Jeffrey

Title: Another shellfish offering from JW.

This is the first 2020 LAT puzzle from our own hero Jeffrey. He had gone 23 months straight being published here. I spoke to him about the month off; he was a bit crabby and really clammed up like an oyster protecting a pearl when I tried to push him. An ex-roommate call them "shell food." She was cute. Anyway, I have no clue how to work lobster into my sentence so I will quit while I can. I did learn the are three types of shellfish, Crustaceans, Mollusks (which I knew) and ECHINODERMS which was an unknown term. This puzzle is also a learning experience because as you see, the theme begins in row 4; not the usual 3. C.C. has commented on the need for this when you have four long themers in a puzzle. Because this puzzle involves "sounds like" it is a special challenge for C.C. and other ESL people.

As with 99% of Jeffrey's creativity, much is based on humor. It also showcases his use of words with DRY NOSE,  NOT OPEN, ONE ACRE, SATCHEL, ETHERNET, POULTICE, EXCERPTING and WE HAVE MORE as bonus fill. The three in this COLOR are all introduced to the LAT here. How much fun you have will depend on your sense of humor. I had a fine time, so let us look at the theme.

20A. Offering in shellfish worship?: PRAWN SACRIFICE (14). A PAWN SACRIFICE is a common tactic in chess.

29A. Shellfish massage?: MUSSEL RELAXER (13). MUSCLE RELAXER changes into an image of hundreds of tiny guys walking on your back.

38A. Good name for a budget shellfish dealer?: SHRIMP AND SAVE (13). SCRIMP AND SAVE is an expression that has been around for hundreds of years,

52A. Like one who exchanges texts with a shellfish?: WHELK  CONNECTED (14). This was the hardest because even though WELL CONNECTED is a common phrase, WHELK is not a well known. Similar to CONCH which we have in Florida which are warm water herbivores. Whelks are eaten in England, Italy and Japan and are cold water carnivores.

Time to move on to the rest of the puzzle. We hope you enjoyed the marine lesson.






Across:

1. "... morning roses newly wash'd with __": Petruchio: DEW.
I really enjoy JW having Shakespeare in almost all of his puzzles.
"I’ll attend her here
And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say that she rail; why then I’ll tell her plain
165She sings as sweetly as a nightingale.
Say that she frown; I’ll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly washed with dew.
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I’ll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence." Taming of the Shrew

4. Jacket stories: BIOS. Book jackets.

8. Caused trepidation: SCARED. From the Latin meaning trembling.

14. Phoenix-to-Albuquerque dir.: ENE.

15. O'Neill's daughter: OONA. She married Charlie Chaplin and has a granddaughter with the name.

16. "Happy Days" diner namesake: ARNOLD. Mr. Miyaki started out as an Arnold.



17. Networking technology: ETHERNET. This is traditional technology for connecting wired local area networks (LANs), enabling devices to communicate with each other via a protocol -- a set of rules or common network language.

19. Jalopy sound: RATTLE. Hence- rattletrap.

22. Mississippi sight: LEVEE. "Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry. And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin' this'll be the day that I die"

23. Storage furniture: CHESTS.

24. "__-haw!": YEE. A junction in Florida or a Mikasuki word for wolf. Recently almost entirely DESTROYED.

25. Expanse: AREA.

26. Word often preceded by a leader's name: ERA. Roosevelt Era. Reagen Era.

35. Perfect place: UTOPIA.

37. "Modern Family," e.g.: SITCOM. A classic PORTMANTEAU - situation comedy.

42. "Catch you later": BYE.

43. Traditional knowledge: LORE.

44. Rate for records, briefly: RPM. Revolutions per minute are the number of turns in one minute. It is a unit of rotational speed or the frequency of rotation around a fixed axis.

47. High spirits: GAIETY. Not so much anymore.

50. Hit the big time: GO PRO.

55. One of an infant's pair: BOOTIE.

56. Sore application: POULTICE.

57. City adjoining Champaign, Illinois: URBANA.

58. Began, as a co.: ESTD.

59. Fourth bk. of the Jewish Torah: NUMbers.

60. U.S. IOUs: T-NOTES.

61. Relative of -ity: NESS.

62. Fast sports cars: GTS.


Down:

1. With intensity: DEEPLY.

2. Dinner menu item: ENTREE.

3. Merchant's assurance during a sale: WE HAVE MORE.

4. Carried: BORNE.

5. They're charged: IONS.

6. Land parcel size: ONE ACRE.

7. Bag with a strap: SATCHEL.

8. Bollywood costumery: SARIS.

9. Modeling, say: CRAFT.

10. They're not with you: ANTIS.

11. Uniform education org.?: ROTC.

12. Bardot was on its cover at age 14: ELLE.

13. Golfing pres.: DDE.

18. Lea grazer: EWE.

21. __ admiral: REAR.

25. "Don't delay!" letters: ASAP.

26. Taking parts of: EXCERPTING.

27. Early initials in American cars: REO.

28. Certain limb: ARM.

30. News agcy. since 1958: UPI.

31. __City: computer game: SIM.

32. In __: actual: ESSE.

33. YouTube star __ Marie Johnson: LIA.

34. Honda FourTrax, e.g.: Abbr.: ATV.

35. Very active port?: USB.

36. Genesis pronoun: THY.

39. Baldwin of "30 Rock": ALEC.

40. Closed: NOT OPEN.

41. Vet's concern, perhaps: DRY NOSE.

45. Like many hobby shop mat boards: PRECUT.

46. Surfing equipment: MODEMS.

47. Hint: GET AT.

48. Dior design: ALINE.

49. Some big box stores: IKEAS.

50. Neuters: GELDS.

51. Canadian Thanksgiving mo.: OCT.

52. Well-used: WORN.

53. Vagrant: HOBO.

54. "Dang!": NUTS.

55. Objection: BUT.

Garry Morse

Title: The wit and wisdom of Charles Schulz

Perhaps the most endearing aspect of PEANUTS and the many characters created by Mr. Schulz is the clarity of their naive philosophies. Today we have the rare "quip" puzzle where the theme is a Quotation. Some are strictly for humor, and some like today's combine humor and a touch of reality. This is the 11th LAT by Mr. Morse who is a Sunday specialist with only one Monday among his earlier publications. When the Corner started, before we migrated to the LAT we had regular quip puzzles which many enjoyed and many hated. It is hard to hate Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The cluing - Quote part I etc., is not helpful but it gets the job done. Garry does include some fine bonus fill like HANNIBAL,  TSARISTS, AA SPONSOR (introduced today),  DARKHORSE, POLICE CAR and  TRIAL DATE which may not be as much fun as it sounds.


17A. Start of a Charles M. Schulz quote: ALL YOU NEED (10)
22A. Quote, part 2: IS LOVE, BUT A (10).
38A. Quote, part 3: LITTLE CHOCOLATE (15).
50A. Quote, part 4: NOW AND THEN (10).
59A. End of the quote: DOES'NT HURT (10).




Across:

1. Penthouses, e.g.: Abbr.: APTS. Only one LINK came to mind.

5. Smartphone downloads: APPS.

9. Metaphor for responsibilities: HATS. A wife ears many hats, cook, nurse, companion, mother, lover...

13. Adriatic port: BARI. Bari is a port city on the Adriatic Sea and the capital of southern Italy’s Puglia region. Looks pretty

14. March Madness org.: NCAA. For the college basketball championship.

15. "Beavis and Butt-head" spin-off: DARIA. My son Devin liked this character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OghvfLc8paM

16. Bickering: AT IT. The kids are always bickering.

19. Rub the wrong way: CHAFE.No thigh humor from me.

21. Twelve-step helper: AA SPONSOR. Alcoholics Anonymous, which is a sometimes successful way to help those who are addicted and need to face that reality to deal with it.

24. Non-neutral atom: ION. Also a leading repeat TV Network, LINK.

25. Light sleeper's distraction: DRIP. Leaky faucets do drive Oo crazy,

26. Living area in "The Martian," with "the": HAB. The Hab, short for "The Mars Lander Habitat", are a series of artificial living quarters that were constructed before the Ares III manned mission to Mars landed. Therefore not an abbreviation but a nickname?

28. A Gabor sister: EVA. Along with Zsa Zsa and Magda.

30. Acts of faith?: LEAPS.

34. Classic sci-fi villain: VADER. I do not see Darth as a Classic villain, but that is just me. He was a sweet man with a family who was misled.

41. 1980s attorney general: MEESE. This is not the plural of Mouse.

42. Shade related to violet: LILAC. A light violet.

43. Responsibility: RAP. This was not easy but it does the responsibility for or adverse consequences of an action shown more clearly in "he refused to take the rap."

44. Bend: ARC. Like a good curveball.

46. Cope with: HACK. A strategy or technique for managing one's time or activities more efficiently. Dictionary.

48. Dept. head: MGR.

56. Source of a siren: POLICE CAR. The same number of letters as AMBULANCE.

58. "__ Mio": O SOLE. They began as teenagers. IL VOLO.

61. Avian crop: CRAW. You do not grow birds.

62. Score symbols: FLATS. Musical score.

63. "You're kidding!": EGAD.

64. Whodunit canine: ASTA. When he wasn't with Nick and Nora he was ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9INoZoJl8M

65. Club with a blue and white diamond logo: SAMS. Did they adopt this logo?

66. Phillies slugger Hoskins: RHYS. They study everything now, even ballplayers I do not know. LINK.

67. Nair rival, once: NEET. Was this replaced by VEET?


Down:

1. Old counters: ABACI. I know C.C. can do this, can you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTVXUG_PngE

2. Hiking network: PATHS. Not a computer network

3. Defense attorney's concern: TRIAL DATE. "Concern" is such an odd word in this context, as it is how one makes his/her money.

4. Be paid to watch, as children: SIT FOR.

5. Prefix with -gram: ANA. No PANgrams lately.

6. Techie training site: PCLAB. Is it one or two words? Help please our experts.  LAB.  Clecho- 45D. Tech tutorials site: CNET.

7. Caroline Islands republic: PALAU. Following World War II, in 1947, under UN auspices as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the United States assumed administration of Palau. In 1982, Palau signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Palau gained its independence and established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1994.

8. Dost speak: SAYST. Bible talk.

9. Legendary Carthaginian general: HANNIBAL.

10. "You __ busted!": ARE SO.

11. Attach with string: TIE ON.

12. __ City, Iraq: SADR.

15. The Carpenters, for one: DUO.

18. Deep-water fish: OPAH.

20. More wicked, in Worcester: EVILLER. In British English, the "LL" is commonly used in words where Americans use a single "L." TRAVELLER comes to mind.

23. Touching competition?: EPEE.

27. Guacamole fruit: AVOCADO. One of the many fruit trees we have planted on our condo grounds, Of course, plating on common areas creates many conflicts.

28. Disease-stricken tree: ELM.

29. Face off: VIE.

31. Knee injury initials: ACL.Anterior Cruciate Ligament.

32. Key letter: PHI.

33. La preceder: SOL.

35. Long shot: DARK HORSE.

36. Coming-in hr., roughly: ETA.

37. Sales staff member: REP.

39. Romanov adherents: TSARISTS.

40. Lyricist Sammy: CAHN.



47. ER diagnostic tool: CT SCAN.

48. Bucks: MOOLA.

49. Sparkle: GLEAM.

51. Yellowish-brown: OCHER.

52. "Brideshead Revisited" novelist: WAUGH.

53. Assortment: ARRAY.

54. Thrill: ELATE. A classic C.C. word.

55. Unfamiliar with: NEW AT.

56. Sharable PC files: PDFS.

57. Brain and spinal cord: Abbr.: CNS. Central Nervous System

60. Saints' achievements: Abbr.: TDS. New Orleans' version scores touchdowns, none more prolific than Drew Brees

David Poole

Title: Austin Powers? LINK.

This is one of the rare puzzles where the write-up is harder than the puzzle. But before we go there, let's welcome back David P. (my second straight David constructor) who has his 52nd LAT publication here. He was the first constructor I wrote up when I switched to Fridays in 2010. I think this is my 11th DP puzzle. Like the most recent one published two years ago, I need to begin by sharing the reveal.

40A. Hotel room amenity ... or one of the configurations that resolve four puzzle answers: MINIBAR. In retrospect, this explained the missing "MINI" in 29A/30A and 47A/49A. 21A and 57A just fit with adding the "MINI."

21A. Cornerstone phrase: ANNO DO (MINI). Year of the Lord in Latin.

29A. In a humiliating way: IGNO (MINI) 30A. -: OUSLY. Literally.

47A. Resident at Ottawa's 24 Sussex Drive: PRIME (MINI) 49A. -: STER. The 10 Downing Street of Canada.

57A. Little versions: (MINI) ATURES. Literally.

With the limited number of theme letters, there is room for much long fill and some Friday challenge.
CATSPAW,  ENCORES, MARAUDS,  NOB HILL, CARL SAGAN, RED ALERTS, ALGORITHMIC, and ISOMORPHISM
So it is time to go to work.

Across:

1. Really big show: SMASH. What else comes to mind?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaW7Y-gTsw8

6. Sharp bark: YELP. This a very common clue/fill.

10. Software product with a cup-and-saucer logo: JAVA.

14. Addresses: TALKS. A commencement address for example.

15. Maintain: AVER. A favorite word of people who draft legal complaints.

16. Australian __: OPEN. Timely as the tennis is being played there now and the Williams sisters and the defending champion NAOMI OSAKA all lost in the first week. 

17. __ Marbles: historic sculptures: ELGIN. I did not know about this HISTORY. Though I know this ELGIN

18. Serious warnings: RED ALERTS. Why Red?  The phrase "Red Alert" comes from the naval tradition of "General Quarters" ("Action Stations" if you're British), where a ship prepares for battle. Much of the procedures are the same.

20. Narrow range: A TO B.

22. Plunders: MARAUDS. This is from the late 17th century: from French marauder, from maraud ‘rogue’.

24. Upper-class San Francisco area: NOB HILL.  HISTORY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTBFhKOYHMI

31. Old JFK lander: SST.

33. Takes pieces from?: UNARMS. Does he mean "Disarm" like taking a weapon or Aphrodite?

38. Beast hunted in Hercules' fourth labor: BOAR. I have a cute LINK that includes a Hercules crossword.

39. Can. sign letters: KPH. Kilometers Per Hour.

42. Fr. title: MME. The abbreviation for Mademoiselle. And the Spanish counterpart 69A. Span. titles: SRAS. Señoritas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-wqN2MXuCg

43. Arizona city: YUMA.

45. Horn of Africa native: SOMALI. It looks sort of like a Rhino horn, home to the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, whose cultures have been linked throughout their long history.

46. W. alliance since 1948: OAS. Organization of American States.  MEMBERS.

51. Added numbers: ENCORES.

54. Unwitting tool: CATSPAW. Derived they say from this FABLE. Later used by Mark Twain.

59. Smoothie seed: CHIA.

60. "Cosmos" presenter: CARL SAGAN. He was so much more.

64. Baker's tool: WHISK.

65. Mayberry moppet: OPIE. I love me some alliteration.

66. 1920s chief justice: TAFT. He went to the Supreme Court after his Presidency. HISTORY.

67. Binary pronoun: HE/SHE.

68. 2001 Microsoft debut: X-BOX.

70. Financial guru Suze: ORMAN. Anybody watch her lectures?

Down:

1. Cook, as bao buns: STEAM. If you are not familiar, this dish originated in  Northern China, where wheat, rather than rice was more prominently grown

2. Smallest European Union nation: MALTA. We are the closing agent for a transaction between a client and a company from Malta.

3. Like search engine ranking systems: ALGORITHMIC. A Friday word that is very relevant in your life now even if you do not know it. LEARN.

4. Winter luggage item: SKI BAG. I don't know much about this winter item as my skiing days are long over, but I was shocked/amused seeing this AD.

5. QVC sister station: HSN.

6. Tall tales: YARNS.

7. Tied: EVEN.

8. Deceived: LED ON.

9. Museum with Goyas: PRADO.

10. 10-Across: JOE. I love how wheeled the "J." WHY IS IT CALLED JOE?

11. Boston Marathon mo.: APR.

12. Boxer's fixer: VET. Doggie pun.

13. "Jeopardy!" ques., actually: ANS.

19. Timber wolf: LOBO.

21. Dreamboat: ADONIS.

23. One for the money?: UNUM. A Latin lesson from the dollar bill.

25. Center: HUB.

26. Type of mathematical equivalence: ISOMORPHISM. A shout out to our Mathematics whizzes, derives from the Greek iso, meaning "equal," and morphosis, meaning "to form" or "to shape." Formally, an isomorphism is bijective morphism. Informally, an isomorphism is a map that preserves sets and relations among elements. Easy, right?

27. Parent of a cria: LLAMA. Or a baby alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco.

28. Minstrel strings: LYRES.

31. FaceTime alternative: SKYPE.

32. Disdainfully reject: SPURN. Harsh, but it is time that you...

34. "I'll take that as __": A NO.

35. Canyon edge: RIM.

36. Wharton deg.: MBA.

37. Latin dances: SALSAS.

41. "Norma Rae" director: RITT. I now know this MAN's HISTORY.

44. Latin trio word: AMO. Amas, amat.

48. Jazz and Swing: ERAS.

50. Artist known for optical illusions: ESCHER. Maurits Cornelis Escher.

52. Les __-Unis: ETATS. USA.

53. 10-Down sweetener: SUGAR. The third reference for all of you who are drinking your coffee as you solve. I have my cup at hand.

54. Euro fractions: CENTS.

55. Tyler of "Criminal Minds": AISHA. Dr. Tara Lewis on the show. LINK.

56. Rouse: WAKEN.

58. Tennis nickname: RAFA. Nadal.

60. Crew chief: COX. A coxswain is also the helmsman of a racing crew, like a rowing crew in a competition. The swain part is from a word meaning "servant," and cox is from cok, meaning "a small boat."

61. PD heads-up: APB.

62. Kia subcompact: RIO.

63. Latin law: LEX. The translation and root word for Legal and many others. Or Superman rival Luthor.

64. Dr. Seuss' Cindy-Lou, e.g.: WHO. They lived in Whoville.