Good morning, once again, cruciverbalists. Apparently, this mephitic marine mammal did not stink things up too badly on the first go around. As a result, he has been invited back. As it is physically impossible for a Manatee to "phone it in" and as the Little Ben clock says a quarter to eight, he had best go now and take his shift at the mine. A little background music, please, Jerry.
First, synonyms for FAST (as in swift) are split apart by the constructor. Then, the two sequential answers on the same row are smashed into each other by the solvers. Where they fuse can be found the reconstituted synonym for FAST that was "BREAK-ed" before being put together.
17 Across Ado: KERFUFFLE and 19 Across: Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" films: ETHAN form FLEET.
KERFUFFLEETHAN
25 Across Unit in an improvisational parlor game: MAD LIB and 27 Across: Word in a con man's pitch: RISK FREE form BRISK.
MADLIBRISKFREE
37 Across: Former Postal Service mascot: MR ZIP and 38 Across: Ones drawn to flames, briefly: PYROS form ZIPPY.
MRZIPPYROS
Zippy is the snide nickname that Conchata Ferrell's character uses for Jon Cryer's character in Two and a Half Men. See also Zippy the Pinhead.
48. Across Dryer component: LINT TRAP and 50 Across: Brainstorm: IDEATE form RAPID.
LINTTRAPIDEATE
58 Across. The Reveal. Basketball tactic ... and a hint to four puzzle rows: FAST BREAK. In a FAST BREAK a team attempts to quickly move the ball up the court before the defensive team has a chance to get into position. In this puzzle, I did not figure out the theme prior to the reveal. Even after that, I had to first hunt for the proper rows and then spend some time looking for what it was that I was supposed to be seeing. For this solver, it was something of a slow process.
And now, it's either time for BREAKFAST or it's time to take a look at the rest of the puzzle.
Across:
1. Espionage name: MATA. MATA Hari was the stage name of Margaretha MacLeod. She was a Dutch-born exotic dancer and, some would say, courtesan who was convicted of spying for the Germans during World War One. On October 15, 1917 she was executed by a French Army firing squad. The 1931 movie, Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo, made her even more (in)famous.
5. Not at all rainy: ARID. Sometimes the answer to clues similar to this one is SERE.
9. Old Faithful output: STEAM. Words would be superfluous.
5. Not at all rainy: ARID. Sometimes the answer to clues similar to this one is SERE.
9. Old Faithful output: STEAM. Words would be superfluous.
14. Got down: ALIT.
15. Virologist Yvonne who worked with Epstein: BARR. The eponymic Epstein BARR virus causes mononucleosis.
16. Serving tool: LADLE. Does it end in E L or L E? I forget.
20. H, to Hercules: ETA. In the Greek alphabet the letter ETA is drawn in the same manner as we would write our letter H.
21. NE player, to fans: PAT The New England Patriots. From 1959 through 1970 the team was known as the Boston Patriots.
22. Very start?: VEE. There must be a name for this type of extremely literal clue. If there is, I am unaware of it. Often, a "gotcha" moment after wasting time on what should have been a quick response.
24. Trial fig.: ATT. Oh, an attorney. Not the phone company.
29. Foil alternative: EPEE. In this instance FOIL refers to a fencing weapon and fencing refers to the dueling sport and not to what you might install on your property line. Besides, Waxed Paper would not fit. EPEE is definitely in the Crosswordese dictionary.
30. Goofy images?: CELS. In the days before CGI, animation had to be hand drawn a single frame at a time. The drawings were done on transparent celluloid and came to be referred to as CELS. Each cel would show a slight bit of movement and it took roughly 500 cels for each minute of animation. This topic leads us to the deep philosophical inquiry: If Pluto is a dog then what is Goofy?
31. Fig or olive: TREE. Fortunately, FRUIT has five letters so no time was lost heading down that particular dead end.
32. Subtle vibes: AURAS. Sometimes the plural turns out to be AURAS and sometimes it's AURAE. I prefer the original Latin as in alga and algae.
35. Cookbook instruction: ADDIN. ADD IN As opposed, I suppose, to STIR IN, MIX IN, FOLD IN, CUT IN, etc.
39. Indira's son: RAJIV. RAJIV Gandhi took over the office of Prime Minister of India after the assassination of his mother Indira.
40. Thought about it: MUSED. In this case, the clue is the definition.
41. British general at the Battle of Bunker Hill: GAGE. General Gage, along with General Meade, General Omar Bradley and Field Marshall Ney make frequent visits to our puzzles.
42. Obi-Wan portrayer: EWAN. EWAN McGregor. A Stars Wars reference.
44. "Get a __!": GRIP. "Get a GRIP" is a phrase most often used idiomatically rather than literally. Alternatively, you could actually get a (new) grip.
52. "Double Fantasy" artist: ONO. Another frequent visitor to crossword puzzles, Yoko ONO's controversial relationship with John Lenon, and with The Beatles, has been well chronicled.
53. Klutz: OAF.
54. California's Santa __ River: ANA. Humans have lived along the Santa ANA River for at least 9,000 years. ANA is more often clued in reference to the Santa Ana winds.
55. PreCheck org.: TSA. Transportation Security Administration
Why was the vulture stopped by TSA?
Because carrion wasn't allowed on the plane.
56. More adept: ABLER.
61. Works hard: TOILS.
56. More adept: ABLER.
61. Works hard: TOILS.
62. Dieter's buzzword: LITE. What started out as a marketing gimmick has, apparently, (d)evolved into being the modern, phonetic way to spell LIGHT when referring to foods that are low in fat and/or sugar and/or alcohol.
63. Beat by a nose: EDGE.
63. Beat by a nose: EDGE.
64. Hindu sage: SWAMI. A male Hindu religious teacher. If Wikipedia is correct, a woman would be called a Swamini.
65. First Best Actor Jannings: EMIL In 1929, Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, stage name EMIL Jannings, was awarded the very first Best Actor Oscar. I know of EMIL only from solving crossword puzzles.
66. More than coax: PROD.
Down:
1. "You and what army?!": MAKEME. "MAKE ME" is, apparently, also the title of a Britney Spears song. I would not recognize it. Or her.
2. Bartender's device: ALETAP. I have never heard the words ALE TAP employed as used here. Perhaps I need to drink more.
3. Rant: TIRADE.
5. BBC sitcom: ABFAB. Short for Absolutely Fabulous, ABFAB was a British sitcom that also aired on American television. It was very popular.
7. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life. It is a shorthand term used when people want to distinguish reality from something that happens, for example, on TV, online in social media, or in games. I do realize that the lines of demarcation are blurring but having to point out this distinction seems a bit odd to me. Or, maybe not.
10. Skin pic: TAT. TAT, short for tattoo, is a staple not only of Crosswordese but IRL as well.
11. "Pollock" star: EDHARRIS. ED HARRIS Although I do know who Jackson Pollock was I was barely aware of, and never saw, the movie. I would not recognize Mr. Harris if I bumped into him on the street. Perps to the rescue.
12. Adolescent support group: ALATEEN. A sub group within the Al-Anon (Alcoholics Anonymous) family that focuses on teenagers.
13. Protégé: MENTEE. A MENTEE is a person who is advised, not by a Manatee but, rather, by a Mentor.
18. News initials: UPI. United Press International is an international news agency formed in 1907 by combining three other then-existing news agencies.
23. Bacon products: ESSAYS. This bit of cluing was similar to last Thursday's "More Work" clue. This time the misdirection is designed to lead us away from Francis Bacon (credited with popularizing the scientific method) who is the actual gist of the clue. Once again, I was briefly fooled and at first thought about something cured, smoked and pan fried.
26. VIP travel option: LEARJET. LEAR JET
27. Legal thing: RES. In law, RES is a thing, as opposed to a person, that is the object of rights.
27. Legal thing: RES. In law, RES is a thing, as opposed to a person, that is the object of rights.
28. IA city on U.S. 20: FTDODGE. FORT DODGE, Iowa. Situated on the Des Moines River, Fort Dodge is the county seat of Webster County.
30. Limit: CAP.
33. Action film weapon: UZI. The first UZI was designed by Uziel Gal in the late 1940s. He gave the production rights to the Israli Ministry of Defense. It is now manufactured by IWI (Israeli Weapons Industries). In another context, UZI can mean Upheaval-Zombie Infestation. Quick, grab the Uzi!
34. Only unanimous Baseball Hall of Fame electee: RIVERA. George Will, the political pundit and student of baseball, was once asked what his reaction would be if, during an extra-inning Allstar Game where all other available pitchers had already been used, Mariano RIVERA of the New York Yankees were to be injured due to his having to pitch four or five innings. Without missing a beat, Will replied, "I would say, Go O's !"
36. Dr. of rap: DRE.
37. Official flower of two Southern states: MAGNOLIA.
38. "Cherry Garcia" is one: PUN. The PUN, here, is on Jerry Garcia the lead guitarist for The Grateful Dead. Oddly, I had put the "Cumberland Blues" music link, above, in the initial draft of this post before I'd even had a look at the puzzle. Serendipity.
39. Path to the gold, so they say: RAINBOW. An old saying has it that there is a pot of gold at the end of the RAINBOW.
40. Waze feature: MAP. After years of using GPS devices made by Garmin and TomTom it took a while to get used to WAZE. WAZE turns out to be very good for navigating within cities. . . . if you do not mind occasionally being directed to cross eight lanes of rush hour traffic at an uncontrolled intersection.
41. Wins in an ugly way?: GLOATS.
43. Equivocate: WAFFLE. In the Doonesbury comic strip, Gary Trudeau used a WAFFLE to portray then-president Clinton.
45. Not for kids: RATEDR. RATED R We never know, do we, if it going to turn out to be RATED R or R RATED?
46. "Let's do this": ITSAGO. IT'S A GO When a constructor uses quotation marks in the clue, to indicate that the answer is something that someone might say, then the answer can be almost anything.
47. Reached a max: PEAKED.
49. Upper bodies: TORSI. A correct plural of TORSO. Has anyone actually used the word?
50. Recon mission goal: INTEL. Short for INTELligence. Also, the name of a major producer of computer chips. Is there anyone who has not seen their logo?
51. Put gently (on): DAB.
54. Vino venue: ASTI. Ah, another wine-related clue and answer. ASTI is a commune (township) in the Piedmont region of Italy. Most Americans know the name only from Asti-Spumante which is a sparkling white wine.
57. Street in a horror series: ELM. There have been several Nightmare on Elm Street movies. They have, so far, grossed over $750 million.
59. Archer's skill: AIM. AIM was also an answer in my last (first) write-up so I had to find a different graphic.
60. Gym unit: REP. REP is short for repetition. Your trainer might tell you to do three sets of ten REPs each of a given exercise.
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In parting today, a story:
A team of archaeologists were working in Jerusalem a few years ago when they unearthed a slab of rock into which five images had been carved.
It was taken back to the university where a team of archaeologists intensely studied the petroglyph and interpreted it. Eventually, the leader of the team took the stone and went on a lecture tour. In his lecture, the archaeologist explained that the carvings were several thousands of years old and that they revealed a lot about the people of that time. The woman, having been placed first in the line of figures, he said, indicated that women were held in very high esteem. The society that produced the petroglyph was most likely a matriarchy. The donkey, he further explained, indicated they used domesticated animals. The shovel revealed that they were highly intelligent and knew how to make tools. The fish indicated that they knew enough to augment the crops they raised by also reaping sustenance from the sea. The Star of David, of course, showed they were a very religious group of people.
After trying to interrupt the presentation for quite a few minutes, a little old Jewish man in the front row finally got the attention of the speaker. When acknowledged, he rose and said "Idiot. You were reading it left to right. In Hebrew we read from right to left. That way, it reads 'Holy Mackerel Dig The Ass On That Chick!' "
I promise to atone for that one in just a few days. For now, a belated Happy New Year One and All ! That's a wrap for today. Thank you all for your kind comments after the maiden voyage.
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