As fate would have it, today's constructor is a resident of a small Newfoundland town - Craig Stowe. He is a kitchen porter in a rather large hotel and says he solves and constructs crosswords in his spare time. This construction with two sets of triple 10-letter horizontal stacks and two sets of triple 8-letter vertical stacks yields an impressive 99 open squares.
Now in this age of instant communications let's see what Craig has for us:
Across:
1. Ostentatious suburban pads: MCMANSIONS - Nouveau riche?
11. Dry riverbed: WADI.
15. View from Muscat: ARABIAN SEA - This capital of Oman looks out to where the Gulf of Oman opens to the ARABIAN SEA
16. Benjamin's value: ONE C - $100 or a C-NOTE
17. Prickly plants: ROSE BUSHES - If you have ROSE BUSHES, you know about Japanese Beetles
18. This, in Taxco: ESTA - ESTA foto muestra muchos escarabajos (This picture shows a lot of beetles)
19. __-cone: SNO.
20. Schubert vocal compositions: LIEDER - a typically 19th-century German art song characterized by the setting of a poem Gee, I'd love to hear one!
22. Benign cyst: WEN - Google if you must
23. A detective may follow one: HUNCH - What family "knew that it was much more than a HUNCH"
26. Earth __: DAY.
27. Boom box button: EJECT
29. Mitigate: ASSUAGE - Churchill nearly met with Hitler in 1932 (correction) to ASSUAGE Germany's grievances over the Treaty of Versalles
31. What inspiration can come in: SPURTS.
32. Make oneself heard clearly: PROJECT - One way to help those that can't PROJECT their voice is shown below. Then she can ask 57. "Was __ loud?": I TOO.
35. Old portico: STOA - This old cwd friend won't score many Scrabble points
36. Advice from a cohort in crime: STICK TO THE STORY - Let's get our lies coordinated
40. Charlie's fourth wife: OONA - When 18-yr-old OONA married 54-yr-old Charlie Chaplin, OONA's father, playwright Eugene O'Neill, disowned her
41. Basque, e.g.: IBERIAN - The Basque language is spoken on the IBERIAN peninsula and France
42. Invite with a wave: BECKON - Ah, a universal language
44. They might be gross: INCOMES.
48. Old number?: ETHER - Oh Craig, that silent B didn't get me nor did I bite on 33. Nice (France) when it's hot?: ETE nor 34. Present day?: CHRISTMAS - The noun rather than the adjective
49. Mil. academy: OCS - Fort Benning, GA produced 7,000 officers annually from its Officer Candidate School during the height of the Vietnam War
51. Hindu title: SWAMI - Put in a penny, ask a yes or no question and pull the red handle52. Dispute: ROW - Rou not roh
53. Offer unwanted advice: KIBITZ - Anyone else get unwanted advice when parking a car?
56. Formerly: NEE.
59. Spreading throughout: PERMEATING.
62. Usual: NORM.
63. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" poet: OSCAR WILDE - WILDE was in Gaol (jail) for "gross indecency' and so when he wrote the poem about his horrible time there, he did not use his name at first but rather used C.3.3. (cell block C, level 3, cell three)
64. Beauts: GEMS.
65. Ski resort offering: SEASON PASS.
Down:
1. "'Night, Mother" playwright Norman: MARSHA - The play begins with Jesse calmly telling her mother she is going to kill herself that night.
2. Zeus' father: CRONUS - The family tree
3. Layers of stone: MASONS - The artisans not the course
4. White House nickname: ABE
5. Bill: NIB.
6. King anointed by Samuel: SAUL - Print it out and color it if you like
7. Traitorous crime: INSIDE JOB - In Goodfellas, the Lufthansa heist was an INSIDE JOB
8. Irish actor Milo: O'SHEA - Milo and Henry Fonda's daughter in Barbarella
9. Poor: NEEDY.
10. Ed.'s requirement: SASE - When you submit work to an Ed(itor), they want a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope included say they can send you their judgment
11. Distress: WOE.
12. Work under: ANSWER TO.
13. Smoke __: DETECTOR - Why do smoke DETECTOR with bad batteries usually start beeping at 2 am? 14. "Who knows": I CAN'T SAY.
21. Street cred: REP - If you get dissed and don't retaliate your REP could take a hit
24. Honeybunch: CUPCAKE - Ahhh...
25. "Listen!": HARK - "HARK, you Guildenstern — and you too (Rosencrantz); at each ear a hearer." In essence, Hamlet is saying, "Listen! Someone is coming!"
28. A moment ago: JUST NOW.
30. Arrived: GOT IN - Granddaughter's plane GOT IN at 11 pm from NYC last night and Papa was there to pick her up! It's a 36. Eliciting thoughtfulness: SOBERING thought that she is now 21
31. Often-ornamental vessel: STEIN - A perfect one for last Saturday. I'm tempted to order one.
37. In direct confrontation: TOE TO TOE - When these two went TOE-TO-TOE in 45. Capital on Luzon: MANILA, some called it "sanctioned manslaughter" as neither fighter was the same afterwards
38. Caterpillar also called a looper: INCH WORM - A lovely song from my yut
39. Most bunts, briefly: SACS - Hitters can be called on to bunt to get a runner from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd when they are put out
43. TV planet: ORK.
46. Fixes, as text: EMENDS - Here ya go on Amend/EMEND
To amend is (1) to change for the better, (2) to put right, or (3) to alter by adding. The word’s corresponding noun is amendment.
Emend means to improve by editing (especially a text). Its corresponding noun is emendation. Emend is rare because it’s mainly confined to contexts related to professional writing and editing.
47. Lengthy campaigns: SIEGES - After a long SIEGE, the rebels at Vicksburg, MS surrendered to the Grant on July 4, 1863. They did not celebrate Independence Day for many decades afterward
49. Corpulent: OBESE.
50. Uncertain dating word: CIRCA - The oldest remaining residence in our town was built CIRCA 1865
54. Uber and Lyft had them in 2019: IPO'S - Initial Public OfferingS
55. Cipher: ZERO - Nil, Nada, Zip, Naught
58. Mantra chants: OMS.
60. Barley bristle: AWN - Another cwd friend in for a visit
61. Tri-__: TIP - The aptly named cut of beef and from whence it cometh
How we have progressed! Last year I was able to make a face-to-face call from my house to my granddaughter's house in Grenoble, France any time I wanted to. A long way from ships or a cable. Feel free to use your technology to comment on Craig's Saturday offering.
