I pulled out 28D ” _, James _”: BOND because as Calah and I have been going through the Bond movies in order, we saw one where James Bond went under the pseudonym James Stock. I found that to be very funny, especially as said by Roger Moore. Still my opinion is that Pierce Brosnan is the worst James Bond. Sean Connery is the best.
Theme!
17A Teenage military leader canonized in 1920: JOANOFARC -> JOANOFARC. 21A Not inclined to reveal one’s feelings: RETICENT -> RETICENT.
40A Insignificant amount … or hint to this puzzle’s shaded squares: ADROPINTHEOCEAN -> ADROPINTHEOCEAN. 45A Actress Rigg of “The Avengers”: DIANA -> DIANA.
58A Big-dollar election-influencing grp.: SUPERPAC -> SUPERPAC. 64A “Tell someone who gives a hoot”: ASIFICARE -> ASIFICARE.
I pulled out 78D Upscale watch brand: CITIZEN because I bought a broken Citizen watch a few months ago to try to fix it. It’s a Railroad Approved watch with a 1400 movement. I took it to a local watchmaker to see what it would take to fix it. He returned it to me with a new crystal but said that after he had replaced the crystal he found that the watch was irreparable. I figured there was no loss in me trying to fix it as my first-ever DIY watch repair. It seemed like the stem couldn’t be pushed all the way in, which was why twisting the crown changed the date and day. Maybe cleaning out some stickiness would yield a favorable result?
When I opened it up, I saw the battery loose inside. After a lot of studying it and wondering, I thought maybe there was a piece missing that made contact with the back of the battery. I went to reddit to ask.
A redditor agreed that there was a piece missing that held the battery in place and shared with me the technical manual for the movement.
So I went back to the internet to find that piece.
It’s long out of production, so I looked at ebay and saw another broken watch that has the same movement. I messaged the seller to ask if the piece that was missing from my watch was there, and it was! There were many pieces missing from this ebay watch, but the one I cared about was there.
I popped in that piece, and the second hand started moving! Hooray!
The title of this puzzle is Playing the Hits.
23A THE LADY VANI_ _ _ _ (#2, 1964): SHESNOTTHERE.
29A BILLE (#3, 1972): ILLBEAROUND.
36A x0 (#1, 1985): THEPOWEROFLOVE.
60A VAUDEVILLIAN (#2, 1988): DEVILINSIDE.
71A LOST, E.G. (#1, 1984): LETSGOCRAZY.
93A CHAN_E PPEA_ANCE TO CONCEA _ D MISLEA (#1, 1968): JUDYINDISGUISE.
I pulled out 17A Sympathetic response to dissent: IHEARYOU probably because that’s Sam Ezersky’s refrain every time someone sends a reasonable request to include a word in the Spelling Bee. Like DUDETTE, HORCHATA, ALEE, MOLAL, RAABIDFUN.
Does he ever change? No.
No theme for this Saturday puzzle. Why didn’t Ezersky make a theme?! He should have made a theme.
I pulled out 30A Modern source of juice: WIRELESSCHARGER because my Google Pixel 3 has been on the fritz, and I wanted to get the 5A when it was on sale, but I rely on wireless charging. So now I still have a janky phone with no reasonable replacement.
I pulled out 18A _ pan (kitchen utensil): OMELET because I posted a recipe the other day for what really is just an omelet between two slices of bread and promised pictures. Well, here they are!
Theme!
32A 2003 Pixar animated adventure: THEYFOUNDNEMO. (Finding Nemo) 40A 2004 Quentin Tarantino martial arts film: SHEKILLEDBILL. (Kill Bill Vol. 2) 52A 1993 Warner Bros. family drama: HEFREEDWILLY. (Free Willy)
20A Important warning before you answer 32-, 40- and 52-Across?: SPOILERALERT. That’s why I put the notice in the title of the blog and make sure the grid isn’t visible in the preview.
I pulled out 1A End of a dorm name, usually: HALL because that was not my dorm in college, so it took me a little longer than it should have. While UCSB had a lot of dorms whose name ended that way, I lived in Manzanita Village. I think it had the number of residents of a normal dorm, but what would have been individual floors of a big building were houses of smaller buildings. Each floor-equivalent was 3-4 stories tall. I lived in Jalama House in a single-occupancy room with an ocean view and soundtrack.
Theme!
17A “A Fish Called Wanda” co-star [7,9]: KEVINKLINE. 26A A total blast [8,1]: GREATFUN. 40A Purple Heart honoree, maybe [4,0]: WARHERO. 51A Eschew scuba gear, say [3,5]: FREEDIVE. 64A Some poster-making supplies [2,6]: GLUESTICKS.
46D Like 17-, 26-, 40-, 51- and 64-Across, with respect to the numbers in their clues: RHYMING.
Oh, I just got it.
17A SEVEN NINE KEVIN KLINE 26A EIGHT ONE GREAT FUN 40A FOUR ZERO WAR HERO 51A THREE FIVE FREE DIVE 64A TWO SIX GLUE STICKS
I pulled out 27D “Can we talk privately?”: AREYOUALONE because it made me think of what could be a terrible pickup line at a bar for a mortgage broker: “Can I get you a loan?” Awful and creepy. Anyway, remember going to bars? Yeah, so do I. I haven’t been to a bar since last year. Friends of mine keep getting covid, and it’s like oh snap. Stop it with the covid already, you know?! I wanna go do fun stuff again without seeing new record hospitalizations on the regular.
Theme!
17A With 18-Across, Emmy-winning “Ugly Betty” actress: AMERICA FERRERA. Also was very good in Superstore. 23D Oscar-winning director of “Get Out”: JORDANPEELE.
36D Grammy-winning singer of “Little Things”: INDIAARIE.
26D Grand Ole Opry performer … or a hint to 17-/18-Across and 23- and 36-Down: COUNTRYSTAR. Because they’re celebrities whose first names are countries. Good one, Ross!
I pulled out 3D Perennial embarrassments for teens: PARENTS because today would have been my grandfather’s birthday. He passed away back in 2014, but he would have turned 99 today. He made custom kitchens in his sheet metal shop in Los Angeles, and I have a table that he made out of butcher block scrap that was excess from a butcher block countertop build and a stainless steel base he welded together.
Theme!
17A Where to get one’s Kix?: CEREALBOWL. 25A Singer/songwriter nicknamed “Piano Man”: BILLYJOEL. 31A Forlorn, directionless type: LOSTSOUL. 40A Survey of Election Day voters: EXITPOLL. 47A Greener energy source: CLEANCOAL.
I pulled out 21A Hurting more: ACHIER because that’s how I’ve been the last couple days. I’ve been in the process of making a planter for Calah for her succulents, and I’ve been slaving away at the table saw. The table saw probably is a bit too low. Then yesterday I did a lot of cleanup around our home, which meant moving things from place to place and bending over and squatting down and stuff. Ugh. The soreness hasn’t stopped.
The title of this puzzle is Food for Thought.
24A Carmen McRae or Anita O’Day, notably: JAZZVOCALISTS -> (J)(A)(Z)(Z)VOCALISTS. 32A Endpoint of a Shinto pilgrimage: MOUNTFUJI -> MOUNT(F)(U)(J)(I). 52A Fete: GALAAFFAIR -> (G)(A)(L)(A)AFFAIR. 69A Birthplace of five U.S. presidents, with “the”: EMPIRESTATE -> (E)(M)(P)(I)(R)(E)STATE. 85A Start of some conventional wisdom: WHENINROME -> WHENIN(R)(O)(M)(E).
98D Who was famously hit over the head with inspiration?: NEWTON. 116A Scientific contribution from 98-Down, discovered in a manner suggested by this puzzle’s theme: LAWOFGRAVITY. The story goes that Newton was hit by a falling apple and was like, ‘Whoa. Gravity.” Jazz apples, Fuji apples, Empire apples, Rome apples. How ’bout dem?
I pulled out 20A Longtime distributor of James Bond movies: MGM because I had initially put in EON, but that wasn’t working. Calah and I have been watching the series from the start and are on Quantum of Solace now. We’ve seen them go through United Artists and MGM and Columbia. Desmond Llewelyn is sorely missed. But Daniel Craig as James Bond has way more chill than Pierce Brosnan did as James bond.
No theme for this Saturday puzzle, but there are some crazy long answers.
1A Number pattern named after a 17th-century French mathematician: PASCALSTRIANGLE. 16A Teddies and such: INTIMATEAPPAREL. 17A Exhausted beyond belief: TOOTIREDTOTHINK. 52A Do some modeling: SETAGOODEXAMPLE. 55A “Life is short. _” (Jacques Torres quip): EATDESSERTFIRST. 56A Captain’s phrase: STEADYASSHEGOES.
