Theme: All for one, and one for all
1A, 6A, 9A: SCHWATHOSPOON
20A, 22A: SEAPORTHOSTESS
54A, 58A: BARBARAMISSIVE
69A, 70A, 71A: RADARTAGNANOS
40A: THREE MUSKETEEERS
Each of the four main characters of Alexander Dumas' novel "The Three Musketeers" concealed in the grid. Athos, Porthos and Aramis were the "three"; D'Artagnan was not yet a Musketeer, he was bidding to join the ranks of those elite.
Nicely misleading at first, I was wondering what SEAPORT and HOSTESS could thematically have in common until I got the unifier at 40A, then the penny slowly dropped.
I don't think I'm alone in visualizing the four as being swordsman with suitably flashing blades, but the Musketeers really did carry muskets. I suppose the early Hollywood scriptwriters didn't find firearms as romantic or dramatic as cold, hard steel, and therefore that's the image we've been carrying ever since.
Across:
1. The "u" sound in "circus" : SCHWA. I did not know this, learned something right off the bat.
6. Even if, for short : THO
9. Ladle cousin : SPOON. Certainly a much smaller relative.
14. "Yond Cassius has __ and hungry look" : A LEAN. Maybe he'd been given spoon-sized helpings.
15. Water in Côte d'Ivoire : EAU. Plenty of this off the Ivory Coast.
16. Dispute : ARGUE. You can have an argument, can you have a disputment?
17. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. Food! I've been told the word is unknown in any of the languages spoken in India.
18. One side of the GW Bridge : NYC. De udder end is in Noo Joisey.
19. Preserves, in a way : SALTS. The verb, not the plural noun. Salted Jellies anyone?
20. Rotterdam, for one : SEAPORT. The one in the Netherlands, not the one in New York. There's a Curry Road in Rotterdam, NY.
22. Party person : HOSTESS. She's the one with the mostest.
24. Schnozzola : SNOOT. You cock a snoot to be described as snooty.
26. Tell it like it isn't : LIE. GW of 18A fame never told one.
27. TV's Dr. House, e.g. : LIMPER. Wanted LIMEY at first, until it didn't fit.
30. Enjoy a kiddie pool : WADE. That's a deep kiddie pool. I paddle.
32. Many a GI : PVT. Plenty of Joes, but more Privates in the General Infantry
35. Plains native : OTOE. I think I might have seen this before?
36. "... from my snow-white pen the __-coloured ink": Shak. : EBON. Nice "Shak" to clue the abridged "EBONy".
38. Bender : SPREE. Drinking, not shopping?
40. With "The," classic novel, each of whose major characters is hiding in a row of this puzzle : THREE MUSKETEERS
43. Thrift, briefly : SANDL. A flip-flop missing a toe? No, a Savings & Loan.
44. Crack : STAB. Something you can't do with a musket, but perhaps D'Artagnan had a crack at it.
45. Snug retreat : NEST. Feathered, preferably. Or is that a bad thing?
46. Super Bowl highlights, for many : ADS. Hand up for trying TDS first. The commercials are usually more entertaining than the touchdowns.
47. Luncheon follower? : ETTE. Has anyone ever eaten at one of these?
49. Takes a position : OPINES. A good puzzle today, in my opinion.
51. Eggs, biologically : OVA
52. Biden's 2008 counterpart : PALIN. Not sure either Joe or Sarah would appreciate the comparison.
54. Boxer from California : BARBARA. She's one of my Senators.
58. Letter : MISSIVE. Is a ten-page letter a massive missive?
62. __ a time : ONE AT. Luncheonette Etiquette dictates you are served one at a time
63. One in an unhappy chorus : BOO. Two boos and it's an owie.
65. Shroud city : TURIN. You ladle soup out of a Turin? Oh no, that's a tureen. Spooky shroud though.
66. Wind: Pref. : ANEMO. An anemometer measures wind speed. Say "anemometer" three times quickly.
67. Coffee holder : URN. It held tea last time I came across it here, I hope Rich rinsed it out.
68. '30s Chan portrayer : OLAND. Warner Oland. A name to add to the very short list of "Swedish Actors I know".
69. Control tower tracker : RADAR. Radio Detection And Ranging. Warner Oland is now on mine.
70. Game for it? : TAG. You're It.
71. Some iPods : NANOS. Mine's a Classic.
Down:
1. Pouches : SACS. I wanted to French-pronounce pouches "poo-shays" when I saw the answer.
2. This is one : CLUE
3. A sister of Demeter : HERA. Those Greeks, difficult to keep them all straight.
4. "Star Trek" measure : WARP SPEED. Cap'n, I cannae hold her much longer!
5. Whomever : ANYONE. "Whomever for Tennis?" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
6. Nearing the hour : TEN TO. This sounds like Greenwich Mean Time to me. It's "ten of" PST.
7. Farm gathering : HAY. Make it while the sun shines.
8. Pained interjection : OUCH. That reminds me, I need to make a dentist appointment.
9. As fresh as they come : SASSIEST. Don't waste your Scrabble S's on this word.
10. Chatter : PRATE. Chatterers chat, prattlers prate. Why don't chattlers chat or prattlers prat?
11. Seriously check out : OGLE. Don't do this in front of your Significant Other. Trust me on this.
12. Inning enders : OUTS. Technically only the third out ends the inning.
13. Largest Scottish loch by volume : NESS. Contains the largest Scottish monster by volume.
21. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Of course he was. I'll take Victor's word for this.
23. Word with man or maid : OLD. I wanted MER first, then couldn't get Ethel Merman out of my mind.
25. Texas dance : TWO STEP. You take three steps in Alabama, according to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
27. Many, informally : LOTSA.
28. "__ to Be You" : IT HAD.
29. E'ens' counterparts : MORNS. Mornings for Evenings, not Odds for Evens.
31. "Puppy Love" singer : ANKA. For my generation it was Donny Osmond.
32. Get ready for the prom, say : PREEN. Who preens, the guy or the girl?
33. Frost product : VERSE. Who takes the road less travelled by? I take the freeway, I live in LA.
34. Medical battery : TESTS. Not a pacemaker power source.
37. Exceed 21, in a way : BUST. A blackjack "darn" moment.
39. The Crimea, e.g. : PENINSULA. Let's have the Lake Erie and Put-In Bay conversation again!
41. Car in a shaft : ELEVATOR. I'm from the old country, we have lifts.
42. Where Christ stopped, in a Carlo Levi title : EBOLI. I thought this was a tropical disease.
48. La Brea goo : TAR. Funny how goop and goo are the same thing. Waste of a good P there.
50. One of six in a V-6 engine : PISTON. Cylinder and Spark Plug wouldn't fit.
51. "Dreams From My Father" memoirist : OBAMA
53. Surrounded by : AMONG.
54. Tusked mammal : BOAR. Is a long-winded tusker a bore?
55. Alexei Karenin's wife : ANNA. I thought her last name was Karenina?
56. English horn, for one : REED. It's brass, but it's a reed instrument. Causes confusion about where to sit in the orchestra.
57. Lie alongside : ABUT. Has to be close enough to touch, I think.
59. Caspian Sea country : IRAN
60. Rosso o bianco : VINO. Magnifico. What's your favorite Italian wine?
61. Closes : ENDS. I'm almost at the close.
64. Tuscan time period : ORA. How much wine can you drink in an hour?
That's it from me today.
Steve
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