Theme: I GIVE UP. The last words of the theme entries are indications of surrendering, so as to avoid suffering further damage. Your opponent wins, and - if he is honorable - you get to go somewhere safe and lick your wounds.
17 A. Stereotypical benefactor : RICH UNCLE. Literal or figurative designation for financial backer. I only had poor UNCLES, alas. To cry "UNCLE" indicating submission, may or may not go back to ancient Rome.
36 A. Of age : OLD ENOUGH. Having been alive for a sufficient period to drink, drive, vote, know better, etc. "ENOUGH" indicates you don't want any more of whatever your abuser is dishing out.
42 A. "Understood" : SAY NO MORE. OK - I got it. "NO MORE" is another way of saying "ENOUGH"
And the unifier -- 62 A. Waved banner hinted at by the ends of 17-, 36- and 42-Across : WHITE FLAG. This usage does go back to ancient Rome, and also the Han dynasty of China. In modern times, the use of a white flag to indicate surrender is included in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
Hi gang, it's JzB, after a long hiatus, reunited with Gareth on a Wednesday. We never can get ENOUGH of his puzzles, so I am not going to give up. Let's SAY NO MORE on that topic, and dive into the solve.
Across
1. Prepare, in a way, as sweet potatoes : MASH. We add a bit of butter and sour cream. Makes a nice companion dish for Gloria's orange and maple glazed salmon.
5. Says further : ADDS. The opposite of SAY NO MORE.
9. Run away, say : REACT. I suppose one could REACT to an unpleasantness by running away, but, unless I'm missing something, this is a far from obvious connection.
14. Entrepreneur's start : IDEA. Around which a business plan can be built.
15. Come together : MEET.
16. Come to pass : OCCUR. Near clechoes.
19. Spherical dessert : BOMBE. An Ice cream dessert molded in a half-spherical shape to resemble a cannon ball. The only thing that explodes is your weight.
20. Airport city east of Los Angeles : ONTARIO. I flew in there about 30 years ago. IIRC, there are distant mountains in every direction.
21. One brewing in a cup : TEA LEAF. Not a tempest. Mayhaps Nice Cuppa can provide details.
23. Many a Prado painting : GOYA. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828). Here is the Prado on-line gallery of his work.
25. Baseball card stat : RBI. Runs Batted In. BASEBALL!!!
26. Oranges opposite? : APPLES. Different, for sure - but opposite? Doubtful, but I won't let one bad APPLE spoil the whole puzzle.
30. "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee" speaker : LEIA. Do I need to tell you this is from Star Wars? Prob'ly not.
32. "__ Boys": "Little Men" sequel : JO'S. Story of the boys' troubles as adults, and the only Louisa May Alcott novel that has not had a movie adaption.
35. Cowboy's neckwear : BOLO. By now everyone should recognize this as a string necktie. So here is Bolo Yeung, who might be marginally more interesting.
38. Standoffish : ALOOF. Remote.
40. Pull : TUG. Yank, jerk.
41. Friendly address : KIDDO. Seems a bit condescending.
44. Opposite of alway : NE'ER. Alway is an archaic form of always. NE'ER is a contraction of never, seldom or NE'ER encountered nowadays. So I guess it's OK.
45. Appt. book divisions : HRS. Hours. N.B. abrvs.
46. Went up : ROSE. Up toward the sky.
47. Saturated hydrocarbon : ALKANE. Chemistry. Saturated means all the available bonding locations on the carbon atoms are filled. Thus, there are no C=C double bonds in the chain, which would contribute to instability. The compounds are quite flammable, though. Propane and butane [ 3 and 4 carbon ALKANES] are examples. Gasoline is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and additives, containing lots of pentane and hexane [5 ansd 6 carbon ALKANES.]
49. Had-at link : A GO. Tried something. I always think of Mitchell Anderson putting his move on Marian Wyman in Raymond Carver's poignant short story Will You Please Be Quiet, Please. I do not recommend this dry analysis.
50. Trilogy, often : SAGA. Originally an Old Norse prose narrative of heroic achievement, now any long and involved story.
52. Emcees' responsibilities : LEAD-INS. Introductions to the main-line performers.
56. Gum with a longtime eyepatch-wearing mascot : BAZOOKA. But BAZOOKA Joe did not fare well in the rebranding.
61. Calculus pioneer : EULER. [Pronounced OILER] Leonhard, (1707 - 1783) a highly accomplished Swiss mathematician. I've often wondered why no technical school has a sports team nick-named the EULERS?
64. Ruffle : FRILL. A a strip of fabric or lace gathered or pleated on one edge, and attached to a garment or other item as decoration.
65. Right hand : AIDE. Figurative designation for an assistant
66. Ax : FIRE. Job elimination.
67. Pledge drive bags : TOTES. Carry-alls. Also, in contemporary slang, short for Totally. Habitual users can save as much as 26.6 seconds per day.
68. Apiary dwellers : BEES. Not apes.
69. Convinced : SOLD. Are you SOLD on Gareth's puzzle yet? If not, let's move on.
Down
1. Picasso contemporary : MIRO. Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Catalan artist who wanted to upset the visual elements of established painting.
2. Score after deuce : AD IN. In tennis, deuce indicates a tie score after both players have reached 40. AD, short for advantage, indicates the next point has been scored. If the server has the advantage it is AD IN, otherwise, AD out.
3. Shakers, but not movers : SECT. This religious community splintered off from the Quakers in Northwest England in the mid-18th century. They are known for gender equality and a celibate life style. Second generation Shakers are thus somewhat rare. They did give us this nice hymn, here put to good use by Aaron Copeland..
4. "The joke's on you" : HA HA. Hope you thought it was funny.
5. Prenatal procedures : AMNIOS. Short for amniocentesis, a rather risky procedure.
6. Deceptive military tactic : DECOY. A diversionary PLOY. You can read about it here.
7. "Runaway" singer Shannon : DEL. Another clecho, and a classic song from my 'ute.
8. "Don't change that" : STET. Editor's mark.
9. Emulate Dillinger : ROB A BANK. I do not recommend this risky activity. When Dillinger emulator Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he reportedly answered, "Because that's where the money is."
10. Gastroenteritis cause, perhaps : E-COLI. Bacterium naturally occurring in the lower digestive tract that causes all sorts of problems when it gets into the wrong territory.
11. Pinnacle : ACME. Apex. Always need perps.
12. World Baseball Classic team : CUBA.
13. Nonkosher : TREF. I can never remember this word. It comes from a Hebrew root meaning something torn.
18. Strong desire : URGE.
22. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's lake : ERIE. In Cleveland.
24. Tempts : ALLURES. Inspires URGES.
26. Make red-faced : ABASH. To shame or embarrass.
27. Opposite : POLAR. Extremely opposite.
28. Artful stratagems : PLOYS. In A Game of Thrones, Petyr Baelish is the master of these cunning plans.
29. Fish-eating bird : LOON. It is about the size of a large duck, but they are unrelated species.
31. What a slight favorite has : EDGE.
32. Where Herod ruled : JUDEA. More old Roman, when JUDEA was a province in the empire.
33. City near the Great Salt Lake : OGDEN.
34. Vacation location : SHORE. The fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water. We just spent a week on the SHORE of Black Lake.
36. Plains people : OTOS. Native American tribe.
37. Farm grunt : OINK. From the sty.
39. Like pink toys, stereotypically : FOR GIRLS. Indeed, there are few pink toys for boys. Trust.me, I looked.
43. Word after new or full : MOON. The orbiting orb, going through phases.
47. Collectible marbles : AGATES. I remember this term from my 'ute.
48. Kick back : LAZE. You can do this at the SHORE
49. "Chasing Pavements" singer : ADELE. I've heard worse pop songs.
51. "__ With Me": hymn : ABIDE. I've heard worse hymns.
52. Took off : LEFT. Departed [but not OFFED.] Split. Exeunt stage left?
53. Capital of Belgium : EURO. Money.
54. Landed : ALIT. Atop something, I suppose.
55. DNA lab item : SWAB. For collecting bio-samples.
57. Rubs out : OFFS. Murders.
58. Little of this, little of that : OLIO. Hodge podge.
59. Auto pioneer Benz : KARL.
60. Like fine port : AGED. When do we know our port is OLD ENOUGH? Hmmm.
63. Go in haste : HIE. Quickly, now.
Well, that wraps it up for another Wednesday. Hope you made it through without having to surrender.
Cool regards!
JzB
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This is a fun blog. Light-hearted banter is welcome. Snark is not. If you want to fight, find my other blog.
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