Theme: DRESS TO THE NINES
17. Execs who only look the part: EMPTY SUITS.
25. Ostentatiously nice sort: GOODY TWO SHOES.
41. Pompous types: STUFFED SHIRTS.
55. Pretentiously elegant one: FANCY PANTS.
Hey Cornerites, Melissa here. This appears to again be a debut for Mr. Beckert, it's nice to see that so regularly.
I never realized there were so many phrases for pretentious people and clothing, nice job, Ed.
Across:
1. Midday tide-me-over: SNACK.
6. Landlocked African land: CHAD.
14. Common wrist measurement: PULSE. Ohhhh, of course.
15. Tatting fabric: LACE.
16. Geometry calculation: AREA. Height times width.
19. Pics for docs: MRIS. Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
20. Stephen Colbert's network: CBS.
21. Jury makeup: PEERS. Theoretically.
22. Beyond heavy: OBESE.
23. Burden: TAX. That's the truth.
24. Screwdriver, e.g.: TOOL.
31. MLB game-ending accomplishments: SAVES.
32. Tomatoes used to make paste: ROMAS.
33. Guest beyond a velvet rope: VIP.
35. Pac-12 squad: UTES. Utah Utes - college football. Utah beat Oregon 38-10 last Friday to win its first-ever Pac-12 championship.
36. Shrink in fear: COWER.
37. Spreadsheet input: DATA.
38. Debussy's sea: MER. This is a full 24 minutes, and beautiful.
39. Expert: MAVEN.
40. More delicate: FINER. Bit of a nod to today's theme.
44. High-flying mil. group: USAF.
45. __ museum: ART.
46. Land divisions: ACRES.
48. Hard stuff: BOOZE. Tricky.
51. Pollution watchdog org.: EPA.
54. Designated money: FUND.
57. Help in a bad way: ABET.
58. Puckish: ARCH. Who got this right away? Puckish = playful, especially in a mischievous way. Arch =
59. Type of coffee or whiskey: IRISH.
60. Start from scratch: REDO.
61. Simple tops: TEES. As in T-shirts.
62. Tot's tea party guest: TEDDY. Teddy bear. I've had a few tea parties with dolls and bears. Speaking of tots, my granddaughter recently explained why her little sister was crying: "I didn't see it, but nothing happened!"
Down:
1. Project detail: SPEC.
2. Without feeling: NUMB.
3. European range: ALPS. The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system
that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km across
eight Alpine countries: France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy,
Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.
4. Wisconsin winter hrs.: CST. Central Standard Time.
5. Security system components: KEYPADS.
6. Game with rooms: CLUE. Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a candlestick!
7. Rapunzel's "ladder": HAIR. Ouch.
8. Play divisions: ACTS. Neil Simon has written two separate memoirs: Rewrites (1996), and The Play Goes On (1999), plus a combined version with both and some new material, Neil Simon's Memoirs. He writes about his brother and him learning to write three act plays in Rewrites.
9. __ Moines: DES. Des Moines takes its name from Fort Des Moines (1843–46), which was named for the Des Moines River. This was adopted from the name given by French colonists. Des Moines translates literally to either "from the monks" or "of the monks."
10. Panda's diet: BAMBOO. I thought it was eucalyptus but then realized that is Koalas.
11. Of no consequence: IRRELEVANT.
12. Parts of Hawaiian greetings: LEIS.
13. Get (into) carefully: EASE.
18. Attention-getting, in a way: SEXY.
22. Reactions to fireworks: OOHS. Ahhhhh.
23. Little piggies: TOES.
24. Winter Palace monarch: TSAR. The Winter Palace was an
official residence of the Russian sovereign from 1732 until 1917;
however, it was their home for little more than 140 of those years. The
last Tsar to truly reside in the palace was Alexander II, who ruled from 1855 to 1881, when he was assassinated.
25. Starting spots for some races: GATES.
26. Reversed on appeal: OVERTURNED. Very rare.
27. Treasure __: TROVE.
28. Blew away: WOWED.
29. Dark clouds, maybe: OMENS.
30. Internet destinations: SITES.
31. What a capital sigma symbolizes, in math: SUM. Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the
system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics,
uppercase Σ is used as an operator for summation.
34. Course standard: PAR. By definition, “Par” is the number of strokes needed to complete a hole in a golf course. Each hole in a course is given its own par rating.
36. Informal London eatery: CAFF. The Nine Best Traditional Caffs in London.
37. Gossip: DIRT.
39. Degs. for choreographers: MFAS. Master of Fine Arts Degree.
40. Campsite staple: FIRE PIT. Smores!
42. Familiar with: USED TO. Used is an interesting word. Used to. We all know what it means, but why does it mean what it means?
43. Unclear: HAZY.
46. Off in the distance: AFAR.
47. Rubik creation: CUBE.
48. Reveal: BARE. Verb not noun.
49. Almost never: ONCE. I guess.
50. Protest singer Phil: OCHS.
51. Children's author Blyton: ENID.
52. Returning GI's diagnosis: PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
53. Pallid: ASHY.
55. Considerable, as a bonus: FAT.
56. "Where __ you now?": ARE.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Congrats on your debut, Ed!
