Theme: "I'm puzzled and have some cross words for you." revealed in 64A. Where this grid's starred answers' ends have particular relevance: ON THE PUZZLE PAGE.
17. *Stand firm: PUT ONES FOOT DOWN.
29. *Find by chance: COME ACROSS.
37. *Utility company network: POWER GRID.
49. *1990s-2000s kids' show starring a pooch named for its color: BLUE'S CLUES. A blue spotted (female) puppy assists Steve, a minimalist artist, solve mysteries with the help of other animated friends.
Hi all, Al here.
Pretty straight forward theme answers, lots of 7 and 8 letter answers, and more than a few abbrevs to balance that out. Just about right for a Thursday, I'd say.
ACROSS:
1. The Bob Hope Classic component and others: PRO-AMS. Professional-Amateur sporting events, in this instance, golf.
7. Privately, to a lawyer: IN CAMERA. Latin for "in chamber", as a judge would have.
15. Like some Egyptian churches: COPTIC. Early followers of Christianity.
16. Robin's band: MERRY MEN. My favorite take on the story was Robin and the Seven Hoods starring the Rat Pack.
19. Writer de Beauvoir: SIMONE. I have no idea why I knew this name, but I just typed it in without thinking. Maybe it came up in an episode of Home Improvement or something...
20. Amiable: SWEET. Amiable music.
21. PIN requester: ATM. A new twisty clue, too bad it had to be all in caps.
22. European capital: RIGA. Capital of Latvia. I put in EURO right away and thought I was being clever to see through the clue.
24. 1871 Cairo premiere: AIDA. An opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green), who did not attend the premiere and was not happy that none of the attendees there were members of the general public.
27. Latin god: DEUS. Literally.
33. Own up to: ADMIT. Confess.
35. Pierre's peeper: OEIL. French for eye.
36. Eastern theater genre: NOH. Nōgaku is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles.
41. Fig leaf's outer edges?: EFS. Fig leaF
44. iPod model: NANO. I'm sure these are designed for children with small fingers.
45. Surprise at the door: POP IN. This is seriously bent.
53. Rowlands of "Gloria": GENA. Virgina Cathryn Rowlands. Born in Madison, Wi. The only movie I've seen her in was Paulie, a picaresque (didn't we just have this word?) tale about a parrot, which also starred Tony Shaloub, who coincidentally was born and raised in Green Bay. Yes, it was a green and yellow parrot.
54. Gets free, as a smoke: BUMS. As Nice Cuppa might say, "bums a fag".
55. Flub: SLIP. Related word: slime, which also in turn gives us potter's clay, which is also called slip.
57. Highest power?: NTH.
58. One in a cast: ACTOR. Wrist? Thumb? What other 5-letter part can be broken?
62. Conceive: IDEATE.
68. Woo, in a way: SERENADE. From Italian serenata "an evening song," literally "calm sky," from sereno "the open air," noun use of sereno "clear, calm," from Latin serenus "peaceful, calm, serene." Sense influenced by Italian sera "evening".
69. Tied: EVENED. Verb form. I had EVEN UP at first.
70. Snuck up on, perhaps: STARTLED. Not completely the same thing, but the clue does only say "perhaps".
71. Ritual repasts: SEDERS. Passover meals. (I hope I got that right).
DOWN:
1. Angel dust, briefly: PCP. 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine, shortened to phencyclidine. Related to dextromethorphan, which is what you get in some cough syrups. Now you know why they tell you not to operate heavy equipment...
2. Caused to get up: ROUSTED. Rouse, a hawking term of obscure origin was originally used of hawks shaking their body feathers.
3. Best: OPTIMUM. From a form of Latin "optimus". Related: optimism, to think the best of.
4. Unit quantified in a subscript: ATOM. As in chemical formulas: H2O (water) or C5H12 found in 46D. Compound used as a lab solvent: PENTANE. A five carbon chain. Organic chemistry, not organic farming...
5. Secondary: MINOR. Latin for smaller. Smallest (minimus), gives us minimum.
6. Having lovely panoramas: SCENIC. Equal rights pics, one for each.
7. "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds" fictional spy org.: IMF. Impossible Missions Force, Mission Impossible.
8. Modernists: NEOS. Greek prefix for new.
9. Gloat: CROW. Old English: crawian "make a loud noise" the sense of "exult in triumph" is perhaps in part because the English crow is a carrion-eater, that is, feeding on the "dead" opponent.
10. Johnson of "Laugh-In": ARTE.
11. "Frankly, __ ...": MY DEAR.
12. Poker face's lack: EMOTION. From Latin ex- movere: "to move".
13. VCR's "Go back": REW.
14. Abby's twin: ANN. Ann Landers, Abigail Van Buren.
18. Bell-shaped lily: SEGO.
21. Oklahoma city: ADA. Birthplace of Oral Roberts...
23. Lovey-dovey: AMOROUS.
25. British mil. honor: DSO. Distinguished Service Order.
26. Resilient wood: ASH.
28. Nurse: SIP.
30. Data for a neurologist, briefly: EEG. Electroencephalography
31. Broadcast: AIR.
32. Hair holder: CLIP.
34. Loads: TONS.
38. WWII female: WAC. Women's Army Corps.
39. It usually shows more detail: Abbr.: ENL. Enlargement. Just fill it in and move on.
40. Follow closely: DOG.
41. Wane: EBB.
42. Swine __: FLU. Don't get me started...
43. Indonesian island: SUMATRA.
47. Two, for one: INTEGER. Directly from Latin in- tangere, meaning not touched, whole. Related word: intact.
48. "Never mind": NAH. Something along the lines of "slangy" would have helped.
50. Artist known for spatial impossibilities: ESCHER. Maurits Cornelis (M. C.)
51. Part of QE2: Abbr.: ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. Now, just sitting in Dubai.
52. Walks like a crab: SIDLES. Sideways motion.
56. Irk: PEEVE. I kept reading this clue as ink.
59. Big top, for one: TENT.
60. Official gem of South Australia: OPAL. Really an abundance of a straight-forward clue...
61. Brusque: RUDE. From French brusque: "lively, fierce".
63. Mimicked: APED. To mimic is "of or related to mimes". Can't say I ever saw an ape try to get out of an invisible box.
64. CIA predecessor: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, wartime intelligence.
65. Safety device: NET.
66. The London Zoo has one: ZED. British for ZEE.
67. Ms. evaluators: EDS. Manuscripts, editors.
Puzzle Grid
Al
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