Bruce and Gail have given us a fun and straightforward Wednesday exercise with five theme fills and no reveal necessary. As the title indicates their five themers were two-word phrases where the first syllable of the first word began with an N and a T for the third letter, In between Bruce and Gail have inserted the vowels in sequential order. Pretty cool!
Theme Answers
17. Innate talent : NATURAL APTITUDE - I'm gonna say Samuel Rashevsky had this when he played and beat these masters at eight-years-old in 1920
22. Broadcaster's transmission to affiliated stations : NETWORK FEED - Fewer and fewer people are taking the NETWORK FEED and are watching over the, uh, NET
39. Sharp-smelling air pollutant : NITROGEN DIOXIDE - NO2 is a big contributor to this smog over Mexico City
49. Hardly any time at all : NOTHING FLAT - He was there quickly but Arriba means Hooray, so he must have gotten great joy in running. BTW, this is not a slogan for a plastic surgeon.
60. With "The," Tchaikovsky work that ends with "Waltz of the Flowers" : NUTCRACKER SUITE - So that's NUTCRACKER when it is danced in Milan
Across
1. Lower in price : LESS - Are you really shopping for the lowest price for this?
5. Try : TASTE
10. Nutmeg spice : MACE - Different parts of the same seed (not a nut)
14. Actor La Salle : ERIQ
15. Crams, with "up" : BONES
16. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV
20. "Wicked Game" singer Chris : ISAAK
21. Shuttle flight phase : REENTRY - Phase when the Columbia disaster occurred25. "My gal" of song : SAL
26. Carpentry joints : MITERS
31. Barbecue accessory : SPIT - Ya couldn't think of a better name?
35. "I Put a Spell on You" singer Simone : NINA
38. Full range : GAMUT - Bruce and Gail ran the GAMUT of vowels (okay, not Y but...)
42. Writer of tales with talking animals : AESOP
44. Angers : IRES
45. Fireplace inserts : GRATES
47. Springfield presidential library nickname : ABE - Honestly!
56. Legendary Rhine siren : LORELEI - I have cruised on the Rhine but did not hear the Siren Song
59. Cruller coating : GLAZE
63. Physics particle : ATOM
64. French term of endearment : CHERE - Mon CHÈRE, passons à la suite de Casse-Noisette (My dear, let's go to the (same as in Italian above) Suite?
65. List component : ITEM
66. Tiny sound : PEEP
67. County near London : ESSEX - Home to Southend-on-Sea, Colchester and Chipping Ongar
68. Mil. medals : DSCS - 70 years later the country presented the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously to Lt. Donald Schwab of Hooper, NE. His son Dr. Terry Schwab accepted.
Down
1. Russian Revolution leader : LENIN - "I'll take Russian Leaders for $2,000, Alex." "The answer is, 'Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was referring to this when he chose Lenin as a pseudonym.'" "What is the Lena River?" "Correct!"
2. Backspace, perhaps : ERASE
3. Occupy, as a desk : SIT AT - What I could never do when I taught.
4. __ Valley, Calif.: 1960 Winter Olympics site : SQUAW - At this Olympics, Jean Vuarnet became to first person to win gold on metal skis instead of traditional wood
5. Sched. uncertainty : TBA
6. Big name in ISPs : AOL - Didn't everyone in America get at least one of these free disks in the 90's?
7. Wolf (down) : SNARF
8. Conical shelter : TEPEE - I had a geography prof who had women in our class put up a TEPEE as was done by many Native-American cultures as seen in this depiction of Blackfeet. BTW, that wouldn't fly at this house
9. Regard highly : ESTEEM
10. Damon of "We Bought a Zoo" : MATT
11. Blue sky color, in Calais : AZUR
12. Showman Buffalo Bill : CODY - He built a great house in North Platte, Nebraska called Scout's Rest Ranch
18. Bygone theaters : RKOS - Can you find the RKO symbol on this poster for what is called "America's greatest movie"?19. Spectrum shade : INDIGO - ROY G BIV
23. Jingled : RANG
24. __ light: filming tool : KLIEG
27. Roll along the runway : TAXI - Returning to the gate after TAXIING is disheartening
28. Qatari ruler : EMIR
29. Far from polite : RUDE
30. Some Fr. martyrs : STES - Women should be eligible to be priests, cardinals and popes not just STES (Saints)
31. Unexpected obstacle : SNAG
32. Harbor sight : PIER
33. "__ deal!" : IT'S A
34. Run leisurely : TROT
36. Storm direction: Abbr. : NNE - Nor'easter!
37. Dwight's opponent : ADLAI - I loved when ADLAI, as JFK's U.N. Ambassador, told the Russians he was willing to wait "until hell freezes over" for their answer on misses in Cuba.
40. Swiss army knife tool : OPENER - Wait a minute, oh, there it is!
41. Copyright pg. ID : ISBN - The International Standard Book Number for this book by our talented editor Rich Norris is 1402775806
46. Comfort in grief : SOLACE
48. Flan ingredients : EGGS
50. Computer repair experts : TECHS - Remember those guys you made fun of in school?
51. Backpacking activities : HIKES
52. Transmission lubricant : FLUID
53. Milks, in Marseilles : LAITS - Quatre grandes bouteilles de LAIT (Four large bottles of milk)
54. Tenochtitlán native : AZTEC
55. Abounds (with) : TEEMS
56. Minstrel's instrument : LUTE
57. Plains native : OTOE
58. Law gp. that now only uses horses for ceremonial events : RCMP - RCMP member Dudley Do-Right's horse was named, uh, Horse
60. Go out for a bit? : NAP
61. Ode preposition : ERE
62. "Toy Story" dinosaur : REX
The Grid:
Comment at wall, I mean well, I mean will:
