Good Morning, Cruciverbalists !
If you are not proficient in reading sea creatures' lips, and there is really no reason why you should be, you might guess that my friend above is wishing all of you a very happy Seis de Mayo. Because Cinco de Mayo fell in the middle of the workweek this year, perhaps only a few of you overindulged in cerveza or mescal or tequila. If you are one of those who did, it's okay to go back to sleep and read this tomorrow because you certainly do not need to add to your morning headache. Of course, if you celebrated last night and have already tackled today's puzzle then it might be time for some hair of the dog that bit you.
Those who are proficient in lip reading sea creatures will know that my friend is actually voicing her opinion on several aspects of today's puzzle - Something like twenty proper nouns. Answers such as YOINK, INSPO, and TECHY. Throw a handful of abbreviations and a dozen two-word answers into the mix and the bellowing, above, is quite understandable (pun possibly intended).
Today's puzzle setter is Joe Deeney who also created the recent March 18th & 31st and April 17th & 25th puzzles, among many others. Being an accomplished constructor, we have to assume that Mr. Deeney's choices were well-thought-out and were intended to give us a worthy challenge even if they do, in places, leave us shaking our heads.
THEME: DU YOU SEE WHAT I SEEST?
The answer at 63 Across provides one key to our eventual enlightenment: At four places in the puzzle, Joe has placed two-word answers. Each first word starts with DU and each second word ends with ST. Thus, the center components of the theme answers are bordered by, JACKETed if you will, by DU and ST.
63 Across. Book protector ... and what 17- 24-, 39-, and 53-Across each has: DUST JACKET. (It would have been jaw-droppingly impressive if the second word of this answer had also ended in ST).
The elements of this clever bit of construction are:
17 Across. Bridge relative for three players: DUMMY WHIST. WHIST is a trick-taking card game usually played by four players. If there are only three players then a DUMMY hand is dealt.
24 Across. NBA All-Star Weekend event, casually: DUNK CONTEST. Each year, during the All-Star game break, the National Basketball Association holds a Slam Dunk Contest. A slam dunk is a shot in which the player forcibly thrusts the basketball down through the basket.
39 Across. Equinox sunset direction viewed from the equator: DUE WEST. By definition. If the sun is directly overhead at noon on the equator it will be due west when it sets. Interestingly enough, this could also have been the theme. The DU of each theme answer falls on the left, west on most maps. DU WEST.
53 Across. Sporty muffler option: DUAL EXHAUST. Several manufacturers have come up with aftermarket devices that make your EV sound like a V-8 with glass packs (a V-E?).
We'll put the finished grid here for a better look:
Now, let us consider the rest of today's clues and answers:
Across:
1. Apple since 1998: IMAC. We are used to seeing the clued Apple be an electronic device and not a piece of fruit and if Apple is the first word of the clue it will be capitalized either way. So that's no help. One day, some smart (ass) constructor will play on this and the answer will turn out to actually be a recent cultivar. Apple since 2009: ENVY
5. Doctor's order?: SAY AH.
Curious George
10. Large number: HOST. In the biblical sense (no, not that way), a group or army. צבאות
14. Dunn of "SNL" (1985-'90): NORA. NORA Dunn was cast-member of the Saturday Night Live television show.
Nora Dunn
15. Food recall cause: E. COLI.
Escherichia Coli Bacteria
16. Not about to back: ANTI. You can opt to back a cause or opt to oppose it. When I was a kid, it was considered great fun to ask someone if they could spell Antidisestablishmentarianism let alone explain it. Okay, so I hung with a bunch of weirdos.
19. Union foe: SCAB. From the Latin scabere meaning to scratch. For centuries, the term SCAB has been applied to people who were untrustworthy and/or despicable. In 1816 the term was first used (by members of the Albany Typographical Union) to apply to strikebreakers.
20. Muse's gift, in modern slang: INSPO. A riff on "inspiration", I suppose. The muses must be quite amused that anyone has chosen to add this particular linguistic gift to their lexicon.
21. "Too Many Rappers" rapper: NAS. NASir bin Olu Dara Jones.
22. Elephantine: HUGE. Which came first, the animal's name or the adjective? Apparently, the animal's name. The adjective is said to have originated in the 1620's. It derives from the Latin elephantinus meaning "pertaining to elephants".
23. They're not from around here, briefly: ETS. Extra TerrestrialS In Maine, upon meeting an ET they might say, "You're from away. Chuppta?"
28. TV's Arthur: BEA. . . . and then there's Maude . . . and before Maude:
Bea Arthur on the Perry Como Show circa 1960
29. MSNBC host Melber: ARI. What do you call a cat's Italian sports car? A fur ARI.
30. Irish New Ager: ENYA. Alternatively, a four-letter singer who often appears in x-word puzzles.
31. Hawks' home: Abbr.: ATL. The ATLanta Hawks are a professional basketball team.
32. 23andMe concern: DNA. DeoxyriboNucleic Acid. 23andME is a company that provides direct-to-consumer DNA testing.
34. Everglades bird: EGRET.
A Great White Egret
38. Eugene-to-Portland dir.: NNE. North North East or 22.5°
42. Flying phenom: ACE. Not a UFO. Not Rodan. An expert pilot.
The Royal Guardsmen - 1966
43. Miso soup base: DASHI. The Bon Appetite recipe for DASHI uses only water, dried kombu and bonito flakes.
45. Sch. found inside hotel suites?: LSU. A clue intended to be interpreted quite literally. Louisiana State University - HOTEL SUITES
46. Scand. land: NOR. NORway. Neither Sweden nor Finland.
47. "Wonderfilled" cookie: OREO. I had never heard of an OREO being "Wonderfilled" but Oreo is always a reasonable guess for anything cookie-related. I gather that OREO built an advertising campaign around the Wonderfilled theme.
Owl City Commercial -2013
50. Actor Vigoda: ABE. ABE Vigoda is best known for his role as Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather and as Fish on the Barney Miller TV show.
Justice Delayed
52. U.S. number-issuing agcy.: SSA. The Social Security Administration. Not to be confused with 64 Down.
57. BOLO cousin: APB. Be On the LookOut and All Points Bulletin are both "Heads Up" alerts from the police.
58. Lone: ONLY. I first tried SOLE. Interesting cross with 55 Down.
59. Constitution letters: USS. Not to be confused with the US Constitution. A ship . . . . and a pretty easily identified bit of misdirection. If you go to Boston you can visit the ship. It's where I learned why a ship's toilet is called the head.
USS Constitution
60. Like computer innovations, say: TECHY. IMHO (In this Manatee's Humble Opinion) - Tacky.
62. Caiman kin: CROC. CROCodile. Oddly, caiman is spelled out and the answer is abbreviated. Is one-half of a pair of Crocs a CROC?
66. Casino game: KENO. The name has French/Latin roots meaning "five winning numbers" (quine) or "five each" (quini). Thanks, Wiki.
67. Remove entirely: ERASE.
68. "__ we go!": HERE. And awaaaayyyy . . . . would not fit.
69. Eject: SPEW. See 2 Down.
70. Malibu, e.g.: SEDAN. Another bit of (less) easily identified misdirection. The Chevrolet Malibu was manufactured from 1964 to 1983. It was reintroduced in 1997 and continues to be part of the company's product line.
A 1964 Chevrolet Malibu Sedan
71. Spenser's "Epithalamion" and others: ODES. I was familiar with neither the author nor the ode. The poem was written to his bride by Edmund Spenser in 1594.
Down:
1. The Smiths, e.g.: INDIE BAND. Formed in 1982 in England, Wiki says that the critics considered The Smiths to be one of the most important BANDs to emerge from the Independent music scene of that era. I am not familiar with the group. If I had been, then, perhaps, this answer would have been more quickly figured out.
2. Europe's highest active volcano: MOUNT ETNA. Elevation -10,991 feet
February, 2020
3. Heat transfer subject?: ARMS SALES. Carrying a gun is sometimes referred to as "packing heat" and a sale is a transfer or sorts.
4. Like-minded group: CAMP. I first thought of BLOC, then SECT. Thanks, perps.
5. Use a Singer: SEW.
6. Augsburg "Oh!": ACH. A German language lesson to which we have previously, and repeatedly, been exposed.
7. "I'm taking that!": YOINK. This was (charitably) a learning moment for this marine mammal. Other (quite strong) reactions preceded that of charity. Coined by The Simpsons writer George Meyer and perhaps imitative of the sound effect (made by a violin) that accompanies something being snatched in classic comedies.
8. Treaty of Versailles region: ALSACE. An area along the border of France and Germany that has been the impetus for several wars. Under The Treaty of Versailles (at the end of World War One) the Germans ceded Alsace to the French. This helped precipitate World War Two
9. Tries to pick up: HITS ON.
Daisy Duck
10. Tweet symbol: HASH TAG. Being unable to text on social media with his flippers, this manatee still thinks that the # symbol means number, or pound, or higher by one semi-tone.
11. When expected: ON CUE. When filming the original Star Wars, Peter Mayhew had to redo a scene because he missed his CUE. It was a Wookiee mistake.
12. Does' beaux: STAGS. The plural possessive and the X at the end of beaux (c'est français) tell us that the answer is going to be plural.
13. Starting point for an Everest ascent: TIBET.
18. "Size matters not" Jedi master: YODA.
Weird Al Yankovic Yoda
25. Pakistani tongue: URDU. A language frequently seen, if not heard, in x-word puzzles.
26. Important baseball number: NINE. There are nine players in each baseball team's starting line up.
27. Nureyev negative: NYET. Nureyev is a Russian ballet dancer and NYET is Russian for no.
33. Leatherwork tool: AWL.
35. Plundered: RANSACKED. From Old Norse and Middle English. Rann (house) + secan (seek). Modern use of the word is not restricted to houses.
36. Closed system that includes all life on Earth: ECOSPHERE. ECOSPHRE has evolved, over time, from a circumstellar habitable zone, to self-contained/completely enclosed aquaria to the way it is used in this clue.
37. Substantial storage units: TERABYTES. A TECKY reference.
39. Boding disaster: DIRE. On this day in history, May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg dirigible burst into flames upon touching its mooring mast in New Jersey. There had been no DIRE warnings.
40. Isaac's eldest: ESAU.
Got It?
41. Replacements: SUBS. As in SUBStitutes. Either Sandwiches or U-boats could also have been made to work as a clues.
44. Phil Rizzuto catchphrase: HOLY COW.
¡Ay Caramba!
48. Radiates: EXUDES.
49. "Yeah, I bet!": OH SURE.
51. James of jazz: ETTA. Alternatively, a four-letter singer who often appears in x-word puzzles.
53. Places to tie up: DOCKS. If you are not yet familiar with the series of songs posted on YouTube by the organization Playing for Change, you should correct that oversight post haste. You could do far worse than starting with Ripple, The Weight and Listen to the Music.
Dock of the Bay - Playing For Change
54. Gen. Assembly member: UNREP. United Nations REPresentative
55. Unaccompanied: ALONE. It is interesting that it intersects with 58 Across. Also, a great opportunity to slip this into the recap (I could have gone with Gilbert O'Sullivan. Just kidding):
Arthur Lee & Love - Alone Again Or Circa 2003
56. Mideast ruling family name: ASSAD. The current ruler of Syria was educated at medical school in Damascus and also trained in ophthalmology in London. The empirical evidence seems to suggest that he skipped class the day they covered the Hippocratic Oath.
61. Make the same point as: ECHO. Hey, Alexa!
Amazon Echo Silver
64. Bag-checking org.: TSA. Transportation Security Administration. Not to be confused with 52 Across.
65. Comedian Kirkman: JEN. I was not previously familiar with JEN.
May the 6th Be With You!
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