's".
53A. Dinosaur family drama? : OEDIPUS T-REX My ex and I named our daughter "Jocasta". Then I read the play. Hmmm. Rated "R" for family unpleasantness (the play, not my daughter). She didn't hold a grudge.
Clever by Clive not just to add a "T" to a phrase, but to find four "T-hyphen" in front of the final word of the phrase. This kind of consistency is really difficult to strive for - you can start out with a seed entry that sets you on your way, and then find yourself compromising when you can't find much else that fits the plan.
Fresh fill, including GIRLRIEND, LOW VOLTAGE, SNARFS and TROUGHS. A lot to like. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:
Across:
1. Superhero attire : CAPE
5. Six-footers at parties : SUBS
9. Parakeet quarters : CAGES
14. "You can say that again!" : AMEN!
15. St. Paul's architect : WREN. The City of London's cathedral. Wren lived across the river in Southwark so that he could monitor progress. This is Herbert Mason's iconic photograph taken during the Blitz in WW2:
16. Important fruit in the Mediterranean diet : OLIVE
17. Novelist Morrison : TONI. One of America's literary greats.
18. Zaragoza's river : EBRO. Zaragoza in Spain, not Mexico.
19. Harder to come by : RARER
23. Legal deg. : LLB
24. Big hand measurement: Abbr. : MIN.
25. Gobble (up) : SNARF. Great word. Almost onomatopoeic.
27. Octet since 2006 : PLANETS. Poor Pluto.
31. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. "To Arms!". The stage direction "Alarums and Excursions" indicates that the assembled throng of extras need to start running around grabbing spears and what-not and calling "To War!" and the like.
36. "I saw the opening __ of hell": "Moby-Dick" : MAW
37. "Straight Outta Compton" role, familiarly : DRE. The good Dr. I met Andre when we were pitching software to his Beats Music brand. Smart guy.
38. Word with head or roll : EGG
46. Dull : STODGY. Hopefully, not your egg rolls.
47. Run things? : ERRANDS
48. Doone of fiction : LORNA. Based in the West of England. A good read!
50. NBA tiebreakers : OT'S. Basketball overtimes.
51. Balderdash : ROT
59. Major mess : SNAFU. I like the "Major=Military" connection in the clue. People will have you believe that the "F" means "fouled". Don't fall for it. Situation Normal, All [insert preferred word here] Up.
61. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG
62. Support person : AIDE
63. One with a strict diet : VEGAN. I'm on a strict diet too - I call it the Food! diet. You won't catch me eating anything else.
64. Boring : BLAH
65. Pass the bouncer : GO IN. BYPASS the bouncer would be "sneak in".
66. Respond to a charge : PLEAD. Pleading ignorance was a loophole that was closed many moons ago.
67. Hearing things : EARS. Fun clue.
68. Singer James : ETTA. Could also be "RICK". So steady on there, Turbo, wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. Subjects of many viral online videos : CATS. This might not fall strictly into the genre, but it's still a treat - a UK commercial for milk. I love it.
2. Mine, in Marseille : A MOI
3. The Quakers of the Ivy League : PENN. Penn State are the Nittany Lions. They sound more fun.
4. Conundrums : ENIGMAS. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Winston Churchill's assessment of Russian foreign policy in 1939. Also - here's "Nimrod", one of Elgar's "Enigma Variations". Quite beautiful.
5. "American Gods" leprechaun Mad __ : SWEENEY. Thank you, crosses. Neither novel, author nor character have never even come close to knocking at the door of my wheelhouse.
6. Metro areas : URBS. Subs and Exes. Sounds like an adult novel.
7. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT
8. Elitists : SNOBS
9. Western pens : CORRALS
10. In the style of : A LA. Mode. King. Food!
11. Sweetheart : GIRLFRIEND
12. Robbie's daredevil father : EVEL
13. Many a Montenegro resident : SERB
21. One-fifth of a limerick : LINE. Take it away, Owen KL
22. Art school subj. : ANAT. omy
26. Cheering sound : RAH!
27. Hair piece : PLAIT
28. Relatively safe, as electricity : LOW VOLTAGE. Wasn't the Van de Graaf generator that I stuck my hand on in high school which set my hair on end generating 50,000 volts? At a micro-amp, I seem to remember. Or something. Anyway, it didn't kill me. Stick your tongue on a 12V car battery and it's a different story.
29. Flap : TO DO
30. Tidal peril during a storm : SURGE and the anagram hot on the heels ....
32. More than asks : URGES
33. Board rm. session : MTG. Often "bored room". Too many meetings, too much decision paralysis.
35. Bring up : REAR
36. British racing cars : MG'S. Originally an abbreviation of "Morris Garages", now long lost to history. One of these chaps is either over-cautious or terribly rash, vis-à-vis headgear:
40. Old name of Tokyo : EDO
41. Bad way to run a ship : AGROUND. Usually leaves a mark not easily buffed out.
42. Unit of force : DYNE
43. Low-pressure systems : TROUGHS
44. Cricket clubs : BATS.
45. Performing : ON STAGE
49. Southwestern brick : ADOBE
51. Invitation letters : RSVP
52. Scott Turow memoir : ONE L. Harvard Law School freshman year. Published in 1977, apparently many first-year law school students still read it as part of their prep.
54. Getting pictures of the Hollywood sign, say : IN L.A. My local landmark. I still want to get up close, but the arrest/fine/night in jail isn't worth it.
55. Nectar flavor : PEAR
56. Sidesplitter : RIOT
57. Menu including Cut and Paste : EDIT
58. "Hercules" character who got her own show : XENA. She was the honorary starter at a charity golf tournament sponsored by Universal that I played in at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena a few years ago. There were more mulligans taken on that tee than I've seen before or since.
60. Drone regulator: Abbr. : F.A.A
A belated and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Tuesday - I've been up to my ass in alligators at work this last couple of weeks so I didn't have time to stop by on the 12th. My friend Jill took me to my favorite Indian restaurant, and a hot, spicy and merry time was had by both of us.
That leaves the grid - so here it is!
Steve
20A. Place to mingle on the slopes? : SINGLES T-BAR. There's an aprés-ski joint in Val d'Isère called "Dick's T-Bar." I had many a post-piste pick-me-up there back in the 80's. The bar has outlasted the T-bar style lifts. Those things were tricky.
34A. Misplace a casual top? : LOSE YOUR T-SHIRT. Two theme entries in one T-shirt:
39A. Take Rover to Ruth's Chris? : GIVE A DOG A T-BONE. Funny how many people want to call this steakhouse chain "Ruth Chris's".
53A. Dinosaur family drama? : OEDIPUS T-REX My ex and I named our daughter "Jocasta". Then I read the play. Hmmm. Rated "R" for family unpleasantness (the play, not my daughter). She didn't hold a grudge.
Clever by Clive not just to add a "T" to a phrase, but to find four "T-hyphen" in front of the final word of the phrase. This kind of consistency is really difficult to strive for - you can start out with a seed entry that sets you on your way, and then find yourself compromising when you can't find much else that fits the plan.
Fresh fill, including GIRLRIEND, LOW VOLTAGE, SNARFS and TROUGHS. A lot to like. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:
Across:
1. Superhero attire : CAPE
5. Six-footers at parties : SUBS
9. Parakeet quarters : CAGES
14. "You can say that again!" : AMEN!
15. St. Paul's architect : WREN. The City of London's cathedral. Wren lived across the river in Southwark so that he could monitor progress. This is Herbert Mason's iconic photograph taken during the Blitz in WW2:
16. Important fruit in the Mediterranean diet : OLIVE
17. Novelist Morrison : TONI. One of America's literary greats.
18. Zaragoza's river : EBRO. Zaragoza in Spain, not Mexico.
19. Harder to come by : RARER
23. Legal deg. : LLB
24. Big hand measurement: Abbr. : MIN.
25. Gobble (up) : SNARF. Great word. Almost onomatopoeic.
27. Octet since 2006 : PLANETS. Poor Pluto.
31. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. "To Arms!". The stage direction "Alarums and Excursions" indicates that the assembled throng of extras need to start running around grabbing spears and what-not and calling "To War!" and the like.
36. "I saw the opening __ of hell": "Moby-Dick" : MAW
37. "Straight Outta Compton" role, familiarly : DRE. The good Dr. I met Andre when we were pitching software to his Beats Music brand. Smart guy.
38. Word with head or roll : EGG
46. Dull : STODGY. Hopefully, not your egg rolls.
47. Run things? : ERRANDS
48. Doone of fiction : LORNA. Based in the West of England. A good read!
50. NBA tiebreakers : OT'S. Basketball overtimes.
51. Balderdash : ROT
59. Major mess : SNAFU. I like the "Major=Military" connection in the clue. People will have you believe that the "F" means "fouled". Don't fall for it. Situation Normal, All [insert preferred word here] Up.
61. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG
62. Support person : AIDE
63. One with a strict diet : VEGAN. I'm on a strict diet too - I call it the Food! diet. You won't catch me eating anything else.
64. Boring : BLAH
65. Pass the bouncer : GO IN. BYPASS the bouncer would be "sneak in".
66. Respond to a charge : PLEAD. Pleading ignorance was a loophole that was closed many moons ago.
67. Hearing things : EARS. Fun clue.
68. Singer James : ETTA. Could also be "RICK". So steady on there, Turbo, wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. Subjects of many viral online videos : CATS. This might not fall strictly into the genre, but it's still a treat - a UK commercial for milk. I love it.
2. Mine, in Marseille : A MOI
3. The Quakers of the Ivy League : PENN. Penn State are the Nittany Lions. They sound more fun.
4. Conundrums : ENIGMAS. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Winston Churchill's assessment of Russian foreign policy in 1939. Also - here's "Nimrod", one of Elgar's "Enigma Variations". Quite beautiful.
5. "American Gods" leprechaun Mad __ : SWEENEY. Thank you, crosses. Neither novel, author nor character have never even come close to knocking at the door of my wheelhouse.
6. Metro areas : URBS. Subs and Exes. Sounds like an adult novel.
7. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT
8. Elitists : SNOBS
9. Western pens : CORRALS
10. In the style of : A LA. Mode. King. Food!
11. Sweetheart : GIRLFRIEND
12. Robbie's daredevil father : EVEL
13. Many a Montenegro resident : SERB
21. One-fifth of a limerick : LINE. Take it away, Owen KL
22. Art school subj. : ANAT. omy
26. Cheering sound : RAH!
27. Hair piece : PLAIT
28. Relatively safe, as electricity : LOW VOLTAGE. Wasn't the Van de Graaf generator that I stuck my hand on in high school which set my hair on end generating 50,000 volts? At a micro-amp, I seem to remember. Or something. Anyway, it didn't kill me. Stick your tongue on a 12V car battery and it's a different story.
29. Flap : TO DO
30. Tidal peril during a storm : SURGE and the anagram hot on the heels ....
32. More than asks : URGES
33. Board rm. session : MTG. Often "bored room". Too many meetings, too much decision paralysis.
35. Bring up : REAR
36. British racing cars : MG'S. Originally an abbreviation of "Morris Garages", now long lost to history. One of these chaps is either over-cautious or terribly rash, vis-à-vis headgear:
40. Old name of Tokyo : EDO
41. Bad way to run a ship : AGROUND. Usually leaves a mark not easily buffed out.
42. Unit of force : DYNE
43. Low-pressure systems : TROUGHS
44. Cricket clubs : BATS.
45. Performing : ON STAGE
49. Southwestern brick : ADOBE
51. Invitation letters : RSVP
52. Scott Turow memoir : ONE L. Harvard Law School freshman year. Published in 1977, apparently many first-year law school students still read it as part of their prep.
54. Getting pictures of the Hollywood sign, say : IN L.A. My local landmark. I still want to get up close, but the arrest/fine/night in jail isn't worth it.
55. Nectar flavor : PEAR
56. Sidesplitter : RIOT
57. Menu including Cut and Paste : EDIT
58. "Hercules" character who got her own show : XENA. She was the honorary starter at a charity golf tournament sponsored by Universal that I played in at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena a few years ago. There were more mulligans taken on that tee than I've seen before or since.
60. Drone regulator: Abbr. : F.A.A
A belated and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Tuesday - I've been up to my ass in alligators at work this last couple of weeks so I didn't have time to stop by on the 12th. My friend Jill took me to my favorite Indian restaurant, and a hot, spicy and merry time was had by both of us.
That leaves the grid - so here it is!
Steve
