It may be Friday, but we are today faced with creating a SUNDAE. As the link explains there are debate and a history about this American creation, but there can be no debate about the one put together by our own Jeffrey Wechsler both verbally and visually. JW has really been expanding his creative horizon lately with expanded 15 x 16 grids. This allows for more words, more sparkly words like LAPPED UP, SCENARIO, SPARSELY, THAT IT IS, HARD WINTER, and SCRATCHPAD. In this iteration, we have 36 three letter words, and 22 with four letters. Both of which are unusually high for a weekday puzzle. And I find no symmetry at all in the puzzle, not east-west, north-south or conventional. Jeffrey also places a circle around a single letter in each themer and starting from the top down they spell (Ta-Dah) SUNDAE. That was the icing on the cake (I loved mixed metaphors!). Also, with all the theme fill clued only by 64-A, it is a very much circular solve. Obviously, with theme fill ranging from 4-16 letters, we are outside any of the old conventions which say the theme fill should be the longest words. I wish JW would stop by or write C.C. on this unique creation. On to the rest.
18A. *See 64-Across: MARASCHINO CHERRY (16). The cherry on top is both literal and figurative. They are an integral part of an American ice cream sundae. The term "cherry on top" refers to the Maraschino cherries on top of the ice cream sundae. wiki. HISTORY.
24A. *See 64-Across: NUTS (4). Toast and roughly chop your favorite nuts. Walnuts are a popular choice for sundaes, but just about any nuts will taste great. Cashews and almonds are two popular choices. You can even buy slivered almonds and save yourself the chopping. Various recipes.
34A. *See 64-Across: WHIPPED TOPPING (13). You want to make your own? THREE WAYS.
41A. *See 64-Across: HOT FUDGE (8). I like this RECIPE from the Smitten Kitten.
51A. *See 64-Across: FRUIT SAUCE (10). There are so many but how about STRAWBERRY?
64A. *Foundation ingredient of a treat built upward in the answers to starred clues and spelled downward in the circles: ICE CREAM (8). If you want the entire dessert HOMEMADE have fun, and please share your personal stories.
Across:
1. Smartphone call record, say: LIST. How often do you clear your history?
5. Wet-Nap unit: PACKET.
11. Utterly beyond repair: SHOT.
15. Part of a foot: ARCH. Not an inch.
16. St. Clare's town: ASSISI. Her STORY.
17. Carrie who was a friend of Susan B.: CATT. Carrie Chapman Catt was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920.
21. "Shove off!": BEAT IT.
22. Summer footwear: SANDAL. Not in Florida, it is a year-round phenomenon.
23. Suggestion: TIP. Especially in the 10th at Gulfstream.
28. Rudder-controlled movement: YAW. An aircraft in flight is free to rotate in three dimensions: yaw, nose left or right about an axis running up and down; pitch, nose up or down about an axis running from wing to wing; and roll, rotation about an axis running from nose to tail. wiki.
29. Beckett's "Endgame" has one: ACT. This play sounds boring, but it was written in French and Samuel Beckett was the one to translate into English, so I guess he liked it.
30. 7-Up moniker: UNCOLA. This AD was brilliant. The link is for CED. Not to be confused with 53D. Take the top off: UNCAP.
32. Narrow inlet: RIA.
37. Strikes lightly, as a window: TAPS AT. What light through...
38. Sexy: EROTIC.
40. Rap sheet letters: AKA. Also Known As. This term is used in much more than criminal law; if you buy a house and borrow money you will sign a name affidavit with all of your akas.
46. SFO info: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
47. Sci-fi good guys: JEDI.
49. Prove equal (to): RISE. To the occasion.
50. Take quickly: GRAB.
56. Christian official: DEACON. It is in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of the priest.
59. Laundry convenience: HAMPER. My sweet wife just went shopping at Big Lots to find one that had wheels so I can get the laundry back and forth to our laundry room here at the condo.
63. Alpine retreat: INN.
69. Guitar, slangily: AXE. Originally, the first band I negotiated a record deal for was named ALIEN and then along came a movie, so they became AXE (3:23).
70. Needle part: EYE.
71. Really enjoyed: LAPPED UP. Kitties like Ice Cream too.
72. Little bit: TAD.
73. Spotted: SAW.
74. How farmland is populated: SPARSELY. A word that fascinated me when I was young. We grew up near lots of farmland.
75. Dr.'s group: HMO.
Down:
1. Country kid?: LAMB. Nice literal but still deceptive.
2. See 56-Down: IRAE. 56D. With 2-Down, Latin hymn: DIES. Very common in the CWP world.
3. Doodle site: SCRATCHPAD. My brother Barry was a frustrated Peter Max.
4. "Precisely so!": THAT IT IS. Instead of the all too popular 'it is what it is'.
5. Formal agreement: PACT. Any of you have blood brothers/sisters?
6. Grill remnants: ASH.
7. TV forensic series: CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Changed television and the real world of investigations.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1hc96a2OTvIRJc7Qr0NsA
8. Many holiday guests: KIN.
9. Anka's "__ Beso": ESO. Spanish for "that kiss."
10. Involuntary motions: TICS.
11. Plot outline: SCENARIO. I am surprised there has not been a tv series with this as a title.
12. Seasonal frontier challenge: HARD WINTER. Still a challenge.
13. José's "other": OTRA. Spanish.
14. Texter's sign-off: TTYL. Talk To You Later.
19. Hardly a gulp: SIP.
20. Loft bale: HAY.
24. Philadelphia-to-Albany dir.: NNE. Back to the Trailways bus station.
25. Golden State sch. in Davis: UCD. Univesity of California Davis.
26. Young one: TOT.
27. __-mo: SLO. Is it worth the abbreviation to take off a single letter?
29. Open one's eyes: AWAKE.
30. Plotting: UP TO.
31. Take down __: A PEG. Peg Slay, where are you?
33. Emotional distress: AGITA. Is it stress or a heartburn?
35. Half a tuba sound: PAH. OOM?
36. Tense beginning?: PRE. PREtense. Beginning to end. 68D. Stamp addition?: EDE. Stampede.
37. Jersey casino, with "The": TAJ.
39. Bus alternative: CAB.
42. Half of hexa-: TRI. Twice.
43. Able-bodied: FIT.
44. Initials on American vessels: USS. United States Ship; it's a ship, not a boat.
45. Org. concerned with meth: DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency.
48. "Stan Against Evil" airer: IFC. Formerly called: Independent Film Channel (1994–2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5JNGVVLheA
50. Shining example: GEM.
52. Deeply disturbs: ROILS. This also means agitates.
54. Big name in moving: U-HAUL. U-Haul is an American moving equipment and storage rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945.
55. Like TV's "Batman": CAMPY. Adam West was amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdaV8gYvgKE
57. "May It Be" co-songwriter: ENYA. A song which was written for the Lord of the Rings movies. Enya wrote music, Roma Ryan studied the languages created by Tolkien and wrote the lyrics in English and Quenya. There are two lines with phrases written in Quenya. The first, Mornië utúlië, translates to "Darkness has come." Mornië alantië translates as "Darkness has fallen."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNoxp0wo99E
58. Once more: ANEW.
60. Hiking spot: PATH.
61. Final, for one: EXAM.
62. Correct, in a way: REDO.
65. Org. dealing with brownfields: EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a brownfield as "real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant".
66. EMT proficiency: CPR. Emergency Medical Technicians do Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
67. High-__ monitor: RES. Abbreviation of resolution.
This was a very hard but satisfying solve. The double sixes on top of the grid-spanning Maraschino Cherry; Lapped Up and Sparsely supporting the ICE CREAM- wonderful. As you all know I also love visual grids. The solve started very slowly hindered by the circular cluing (Barry G. where are you?) but the payoff was great. I look forward to your comments and the rest of the weekend. Thanks Jeffrey, Lemonade out.
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