Straight Fs
If you've never been able to solve a Friday, today should be your lucky day.
20. Avian athletic contest?: GAME OF FINCHES.
28. Advanced degree for a gemologist?: DOCTOR OF FLAWS.
47. Metropolis, thanks to Superman?: CITY OF FLIGHTS.
57. Flunk out ... and what three long answers do?: GET STRAIGHT FS.
Straight Fs would be bad for your GPA. No one should flunk out today.
I always enjoy solving Mark's puzzles. He's definitely in my top 5 favorite constructors. Today was no different, and each of the the three theme answers made me smile.
But IMHO, this was way, way too easy for a Friday. A scheduling error ? What do you think ? Oh, and I'm sorry if I burst your bubble.
I was confounded by the answer to 9D, IN A HUFF. It obviously doesn't fit with the theme answers of the added F. The two Fs still gave pause.
Across:
1. President before Wilson: TAFT.
5. Sign of shock: GASP.
9. Classical inspiration for the 2004 film "Troy": ILIAD. Troy ? Hello, Irish Miss ! Hope you are feeling a little better.
14. Another, in Mexico: OTRO. Fill in OTR and check the perp to decide if it will be A (feminine) or O (masculine). Oh no ! The perp is also Spanish. Good thing we all know the Spanish word for bullfighter.
15. __ ID: USER. You can make your USERIDs complex, but there's no need. Keep them simple. Make your passwords complex, and change them frequently.
16. Chip in a bowl: NACHO. Doritos Nacho Cheese are favored chips in this casa.
17. Almost at: NEAR.
18. Long vehicle: LIMO. A conversation starter for your Limo driver ? It's derived from Limousine. From Limousin, a region in France. A Gallic tribe (Celtics on the continent) lived there in the time of Caesar. They were known as Lemovices, which means "those who vanquish by the elm." Lemo - elm, and uices - victors. In the end, their elm bows and lances were no match as Caesar's armies laid siege. Even though the Roman Army was outnumbered 4 to 1, they won the battle and claimed Gaul once and for all as a Roman province. If you driver has no interest, just talk about the weather.
19. It has no subs: A TEAM. Loved this clue.
23. Like a disciplinarian: STERN.
24. Torque symbol, in mechanics: TAU.
25. RV chain: KOA.
33. Ominous: DIRE.
34. Destinies: FATEs. There were three Goddesses of Fates, as we learned in Steve's write up on June 18th. They were Clotho the Spinner, Lachesis the Alloter, and Atropos the Inflexible. Speaking of destinies, the all girl group Destiny's Child consisted of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.
35. Push-up targets: PECs. Pectoral muscles.
39. Not against the rules: LEGAL. Licit.
42. Like a hairpin: BENT.
43. Stretched circles?: OVALs.
45. Brewpub array: ALEs.
52. Corrida cheer: OLE. For the torero.
53. Waze suggestion: Abbr.: RTE. Waze is a GPS app from Google.
54. Estée Lauder subsidiary: AVEDA. Never heard of it until solving C.C.'s "Back to Basics" crossword puzzle last Sunday. She remarked in the review that it is a Minnesota based company owned by Estee Lauder.
62. Problematic bacterium: E. coli.
64. The Mississippi forms its eastern border: IOWA. And the Missouri forms most of its western border.
65. Northern European capital: OSLO.
66. Singer nicknamed "The Velvet Fog": TORME. I read that at age 19 he composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics for this song made famous by Nat King Cole.
67. Visible pollution: SMOG. Fog and then smog ? And ice crystals in the air forming a sundog ?
68. Comics icon Lee: STAN. Marvel Comics.
69. Vast chasm: ABYSS.
70. Sun dog, e.g.: HALO. I believe you pretty much have to be in a colder climate like the northern states or Canada to see these when the sun is at the horizon.
71. Carry: TOTE.
Down:
1. Kitchen picker-uppers: TONGs.
2. Patronized, as a diner: ATE AT.
3. Like many museum paintings: FRAMED.
4. Corrida star: TORERO. Bullfight star: Bullfighter.
5. Wide gap: GULF.
6. "Dream on!": AS IF.
7. Big rig: SEMI. One of my "other duties" in the Army was driving one of these M818 5 ton tractor trucks. Mine was a -A2 multifuel with a ragtop and a semi trailer rather than the lowboy pictured. 10 wheels on 3 driven axles with a lot of torque, and no creature comforts in the cab.
8. Stat relative: PRONTO.
9. Highly annoyed: IN A HUFF.
10. Having missed the deadline: LATE.
11. Item of hockey equipment: ICE SKATE. Like some potato chips, one is usually not enough.
12. Cry of discovery: AHA.
13. Champagne title: DOM.
21. Like much '80s-'90s music: ON CD.
22. Half-__: coffee order: CAF.
26. Wilson who voiced Lightning McQueen in "Cars" films: OWEN. Also the first name of our resident poet and host of Jumblehints Blogspot
27. A new exec may hire one: ASST. The position title is usually ...
29. Shop __ you drop: 'TIL. "Honey, look how much money I saved !"
30. Hematite, for one: ORE. Properties, uses, and occurrence of the most important ore of iron. Among others, ballast for ships, protection from x-rays, and jeweler's rouge. DNK.
31. Fit for a queen: REGAL.
32. Yellow __: LAB. The most popular dog in the United States is the Labrador.
35. Somewhat, to Schubert: POCO. When it came to music, he was anything but poco. He went full-bore. One of the most prolific composers of all time. Schubert only lived to age 31. Steve had poco yesterday in Joe Denney's puzzle yesterday with the clue [Slightly, in scores].
36. Villainous: EVIL.
37. One in a Trivial Pursuit sextet: CATEGORY.
38. Slick: SLY.
40. Big name in Islam: ALI.
41. KFC selection: LEG.
44. Military pilot's missions: SORTIEs.
46. Heavy carpet: SHAG.
48. NBA foul shots: FTs. Free throws.
49. Magic charm: FETISH.
1. any object believed by some person or group to have magic power
2. any thing or activity to which one is irrationally devoted to make a fetish of sports
3. Psychiatry any nonsexual object, such as a foot or a glove, that abnormally excites erotic feelings
50. Jay Leno, for many years: TV HOST.
51. Starts: SETS TO.
55. Key of Chopin's "Minute Waltz": D FLAT.
56. In concert: AS ONE. Harmony, unity, accord
58. "Slippery" trees: ELMs.
59. Capital SSE of Firenze: ROMA. Florence / Rome in Italian.
60. Nowhere to be found: AWOL.
61. "Aladdin" parrot: IAGO.
62. Pilot's approx.: ETA.
63. Corn discard: COB.
