Wed., 9/9 Fludzinski and Hamilton

[magus]

THEME:   initial letters of two-word phrases are B and C
   
GOOD ONES:     
Recently retired NCAA ranking…   BC'S   
Competition won by a knockout?  BEAUTY CONTEST [knockouts, not used much today, are beautiful women: today they're hot or if older, MILF's (can't help noting the dive into crudity)]   
Sooner or later   ADVERB   
   
BTW:   
Athenian with harsh laws   DRACO [wence draconian]   
   
Type of ale   NOT BROWN [and not good. If it's not brown ale its pale ale.]   
   
Arm strengthening reps   BICEP CURLS [as above, made to fit.  The term is simply curls.  But worse, the muscle is biceps, bot bicep.]   
   
ESTO is not used in our language regardless whether Jose uses it.   
   
Martin of "Adam 12"   MILNER [I believe he died yesterday]   
   
Average grade   CEE [in what century or what school?]   
   
Rollerblading safety gear   KNEEPADS [this puzzle needed "Lewinski equipment"]

Certain cutlet   BONELESS CHICKEN [and maybe "Coward"]   
   
RATING:       With these weaknesses it is hard to enjoy.
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[rbe]

The type of ale is NUT BROWN. It crosses with SAO PAULO.

[Thomps2525]

Martin of Adam-12: MILNER
Highest North American peak, to natives: DENALI

And between the time the crossword was created and the day it was published, Milner died and Mount McKinley was officailly renamed Denali. Spooky!

"Average grade" was CEE. A few days ago, a crossword used CEE for "Copyright symbol letter." When teachers grade papers, they use the simple letter C, not "cee." And the copyright symbol ( © ) likewise uses a C, not "cee."

And speaking of C's.....GARTH was clued with "Brooks of C&W." That is a very outdated term. We are many decades past the years when Gene Autry, Rex Allen, Roy Rogers, Eddy Arnold, Marty Robbins and other artists sang about cowboys and western life. In the 1940s, such songs were often referred to as "hillbilly music." In the 1950s, the terms "C&W" and "Country & Western" were used. In 1962, Billboard magazine echoed the trend of the music industry and began referring to the music as simply "Country." The weekly top-50 sales/airplay chart is called "Hot Country Songs." Brooks has recorded a few songs about cowboys but he is a country artist, not "C&W." There no longer is a "C&W." Thank you and good night.

[magus]

Just checking, rbe, to see if you were paying attention. 
I did notice your wordiness today.  I would have expected: PAULO + NUT.
Anyway, I had SAO PAULO but must've read NOT for NUT which is admittedly nuts.

[rbe]

I did make an effort to use more words. Glad to see that you noticed.