Merl Reagle was quite helpful today. His clues included the letters which were part of the "Wedding No-Shows." That is the puzzle's title and theme. After all, today is the first Sunday in June, the traditional wedding month.
What Eskimos do at weddings? (R) : THROWICE
What German newlyweds do? (O) : EXCHANGEVWS
Nickname for an annoying new relative? (R) : BOTHERINLAW
What a deep-voiced wedding singer might need? (F) : LOWERARRANGEMENT
What to say when the cheese finally arrives? (D) : HERECOMESTHEBRIE
Not-so-good news for a groom? (I) : THEBRIDESMAD
The clue for 36-across is "Actress Anders." I immediately thought of Merry Anders, who co-starred (with Barbara Eden and Lori Nelson) in the 1957-59 How To Marry A Millionaire tv series, adapted from the 1953 movie of the same name. (Lisa Gaye replaced Lori Nelson in the second season.) The correct answer was LUANA. I had not heard of Luana Anders. I learned that she appeared in several cult films and low-budget B-movies, including Reform School Girls, The Pit & The Pendulum, Night Tide, Demetia 13 and Easy Rider. She died of breast cancer in 1996.
The puzzle also included the over-used words ALE, ATE, AVA, EEL and EVE and the foreign words AMO, ETUI, MER, OSO and SETAE. "Philadelphia paper: abbr." is INQ. Really? I doubt that anyone in Philadelphia refers to the Inquirer as INQ. It is obvious that Reagle wound up with that three-letter sequence and could not easily change it to a legitimate word by reworking the surrounding words so he had to come up with something that could be a clue to INQ.
C.C. Burnikel's answer of NOSE for "Winter runner" reminded me of an old joke from Mad magazine: "Does your nose run and your feet smell? Uh-oh, you're built upside-down!"
Think about it.
