An ambitious Friday from JW that is the second step in my returning to my post as Friday sherpa. It took solving a couple of the theme fill that made the theme obvious, though hard to describe. The first word of a known expression becomes an anagram to provide a different and witty definition. All have a four letter word which is scrambled, and all are words both before and after.
17A. Aging hero Jones, in his latest film? : GRAY (GARY) INDIANA (11). Poor Harrison Ford, killed in Star Wars, dissed in Supergirl by his wife, Calista Flockhart and then he crashes a plane.
24A. Pitt portraying Shakespeare? : BRAD (BARD) OF AVON. (10). I can't picture this.
33A. Skill displayed at the gift counter? : WRAP (WARP) SPEED (9). The anagrams are easy.
45A. Times when hokey humor prevailed? : ERAS (EARS) OF CORN (10). Or when C. Moe appeared.
54A. Early stage of muffin production? : BRAN (BARN) RAISING (11). My favorite of the theme fill, but I grew up in New England farm country.
Jeffrey also provides a wonderful panoply of non-theme fill...BIG NEWS, ACROBAT, DIAMOND, STRASSE, TEL AVIV, IN A HOLE, CABANAS, POINT AT, WANGLES, OVERALL, SARA LEE, PLANETS, CRANIAL, AIRINGS, DAMAGED, AUSTRIA, BONKERS, LESSEES, RIDERS UP, PEAR TREE
Let us see where else we went.
Across:
1. 1987 Michael Jackson album : BAD. his eventual follow up ALBUM to Thriller.
4. Road where Mozart was born : STRASSE. Street in German and probably Austrian. Research reveals Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. Clecho: 43A. Where Mozart was born : AUSTRIA.
11. Recurrent behavior : TIC. Really?
14. Henri's here : ICI. Just French.
15. Identify : POINT AT. Dramatic at a trial, but silly if the defendant is sitting at a table with his/her attorney.
16. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Auntie to Bambi.
19. Sci-fi setting : LAB.
20. "... let __ put asunder": Matthew : NO MAN.
21. Send out : EMIT.
22. Island band The __ Men : BAHA. The Baha Men are a Bahamian band playing a modernized style of Bahamian music called junkanoo. They are best remembered for their Grammy Award-winning hit song Who Let the Dogs Out? wiki.
23. Shakespeare's jet? : EBON. Fancy ways to say black.
26. Acquires through cunning : WANGLES. I love this word because it does not sound real.
28. Undefeated Ali : LAILA. Cute; his daughter was undefeated as a boxer.
29. Norm: Abbr. : STD. Standard.
30. His, to Henri : A LUI. More French.
32. "John Wick" star : REEVES. KEANU not GEORGE.
35. Fish-eating raptor : OSPREY. These BIRDS OF PREY are the logical descendant of the dinosaurs.
38. Sassy : PERT. And if you become too sassy, you will be a....
39. Boorish sort : CAD.
42. Sound : VALID.
49. Loosen (up) : WARM. Is this from muscles or people?
50. Storm : RANT.
51. Settled on a branch : A LIT.
52. Beatle ending : MANIA.
53. Cakes go-with : ALE. Oh how many recall this from a recent JW puzzle?
56. Decide not to stop : LET.
57. Off one's rocker : BONKERS.
58. Vital statistic : AGE.
59. Paul with guitars : LES. He built the first successful electric guitars and his name leads into....
60. Landlord's customers : LESSEES.
61. Ergotamine derivative popular in the '60s : LSD. More of LES. It is my excuse for being crazy. LINK.
Down:
1. Front page material : BIG NEWS.
2. One seen in a ring : ACROBAT. Pretty vague for me, but I understand the clecho.
3. One seen in a ring : DIAMOND. This made it easier.
4. Short drive : SPIN. Never understood this expression, spinning is not what I have in mind when I drive.
5. Lading measure : TON. We all remember our lesson on bills of lading.
6. Kentucky Derby call : RIDERS UP. LINK.
7. Jungian concept : ANIMA. He had to have his own words, not Freud's ego, super-ego and id.
8. Solemn : STAID.
9. Introduction to Domingo? : SANTO. Well done, geography.
10. Greek letter : ETA.
11. Mediterranean metropolis : TEL AVIV.
12. Saddled with debt : IN A HOLE.
13. Seaside resort array : CABANAS. VIEW.
18. Half a philosophical duality : YANG. Where is YIN?
22. Called from the field : BAAED. So cute, lamby pie.
24. Fasten, at sea : BELAY. Cute also because of the two definitions. verb
1.(a running rope) around a cleat, pin, rock, or other object, to secure it.
2. nautical slang: stop; enough! "“Belay that, mister. Man your post.”"
25. Groups at sea : FLEETS. More at sea.
27. City on the Rio Grande : LAREDO.
31. Net neutrality beneficiary: Abbr. : ISP.
32. Any "Twilight Zone" episode, now : RERUN.
33. Omega holder : WRIST. The watch.
34. Part of a traditional holiday gift : PEAR TREE.
35. From one extreme to the other : OVERALL.
36. Frozen dessert brand : SARA LEE. Nobody does not love Sara Lee.
37. Seven-movement Holst work that omits Earth, with "The" : PLANETS.
39. Like the olfactory nerve, e.g. : CRANIAL.
40. Television fare : AIRINGS.
41. Flawed : DAMAGED.
44. "__ brillig ... " : TWAS. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wab
I had a roommate who was a C student, but could recite the entire poem as well as PI to the 50th place.
46. Denmark's __ Islands : FAROE. I had no idea. LINK.
47. Highland groups : CLANS.
48. Sounds from pens : OINKS. This little piggy...
52. Pine for : MISS.
54. OPEC unit : BBL. Barrel.
55. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Prospero : ARE. JW squeezes his Friday Shakespeare in at the end.
Well I have stumbled to the finish line once again, having managed to unravel all of JW's tricks. Great fun...hope you had a good time, Lemonade out.
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