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New York Times, Monday, December 17, 2018

Author:
Brian Thomas and Andrea Carla Michaels
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
Commandeers ... or a friendly hello to the people starting 18-, 24-, 51- and 62-Across?
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
1411/21/20177/12/20235
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
0421115
CircleScrabDebutFresh
21.695855%
Brian Thomas
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
866/12/20007/8/202455
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
762122300
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
241.6430623%
Andrea Carla Michaels

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 78, Blocks: 38 Missing: {Q} This is puzzle # 4 for Mr. Thomas. This is puzzle # 62 for Ms. Michaels. Jeff Chen's Puzzle of the Week pick. Monday freshness: 33%
Constructor notes:
ACME: This fun idea was all Brian's! I just talked him into making the theme phrases horizontal rather than vertical. He was going ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Now, this is what I call a gateway puzzle! Interesting and easy to comprehend theme + nice extras + smooth fill = oh so accessible to ... read more
1
C
2
A
3
L
4
S
5
C
6
O
7
R
8
E
9
S
10
A
11
B
12
I
13
T
14
A
L
A
15
I
S
R
A
E
L
16
T
R
O
Y
17
B
A
T
18
S
P
A
R
R
O
19
W
H
A
W
K
20
A
M
I
21
E
22
A
L
E
23
A
L
G
A
E
24
L
O
N
D
25
O
N
B
R
26
I
27
D
G
E
28
L
I
U
29
M
U
S
T
30
E
31
R
32
S
33
S
34
C
O
T
C
35
H
36
Z
A
C
37
E
X
I
T
38
T
O
V
39
H
I
40
J
A
C
K
41
S
42
T
S
A
43
E
K
E
44
S
45
J
U
G
46
S
U
47
R
R
E
Y
48
P
E
R
U
49
S
A
L
50
M
I
A
51
R
U
B
Y
52
S
53
L
54
I
P
P
E
55
R
56
S
57
A
58
S
59
H
E
N
60
P
A
N
61
E
X
E
C
62
B
L
A
C
K
63
F
64
R
I
D
A
65
Y
66
T
H
E
67
L
A
V
A
68
R
E
C
E
N
T
69
R
A
N
70
E
V
E
N
71
O
P
E
N
E
D
72
A
B
E
© 2018, The New York Times12/17/18 ( No. 25,241 )
Across
1
Baseball's record-setting Ripken : CAL
4
Catches a touchdown pass, e.g. : SCORES
10
Not much : ABIT
14
Lead-in to carte or mode : ALA
15
Tel Aviv's land : ISRAEL
16
Helen of ___ (mythical beauty) : TROY
17
Flier that may carry rabies : BAT
18
Small bird of prey : SPARROWHAWK
20
French girlfriend : AMIE
22
Ginger ___ (soft drink) : ALE
23
Seaweed, e.g. : ALGAE
24
Something falling down, in a children's song : LONDONBRIDGE
28
Lucy of 2000's "Charlie's Angels" : LIU
29
Summons, as strength : MUSTERS
33
Put the kibosh on : SCOTCH
36
Actor Efron of "High School Musical" : ZAC
37
Sign by a fire escape : EXIT
38
"Mazel ___!" : TOV
39
Commandeers ... or a friendly hello to the people starting 18-, 24-, 51- and 62-Across? : HIJACKS
42
Inits. on an airport uniform : TSA
43
___ out a living (barely gets by) : EKES
45
Moonshine container : JUG
46
Carriage named for an English county : SURREY
48
Careful reading : PERUSAL
50
Farrow of "Hannah and Her Sisters" : MIA
51
Dorothy's footwear in "The Wizard of Oz" : RUBYSLIPPERS
57
White-faced : ASHEN
60
Bit of cookware : PAN
61
Biz bigwig : EXEC
62
What follows Thanksgiving : BLACKFRIDAY
66
"What ___?!" (cry of surprise) : THE
67
Volcanic flow : LAVA
68
From not long ago : RECENT
69
Was in charge of : RAN
70
In a dead heat : EVEN
71
No longer shrink-wrapped : OPENED
72
First Republican prez : ABE
Down
1
Group of schemers : CABAL
2
Mission where Davy Crockett was killed : ALAMO
3
Don Juan sort : LATINLOVER
4
Bro's sibling : SIS
5
Network for political junkies : CSPAN
6
Big name in toothbrushes : ORALB
7
Pinker in the middle, say : RARER
8
Always, in poetry : EER
9
___-mo (replay option) : SLO
10
Olympics competitor : ATHLETE
11
Toot one's own horn : BRAG
12
Sioux City's state : IOWA
13
Young 'un : TYKE
19
Goes back and forth, as a tail : WAGS
21
Revise copy : EDIT
25
"That's gotta hurt!" : OUCH
26
Big name in desktops : IMAC
27
Teals and mallards : DUCKS
30
Start of a newsboy's cry : EXTRAEXTRA
31
Move skyward : RISE
32
Obedience school command : STAY
33
"Watch your ___!" : STEP
34
Soft drink choice : COKE
35
Muslim woman's head cover : HIJAB
36
Make a sharp turn back : ZAG
40
Bastille Day's month : JULY
41
Kind of pump : SUMP
44
"I'm up for doing the job!" : SURECAN
47
Like thumped watermelons making a deep sound : RIPE
49
Like ships on the ocean floor : SUNK
52
Pizazz : SPICE
53
Filled with cargo : LADEN
54
Harebrained : INANE
55
2007's Record of the Year by Amy Winehouse : REHAB
56
Big public display : SCENE
57
Up to the task : ABLE
58
Czech or Croat : SLAV
59
"Girls Just Want to ___ Fun" : HAVE
63
Jimi Hendrix's do, informally : FRO
64
Sen.'s counterpart : REP
65
Paycheck stub abbr. : YTD

Answer summary:
1 debuted here and reused later, 2 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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