Good morning, cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with a well-known animated "sea creature" to present a somewhat abbreviated recap. This past week has been quite hectic what with Thanksgiving, several separate celebratory gatherings in honor of Valerie's (ahem, 31st) 39th birthday, Hanukkah gatherings, and a one-thousand mile drive from SoCal to Colorado. All of this is welcomed, wonderful activity but, as a result, the time available to write and to unearth graphics has been far more limited than usual.
Today's puzzle setter is the prolific, and talented, Jeffrey Wechsler. Today he has given us a puzzle with a FASTENER theme but without a reveal to tie it all together. At four places within the grid Jeffrey has presented fastener homonyms in common, multi-word colloquial phrases that describe actions that might be undertaken.
17 Across: Impress one's future employer, maybe: NAIL AN INTERVIEW
26 Across: Gobble breakfast in one minute, say: BOLT DOWN A MEAL
43 Across: Cause confusion and disarray: SCREW THINGS UP
55 Across: Perform a sailing maneuver: TACK INTO THE WIND.
Coincidentally, I am reading a book about fasteners. Riveting stuff. And on that note, here are the other clues and answers:
Across:
1. Degas medium: PASTELS. The French artist, Edgar Degas.
8. Panini cheese: ASIAGO. Italian sandwich. Italian cheese.
14. Examples of basic chemistry?: ALKALIS. As in base, not acid. An ALKAI is a type of base that can dissolve in water.
30. Wireless standard initials: LTE. Look at the top of your cellphone screen.
31. __ Cabos: Baja area: LOS. One of today's several geography lessons.
32. Seek information: ASK. Inquire.
33. "I concur with that evaluation": YES IT IS. How many iterations did it take to come up with this?
36. Counterpart of Row 1: COLUMN A. Do we also get to choose two items from Column B?
40. Native American Heritage Mo.: NOV. Abbreviated MOnth. Abbreviated NOVember.
41. Women's campus gp.: SOR. SORority. Another punt. Can constructors use the first three letter of any word?
42. Internet pioneer: AOL. I still use an America On Line account for commercial email sources.
47. Hemingway moniker: PAPA. Sobriquet.
49. __ Speedwagon: REO. A truck in the 20's and 30's. A rock band since 1967.
50. Maine college town: ORONO. Often visited in crossword puzzles. A place for a cat to get a degree.
51. La Corse, par exemple: ILE. French clue (the island of Corsica), French answer.
52. Key: MAIN. Key as in music? As in a lock? As in an island? Francis Scott? MAIN idea.
54. Reindeer in "Frozen": SVEN. SVEN, Elsa, Olaf and Anna have become crossword staples.
60. Cretan princess who aided Theseus: ARIADNE. Went, first with MINI (52 Down) and Arianne.
61. Trivial detail: MINUTIA. From Latin. Interesting to see this word and the next in sequence.
62. Occupation: METIER. From Old French (which is from Latin).
63. Gathering places for many unions: CHAPELS. Not labor related. Well, maybe nine months later.
Down:
1. Kitchen implement: PAN. Not a pot this this time.
2. Inspired by: ALA. A LA mode. In the style of.
3. Winter Olympics equipment: SKI POLES. I will likely be using a pair as you read this.
4. Skill: TALENT. Aptitude.
5. Over the moon: ELATED. Idiomatic.
6. Stanza part: LINE. A line in a poem though STANZA sounds like a Nissan model.
7. Money for some AARP members: SSI. Supplemental Security Income.
8. Nissan model: ALTIMA. MAXIMA worked with three of the perps. SENTRA with only one.
9. One looking ahead: SEER. More word play.
10. Memo intro: IN RE. Even in my coat and tie days I never started a memo with this.
11. Really, e.g.: Abbr.: ADV. Really? Yes. Used, here, as an ADVerb.
12. Real last name of Dr. Seuss: GEISEL. Theodor (no final e) GEISEL
13. Circular snacks: OREOS. Very often used. Often chuckle at the myriad ways it is clued.
16. "M*A*S*H" actress: SWIT. Loretta SWIT. Major Margaret Houlihan.
18. Classic Vegas sights: NEONS. First thought of SLOTS.
22. With dexterity: ABLY. Deftly.
23. Roomy bag: TOTE. Often clued as a promotional giveaway.
24. Ark units: TWOS. What's a cubit? (Noah to G_d, per Cosby)
25. Capital of Azerbaijan: BAKU. Often visited here, but not as often as ORONO.
27. Green shade: OLIVE. Many shades. Few with five letters.
28. Native New Zealander: MAORI. Frequent visitor to crossword puzzles.
29. Course concerned with idioms: Abbr.: ESL. English as a Second Language.
34. Ancient Andean: INCA. Atahualpa was one.
35. Blue Jays, in crawls: TOR. TORonto.
36. Salmon variety: COHO. Does Nova qualify?
37. Multi-use hardboard product: MASONITE. Also an attorney in The Flintstones. Perry Masonite.
38. Lamp, e.g.; light, only sometimes: NOUN. Light can be used as a noun or as a verb or as an adjective.
39. Iams alternative: ALPO. Dog food brands.
41. __ pad: STENO. Crash?
43. Hard cash?: SPECIE. SPECIE is coined money. Some times it's cold.
44. Jo, in "Little Women": WRITER. Never read the novel. Heard dozens of book reports on it.
45. Nine-day prayer ritual: NOVENA. An ancient devotion.
46. Matured: GREW UP. Crosses SCREW UP.
47. Hummus go-with: PITA. The bread. Not your bothersome co-worker.
48. Frighten: ALARM. First tried SCARE. The second A and the R worked.
52. Dress length: MIDI. Went, first with MINI and Arianne. Ariaxne was not considered.
53. Pulitzer novelist Tyler: ANNE. Not Ann Taylor.
54. __ Tzu: dog breed: SHIH. Best in show?
56. "Krazy __": KAT. A comic book/strip character.
57. Cinephile's TV choice: TMC. The Movie Channel. Not to be confused with TCM.
58. Soccer score word: NIL. Zero.
59. Court figs.: DAS. District AttorneyS
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