JW is back in my backyard with a truly ambitious effort, built around a simple theme...take the letter "R" out of a word in a phrase and clue with hilarity. Package this in a 68 word grid with all kinds of fun fill. Quad sixes in the NW and SE Corners mixed in with double 7s over grid spanning theme fill make for a really cool puzzle. Locating two sixteen letter phrases that become funny phrases when you remove an R is an amazing find. Only one R per phrase, and all are removed.The 6-7-8 fill include some wonderful stuff like CABANA, AVOCET, REVERE, CREDOS, DEMEAN, MY DUST, BAD LEAD, ADAGIOS, TAVERNA, ON A AND E, CHAUCER, NELLIES, TIE GAME, TRIES IT and ASSAYER. As always, some of his choices are two or more words. Let's get 'er done.
17A. Oath sworn in a kosher kitchen? : ABOVE ALL DO NO HA
27A. Double-dealing in Delhi? : INDIAN CO
32A. Cutthroat entrepreneur? : BUSINESS CA
38A. Demand from a Stooge fan? : SHOW ME MO
54A. "Stir-frying is an option, too"? : I COULD USE THE WO
Across:
1. Not as available : SCARCER. Not the easiest of 1A, but fair.
8. Red herring, to a cop : BAD LEAD. Police depend on leads from the public in many investigations, enhanced in modern days by all the cameras.
15. Athens eatery : TAVERNA. I love me a good Greek TAVERN especially the tzatziki, spanakopita and souvlaki.
16. Where to view "Duck Dynasty" : ON A AND E. This has an attractive letter string but is hardly fair as the network is always A & E. Do you think puzzles should include ampersands?
19. Hightailed it : RACED.
20. Le Mans law : LOI. A French word for Law.
21. Great Plains tribe : OSAGE. One of the Native American tribes loved by CW puzzlemakers.
22. 9-Down opener : ENERO. Spanish for January
23. '50s pres. candidate : AES. Adlai Ewing Stevenson. ran agains DDE twice.
25. Long of "Third Watch" : NIA. This girl has WORKED. She is on the left.
30. "A symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal": Steinbeck : WAR. The LINK.
31. Old knives : SNEES. We have this 5 or 6 times a year.
36. Pool option : CRAWL. Back again, a stroke popular in swimming.
37. Six-time '70s Dodger All-Star : CEY. Ron, the Penguin, was part of a great Dodger infield, and then lead the Cubs to a rare NL championship series appearance.
40. Unyielding : SOLID. When an irresistible force...
45. Lobbying gp. : PAC.
46. Neighbor of Turk. : SYRia.
47. Place to play : ARENA. Hence this GAME .
48. Riches : LUCRE. Often called filthy...
51. Deg. for drillers : DDS. Doctor of Dental Science.
53. Unyielding : STERN. Often not irresistible
57. Nervous __ : NELLIES. Comes from the description of anxious race horses.
58. No-win situation : TIE GAME.
59. Doesn't back away : TRIES IT. Vague Friday cluing, but doable.
60. Gold rush figure : ASSAYER. Very important for they told you if you really found the gold.
Down:
1. Was googly-eyed : STARED. This and scarcer were a hard beginning for me. I think of this as what Kanye looks like when he sees Kim's booty...2. Place to bring a suit : CABANA. Bathing suit; a gimme for a Floridian.
3. Wading bird : AVOCET. Pretty BIRD.
4. Put on a pedestal : REVERE. more Kanye and Kim?
5. Beliefs : CREDOS. From the Latin.
6. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Spoiler alert, she is in the sequel.
7. Award-winning political cartoonist Ted : RALL. No clue. he apparently won a Pulitzer, but he is hard to link in a non-political blog.8. Word with able or full : BODIED. Sailor? Wine? Kim?
9. Munich : Jahr :: Madrid : __ : ANO: Fort Lauderdale: YEAR,
10. "Hawaii Five-O" nickname : DANO.
11. Landlocked Asian nation : LAOS. I think it is the only four letter one; all I can think of are Mongolia and Kazakhstan which may only exist in Ali G's mind.
12. Heightened : ENHANCED. Ribbed for her pleasure?
13. Slow movements : ADAGIOS. We have lots of musical clues and many musicians as constructors and solvers.
14. Insult : DEMEAN. I didn't mean to demean.
18. Some bank files : LOAN RECORDS. I prefer Loretta's records.
24. 1980 Oscar winner who portrayed Loretta : SISSY. Spacek who also was the original Carrie.
She did all of her own singing in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz1Ma4rdKcI
27. Actor McKellen : IAN. So many great roles.
28. Mandela's org. : ANC. African National Congress.
29. Exhibition funding gp. : NEA. National Education Association.
30. Trickery : WILES. Generally related to feminine.
32. Cabbage family member : BROCCOLI. A nephew I think.
33. Detroit labor org. : UAW, United Auto Workers.
34. Letters in personal columns : SWM. Single White Male, or perhaps swimmer who does the front crawl in his freestyle event.
35. Get : SEE. ironically perfect for a puzzle.
36. First poet interred in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner : CHAUCER.
38. Immobilize, in a way : SPLINT.
39. Something to eat in a Western? : MY DUST. While I ride off into the sunset.
40. Miss America contestants' array : SASHES.41. Salsa brand : ORTEGA.
42. Room to maneuver : LEEWAY.
43. Where to emulate the natives : IN ROME, do as the Romans do; pinch.
44. More unpleasantly moist : DANKER.
49. Dominate : RULE.
50. Some Ivy Leaguers : ELIS. Yale gets more love than all the rest combined.
52. Words with limit or trap : SET A.
55. Agnus __ : DEI.
56. It's in many poems : 'TIS. The anagrammatic reference even dupes the '. For both Will S., JW and I, let's end with ....Sonnet 110.
"Alas, 'tis true I have gone here and there
And made myself a motley to the view..."
Happy April 15, you have until Monday to file your taxes. Really enjoyed this one as much as I have any of JW's efforts. Lemonade out
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