“Bowl Season” by Matt Gaffney
Time – 11:20
Hi everyone. It’s Jeffrey. I’m back from a fun filled week at Disney World. And what’s this? The whole blog moved! Nice try, Amy but I found you.
It’s a double bowl puzzle today. The first word in each theme answer refers to a U.S. college football bowl game, and the second word refers to another type of bowl.
Theme Answers:
23A. [Florida Flakes or Swamp Crunch?] is GATOR CEREAL. I didn’t see any gators in Orlando. Or Tigers.
29A. [What covers the original Constitution?] is LIBERTY DUST. Epcot’s American Adventure also covers the original Constitution.
64A. [Breathable appetizer?] is a COTTON SALAD.
103A. [Start of a Cancun altercation?] could be a FIESTA PUNCH. I rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at Epcot’s Mexico pavillion. Kind of like It’s a Small World without the annoying song.
111A. [Where Jim Bowie went to the bathroom?] is the ALAMO TOILET. I rented a car from Alamo sister company National but refrained from using their facilities. Any puzzle with ALAMO TOILET is ok by me.
39A. [Cream of pumpkin or squash puree?] is ORANGE SOUP. We need this one because there isn’t enough orange on this new site.
44D. [Florist’s job with a Valentine’s Day bouquet?] is ROSE MIXING.
Other stuff:
Five(!) bonus references to most outstanding player in collegiate football award:
31A. [2009 Heisman Trophy finalist Toby] GERHART.
57A. [2009 Heisman Trophy finalist (and 2007 winner) Tim] TEBOW.
90A. [2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark] INGRAM.
94A. [2009 Heisman Trophy finalist Ndamukong] SUH. His first name translates to “need all crossings”.
107A. [2009 Heisman Trophy finalist Colt] MCCOY.
Even more football:
22A. [“Big” Bill Parcells’ nickname] – TUNA. There appears to be no limits to how far we’ll go to reference football today.
34A. [1980 NFL MVP Brian] SIPE.
Musical interlude:
1A. [Trumpet great MILES Davis.]
53D. [“Does Your Mother Know” band] – ABBA.
61A. PEABO [Bryson of pop]. Disney!
73A. [John WAITE with the 1984 #1 hit “Missing You“.]
87D. [“A Little Respect” band] is ERASURE. Not Disney!
Other stuff:
60A. [Bond issue?] is FLEMING. Ian FLEMING.
79A. [Whistler or Chamonix] – SKI RESORT. You will be seeing a lot of Whistler in February as the Winter Olympics come back to Canada, in direct competition with the ACPT.
10D. [Breakfast pioneer John Harvey] KELLOGG, crossing the CEREAL bowl!
42D. [“Garden State” actor] is Zach BRAFF. New to me. He also wrote and directed it. And, perhaps, coached the football team.
I’m 120A. [Exhausted] – SPENT, so bye until next week! In the meantime, follow my 65A. [Expressions of 140 characters maximum] TWEETS here.
You’re good, Crosscan. I wondered if anyone would notice the KELLOGG/CEREAL placement.
Thanks for the writeup Crosscan. Glad that you had a great vacation. Thanks for the great puzzle as usual Matt. This one took me 16:39, my fastest Beast time yet. It helps when you know all the football references outright. Will there be Beast puzzles the next two weeks? or do hardworking crossword constructors get some time off for the holidays? I am looking forward to the copy of Gridlock that I know my wife has wrapped under the tree for me.
Bruce — yes, there will be puzzles the next two weeks at the Beast.
And enjoy Gridlock!
ndamukong SUH was, by far, the best college football player in the country this year, and he’s a mortal lock to go #1 in the NFL draft, ahead of pretty-boy glamour position players like mccoy, tebow, ingram, and gerhart.
Here’s a small nit. They may serve them as platters in Chinese restaurants, I’ve not seen that, but 16D PUPU is Hawaiian. It means snack or hors d’oeurve but in the olden days it was fish, chicken, or banana served with kava.