Theme: Wacky competitions. The first word of all the theme answers is given a different meaning re-associated with the group given in the clue. Question marks in the clues indicate that the meanings are not the usual ones.
17A. Competition for witches?: SPELLING BEE. Magic spells.
27A. Competition for entomologists?: CRICKET MATCH. Insect classifiers.
43A. Competition for pastors?: STEEPLE CHASE. A church tower. This race would be over quickly, they don't move very fast.
58A. Competition for painters?: ROLLER DERBY. A derby was first a horse race, started by the 12th Earl of Derby. The hats they wore to these social occasions were likely named after the race, as are other types of races that followed, such as roller, soap-box, and demolition.
Hi all, Al here. This write-up may be short due to a late start, because of a problem with Cruciverb. Had to wait two hours for the Fredricksburg puzzle to change online. This one seemed easier than yesterday (but fun, nice one, Doug and John, but is there a story to this collaboration?), only took me about 13 minutes, even with having to use my nemesis puzzle app. But I lost all that saved time by having to go through hoops to extract the text of the puzzle from a .sol format instead of .puz. Well, enough complaining (no disrespect meant to the puzzle itself), on with the show.
ACROSS:
6. Northwest Passage seeker: CABOT. Giovanni (John) Caboto. Not Buffy and Jody's butler on Family Affair.
11. Spy's eye, briefly: CAM. Camera.
14. Ancient Greek dialect: IONIC. The Iliad and the Odyssey were written in old Ionic.
15. Sheepish?: OVINE. Latin ovus = sheep.
16. Carry a balance: OWE.
19. "Move it!": NOW!
20. Churl: PEASANT. Freeman, man without rank. This form of the word also gives us the name Carl.
21. Prove pleasing: SIT WELL. Waiting for the puzzle didn't sit well with me.
23. prêt-à-porter monogram: YSL. Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. prêt-à-porter means ready to wear.
24. Nest egg segments, briefly: IRAS.
26. Not big bites: NIPS.
31. Churchill __: DOWNS. Home of the Kentucky Derby. They don't wear roller skates.
34. Brand that may cause brain freeze: ICEE.
35. "What have we here?!": OHO.
36. Words while anteing: I'M IN. Poker.
37. Brother of Moses: AARON.
39. Awestruck: AGOG.
40. Bridge turn: BID.
41. "First Lady of Song": ELLA. Fitzgerald.
42. Inside information?: X-RAYS. Another question mark clue, very punny.
47. R&B singer India.__: ARIE.
48. __ Sutra: KAMA. So little time, so much to read...
49. Some H.S. students: SRS. Seniors.
52. Bodybuilder's breakfast, maybe: RAW EGGS. I can't do it. I don't mind soft-boiled or poached, but the texture of completely raw is too much for me. Besides, the raw whites bind biotin, preventing it from being absorbed, so even though the yolk provides some, it's a net loss.
55. Nod off, in slang: ZONK OUT.
57. She played Bea in "Kill Bill": UMA. The Thurmanator. 1A. Cry of feigned innocence: WHO ME? (Bet you thought I skipped this clue earlier, right?)
60. With 29-Down, cabbage variety: BOK. Along with 29D. See 60-Across: CHOY.
61. Typeface type: ARIAL. Very plain, sans-serif (no flourishes), proportional font (smaller size letters like "i" take less width than a "w" would).
62. Agree to participate: OPT IN.
63. __ out: barely manage: EKE.
64. Some are urban: MYTHS. If someone tells or emails you something unbelievable, it probably is. These are always from a friend of a second-cousin's neighbor, or a guy from work has a friend who heard that... Check them out on Snopes.com before forwarding them on. And then don't forward them on.
65. Vampire's concern: STAKE.
DOWN:
1. Thin, as smoke: WISPY.
2. Signs of optimism: HOPES.
3. Hollywood dad or his acting daughter: O'NEAL. Ryan, Tatum.
4. Thickness measures: MILS. 1/1000 of an inch. Also an abbreviation for millions. Also a unit of angular measurement equal to 1⁄6400 of 360 degrees and used especially in artillery.
5. Cream puffs: ECLAIRS. This makes me hungry. To me they aren't the same thing though. Eclairs are long, have custard filling and are iced with chocolate. Cream puffs have whipped cream filling, are roundish in shape and are dusted with powdered sugar. Both can be made from the same dough however, choux pastry.
6. Source of cold comfort?: CONTAC. Over The Counter, non-perscription "medicine" brand name.
7. Batter's fig.: AVG. Wanted RBI here.
8. They hang in seafood restaurants: BIBS. Good one.
9. Not a good shot: ONE IN TEN.
10. Links appointment: TEE TIME. Golf.
11. Pre-railroad transport: CONESTOGA. Deja vu with this answer.
12. Missing in the mil.: AWOL. Absent without leave.
13. Little cry: MEWL.
18. Cross letters: INRI. Iesus Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm, Latin for Jesus Christ, king of the Jews
22. New Deal prog.: WPA. Works Progress Administration.
25. Aspen rooftop sight: SKI RACK.
27. 1980 Turner launch: CNN.
28. Natural prefix: ECO. Ecological.
30. Big bikes: HOGS. Harley Davidson cycles.
31. "Mine!": DIBS.
32. Leave out: OMIT.
33. Not nodding: WIDE AWAKE.
37. "The Tortoise and the Hare," for one: ALLEGORY. Figurative language, description of one thing under the image of another. A form of linguistic analogy. Others: exemplification, comparisons, metaphors, similes, and parables
38. Sam Adams, maybe: ALE. That will go well to wash down my eclair. (kidding).
39. "We __ the Champions": ARE. I'll spare you the Freddy Mercury (Queen) video.
41. Bon mot: EPIGRAM. A brief, clever memorable statement: To be safe on the Fourth, Don't buy a fifth on the third.— James H Muehlbauer
42. Playbook symbols: X'S AND O'S. Sports diagram starting positions.
44. Poetic preposition: ERE.
45. Shrubs with edible nuts: HAZELS.
46. Latin love: AMOR.
49. To some extent, colloquially: SORTA.
50. Hexahedral puzzle inventor: RUBIK. The cube.
51. "Gypsy" composer: STYNE. Jule. Also composed music for Funny Girl.
52. Yahoo: RUBE. Shortened form of Rueben, a typical country man's name. Well, back in the 1800's, maybe.
53. Bad way to run: AMOK.
54. Thin opening: SLIT.
56. Didn't surrender: KEPT.
59. "Well, __-di-dah": LAH.
Answer Grid
Al
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