• LEVITATE / INEVITABLE (17A: Rise within the air / 2D: Certain to occur) (“Evita”)
• THAI RESTAURANT / COCHAIRS (21A: Establishment providing tom yum soup or pad woon sen noodles) [I think the “soup” and “noodles” bits here are redundant] / 5D: Runs collectively, in a manner) (“Hair”)
• “CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM” / PARENTAL (36A: Acclaimed HBO comedy sequence whose creator stars as himself / 28D: Kind of steerage) (“Rent”)
• CAT SCAN / CATSUP (61A: Body picture? / 61D: Condiment for a burger) (“Cats”)

Word of the Day: SQUEEZE PLAY —

In baseball, the squeeze play (a.ok.a. squeeze bunt) is a maneuver consisting of a sacrifice bunt with a runner on third base. The batter bunts the ball, anticipating to be thrown out at first base, however offering the runner on third base a possibility to rating. Such a bunt is most typical with one out. According to Baseball Almanac, the squeeze play was invented in 1894 by George Case and Dutch Carter throughout a university sport at Yale University.

In a security squeeze, the runner at third takes a lead, however doesn’t run in direction of homeplate till the batter makes contact bunting.

In a suicide squeeze, the runner takes off as quickly because the pitcher begins the windup to throw the pitch, and earlier than releasing the ball. If correctly executed, and the batter bunts the ball almost anyplace in honest territory on the bottom, a play at house plate is extraordinarily unlikely. However, if the batter misses the ball the runner will seemingly be tagged out, and if the batter pops the ball up a double play is probably going.

These performs are sometimes used within the late innings of an in depth sport to attain a tying, successful, or insurance coverage run. A pitcher’s typical protection towards a squeeze play, if he sees the batter entering into place to aim a bunt, is to throw a excessive pitch that’s tough to bunt on the bottom. (wikipedia)

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The factor that shocked me most about this puzzle was the sudden realization that … effectively, I just like the band Squeeze, and I personal lots of their albums (“LPS” and “CDS”), and a kind of albums is entitled “East Side Story” and one other of these albums is entitled “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti” however and a kind of albums is entitled “Frank” however (most relevantly) nonetheless one other of these albums is entitled merely “Play” … and I by no means, not as soon as, not till I used to be taking preliminary notes for this weblog put up, observed (~30+ years late) the Squeeze / “Play” connection. The album will not be baseball-themed, that I’m conscious of, and the album cowl, effectively, I do not actually know what’s occurring there (pictured) however there’s nothing to counsel the baseball angle, however dang … I like Squeeze, I like baseball, and … I by no means put 2 + 2 collectively. Maybe Squeeze supposed no baseball implications once they named the album “Play,” I do not know, however I ought to’ve observed. *I* ought to’ve observed. Again, I say, dang. As for the puzzle, it is a fully acceptable rebus theme, undermined solely by the truth that “play” would not actually absolutely seize what’s being squozen right here (these are musicals), however they happen on stage and have dialogue, so positive, “Plays,” positive. 

The solely actual issue is uncovering that first rebus sq.. To do that, I needed to go down and discover the revealer and remedy it early. I used to be completely stumped within the NW regardless of having all however one sq. seemingly in place. The primary downside was the not-as-clever-as-it-imagines clue on RAE (4D: Good identify for a marine biologist). After rejecting ROE, I believed “ah, RAY, that works completely.” Which left me L-TY for 17A: Rise within the air. No hope. With these “good identify for a ___” clues, the suitable reply must be bam, spot-on, simple, not “eh, decide from half a dozen or so.” But annnnnyway, that was why I could not get that sq.. Also, “EVITA” is manner longer than your typical rebus string, so it is laborious to parse the lacking components of INEVITABLE till extra in regards to the theme. After I bought the revealer, after which that first rebus sq., the remainder of them got here fairly simply. The hardest one was in all probability the “Cats” sq. crammed all the way in which down within the SE nook. I had SCAN at 61A: Body picture? and (like RAY) it appeared excellent, so it took some doing earlier than I found out to place the “Cat” half in there too. I believed the rebus sq. was two squares down from there, and was significantly questioning if there was some play referred to as, I dunno, “Oran Gep” or one thing (67A: Negroni garnish => PEEL). But “CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM” and THAI RESTAURANT have been absolute gimmes, and the few names I did not know (CORTEZ) or could not keep in mind (CLEA) weren’t too laborious to attract out. 

Little issues, now. Read “flowers” as “followers” in 1D: The flowers in Amy Lowell’s “Your nice puffs of flowers / Are all over the place on this my New England” (LILACS), so I used to be in search of, I dunno, a spiritual sect or one thing like that for a bit. I believed the form of “steerage” that was referred to as for at 28D was MORAL, however that was earlier than I bought the theme. Oh, there was this:

But that was extra of a goof. Less of a goof was after I had it as “TECH lab” and “PATH lab.” Shrug. I remembered SENNA—how, I do not know (26A: Yellow-flowered medicinal plant). Very flowery puzzle, this one. I could not stand ISLATE so after I was performed I simply rewrote the part to make myself joyful:

HEAT RASH sounds dangerous nevertheless it’s a great reply (8D: Summer eruption). That’s all I’ve bought on this one. Overall: acceptable and pleasing. See you tomorrow.