How funny, here I am writing up a Craig Stowe puzzle so soon after his Saturday. This is Craig's 20th LAT publication, but his 11th in 2018!!!! Like I said, he has turned it on. I blogged the PUZZLE which was his debut in December 2015. Today, as befitting a Friday, features the impressive add, not 1 letter, not 2 letters, not 3 letters, but the 4 letters -STER- to common two word-phrases. We have seen this before from our Friday stalwart JW, but once again it is an impressive creation. And the inclusion of À LA MODE, COMPETE, DATA SET, ENOUNCE, PARADOX, RHOMBUS, CHEAP SHOT, DERELICTS, HORSEHIDE and I'M ON A DIET shows the skill Craig has developed in less than 5 years. Okay let's examine the result.
16A. Physician for Dickens' Miss Havisham?: SPINSTER DOCTOR (14). Do I play SPIN DOCTORs or explain the Great Expectations character? Spinster is such a fun old-fashioned word.
25A. Station for exercisers on wheels?: HAMSTER RADIO (12). If I were a hamster I would find this clue hurtful; these days HAM RADIOS are not that popular.
43A. Expert guard dog?: MASTER BARKER (12). MA BARKER was an infamous gangster head of a crime family. She and her son Fred were killed in Central Florida.
56A. Cool cat's affectionate friends?: HIPSTER HUGGERS (14). Hip huggers fueled my adolescent fantasies along with mini-skirts.
On to the rest:
1. Trendy: À LA MODE. Not only for pie and ice cream. We have a lot of French from our Canadian Constructor.
8. No longer outstanding: REPAID. "Does he still owe you money? No, he repaid me."
14. Catch-22: PARADOX.
15. "Am I the problem?": IS IT ME? One of the multi-word fill.
18. Morales of "Ozark": ESAI. This role is very far from his days on NYPD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wgZmVvs-Xk
20. Math functions: SINES.
22. Fleur de __: sea salt: SEL. French - this means "flower of salt." Kazie, do you think it should be Sel de Mer?
23. Clever remarks: MOTS. Bon mots, also French. I guess this is all colloquial, perhaps influenced by Quebec?
24. Sedate: CALM.
29. Earth tone: OCHER. Ochre or ocher is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in color from yellow to deep orange or brown.
32. Ancient colonnade: STOA. Stoa, plural Stoae, in Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway.
33. "Disgusting!": ICK.
34. Diamond figure: RHOMBUS. A square is also a rhombus.
37. Play seriously: COMPETE.
39. "... this night, being __ my head": Shak.: OER. Romeo and Juliet: ACT II, Scene 2
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
30Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
40. Hideout: LAIR. This was very big in the old Westerns.
42. Soft touch: PATSY. Last week, it was a sap.
47. Foil relative: EPEE.
48. Couple: DUAD. Another odd coincidence, as this was in Wednesday's puzzle. That was its second appearance the first being in 2012.
49. Andean stew veggie: OCA.
52. Rapper Ice Cube's first name: OSHEA. O'Shea Jackson Sr., known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Ice Cube initially gained recognition as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A.
54. Clothes to clean: WASH. Hi honey, I will do the wash tonight.
55. Zipcar parent company: AVIS. ZIPCAR is a car-sharing service, where you can rent a car for an hour or two, and pay by the minute or the hour. It is the response to the success of UBER, LYFT, and Airbnb.
59. Texas oil city: ODESSA.
60. State: ENOUNCE. Not in my vocabulary but inferable.
61. Waver: TEETER. Back and forth; cannot make up my mind.
62. Computer input: DATA SET. This is a collection of related sets of information composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.
Down:
1. Stained glass settings: APSES. A familiar church part also in Wednesday, right next door to ...
2. Slip: LAPSE. No, I am sure it was deliberate.
3. Type similar to Helvetica: ARIAL. One of many sans serif types.
4. Nail treatment: MANI. But no pedi?
5. Has too much: ODS.
6. One involved in a memorable "bubble": DOT COM. An insightful ARTICLE explaining the bubble and the burst.
7. Puts forth: EXERTS. Effort.
8. Tease: RIDE.
9. Juan's "that": ESO. Spanish one.
10. Selfies, e.g.: PICS.
11. Ancient region ruled by Athens: ATTICA. Some HISTORY.
12. Small portion explanation: I'M ON A DIET. Makes sense but not easy to get this multi-word fill.
13. Ones neglecting their duties: DERELICTS. I have only seen the word used to mean a person without a home, job, or property. I do know the term dereliction of duty, though.
17. Score marks: RESTS. Musical score.
21. Soul singer Robinson's debut album: SMOKEY. This was after he left the Miracles. LINK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNNCNCuCfv0
23. Material for Michelangelo's "David": MARBLE. David is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The STATUE.
25. Train bottom: HEM. Train on a dress; very tricky for a three letter fill.
26. Series-ending abbr.: ETC.
27. Pal of Piglet: ROO.
28. Stepped (up): RAMPED.
29. Words from a balcony: O ROMEO. This is the response to 39A.
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
35Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
30. Unsportsmanlike conduct: CHEAP SHOT. Some from FOOTBALL.
31. Baseball, in old slang: HORSEHIDE. Footballs were pigskins and baseballs...
35. Former Mideast gp.: UAR. United Arab Republic.
36. Member of the fam: SIB.
38. __ value: PAR. A securities term.
41. Control tower device: RADAR.
44. Mobile home?: TEEPEE. Cute, as you roll them up and go.
45. Hurried: RUSHED.
46. Islands VIP: KAHUNA. We do not often get Hawaiian words, this means a wise man or shaman.
49. Some Viking appliances: OVENS. Viking Range Corporation is an appliance company that manufactures kitchen appliances for residential and commercial use. Viking originated the "professional" segment of kitchen appliances with its introduction of the first professional-grade range for home use in 1987. wiki.
50. "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. In Greek, it is pronounced KIRKE. She was a goddess of sorcery (pharmakeia) who was skilled in the magic of transmutation, illusion, and necromancy. Not to be confused with CERSEI.
51. Plus: ASSET.
53. Kind of D.A.: ASST.
54. Diminish slowly, with "off": WEAR.
55. Líquido para café: AGUA. Spanish two to finish language lesson.
57. "The Cocktail Party" monogram: TSE. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM, was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic
58. Grasped: GOT. I hope you all grasped the theme and solved with a smile on your face.
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