We have a letter replacement puzzle with the change from the highly controversial x-rating to the family friendly g-rating. We have asterisks and a reveal which made this seem awfully easy for a Friday. What makes it special though is the phrases chosen to have the final letter of the second of a two word phrase replaced, all begin as somewhat salacious in nature and emerge as completely harmless with the G ending. The rest of the puzzle has much in the way of fun fill, especially longer ones like BEAN BAGS, IN UNISON, ESPECIALLY, PIZZA SLICE, SEMI-ANNUAL ZERO MOSTEL, CHEAP THRILL, MIRACLE MILE. Mr. Donaldson has been published often in the NYT as well as being a regular contributor at Crossword Fiend though he has no LAT since 2011. Here is the interview C.C. did back when. LINK.
8. *Scarlet letter? : SIN TAG (6). Most people are lucky they do not really collect a SIN TAX, and as I said I reread Scarlett Letter recently...meh.
20A. *Rio jokester? : BRAZILIAN WAG. (12). If you are unfamiliar with BRAZILIAN WAX you can understand why it is x-rated. I chose not to link the VIDEO and was fascinated to learn the practice goes back 6 or 7 thousand years.
33A. *Law against certain intra-family marriages? : OEDIPUS REG. (10). I am sure you all know the STORY of Oedipus REX.
38A. *Game disc on the farm? : CHICKEN POG. Chicken is one of many POX diseases, and it was thought at one time they all had sexual transmission links. POGS were popular when my kids were little.
48A. *Fighter running on tequila? : MARGARITA MIG. The Russian fighter jet. I hope the pilots are not fueled by alcohol. Margaritas often to partying and...
Across:
1. Sputnik letters : CCCP. The Cyrillic letters for SSSR look like our Latin letters CCCP.
5. Insert : ADD.
14. "Hello, I didn't see you there" : OH HI. My first misstep, as I wanted "Oops." made me question CCCP for a second.
15. Tax-advantaged vehicle : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
16. Like unmiked orators, maybe : HOARSE. Mr. Ed being often a hoarse horse, of course.
17. Collins contemporary : BAEZ. Judy and Joan, my first thought was Joan Collins. One of my favorite concerts was watch Joan Baez perform at Tanglewood. I could not find that performance, so... LINK. (4:45).
18. Like some sales : SEMI-ANNUAL. Like Macy's white sale.
22. Part of a black suit : SPADE. Sometimes I enjoy feeling stupid, as all I thought of were suits of clothing and Sam Spade before the playing card misdirection caught me.
23. It may be packed : GUN. Cute, and fits well with Sam Spade. How many of our readers pack heat?
24. Grand squared : MIL. 1000 x 1000 = 1,000,000. Mil not an abbreviation but a colloquialism.
27. General of Chinese cuisine : TSO.
28. "Bueller? Bueller?" actor Stein : BEN. Jimmy Kimmel's uncle.
29. "Die Lorelei" poet : HEINE. Lorelei was pictured as the temptress on the rock.
31. Shaver brand : WAHL.
35. First-century Judean monarch Herod __ : AGRIPPA. Grandson of Herod the Great, and friendly with Caligula.
37. Portion portion : SUB-PART. Lawyers love sub-folders, sub-parts, sub-sections.
40. Prefix with morph : ECTO. And its brother ENDO.
41. Healthy greens : KALES. The KALE SMOOTHIE is the most popular drink at Whole Foods market here.
42. Storage unit : BIN.
43. Muscle prone to tears, briefly : ACL. Anterior Cruciate Ligament. One of the 4 major knee ligaments.
44. Fashion monogram : YSL. Yves St. Laurent.
45. A long way : FAR.
46. Waffle __ : FRIES. I really wanted IRONS, this was obscure, but it could have been Curly___ and I would have been no better off.
55. Prom rental : LIMO.
56. Inverse trig function : ARC SIN. Interesting to see SIN twice in the grid even if the words and sound are so different.
57. Spreading tree : ELM. Most new England elms were devastated by Dutch Elm Disease when I was growing up, thought the one is this painting will last forever.
58. Foreign attorneys' degs. : LLBS. In the US the degree is a Juris Doctor, a doctorate degree requiring undergraduate degree. My father went into a program where he never received a college degree only his LLB in the 30's. The "LL." of the abbreviation for the degree is from the genitive plural legum (of lex, law). Creating an abbreviation for a plural, especially from Latin, is often done by doubling the first letter (e.g. "pp" for "pages"), thus "LL.B." stands for Legum Baccalaureus in Latin. It is sometimes erroneously called "Bachelor of Legal Letters" to account for the double "L".
60. Call for help : SOS. I just love the term"backronym." LINK.
61. "Uh-huh" : YEAH.
Down:
1. Georgia county planned to be the 2017 home of the Braves : COBB. This is where Marietta is located, and is named after an old Senator, not Ty.
2. Blackens : CHARS.
3. It doesn't provide lasting enjoyment : CHEAP THRILL. Dennis, they are playing our song. Immediately followed by a quickie...hmmm.
4. Quick lunch, perhaps : PIZZA SLICE. Cute clue.
5. Window alternative : AISLE. Airplane seats, not house related.
6. German crowd? : DREI. Three is a crowd even in German.
7. Broken : DAMAGED.
8. Gymnast Johnson who was a "Dancing With the Stars" winner : SHAWN. I wonder if this show is popular enough to consider this a fair clue. WATCH. BTW his name is Hough.
9. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA. Off the coast of Scotland, it is also the name of a College in NY. In Hebrew the name means dove.
10. Da __, Vietnam : NANG.
11. Play about Capote : TRU.
12. Hard-rock link : AS A.
13. Crystallize : GEL.
19. How a chorus may sing : IN UNISON. Hopefully.
21. Vow on a stand : I DO. "do you solemnly swear...?"
24. Site of Los Angeles' Museum Row : MIRACLE MILE.
25. Like krypton : INERT. Without the capital K, superman is not involved.
26. Not a __ stand on : LEG TO.
28. Contoured chairs : BEAN BAGS. What a classy description for a very cheap item.
29. Connecting flight site : HUB.
30. In particular : ESPECIALLY.
31. Nonsensical : WACKY.
32. Ottoman nobility : AGHAS.
33. Ajar, poetically : OPE. There is no 'ope for this clue.
34. Curly-tailed canine : PUG.
36. Soccer stat : PKS. Penalty kicks.
39. 1979 World Series champs : PIRATES. Random even for a baseball such as myself; though I recall the Mazeroski home run in 1960, nothing about 1979 stands out in my mind.
43. What life imitates, so it's said : ART.
45. Fern leaf : FROND. Also fro, Palm trees.
46. Festival features : FILMS.
47. 1994 film king : SIMBA. Lion King anyone.
48. Very : MOST.
49. Grenoble gal pal : AMIE.
50. Move shortly? : RELO. Perfectly regular clue, but I for one do not like the fill.
51. "My stars!" : GOSH.
52. Either of two stubborn Seuss characters : ZAX.
53. Go off : ERR. I think of this meaning more .yelling at someone., "I went off on my
secretary when she brought me a plain latte."
54. Early 'N Sync label : RCA. Radio Corporation of America. I went to grammar school with one of the Sarnoff children. he did not light up the screen.
Well chugging along through early spring, which has hung on giving us some spectacular weather, we will be back in May. Some obscure proper names, but it is Friday; enjoy the week end all
Lemonade 714 out.
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