A quick revisit from Mark Bickham who provide Sunday's 21x21. Mark is one of my favorites and this puzzle was clearly easy for me based on the subject matter, but it is an odd one. Each of 4 common legal phrases is re-clued in witty fashion and then tied together with a an equally deceptive but amusing reveal. I cannot tell if the terminology is tricky if you do not have a legal background, so I am not sure if the puzzle will be hard for anyone but it was a quicker than normal solve for me. The 5 theme related answers use 67 letters, so like last week, we have lots of short fill to balance, in this the overall has a very un-Friday like average work length under 5 letters. The few non-themers over 5
ALYSSA, GROSSE, LIED TO, NATION, SPEARS, SUMMON, INSECTS, INTERNS, BEQUEATHS and PRE-ASSIGN are okay, and none seem too obscure. Lets look at what happened.
17A. Rating for a recap? : SUMMARY JUDGMENT (15). A recap is a summary; a rating is a judgment; a summary judgment is a legal term referring to the disposition of a case without a trial.
29A. Advice on paper size? : LEGAL COUNSEL (12). I do not use apple computers (at least not until the end of the month) but on all of my print functions, one of the decisions one must make is paper size, letter or legal. If you ask someone to suggest one...legal counsel is one phrase for the attorney.
44A. Dibs on kitchen space? : COUNTER CLAIM (12). Dibs is a great invention, like calling shotgun while kitchens all have counters. A counter claim is where a Defendnat files an action against the original Plaintiff in a law suit.
58A. Displeased wave of the hand? : MOTION TO DISMISS (15). I can picture many famous hand wave dismissals, whicl a Motion to Dismiss is a pleading to end a case based sole on deficiencies in the language of the original complaint.
and the reveal:
36A. Fooled by one's imagination ... or, another way, what the four other longest puzzle answers are? : HEARING THINGS (13). All relate to matters which will go to a hearing before a judge.
Okay let's plunge in the rest....
Across:
1. Hybrid carriers : MULES. Great misdirection to begin Friday, if you did not think about cars you are smarter than I.
6. Hardly next door : AFAR.
10. Shelter gp. : SPCA. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a long HISTORY worldwide.
14. Functional : UTILE. One of those words that sounds like more trouble than it is worth.
15. Winter Olympics event : LUGE.
Xxx
16. __ Mountains: European border range : URAL.
20. Start to state? : TRIstate. I just did the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania part after Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island part.
21. Land east of the Suez Canal : ASIA.
22. June portrayer in "Henry &; June" : UMA.
23. Trainees : INTERNS. We have a summer intern at the office this year. her name is Stephanie, we now call her Charlie.
26. __ Pointe: Detroit suburb : GROSSE. An old COMMUNITY.
32. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers since 2010 : ABBA. This would have been hard except that I could only think of with four letters were ABBA and TOTO, and TOTO never made it.
34. Word with sick or cold : OUT. Out sick, or out cold.
35. Press : INK. A term i learned from reading about people.
41. __ au vin : COQ.
42. Ornamental fish : KOI.
43. Stapes, for one : BONE.
49. Artist with the 2011 album "Femme Fatale" : SPEARS. A little glimpse of dear BRITNEY. (3:33).
50. Antennae holders : INSECTS. A very fun clue, hey John Lampkin.
54. Took in : ATE.
55. Cooperate with in a caper : ABET.
57. Eggs : OVA.
63. Point-of-view intro : IMHO.
64. It may need cobbling : BOOT.
65. Shafts on the road : AXLES.
66. AAA part: Abbr. : ASSN.
67. Magazine filler : AMMO.
68. Erroll Garner classic : MISTY.
Down:
1. "Can't you get someone else?" : MUST I?
2. Political surprise : U-TURN.
3. Cap : LIMIT.
4. Shade provider : ELM.
5. Source of shells : SEA.
6. "Mistresses" co-star Milano : ALYSSA.
7. Big name in film : FUJI.
8. Río contents : AGUA.
9. __ cell : RED. A clue out of the 50's and 60's when people saw communists everywhere.
10. Call : SUMMON. Sounds like a word to use with demons.
11. Designate in advance : PRE-ASSIGN.
12. Has the power : CAN.
13. Either of two space bar flankers : ALT. For the online solvers a gimme, but did you have to look?
18. Checked out of the store, with "up" : RANG.
19. Wise teacher : GURU.
24. Island off Tuscany : ELBA.
25. Bottom : REAR.
26. Black-clad subculturist : GOTH.
27. Sight, say : SENSE.
28. Image on Idaho's state flag : ELK. If you want see, LOOK.
30. Detective's skill : LOGIC.
31. Song on a record : CUT.
32. Renoir's "Girl With __" : A HOOP.
33. Wills : BEQUEATHS.
37. A Clanton and a president : IKES.
38. Fish-fowl link : NOR.
39. Sacred wader of ancient Egypt : IBIS.
40. Seward Peninsula city : NOME.
41. Engine units: Abbr. : CCS. Cubic centimeters.
45. Turkey, for one : NATION.
46. Old Smartphone : TREO. I had a friend who loved hers, until Blackberry came along.
48. Unwilling to stand up for : ANTI. Iffn you aint fer me yer agin me.
51. Some are tightly wound : COILS.
52. Den focal point : TV SET. More from the 50s and 60's.
53. Impudent : SASSY.
55. Smashing target : ATOM. My favorite clue.
56. Mike holder : BOOM. Hand held.
58. Girl's name that's a verb spelled backwards : MIA. This is a really obscure clue; are there other possibilities?
59. Serene sounds : OMS. For those who meditate.
60. Org. with Kings and Wizards : NBA. National Basketball Association. And the free agent parade continues.
61. "I can't remember it, Miss Ilsa" speaker : SAM. Great movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do2olZ49M54
62. 11th-century year : MXI. 1011, a kind of pun?
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