Good Morning. Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee, here, with today's puzzle recap.
Today's puzzle setter is frequent-contributor Joe Deeney. Our friend above is engaging in a bit of overkill as we don't actually need an abacus to figure out today's offering. At four places within the grid, Joe has broken up the word EVEN. A straightforward theme and a bit of a help in that, once we grasp the theme, we know that each long answer in going to start with E, and end with N. We also know that other two letters (V and E) will be in sequence and will fall adjacent to the beginning and/or ending letters. Here is the reveal:
54 Across: Neither lose nor gain... and a hint to four long answers: BREAK EVEN
Here are the long answers to which the reveal refers:
15 Across: "Snow White" antagonist: EVIL QUEEN She wanted to get rid of Show White and so remain the fairest of them all. Pretty unfair.
22 Across: Relatable female character: EVERYWOMAN. In High School lit classes the teacher often said that a character represented Everyman. I always thought that the term included all humans but these days we clarify a bit further.
33 Across: Toy sold with cake mix packets: EASY BAKE OVEN If I recall correctly, the heat source was a 100 watt lightbulb.
45 Across: Title teen in a 2015 musical: EVAN HANSEN
Here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Conventioneer's freebie: SWAG BAG. We often see TOTE or TOTE BAG.
8. Slightly: A BIT. Sometimes A TAD.
12. Energy snacks whose flavors include Carrot Cake and Cherry Pie: LARABARS.
14. Complete: DONE.
17. Shot, perhaps: DOSE. Not a firearms reference. Not an attempt. Not a photograph.
18. Galileo's birthplace: PISA.
19. Words said with a shrug: BEATS ME.
21. Holiday when one might eat bánh chung: TET. The first possibly obscure food reference. A traditional Vietnamese Tet food item.
25. Nearly four octaves, for Freddie Mercury: RANGE.
Live Aid - 1985
27. Traditional springerle spice: ANISE. Centuries-old German cookies. . . and the second possibly somewhat obscure food reference.
28. Shook on it: AGREED.
32. Floors: KOS. Knocks out. Shouldn't it be KSO
37. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT. A computer reference.
38. Salt's savior: ST ELMO. AKA Saint Erasmus.
39. Query rendered moot by laughter: GET IT. Get it? If they "got it" then they're laughing.
42. Doesn't hold back: VENTS.
49. Go bad: ROT. Why can't Bugs Bunny drive anymore? Because he has Car ROT.
51. Level: ECHELON.
52. Winter festival: YULE.
53. Huber of tennis: ANKE.
Anke Huber
57. Ratings unit: STAR.
58. Adjusted one's schedule (for): MADE TIME.
59. Villainous literary alter ego: HYDE.
60. Atypical: DEVIANT. See Above.
Down:
1. Nodded off: SLEPT.
2. Not as straight, as hair: WAVIER. The word looks as if is should be WAIVER.
3. Milli Vanilli label: ARISTA. Milli Vanilli was an unmitigaed, lip-syncing fraud. For this ARISTA answer my sea mammalian friends tell me that they would have gone with a clue along these lines:
4. Bash: GALA.
5. Common beach party, briefly: BBQ. Often clued with reference to patio.
6. Non-pro sports org.: AAU. Amateur Athletic Union
5. Common beach party, briefly: BBQ. Often clued with reference to patio.
6. Non-pro sports org.: AAU. Amateur Athletic Union
7. Diving bird: GREBE. A possibly obscure avian reference.
Great Crested Grebe
8. Expands, with "to": ADDS ON.
9. Audio setup involving a horizontal pole: BOOM MIKE.
10. Like farmers' market produce: IN SEASON. We will leave the animal husbandry lessons alone for now.
11. Kickoff aid: TEE. A football reference frequently found in our puzzles.
13. Fortuneteller: SEER.
16. Old-style uh-uh: NAY. Often clued with reference to a parliamentary vote.
20. Former flier: TWA. Was Joe trying to sucker us into going with SST?
22. Like custard: EGGY. What do you call a custard when it goes bad? Off-pudding.
23. Rank and file, e.g.: VERBS. NOUNS would have fit both the clue and the allotted space.
24. Mario Bros. console: NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.
26. "Too Many Rappers" rapper: NAS. Being somewhat weak on my rap music knowledge I have to rely on remembering previous rap-related crossword answers. Interesting juxtaposition with NES.
A Chow Down
30. Manage, with "out": EKE. Interesting juxtaposition with EAT.
31. Conduct exhaustive research (into): DELVE.
33. "I am __-one today!": Bilbo Baggins, a year after his 110th birthday: ELEVENTY. A LOTR reference.
34. Smear campaign tactic: ATTACK AD.
1964 - LBJ's "Daisy" Ad
35. Comet, to some: OMEN. Or, a kitchen cleanser.
36. Super Bowl 50 MVP __ Miller: VON. A Super Bowl L winner with the Denver Broncos and, more recently, a Super Bowl LVI winner with the Los Angeles Rams.
Von B'Vsean Miller, Jr.
37. Spend time in a cellar, maybe: AGE. Wine or cheese? Both, please. . . and some May's Gone Crackers cracker.
40. "Psst" follower: IN HERE
PSST
41. Not just any: THE. Specific.
43. Splenda alternative: TRUVIA. "Artificial" sweeteners
43. Splenda alternative: TRUVIA. "Artificial" sweeteners
44. Sincere, as an oath: SOLEMN.
46. Edmonton's prov.: ALB. ALBerta is one of the provinces of Canada
47. Benchmark: NORM.
48. Golfer nicknamed "The Slammer": SNEAD. It's too soon to reuse the Sheikh Snead joke.
50. Article of faith: TENET.
52. Apt cooler brand: YETI. Named after the Himalayan version of the Abominable Snowman.
53. Incomplete combustion product: ASH.
55. Fruity cooler: ADE. A drink frequently quaffed in our puzzles.. LimeADE. Lemon ADE.
56. Fred Savage's "The Wonder Years" role, informally: KEV. KEVin Arnold.
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