Title: Help, I have a DOC sticking up from my side! Is he covered by medicare?
I am back and so is Jeffrey for another Friday this time with a visual theme that is very creative but not always appreciated here at the Corner. And frankly, not immediately apparent to me even after writing up so many of his efforts. My first notion was the removal od the letter OC from each of the long fill. That really made no sense with the reveal. I also had fixated on the down fill starting with COD.
Going back to look at the grid, it is obvious these two concepts interesect. Add to the never accidental use of the word UP, the reference to "direction" and the theme jumps out. You can see the words pivoting on the D.
It features three themers and a reveal leaving much room for other sparkly fill - RESEALS, ATTUNES TO, ENEMY LINE, LAUNCHPAD, OVERUNDER REST MODES and WORRISOME. To make his reveal work, he pairs three long across fill with three appropriate down fill which I will put together to finish the explanation.
Themer 1:
17A. *Guide for Smithsonian visitors, say: MUSEUM DOCENT.(10). Is DOCENT a known word? Paired with: 9D. Indulge: CODDLE. This is the up DOC to which the reveal refers, as each long theme answer has DOC sticking out and going up.
Themer 2:
22A. *Ken Burns specialty: DOCUMENTARY FILM (13). KEN is quite famous for his work. His CIVIL WAR and Baseball films are great. This is paired with: 16D. Eccentric old guys: CODGERS. My hand is up not down the front of my pants. The second of the reverse DOC going up.
Themer 3:
Now we are ready for the rest of the story:
Across:
4. Dred Scott decision Chief Justice: TANEY. Even after C.C. foreshadowed this very famous and awful decision by the SCOTUS, it took my brain too long to pull out the name of this controversial man who served for 28 years. Incidentally, he was from Maryland and a Roman Catholic. Remind anybody of anybody? JK Bill.
9. Leg section: CALF. I never thought of ordering a thigh and a calf.
13. Two-digit sign: VEE. For victory.
14. Thrifty to begin with?: ECONO. A well worn prefix for inexpensive.
15. Central Plains tribe: OTOE. Many Os to begin this puzzles; this LINK is a glance at this word's xword history.
16. "__ la vie": C'EST. A very French phrase which can used in many different situations, from Frank Sinatra's THAT's LIFE to
20. Hardly libertine: PRIM. I stumbled for a bit when I put in PRIG.
21. Pithy saying: ADAGE. Pithy goes back to the 1300s, "strong, vigorous," from pith meaning "full of substance or significance" is from 1520s.
26. Fairy tale figures: GNOMES. In modern times they are lawn ornaments. Or a famous song, gnome, gnome on the range where the hobbits and the orcs do roam. The Online Etymology Dictionary LISTING for GNOME.
27. Mother __: LODE. Lucy is it likely this is a translation of Mexican Spanish veta madre, a name given to rich silver veins?
28. Money with hits: EDDIE. This is funny Money. He left us in 2019.
29. Retreats: LAIRS. From Roget. SYNONYMS.
31. Word with bonds or games: WAR. An all too real reference today.
34. Line holder: REEL. Fishing line.
35. Barely detectable: FAINT. The magic clue that solves the crime is often...
36. Tiny particle: MOTE. Likely from Dutch mot "dust from turf, sawdust, grit."
37. Future H.S. grads, probably: SRS. Seniors, hopefully.
38. Volcanic eruption sight: PLUME.
39. Nested supermarket array: CARTS. I never thought of them as nested.
40. Nana: GRAN. Sunday, C.C. added Nai nai.
41. "Amen to that!": SO TRUE.
45. Earth's volume?: ATLAS. Ha ha, a book- a volume about Earth. I like it.
47. Mandlikova of '80s tennis: HANA. She will always be remembered with NAVRATILOVA. Hana's MEMORIES.
48. Mexican pinch?: SEL. More Mexico, this time the Spanish word for salt.
51. Office figure: BOSS. Often just a figurehead. Can you name them all? They have become...
52. Legends and such: LORE. We have had this word often lately.
53. Cloth-dyeing method: BATIK. I was dying to think of a pun but could not.
54. Pro using a siren, perhaps: EMT. Emeregency Medical Technician. Do all the drivers get licensed? I guess if not they would be...
55. Went after, in a way: SUED. IMO, the court system has become unwieldly and too expensive.
56. Objects of worship: IDOLS. As long as they are not GRAVEN? I guess photos are fine.
57. Earth opening?: GEO. Fun clue for the word that derived from the Greek, gē earth, covering everything from GEODISIC domes to GEOMETRY. Also a nice way to end part I.
Down:
1. With 3-Down, sportsbook option based on the final score: OVERUNDER. 3D. See 1-Down: BET. This based on total points scored by both winning and losing teams and with it is greater than or less than. An important part of parlay betting.
4. What a siren does: TEMPTS. An A-LIST of sirens. A deliberate use of siren (54A) and its other meaning.
5. Lexus competitor: ACURA. Honda's luxury car.
6. Polite denial: NO SIR. Yes sir. No Ma'am, yes ma'am.
7. Combat demarcation point: ENEMY LINE. Behind Enemy Lines is the name of a few movies, as well as the plot.
8. "__ busy?": YOU. You know I am, we all work hard of these write-ups. Geez, Louise!
10. Starting players: A-TEAM. See 4D.
11. Sleep-inducing, maybe, as a lecture: LONG. I had trouble with this as it seemed too easy.
12. Fancy party: FETE. Not a gala, or a ball.
18. "Downton Abbey" personnel: MAIDS.
23. Man's name that becomes a measurement when one letter is moved: EMIL. MILE. I wonder if that is how Miley Cyrus got her name?
24. Once called: NÉE. Miley was born DESTINY HOPE CYRUS.
25. The Alamo, e.g.: FORT. Another deceptively simple clue/fill.
29. Starting point of many modern missions: LAUNCH PAD. A timely CSO to Husker Gary who I signed up for a future Blue Origin launch as a birthday surprise.
30. Intention: AIM. It was intention to fulfill his dream of looking down on all Earth.
31. Unsettling: WORRISOME. I hope Joann does not find it...
32. Puts in sync with: ATTUNES TO. Doing my part to improve your life here are my tips in a romantic relationship:
35. Rich dessert: FLAN. Where does Flan make its money? It is just custard, sort of. Speaking of which, there is a wiki sight English words suffixed with -tard
36. Subject with shapes: MATH. I prefer ART.
38. First Amendment concern: PRESS. Freedom thereof...
40. Like Romano, often: GRATED. I have watched Everybody Loves Raymond a few times and thought he played a very irritating character, but he did not grate on my nerves.
41. Chips, say: SNACKS. Unless you are in Great Britain.
42. Emergency device: FLARE. Not to be confused with FLAIR, though both can be quite dramatic.
43. Couldn't not: HAD TO. The old double negative manuever.
44. How tuna may be packed: IN OIL. Or water, but not both at the same time for oils are hydrophobic (not homophobic) or “water fearing.” Instead of being attracted to water molecules, oil molecules are repelled by them.
45. Hole makers: AWLS. Almost a Shakespeare quote, AWLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
46. "O Julius Caesar, __ art mighty yet!": Brutus: THOU. This quote is uttered by Marcus Brutus as he stands over the dead bodies of Cassius and Titinius, another soldier who was fighting to kill Caesar. Brutus is suggesting even dead JC was able to bring retribution to the conspirators. And JW gets to bring us a quote from Act V, Scene 3.
50. Where, to Brutus: UBI. Just the Latin for where, you are not his chariot driver. As most of us who studied Latin for years, the fake phrase SEMPER UBI, SUB UBI was always good for a laugh.
51. Entreat: BEG. They did not beg for their lives but all committed suicide. Is suicide a cowardly act? Are you begging for mercy to be done with ths write-up? You win, Lemonade has left the building beaten and exhausted once more ridden around the mind of Jeffrey Wechsler at dizzying speeds needing to step back, regroup and soldier on.
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