Kamis, 14 November 2013

Thursday, November 14, 2013 Mark Bickham

Theme: "Homophonic Letter Strings"



18. *Make it not hurt so much : EASE THE PAIN. "E E E E"



23. *Marching order : EYES FRONT. "I I I I"



36. *Has unfinished business with the IRS : OWES BACK TAXES. "O O O O"



51. *Entice with : USE AS BAIT. "U U U"



58. *Sagacious : WISE AS AN OWL. "Y Y Y Y"



53. MLB team, familiarly (and what's missing from the sequence found in the answers to starred clues?) : THE As.



I can't think of any common phrase that begins with Aze (with the "long A" sound), can you? So the unifier is the perfect cop-out, IMHO.  Lots of fun clues with plenty of misdirection that kept the V8 can busy. Let me show you what I mean...



Across:



1. Moll's leg : GAM. Well, OK. This one was easy, but just wait...



4. Word after fire or power : DRILL.



9. Like some wedding dresses : LACY. Sexy was my go-to choice here.



13. Biblical priest who trained Samuel : ELI.



14. Zellweger et al. : RENEES.



16. Together, in music : A DUE.



17. Architect's add-on : ELL.



20. Tre times due : SEI. Italian "three times two."  Bill G., can you help me with the answer here? (^0^)



21. Bark relative : YIP. Oh man, I was thinking tree bark.



22. IHOP array : SYRUPS. I wanted "stacks."



26. Type of cranial nerve : OPTIC.



28. Role for John Cho in "Star Trek" : SULU.



29. Jets and others : TEAMS. Because NFLers wouldn't fit...



31. __ nutshell : IN A.



32. Mex. neighbor : USA.



34. Motor extension? : OLA.



35. At any time : EVER.



40. Spot on the tube : TV AD.



41. Good buddy : BRO.



42. Play about Capote : TRU.man.



43. Ran across : MET.



44. Film critic Jeffrey : LYONS. Did not know him. All perps.  He agrees with the Tomatometer 0% of the time on "Rotten Tomatoes"?



46. Long haul : TREK.



49. __ de Chine: light fabric : CREPE. This wedding dress doesn't look LACY or sexy!







54. Eggheads : BRAINS.



56. Govt. surveillance group : NSANational Security Agency.



57. PTA meeting site : SCH.ool. Abbr. in the clue gave me the hint.



60. __ out: barely make : EKE.



61. Aleutian island : ATKA. Population 61 !  Map.



62. Faunae counterparts : FLORAE.



63. Grassy area : LEA.



64. Harness part : REIN.



65. Yeats' "The Wild __ at Coole" : SWANS. I did not know this poem, but it was a WAG…I didn't think Yeats would wax poetic over "geese" or "ducks."



66. Many AARP The Magazine readers: Abbr. : SRS. Seniors.



Down:



1. Silly sorts : GEESE. Ahh…here's our geese!



2. Strike zones? : ALLEYS. Boomer! (Bowling alleys.)



3. Social setting : MILIEU.



4. Mr. Holland portrayer : DREYFUSS. I thought Richard Dreyfuss was brilliant in "Mr. Holland's Opus."



5. Put on again : REAIR. I had "Re-don."  D'oh!! TV, not clothes...



6. Hip joint : IN SPOT. Hip, meaning "cool" or "trendy." Great misdirection!  I really wanted "pelvis" but it just wasn't working...



7. Author Harper : LEE. "To Kill a Mockingbird."



8. Conversation opener : LET'S TALK. "Come here often?" wouldn't fit.



9. Drink à la Fido : LAP UP. Anyone else for "slurp"?  Show of hands?



10. Capable of change : ADAPTIVE.



11. Cookbook categories : CUISINES.



12. Nikkei Index currency : YEN.



15. Lacking the required funds : SHY. Tricky little clue for a three-letter answer.



19. Winged god : EROS.



24. Turned around : SLUED.



25. Opponents of the '60s-'70s New Left : NEOCONS. Neoconservatives. I won't get into politics...



27. Golf, for one : CAR. Another really tricky clue for a three-letter answer. VW model.



30. Simpsons creator Groening : MATT.



33. "Eight Is Enough" wife : ABBY.



35. Bedroom community : EXURB.



36. Orthodontic concern : OVERBITE.



37. Ride the wake, say : WATER SKI. Ya mean, they do it on water, too???



38. Awakenings : AROUSALS.



39. Some auction transactions : ART SALES.



40. "Movies for movie lovers" network : TMCThe Movie Channel. I always get TMC and TCM mixed up, and I watch them both.



44. "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" speaker : LEIA. She was talking to Luke, and I think she probably regretted those words… 0:28



45. Isabel Allende title : SENORA.



47. Stands for things : EASELS. See? See?  I told you there was tons of misdirection in the puzzle.



48. Any of the top 25 NFL career scoring leaders : KICKER.



50. Song of praise : PAEAN. Trivia fact: When the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in 1968, they forced Captain Bucher to write a confession. He penned, "We paean DPRK, we paean their great leader Kim Il Sung."  What the North Koreans didn't know, was that he was using "Paean" as a homophone of "pee on," instead of singing their praises!



52. Egyptian dam : ASWAN.



55. Bad check letters : NSF.



58. Card game for two, usually : WAR.



59. "What are you waiting for?!" : NOW! I am done…



Til next week!

Marti








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