Monday April 22, 2019 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: SCREEN TIME (55A. Amount of TV watching limited by parents, and a hint to the last word of the answers to starred clues) - Last word is a type of screen.

16A. *Last bit of decoration: FINAL TOUCH. Touchscreen.

34A. *Coastal wetland often exposed at low tide: MUD FLAT. Flat screen.

 

10D. *Talks big: BLOWS SMOKE. Smoke screen.

26D. *Lone Ranger's shout: HI YO SILVER. Silver screen.

Boomer here.

Hello everyone. I seem to have another C.C. puzzle to review. I certainly hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter.  Our snow is all gone, and I hope it stays that way. I had an opportunity to prepare our garden area on Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting a few flowers in the ground before Mother's Day.  We also keep a small plot in our back yard for a few vegetables.  Tomatoes work very well and I hope to revive the green beans which failed last year.

Across:

1. River-end formation: DELTA.  Not Sun Country.

6. Sprinted: RAN.

9. "Dancing Queen" group: ABBA. Or - "Take a Chance on me".

13. Disney mermaid: ARIEL.  Walt Disney was amazing!

14. "A Doll's House" heroine: NORA.

15. Snow remover: PLOW. All winter they came. Now in the spring I found little pieces of driveway on the lawn.

18. "Dirty Jobs" host Mike: ROWE.  I remember Dad taking me fishing, and my dirty job was to "Rowe" the boat.

19. Casual tops: TEES.  Interesting clue, because these are the things I will be putting in the ground shortly to make the ball easier to hit.  I will be wearing a tee shirt when I play.

20. Pressure cooker sound: HISS.  Just remember this, a hiss is just a hiss, a snake is just a snake.

21. New Zealand fruits: KIWIS.  Available in a six pack at Aldi.  C.C. likes them, I'd rather not, thank you.

22. Standing tall: ERECT.  Made me think of the Erector set I had.  I could not build a windmill though because my set did not have a motor.

24. Off the leash: LOOSE.

25. Sentence part: PHRASE.  Needs a subject and a predicate.  What the heck is a predicate??

27. Ones gathering for a will reading: HEIRS. This is a bit of a morbid clue. How about "Ones gathering for Easter?"

28. Kimono-clad entertainer: GEISHA.

29. Droop: SAG.  Keep from drooping. Step on the GAS.

30. Little devils: IMPS.

33. Pony up: PAY.  The Kentucky Derby is in the near future.  I believe you need to pony up at the betting window there.  Lotsa Luck.

37. Corrida cry: OLE. Ole went up to his boss Sven and asked for a day off to attend a Norwegian wedding.  Sven granted the day off, but Ole did not return for three days.  "Vhere da heck haff you been barked Sven.  "Vell", Ole said "At da vedding, I won second prize at the banquet, Three days and nights vit da bride."  "Holy smoke!" uttered Sven." Vhat da heck vas first prize then?"  Ole replied, "Twenty pounds of Lutefisk !"

   

38. Moving like sloths: SLOW.  "Slow down, you move too fast, Ya got to make the morning last!"  Simon and Garfunkel, "Feelin' Groovy"

40. Spanish river: RIO.  There were a few questionable things going on there three years ago at the Summer Games. 

41. Heart-shaped photo holder: LOCKET.  Rhymes with "Davy Crockett", king of the wild frontier.

43. Suddenly became attentive: SAT UP.

45. Beat the goalie: SCORED. There have been many hockey and soccer announcers that take several minutes to say this word.

46. Rural storage buildings: SILOS.  We have many of these in Minnesota.  Sadly this year they are full of unsold soybeans.

47. Serta alternative: SEALY.  I remember visiting a San Francisco beach that was very sealy.

48. Church ringers: BELLS.  "There were bells, on the hill, but I never heard them ringing."  Professor Harold Hill's on hand and River City's Gonna have a boys band !  "CASH for the chickens and the pickens and the flypaper."  You can talk, you can bicker !

49. Gives a hand: AIDS.

50. Religious subdivision: SECT.

54. Like many ESPN broadcasts: LIVE.  "From New York, It's Saturday Night!!"

57. "__-doke!": OKEY.  I think the clue should be ____dokey.  But what do I know.

58. Harbor structure: PIER.

59. Slugger Judge: AARON.  I think he joined a dozen Yankees on the DL this week.  "Slugger Hank" would be a better clue.  Probably too easy.

60. Party pooper: BORE.

61. Pop-up annoyances: ADS.  Especially on Pogo games.  Also annoying on TV but I suppose the money moves the world.  I noticed during the Final Four, there we none of the annoying "Ask your doctor" ads.  Clever ones about Larry BIRD and Charles BARKley .

62. Mix: BLEND.

Down:

1. Nutty: DAFT.  I try.

2. Only Great Lake that borders Pennsylvania: ERIE.  I believe I have said enough about this wet clue.  Since it is C.C.'s puzzle, I am trying to be nice.

3. Ticket booth annoyance: LINE.  Let me tell you -- Sun Country check in LINE is the world record annoyance.

4. Commercial lures: TEASERS.  I am still trying to figure out how EVERY company can save you money on car insurance.

5. Every bit (of): ALL.  I think there's a laundry detergent that can clean ALL of your clothes.

6. Awaken rudely: ROUST.  Reminded me of Basic Training at Fort Campbell.

7. Fly ball trajectories: ARCS.  Goi, Goin, Going, GONE !!

8. "Don't think so": NAH. Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey ay ay, Good bye !

9. Presupposed by experience: A PRIORI.

11. "Space Oddity" rocker David: BOWIE.  I don't think he made the knife used at the Alamo.

12. Fills with wonder: AWES.

14. "Hold the rocks": NO ICE.  Reason to cancel the January outdoor fishing contest.

17. Synonym-loaded reference: THESAURUS.

21. Zen garden fish: KOI.  Would not have caught any of these at the fishing contest anyway.

23. __ Emanuel, Obama's first Chief of Staff: RAHM.  There is also a PGA pro named Jon Rahm who is pretty good.

24. Attorney's job: LEGAL CASE.   24 bottles of Bud I suppose.

25. Gong sound: PEAL.  Sadly, there was no peal of chimes at Notre Dame Cathedral yesterday.

27. "2001" computer: HAL.

28. Rte.-finding aid: GPS.

29. Bay Area airport letters: SFO.  Tony Bennett left his heart there.

31. Implored: PLED.

32. Good to go: SET.  At least six volleys in a tennis match.  About 650 baseball cards.

35. Guacamole, e.g.: DIP. 

36. Jack or hammer: TOOL.

39. State fish of South Dakota: WALLEYE. Wow, I would think C.C. would clue this as "Every holiday meal in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota".  I know South Dakota stole the State Fish moniker from us.  Wikipedia lists about 400 lakes in South Dakota.  We have over 10,000.  Where do most of the Walleyes call home ? 

42. Seer's __ ball: CRYSTAL.  If you have a crystal ball, you may see Billy Crystal.

44. How-__: DIY guides: TOS.

45. Meal at Passover: SEDER. And a blessed Passover to my Jewish friends on this blog.

46. Fancy watch brand: SEIKO.  I have my Mom's Seiko in a drawer.  Works fine.

47. Stable studs: SIRES.  Are they too old to participate in Louisville in a couple of weeks ?

48. Gooey mass: BLOB.

49. Etching fluid: ACID.

51. County Kerry country: EIRE.  This is Gaelic for Ireland or for people who do not wish to spend three extra letters of ink. 

52. "Let's do it!": C'MON.  I went to Billings, Montana several times for business and once to bowl in the USBC National tournament.  On all trips I stayed at the C'mon INN.  Nice place.

53. Take care of: TEND.  This could be the start of Ten Dollars.  Pay me.

55. Place for a massage: SPA.

56. Arrest, as a perp: NAB.

Boomer

Saturday, April 13, 2019, C.C. Burnikel

Themeless Saturday Puzzle By C.C. Burnikel

Other than National Crossword Day, what day could be more apropos here than National Scrabble Day? I am certain we have some expert players that reside here who would clean my clock at this game.

Generally I am very patient in doing crosswords and can stare at partially filled cells without frustration. However, I don't enjoy staring at a rack of impossible Scrabble tiles. 

I always seem to have an 26. Plentiful: AMPLE supply of consonants on my tile rack.

As usual, C.C.'s puzzle was a delight to work. As you can see below, she did not include any 8 or 10 point letters in her puzzle and had only one 5 pointer but still produced a very pleasing exercise!

Now lets's see what our Minneapolis mentor has for us today:

Across:

1. Bikini-ready physique, informally: BEACH BOD - Google at your pleasure. I'll wait until you're back

9. Missed an easy one: BLEW IT - Seattle coach Pete Carroll BLEW IT in Super Bowl XLIX when he called for a pass from the one-yard line that got intercepted and subsequently cost the Seahawks a Super Bowl win

15. One who finesses the tab, facetiously: EL CHEAPO - This San Diego locksmith claims it charges low rates. The ad also says El CHEAPO speaks Spanish for people who aren't offended by his lame business name.

16. Yale sobriquet: OLD ELI

17. Admits: ALLOWS IN

18. Compound in much tea: TANNIN - This compound in tea is said to promote calmness. In wines, several sites says it promotes bitterness and astringency.  

19. Pol. site: EUR - Yeah, Pol(and) is in EURope

20. Cyclotron bits: IONS - If you're interested 

22. Sacred musical work: MOTET - Usually unaccompanied sacred music 

23. Lascaux cave paintings, e.g.: ANCIENT ART - A series of paintings in SW France thought to be around 20,000 years old

29. Attraction: DRAW - Love him or hate him, he is a big DRAW

30. Trash: TOSS.

33. Postal motto conjunction: NOR - "Neither snow NOR rain..." However in Nebraska this spring...

34. Keeps in the email loop: CCS - C.C. sometimes CC's me into emails 

36. Fictional boxer Joe: PALOOKA - Ah, the Sunday comics of my yute

38. Prepare to spring: CROUCH 

40. Like some ice cream: NON FAT.

41. Relief for aching muscles: HOT SOAK - Getting there might be chilly

43. DOJ honchos: AGS - Attorneys General vs AG'S

44. Finished a dish: ATE.

45. Stadium vendor's stack: ONES.

46. Word to a service station attendant: FILL - Or...

48. Missed the note, say: ERRED.

50. Dejected words: I'M A FAILURE - A Beatles variation

53. "Hidden Figures" actress Janelle __: MONAE - Her IMDB info

55. Cinematographer Nykvist: SVEN - ...and Sven's too

64. __ Agron, Quinn portrayer on "Glee": DIANNA - ,,,and DIANNA's

56. Fried rice additive: MSG.

59. Spheres of influence: AMBITS - _ _ B I T S? This NASA guy put in ORBITS immediately!

61. Sandwich spread: EGG SALAD.

65. "The Big Bang Theory" main male characters, notably: TREKKIES - In one episode they were forced to hitchhike in TREKKIE costumes

66. Emulate YouTube: STREAM.

67. Zinfandel, for one: VARIETAL.

Down:

1. Arthur with Lead Actress Emmys for two different sitcoms: BEA - Along with her Golden Girls. She also won for Maude

2. Glamour rival: ELLE - Magazine whose name comes from French pronoun for "She"

3. Org. involved in many Supreme Court cases: ACLU 

4. Like some gospel music: CHORAL - Oh, Happy Day!!

5. Chop down: HEW.

6. Elementary: BASIC.

7. Modern crisis subject: OPIOIDS - It is now thought doctors 12. Overdid it: WENT TOO FAR in prescribing these powerful pain meds

8. Sierra Nevada's __ Pass: DONNER - The Donner party had each other over for dinner

9. Many a Tweeter: BOT - Need to know more?

10. Alpaca relative: LLAMA - Andean beasts of burden

11. Ralph Kramden's pal: ED NORTON - This golfer's favorite bit

13. Nastase of tennis: ILIE.

14. Window shade?: TINT.

21. Lose it: SNAP.

24. Longtime Clark Bar maker: NECCO.

25. Bluegrass sound: TWANG.

26. Dried chili pepper: ANCHO - The smaller pepper the hotter it is (higher on the Scoville Scale below)

27. No-brainer?: MORON.

28. Bodybuilder's snack: PROTEIN BAR

31. Stingray cousin: SKATE.

32. Gratified and then some: SATED.

35. Banter: CHAFF - Kind of down the list for definition especially here in farm country

37. Many a gambler: LOSER.

39. 1898 Havana Harbor sinker: USS MAINE - Hearst's yellow journalism helped spark what Secretary of State John Hay called "The splendid little war" against Spain

42. Rio and Soul: KIAS.

43. Pollen season drug brand: ALLEGRA 

47. Sportscast, usually: LIVE TV - The first baseball sportscast was Columbia vs Princeton that was broadcast to the 400 or so sets capable of receiving the signal in 1939

49. 2006's "Casino Royale," for example: REMAKE - David Niven replaced Sean Connery in 1967.  Well at least they kept Ursula Andress! In 2006, Daniel Craig became 007

51. Blue Cross alternative: AETNA.

52. Fussy Felix: UNGER.

53. Satirical issues since 1952: MADS - Vol. 1 Edition 1 can be yours for $3,000

54. Skip over: OMIT.

57. Skirt feature: SLIT.

58. Greek Mother Earth: GAEA 

60. Frodo's sidekick: SAM - No idea but here they are

62. Deal with moguls: SKI - Of course these moguls are ski bumps not CEO's

63. Broadband option, for short: DSL - We got DSL once but the phone company blamed our bad internet connection on our long distance from its downtown offices. Uh, not very effective. 

Now use the tiles below to figure out what you can leave for the rest of us on National Scrabble Day!

Monday March 25, 2019 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: MIDDLE EAST (57. Arabian Peninsula region, and what 16-, 20-, 36- and 50-Across literally have) - EAST spans across each theme answer.

16. Sellers of build-it-yourself furniture: IKEA STORES.

 

20. Mets' home before Citi Field: SHEA STADIUM.

  

36. Five-armed ocean creature: SEA STAR.

50. Leaves-catching brewing sieve: TEA STRAINER.

Boomer here.

East is east, and west is west. My friend Matt McNeil headed east to Detroit for the World Series of Bowling. He struggled a bit, leaving too many 7 pins, (Matt is a lefty) but managed to finish fourth in the Cheetah preliminary, and third in the big final tournament.  I am sure he cashed a couple of decent checks and made a good name for Minnesota.

Across:

1. Super bargain: STEAL.  Reminds me that MLB starts this Thursday and we have Byron Buxton.  I think he can steal a lot of bases if only he can figure out how to get on first, first. 

6. Effective on: AS OF.

10. Ed.'s backlog: MSS.

13. Bisect: HALVE.  I remember as a kid we had to TRISECT a Three Musketeers bar.

14. "Good Morning America" co-anchor Spencer: LARA.

15. Boarding site: GATE.  I'm not sure if I would show up if a Boeing 737 Max was at the gate.

18. Mythical monster: OGRE.

19. Delt neighbor: PEC.  Could be a personal electronic computer

22. Enemies: FOES.  Between Threes and fives.

23. Puts up, as a skyscraper: ERECTS.  Yup, I had an erector set when I was a kid also.  LEGO had not been invented yet.

24. Climate-affecting Pacific current: EL NINO.  I think I have mentioned that I once had a Storm El Nino bowling ball. It may still be in the garage in my used bowling ball cemetery.

27. Citrus-flavored soda, on its labels: MTN DEW.  Never liked it much.  I prefer Diet Pepsi.

29. Minnesota's state bird: LOON.  I've seen many of these birds on the lake. They emit a goofy call sound.

30. Final Four org.: NCAA.  All over the TV networks this week.  It will become more focused as 68 teams become "Sweet Sixteen" survivors.  My Gophers bowed out after making it to the round of 32.  It was not much of a contest, One of our best players could only last 4 minutes due to injury, but that's no excuse.  Michigan State proved why some teams are seeded 2 and others are 10.  But the Gophers have some very good underclassmen coming back.  See you next year, Sweet Sixteen.  

32. Eye-boggling work: OP-ART.  Look closely and you might see a hawk eating a chicken.

35. __-di-dah: pretentious: LAH. Hey - A - A, Good by

38. ''I'll pass'': NAH.  I am Naht sure if this is a word.

39. Decree: EDICT.

41. Wander about: ROAM. Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home.

42. Warehouse gds.: MDSE.

43. East Asian home of Acer and Asus: TAIWAN.  When I worked Pizza, we used to get mushrooms from Taiwan. Silly me, I thought that Taiwan was China. 

45. Like partly melted snow: SLUSHY.  I think you can get these at 7-11.

47. Merkel of Germany: ANGELA.

49. Molecule component: ATOM.  We have A Tom participating on this blog. Actually two of them.

53. Drag to court: SUE.  My name is SUE, How do you do. - Johnny Cash, "A boy named Sue".

56. Witty Bombeck: ERMA.  Fascinating lady whose column appeared in nearly every paper that had a crossword puzzle.  Sadly left us in 1996. 

59. Done with: OVER.  Airline pilot "Captain Oveur" in "Airplane" played by Peter Graves.  Peter Graves was born in Minneapolis and was the younger brother of James "Matt Dillon" Arness.

60. Falco of "Nurse Jackie": EDIE.  Wife of Mr. Lou Grant of Mary Tyler Moore Show fame.

61. Wheel connectors: AXLES.

62. Mario Bros. console: NES.  Of course I had a Nintendo. The Mario Brothers drove me nuts and then along came the "Adventures of Link."  Don't lie if you ever had one.

63. Ruby and scarlet: REDS.  I would have clued: "Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, for two".

64. Suspicious (of): LEERY.

Down:

1. Cruise vessel: SHIP.  "We sail the ocean blue, in our saucy ship of beauty."  Gilbert and Sullivan - HMS Pinafore.

2. Box office income: TAKE.  Sports venues hardly have box offices any more.  Seems you buy your ticket online, and pay with your smart cellphone.

3. Monthly util. bill: ELEC.

4. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA.  Or Ms. Gardner

5. Classroom session: LESSON.  Some teachers used to teach a lesson with a paddle.

6. Soothing medicinal plants: ALOES.  I think Alexander G. Bell wanted everyone to answer the phone "Hoy Hoy"

7. __ Lee cakes: SARA.  "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee."

8. Mine extractions: ORES.  Minnesota has a large industry of taconite mining.  Taconite is a low grade iron ore.

9. Make secure, as a seat belt: FASTEN.  Hard to believe, when I got my driver's license, no cars even had seat belts.

10. "Presto!" sticks: MAGIC WANDS.  We did not have magic wands either,  We had to go to Andy's gang and "plunk our magic twanger"

11. Peacock's gait: STRUT.

12. Appears to be: SEEMS.  Things are seldom what they seem.  Skim milk masquerades as cream.

15. Try for a long pass, in football lingo: GO DEEP.

17. Romantic ideal: THE ONE.

21. Fervent feeling: ARDOR.

22. Dolphin feature: FIN.  Also a detective on "Law and Order SVU"

24. Vogue competitor: ELLE.

25. Laundry batch: LOAD.  "Fry up another batch of bullheads Muriel - Here comes another load of voters"  - Hubert Humphrey.

26. Pitching masterpieces: NO-HIT GAMES.  Clay Buchholz tossed a no hitter for Boston in his second MLB start.  I think he was guest of Dustin Johnson at the Valspar golf tourney this weekend.

27. Bricklayer: MASON.

28. "Ciao!": TA TA.  No, my sister still ends here emails with CIAO.  (she told me she does not do crosswords, only Sudoku.)    

31. Irene of "Fame": CARA.

33. Poison ivy symptom: RASH.  There's a PBA bowler named Sean Rash.  He created some issues early in his career and other pros nicknamed him "Diaper".

34. Rock music's __ Might Be Giants: THEY.  Brandon Belt and Buster Posey might be Giants too.

36. Prop for a clown: STILT.  I've walked on stilts when I was young.  Not any more, now I am lucky if my legs are working.

37. Dutch beer brand: AMSTEL.

40. Ides of March victim: CAESAR.  How many croutons did you have on your salad Caesar ??         Et tu

42. Tight-lipped: MUM.

44. Not as cold: WARMER. We are getting there here in Minnesota. First days of Spring are producing mid-to- high 40s. People in the know are saying the melting of snow is moderate and could prohibit serious flooding.  I don't know about that.  The snow piles are pretty huge. I wish safety to those who may live in a flood plain.

46. Parent of Maybelline: LOREAL.

47. Used, as china: ATE ON.  Did you ever go to McDonald's and eat on your lap??

48. Chutzpah: NERVE.

49. South American mountain range: ANDES. Jorge, a bowling and golf friend of mine is from Chile.  The Andes mountain range to the east is just in the way.  Chile is a very versatile country on the Pacific coast

C.C. & Jorge, 7/7/2012

51. Staff assistant: AIDE.

52. "Look what __!": "Yay me!": I DID.  You can holler this when you finish this puzzle.

53. Bargain hunter's delight: SALE.  Major League baseball again, Pitcher Chris of the Red Sox.

54. App downloader: USER.

55. Site for handmade art: ETSY.

58. Application file suffix: EXE.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Mike Alpern, the host of the Cru Dinner, kindly sent me this picture of him and our Jeffrey Wechsler at the ACPT. You can also read Deb Amlen's article here about the tournament and the Cru Dinner. Rookies all received a free copy of signed crossword book. I'll link Mike's photo album when they become available.

Monday March 11, 2019 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: WATER BREAK (58. Time for a drink at the gym... or what can literally be seen in 17-, 24-, 35- and 49-Across) - WATER bookends each theme entry.

 

17. Movie buff's collectible: WALL POSTER.

24. Warm winter wear: WOOL SWEATER.

35. Tool for whacking unwanted grasses: WEED EATER.

49. Looked after: WATCHED OVER.

Boomer here. 

"Cool Clear Water - Oh Dad can't you see that big green tree, where the WATER's runnin' free and it's waitin' there for you and me." 

In my travels around Minnesota, of course I can not go too far without noticing water in one of our 10,000 lakes. However, another thing catching my eye are mammoth apartment buildings being erected everywhere. I lived in an apartment for about ten years of my life, but it was a small building with eight units. I was just in Ramsey MN last week and I swear I saw two individual buildings that will hold about 400 apartments each. Ramsey is a community of many square miles of prairie land and I cannot see why anyone would want to live piled one on top of another. What's it like where you live?

One footnote regarding last week. I do not have any brothers, but three great sisters. One older and two younger.  I am sure they all wanted to kill me at one time or another, but I am still here.

Across:

1. Jet trail: VAPOR.

6. Torino ta-ta: CIAO. My sister speaks Italian and ends her emails with this strange word.  We used to say it in the Army when it was time to eat, but I don't think we spelled it that way.

10. Lima or soya: BEAN.

14. Conductor Seiji: OZAWA.

15. Poker hand buy-in: ANTE.  We used to play for nickels when I was a caddy.  Sometimes we would carry a bag and earn $4.00 then get in the card game and go home with $8.00. (or nothing).

16.  Rifle range supply: AMMO - Drop an "M" and you have the first Latin word I ever learned. 

19. Like spider webs: SPUN.  "Oh what a tangled web we weave."

20. Trees devastated by a "Dutch" disease: ELMS.  I don't think the disease is Dutch, I think the tree is.

21. Go kaput: DIE.

22. Manually clutch: GRASP.  This clue reminds me of the manual transmission Chevy we had when I was learning to drive.  Yeah, I think my dad GRASPED something. (Especially on the left turns)

23. Late July zodiac sign: LEO.  Could be a lion or a Pope

27. Popeye, for one: SAILOR.  " I would gladly pay you Tuesday for some spinach today."

29. Ramen : Japan :: __ : Vietnam: PHO.

30. Med. care group: HMO.  Is this really a Health Maintenance Organization or just a fancy acronym for health insurance ??

31. Croat or Serb: SLAV.

32. Capri or Wight: ISLE.  "Every summer we can build a cottage in the Isle of Wight" - when I'm Sixty-four.

34. All in favor: AYES. Opposed? Nay

38. Puppies' bites: NIPS.  Hey, I like cheese nips and I don't have a dog.

41. Friend in battle: ALLY.  Add an "E" and you have a car path behind a bowling CENTER !

42. Damon of "True Grit" (2010): MATT. Matt Fitzpatrick did well at Arnie Palmer's Tournament this weekend.

45. "__, please": box office request from a single patron: ONE.

46. Orlando-to-Miami dir.: SSE. These direction clue and ans. are usually the only ones I get immediately.

47. Some October babies: LIBRAS.  Not me, I am a Scorpio.  (And now I am a Cancer too),

53. High dudgeon: IRE.

54. "Aw, shucks!": OH GEE.  Wasn't Oh Gee Wan Kenobee in Star Wars ?

55. No-winner situation: TIE.  I have many in my closet.  Some are winners, I think.

56. Start of a play: ACT I.

57. Betting group: POOL. We used to pool money when the Power Ball got in the millions. I think once we won $50,  so everyone got about $1.50 back for the $5.00 we each bet.

61. Airline with an all-kosher menu: EL AL.  I have trouble wondering why anyone would eat airline food. I never liked it when it was included in the ride. I just figured it was there to keep the flight attendants busy.

62. "Close one!": WHEW.

63. Copy, briefly: REPRO.

64. Driving range barriers: NETS.  I never hit it far enough to hit the net.  (But I have hit a few parallels on the side of the range).

65. Ironically, some are "civil": WARS. What are they good for?  Absolutely nothing.

66. Caravan stops: OASES.

Down:

1. The word "America" has four of them: VOWELS.

2. Rhododendron shrubs: AZALEAS.

3. Saturated vegetable fat: PALM OIL. If you have it, you might want to wear gloves when you bowl or play golf.

4. Big-eyed birds: OWLS. WHO ??

5. Drake genre: RAP.

6. Electronic calculator pioneer: CASIO.  I remember my first one. Wiped out 4 years of grade school math.

7. Pentium processor maker: INTEL.

8. Gobbled up: ATE.  Oh You Turkey!!

9. "__ the ramparts ... ": OER.  Speaking of which - I wish guests at sporting events would sing the National Anthem with reverence and stop trying to make it a Broadway production.

10. Port in southeastern Iraq: BASRA.

11. Capacity to relate: EMPATHY.

12. "Say something funny!": AMUSE ME.

13. Amateurs: NON-PROS.

18. Smell: ODOR.  Rougned of the Rangers, you're wanted in a crossword.

22. Nat __ Wild: cable channel: GEO.

24. Worked on a loom: WOVE.  When I was a kid, we made potholders on them.  I never saw a real fancy loom though.

25. Spread out, as fingers: SPLAY.

26. Stimulate: WHET.  There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza.  So whet the knife, Henry and fix it!

28. Felons violate them: LAWS. 

32. Ran in neutral: IDLED.  In the old days we always warmed the car up in the winter.  Now I guess it's not necessary.

33. Poivre partner: SEL.

34. Graceful horse: ARAB.

36. Lack of difficulty: EASE.

37. Kuwait potentate: EMIR.  Our Gophers have Amir Coffey.  He does not have the money of an Emir, but he could get there in the NBA.

38. Sign on a new store: NOW OPEN.  I am waiting for that sign on the Minnesota golf courses.

39. Losing big at the casino, say: IN A HOLE. (See above - I'll bring my putter.)

40. Bleating companion: PET GOAT.  Remember Pontiac?  Those who owned a GTO were said to have a pet goat.

43. "Three-headed" arm muscle: TRICEPS.

44. Raw steak style: TARTARE. Raw fish - needs a lot of tartar sauce.

46. Ship's pronoun: SHE.

47. Creepy look: LEER.

48. Japanese watches: SEIKOS.  Got my mother one for Christmas in 1990.  Still keeps time.

50. Rooms behind bars?: CELLS.  I don't think you can call it a room unless it has a rug or a coffee pot.

51. Playful marine animal: OTTER.  Remember Eric Stratton in "Animal House"?  Otter, played by Tim somebody.

52. Vantage points: VIEWS.

56. Office space calculation: AREA.

58. Letters in a URL: WWW.  World Wide Wrestling??

59. ''Now I get it!'': AHA.

60. Dude: BRO.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

JD sent me this wonderful pictures of her grandsons. She said:

"Last evening the league had their opening ceremonies. The boys have just completed their flag football and basketball, and now....even though it is still chilly and rainy...the baseball season is upon us. Watched 1st game this morning with a few showers. As you can see, Grady and his brother Truman are on the same team. Dylan has no desire for any team sport yet. He needs a bicycle team. Time just flies by."