We have the first 2019 puzzle from Mr. Kidd after he had 6 last year. His specialty seems to be to add letters and today is no exception. The bigram "KA" is inserted at the beginning of a word in a two-word phrase to create a new and whimsical fill. The cluing is also all fun. This week the consistency is A-B-B-A, with 11-10-10-11 letter themers. The base phrases are Friday hard to parse but once you got one, they all should fall in place. He also includes ALOOFLY. BACKRUB, MIDTERM, ONE BALL, TRAFFIC COPS, and SUPER MODELS as sparkly long fill. Getting these words in the grid is what makes gridding the trickiest part of puzzle creation, to me. Time to review the theme and the rest of the creation.
17A. Energetic jug band performer?: KAZOO ANIMAL (11). We have had a few jug band references lately, and I still do not have any great link, but here you can LEARN HOW.
29A. Skewered food cooked vertically?: PLUMB KABOB (10). We have the kebab/kabob hurdle to overcome, and you must know about the art of the PLUMB BOB.
46A. Doesn't get fixed?: STAYS KAPUT (10). A phrase no one would ever use, but I think we all know the concept from the German kaputt, perhaps via Yiddish קאַפּוט (kaput, “lost, dead”). The same word has also been borrowed by many other languages.
56A. Wile E. Coyote purchases from Acme?: KABOOM BOXES (11). My favorite for so many reasons, including our new recurring theme of Wile E. and his efforts to blow poor Roadrunner to smithereens. WATCH. I also like smithereens.
Across:
1. Building unit: ACRE. A tricky 1A, as the lot size is not the first thing to come to mine.
5. "Oh yeah?": THAT SO. Missing an "IS"?
11. Pranks, in a way, for short: TPS. Toilet papers. I never understood the joy of wrapping houses in toilet paper.
15. Movie leads, often: HEROES. A vague answer that took a bit of perpage.
16. Narrow inlet: RIA. We have this very often.
19. Mtn. stat: ALT. Mountain statistic - altitude.
20. Lodge: INN.
21. With indifference: ALOOFLY. Not a word I ever use.
23. Western formation?: POSSE. A clip from THE LAST POSSE.
26. "See ya later": TATA. Did you all see this MOVIE?
28. Some distance away: AFAR.
31. Caine and Connery: SIRS. Michael and Sean.
32. __ rally: PEP. Mine were not this fancy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8V4a5pUrmI
33. What snobs may put on: AIRS.
34. "Up to 3,000 lights" brand: BIC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DtMvKIknIw
35. Do business with: SELL TO.
37. Mississippi source: ITASCA. Itasca is a word coined by Henry Schoolcraft as a name for Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River. Schoolcraft coined the name from a combination of the Latin words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head").
40. Seminarian's subj.: RELigion.
41. Like-minded group: BLOC. I have had this a few time this year.
42. It's worn with a kimono: OBI.
44. Himalayan priest: LAMA. The one L.
49. Off-kilter: ALOP. perhaps my least favorite "A" word.
50. Weymouth of Talking Heads: TINA.
51. Oxidizes: RUSTS.
52. Like some elections: MIDTERM.
54. "This is __ chance": OUR. No, it is your chance to write whatever you want, except religion, politics or personal attacks.
55. Cooler cooler: ICE. Cute clue- sorry Tin.
62. Zero, to Man U: NIL.
63. Online investment service: ETRADE. In 1982, William A. Porter and Bernard A. Newcomb founded TradePlus in Palo Alto, California, with $15,000 in capital. In 1991, Porter and Newcomb founded E-Trade Securities, Inc., with several hundred thousand dollars of startup capital from TradePlus.
64. Loan default risk: REPO.
65. Remote cells: AAS.
66. One who's determined to lose: DIETER. Or those who buy Powerball tickets.
67. Server's edge: ADIN.
Down:
1. Suggest, as a price: ASK.
2. Org. that voted Keith Urban 2018 Entertainer of the Year: CMA.
3. "Monsters, Inc." raspy-voiced undercover agent: ROZ.
4. "I" swelling?: EGOISM.
5. Word of comparison: THAN.
6. Farm female: HEN.
7. Jackie O's second: ARI.
8. Original V8 base: TOMATO.
9. Aquanaut's workplace: SEALAB.
10. Nobel Institute city: OSLO.
11. They sometimes help relieve congestion: TRAFFIC COPS.
12. Vertical Parthenon component: PILLAR.
13. Mythical man-goats: SATYRS.
18. Yellow pool table item: ONEBALL.
22. Caravan stopover: OASIS.
23. Maximally soft, in music: PPP.
24. Fútbol cheers: OLES.
25. Celebs on runways: SUPERMODELS.
26. Poi plant: TARO.
27. Hunk's pride: ABS.
30. Build-it-yourself buy: KIT.
34. Massage parlor service: BACKRUB.
36. Sprang: LEAPT.
37. Three-time NHL All-Star Kovalchuk: ILYA.
38. Talking-__: lectures: TOS.
39. Be up against: ABUT.
41. Disallow: BAN.
43. "__ a deal!": ITS.
44. Thin layer: LAMINA.
45. Jodie Foster's birth name: ALICIA. Jodie Foster was born Alicia Christian Foster on November 19, 1962 in Los Angeles.
46. Low clouds: STRATI.
47. Musical tone quality: TIMBRE.
48. Natural light show: AURORA.
53. Barely managed, with "out": EKED.
54. Traditional Passover barley offering: OMER. A very timely clue/fill. READ.
57. Granola kernel: OAT.
58. Keats creation: ODE.
59. Marked, as a ballot: XED.
60. Prefix with -logue: EPI. Not the center this time.
61. Male issue: SON.
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