In basketball the rectangular area under and away from the basket is known as the KEY, which is our clue for all four theme answers. Last week I was noit sure how to present the theme, today it presents itself. If you want to know more about BASKETBALL and the court, click the link. You can read about our constructor HERE. This our third from Robyn who had two Monday LATs and two others published by the NYT. This is a classic "same clue for all themes fill" puzzle with 4 long fill, two 13s and two 14s. As befitting a Friday there was difficulty and some wit, but overall I enjoyed her Mondays more. I actually like FREE THROW LANE better than the PADLOCK OPENER which seems arbitrary (why pad not regular lock?) but I have never made a puzzle so it might be a foolish suggestion, but for me if you do this big clecho (by now all you newbies understand the term our Dennis coined and had approved by the official URBAN DICTIONARY). you need to have some tricky and fun theme fill.Well let us take a slow post Holiday walk into Robyn's mind.
20A. Key : PADLOCK OPENER. (13). A simple literal fill.
27A. Key : ANTHEM LYRICIST. (14). Francis Scott Key, a Maryland lawyer who wrote the Star Spangled Banner after watching the British bombard Fort McHenry. LINK.
42A. Key : MAP EXPLANATION. (14).Where they tell you one inch equals ten miles.
50A. Key : FLORIDA ISLAND. (13). Also spelled Cay. Have you ever driven to Key West? Hemingway's influence is still strong.
Across:
1. Break the rules : CHEAT. We begin with a rule breaker.
6. "___ difference" : SAME. An odd phrase which probably comes from same thing, no difference..
10. Apothecary's measure : DRAM. When I was young pharmacists still made most of the things they sold, based on a Doctor's instruction and drams are the common measure. Since then big Pharma took over making medicines.
14. Refuse : SAY NO. To drugs.
15. Buck : CLAM. Idioms for money.
16. Quite : OH SO. All perps but if you think, oh so good, then it fits.
17. Update, perhaps : AMEND. Pleadings are amneded all of the time. Not to be confused with EMEND.
18. Ingredient from the garden : HERB. We need to get Herb out of the garden and to get a job.
His name was Rico, he wore a diamond
He was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancin' there
And when she finished, he called her over
But Rico went a bit too far, Tony sailed across the bar
23. Eye-catching wrap : BOA. I hope you have never been hit in the eye with one of these as they are swung around; it stings.
25. ___-tzu : LAO. The founder of Taoism? It reminds me of Tuesday's video and COW TSE TONGUE.
26. Exorcism targets : DEMONS. Anyone read Dan Brown's new book?
.
31. Keep happening : RECUR.
32. Some tributes : ODES. Can someone write an ODE to this oft used clue?
33. Gus ___, subject of the 1951 biopic "I'll See You in My Dreams" : KAHN. No memory of the man, a famous Lyricist (mini-theme?) or the movie. His music is part of the Liberace MOVIE.
34. Touch type? : MIDAS. Golden, and very tricky.
36. Treaters of boxers : VETS. Yes the woof woof kind, a shout out to the prolific Gareth Bain. Wonderful animal sleeping video Dennis. More of the puzzle going to the dogs, 23D. Lab output? : BARK.
40. ___ novel : DIME. Read WIKI.
41. Three-time NFL MVP : FAVRE. Brett.He also was in a movie, remember?
47. Joseph Kennedy's middle daughter : EUNICE. She married R.Sargeant Shriver. Why would you name your kid Sergeant? As well as being the mother of Maria, Arnold's wife; this Kennedy started the Special Olympics.
48. Mark Thackeray, to his students, in a 1967 film : SIR. Really too obscure for me, but once revealed by perps I knew the ROLE.(0:20).
49. Fleur-de-___ : LYS. I always think of this lily as LIS.
.
54. Hip bones : ILIA. This is becoming a popular fill.
55. Calamine target : BITE. Insect ones usually, also used for poison ivy.
56. Went a-courting : WOOED. Old fashioned clue and old fashioned fill.
59. Period of sacrifice : LENT.
60. War god : ARES. Three weeks in a row?
61. ___ football : ARENA. It is their season for this indoor game. This odd indoor spring/summer football did give us this QB.
62. Feminine suffix : ETTE .Like Smurfette.
63. 6-Down rooms : GYMS. and, 6D. Hogwarts, e.g. : SCHOOL. All schools have gymnasiums, right?
64. Golf scorecard word : YARDS. In the US, the length of each hole is shown in yards.
Down:
1. Lee side: Abbr. : CSA. Confederate States of America. If you have three letter fill this tricky, it is all good, as we usually are bombarded with leeward and alee, and to slip in a Robert E. was well done.
2. Seuss title food : HAM. Green Eggs anyone?
3. 44-Down accessory : EYE PATCH. and 44D.. 3-Down wearer : PIRATE. Arrgh.
4. Wintour of fashion : ANNA. This designer, editor and all around in VOGUE woman.
5. One prone to falling : TODDLER. This is a sweet and somewhat poignant clue as Charlotte now stands.
7. Smart ___ : ALEC.
8. A, ideally : MARK.
9. Personifies : EMBODIES.
10. "The Sound of Music" song : DO RE MI. Classic Julie Andrews SONG.(4:51).
11. Large-horned mammals : RHINOS. Twice this week, it must be mating season.
12. Trip up : ASCENT. Nicely done, a trip UP, not a tripup.
13. Othello et al. : MOORS. Do any of us recall who they were? A learning LESSON?
21. Flee : LAM. Another repeat.
22. Push-up targets : PECS. Pectoral; like young Arnold?
24. Most fit for duty : ONE A. Draft status.
28. Fifth-century invader : HUN. Attila anyone?
29. Feature of bluegrass singing : YODEL.
30. Nutritional stat : RDA.
34. Hodgepodge : MIXED BAG. There are a POTPOURRI of answers here.
35. Calvin of comics, for one : IMP. Really, Calvin is a sweetheart, it is Hobbes who keeps getting him in trouble.
36. Large vessel : VAT. Not for the sea, but for holding stuff.
37. Superhero's nemesis : EVIL DOER. Really?
38. Metal-measure word : TROY. If you had an ounce of sense you got this easily; the reason for the variant spelling of LIS. We could have had Deanna, well actually we could not.
39. D.C. bigwigs : SENS. Senators.
40. Prefix with liter : DECI. My least favorite liter. 1/10 th of a liter, or about 3.3 ounces. Only a good measure if you are visiting Casa Incognito.
41. Like some unfocused looks : FARAWAY.
42. Popular '80s-'90s do : MULLET. Billy Ray Cyrus anyone?
43. Consecrate, in a way : ANOINT. Before or after washing the feet?
45. Take stock of : ASSESS.
46. Zip : NIL. No comment, zilch, zero, nada, rien.
47. System used for most returns : E-FILE. Income tax returns not bad purchases. E-filing has come to the courts and man is it a mess.
51. Well-ventilated : AIRY. Yes the family room is quite well ventilated.
52. Two stars, maybe : ITEM.
53. Asta's "mom" : NORA. Myrna Loy.
57. English fin : END. French FIN (sounds more like fan) from which we get finsih, which I almost have, but we have to come full circle as we started with a cheat and now we have someone to deal with that.
58. Court VIPs : D AS.District Attorneys.
Well if anyone is out there after the rare Thursday holiday, I hope you enjoyed the show and see you next time.
