Jerry's wonderful Wednesday-level puzzle combines a famous line from Coleridge's poem of the ill-fated, albatross-slaying sailor and eight, count 'em, eight phrases that can be formed when WATER precedes both words of two word theme fills. WATER, WATER everywhere indeed! Very impressive to this land lubber!
THEME FILL:
26. Oil conduit : PIPELINE - One of which, runs from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez in Alaska or
WATER PIPE - A conveyance for a buzz
or
WATER LINE - What has been receding behind Lake Mead during the SW drought
31. Electricity source : POWER PLANT - What is inside Hoover Dam that uses the waters of Lake Mead or
WATER POWER - a rough idea of what happens inside Hoover Dam
42. Reaganomics term : SUPPLY SIDE - Economic system where government gets less money and private enterprise gets to keep more or
WATER SUPPLY - What can be threatened when these run too much in dry years
WATER MAIN - They can be spectacular when they break
17. With 59-Across, words from a fictional mariner ... and a hint to both parts of 26-, 31-, 42- and 47-Across : WATER WATER and 59. See 17-Across : EVERYWHERE
Now let's sail on to see what else Jerry has cast upon our crossword waters:
Across
1. Pricey : STEEP - Who ever thought water would cost more per gallon than gas?
6. Place for a chicken : COOP
10. Herring prized for its roe : SHAD
14. Use a lectern : ORATE
15. A fan of : INTO
16. Tortilla snack : TACO
19. Any minute now, to a bard : ANON
20. Tampa-to-Jacksonville dir. : NNE - It's 198.4 miles
21. Frosty coat : HOAR - A HOARY engraving from our poem du jour of the crew and that bird
22. Fern-to-be : SPORE
23. Criticize sneakily : SNIPE - Here it is usually to criticize anonymously
28. Chef's tool : SPATULA
30. Fire, or fire-fighting tool : AXE - Or Gene Simmons' bass
34. Astronaut Grissom : GUS - He almost drowned on the second Mercury mission
37. Incriminate with false evidence : FRAME - Did OJ ever find the real killer?
38. __-Locka, Florida : OPA - Originally Opa-tisha-wocka-locka
39. Emaciated : GAUNT
41. Messy spot : STY
44. __ Kan: Alpo rival : KAL
46. Fit as a fiddle and tough as nails : SIMILES - The one about me ends ...as a rock
52. Exams for would-be attys. : LSATS
53. Shore eagles : ERNES - Our old cwd friend and a surprise prey
54. Object of worship : IDOL
56. Dick's wife, twice : LIZ
58. __-Seltzer : ALKA
62. Safe document : DEED
63. Left : GONE
64. Conundrum : POSER
65. They may be split or tight : ENDS - Pretty easy to discern
66. __ buco: veal dish : OSSO
67. Make a mess of : MISDO - Okay
Down
1. Seeded : SOWN - Some consider the SOWER atop Nebraska's capital to be, uh, controversial when its image is transferred to our sesquicentennial license plate
2. Convey : TRANSPORT
3. Completely eroded : EATEN AWAY
4. Nice season? : ETE - Je n'étais pas dupe! (I was not fooled!)
5. Part of 60-Down : PER - My sister typed over 100 words PER minute 50 yrs ago. I once got half that.
6. "Ta-ta" : CIAO
7. Coming up next : ON TAP
8. Ferrell's "SNL" cheerleading partner : O'TERI
9. __ favor: Pedro's "please" : POR
10. Paper clip alternative : STAPLE - Also an alternative for stitches
11. Onetime capital of French Indochina : HANOI
12. Oak nut : ACORN - "Gee! Ahma tree!", exclaimed the mathmatically mature ACORN.
13. Charity, say : DONEE - I would think the DONEE receives the charity
18. Puppy : WHELP - Dura-WHELP makes a box for them
22. Masters and Johnson subject : SEX - Their research revealed sexual intimacy could last well beyond 70. Could, mind you!
24. Agenda line : ITEM
25. Partner of simple : PURE
27. First lady after Lady Bird : PAT
28. Suntan lotion numbers, briefly : SPFS
29. Baseball's Matty or Felipe : ALOU
32. Droid download : APP
33. Snoozes : NAPS
34. Free from blame : GUILTLESS - or from 35. Not wanted : UNDESIRED calories?
36. Fr. holy women : STES
39. Places with rings and horses : GYMS - In Lego Land
40. Massive land mass : ASIA
42. Gp. that kidnapped Patty Hearst : SLA
43. Big name in pharmaceuticals : LILLY - And for our kitty
45. Top prosecutors: Abbr. : AGS - Attorneys General
47. Maryland's Fort __ : MEADE - Named for the the Union Commander at Gettysburg
48. "Over the Rainbow" composer Harold : ARLEN - Some MGM execs wanted it cut from the movie because they thought it slowed down the pace
49. Signed in pen : INKED
50. DVR devices : TIVOS
51. Blissful places : EDENS
55. Treat often split : OREO - Found nestled among these most common cwd answers
57. Nothing : ZERO
59. __ trip : EGO
60. Typing meas. : WPM
61. __ polloi : HOI - Ah, ya gotta love the classics!
Wisdom, wisdom everywhere and plenty for us to read. Let those unfiltered comments rip!
The Grid
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