Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with a Friday offering from frequent contributors/collaborators Gary Larson and Amy Ensz who are dillgently trying to help us Get ER Done (but, hopefully, in a manner significantly different than the one our friend, above, appears to be employing).
At six places within the grid we are asked to append the letters E and R to a common expression and, thereby, create appropriate answers to the clues. To make things even more interesting, today we get a mixture of themed-answers placed both Across and Down in the grid. Here is where we are asked to get ER done:
17 Across. Die-hard independent?: PARTY HATER. A reference to political parties and people who are not convinced that the two dominant ones have the answers. Derived from: Party Hat
28 Across. Baked potato?: HOT TUBER. From: Hot Tub A potato being, of course, a TUBER.
48 Across. Diamond heist?: ICE CAPER. From: Ice Cap CAPER being film noir/tec - speak for a robbery.
63 Across. Problematic dental patient?: DRILL BITER. From: Drill Bit Ouch!
11 Down. Gauge on an oil rig?: WELL METER. From: Well Met which is an archaic adjective used as a salutation, or part of a salutation, meaning "glad to meet you". It is also carries connotations of suitability and propriety. It's based on a different meaning of "meet," an adjectival/adverbial usage indicating something is literally or figuratively the right size for a given situation.
35 Across. Quality-control inspector at a knapsack factory?: PACK RATER. From: Pack Rat. A pack rat is a hoarder. Not to be confused with the Rat Pack.
The grid:
The rest of the clues and anwser-ers:
Across:
1. Floor it: SPEED. Put the pedal to the metal. Step on the accelerator. An automotive reference.
6. Grasps: SEES. Understands.
10. Exchange: SWAP.
14. Eighth Greek letter: THETA. See also 62 Across.
15. Do roadwork: PAVE. Better to see this than something to do with TAR.
16. Deli sandwich: HERO. How The Hero Sandwich Got Its Name
19. Came to rest: ALIT.
20. Alpine cheese from Italy: ASIAGO.
21. Vexes: RANKLES.
23. Support on a course: TEE. A golfing reference.
24. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB. Not in this solver's musical wheelhouse but they've TEEd it up so:
27. Ode or haiku: POEM.
Our clever ChairmanCrafts amusing Moe-kus butEschews writing M-odes
30. One of Bo Peep's charges: EWE. LAMB was t00 long. RAM would have fit but would not mesh with the perps.
33. Incident that hurts one's credit score: REPO. REPosession.
36. Hence: ERGO.
37. Place atop: SET ON.
39. "To the stars," in mottos: AD ASTRA. Today's Latin lesson.
41. Facility that's in a constant state of ferment: BREWERY. Nice wordplay. Beer is fermented.
43. Kitchen gadget: RICER. Sometimes PARER.
44. Carp kin: DACE. While we have previously seen DACE in our puzzles this solver did not recall the word. Thanks, perps.
46. Writer Bombeck: ERMA. A frequent visitor.
47. Comics shriek: EEK. Sometimes we see EKE as in to EKE out a living.
51. Rolling in dough: RICH. Slang.
53. Henry VI's school: ETON. If it's a reference to English royalty the school is almost always ETON.
54. Apollo vehicle, briefly: LEM. Lunar Excursion Module
57. Netflix title role for Lily: FRANKIE. Lily Tomlin I know. The show I don't know. Thanks perps.
60. Gender-neutral ethnic identity: LATINE. As contrasted with Latino or Latina neither of which is gender-neutral.
62. Ninth Greek letter: IOTA. See also 14 Across.
66. "Couldn't agree more": AMEN.
67. Country whose name comes from a Gaelic goddess: EIRE. Ireland.
68. Not fully trusting: LEERY.
69. Shredded: TORE. Will it be TORN? Not this time.
70. "Out!": SCAT. SCAT also has other meanings.
71. Barnett of CBS News: ERROL.
Down:
1. Mid-Mar. figure: ST. PAT.
2. Lunar cycle component: PHASE.
3. Supercreepy: EERIE. Halloween is less than a month away.
4. Blues guitarist Baker: ETTA. Often clued with a reference to ETTA James.
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Same Song - A Different "Take"
5. Company that invented black-light fluorescent paint: DAY-GLO. Until solving this puzzle yours truly was unaware that DAY GLO colors traced their name back to a specific company.
6. Upscale bathroom installation: SPA. Somewhat convoluted cluing, IMMHO.
7. Down: EAT. Slang. Down has many meanings (e.g. feathers, a direction, nail it down) so this one had to be sorted out.
8. At any time: EVER.
9. Oaxacan wrap: SERAPE. Oaxaca tips us off to a likely Spanish answer.
7. Down: EAT. Slang. Down has many meanings (e.g. feathers, a direction, nail it down) so this one had to be sorted out.
8. At any time: EVER.
9. Oaxacan wrap: SERAPE. Oaxaca tips us off to a likely Spanish answer.
10. Lose: SHAKE. As in to get away from someone who is following you. My Labrador loved it when, in a "cops and robbers" flick, someone would say "Let's see if we can SHAKE the tail."
12. "Songversation" artist India.__: ARIE. A frequent visitor.
13. Double boilers, e.g.: POTS.
18. Owl: HOOTER. Not a themed answer.
22. Like Vikings: NORSE. I love NORSE puns. They're Frigg'n hilarious.
25. Robinhood alternative: E-TRADE. Both are platforms for trading stocks.
26. App issue: BUG. A tech reference.
28. Socks: HOSE. Used as a noun. Not as in punches someone.
29. Excavator-maker: BOBCAT.
31. Compost bin helper: WORM. I saw a pack of gummy WORMs that said “No artificial flavors.” Who buys gummy worms hoping they’d taste as close to real worms as possible?
32. Grammy winner from Donegal: ENYA. A frequent visitor.
33. Uncommon: RARE.
34. Actress Falco: EDIE. A frequent vistior.
38. Amphoralike vessel: EWER. Not a themed answer.
40. Take in: TRICK. As in "I've been taken in".
33. Uncommon: RARE.
34. Actress Falco: EDIE. A frequent vistior.
38. Amphoralike vessel: EWER. Not a themed answer.
40. Take in: TRICK. As in "I've been taken in".
42. Get a second opinion?: RE-POLL. Okay, but this solver has never heard this used.
45. Part of the upper deck?: ACE. A playing card reference.
49. Takes to task: CHIDES. My ex-wife used to CHIDE me about everything. She was a real multi-tsk-er.
50. Empower: ENABLE.
52. Idiotic: INANE.
54. Soda purchase: LITER. Hand up for first guessing it was a flavor or a brand name and not a size.
55. Año Nuevo month: ENERO. Spanish lesson. The New Year happens each January.
56. Streep of "Only Murders in the Building": MERYL. Are there other Streeps?
57. Order: FIAT. From the Latin: Let it be done.
58. Tony who holds the Cowboys record for most touchdown passes: ROMO. Dak Prescott holds the single season Dallas Cowboys' record for most touchdown passes.
59. Playwright Bogosian: ERIC.
61. Layer: TIER. Hen was too short.
64. 401(k) rollover target: IRA. A rollover IRA is a retirement account used to move money from a former employer-sponsored retirement account, such as a 401 (k) plan, into an IRA without losing its tax-deferred status.
65. Tennis mulligan: LET. A do-over.
Well, that will wrap things up on a day where we visited, or were visited by, ERMA, ETON, EIRE, ETTA, ENYA, EDIE, and ERIC. Was that a sub-theme?
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