Good morning, cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here and, no, you have not misplaced almost an entire week. I have now returned from my overseas sojourn. I have also been reassigned to the Friday beat. I guess that now makes me Joe Friday. I will try to live up to his, my predecessor's and my contemporary's standards.
In today's puzzle, frequent contributor David Alfred Bywaters insists that U to get out of here. You can stay but U must go. At four places within the grid he repeats a word but, for the second occurrence, drops the letter U from the first iteration and thereby provides a witty definition of the clue. To wit:
17 Across: Grammarian?: USAGE SAGE. Hmmm, will the theme be repeating words? Ummm, no, not exactly.
29 Across: Aspen, in the Rockies?: POPULAR POPLAR. At first I thought that the clue had something to do with the ski resort but it turned out to be tree-related.
43 Across: Nodding, e.g.?: AUCTION ACTION. At first I thought the clue had something to do with sleeping or the granting of consent. One is able to bid at an AUCTION by nodding.
59 Across: One inept at data storage?: CLOUD CLOD.
It would have been amusing if David had managed to somehow work YEW, HEW, HUGH or EWE into the grid.
With that, youse guys and gals, it's now time to make a U-turn and head back to the top of the puzzle:
Across:
1. Time-travel destination. PAST. FUTURE would not fit. PRESENT neither fit nor made any sense.
5. Short notice?: MEMO. Shortened version of MEMOrandum.
9. Béla Fleck's instrument: BANJO. Bela is a true virtuoso. He plays everything from Bluegrass to Jazz and Mozart on the 5-string banjo. The bass player in his band is Victor Wooten who is one of the greats. This tune ranks among my favorites:
14. One in a four-part harmony: ALTO. BASS would have fit but it would not work with the perps.
15. Button alternative: SNAP. Oh, it's not a peyote button. I guess we have closure.
16. "Night Sky With Exit Wounds" poet Vuong: OCEAN. A learning moment for this solver.
19. "I'll do it!": LET ME.
20. Steadfast: LOYAL.
20. Steadfast: LOYAL.
21. Coined: MINTED.
23. Paean in verse: ODE. I've written a poem about the sounds made by dogs but you can only read it if you scan it first. It's a bark ODE.
25. Broadcast: AIR. Both the clue and answer are used here as verbs.
26. Global clock std.: GMT. Greenwich Mean Time
33. Steeped in a salt solution: BRINED. It is almost time to BRINE the Thanksgiving turkey.
35. Apartment ad abbr.: RMS. RooMS A little bit better than MSS at 5 Down.
36. Fishing gadget: LURE.
37. Rich soil: LOESS. Hand up for initially thinking of LOAM but there wasn't enough of it to fill the space.
38. Not neg.: POS. POSitive. Post Offices?
39. Warm up some leftovers, say: EAT IN.
40. Fantasy heavy: OGRE. Shrek and Fiona have significantly altered the OGRE landscape.
Not Shrek
41. Lip: RIM.
42. Make more capacious: EXTEND.
46. Workout top: TEE.
47. Managed: RAN. As in:
42. Make more capacious: EXTEND.
46. Workout top: TEE.
47. Managed: RAN. As in:
48. Granola morsel: OAT.
49. Maritime crime: PIRACY.
51. Apollo 11 lander: EAGLE.
56. Geographer's volume: ATLAS.
61. __ Corps: PEACE. Formed in 1961 to "promote world PEACE and friendship by providing trained volunteers to countries who need them."
62. Quite a few: LOTS. TONS. GOBS. MANY. A LOT.
63. Word with deck or dock: HAND.
64. Mortgage payment component, often: TAXES.
65. Focus group?: EYES. Not a marketing research panel but, literally, what you focus with.
66. Tense: EDGY. ANTSY was too long.
Down:
1. Ant-Man player Rudd: PAUL.
2. Too: ALSO. Additionally, there are more synonyms for too as well.
3. Parting word to a dog: STAY.
4. Word chanted in "Animal House": TOGA.
3. Parting word to a dog: STAY.
4. Word chanted in "Animal House": TOGA.
5. Pile on an ed.'s desk: MSS. We have seen this (somewhat of a punt) fill before. ManuScriptS
6. Cloisonné medium: ENAMEL.
7. Nativity scene trio: MAGI.
8. Warm welcome: OPEN ARMS.
9. Short jacket: BOLERO. We will save the Ravel for another day.
10. Got a great grade on: ACED.
11. Safety feature at a trapeze school: NET.
12. Toast topping: JAM.
13. See 34-Down: ONE. and . . .
34. With 13-Down, 2016 film subtitled "A Star Wars Story": ROGUE.
18. Weds without ceremony: ELOPES.
22. Warns, with "off": TIPS.
24. Disappointment: DUD.
26. Wheat protein: GLUTEN.
27. Bay Area county: MARIN.
28. Fashionista's concern: TREND. Now, where did I put my Davy Crockett hat? Maybe it's with my Members Only jacket and parachute pants. Not.
29. Give a ring?: PIERCE. Neither a marriage nor a telephone reference.
31. Diffuser emanation: AROMA.
32. Student of Socrates: PLATO.
33. Balloon: BLOAT. Mick Jagger goes to the doctor and tells his physician that he is always very gassy but cannot fart. In other words, he can't get no flatus action.
38. Zenith: PINNACLE.
39. Went out: EXITED.
41. Imitate a lion: ROAR. Under the right conditions, the roar can be heard up to five miles away.
42. "Getting here soon?": ETA. "What is your Estimated Time of Arrival?"
44. Droopy perennials: IRISES. Famously painted by Vincent Van Gogh.
44. Droopy perennials: IRISES. Famously painted by Vincent Van Gogh.
45. Native American trickster: COYOTE. Homer Simpson sends up Carlos Castaneda with the help of Johnny Cash:
49. Tempo: PACE. Sometimes (this time) the answer is a synonym (e.g. CLIP or RATE) sometimes it is an example (e.g. TROT or LOPE).
50. Be overly sweet: CLOY.
52. Need a massage, perhaps: ACHE.
53. Hefty rival: GLAD. Both are brands of plastic bags.
53. Hefty rival: GLAD. Both are brands of plastic bags.
54. Yearn: LONG. ACHE, PINE and ITCH were potential candidates.
55. Current event?: EDDY. Nice pun. Not, in this instance, a recent occurrence. An EDDY is a circular movement in fluid or gas.
56. Fitting: APT.
57. Dim sum beverage: TEA. Both are of Chinese origin.
58. Insufficiently firm: LAX. Also an airport in SoCal...where the security is anything but.
60. Naval letters: USS. United States Ship.
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