Welcome to my first write-up of fall and the third LAT for another Mark making his mark in puzzledom. They say you should write about what you know, and Mark is a professor from Canada as was revealed in his DEBUT here. His specialty is chemistry, more specifically Materials Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Nanomaterials, Porous Materials, Polymers, Cellulose. In today's challenge we have FE (the chemical symbol for Iron) added to the first word in three two-word phrases and explained in a well chosen reveal. Two are 2 grid-spanners, giving us 54 spaces in the theme. This is an example of less is more; instead trying to squeeze in more theme fill, we have a nice balanced puzzle. Mark also used the periodic table in his first NYT publication. In addition to the themers, we have some nice long fill. ARMLOAD, E-READER, GALILEO, GARDENS, OLD SALT, ON EMPTY, INNER EAR and SAFE BETS. On to the theme...
17A. Bronzed My Little Pony figurines?: HOOFED ORNAMENTS (15). I have had two cars with nice hood ornaments, a Jaguar. That one was stolen. I also bought a Cadillac for my then wife with a nice gold one. That was stolen. This is my favorite image of themeres.
27A. Hawkers of thin cookies?: WAFER MONGERS (12). You have 2 meanings: denoting a dealer or trader in a specified commodity. e.g. "fishmonger"; or, a person who promotes a specified activity, situation, or feeling, especially one that is undesirable or discreditable. "rumormonger." War mongers are worse.
45A. Balls for cats?: FELINE DANCES (12). My wife loves line dancing, but this was very hard because I was thinking about play toys for kitty cats, not them dancing.
58A. GNC offering, and a chemical hint to three long puzzle answers: IRON SUPPLEMENTS (15).
58A. GNC offering, and a chemical hint to three long puzzle answers: IRON SUPPLEMENTS (15).
1. Dishonor: ABASE. An old word, like last week's abash.
6. Stored in a cask, say: AGING. For our oenephiles.
11. Stick in the water: OAR. A nice clue/fill combo.
14. __ panel: SOLAR.
15. Violet in a bed: PANSY. Now this is a stretch, they may be cousins but they are not the SAME.
16. Itsy-bitsy: WEE. Teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini.
20. Sport with electric weapons: EPEE. A very common fill, but there are details you may not know. READ UP.
21. Auto pioneer: OLDS. Ransom E.
22. Nota __: BENE. Nota bene is a Latin phrase meaning 'note well'. The phrase first appeared in English writing c. 1711. Often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature, the phrase is Latin for "note well" and comes from the Latin roots notāre and bene. wiki.
23. Golden Age TV star: BERLE. Old time TV from when I was too young to have a TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2NqUL3xJ9Y
25. Test subject with whiskers: LAB RAT. The term is ofr the actual rats and those who work there.
31. Give an address: ORATE.
32. Wobbly table stabilizer: SHIM. This is a wedge (or something) to fill up (a space)
33. Home run path: ARC. Even a line drive home run has a bit of arc.
36. Seasoned seafarer: OLD SALT. An actual position in our NAVY, did you know?
39. Renaissance immortal known as the "Father of the Scientific Method": GALILEO. Rather like the terms the greatest or the father of, inventor of the scientific method is an attribute that has been applied to a myriad of scholars down through the ages, Aristotle, Archimedes, Ibn al-Haytham, Galileo, Bacon (both Roger and Francis), Descartes and Newton are just some of the more prominent historical figures who invented the scientific method. Makes for kind of a crowded field doesn’t it?
LINK.
41. It might go for a buck: DOE. Such a deer clue.
42. "__ arigato": Japanese "thanks a lot": DOMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcCS8AK6csg
44. Without a break: ON END.
48. Celebrity socialite: IT GIRL. Not my cup of tea, but you can see a RETROSPECTIVE.
51. Openly display: EXUDE. He exuded unflapable confidence.
52. Noble gas: NEON.
53. In the thick of: AMID.
54. Took off: ROSE. A rose by any other name; the shares of Google took off.
62. Letters on a returned check: NSF. Non-Sufficent Funds.
63. What drama queens do: EMOTE.
64. Hall partner: OATES. Some MUSIC.
65. Composer's choice: KEY.
66. 2018 awards event hosted by Danica Patrick: ESPYS. Did you watch? Not me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eZa2Q6etGw
Down:
1. Tennis great with three Grand Slam titles: ASHE.
2. Jazz Age toon: BOOP.
3. Wound application: ALOE.
4. They're low-risk: SAFE BETS.
5. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE. Our Friday quick Shakespeare quote. Act I, Scene 1.
“That will be ere the set of sun.”
6. Landmark Manhattan theater: APOLLO.7. Marvin __: GARDENS. A yellow property in monopoly. Marven Gardens is a portmanteau derived from Margate City and Ventnor City, because it lies on the border of Margate City and Ventnor City in Atlantic City. Wiki.
8. Holiday and Days: INNS.
9. Surveillance org.: NSA. National Security Agency
10. Floor hockey venue: GYM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BehHe4y_A7s
11. Titlist?: OWNER. Sugar Ray Leonard owned three different titles.
12. Blue Cross rival: AETNA.
13. Trip odometer control: RESET.
18. Colgate feature: DORM. Not the makers of the toothpaste, but the college. Hamilton, N.Y., was still a frontier settlement in 1817 when 13 men met to found the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York. The university eventually was named Colgate in grateful recognition of the nearly 70 years of interest and service shown by members of the Colgate family.
19. Wanes: EBBS.
24. It may be loaded with books: E-READER. I like the clue, it is both literal and fun.
25. Luke's sister: LEIA. They were twins, don't you know?
26. Laundry unit: ARMLOAD. Eh.
27. Misnomer for a modern golf driver: WOOD.
28. Name on the "Alice's Restaurant" album: ARLO. I have railed on him for years.
29. Gradually get tired: FADE.
30. Paris Agreement subj.: GHG. If you are not up on your environmental issues, this about Greenhouse Gases.
33. Baldwin brother: ALEC. Alec Baldwin (born 1958); Daniel Baldwin (born 1960); William Baldwin (born 1963) and Stephen Baldwin (born 1966).
34. Artist Magritte: RENE.
35. Some UPS deliveries: CODS. Not the tasty whitefish, but Cash On Delivery.
37. Put one's feet up: LOLL.
38. "More than I wanted to know": TMI. Too Much Information.
40. Cochlear transplant site: INNER EAR. A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. Various.
43. Bad way to run: ON EMPTY.
45. Sawyer's pal: FINN. Tom and Huck.
46. Kicks out: EXILES.
47. Surfer's greeting: DUDE. When my youngest was an early teenager, I had to forbid him to use that term.
48. Confident way to solve crosswords: IN INK. Somewhat stubborn and arrogant but it feels good when your get 'er done.
49. Compact: TERSE. Sorry, I just cannot do a terse write-up.
50. Mickey's pal: GOOFY.
53. For one: A POP.
55. Aware of: ON TO.
56. Apple stalk: STEM. I did not know the stem is also called the pedicel or stalk.
57. ExxonMobil trading name: ESSO. It is a trading name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. The name is an acronym for Eastern States Standard Oil, a post-Standard Oil-breakup company that started as Standard Oil of New Jersey, and as it acquired other Standard Oil-heritage companies, they shortened it in 1932.
59. Date: SEE.
60. Brief interjections: UMS.
61. Challenge for a stylist: MOP. 1 : an implement made of absorbent material fastened to a handle and used especially for cleaning floors. 2 : something that resembles a mop especially : a thick mass of hair.
We traveled all over and I had fun without swearing, which is always good on Friday. Thank you Mark and keep those chemicals coming. Come by and say hello. Lemonade out.
P.S. I have been debating if a bigger grid would be a good thing; what do you think?
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