I happened to solve Mr. McCoy's debut puzzle last November in the NYT and read his comments about referential clues, so I was somewhat prepared for this style of cluing where there is a hidden word which is the clue for all of the theme answers. The theme fill are not clued at all until you get 23 down, MERCURY, which also has no independent clue. There are many puzzles being constructed where there is a "meta" solution, a style which is embraced by many especially MATT GAFFNEY. This is not a metapuzzle because the solution is part of the puzzle, but it is conceptually based on the same skills. So the strategy becomes, solve 23 down and then it is a simple definition puzzle. We had a run of Friday puzzles which were variations of the definition puzzle at this time last year (including one from marti, and one similar to today's from Mr. Wechsler) so you all should be ready. Once again we get a Friday with an intricate theme but high word count and many 3/4 letter fill to balance the inherent difficulty. In the longer fill, PEACOCK, SKEWING, WRESTLE, CORAL SEA, LEBANESE, ANTEROOMS, ESCAPE KEY stand out. This is Mr. McCoy's LAT debut (he has 5 solos at NYT since last November) and I hope he likes the environment and appreciates his audience. He was kind enough to provide some commentary on this puzzle and its genesis, which follows this writeup. Knowing this group and its opinion on cross referential puzzles, I expect many Thumper comments, and a few who will appreciate the simplicity of this grid, with all four theme answers being grid spanners which fill in nicely once you crack the code. It is Friday, so let us all put on our long pants and get to work.
17A. See 23-Down : NEIGHBOR OF VENUS (15). A planetary reference for Mercury.
Study: First rock from the Sun. It orbits the sun in 88 days.
27A. See 23-Down : BAROMETER FILLER (15). An elemental reference for Mercury.
Review: 80 on the periodic table. A neighbor from my childhood murdered his wife injecting mercury into her Nissen doughnuts. (Is the factory closed marti?) She was a big eater. He fed small amounts to himself and his child and he was free until he got drunk and bragged.
45A. See 23-Down : ROCK STAR FREDDIE (15). A pop culture reference for Mercury.
Listen: (2:17) The voice of Queen, he died young, replaced by Adam Lambert who is a...fine singer.
58A. See 23-Down : DIVINE MESSENGER (15). A pagan mythological reference for Mercury.
Learn: Usually referenced as the 'winged messenger' because of the ankle wings.
and the 'reveal:
23D. Clue for 17-, 27-, 45- and 58-Across : MERCURY (7). They all work.
Across:
1. Draft order : PINT. Well Tin, we start right off with some Ale, and not an order to report for duty. Nice clue for 1A on a Friday.
5. "__-A-Lympics": '70s Hanna/Barbera spoof : LAFF. Really had to dig deep and use some perp help. I would imagine the cross with AKON might be a Natick for some. LINK.
9. "Wicked!" : SWEET. A really appealing clue/fill combo for our New England contingent. The " marks give it away.
14. It's pressed in a corner : ESCAPE KEY. I really liked the visual here. 54A. PC key : ALT. Once again we have our clue and a fill with the same word used in the same context (computer key).
16. Feature of some stickers : AROMA. Scratch and Sniff anyone?
19. "__ So Fine": Chiffons hit : HE'S.
20. Turkic flatbread : NAN. A variant spelling from what we are more accustomed to seeing. No Bobbsey twin on a Friday.
21. Conks out : DIES. Cars, engines etc., hopefully not people.
22. Disadvantage : CON. Pro vs. Con, are any of you list makers for decisions?
23. Cohort of Larry and Curly : MOE. Chairman, who did you pay for so much publicity this week?
24. Sound of disapproval : TSK. Back again so soon; I like to see the pair.
33. Hadn't settled yet : OWED. Being a NYT veteran, the cluing style is heavy with the less common definition of words, but we are all familiar with settling our debts.
34. Paul McCartney title : SIR.
35. Sierra __ : LEONE. An interesting country and history, now the center of the EBOLA outbreak with more than 250 deaths. LINK.
36. Watch readout abbr. : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.
37. Showy flier : PEACOCK.I have never seen one fly in person though we have many here, and especially at Lion Country Safari. Really pretty sight.
40. Anguish : WOE. I am Friday's child.
41. Tickle : AMUSE. Now where do you keep your fancy?
43. ET carrier, supposedly : UFO. Unidentified Flying Object.
44. Graybacks : REBS. Not a term I know, but easy to guess since we all know the blue and the gray.
49. Elizabeth Darcy __ Bennet : NEE. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has her own WIKI.
50. Whatever : ANY. Three letters but I needed the perps.
51. Toy power sources : AAS. batteries.
52. Joint high-tech project : WIKI. A vague NYT type clue that is easy only if you have perped the W and the I, the K and the I. Is an online anything considered high-tech?
55. Altar line : I DO. It does alter your life.
63. Downed water, say : DRANK. Tin?
64. Some entryways : ANTEROOMS. I think all entryways are anterooms, not all anterooms are entryways.
65. Having bite : TANGY. I like horseradish.
66. Sister of Luke : LEIA. Star Wars' misguided twins. Mini-theme 26D. "Star Wars" surname : KENOBI. Obi Wan.
67. Tom, Dick and Harry, e.g. : TRIO. I liked these better. Before you go further, who are they?
Down:
1. See 15-Down : PENH. Wow more cross-references. At least there is a clue.15D. With 1-Down, Mekong River capital : PHNOM. Anyone been to Cambodia?
2. "That makes sense to me now" : I SEE said the blind the man.
3. Investigator in the USS Cole attack : NCIS. Not
4. Place for a price : TAG. My grandmother made tags in a factory in Southbridge after her husband died.
5. Some Tripoli natives : LEBANESE. Really interesting. The good news is LIBYANS is too short, but they both start with L.
6. One-named "Lonely" singer : AKON. His real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam. LISTEN.
7. Supportin' : FER. Not agin. More Lil Abner like speaking.
8. Author Dostoyevsky : FYODOR. Of all of his books , Notes from the Underground was my favorite even if Crime and Punishment is more well known.
9. Except : SAVE. Another NYT type clue, where it is quite correct, but not the usual definition of save. For all our resident poets, I would say it is artistic, "All was quiet, save the chirping of a single cricket."
10. Have difficulty dealing (with) : WRESTLE. I wrestled in grammar school, high school and college.
11. Length of a boring class, so it seems : EON. A new (vague) clue for a crossword staple.
12. Green-egg layer : EMU. I was unaware of this fact; now I know where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration. Kazie, did you have green eggs with your ham?
13. Ph.D. students, perhaps : TAS. Teaching Assistants.
18. Feudal land : FIEF. The word is the basis of the legal term Fee Simple, for real property ownership. If you want to read the HISTORY.
22. Whiting cousin : COD. Another fishy clue. Cod being the base of most fast food fish dishes.
25. Impeded : SLOWED.
27. Claylike : BOLAR. My learning moment of the day, all perps. The word has not appeared in any puzzle since 1987!
28. "Pleeeeease?" : AW C'MON. Are their enough sports fans here to appreciate THIS. (2:49)
29. Turn down : REDUCE. It took a while, but it is like the volume on you car radio.
30. Don Quixote's aunt : TIA. Just Spanish for aunt.
31. Category : ILK.
32. Rizzuto's Brooklyn counterpart : REESE. Phil and PeeWee, Yankee and Dodger shortstops in the 50's and 60's. They were short but good. HOF material.
37. Foot, in anatomy : PES. Latin word, root word for pedicure, pedestrian etc. No sugar coated knowledge dispensed here.
38. Not quite right : OFF. I am feeling a tad off today; maybe it was breathing in all the bug spray?
39. Great Barrier Reef setting : CORAL SEA. Off the NE corner of Australia, hopefully Kazie has some stories to tell.
42. Distorting : SKEWING. I hope I don't skew this up; from the old French escuier: to shy away from. "When ESPN does polls, the the results are always skewed."
44. Short streets? : RDS. Roads, 'short' meaning abbreviation.
46. Filming unit : TAKE. As in take a picture.
47. Sponge, e.g. : ANIMAL. Living creature.
48. Café customer : EATER. Man, I would rather see this clued Purple People ___.
53. Black : INKY. Another Pac-man shout out?
54. Italian wine region : ASTI. Spumante anyone?
55. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR. Nope not on my radar.
56. Prefix meaning "half" : DEMI. So she is half dark-skinned.
57. Estimate words : OR SO.
58. "Silent Spring" subj. : DDT. DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE
59. Roth __ : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
60. From, in Dutch names : VAN. When people started having surnames, they were often about what they did, who their father was or where they were from. De, Von and others.
61. Suffix with ethyl : ENE. She lived next door to Lucy.
62. "Kidding!" : NOT. I really loved when this fad was in. NOT!
I never know what Friday will bring, and once I got Mercury in the middle, I found this went quickly, overall a challenge and different cluing perspective. Welcome Mr. McCoy and be nice, I want to collaborate with him with a puzzle where Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna are theme answers. Lemonade out. Read his words....
Constructor notes:
I’m
absolutely thrilled to make my LA Times debut!
In
the original submission, the theme entries were NEIGHBOR OF VENUS, DIVINE
MESSENGER, QUEEN LEAD SINGER, and METALLIC ELEMENT. Rich Norris pointed
out that METALLIC ELEMENT is not specific enough to make for a very good entry
and that QUEEN LEAD SINGER doesn’t work because it really needs to include the
name FREDDIE. The original grid also lacked MERCURY as an answer, which Rich
realized could be placed in the center intersecting two themers. Therefore, I
owe him a big thanks for improving the quality of the theme so much!
