Michael Paleos

Title: Ten-hut!

Michael Paleos

is a new constructor who already has an NYT and a WSJ publication under his belt. Why he keeps them there I do not know, but it isn't for me to judge. The New York Times was October 24, 2018, and the reveal and puzzle were great. The WSJ on May 9 of this year also had a really fun reveal. Today, we are presented with a reveal that hints at the solution but lets us work at the solve. The rest of the fill is very gettable, but you have to unravel 38A. Splitting with one's group ... or a hint to the theme found in four puzzle rows: BREAKING RANKS (13). First, you need to understand that ranks are military ranks. The next hint is that the military ranks are hidden 4 different across rows. Then you need to picture the military ranks split into two pieces like...

1A. Pickle: DILEMMA paired (7) with 8A. Important biblical river: JORDAN (6) which together gives us a MAJOR. Then knowing the rule of symmetry we go to the very last row and find:
67A. Oregon city where Nike was founded: EUGENE(6) paired with 68A. Comes back: RALLIES (7) which together gives us a GENERAL. Now to find two more rows...you can quickly discard rows 2 and 3, but behold! Row 4 has the delightful pairing
18A. Rundown: RECAP (5) paired with 19A. IMPURE: TAINTED, which together gives us CAPTAIN.  Then go up 2 rows from the bottom to maintain the grid symmetry and locate        56A. High wind: PICCOLO. (7) Very tricky, a high wind instrument paired with 59A. "M.O." rapper: NELLY (5) which gives us COLONEL. And now you know how I solved the puzzle. Michael needed many "cheater"(helper?) squares to make this work, 8 in all which are shown with a plus sign in the black squares in the grid.       

                                                                                                            The stacks of seven and six in the top three and bottom three rows were impressive and the theme was so close to being elegant if he could only have had the Captain Major Colonel General appear in order. There lots of common fill but also he squeezed in AIR ASIA,  ECOTOUR, ICELAND, PICANTE, CABLECAR, DEADLOCK,  RETAPING, and the timely and controversial ROE V. WADE. Now that my write-up is all out of control, let us examine the rest.

Across:

14. Whale-watching excursion, say: ECOTOUR. I found this definition of ECOTOURISM: “Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past, and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples.”

15. It's about 80 miles SW of Buffalo, N.Y.: ERIE, PA. Major (pun intended) to our Erie folk. Do you this BILLIONAIRE?

16. Hot and spicy: PICANTE.

17. Only Jet who was a Super Bowl MVP: NAMATH. The Jets along with the Tampa Bay Bucs and New Orleans Saints have each played in and won 1 Super Bowl.

21. Photo lab abbr.: ENLarge.

22. That, south of the border: ESO. Spanish, man.

24. Food additive: DYE.

25. Something you can stand to lose: LAP. Not a racing lap, the one that goes away when you stand.

28. Lyric tributes: ODES.

30. Med. school subject: ANATomy.

32. Name on a banana sticker: DOLE. This multinational company is at the forefront of growing ORGANIC FRUIT.

33. Winery cask: TUN. I like the definition: an imperial measure of capacity, equal to 4 hogsheads. Cutting the quantity in half each time, volumes were measurement went as follows: tone (tun), butt/pipe, hogshead, barrel, kilderkin, and firkin. While working at a start-up brewery my son reintroduced the firkin as a part of both brewing and sales.

35. Iconic San Francisco sight: CABLE CAR. This is not just a sight, it is a really fun way to get around the city and not get totally worn out by the hills. LINK.

41. Landmark 1973 decision: ROE V. WADE. Now it is all politics.

42. Oxford, to Oxonians: UNIversity.

43. Pay to play: ANTE. Poker and other gambling card games.

44. Mideast seaport: ADEN. Again no comment, but you can watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPsMAAgYxEg

46. Natural floor covering: MOSS.

50. __ green: PEA. Or green pea.

51. __Kosh B'gosh: OSH. My boys were dressed in this children's clothing manufacture when they were young.

53. Louis XIV, par exemple: ROI. I hope you remember this from two weeks ago. He was a French King.

55. Something you might grab in a hammock: NAP. Also, the sides to keep from falling off.

61. "Okay, that makes sense now": AH, I SEE.

63. Budget carrier headquartered near Kuala Lumpur: AIR ASIA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjHy7_vhdhI

65. Scammer: CONMAN. Sexist, it can be a con woman.

66. Nordic Council member: ICELAND.

Down:

1. Hinge (on): DEPEND.

2. It's pointy and cold: ICICLE. They look very pretty at first.

3. "Livin' la Vida __": LOCA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p47fEXGabaY

4. Military day's march: ÉTAPE. This is a place where troops camp after a day's march, or the march itself.

5. Many a fed. holiday: MONday.

6. Chop meat: MUTTON. This was tricky because in the US we think only of lamb chops or beef, pork and veal as chop meat.

7. Calculation often using pi: AREA.

8. Spinning __: weaving innovation: JENNY. The STORY of this invention and its impact on the industrial revolution.

9. Provide an address: ORATE.

10. Frosty coating: RIME.

11. Stalemate: DEADLOCK. I am not sure why but I had trouble with this dead-heat being the last to fall away.

12. Fitting: APT.

13. "You're dreaming": NAH.

18. Speed Wagon make: REO. The Reo Speedwagon was a very creative vehicle from Mr. Olds and his Reo company. REO Speedwagon was a band.

20. Aid in reuniting a lost suitcase with its owner: ID TAG.

23. Coffee brand with an orange cap: SANKA. It was all there was for decaf for years unless you wanted to drink grain like Postum.

26. Word of regret: ALAS.

27. __ se: PER.

29. L.A. Clippers owner Ballmer: STEVE. I love that he could be called Steve "Basket" Ballmer, but he is much MORE.

31. Blemished, in a way: ACNED. Meh.

32. Commonly blue fabric: DENIM. Levi Strauss started with Canvas because the miners needed strong pants to hold their gold.

34. Motor City org.: UAW. United Auto Workers.

36. Musical Mars: BRUNO.

37. Office PC nexus: LAN. Local Area Network.

38. Fillet's lack: BONE.

39. Recording over: RETAPING.

40. Panhandle state: IDAHO.

41. Cardi B genre: RAP.

45. Beethoven's Third: EROICA.

47. Browsing, nowadays: ONLINE.

48. Tortilla shell fillers, perhaps: SALADS. When? okay, there is lettuce and tomato along with the cheese and meat, but really?

49. Special Stratego piece: SPY.

51. Broad expanse: OCEAN.

52. A co-star might steal one: SCENE.

54. Taken together: IN ALL.

57. "Woe __!": IS ME.

58. Villain's hideout: LAIR.

60. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI.

61. Great service?: ACE.

62. Astros, on sports tickers: HOUston.

64. Shinto, for one: Abbr.: RELigion.

You already have the grid above so don't be greedy. Welcome Mike and I hope you stop by and say hello. I enjoyed reading your comments when your NYT was published. Lemonade out.