David makes a quick return with a visual theme. There are 4 seas placed above the letters "LAB." It is a cute theme but wreaked havoc on my mind with YELLOW LAB and IRISH LAB running around in my head. Woof, woof. The rest seemed like a Friday with many 6 and 7 letter fill. ERNESTO, EXACTOR, LOST ART, PANINIS, SWORE TO and WANNABE all interesting fill.
I have written about many of his puzzles, with this EFFORT being my first Friday write-up here at the Corner.
Hopefully, the grid will make you all smile. Grid first I think today:
17A. First U.S. national park: YELLOWSTONE (11). The YELLOW Sea is clued just above the LAB in 20A in LABEL.
35A. Co-star of the 1955 comedy "How to Be Very, Very Popular": SHEREE NORTH (11). The NORTH Sea is clued just above the LAB in SLABS. The MOVIE was unknown to me.
42A. Subject of a 19th-century famine: IRISH POTATO (11). The IRISH Sea is clued just above the LAB in LABREA.
62A. Aquanaut's workplace ... or a hint to what's graphically represented four times in this puzzle: UNDER SEA LAB (11). This LAB is under the CHINA Sea.
Across:
1. Big sister? : ABBESS. This is a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns.
7. Way more than a whimper: BAWL.
11. Pixie: ELF.
14. Circus equipment: STILTS. There often is a clown on stilts.
15. Online marketplace: EBAY.
16. Madhouse: ZOO.
19. Syncopated piece: RAG. Ragtime (rag) also spelled rag-time or rag time – is a musical style that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm.
20. Calvin Klein or Perry Ellis: LABEL.
21. Caution: WARN.
22. Spilled the beans: SANG. Like modern mobsters.
23. Love personified: AMOR. Cupid's alias.
24. Letter writing, some say: LOST ART.
26. Oenophile's concern: YEAR. CSO to the Chairman and his wares.
28. Bear with a purple bow tie: BOO-BOO. Hannah-Barbera says "Boo-Boo Bear is a cartoon character on The Yogi Bear Show. Boo-Boo is an anthropomorphic bear cub wearing a purple bowtie. Most of the pictures I see online look blue, but.....
32. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC.
38. Revolutionary murdered in a tub: MARAT.
The Death of Marat by Jacques- Louis David.
40. Groom's garb: TUX.
41. Generous slices: SLABS.
45. Menu general: TSO. It must be embarrassing to his family that he is known as a chicken.
46. Tar pits site: LA BREA.
47. "Pretty please?" : CAN I? May I never see this clue/fill again?
49. Che's given name: ERNESTO. Guevera.
52. State-spanning rds. : TPKS.
56. Cross by wading: FORD.
59. Digging: INTO.
61. "The Mikado" band? : OBI. The Japanese sash. Not to be confused with 57D. Village Voice award: OBIE. (OB) No longer technically true, they were originally given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered along with the American Theatre Wing. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obie Awards cover Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions. (various)
64. Dram: NIP. A wee dram at that; right Tin?
65. Thailand, once: SIAM. A nice CSO to my sweet bride.
66. Recess: ALCOVE.
67. Fictional vigilante's mark: ZEE.
68. Ballpark figs. : ESTSimates.
69. Christian of "Mr. Robot": SLATER.
Down:
2. Substitute players: B-TEAM.
3. Frodo inherited his ring: BILBO. The Hobbit.
4. Queen of mystery: ELLERY. Agatha also fits.
5. Small-runway aircraft acronym: STOL. Short Takeoff Or Landing.
6. Spokane-to-Walla Walla dir. : SSW.
7. Software to debug: BETAS. Testing, one two, three.
8. Scrub, at NASA: ABORT.
10. Drano compound: LYE.
11. Biblical reformer: EZRA. He was BIBLICAL.
12. Library transaction: LOAN. They are known as lending libraries.
13. "Around the World ... " hero: FOGG. Phileas Fogg is the protagonist in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Day (wiki).
18. Affirmed in court: SWORE TO.
22. Happy hour perch: STOOL.
24. __-di-dah: LAH.
25. Lighter brand: RONSON. My mental picture.
27. Bible book read during Purim: ESTHER. More Hebrew bible.
29. Frank's cousin: BRAT. This is one of the wurst clue/fills ever!
30. Gambling parlors, for short: OTBS. Off-track betting shops.
31. Very: OH SO. You all look oh so smart today!
32. Expressionist painter Nolde : EMIL. I did not know Emil Nolde, who was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early 20th century to explore color. (wiki) I like the Matterhorn Smiles.
33. Plantation near Twelve Oaks: TARA. Frankly, I no longer give a damn.
34. Nursery purchase: CRIB. Tree anyone?
36. Rural road feature: RUT.
37. One demanding payment, say: EXACTOR. In law, we often put or/ee at the end of words to make a new word, but this CREATION by David seems imprecise.
39. Comparable to a beet: AS RED.
43. Pressed sandwiches: PANINIS.
44. Confucian ideal: TAO.
48. Cornell's city: ITHACA.
50. Conclude by: END AT.
51. Parts of some flutes: STEMS. My brain went to the instrument b aha moment for the champagne glass.
53. First of a series: PILOT. No Honda this week, but the try out episode of a tv series.
54. __ of Hearts, accused tarts thief: KNAVE. You should know your Alice in Wonderland.
"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!"
55. Cavalry sword: SABER.
56. With "the," TV character who first jumped the shark-- literally: FONZ. Did we really watch this
HORRIBLE TV, On the other hand, I really like Winkler in his new show BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
58. Harvest-ready: RIPE.
60. Spreadsheet box: CELL.
62. Employ: USE.
63. KLM rival: SAS. The HISTORY of Scandinavian Airlines System is worth reading.
We have already made it to my last write-up of January. David makes every puzzle different. I enjoyed it and hope you did as well. On to the Super Bowl!!! Lemonade out.
