THEME: Water falls. Some of the fill does as well.
Each of the six theme answers require the word WATER presented top to bottom connected with across fill to complete the fill for the clue. As the Friday Master of Ceremonies, I get these visually creative, but outre puzzles where much of the fill is in un-clued space. When we had Ian Livengood's version back in January, he had the words be read backwards, this time you have to picture the entire answer and figure out what spaces to grab to put it all in. This effort is from David Phillips (?) and David Steinberg, one of the wunderkinds of construction. You can read all about him on his own LINK. let us get right to the puzzle, because like Lucy, I got a lot of 'splaining to do, especially if the online sites numbered wrong again.
1A. Perennial Oscars staple : PRICE W, - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R HOUSE. PRICE WATERHOUSE. (15). We all know this accounting firm tabulates the Oscar votes and places the winner's name in a sealed envelope, to be opened on stage. (Also the basis of Johnny Carson;s Mayonnaise jar). Anyway, a very tough way to begin, with 1A unfillable without the perps.
6A. Canoeist's challenge : WHITE W. - No Clue D. : WATER. WHITE WATER (10). I can only think of Deliverance and will never go in the river again.
31A. Prevent that sinking feeling? : TREAD W. - No Clue D. : WATER. TREAD WATER (10). A liyrtal and figuartive clue.
45A. Best Picture of 1954 : ON THE W - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R FRONT. ON THE WATERFRONT. (15) The wonderful Brando, Rod Steiger movie.
19 D : WATER. - No Clue A : R VAPOR. WATER VAPOR (10).THis clued steamed me.
42 D. River phenomena (or what literally happens six times in this puzzle) : WATER. - No Clue A. : R FALLS. WATER FALLS (10).
Across:
11. Game with pelotas : JAI ALAI. The hard rubber ball used in the fronton, caught in the cesta.
13. Maria ___, the last House of Habsburg ruler : THERESA. Your history LESSON.
14. They're found in bars : SPIRITS. This is probably doubly true, as alcohol is known as spirits, and I imagine a lot of ghosts haunt the bars.
15. Most comfortable : HOMIEST. This was difficult for me, but I had already committed to doing down clues first, so...
16. Breed canines? : TEETHE. Really fun clue, I could not think of anything which passed the breakfast test.
18. "Peter Pan" character : SMEE. Classic crosswordese.
19. Erase, as from memory : WIPE. The NEUTRALIZER.(0:56).
24. Ukr., once : SSR. Ukraine was once one of the the Republics.
25. Honey Bear portrayer in "Mogambo" : AVA. Gardner, reprising the role first done by Jean Harlow in Red Dust. LINK. (4:17) Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, what more do you want.
26. Like some labor : MENIAL.Interestingly from the Latin word for house, which is also the root for maison in French and Mansion in English. It referred to 'house workers' who were also called menials.
28. Emotionally strained : TAUT.
30. Cabinet dept. created under LBJ : HUD. Part of his Great Society legislation the Housing and Urban Development Department was created to protect home buyers and foster home ownership and urban growth.
34. Intertwines : ENLACES. Like your fingers in the church/steeple.
36. Pygmalion's statue : GALATEA. Not the Eliza Doolittle story but the wonderful Greek MYTH.
37. Course number : PAR. This clue was average, par for the course.
38. Touched : FELT.
39. "A Tale of Love and Darkness" author : AMOS OZ. This BOOK about the early days of Israel.
41. Native Coloradan : UTE.
42. Financial Times rival, briefly : WSJ. Wall Street Journal.
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46. Train with dukes? : SPAR. Not from Downton, but put up your dukes and box.
47. "I hate to interrupt, but..." : AHEM. Not to be confused with 7D. Shut (in) : HEM.
49. Strasbourg's region : ALSACE. This city is the capital of a region that is between German and France and has changed hands often.
54. Biological reversion : ATAVISM. The human tail which is quite evident in a fetus is the classic example.
58. Newborn raptors : EAGLETS. Birds were dinosaurs.
Down:
1. Retiree's attire? : PJS. Just pajama's retiring to bed, not from work, unless you are Hugh Hefner.
2. Knock : RAP. Knock music has no ring to it.
3. "Revenge of the Sith" episode number : III. The last of the prequels. VII is supposedly in the works.
4. Café reading : CARTE .Our French lesson Lolita, for menu.
5. Peace Nobelist two years after Desmond : ELIE. Wiesel. The entire LIST.
6. Time-traveling Doctor : WHO.Who?
8. Pupil controller : IRIS. I love explaining EYES.
9. Swarms : TEEMS.This puzzle teems with tough clues.
10. Scoreless trio? : ESSES. Classic misdirection, look at the clue, son't define it.
12. Formation meaning "neck" in Greek : ISTHMUS.It connects to large bodies, either land or in the body connecting larger parts, such as the Thyroid Isthmus. Not a happy word if you lisp.
13. N.Y.C. country club? : THE UN. Country Club, really cute, but when I first read this I had already filled it in and was thinking of my friend Michael Theun form wrestling in High School.
17. Broke ground : HOED. They are forever breaking new grounds.
20. Co-tsar with Peter I : IVAN V. Love the co-star anagram pun. LINK. Fun stuff you can learn here.
21. TV cook Deen : PAULA. She gets enough publicity without me.
22. Prominent instrument in "Paint It, Black" : SITAR. The psychedelic instrument of choice. LISTEN. (3:40).
23. British nobleman : EARL. Robert Crawley.
27. Biblical cover-up : LEAF.In the garden of Eden after the apple.
29. Snack in un bar : TAPA. We have lots of places serving tapas in SoFla. They are not all Spanish THEMED.
30. Leggy wader : HERON.For Splynter WATCH.(1:55)
32. Couldn't get enough of : ATE UP.
33. American rival : DELTA.Air;ines, not countries.
35. "It's Impossible" crooner : COMO. He ended up living in Jupiter, Florida, SONG.(3:14)
36. Watches with wonder : GAZES AT.
37. Sci-fi writer Frederick : POHL. Wonderful imagination, he married his wife when he was 65.
40. Legal orders : STAYS. Hard one, as there are so many Orders, though Stays especially of execution are important.
43. Harvest sight : SHEAF
44. Tower-building game : JENGA. Remember WHEN? (1:44)
46. Cut off : SEVER.
48. Suburban symbol : MALL.
50. Pasture newborn : CALF.
52. ___ canto : BEL. Opera term, HOW TO.(7:32).
53. Mil. ranks : LTS. Lieutenants.
55. Prefix with propyl : ISO.
56. It might be original : SIN. Did you SEE? (1:16).
57. Boulder hrs. : MST. Mountain Standard Time and the timezone where my youngest lives and time for me to wrap this up. So what do you all think of this style of puzzle. Rich does not allow a rebus puzzle, how about one's without conventional structure?
Afain thanks to all who enjoyed my Charlotte.
Lemonade out.
