There is an old saying that if you had enough monkeys and enough typewriters one would write a great novel just by chance.Today we have a puzzle which is all about my nom de plume, as each of six (!!!!) sets of fill have the letter LEM directly above the letters ADE, presenting a picture of LEM ON (top of) ADE. This is the third of the five LAT puzzles by Mr. Virzi that I have blogged, and it harkens back to the first one I did, for which the visual was HAM ON RYE, with the same presentation of HAM directly above RYE, but the reveal was just the two words and there were only three sets. Barry G. scolded Frank for not having a reveal, and here we have something I am not sure I have ever seen, a reveal (LEMONADE) which is also part of two of the six sets of clues. The fact that the puzzle runs on Friday, a day blogged by me (lemonade) is either a really odd coincidence (most likely), an example of Rich's awareness and sense of humor, or the most unexpected birthday present ever. This puzzle like Franks' others is nice blend of medium to longish fill with no obscurities that are not filled by the perps. Some fill of note are: BROMINE, FACED IT, FERMENT, NEONATE, O’CONNOR, PLUMPER, ADENAUER, A STUDENT, LEMMINGS NATHANIEL and the very apt NO PROBLEM. The 3 and 4 letter fill are not too overdone, with only IRE even close and it is clued for the country abbreviation, not anger. let's look at our pairs:
8A. Red Cross red cross, e.g. : EMBLEM. (6) First hint at the theme.
16A. Diatribe : TIRADE. (6)
20A. Muskrat relatives : LEMMINGS. (8) Did not they were related.
22A. Highly skilled : ADEPT. (5).
32A. "Consider it done!" : NO PROBLEM. (9).
38A. Green gemstones : JADES.(5).
52A. Clay being of Jewish lore : GOLEM. (5) Pretty crazy STUFF.
59A. Picnic serving, and when divided properly, a hint to a hidden feature of six pairs of puzzle answers : LEMONADE. (8)
LEMONADE. (8)
63A. West Germany's first chancellor : ADENAUER. (8), Der Alte. Interesting man.
56A. King's "__ Lot" : SALEMS.
62A. Dodges : EVADES.
Across:
1. Herding dog name : SHEP. This popped right out, though in retrospect, I have never met a dog with that name.
5. Pledge of Allegiance ender : ALL. "...indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
14. Ember, perhaps : COAL.
15. Cattle call : MOO. Not for acting but cow to cow.
17. Valedictorian, typically : A STUDENT. Typically? I cannot imagine it being anything else.
19. Duplicates : CLONES. The term has been around since 1903!
21. Company with a bull in its logo : ELMER'S.
23. When Juliet asks "wherefore art thou Romeo?" : ACT II.
25. Ici __: French "here and there" : ET LA. Literal French translation.
28. First female Supreme Court justice : O'CONNOR. Sandra Day. LINK.
36. "__ say more?" : NEED I.
37. Yeats' land: Abbr. : IRE. A way to clue with no anger.
40. Get a move on : HIE. Old timey word.
41. Walking aid : STAFF.
44. Currier of Currier & Ives : NATHANIEL. He was from Roxbury, MA
47. Netanyahu, for one : ISRAELI. Simple, but tricky.
49. River to the Elbe : OHRE. We know so little geography. LINK. and 12D. River of central Germany : EDER. LINK. Kazie? marti?
50. Boorish : CRASS.
64. Musical Dion : CELINE.
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65. Quarterback Tebow : TIM. A Florida Gator, but unemployed as a QB.
66. 100 C-notes : TEN-G.
67. Big name in lawn care : SCOTT'S. A nice hello to our own Santa baby.
68. 1940s mil. zone : ETO. Eastern Theater of Operations.
69. Language that gave us "clan" : ERSE. This is tough since ERSE can be either Irish or Scottish Gaelic. LINK.
Down:
1. Italy's La __ : SCALA.
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2. Bamboozled : HOSED. Such a versatile WORD.
3. Invitation on a fictional cake : EAT ME. I would never presume to link a cake as long CED does such wonderful work.
4. More roly-poly : PLUMPER. I wonder where roly poly started?
5. "You're so right!" : AMEN.18D. Word of agreement : DITTO.
6. Extended : LONG. So many choices.
7. "__ luck!" : LOTSA. followed by 8. "Blah, blah, blah," briefly : ETC ETC. and 9. Great number of : MILLION. a mini-theme?
10. Element #35 : BROMINE. I long ago forgot the table.
11. Path in a pool : LANE.
13. Boot camp meal : MESS.
24. Awaken : COME TO.
26. Great Society monogram : LBJ. Lyndon Baines Johnson, born August 27, 1908. Hannibal Hamlin was born August 27, 1808. One VP for Kennedy, the other for Lincoln....
27. Self-titled 1991 debut album : ALANIS. Morisette.
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29. Classic beverage brand : NEHI. Does everyone think of Radar O'Reilly?
30. Cartoon canine : ODIE. Garfield's 'buddie.'
31. Cambodian cash : RIEL. Rial, are these clues for real?
32. Not yet final, legally : NISI. Ooo I know this one, in the old days they issued a Rule Nisi to allow time for someone to show cause why an order should not become final. I believe some states still use this approach.
33. Scraps : ORTS.
34. High-fiber fruit : PEAR. Did not know this.
35. Educator LeShan : EDA. A popular educator in crosswords.
39. "Zip it!" : SHH.
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42. Met the challenge : FACED IT.
43. Agitate : FERMENT. English is such a strange language, so many ways to say one THING.
45. One of the noble gases : ARGON.
46. Nursery arrival : NEONATE. Latin for newborn.
48. Girls : LASSES.
51. Schedule : SLATE.
53. Gumbel's "Today" successor : LAUER. He used to have hair.
54. Idyllic places : EDENS.
55. Sign on an on-ramp : MERGE.
56. Brief moments : SECS.
57. "__ plaisir!" : AVEC. With in French
58. Composer of the opera "Le Roi d'Ys" : LALO. We usually get Schifrin, but instead this: OPERA.
60. Adjust to fit, perhaps : EDIT.
61. One in an office exchange : MEMO. Oddly clued, but not hard.
Well, my fun week continues, great puzzles and lots of fresh squeezed Lemonade (and Key Lime pie!) Thank you for your birthday wishes and for appreciating my sweet Charlotte, have a happy healthy safe holiday week end. Lemonade out.
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