Theme: Ate a picle, feeling sicle - now how about an icicle? The fragment -ICLE is added as a suffix to four in-the-language phrases, yielding new, humorous constructions.
20 A. Bond portrayer Daniel's BuzzFeed piece? : CRAIG'S LISTICLE. The referent is James Bond actor Daniel CRAIG, who also starred in the Jon Favreau SF/Western mashup Cowboys and Aliens. A LISTICLE is an internet article presented as a numbered or bullet point list. Since Daniel also starred in the incomprehensible Dream House, his could be a rank-ordered filmography.
26 A. Leftover bit of a physics experiment? : SPARE PARTICLE. This is my favorite theme entry. A SPARE PART is an item kept on hand to replace a lost or damaged machine PART. A PARTICLE in a physics experiment is generally something smaller than an atom - proton, neutron, quark, etc. SPARE PARTICLES might be used in subatomic games of bowling.
46 A. Ezine feature? : MODERN ARTICLE. MODERN ART includes a variety of styles from the 19th century through the 1960's, including Bauhause, surrealism, impressionism, op art, etc. A MODERN ARTICLE would be published in a modern venue like an Ezine, for sure. But for my money, this entry is too close in surface meaning to the first one we encountered.
55 A. Beantown treat? : BOSTON POPSICLE. Beantown is a common name for BOSTON, dating back to colonial times when local puritans typically had a Sunday meal of previously prepared beans and brown bread, to avoid cooking on the sabbath. With Summer drawing nigh, a POPSICLE is an inviting treat that the Puritans would probably have considered sinful.
There's your theme, folks. Hope you don't think its ICLE.
Hi, gang, Jazzbumpa here to provide a quicle tour.
1. Observe Ramadan, in a way : FAST. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, during which the faithful avoid [among other things] eating food between dawn and dusk.
5. __ and terminer: criminal court : OYER. From the Anglo-French meaning "to hear and to determine."
9. Tapered fastener : SCREW. Threaded, too.
14. Scratch the surface? : ETCH. Engrave a surface by any one of several means.
15. Sub spot : DELI. Big sandwiches there.
16. "Glee" club : CHOIR. "Glee" is derived form the old English word for song.
17. "Sharknado" actress Reid : TARA. I never saw this movie, but it's generally considered to be pretty bad.
18. Banish to Hades, say : DOOM. The modern meaning is to be relegated to some horrible fate. The Old English meaning is closer to "judgment."
19. Like most tarantulas : HAIRY. These are hairy spiders to which I will not link.
23. That guy : HIM. Some fella'.
24. Stay-at-home __ : DAD. I went with MOM first. Does that make me old?
25. Bonfire residue : ASH. Any fire, really.
33. Yes, on Talk Like a Pirate Day : AYE. Avast, matey!
34. Love god : EROS. Greek mythology.
35. Seagoing mil. group : United States Navy.
36. "__ you!" : TOLD. Rubbing it in.
39. Source of 20s : Automatic Teller Machine.
40. Icky buildup : CRUD. A chunk of it is a CRUDICLE.
41. Sydney school : UNI. Near as I can tell, this refers to the UNIversity of Sydney in Australia. Maybe I'm missing something, but this entry seems to lack specificity.
42. Charlatan : FAKE. An imposter - one who claims to be something he isn't, while typically on a quest for some type of personal gain. Usage for this word peaked around 1940.
44. 18%, often : TIP. I tip 20% minimum. It's easier to calculate.
50. "Collages" novelist : NIN. Unlike most of her other work, this is a dreamy, experimental novel with many characters wandering in space and time.
51. Chest-beating beast : APE.
52. Marked, as a ballot : XED.
60. Real pip : BEAUT. A Beauty - can be intended literally or sarcastically.
61. Trompe l'__ : OEIL. An optical illusion in France.
62. Online urban music magazine : VIBE. Where one might read a LISTICLE or other MODERN ARTICLE.
63. Actress Woodard : ALFRE.
64. Mantel piece : VASE. An open container, often decorative, suitable for holding flowers or uncle Henry's ashes.
65. Molecule component : ATOM. Made up of sub-atomic PARTICLES.
66. Perp subduer : TASER. A weapon that fires electrical probes to deliver a debilitating shock.
67. Help for the poor : ALMS. From Old English, via late liturgical Latin, and ultimately tracing to Greek roots indicating both money and compassion.
Down
1. Sell for : FETCH. A hot item might FETCH a pretty penny.
2. Game company formerly named Syzygy : ATARI. I did not know that.
3. Beats it : SCRAMS. Make one's self scarce.
4. Asian language with 44 consonants : THAI. ODDS ARE that's more than I can pronounce.
5. "Probably ... " : ODDS ARE. A favorable bet.
6. Shoppe descriptor : YE OLDE. Of course we all know that the "Ye" is really "The" with the initial consonant sound rendered by the rune "thorn" (Þ, þ) rather than the digraph "Th." The rune was often represented with a slanted slash coming from the right rather than the closed loop, hence the similar appearance to the modern letter "Y."
7. Weena's race, in "The Time Machine" : ELOI. Occasionally, the other race - Morlocks - would eat them. In the 1960 movie version, Weena was played by Yvette Mimieux.
8. What swish shots don't touch : RIMS. A basketball shot that gets nothing but net. Still only 2 points, but more pleasing to the eye and ear.
9. Flaky metamorphic rocks : SCHISTS. Mica, talc and graphite are examples.
10. Joanie's love : CHACHI. Played by Scott Baio, opposite Erin Moran's Joanie Cunningham from the TV show Happy Days and later it's spin-off featuring them.
11. Bubble and churn : ROIL. Agitate something physically, and by extension emotionally. If one become red-faced dong this, it is known as a ROIL flush.
12. Green land : EIRE. The Emerald Isle, notably not the location of the Emerald City.
13. Seinfeldesque : WRY. A la the humor of the TV show about nothing.
21. Wagga Wagga welcome : G'DAY. This is a city in New South Wales, Australia, Mate.
22. Starchy tuber : TARO. A perennial tropical plant cultivated for its starchy tuber.
27. Shock absorber : PAD. A thick section of soft material.
28. Saint at a gate : PETER. In Matthew 16: 13-19, Jesus renames Simon son of Jonah as PETER, and gives him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
29. Operational branch : ARM. A subgroup dedicated to a particular purpose.
30. Mongrel : CUR. Mutt.
31. "Geaux Tigers" SEC school : Louisiana State University. Faux-French influenced slogan.
32. Wind down or wind up : END. Slang terms "for bring to a close." But a pitcher's wind up or winding up a spring-actuated mechanical device, such as the toy we will met shortly, gets things going. One more reason to love the English language.
36. Belly, to a tot : TUM. Possibly derived from stomach.
37. Sean Lennon's middle name : ONO. After his mum.
38. Jack-in-the-box flipper : LID. Child's box-shaped toy with a crank used to start the action by winding up, and ends with a clown figure popping out through the lid.
39. Police blotter letters : Also Known As, indicating the use of an alias.
40. Lowest-ranking NCO : CPL. Corporal is the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer.
42. Fried corn cake : FRITTER. Any of several deep-fried, batter coated items, such as fruit, vegetables, or even meat.
43. __ Domini : ANNO. The Year of our Lord, presumably starting with the birth of Jesus Christ, indicating a dating system that originated in the early middle ages. But somewhere along the line, there was a mistake. Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod, who died in 4 B. C.
44. Has a few : TIPPLES. Indulges in alcoholic beverages, and not as in 44A..
45. Treats, as a sprain : ICES. Tin Man - note here an acceptable use for ice; to reduce swelling of a muscle injury.
47. Make certain : ENSURE. Why do we have this word, along with "assure" and "insure?" They came into Old English from Norman French, so that's who I blame.
48. Lao-tzu's philosophy : TAOISM. Meaning the way, path or principle. Greatly simplified -- living in harmony with all that exists.
49. Whip up : EXCITE. As a crowd, or mob.
53. Fight (through), as a crowd : ELBOW. Not so gently nudging others out of the way. Not very TAOIST.
54. Considers : DEEMS. Tracing back to an Old English root meaning to judge, the same as DOOM.
55. Composer Bartók : BELA. Hungarian composer (1881 - 1945). The shortest clip I could find (6:20) is is setting of Romanian folk songs for violin and piano.
56. Klutzes : OAFS. An OAF is a stupid, uncultured or clumsy person. Strangely, the word traces back to the old Norse word for elf. The original meaning was "elf's child" [I'm assuming changeling,] later "idiot child," later still, how we use it today.
57. Stellar phenomenon : NOVA. A cataclysmic nuclear explosion occurring on a white dwarf star.
58. Ring out : PEAL. Specifically, the ringing of bells.
59. Nobelist Pavlov : IVAN. (1849 - 1936) Russian psychologist famous for his work on classical conditioning.
There you have it, a wandering in space and time, including a couple excursions into the English of our past, a dystopian view of the far future, a dollop or so of French, and finally back to current reality with some down-to-earth baseball. Despite my earlier criticle nits, a pretty nice journey.
Cool regards!
JzB
