PCC#24 "Phil in the Blank"

Phil ___ (TV host known as Dr. Phil who got his start offering advice on "The Oprah Winfrey Show") (3)

Horizontales

1A
Phil ___ (TV host known as Dr. Phil who got his start offering advice on "The Oprah Winfrey Show") (3)
7A
Place to hang your clothes
13A
Speedy Gonzales exclamation
14A
Phil ___ (SNL cast member who also voiced Troy McClure on "The Simpsons") (3)
16A
Combined, as funds
17A
Email address component
19A
Phil ___ (Genesis drummer and singer with the song "Against All Odds") (2)
21A
Poker player's declaration
22A
Electrical units represented by omegas
23A
Country with an exclave on the Strait of Hormuz
25A
Partner of Verklärung, in a Strauss opus
26A
When tripled, a nursery rhyme cry by a little piggy
27A
Deerstalker or fez
29A
Phil ___ (daytime talk show pioneer who was the first host to include audience particiation) (6)
32A
Airport listing: Abbr.
33A
Give a speech
35A
Words after "I need" when I'm tired and cranky
36A
Phil ___ (golf pro nicknamed "Lefty" who is the oldest major winner in history) (9)
38A
Frees from, with "of"
40A
Equip with weapons, in the past
41A
Letters before an alias
44A
Phil ___ (actor nominated for an Emmy for his role of Jamie Tartt in "Ted Lasso") (1)
46A
Regnal number of Richard in a Shakespeare title
47A
Carnelian or crimson
48A
Actress Horvath of "The Rings of Power"
49A
Words before "state of affairs"
51A
Bad button to hit if you didn't mean to "reply all"
52A
"All that is or ever was or ever will be," per astronomer Carl Sagan
55A
Phil ___ (reality TV host who says "You're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race") (5)
58A
Auricle and canal extending to the tympanic membrane
60A
Turkish hospice
62A
Phil ___ (Hall of Fame Yankees shortstop known as "The Scooter") (7)
63A
Anime series in which the titular character often runs with his hands extended behind his back
64A
Start doing business again
65A
Phil ___ (Nike co-founder and former CEO with the memoir "Shoe Dog") (4)

Verticales

1D
Where X marks the spot
2D
Stitch with hooked needles
3D
Made attractive, as dog show competitors
4D
Small streams
5D
Genesis brother
6D
Arabic term for a dry river valley that contains water only when heavy rain occurs
7D
Deep gorge
8D
Back muscle, for short
9D
"Twelfth Night" duke who said "If music be the food of love, play on"
10D
Leader of the Thenns in "Game of Thrones"
11D
Jane Austen title heroine or crossword constructor Oxford with the podcast "Outside the Blocks"
12D
Samantha's daughter on "Bewitched"
15D
Start of an oft-quoted "Seinfeld" catchphrase, used on the show to deny Elaine of her order of mulligatawny
18D
News story intro, in journalism jargon
20D
"Anyone interested? Anyone?... ANYONE?!"
22D
Be in the hole
24D
City northeast of Kangaroo Island
27D
Raise, as a flag
28D
Pendulum's path
30D
Tennis champ Osaka who beat Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open
31D
Raggedy red-haired doll
34D
Number of rings for Marvel's Shang-Chi
36D
Physicians: Abbr.
37D
Lead-in to "Lanka"
38D
Bit of gossip in an Adele song title
39D
All worked up
41D
Floor covering under a coffee table, perhaps
42D
Branagh who played Niels Bohr in "Oppenheimer"
43D
Do some basic math
44D
Geometric art style embodied by the Chrysler Building
45D
Subside, as rain
50D
Ohio city where Goodyear is headquartered
51D
Lamb Chop puppeteer Lewis
53D
Selection of small dishes served as appetizers popular in Mediterranean cuisine
54D
Rice-shaped pasta
56D
Sound from a pigpen
57D
Federal agent, for short (in which the first letter stands for "government")
59D
Satisfied the munchies
61D
Many a "Rugrats" character

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Philip Chow constructor · 2024-01-27T16:06:38.033Z

Answer explanation: 9 Phils are in the grid and the parenthetical numbers in their clues point to which letter to take from their last names... the 3rd letter of MCGRAW, the 3rd letter of HARTMAN, the 2nd letter of COLLINS, and so on... this spells out GROUNDHOG... and so the meta answer is the name of the groundhog that uses his shadow to predict an early spring or a late winter: Punxsutawney Phil, popularized by the Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day."

MatthewL 🤓5:36 · 2024-01-27T16:47:37.162Z

I confess -- had to look up the correct spelling of the name, so no bonus points for me. Thanks for the puzzle, Phil!

Pair O Ducks 🤓6:24 · 2024-01-27T16:58:00.675Z

Silly me, I got GROUNDHOG day and thought, rats, I've never seen it, gotta google the cast. Well apparently the main character's name is Phil Connors! But then I realized you didn't spell out Groundhog "Day," just the groundhog, whose name has always been one of my favorite fun facts!

FrankieHeck 🤓14:20 · 2024-01-27T19:44:10.608Z
I did the same thing when I test solved. I think it was because I'd been looking up so many other Phils in the puzzle. And I couldn't figure out why he thought I wouldn't be able to spell it. When I was emailing him about the puzzle, I realized what the real answer was (and then spelled it wrong...twice!)

Capn Rick 8:29 · 2024-01-27T16:44:13.657Z

Very nice, "Phil"! My high school in central PA used to play Punxsutawney in sports (but I still had to Google the spelling).

KayW 🤓5:21 · 2024-01-27T21:38:48.951Z

Fun one!! Haha took me 4 tries to spell it correctly. Who the heck stuck an "S" in there?

Philip Chow constructor · 2024-01-27T23:41:42.586Z
lol yay 1,000 points for you!

boharr 3s · 2024-01-27T22:11:46.932Z

Got the meta. Flunked spelling. Thanks, Phil.

damefox 🤓5:25 · 2024-01-27T23:22:20.927Z

Aww, thanks for 11D, Phil!

whimsy 🤓11:19 · 2024-01-28T01:13:05.410Z

Really like this one -- I hang out with a Phil a lot! :-) For me it wasn't so much "who stuck the "S" in there?" but researching that there's a "U" in there! Thanks, Phil!

benchen71 🤓5:00 · 2024-01-28T03:25:01.867Z

Very nice, but I definitely needed Google for the spelling!

Sendhil Revuluri 🤓4:45 · 2024-01-28T04:38:43.197Z

Fun, thank you! Don't mind my repeated guesses of CONNORS before I remembered the other Phil in the movie… (and yes I belatedly understood that the metanism only got at GROUNDHOG

SamKat9 🤓10:14 · 2024-01-28T05:37:47.924Z

Yeah I had to look that up...I definitely couldn't remember the little guy's name. Thanks for the puzzle!

DrTom 15:49 · 2024-01-31T06:36:56.579Z

Even being from Pennsylvania I did not spell it right...well at least we don't kill and eat him anymore! Thanks Phil, I hope you do not see your shadow.

Laura M 🤓6:27 · 2024-02-01T18:49:11.007Z

Nice puzzle, great movie! Had to look up the spelling, I was close but not quite right.

rjy 🤓4:42 · 2024-02-01T20:01:23.763Z

(Unfortunately!) I got the answer immediately from the prompt alone, but fun to go thru the exercise anyway. Thanks for the puzzle!

Qmark 3s · 2024-02-13T00:27:39.571Z

Printed the puzzle when it came out but didn't have a chance to try it until today...no nudges needed. Enjoyed your puzzle a lot Phil! Thanks! (my first attempt at spelling the town in PA was incorrect...no bonus points for me) :)

PCC#24 "Phil in the Blank"

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