PCC#14 "Places, Everyone!"

Poppins who said "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"

Across

1A
Poppins who said "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"
5A
Amenity at many luxury hotels
8A
Vows exchanged at weddings
12A
Novel thought
13A
https://crosshare.org, for example
14A
Deal with tough times
15A
"Never Gonna Give You Up" singer Astley
16A
Place of refuge, like the attic for Clarissa in "Mrs. Dalloway"
18A
Ending for Power or Gator, in drink brand names
19A
Bashful
20A
Flashy jewellery, in slang
21A
Leader of India's Salt March
23A
Frozen treat whose flavours tend to taste more intense than ice cream due to less butterfat content
24A
Cosmetics businesswoman Lauder and co-founder of her eponymous cosmetics company ___ Lauder
25A
James Bond creator Fleming
26A
Greet silently
27A
Jones with a diary who said "It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces"
30A
"Tea for ___" ("No, No, Nanette" song)
33A
___ Angeles, CA (this is not the meta answer... although if the meta asked where I went last week for vacation, then LA would be the correct answer... it's also why I missed last week for publishing a new puzzle I apologise to my loyal fans)
34A
Whizzes along
38A
Hotel magnate Conrad, or his great-granddaughter Paris
40A
___ Knope (Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" character)
41A
Granddaddy of digital computers (or actor Michael of "Harry Brown" spelled backwards)
42A
___ se (Latin phrase for "by itself")
43A
Linguistic suffix with "morph" or "phon"
44A
Symbol of affection tied on the monk's hood with a gold pin in "The Canterbury Tales"
46A
Novel, for example (which includes a setting: the time, place, and environment in which a story occurs)
47A
Like the lama, but not the llama, in an Ogden Nash poem
48A
Drinking spot like O'Connell's, where Archie and Samad spend much of their time in "White Teeth"
49A
Actress Steppat of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"
50A
___ and feathers (punishes, old-style)
51A
Satnav suggestion, for short
52A
Paddington ___ (Marmalade-loving character)

Down

1D
Vision of a distant oasis, perhaps
2D
Brand of sneakers that Will buys for Marcus in "About a Boy"
3D
Like some developments
4D
Shaggy ox of the Himalayas
5D
Omakase offering that may include toro (fatty tuna) and uni (sea urchin roe)
6D
Say grace before a meal, for example
7D
Furry extraterrestrial in a 1980s sitcom
8D
"___ Your Name" (Beatles song)
9D
Gray who said "I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose?"
10D
Not dismissing outright
11D
One with the power to release the kraken, presumably
17D
Scrooge who said "Bah! Humbug!" to anyone who dared to wish him a merry Christmas
19D
Holmes who said "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth"
22D
NY Times Daily Wordplay columinst/editor Amlen
23D
Running ___ (joke that keeps being repeated)
25D
TSA agents check them
28D
Charged particle
29D
What websites make you agree to when you register: Abbr.
30D
Bet ___ (risk everything)
31D
Actress Ryder of "Edward Scissorhands"
32D
Twist who said "Please, sir, I want some more"
35D
Repeated cry in Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot"
36D
Cocktail that may be "bottomless" at brunch
37D
Quidditch position responsible for catching the Golden Snitch, in the Harry Potter series
39D
Asian units of weight and anagram of "slate"
40D
Leave alone
42D
Sulky expression
45D
"All Things Considered" broadcaster
46D
You might wear one when eating lobster

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Philip Chow constructor · over 1 year ago

the long-winded clue on BOOK and the title word "places" would hopefully lead you to figure out that we should focus on where these novels took place. The following books all take place in London: Mary Poppins, Mrs. Dalloway, Bridget Jones Diary, Canterbury Tales, The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol, Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist, About a Boy, White Teeth... and so I'm off to London ta-ta!

merlinnimue 🤓4:14 · over 1 year ago

Ta for the puzzle, have a smashing time

FrankieHeck 🤓4:17 · over 1 year ago

Have fun and mind the gap!

Brian Callahan 🤓2:34 · over 1 year ago

Lovely puzzle. Safe travels!

Sendhil Revuluri 🤓2:44 · over 1 year ago

Fun!

Hector 🤓6:49 · over 1 year ago

Thanks and enjouy!

Philip Chow constructor · over 1 year ago
Thanks I see you may have spotted some Easter eggs with some of the cluing

kurtalert 🤓3:02 · over 1 year ago

Have fun!

Neathery 🤓4:33 · over 1 year ago

Thanks!

boharr 11s · over 1 year ago

Thanks.

DrTom 37s · over 1 year ago

Fun, I tired to make to far too difficult by looking for the setting, place, time, etc. . I spent way too much time on the New Year's/London tie in (Bridget Jones, White Teeth) but then London came up in soooo many things and I went back and saw it was just the city I needed. Luckily I did not go down the tube! I assume the two Rick Astley references were because that earworm video was filmed in London? Just going through the clues there must be a dozen or more that reference London in one way or another, good job!

Philip Chow constructor · over 1 year ago
I know that feeling of overcomplicating things I do it all the time when I try to solve metas... I knew Rick Astley was an English singer but did not know that the music video was specifically filmed in London - so that was an unintentional easter egg. The URL was just for Rickrolling purposes
- DrTom 37s · over 1 year ago
  From the "more than you ever wanted to know" department (courtesy of Wikipedia): The video "Never Gonna Give You Up" was filmed in London, largely around Freston Road in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Since being uploaded to YouTube on 25 October 2009, the video has received over 1.4 billion views and 16 million likes; it surpassed the 1 billion views milestone on 28 July 2021.

Qmark 6s · about 1 year ago

Thanks Phil! (no hints needed)

PCC#14 "Places, Everyone!"

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