Jeffrey

 Title: We must eliminate CR gas (dibenzoxazepine).

Once again I am blogging a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle. (Thank you Moe for graciously offering to let me blog the April 2 and you would blog the the 9th and 16th so we would be on schedule for sharing the duties 50/50) and it turned out the 23rd is another JW).

Also, like last time, I am assigning a meaningful title to the puzzle, whether intended or not, because if you know of the risks of CR TEAR GAS  which is 10 times stronger than the original tear gas, you will understand the importance of a ban. I am very much against violence. Particularly if the often irreverent, sometimes entertaining comments offend and you want to beat the crap out of me. Back to real entertainment, as Jeffrey has removed the bigram - CR - from the beginning of four/five in the language phrases and the resultant phrases are clued to amuse. There are none better at this style. Once again to meet the creative need, Jeffrey uses a non-square grid this time 15 columns by 16 rows. I guess that the extra row was the result of double themers in the middle, but that is just a guess. This lead to a plethora of 5 and 6 letter fill and left the theme fill as the only long word or phrases. Which means it is time...

15A. Judicious use of an Egyptian goddess?:  {CR}ISIS MANAGEMENT  (14). I am not sure how you "use" a goddess but she was an interesting deity, the daughter of GEB and NUT.

20. Source of some cruise ship beer?:  {CR}AFT BREWERY (10). I think there are actual ships with breweries on board. CARNIVAL VISTA.

35A. With 40-Across, good advice for correcting a manuscript?: {CR}EDIT WHERE (9).

40A. See 35-Across:  {CR}EDIT IS DUE (9). Giving credit where credit is due. 

52A. What a theater hopes its "Bus Stop" revival will be?:  {CR}INGE WORTHY (10). William Motter Inge the author of BUS STOP was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, including PICNIC, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

58A. Audiophile's flat, say?: {CR}AMPED APARTMENT (14) Now that the theme is out there, I am amped to get to the rest, so away we go. 

Across:

1. Opening for recorded music: CD-SLOT. I hear the grumbling already when 1A is not simple. (Sorry D-O). The term seems clunky but it has about 76,200,000 results from Google. 

7. Pass: ELAPSE. Time, oh good good time

13. Placid: SERENE. Hopefully while the time passes.

14. Cheese-making sites: DAIRIES. Yes, you need milk.

                                  

17. In concert: AS ONE. We acted together.

18. Scott who played Danno on "Hawaii Five-0": CAAN. Son of James Caan this 5'5" actor has made his own way in Hollywood.

25. Caesar's last gasp: ET TU. I should have et only one.

26. Most exposed: BAREST. Maybe like THIS?

27. Like microbes, before microscopes: UNSEEN. Sneaky little guys.

29. Lover of Aphrodite: ARES. The war god; she was the ISIS of her people.

30. 39.37 inches, in Ipswich: METRE. Where are the Duke and Duchess hiding? SUFFOLK COUNTY. 

33. Really enjoy: SAVOR. No dinosaur but LINK.

42. Some brass: TUBAS. Don't confues them with the SOUSAPHONE.  

43. Frisbees, e.g.: DISCS. Do you remember the PLUTO PLATTER? Growing up in Connecticut I knew that the Frisbee's name is a spin-off from a defunct Connecticut bakery, Frisbie Pie Co. New England college students often tossed empty pie tins around for fun, a habit that led them to refer to the Pluto Platter as a "frisbie."

44. Salon supply: GELS. Not for me.

45. One on a regimen, perhaps: DIETER. Or maybe a PILOT.

49. Mountain guide: SHERPA. A clear CSO to C.C. and her affectionate appellation for us.

51. Cornerstone word: ANNO. Latin year placed in building cornerstones. 

56. Evidence of surgery: SCAR.

57. Soffits are under them: EAVES. 

65. Big 12 rival of the Longhorns: SOONERS. Texas and Oklahoma.

66. Knowledgeable (in): VERSED. OKL is well versed along with others here.

67. Indications of humanity?: ERRORS. Who said "to err is human, to forgive divine" ? Answer below if I remember. 

68. Upper crust groups: ELITES. 

Down:

1. Franchise whose opening themes are songs by The Who: CSI.

2. Paris' Rue __ Martyrs: DES. Street of martyrs

3. Indian honorific: SRI. Not Indian but a Hindu honorific, do you think it is related to 41D. "Hey" assistant: SIRI?

4. Guitarist Paul: LES. Mr. Electric Guitar

5. Where Mark Watney was stranded for about 560 sols, in a 2015 film: ON MARS. Played by Matt Damon. Interesting movie.

6. Wonderland service: TEA SET.

7. Raring to go: EAGER.

8. Rest: LIE. 

9. Tentacle analog: ARM. Back in the day my young female friends would complain that their date was like and octopus.

10. Fragments: PIECES.

11. Law group: SENATE. Oddly this was hard.

12. Passed-down property: ESTATE. A common misconception.

14. Kierkegaard, e.g.: DANE. Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (b. 1813, d. 1855) was a profound and prolific writer in the Danish “golden age” of intellectual and artistic activity. I kept trying to find a 4 letter word that meant philosopher. Eventually after rejecting many incorrect 4 letter words of frustration, the correct one surfaced.

16. "Get on it!": NOW. Make it so!

19. Field role of early TV: NUN. Silly Sally role.

20. Demean: ABASE.

21. Capacitance unit: FARAD. Named after Michael Faraday, thisis the SI unit of electrical capacitance, equal to the capacitance of a capacitor in which one coulomb of charge causes a potential difference of one volt. Huh?

22. Roman fountain: TREVI. Much nicer than the one by our pool.

23. Stupefy: BESOT.

24. Nomadic shelter: YURT. 

28. Mature eft: NEWT. Cute reversal clue/fill. 

30. Just what the doctor ordered: MEDS. Nice!

31. U.S. Cabinet-level dept.: EDUC.

32. Family __: TIES. Poor Michael J. Fox, from Teen Wolf to physical struggles.

34. Theme park offering: RIDE. Charging a $100.00+ per day, sounds like being taken for a ride.

36. More vast: HUGER.

37. "The Great Movies" series author: EBERT.  His OBITUARY.

38. Actor Fiennes: RALPH. Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. See 30A if you do not believe how much thought goes into finding entertaining fill.

39. One of ten in Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son": ESSAY. A book I found profoundly moving while in college, and now, in my dotage I ponder his words as I observe the division in our people. “You can not describe anything without betraying your point of view, your aspirations, your fears, your hopes. Everything.” This may be what keeps us apart.

45. Court figs.: DAS. District Attorneys.

46. If: IN CASE. My little Georgia boys learned "for case."

47. Captivate: ENAMOR. 'N AMOR? The Submariner?

48. Lethargy: TORPOR."lethargy, listlessness," c. 1600, from Latin torpor "numbness, sluggishness," from torpere "be numb, be inactive, be dull" (from PIE root *ster- (1) "stiff").

49. Sharp turn: SWERVE. Onomotopoeia? LIST. I left out the fifth O until the final run through.

50. Hiker's stopover: HOSTEL.

53. Gets closer to: NEARS. Relax, I am almost done.

54. Openings: GAPS.

55. Mendes of fashion: EVA.  To SPANK or not?

59. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO. ENOugh is ENOugh!

60. "__ Rosenkavalier": DER. Literally the red knight (Spitzboov?) a complcated OPERA with Strauss' music.

61. CT scan relative: MRI. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Mine for later today has been canceled as the blood work showing my levels for Bun and Creatinine was not reported in writing.

62. January Ga. hours: EST. Eastern Standard Time.

63. Previously called: NÉE. Only if you are a female; so many languages are gender specific. Does that make it harder for the new generations?

64. NFL scores: TDS. Or FGS.

JW

 Title: Bite the bullet, it's over

Today we have a strong moralistic puzzle from Jeffrey that uses his writing mentor, Will Shakespeare, as the inspiration for this self-contained sermon. After Macbeth kills King Duncan for his wife, she tries to soothe him with, "Things without all remedy Should be without regard: what's done, is done." This is never as easy to do as to say, but JW comes up with a theme that fell into place (I would guess) when he realized that -what's done is done- is exactly 15 letters long. That has occurred to a few other constructors, but none used Jeffrey's approach. Where we get his unique style is gridding this as a 15x16 puzzle, a tall order by any measure. This choice allows him to insert 4 great fill BLOW A FUSE, HEARTACHE, MANIFESTO and ON HIS BACK. To me it elevates the whole experience.

The themers:

17A. "Take my advice: no use crying over spilled milk ... ": WHAT'S DONE IS DONE (15). Especially if you have a cat or dog that will happily lap it up.

34A. With 36-Across, "There's no going back ... ": YOU CANT (7). 36A. See 34-Across: CHANGE THE PAST (13). The eternal question of the space-time continuum.

48A. "Put everything behind you ... ": FORGET ABOUT IT (13). Said with an accent and feeling, an anthem for mobsters.

61A. "And look ahead.": IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON (15). Which thoughtfully is the perfect segue to discussing the rest of the puzzle. Let us repair to the minutia.

Across:

1. Honshu drama: NOH. Kan'ami and his son Zeami started this ART FORM in the 14th century.

4. Words before a recap: AS I SAID. Very often by bosses, teachers, and parents to those they control.

11. Audi rival: BMW. We have many cars lately.

14. Boise-to-Billings dir.: ENE. Standard-fill for a puzzle, but who really cares.

15. "Raging Bull" boxer: LAMOTTA. He was a brawler who fought the best and won half of the  time.

16. Infamous Vietnam War site, My __: LAI. If you can bear the ignominy, the horror, and the pictures. The LINK.

20. Compact part: MIRROR. It was the key to the Guardian solving a mystery on the LIBRARIANS.

 

21. Greet warmly: SHOW IN. I guess this depends on how effusively you greet your guest.

22. Spumante source: ASTI. The bubbly faux champagne region in Italy. Moe can provide much more information.

23. PC core: CPU. 

26. Spot to get a bite on the street: CAFE. Especially if there are many mosquitoes around.

27. Rockets' org.: NBA.

28. Low cloud: STRATUS. Didn't I do clouds last week?

32. Two-__: half-price opportunity: FER. Here we do the BOGO.

33. Pouch: SAC.  Very important in the insect world,

35. Ship letters: USS. United States Ship (abbreviated as USS or U.S.S.) is a ship prefix used to identify a commissioned ship of the United States Navy and applies to a ship only while it is in commission.

39. Brewery vessel: KEG. Not to be confused with vestal. 

40. Celestial feline: LEO. We have one of our own, welcome.

41. Snoots put them on: AIRS. Nice clue/fill- to give oneself airs: to assume an unnatural or affected manner, esp. an unjustified air of superiority. 1701 T. Baker Humour of Age ii. 29 

45. Other, in Oaxaca: OTRO. Or otra.

53. Sigma follower: TAU. Learn the alphabet for Greek? You need many alphabets and more to communicate. LINK.

54. Shorebirds related to stilts: AVOCETS. 

55. Crux: NUB. 

57. Cards: WITS.

59. Up on the latest: AWARE.

60. Sax type: ALTO.

64. Force featured on "Bosch," for short: THE LAPD. Los Angeles Polic Department is home to many shows.

65. "So close!": NICE TRY.

66. Oodles: TONS.

67. They often take turns: CARS.

Down:

1. __ Own Organics: NEWMAN'S. Paul, may he rest in peace.

2. Where "The Man With the Hoe" carried the world, in an Edwin Markham poem: ON HIS BACK.  

                               

                                  The Man With the Hoe

3. Great sadness: HEARTACHE.  I don't do dinosaurs... heartache; agony, bitterness, despair, grief, heartbreak, misery, pang. sadness, suffering, torment, affliction, dejection, depression, despondency, distress, dolor, hurting, remorse, torture, etc. I do rely on 28D. Roget entry: Abbr.: SYNonym.

4. Plus: ALSO.

5. Iraq's __ City: SADR. Some recent HISTORY.

6. Brief "I think": IMO. In My Opinion

7. Oceanus, to Gaia: SON. So many myths, so many THEORIES.

8. Snacked: ATE.

9. "How sweet __!": IT IS. 

10. Sprint: DASH.

11. Lose it: BLOW A FUSE. The expression blow a fuse came into use in the early twentieth century and is related to the use of electricity in the average home. A fuse protects an electrical item from a sudden surge of electricity that may start a fire.

12. Public policy declaration: MANIFESTO. This is a public declaration of policy and aims, usually in writing, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.

13. Cookout fare: WIENERS. Oddly this nickname for sausages in a bun came from the image of dachshunds.

18. One less than tetra-: TRI. 4 to 3.

19. OB or ENT: DOC. Obstetrician and Ear Nose and Throat.

23. Rock's Mötley __: CRUE. A very successful 80's band that AXE toured with during the 80s before one of the band's guitarists got killed in a car accident.

24. Formal agreement: PACT.

25. Four Corners state: UTAH. Naturally there are FOUR of them

29. Dress, with "up": TOG.

30. Le Monde article: UNE. Just French.

31. Auto additive with a red oval logo: STP. Andy Granatelli and Mario Andretti

37. Seaweed product: AGAR. The SCIENCE.

38. Quite often: A LOT.

42. Supermarket chain with a red oval logo: IGA. It did not start out that way. 1960 vesrion...

43. Overhauls: REVAMPS.

44. Put away: STOWED.

45. Titania's husband: OBERON. A tiny bit of Will Shakespeare.

46. Serving as a symbol: TOTEMIC. Totem is a fun word, making it and adjective is...creative?

47. Fin. neighbor: RUS. Finland and Russia.

48. Loyalty: FAITH. 

49. Start: OUTSET.

50. "Human beings ... may hide their feelings, but __ does not": Hemingway: A CAT. This is such a wonderful quotation and so apt here where we have our coterie of cat connessieurs like HG. I can visualize Lily agreeing.

51. Fjords, e.g.: INLETS. Back to Scandanavia.

52. Teach privately: TUTOR.

53. Foolish sort: TWIT.

56. Superskinny: BONY.  My choice...

58. Battle of Normandy town: STLO. This has appeared hundreds of times in the major puzzles since it was first used in 1953, including last Friday.

60. Claim: AVER. Law word, silly.

62. Actor McKellen: IAN. A wonderful actor and best friends with another...

63. Andean root vegetable: OCA. Don't you want to learn to GROW THEM?