Good morning, once again, cruciverbalists. As you may recall from C.C.'s note on last Thursday's blog, Bill (waseeley) and yours truly will now be writing the recaps on alternating Thursdays. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill, and Boomer, for shouldering much of the past and future work load.
Theme: Equivalency - Perhaps, E Equals M C Squared ? - Not
He was, justifiably, a difficult man to impress but, be that as it may, today's theme is quite clever if you're into sort-of-weird-word-play. For this crowd, that, however, is pretty much a given. Remember, also, that this puzzle comes from the person who played around with vowel sounds and morphed The Grateful Dead into The Grateful Dud, referred to the Detroit baseball team's salary structure as Pay Per Tiger and introduced us to the vocal styling of the Three Tanners.
At three locations within the puzzle, Jim has placed quantitative answers which, when taken together with the key word(s) in the clue, combine to form an equivalent name for a well-known object or place.
17. Equivalent Stanley award?: EIGHT OUNCES. MM's first reaction was "What the"? However, the light slowly dawned. There are EIGHT OUNCES in a full measuring cup. Combine CUP with STANLEY, et voila, we get Stanley Cup which is the National Hockey League's trophy awarded to the playoff champions. STANLEY EIGHT OUNCES = STANLEY CUP
Lord Stanley's Cup
39. Equivalent Scotland locale?: THIRTY SIX INCHES. A YARD is a measurement defined as being three feet, or THIRTY-SIX INCHES, long. Make the substitution and we get SCOTLAND YARD which is the headquarters locale of the London Metropolitan Police. SCOTLAND THIRTY SIX INCHES = SCOTLAND YARD
61. Equivalent type of horse?: FIVE NICKELS. A nickel is worth five cents. FIVE NICKELS are worth a quarter of a dollar. Following along the previous path we come upon a QUARTER HORSE which is a breed of horse named for its dominance in quarter-mile races. FIVE NICKELS HORSE = QUARTER HORSE
...and now on to the rest of today's puzzle
Across:
1. "Vice" (2018) Oscar nominee Amy: ADAMS. Right off the bat, a reference with which this solver was totally unfamiliar and a proper noun at that. Thanks, Jim (sarcasm) or perhaps the editor. Thanks, perps (not sarcasm).
6. Pairing: UNION. Two weeks ago we had SCAB. Today we have UNION.
11. __ water: TAP. A fill-in-the-blank with many possible answers (e.g. Evian, mineral, hot, potable, soda, seltzer, heavy, etc.). Fortunately, the three-letter constraint put a cap on the number of possibilities.
14. Jazz pianist Chick: COREA. This one was a gimme and, for what seems like the ten thousandth time, reconfirmed my love/hate relationship with proper nouns in crossword puzzles.
15. Fit provider: HONDA. Misdirection. Neither a personal trainer nor a tailor but, rather, an automobile. The Honda Motor Company describes their Fit model as "a small car ready for big adventures."
The Honda Fit
16. Gulf st.: ALA. ALAbama The abbreviation for "state" tells us that the answer is also an abbreviation. Sometimes "st." might stand for "street" or "saint" but in that case it is usually capitalized. Of course, by convention, the first word of every clue is capitalized and some sly constructors play on that.
19. Storage unit: BIN. This one felt a bit "off" in that a bin is not really a unit of anything. In this case, the BIN, itself, is the unit. Still, "I Love You a BIN and a Peck" is not a song from Guys and Dolls.
20. __-Caps: candy: SNO.
21. Memo opener: IN RE. IN RE means "in regard to" or "in the matter of".
22. Went up: SCALED. SCALE has several different meanings. Music. Reptile skin. A device for weighing. But in this instance it is a mountain climbing, or a workplace, reference.
24. Produce: CREATE.
26. Venue that may sell naming rights: ARENA. I wonder how this has worked out for the sponsors who each paid handsomely (estimated at $20 million - $25 million per year) to have the new NFL ARENAs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas named for them.
27. Forward, in a way: RE-MAIL. Not "to the front" or an NBA player or overstepping the boundaries of good taste. Instead, it is another almost-made-up word formed by sticking RE in front of a verb. I am sure that you were able to RE-solve this one.
30. Take different paths: PART.
33. "The Ra Expeditions" author Heyerdahl: THOR. Appropriate for a Thursday, n'est ce pas? While Heyerdahl successfully demonstrated that it was possible for a primitive raft to sail across the Pacific Ocean, DNA evidence now shows that his theory about Polynesian origins was incorrect.
35. MSN and AOL: ISPS. Internet Service ProviderS
42. Japanese sandal: ZORI. When I was just a kid, in the summer we wore those cheap synthetic sandals that bruised the space between your big toe and the adjacent toe. We called them ZORIs but had no idea as to the origin of the word.
43. Not taxing: EASY. This one was.
47. They may be special or secret: AGENTS.
51. Bouts: SPELLS. Perhaps, as in fainting SPELLS.
62. Sacred promise: VOW.
44. Cuban boy in 2000 headlines: ELIAN. ELIAN Gonzalez was the subject of a much-publicized custody battle involving the governments of the United States and Cuba. Public opinion was, as they say, highly polarized.
45. Thickener in Asian desserts: AGAR. I always forget which one is the thickening agent (AGAR) and which one is the banned apple growth-regulator spray (Alar).
Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers - 1966
48. Passionate dance: TANGO. From the sort-of-sublime to the ridiculous (unless you're into this sort of thing) - Tom Lehrer's The Masochism Tango. I am not sure when he wrote it but I first heard it on a album that was released in 1959.
The Masochism Tango
51. Bouts: SPELLS. Perhaps, as in fainting SPELLS.
54. Off-topic: AFIELD. Originally, the expression "Far AFIELD" referred to physically coming from a long ways away. Now the term is also applied in reference to scientific, intellectual, and other, pursuits.
56. Ohio border lake: ERIE.
Lake Erie
57. Anonymous party: DOE. John DOE. Jane DOE. Sometimes ROE.
60. __ service: LIP. Again, the three letters made it a bit easier. Although it could have been TEA service it clearly was not going to be POSTAL service or FOREST service or ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET service.
64. Mound stat: ERA. A baseball reference. A pitcher's Earned Run Average is computed by multiplying the total number of earned runs that the pitcher has given up by nine and then dividing that product by the total number of innings pitched.
65. Long-stemmed mushrooms: ENOKI. Know your mushrooms, campers, some are toxic...and some are psychoactive.
Enoki Mushrooms
66. Some South Pacific carvings: TIKIS. TIKI bars/lounges were very popular in the 1930's - 1960's. Some are still operating.
67. Court unit of at least six games: SET. A tennis reference.
68. Search for water: DOWSE. DOWSing is a type of divination employed in an attempt to find groundwater. Despite some anecdotal reports of success, it has never been proven to work.
69. "Mad Men" pool member: STENO. According to Hollywood's take on the corporate culture of the 1950's, women started their careers in the STENO Pool or Secretarial Pool and men started in the mail room (no pun intended).
Down:
1. Blackjack cards: ACES. If a player's first two cards are an ACE and a picture card or a ten, then the player has a "natural blackjack".
Blackjack
2. "Whatcha __?": DOIN. The slanginess of the clue clues us into the fact that the answer will also be slangy. Still, not the high point of this puzzle.
3. Cornstarch brand: ARGO.
4. Indifferent reaction: MEH. MEH.
5. Stephen Colbert, for one: SATIRIST. Not to be confused with a slightly dyslexic sitarist.
6. Enterprise officer: UHURA. A Star Trek reference. UHURA was the communications officer aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Lieutenant Nyota UHURA
7. Large chamber group: NONET. The more or less standard instrumentation of a NONET is flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass. If Jim had needed a leading M we would have seen Monet.
8. Fortune competitor: INC. First, we have to figure out that FORTUNE is referring to a magazine and not a pile of money. INC. is also the name of a business-focused magazine.
9. 2016 work by Pulitzer poet Sharon Olds: ODES. I am not familiar with this poet. Thanks, again, perps.
10. Org. with a long track record?: NASCAR. A clue meant to be taken quite literally. The "ORG" tells us it will be an abbreviation and the "track record" bit steers us in the right direction. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
11. Put on ice: TABLE. We might think of cooling a beer or a soda but, nooooo. Both the clue and answers are colloquialisms for delaying a decision.
12. Strange: ALIEN.
13. World Wildlife Fund logo animal: PANDA.
18. New law student: ONE L. A first-year law school student is sometimes called a ONE L.
23. Things, or written things: ARTICLES. The thing is, this was a very well written clue.
24. Baby transport: CARRIAGE. I always have trouble with that "extra" A.
25. Bond creator?: EPOXY. More misdirection. Re-misdirection? Fortunately, neither Ian nor Fleming nor U.S. Treasury was going to fit in the allotted space.
27. Big name in hotels and crackers: RITZ. Should you elect to combine the two, it would be a good idea to tip the housekeeping staff generously if you leave crumbs all over the room.
Puttin' On The Ritz - Young Frankenstein
28. Lingering effect: ECHO. One of the best-ever takes on ECHO is Stan Freberg's version of the Elvis classic Heartbreak Hotel.
29. Golda of Israel: MEIR. Born in Kiev, and raised in Milwaukee, Golda Meir served as Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974.
31. MSNBC analyst Melber: ARI. Another unfamiliar proper noun for this solver - probably because of my lack of cable/satellite television.
33. Romanov royals: TSARS. A hundred years have passed and yet humans are still fascinated by the former Russian royal family.
34. Casual hellos: HIS. Didn't we have a similar clue with the exact same answer last Friday?
36. __ guard: SHIN. Another fill-in-the-blank clue. Praetorian was not going to fit.
37. Fuel from a bog: PEAT. This Marine mammal loves the qualities of PEATed Scotch Whisky and, even with flippers in lieu of hands, could write volumes on stills, malting barley, barrel aging, distilleries, etc. Those of you who share this passion should feel free to email the Manatee.
38. Taxpayer IDs: SSNS. Social Security NumberS
40. Pro vote: YEA. Yes, although we always have to also consider that AYE might be the answer.
41. Pays no attention to: NEGLECTS.
46. Hit the links: GOLFED. Several regular contributors here likely got this one in an instant. Links became synonymous with GOLF because a links golf course is the oldest style of GOLF course. Types of Golf Courses This clue plays on the past tense/present tense duality of the verb - in this instance, "hit". Bet, cut, fit, put, set, wed and hurt are other verbs that allow constructors to attempt to mislead us.
47. Others, to Ovid: ALII. Et Al is the abbreviation not only for Et ALII (masculine plural) but also for Et Alia (neuter plural) and Et Aliae (feminine plural).
48. Grimm accounts: TALES. A bit of playfulness with the double-m in the first word of the clue. Always up for an MM (or an M&M) moment.
49. Pumped up: AFIRE. I suppose it could be as in "She was AFIRE with enthusiasm." Went through AMPED up and even FIRED up before getting this one.
50. Go after, puppy-style: NIP AT.
52. Sneaks a look: PEEKS.
53. Orange half of a "Sesame Street" duo: ERNIE. There is still some debate as to whether or not Bert & ERNIE are a gay couple or if they are just best friends. According to the writer, Mark Saltzman, they are a couple . . . and writers can mold their characters into anything that they wish them to be.
Ernie & Bert
55. Purple pet in old cartoons: DINO. The Flintstones' dog-like pet was a small dinosaur named DINO (dee no). Not to be confused with one of these guys.
Dino Desi & Billy
57. Fake in the rink: DEKE. In ice hockey, a DEKE is a move that causes an opposition player to move out of position. The derivation is from decoy.
58. Lena of "The Reader": OLIN. At least this proper noun has been seen several previous times and the actress is fairly well known.
59. Exxon, formerly: ESSO. ESSO is the phonetic version of S. O. or Standard Oil.
63. Assembly-required boxful: KIT. Also a young fox. This fox was photographed a couple of years ago by yours truly roughly one hundred feet from where I composed this write-up.
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MM OUT
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