Puzzle #27: RESIST

AOK’s Review:
Good day, everybody!

If you’re reading this at or near the time of when I finished this write-up, I hope you’re having a real good night and have your feet kicked up on the living room table before heading for bed.

I have to head to bed real soon, but, before doing that, I have to say that it was a very fun crossword from Patrick today, with the entry RES being the reveal (71A: [Musical scale steps … and what became a T in this puzzle’s 5 theme answers]). Here’s hoping that you noticed the grid’s title, as the word RESIST is a clever way of telling you what is actually happening with the answers, if you break up the word to three parts: RES-IS-T. I remember the first time I did a puzzle like that, when the reveal was NIXON and the theme answers were common phrases/proper nouns which had the letters “ON” removed, or NIXed (I actually would be really embarrassed if that puzzle was actually one of Patrick’s! Can’t remember at the moment.)

If I knew that a character on an animated show was named MAP, I might have taken a look at the show more often (54A: Animated character who shows Dora which way to do]).

To boot, know that one of the most well-known traditions in college sports happens at Auburn University, when, after significant wins by the Auburn football team, students go to the oak trees at an area of campus called Toomer’s Corner and proceed to TP(s) the trees in celebration (46A: [Pulls a prank with Charmin, briefly]). I would go into detail about how it started, the Alabama fan who allegedly poisoned the trees a few years ago and so on, but that’s a story for a later time.

Take care, everyone!

Ade

***
Patrick’s notes:
This puzzle reinterprets its title as 3 words: RES is T
To find the base phrases, turn the T’s back to RES’s like so:
SOLAR FLAT -> SOLAR FLARES
GREEN ACT ->GREEN ACRES
HOLLYWOOD SQUAT -> HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
BOMB SCAT -> BOMB SCARES
SUBWAY FAT -> SUBWAY FARES
For such common letters, it was surprisingly difficult to find phrases that would work.

I abandoned standard crossword symmetry slightly in order to accommodate my central theme answer. The SW/NE corners are more closed off than I would like, but that did allow me to include the helper RES at 71D without too much trouble.

I had fun writing many of these clues. Sometimes having *too* much fun makes things tricky when I go to fit everything into a one-page PDF; the clues were a little lengthy this time, so I had to decrease my margins a bit. That’s the opposite problem I had with my essays in high school!