John Lampkin

Theme: It is T time, so lets have some dessert.

A Friday frolic with our musical bug man, where a T is is added as the first letter of the second word of a common phrase, resulting in a amusingly clued dessert. With only




17A. Self-preparing dessert? : AUTOMATIC TRIFLE (15).

27A. Dry, powdery dessert? : DUST TRUFFLE (11).

34D. Surreal dessert? : DADA TART (8).

36D. Like the desserts in this puzzle, literally? : DONE TO A T (8).





ANY TIME,  BIDS FOR,  BREWSKI,  DETENTE,  ETERNAL,  FLAT FEE,  INCUBUS, MUD PIES,  NOT IN IT,  YES DEAR, APIARIST,  BOB FOSSE,  EVIL TWIN,  RETRACTS


Across:

1. Like some timers? : OLD. 20 mule team borax anyone?

4. Kids' rainy day projects : MUD PIES. The only time little boys are encouraged to 'cook.'

11. Watch kids : SIT. We get to baby sit Charlotte.

14. Piglet bud : ROO. From the world of Winnie.

15. Boring, facetiously : ETERNAL. This definition required perp inspiration, but it makes sense.

16. Kyrgyzstan city : OSH. B'gosh, I get this right away finally.

20. Supple : LITHE.

21. Red meat source : EMU. Too late for memorial day, but you can order these for the Fourth. LINK.

22. Red giant : S-STAR. This has been appearing regularly.

23. 37-Down's concerns : BEES. A tricky corss-reference but it is Friday. 37D. See 23-Across : APIARIST. A five dollar word for bee keeper. Where are Ulee and Sherlock?

24. Year during Augustus' reign : ONE BC. For all the southern readers, "How many headache powders do you need to take?"

26. Val-d'__: French department : OISE. Oise is a river you need to know because of the great use of vowels. For Splynter, you can practice your FRENCH.

30. Human __ : RACE. I thought "kind" first.

31. Big bunch : SCAD. Not used to the term in the singular.

32. Moisten, as garden cobwebs : BEDEW. A nice Shakespearean word.

35. Shingle wood : CEDAR.

39. Biological duct travelers : OVA. Eggs.

40. Wagering letters : OTB. Off track betting. I believe this has been replaced with online choices like TVG  etc.

43. You'd be amazed to stand in it : AWE. Really nicely crafted clue/fill for such a simple answer.

45. Unlock, to Byron : OPEn. Read some POETRY?

46. Tries to obtain : BIDS FOR. This works two ways, both literally and figuratively.

48. Dead last, say : NOT IN IT. Tough letter string, but accurate.

50. Hourly-rate alternative : FLAT FEE. A very large part of law practice, oneof the three types of fee arrangements: hourly, contingency and flat fee.

51. Marital concession : YES DEAR. My favorite of the entire puzzle; so well put.

52. Anne Frank's father : OTTO. I did not remember this
.
53. Belts : SWATS.

55. __ vez: Juan's "again" : OTRA.

56. Grassy surface : SWARD. This appears to be the LAT debut of this Friday word.

58. Bio, e.g. : SCIence.

59. Indifferent : STOIC.

60. Yes-Bob link : SIREE.

61. One of the Kardashians : KIM. If you want a link, go for it.

62. Sandwich request : TOAST.

63. Blog input : ENTRY. A CSO to us all.

64. Compound suffix : IDE. This old bromide...

65. Annie of "Designing Women" : POTTS. I enjoyed the series but I like Annie better in this ROLE  (0:29).

Down:

1. Colgate rival : ORALB. I started with Crest.

2. Mascot of the NHL's Blues : LOUIE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYjP18KR-wo

3. Like pointillist works : DOTTED. My father studied and practiced this type of painting

4. Cultural idea that may go viral : MEME. According to wiki:
"The word meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, as an attempt to explain the way cultural information spreads; Internet memes are a subset of this general meme concept specific to the culture and environment of the Internet."

5. Acting legend Hagen : UTA.

6. Political thaw : DETENTE. Not in fashion any more. Now the Olympic arrests are a US scheme to take the World Cup from Russia.

7. First coat : PRIMER.

8. Nocturnal demonic visitor : INCUBUS. My first thought was SUCCUBUS but it did not fit.

9. Corrode : EAT. The rust ate away my outdoor furniture.

10. Some pic takers : SLRS. Single Lens Reflexes.

11. Pushover : SOFTIE.

12. Lands in el mar : ISLAS. Spanish.

13. Pointing remark : THERE. Cute clue. An excuse for this CLIP. (0:26)

18. "And I'm Cleopatra" : OH SURE. I thought it was Queen of Sheba.

19. Wagnerian soprano : ISOLDE. Inspector Morse loved his Opera.

24. Needing no Rx : OTC. Over The Counter.

25. Ozone-threatening compound : CFC. Chlorofluorocarbon. Better known as FREON.

28. Prune : SAWOFF. A tree, not a dried plum.

29. Aspects : FACETS.

32. Choreographer with nine Tonys : BOB FOSSE. We like to see full names in puzzles.

33. Facetious scapegoat : EVIL TWIN.

38. Pulls back : RETRACTS.

41. Digits displayed on beaches : TOES. Sing-a-long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntN5JAqEtDE
42. Suds : BREWSKI.

43. "Whenever" : ANYTIME.

44. Travails : WOES.

47. Acorn woodpecker, e.g. : STORER. JL like birds and bugs, but this clue bugs me.

49. "Ditto" : I DO TOO. Fun letter string.

54. Lithographer's material : ACID. This answer should be etched in your mind.

57. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY. A partridge that grew up. Interestingly, she was replaced by Annie Potts in the TV Series Love and War. I liked her in LINK.

59. Indy initials : STP. Scientifically Treated Petroleum. Andy Grantelli.

Friday, May 22, 2015, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Sounds like JW is back punning away.

A quick return visit to Friday from Mr. Wechsler, with another punny effort. This effort is a classic looking Friday with word count down and average word length in excess of 5.5 letters. Lots of original fill, with the NW corner featuring a beautiful stack of three new fill for the LAT (A TALL ONE, TIE BOLTS and SCRUPLES) crossing ALBUMEN. The SE has the new JOY OF SEX, little used ABORTIVE and YOU DA MAN, crossing the brand new GOLF TAN. To fill a grid with this much originality must be a dramatic amount of work. The theme fill are all amusing to funny and the visual look of the puzzle, which has many blocks also has lots of open squares. He does use two cheater squares to accommodate the two 14 letter themers in the 10-14-14-10 pattern, rather than the more common 10-13-13-10. He includes fill from many generations,


18A. Chorus of cows? : MOOED MUSIC (10). (MOOD Music). You think they practice in unison?

25A. Environmentalist priests? : COLLARED GREENS (14). (COLLARD Greens). A stretch but I really like the play on COLLARD.

41A. Assessed penalties against nonconformists? : FINED THE WAYOUT (14). (FIND the WAY OUT). The trickiest, because you have to parse WAYOUT as defining a an unconventional person.

53A. Barbie after a bit too much bubbly? : WINED UP TOY (10) (WIND-UP Toy). I am familiar with liquored up, not so much wined up, but then I might have been more impatient in my youth.

Across:

1. H.S. concerns : SATS. Scholastic Achievement Tests. I think the world is finally getting away from the idea that standardized tests are a predicter of anything.

5. Place to pick up a kitten : SCRUFF. I will leave the experts to pick the link of the mother carrying her baby by the scruff of the neck.

11. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" threat : ASP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClwIj3x24Q4

14. Psych ending : OTIC. Just what the clue tells you-psychotic.

15. They may be seen on slides : AMEBAE. Many ways to spell this crossword staple.

16. Black __ : SEA.

17. He dethroned Carnera in 1934 : BAER. Max, who along with brother Buddy was a successful fighter. Max is probably more famous for losing to James J. Braddock, the Cinderella Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlbHzcH4VJY

20. Egg component : ALBUMEN. Reminds me of the old FOLK, POLK joke.

22. Make : REALIZE. I guess he means profit.

23. Relaxed pace : LOPE.

24. Cubist Fernand : LEGER. I am not familiar with this ARTIST.

31. Way to get a deal started : ANTE. card deal.

32. Cajuns' 18th-century ancestors, for example : EXILES.

33. Disarray : MESS.

34. Burkina Faso neighbor : BENIN. One of many African nations I have ehard the name and know precious little else.

35. Noisy nesters : JAYS. Blue Jays are amazing.

39. Apologia's opposite : TIRADE.

40. Mitch Miller's instrument : OBOE. From the early 60's, did you SING-A-LONG?

45. Rio Grande feeder : PECOS. Rivers, the pecos being famous from all the oaters we see in puzzles.

46. "Suit the action to the __ ... ": Hamlet : WORD.

47. Slightly : A LITTLE.

50. Shade on the links? : GOLF TAN. Fun clue, and if you look at the farmer's tan both the men and womenb golfers have, you can enjoy this clue/

55. __ Valley: Reagan Library site : SIMI.

56. H.S. subject : ENGlish.

57. Like some Olympics milieus : ALPINE.

58. Actor Peters of "American Horror Story" : EVAN. The only character is all of the EPISODES. Never seen it.

59. Paris' Pont __ Arts : DES. French - PONT Italian PONTE. Both mean bridge. The Paris one is a pedestrian bridge and the des just means of.

60. PLO chairman before Mahmoud : YASSER. ABBAS succeeded ARAFAT.

61. Spinoff of TV's "Hercules" : XENA. People love her for her X.

Down:

1. Buckwheat noodle : SOBA. Use your noodle in cooking NOODLES.

2. Bar order : A TALL ONE. I used to order these all of the time. LINK.

3. Industrial fasteners : TIE BOLTS.

4. What con artists lack : SCRUPLES.

5. " __ thing" : SAME.

6. "Seriously?!" : C'MON.

7. __ Speedwagon : REO.

8. Outstanding, in slang : UBER.

9. Lose energy : FADE.

10. The Muses, e.g. : FEMALES.

11. Give, as a job : ASSIGN.

12. Captures : SEIZES.

13. Bankers Life Fieldhouse athlete : PACER. More basketball for you marti; they did not make the playoffs this year.

19. To whom Chance said, "You're not workin' as many bees these days" : ULEE.

21. __ culpa : MEA.

25. Rotating piece : CAM.

26. Bridge call : REBID.

27. Apply : EXERT.

28. Shore seen on TV : DINAH.

29. Ice-skate, say : GLIDE.

30. Fix up : RENEW.

35. 1972 Alex Comfort best-seller, with "The" : JOY OF SEX.

36. Unsuccessful : ABORTIVE.

37. "Awesome job, bro!" : YOU DA MAN.

38. Wimbledon unit : SET.

39. High school concern : TEST DAY.

41. Like Lewis' Aslan : FELINE.

42. Baker's variety : ICINGS.

43. Importance : NOTE.

44. Punching tool : AWL.

45. Emulated a 41-Down : PAWED.

48. 2003-'11 Brazilian president, familiarly : LULA. hard to comment with no politics, but LINK a can.

49. "House" actor : EPPS.

50. Out of the park : GONE. Baseball, it's going, going, gone! A homerun!

51. Open hearing, in law : OYER. Still heard in some courtrooms.

52. Historic voyager to Hispaniola : NINA. Ah, Chris Columbus and his ships.

54. "__ the gift to be simple ... ": Shaker song : 'TIS.

Melanie Miller

Theme: It is all about that GROSS not the NET. (MUSIC plays in the background).

Well hot on the heels of her latest Sunday, MM makes her Friday debut with an add three letters puzzle, where NET is added to in the language phrases. Melanie who has become a bit of a Sunday specialist, here provides a Monday looking grid, with lots of blocks and short average word length, but some very hard clue/fill to make this a challenge. She did begin her publications at the LAT with Argyle blogging her work. Some of the cluing really slowed me down, but nver knowing if it was her clue or Rich's, makes it hard to pinpoint.

ANKLES,  DANGER,  IF ONLY,  MORE SO, ENWRAPS,  I MEAN IT,  TACTFUL, TOPPLES, MANNERISM,  TOTEM POLE

16A. Sign posted on an office computer? : NETWORK OUT (10).I remember when network only referred to TV companies.

22A. Attractive legumes? : MAGNETIC BEANS (13).

50A. Dark-haired brigade? : BRUNETTE FORCE (13).

60A. Blaze at a hat factory? : BONNET FIRE (10).

And the reveal,
36A. Taxable amount ... and a hint to the four longest puzzle answers : NET GAIN (7).

Across:

1. Unit of volume : LITER. QUART fit, so this was a slow start.

6. One of the Twelve Olympians : ARES. Also hard, as both GREEK and ROMAN deity are considered OLYMPIANS. We have ZEUS, HERA as other Greek gods, JOVE, JUNO and MARS in the roman pantheon. The we have a four letter god from Scandinavia 18A. Ruler of the Valkyries : ODIN. With 17D. Russo who plays Frigga in "Thor" : RENE.

10. Factory container : VAT. Okay maybe the downs will be easy.

13. Inexpensive opening? : ECONOlodge?

14. Bering Sea port : NOME. Just south of the Bering Strait.

15. Subterranean critter : MOLE. Kinda cute. not at all like Spiderman's molemen.

19. Venison source : DEER. Cool! A 100% easy fill!!!!!

20. End of basketball? : ELS. Oh the the deception!

21. Exasperated : IRKED. Don let it get to you.

26. Overthrows : TOPPLES. Like governments.


28. Omegas, to a physicist : OHMS. A quick er PRIMER.

29. Sprang (from) : AROSE. An A word that actually gets used.

30. Train station stat : ETA. Arrival.

31. Its national anthem is "Peace to the Sultan" : OMAN. All perps.
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEV7qN9FRV40cATWonnIlQ;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTY4NwRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1tb3ppbGxhLTAwNARncHJpZANhbTNkNWwzVFJrcWFpTmVQNkx6c1pBBG5fcnNsdAMwBG5fc3VnZwM1BG9yaWdpbgNzZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMxBHBxc3RyA29tYW4gbmF0aW9uYWwgYW50aGVtBHBxc3RybAMyMARxc3RybAMzMQRxdWVyeQNvbWFuIG5hdGlvbmFsIGFudGhlbSBpbiBlbmdsaXNoBHRfc3RtcAMxNDMxNjMxMDUy?p=oman+national+anthem+in+english&fr2=sa-gp-search&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004

35. Chum : PAL.

40. Diamond standout : ACE. baseball diamond.

41. Winter vehicle : SLED.

43. Find, with "up" : DIG. What 'journalists' do these days.

44. Italian white wines : ETNAS. Never heard this term and since the Mountain is in Sicily,

46. Deuce follower : AD IN.

48. Unequivocal statement : I MEAN IT. Confusing letters to parse, but nice fill when done.

54. Thigh-toning exercise : LUNGE.

55. Stick : ROD.

56. Decoy : TRAP.

59. Pot enhancer : ANTE. Glad this was not a drug reference. It might cause a...

63. Furor : STIR.

64. Labor long hours : TOIL.

65. Turns red, maybe : RUSTS.

66. Frostbite victim : TOE.

67. Cheese manufacturing byproduct : WHEY.

68. Wes Craven film locale: Abbr. : ELM ST. If you saw these letters without the clue, you could go elmst meaning the most elm?

Down:

1. Allow to use : LEND
2. Arctic Blast maker : ICEE
3. Tlingit feature of Seattle's Pioneer Square : TOTEM POLE
4. Completely surrounds : ENWRAPS
5. Joey of fiction : ROO
6. Places for electronic monitors : ANKLES
7. Chick bar? : ROOST
8. Grounded Aussie : EMU
9. Unbendable : SET
10. Bloody Mary ingredient : VODKA.

11. "The War of the Worlds" character : ALIEN
12. Minds : TENDS
15. To a larger extent : MORE SO

21. Lenovo acquired its PC business in 2005 : IBM
23. Rural valley : GLEN
24. Smidgen : IOTA
25. Beverage flavored with cinnamon and cardamom : CHAI. Actually it is black tea that is flavored to make Chai tea.

26. Bugs : TAPS. Listening devices.

27. Like film narration : ORAL. Why film? All narration by its nature is oral?

30. Person, slangily : EGG. really? I know a good egg is an accepted phrase, but egg by itself? Is this a yolk?

32. Individual way : MANNERISM.

33. Popular palm fruit : ACAI. All you ever wanted to know about this wonder FRUIT.

34. Hornet hangout : NEST.

37. Doctor, perhaps : EDIT.

38. Color variant : TINT
39. "What, will these hands __ be clean?": Lady Macbeth : NE'ER. Nope, sorry they never will be.

42. Jeopardy : DANGER
45. Aptly sensitive : TACTFUL
47. Welsh/English border river : DEE
48. Wishful words : IFONLY
49. Manner : MODE
50. Verbally assault : BLAST
51. Eagerly head for : RUN TO.

52. Remove, as a cravat : UNTIE.

53. Bath-loving Muppet : ERNIE. Does he love the bath or his rubber ducky?

57. Culinary pursuits : ARTS.
58. Unwelcome garden visitor : PEST
60. Texter's "I almost forgot" : BTW
61. Wowed one's word : OOH
62. "I __ Piccoli Porcellini" : TRE

Friday, May 8, 2015, Jefffrey Wechsler

Theme: Cast your bread upon the water and out comes a pun puzzle.

Well after marti had another puzzle run with Jeffrey on Thursday, he is back to Friday with a puzzle right up my carbohydrate loving alley. As we discussed earlier in the week with the WHERE/WARE/WEAR/WERE  sound, a puzzle based on sound-a-like humor can be under-appreciated by those who speak very differently from the constructor. For me, while 16 across was easy, I do not say 'HALLA' so the HOLIDAY transfer was not there, but it really did not slow me down. All of the puns require some regional accent but I found them all very entertaining, especially in the context of the limited field of types of bread. Jeffrey fills out the them with two grid-spanners (my guess is RYE sense of humor was the inspiration) and a built-in reveal which I did not need. The rest is fairly straight-forward with lots of 6's and a couple of 7s and 8s. The list is ACTION, ARARAT,  HANNAH,  LOOK TO,  MISHAP,  NOISES,  OOLALA,  OPPOSE, ORANGE,  PASTOR,  RAMMED,  RIYADH,  ARCHAIC,  BETIDES, ARRANGED, ERIC IDLE, with some also returning fill from recent puzzles. It played like a Thursday for me.

16A. Good feelings during Jewish bread celebrations? : CHALLAH DAY CHEER (15). HOLIDAY Cheer was enough for me to get his idea.

25A. Cautionary tale about Greek bread? : PITA AND THE WOLF (14). PETER and the Wolf is a crossword regular (see yesterday)  and the boy who cried wolf still gets much play. My favorite of the fill, if not of the bread.

45A. Baker of only one type of Indian bread? : NAAN CONFORMIST (14). NON Conformist

62A. Ability to laugh at deli bread ... and at three other answers in this puzzle? : RYE SENSE OF HUMOR (15). WRY Sense of Humor.

 I cannot think of any English muffin, brioche, croissant, baguette or focaccia pun so on to the rest.

Across:

1. Flock leader : PASTOR. Not of sheep...no religion no politics, no picture of Tammy Faye. This was easier because of yesterdays clue/fill.

7. Old : ARCHAIC. What a nice word.

14. Film genre : ACTION. When asked who the best present day action movie star is, Dolph Lundgren suggested perhaps it is this STAR.

15. Co-creator of the Rutles, a parodic band : ERIC IDLE. The parodic addition seems unnecessary.
xxxx

18. iComfort maker : SERTA. SEALY has the same number of letters. Anyone else tempted to put in APPLE?

19. Spiritualist's sighting : AURA.

20. Greek peak : OSSA. I do not associate Greece with snow; this is near Mt. Olympus?

21. Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer : LIN. The now almost forgotten Jeremy is replaced by MAYA.  Not to be confused with 40A. Draw, as a portrait : LIMN.

23. Newspaper thickener : ADS. Especially on Sundays.

33. Scores : MANY.

34. Big opening : MAW. Usually associated with a voracious animal's mouth.

35. Calf neighbor : TIBIA. Muscle and bone.

36. Scraps : ORTS. Those little leftover pieces of food, I think from German. Not to be confused with 49A. Conquistador's treasure : ORO. Spanish for Gold.

37. Commandment word : SHALT.

41. Home of minor league baseball's RubberDucks : AKRON. A cool unknown. LINK. Damn, Styx is playing there tonight.

43. Friend of Eeyore : ROO. Kanga's little one in Pooh's world.

44. Signs of island hospitality : LEIS. The bad double entendres are too easy.

50. Decorative swimmer : KOI. They often look like huge goldfish but are variations of Carp.

51. Mont Blanc, par exemple : ALPE. Fill for marti.

55. "A good deed __ ever forgot": "Huckleberry Finn" : AIN'T. Unremembered but easy fill.

57. Blush cause : SHAME. "Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to."  Mark Twain,

65. Planned : ARRANGED.

66. Hit with force : RAMMED.

67. Happens to : BETIDES. Another great word from the past, often with woe, "One of these was punctuality and woe betide anyone who arrived late in school without a very good reason for being so."
Fraser, Christine Marion NOBLE BEGINNNINGS

68. Fight : OPPOSE.

Down:

1. D.C. fundraisers : PACS. Political Action Committees are already gearing up for 2016.

2. Pine : ACHE. Not the tree, the yearning.

3. Take the lead : STAR.

4. Slope : TILT.

5. "C'est magnifique!" : OO LA LA. Linda.

6. Genetic messenger : RNA.

7. Ancient landing spot : ARARAT. We had this Mount back in a Gareth Thursday in April.

8. King Saud University city : RIYADH. Did you remember where the H goes?

9. Speculative bond rating : CCC. Oh my, not a good bond, but an extra C shout out for the Corner?

10. Jaunty greeting : HI HO. Be careful...

11. Summer quaffs : ADES. A CSO; thanks JW!

12. Martinique et Réunion : ILES. We have volcanoes and islands this week.

13. Michael of "Arrested Development" : CERA.
XXXX

15. URL ending : EDUcation.

17. Disney's Montana : HANNAH.             THEN.             NOW.

22. Pet food creator Paul : IAMS. The story. LINK.

24. Place for quiet, at times : SET. Quiet on the set! Rolling!

25. Yukon warmer : PARKA. Last week ANORAK, this week...

26. Mural beginning : INTRA. I was playing intramural tag football when Kennedy was shot.

27. 1980s-'90s heavyweight champ : TYSON. He was not impressed with PACQUIAO MAYWEATHER fight, and consumers have filed a class action LAWSUIT based on the undisclosed shoulder injury.

28. Grumpy, say : DWARF. More Disney; or not Disney
xxxx

29. Hesitant thought : WILL I. or won't I?

30. Theatrical honors : OBIES. Off Broadway. (OB)

31. Control, in a way : LIMIT.

32. Followers : FANS.

33. Halloween effect : MOAN.I hope more often than that in your home.

38. Seek guidance from : LOOK TO.

39. Brand for greenskeepers : TORO. Lawnmowers etc.

42. Sgt., for one : NCO.

46. Grand Marnier flavor : ORANGE.A shout out to Amy?

47. Malfunction indicators, perhaps : NOISES. When you start your car and you hear things it often leads to a ...

48. Thing gone wrong : MISHAP.

51. Many an 8-Down native : ARAB.

52. Harp relative : LYRE.

53. Sassy : PERT.

54. Actor Morales : ESAI. He is crossword staple.

56. Composer Rorem : NED. He is crossword staple also.

58. Hardest part : HUMP. Get over the....

59. It's used in rounds : AMMO.

60. Springfield watering hole : MOES. Speaking of rounds...

61. Paris : terre :: Bonn : __ : ERDE. Earth.

63. Word with game or point : END. Which we are near....as we pace...

64. Not to : FRO. Cute

When  you have a bread puzzle you are bound to have some crummy clues, but I had a fine time and one of my faster Fridays. Damn, I am missing Styx, lemonade out.

Friday, May 1, 2015, Max Carpenter

Theme: I love U double!

In my current fog I have not located the record for the most use of the letter "U" in the LAT 15x15 puzzles, but the NYT record is 19. This puzzle has 34 "U"s. This I guess is as close to a rebus as Rich will allow, sort of an antonym to rebus with a letter spread into two spaces instead two squeezed into one. Anyway, white rabbit, white rabbit and welcome to the new month. May 1 has so many histories two examples LINK, and LINK.

We appear to have yet another debut puzzle, with his previous published work maybe in a college paper. Anyway, the puzzle was a gridding challenge to not only fit in 34 "U"s but to match up the perps. Max also gives us some lively intermediate fill, ACCUSE,  ALAMOS,  ANORAK, ARAFAT, BIKINI,  BRETON,  ERES TU, EUCLID, MOUNDS, YEASTY, ALGEBRA, CRITERIA, DICAPRIO,  RENOUNCE and  TOLERANT, which are nice contrasts. With theme answers ranging from 3 letters to a grid spanner and 18 of them we have work to do. (18 is a lucky number to some.) I look forward to the comments as without understanding the theme this would be impossible, and I know some do not like fill that is not a real word, yet creativity must be rewarded....

17A. Tennis shot delivered from between one's legs : TUUEENER (8). TWEENER. Not familiar with the term in tennis so the start was slow

20A. Duo : TUUO (4). TWO. Obviously the cluing cannoy be too deceptive.

22A. Conference, informally : POUU UUOUU (9). POW WOW. The visual is so cool.

37A. Blogosphere backdrop : UUORLD UUIDE UUEB (15). WORLD WIDE WEB. This also is awesome, finding a 15 letter one.

44A. Quarterback's target: Abbr. : UUR. (3) WR, wide receiver. (Not part of the theme but a clecho) 46A. One targeting the quarterback : CENTER.)

48A. Socially inept : AUUKUUARD (9). AWKWARD. As is the look of the fill.

58A. Slapstick performer : CLOUUN (6). CLOWN.

2D. Sad : LOUU (4). LOW.  Feeling down.  (Not part of the theme but a clecho follows)
3D. Sad : GLUM.  This fill was key to my unlocking the theme.

6D. Really let loose : RAN UUILD (8). RAN WILD. One of my favorites of the theme fill.

7D. All over again : ANEUU (5). ANEW. With this many themers we were bound to get an A word.

10D. Declare : AVOUU (5). AVOW.

25D. High-profile caucus locale : IOUUA (5). IOWA. Election time coming soon along with the robocalls.

33D. Function : UUORK (5). WORK. Needed perps.

36D. Rod with power : UUAND (5). WAND.

38D. Court case : LAUUSUIT (8). LAWSUIT.

45D. Pigtailed redhead in a restaurant logo : UUENDY (6). WENDY. Dave Thomas' little girl.

48D. Leather craftsperson's beltful : AUULS (5). AWLS.

50D. Hospital division : UUARD (5). WARD.

And the reveal, 64A. Letter that hints at how 18 answers in this puzzle should be filled in : DOUBLE U (7).

Well with well over 100 spaces of theme let's see what he managed with the rest.


Across:

1. Math course : ALGEBRA. We also have Geometry below.

8. Oslo Accords participant : ARAFAT.

14. Broad-minded : TOLERANT.

16. Ranks : LEVELS. In the UK, students used to take O levels and then A levels to determine their academic future.

18. Cold-climate coat : ANORAK. In the US we usually call them parkas.

19. "Sounds good!" : YUM. Look good as well.

21. Almond Joy cousin : MOUNDS. Some days you feel like a nut....

24. Suit at a shoot : BIKINI. Nice word string in the clue, but I wondered if I am the only one who thought of this use of the ATOLL and the inclusion of 8D. Los __, New Mexico : ALAMOS,  the home to the Manhattan project and site of many tests. Coincidence?

27. Nine-digit no. : SSN.

28. Secretly send a dupe email to : BCC.

31. Unique : LONE.

32. Large moth : LUNA. Now this feels like a John Lampkin. He clued them as pale green moths in 2012 NYT.

35. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. I will curry favor with my wife and mention her delicious versions of this Asian DISH.

40. Oklahoma city : TULSA.

41. Marriott competitor : OMNI. OMNI is luxury...

42. One way to get a hand : ANTE.

43. IBM-inspired villain : HAL.

51. Point one's finger at : ACCUSE. A reminder from Monday's puzzle/write up, and a very disturbing silent movie about war. J'ACCUSE.(5:42).

54. Apartment manager, for short : SUPE. Short for Super, short for superintendent.

55. Chronological start? : CEE. The old first letter trick.

59. Ceremoniously ushers : MARSHALS. Parades?

61. Geometry giant : EUCLID. I leave commentary to Fermat and Bill G and others more qualified. I was a math major for three months.

62. Yardsticks : CRITERIA.

63. Like the smell of rising dough : YEASTY.

Down:

1. ABA member : ATTY.

4. Broad shoe size : EEE.

5. Jacques Cartier or Jules Verne, e.g. : BRETON. I found this FACT very obscure, but I was aware of the Celtic influence in France.

9. Formally abandon : RENOUNCE. I really liked this next to AVOW.

11. Fronded bit of flora : FERN.

12. "__-in His Lamp": Bugs Bunny cartoon : A LAD. A Jerome worthy movie pun.

13. Impatient utterances : TSKS.

15. Slacks, briefly : TROUsers. Drop trou has so many connotations....

22. Strolling areas : PIERS.

23. Bolt with great speed : USAIN.

24. "Arrested Development" surname : BLUTH.

26. Hillock : KNOLL.

28. Main impact : BRUNT.

29. Minos' kingdom : CRETE.

30. Modern crime head? : CYBER.

34. O.T. book : NUM. The beginning of a biblical mini-theme with 57 and 60D.

39. "The Wolf of Wall Street" star : DICAPRIO.
xxxx
47. 1974 Mocedades hit : ERES TU. I had heard the song but had no idea of the ARTISTS. (3:14)

49. DOD branch : USMC. Semper Fi CSO to Argyle Dennis and all who served.

51. __-deucey : ACEY.

52. Footprint, maybe : CLUE.

53. Partner of Caesar : COCA. Imogene. A wacky woman who had a turn in the Vacation movies.

55. Swedish King __ XVI Gustaf : CARL.

56. "Night" author Wiesel : ELIE.

57. Isaac's hirsute son : ESAU. From Genesis, Old Testament to Christians, simply Torah to Jews.

60. N.T. book : HEBrews. New Testament, i.e. Christian TEXT.