Tuesday, February 21 2017, Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

Theme: Lend Me Your Ears.

17. High-tech bookmark : INTERNET ADDRESS

28. Office gossip : WATER COOLER TALK
 
48. Right granted in the First Amendment : PROTECTED SPEECH

62. "Et tu, Brute?," e.g. : FAMOUS LAST WORDS

Melissa here. Love the four grid-spanners. No reveal clue today, but it's hiding in the answer to 62A. Very clever.

Across

1. One in a bad mood : CRAB





5. Diplomat's asset : TACT

9. Vatican-related : PAPAL

14. Memorization method : ROTE. Repetition.

15. Patron saint of Norway : OLAF. Not Olav.

16. Nimble : AGILE




20. African language group : BANTU

21. Winter bug : FLU

22. Cupid's counterpart : EROS

23. Safari beast : RHINO

26. Mystery writer whose Baltimore home is preserved as a museum : POE

35. Moved quickly, old-style : HIED

36. Meat inspector's org. : USDA

37. "Awesome!" : ZOWIE. Stumped me.

38. Office coffee holder, perhaps : URN

39. Hard-rock link : AS A

40. "O Sole __" : MIO. "The sun, my own sun."

42. 1965 march state: Abbr. : ALA





43. Gold or silver : METAL

45. Rainbow flag initialism : LGBT

47. Gillette's __ II razor : TRAC

51. Bubbly prefix : AER. Aerate.

52. Clapton classic : LAYLA

53. Gem from Australia : OPAL

56. Private eye : TEC. DeTECtive.

58. Go around in circles? : ORBIT

66. Pat down : FRISK

67. Inbox clogger : SPAM. NOAA discovered this perfectly preserved can of SPAM resting at the bottom of the ocean (4,947 meters) on the slopes of a canyon leading to the Sirena Deep in the Mariana trench.





68. Pamplona parlor : SALA. Spanish, a large room or hall to entertain guests.

69. Sight or hearing : SENSE

70. Wine city near Turin : ASTI

71. River of central Germany : EDER





Down

1. Bed with sliding sides : CRIB

2. Author Jaffe : RONA

3. Mail-routing abbr. : ATTN

4. Obviously embarrassed : BEET RED

5. Weigh station unit : TON

6. Pub offering : ALE

7. Science Diet product : CAT FOOD

8. Nonstick kitchen brand : T-FAL. French cookware - portmanteau of TEFlon and ALuminum.

9. Sketching tablet : PAD

10. Shake hands on : AGREE TO

11. Harbor strolling spot : PIER

12. "One more thing ... " : ALSO

13. Not as much : LESS

18. Industrial area of western Germany : RUHR

19. Play for a sucker : DUPE

24. Post-op areas, briefly : ICUs. Intensive Care Units.

25. Margarita option : NO SALT

27. Ricelike pasta : ORZO

28. Sound of a tree falling, say : WHUMP

29. Broadcaster : AIRER

30. __-one: long odds : TEN TO

31. Kappa follower : LAMBDA

32. Informed (of) : AWARE. I wonder why the (of) is needed here - since of could also follow AWARE.

33. Pale purple : LILAC

34. Stacy who played Mike Hammer : KEACH





39. Out of the wind : ALEE
41. "The __-bitsy spider ... " : ITSY

44. Completely flummoxed : AT A LOSS. I often hear "I am lost for words," instead of "I am at a loss for words." Doesn't make sense to me.

46. Easy-to-swallow meds : GELCAPS

47. Flowering hybrid with thorns : TEA ROSE. Wikipedia: Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. They were created by cross-breeding two types of roses, initially by hybridising hybrid perpetuals with tea roses.






49. Phased-out PC screens : CRTS. Cathode Ray Tubes.

50. Farm machine : PLOW

53. Does in, mob-style : OFFS

54. Whittle (down) : PARE

55. Idi of Uganda : AMIN

57. Big cat of film : ELSA

59. Actor Pitt : BRAD

60. Vegging out : IDLE

61. Many an Ivan, in old Russia : TSAR

63. Lute kin : UKE

64. Gained a lap? : SAT

65. "No more deets!" : TMI. "Too much information!" (Deets=details.)

Wednesday, November 30, 2016, Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

TITLE: AT THE TURN - Holes 1 - 9 are said to be the "front nine" in golf. Being at the turn means you've finished the front nine and are heading for the "BACK NINE", holes 10 - 18 and that is where Gail and Bruce are taking us today

Gail and Bruce have given us this theme by not only hiding the word NINE but spelling it backwards in three long fills as you can see in the grid below. 

Here is their reveal: 

59. Take on holes 10 through 18 ... and a hint to a letter sequence hidden in 17-, 27- and 45-Across : PLAY THE BACK NINE

There is a golf apparel business shop with that name in its logo.

The actual theme fills with the ENIN motif are:

17. Stock in company producing solar panels, e.g. : GREEN INVESTMENT - Perhaps one day we can invest in a Solar-Powered charging station for electric cars like this one at the University of Iowa. It will charge 40 cars/day for a 30 mile run.

27. Exonerated by the evidence : PROVEN INNOCENT - He was "found not guilty" not "PROVEN INNOCENT"

45. Standing hospitable offer : OPEN INVITATION - Our lovely, though too infrequent, blogger Chef Wendy has this house on Kauai. She has told me that Joann and I have an OPEN INVITATION to visit her and use the bedroom on the right side of this picture.

Resident golf hacker Husker Gary here, ready to holler FORE and hit the cwd links with Bruce and Gail:


Across

1. Rough guess : STAB 

5. Company that developed the first aluminum teakettle : ALCOA

10. Pre-coll. catchall : ELHI - Not a favorite word with this veteran educator, but waddaya gonna do?

14. Words of lament : AH ME

15. Inventive types? : LIARS 

16. Wild way to run : RIOT

20. California rolls and such : SUSHI - "SPICY TUNA ROLLS" was in Mark Diehl's Saturday puzzle

21. Bud holder? : KEG

22. Touch-and-go : RISKY - Two girls trying to emulate Tom Cruises's entrance in RISKY Business.

23. Swell treatment : ICE - Tin, would you at least put ICE on a bad ankle?

25. Cato, for one : ROMAN

33. Single : LONE 

34. Suggested actions : DO'S - A DO and a DON'T for Uggs

35. Wish for : DESIRE

37. In-flight fig. : ALT - Altitude

38. Jack's value, sometimes : TEN - Pair it with and ace and you're good to go!

39. Spearheaded : LED

40. Fixture that may have claw feet : TUB

41. Closed in on : NEARED

43. Fish that can swim backwards : EEL

44. A.L. West pro, informally : STRO - Some people like to call the Huskers the Skers. I'm about as big of a fan of that as I am of ELHI.

48. Five-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ledecky : KATIE

49. Church-owned Dallas sch. : SMU

50. Moth-__ : EATEN


53. "Inside Politics" airer : CNN - Their final pre-election poll was as errant as most others

55. Initial stage : ONSET - It's hard to believe that just a year ago near the formal ONSET of this past election we were really interested in the Iowa Caucuses.

62. Vacation spot : ISLE

63. Nemesis : ENEMY

64. Canal past Rochester : ERIE

65. Far from friendly : COLD - Maybe most faculties aren't as COLD to sub teachers as they are indifferent

66. Parceled (out) : METED

67. Frees (of) : RIDS


Down

1. Loses firmness : SAGS

2. No __ traffic : THRU - This sign might work as well

3. Former Iowa Straw Poll city : AMES

4. Dwelling fit for a queen : BEEHIVE - She's right there...

5. Boxer Laila : ALI

6. Website offering : LINK

7. Stalactite sites : CAVERNS

8. Home of college football's Ducks : OREGON

9. Mule's father : ASS

10. White-coated weasels : ERMINES

11. Golf ball positions : LIES - First rule in golf - "Play it where it LIES"

12. Sound of frustration, often : HONK

13. __-bitty : ITTY

18. Good-natured : NICE

19. Copied, in a way : TRACED - I hated it when I TRACED in books like this

24. Called the whole thing off : ENDED IT

26. Early assembly-line autos : MODEL T'S - You could have one any color you wanted EXCEPT black for the earliest ones. Years later, Ford figured out that using only black paint was cheaper and speeded up the process.

27. Arrange : PLAN

28. Logger's contest : ROLEO

29. Ready to draw, as beer : ON TAP

30. Physics particle : ION - Has an excess or deficiency of electrons

31. Capone cohort : NITTI

32. Cape Cod community : TRURO

36. Black, in verse : EBON

38. Studio renter : TENANT

39. Sweet-smelling garland : LEI

42. Typed in again : REKEYED - My specialty (curse)

43. 50-50 wager : EVEN BET - I know the Sunday LA Cwd is carried in fewer newspapers and so this is a repost of an image from my comment on Gail's solo Sunday puzzle. Two punters died this summer in a car crash, one from Nebraska and one from Michigan State. The Big Ten minted this coin to be used in the 50-50 coin toss before each game.

44. Knockout : STUNNER

46. __ Creed : NICENE

47. Wild way to run : AMOK

50. Large-scale : EPIC

51. "One more thing ... " : ALSO - One of his catchphrases

52. Towering : TALL

54. Put a handle on : NAME

56. Apple Watch assistant : SIRI

57. Oklahoma city : ENID

58. Driving needs? : TEES - Apropos for a golf-themed puzzle day

60. Clothes line : HEM - HEM lines and the stock market

61. Dancer Charisse : CYD

Well after finishing the BACK NINE, I think I'll head for the clubhouse and let you TEE off with your comments!

Thursday, September 29th, 2016 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Theme: Kitchen Crises - there are legumes cascading all over the grid.

Six types of spilling beans picked out by the circles - PINTO, BUTTER, GREEN, WHITE, SOYA and BLACK are all present and correct and hinted at by grid-spanning reveal across the center.

Tricky little puzzle, this one from Bruce and Gail. The four corners took some unpicking - the southwest caused me the most problems. I liked how the beans were all "spilling" down the puzzle. The fill was tight and clean, just a couple of entries made me wince a little, but that's probably reasonable for a 78 word puzzle. Let's see what jumps out:

Across:

1. "La Vie en Rose" singer : PIAF. Splendid excuse for some gravelly soundtrack from the chanteuse.

5. Ashtray array : BUTTS

10. Interest greatly : GRAB

14. "There __ joy in Mudville ... " : IS NO. From the splendid Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

15. Livid : IRATE

16. Cambodian currency : RIEL. A couple of repeats from yesterday - this and ARIA at 64A

17. Lump : CLOT

18. Hasbro soldier : GI JOE

19. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE

20. Lake Michigan port : KENOSHA

22. Dietary need : PROTEIN

24. TriBeCa neighbor : SOHO. The "Triangle Below Canal Street" and "South of Houston" neighborhoods in Manhattan.

26. Backspaced over : ERASED

27. 1974 hit with a Spanish title meaning "You are" : ERES TU

31. Jedi Council VIP : YODA. For the Star Wars fans:

33. VCR successor : TIVO

34. Brief meeting? : SESS. Not my favorite fill today. It's legal, just not very elegant.

36. Army rank above maj. : LT.COL

41. Told ... and a hint to this puzzle's six sets of circles : SPILLED THE BEANS

44. Ivy League sch. : YALE U.

45. "Rebel Without a Cause" star James : DEAN

46. Where a retriever may be retrieved: Abbr. : SPCA. Adopting a mutt from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

47. Blacken : CHAR

49. Prepare : GET SET

51. Kansas motto word : ASPERA. Ad Astra Per Aspera. "Though hardships to the stars". Kurt Vonnegut used it as the motto of the Martian Imperial Commandos in The Sirens of Titan.

55. Omit : SKIP

57. "Moby-Dick" crew : WHALERS. This got me started in this corner. I didn't see the blindingly-obvious ARIA for quite some time.

59. Made possible : ENABLED

64. Italian air : ARIA

65. Cumberland Gap explorer : BOONE

67. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior : SEAU

68. Copper that's mostly zinc : CENT

69. Corned beef __ : ON RYE. Food! I started another batch of corned beef yesterday. Only 17 more days to go!

70. Not fem. : MASC

71. __-Ball : SKEE. I didn't know this thing actually had a name, I just thought it was "that game at Chuck-E-Cheese".

72. Construction rod : REBAR

73. Long haul : TREK

Down:

1. Draft item often traded : PICK

2. Vacation destination : ISLE

3. Erelong : ANON

4. Snap, commercially : FOTO

5. Michigan Stadium nickname, with "The" : BIG HOUSE. The largest stadium in the country with a capacity of just under 110,000

6. Heep of trouble? : URIAH

7. __ Mahal : TAJ. Big marble mausoleum in Agra, India, but more importantly a pretty great Indian restaurant on Ventura Boulevard up the road from me in Encino. Here's their famous Chicken Tikka Masala:

8. Camaro roof option : T-TOP

9. What 15-Across people do : SEE RED

10. Former Fox News anchor Van Susteren : GRETA

11. Ceremonies : RITES

12. Where eagles hatch : AERIE

13. Some of this and some of that : BLEND

21. JFK-to-Heathrow flier, once : SST. Because "Concorde" doesn't fit. By far the noisiest plane that came over my house in London on the way to landing at Heathrow.

23. Dental care name : ORAL B

25. Seafood found in beds : OYSTERS

27. Website for handmade art : ETSY

28. Electrolux spokeswoman Kelly : RIPA

29. Pernicious : EVIL

30. Something underfoot : SOLE

32. DOL division : OSHA

35. Scandinavian literary work : EDDA. Here's the first verse of Sæmund's Edda. Seems to be sensible advice:

1. At every door-way,
ere one enters,
one should spy round,
one should pry round
for uncertain is the witting
that there be no foeman sitting,
within, before one on the floor.

37. Try out : TEST

38. Toy gun ammo : CAPS

39. Almost never : ONCE

40. Six-part undergrad exam : LSAT

42. Money : LUCRE. Is lucre always filthy? I've never seen a quanity of lucre described as "sparkling".

43. Tech graduate : ENGINEER

48. Abet, in a way : HARBOR

50. Grime-fighting org. : E.P.A. Nice clue - Environmental Protection Agency

51. Spy plane acronym : AWACS Airborne Warning And Control System. I'm not really sure this is a spy plane, just a method of extending your radar detection capability.

52. Toondom ogre : SHREK

53. "Common Sense" writer : PAINE. Crosses. Thomas Paine's 1775 pamphlet advocating independence from Great Britain. Smart cookie, that guy.

54. Give a big lift : ELATE

56. Uganda neighbor : KENYA

58. 40-decibel unit : SONE. Strictly speaking, it's equal to 40 phons, not decibels, but the distinction is minor so I won't stir up trouble.

60. Realty ad abbr. : BSMT. My "uggh" fill of the day. Personally, I'd have tried to fill this section differently to avoid it.

61. "I am a very foolish fond old man" speaker : LEAR. King Lear, Act 4 Sc vii. Crosses filled this in for me, then I was thinking it might refer to Edward, master of the nonsense verse.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon. 

From The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

62. Comfort : EASE

63. "Fore!" : DUCK! One of my golfing buddies once hit a screamer of a drive that didn't get two inches off the ground - it hit one of the ladies' tee markers and came back at us so fast that no-one had a chance to do anything except dive for cover.

66. Sun or moon : ORB

That's about it from me. As Yoda would say: "A wrap, it is". Heeere's the grid.

Steve

Thursday, June 16th 2016 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Theme: Eeew! Bug assault!

17A. Bug : LISTENING DEVICE. The glass-against-the-wall ploy doesn't work, despite what you see in the movies.

26A. Bug : PROGRAM FAULT. I've been responsible for a few of these. The very first program I ran at school went into an infinite loop. It was a portent of things to come. Apple have a sense of humor with their street address:

44A. Bug : VIRAL ILLNESS. Just a 24-hour flu, if you're lucky.

57A. Bug : VOLKSWAGEN MODEL. We had a clashing pink purse/yellow VW Bug last week.I'll spare you the repeat imagery.

What a great puzzle from Bruce and Gail. I really take my hat off to a weekday puzzle like this that is nothing but fun, and challenging to get through. I stared down the top-middle before the simplest fill (SOD) finally unlocked it for me. Bravo, guys. Thanks for the workout.

Across:

1. Alpine racing obstacle : GATE. Two poles on the course you have to ski between. Wouldn't it be fun if it was an actual gate that you had to stop and open, or leap over? (Be careful to close it behind you).

5. Whisks : BEATS

10. Thought-provoking : DEEP

14. Arkin of "Argo" : ALAN

15. Prenatal test, for short : AMNIO. -centesis. Tough choices when faced with this one.

16. Former "Fashion Emergency" host : EMME. Who? Crosses for me.

20. Industrial Revolution power source : STEAM

21. Kilt wearer's refusal : NAE. I was expecting "NO UNDERWEAR" and mercifully ran out of space.

22. Destructive insect : BORER

23. Bering Sea port : NOME. As the locals say "There's no place like Nome".

25. Invigorates : ROUSES

31. Cocoon and Posturepedic : SEALYS. Confident "aha!" and "SEELYS: went in. A later correction with a crossing tempered my hubris. Thank you, OARS.

32. Parks in American history : ROSA

33. Cuba libre ingredient : RUM. I loved the RUM, COKE and LIME clechos here. Great mini-theme.

36. Confident : SURE

37. Flags down : HAILS

39. Cuba libre ingredient : COKE. Lovely. See 33A

40. Decorates with Angel Soft, briefly : TPS. Charmin in my house. I don't know exactly how much a roll costs, but I'm not about to throw it around the neighborhood.

41. "Now that you mention it ... " : WELL .... Generally not a good start. Be diplomatic.

42. Places for French lessons : ÉCOLES

46. Backless furniture : STOOLS

49. Pallet piece : SLAT

50. Put up with : ABIDE. A word with two senses - literally "live (with)". In the pejorative sense in this case "I can't abide this person". But also in the hymn of hope sense "Abide with me". This is traditionally sung before the kick-off of the English soccer cup final in London each year. I'm not sure how the tradition started, but it's pretty cool to hear 80,000 people singing the last stanza of each verse.

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me

Hold now your Word before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. 

51. One to hang with : PAL

53. Pro shop set : IRONS. I have Taylor Made irons. I didn't buy them in the Pro shop though - cheaper online! The US Open starts today - I'm in a for-fun pool to pick a team of ten golfers to win the most prize money between them. My ten are: Day, McIlroy, Spieth, Garcia, Fowler, Matsuyama, Snedeker, Reed, Berger and Knox.

60. 4-F's opposite : ONE-A

61. Intense : ACUTE

62. Cuba libre ingredient : LIME. Lovely. See 33A.

63. Part of a wine list : REDS

64. Migratory birds : GEESE

65. It's measured in inches : SNOW. Stop sniggering at the back. Plenty of this in Nome.

Down:

1. Some square dancers : GALS. Guys the other 50%, or so.

2. Settled on a branch : ALIT

3. Zap : TASE

4. Involve in a complicated way : ENTANGLE. Nice!

5. Negative decree : BAN

6. "8 Mile" rapper : EMINEM. An amazing talent. Whether or not hip-hop is your thing, I love this track. Probably rated R for language.

7. "Breaking Bad" Emmy winner Gunn : ANNA. Who?

8. Buster Brown's dog : TIGE. No idea. Contributed to a blank section for quite some time.

9. Ground cover : SOD. This little three-letter "oh!" finally unlocked the whole top-middle section for me. What a great construction key.

10. Deeply religious : DEVOUT

11. Dubai dignitaries : EMIRS

12. Link between speakers : EMCEE. Was vaguely on the right track with SEGUE but vague doesn't cut it. Corrected.

13. Reviewers of academic essays : PEERS.

18. Atlanta university : EMORY

19. Scary name in 2014 news : EBOLA

24. Kitchen gadgets : MASHERS. I have forks. Over the years I've discarded gadgets in favor of simpler and more efficient tools. Herb mincers? Garlic presses? Mashers? Pah. They use up space and are usually troublesome to clean. Big-Assed cleaver! Fork! Now you're talking.

25. Five-time NBA MVP Bill : RUSSELL. Tried WALTON first and was left with an empty square.

26. Wordless summons : PSST!

27. Do another stint : RE-UP

28. Couple in a dinghy : OARS. Corrected my miss-spelt SEELY/SEALY from earlier.

29. Superfluity : FRILL. I flat-out LOVED this clue. How many times have we seen "superfluous" and never given the other forms of the word a passing thought? Fantastic. Made my day.

30. Moviefone parent co. : AOL. Amazing who ends up being owned by whom. No doubt it will be different next year.

(Below were added later: Original write-up from 30-D went missing)

33. Othello or Iago : ROLE. From the play.

34. Hula strings : UKEs

35. Difficult spot : MESS

38. __ carte : À LA

39. Instrument panel array : CONTROLS

41. Cunning : WILES

43. Adjuster's concern : CLAIM

44. Beverages sometimes made from potatoes : VODKAs

45. Archipelago parts : ISLETs

46. Relish : SAVOR

47. Chophouse choice : T-BONE. Nice pairing.

48. Quieted, in a way : OILED

51. Rate : PACE

52. Reason for cold compresses and extra blankets : AGUE

54. Chief god of Asgard : ODIN

55. Literary sea captain : NEMO

56. Large quantity : SLEW

58. Sign of a canine excitement : WAG

59. Bridal bio word : NÉE

I'm in Milwaukee for a couple of days, so just checked the wonderful state of Wisconsin off my bucket list. The weather here is better than back in LA - not often you can say that, I wager.

And .... here's the grid. No circles!

Steve

Wednesday Feb 10, 2016 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Title: Up, Up and Away!

Hi, after only a two day respite - it's Husker Gary again! Bruce and Gail LIFT our winter spirits with a fun Wednesday puzzle featuring variations of the word LIFT as a single clue. The fill on this amusing theme resulted in top and bottom grid spanners and a thirteen-letter entry gracing the middle. WINGTIP INSERT, BARBELL ACTIVITY and CAFFEINE EFFECT didn't make the cut. 

First the theme answers:

17. Lift : SKIERS TRANSPORT - Or WEDDING PARTY TRANSPORT to this summer event on a mountain in Aspen

38. Lift : BRIT'S ELEVATOR - A Cheshire-based British company called LIFTstyle is marketing these for around  £13,000 

61. Lift : HITCHHIKERS RIDE - All right, would you or wouldn't you give this hitchhiker a LIFT

Across:
1. Roasting bird : CAPON

6. Kennel racket : ARFS

10. Doze, with "out" : ZONK

14. How writers often work : ALONE - I can't blog unless I am ALONE

15. NATO alphabet ender : ZULU - Her latest movie uses the NATO alphabet and stands for...

16. Ancient Andean : INCA

20. Bar sing-along : KARAOKE - Yeah, that's what I was just thinking about you

21. Quasi-convertible option : T-TOP

22. Rock gp. with winds and strings : ELO

23. Mil. training site : OCS - Zac Mayo getting harassed in Office Candidate School by Gunnery Sgt. Foley. BTW, do you remember the wonderful song from this movie with LIFTs in the title?

25. Pizzeria attractions : AROMAS

29. Nervous giggle : TITTER

32. "Cure Ignorance" online reader : UTNE - I have never UTNEd

34. Glamorous Gardner : AVA - Mrs. Frank Sinatra II, Mrs. Mickey Rooney I and Mrs. Artie Shaw V

35. Windy-day window noise : RATTLE

37. Strummed strings : UKES

42. Linen fiber source : FLAX

43. Newspaper space measurement : LINAGE - alt. Lineage. Is this replacing LINAGE?

44. So last week : OUT

45. Take in the wrong way? : OGLE - What's the time limit before a peek becomes an OGLE?

47. Split with the band : GO SOLO - How'd that Ross girl's career work out after she left The Supremes?

51. Pet shelter mission : RESCUE - Bless shelters for the work they do. Joann'd take all the kitties home.

53. Apt name for a cook? : STU 

55. Put the cuffs on : NAB

56. Does one's part? : ACTS

58. Elves, at times : HELPERS - Will Stockdale line: "It's just that the infantry is the real soldiers, and the Air Force ain't nothin' but HELPERS." And, for the game, the movie is...

65. Curved entrance adornment : ARCH

66. Drop : OMIT

67. Nautical table listing : TIDES - The Navy wanted low TIDES on D-Day to see the beach obstacles for its LST'S and other ships  and the Army wanted high TIDES to lessen the distance men had to run on the beach. They compromised on 1 - 3 hrs after low TIDE

68. "Okay, granted" : TRUE

69. "Bossypants" memoirist Fey : TINA- See her new movie at 15 Across

70. Mail-order-only company until 1925 : SEARS - Alvah Roebuck never said publicly he regretted the fortune he missed by leaving the business he helped found
 

Down:

1. Small jewelry box : CASKET - Bigger than a box, smaller than a chest

2. Acid neutralizer : ALKALI - Adding ALKALI to acidic soil to "sweeten" it

3. "Little grey cells" detective : POIROT - A Netflix BBC addiction of mine

4. Draft category : ONE-A - A dreaded 60's - 70's classification 

5. "Quo Vadis" emperor : NERO - "Where are you going?" A film showing NERO's Rome vs Christians

6. Tenochtitlán native : AZTEC 

7. Play about automatons : RUR

8. Like much desert : FLAT

9. Acquisition on a blanket, perhaps : SUNTAN

10. Brand with a flame over the "i" in its logo : ZIPPO - ZIPPO Ad

11. Artist Yoko : ONO 

12. Big name in bar code scanners : NCR

13. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" : KAT - It took me 60 seconds to get a sense I didn't like this show where wit is replaced by crudity. Different strokes... 

18. Hybrid tennis attire : SKORTS - With an improvised storage area

19. Ticked off : SORE

24. Besmirches : SULLIES

26. Powerful shark : MAKO - MAKO is Maori for "shark" or "shark's tooth"

27. Say with certainty : AVER

28. Carrier to Oslo : SAS

30. Cereal "for kids" : TRIX

31. Work on a course : EAT 

33. Many a "Hunger Games" fan : TEEN 

36. Bluffer's giveaway : TELL - In M*A*S*H, Winchester whistles arias while playing poker and the louder he whistles, the more he is bluffing. He gets wiped out!

37. Colorado natives : UTES

38. Cobalt __ : BLUE

39. "Aw, shucks!" : RATS

40. Harder to see, as shapes : VAGUER

41. Have-at link : A GO - I had A GO at unicyling once. Yikes!

42. Voting yes on : FOR

45. "That stings!" : OUCH

46. Hit a winning streak : GET HOT - Some Super Bowl winners just GET HOT at the end of the season

48. New York lake near Utica : ONEIDA - After 9/11 ONEIDA Mfg. lost $25M after the airlines discontinued flatware on planes 

49. Pantry : LARDER

50. Dominate the thoughts of : OBSESS - Michael Douglas and OBSESSED Glen Close have a steamy LIFT scene in Fatal Attraction

52. Hidden stockpile : CACHE

54. Iota preceder : THETA - ...zeta, eta, THETA, iota...

57. California's __ Valley : SIMI - A beautiful place to visit at 40 Presidential Drive, SIMI Valley CA. 93065

59. D-Day transports : LSTS

60. __-dieu: kneeler : PRIE - Literally "Pray God". Here are two at JFK's casket in White House East Room

61. New Year's party handout : HAT

62. Clearance rack abbr. : IRR

63. Fort Worth sch. : TCU

64. Many holiday guests : KIN - After two days, guests and fish... 

 Let's hope all of you can raise the level of discourse here to a higher level than I just did -