Friday, September 12, 2025 - Katherine Simonson

 Theme:  "Bride"-al path ... 

 

As seen in the hit film, "Sire of the Bride"

Puzzling thoughts:

Today's puzzle was summed up with the reveal entry:

54-across. Rom-com starring Julia Roberts, and a feature of 20-, 32-, and 41-Across?: RUNAWAY BRIDE.

As you'll see in each of the three entries, the BRIDE has RUN AWAY from the movie title listed (as clued):

20-across. Gurinder Chadha adaptation of a Jane Austen novel: AND PREJUDICE.  The movie was not a box-office "biggie", nor a fan favorite, but it did cause the Chairman to wonder what was to follow as I was thinking PRIDE and Prejudice, Jane Austen's actual novel.  As it turns out, what's "missing" is the word BRIDE from the title (BRIDE AND PREJUDICE) - open the hyperlink to learn more

32-across. Fantasy adventure starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright: THE PRINCESS.  The movie was not a box-office "biggie" but at least garnered an 80% approval rating.  Once again, the word BRIDE was missing from the puzzle entry (THE PRINCESS BRIDE)

41-across. Spencer Tracy comedy with a remake starring Steve Martin: FATHER OF THE.  The movie earned the most $ of the three but was still regarded as a "stinker" by Rotten Tomatoes.  BRIDE was missing from the movie title (FATHER OF THE BRIDE)

OK, without sounding too ignorant, what am I missing here?  I can honestly say that "Father of the Bride" is the only one of the three movies I've seen.  And it came out in 1991 so my memory of it is pretty foggy.  IIRC, the father, aka, George Banks, is more concerned about the cost of the wedding rather than the fact that he is losing his daughter Annie to his future son-in-law

Did any of the three entry movies feature the BRIDE running away?  Having "cold feet" perhaps?  If so, then this was a brilliant discovery by the constructor.  Three movies whose titles include the missing word "BRIDE" and whose story lines include the BRIDE actually "running away".  If not, then I don't know if this registers very high on my creativity list of puzzles

Guess I will have to wait at the altar (or watch the three movies to find out) 

Kudos Katherine to being published again (debuted October 2024) as I know from personal experience just how difficult it is to have a puzzle go to print

A small "nit" to pick:  In the first movie title, the word "BRIDE" was the missing from the first word in the title.  In the other two movies, the word "BRIDE" was missing from the last word of the title.  Perhaps if Katherine had thought of this movie (in which the word BRIDE is the second word in the title) I might have enjoyed this more, as the BRIDE would have run away from three different spots 

For some odd reason (maybe my weirdness) this whole "runaway bride" thing made me think of a fitting Moe-ku:

       Home, Home on the Range

       Features a runaway BRIDE: 

       "The deer and the ant elope ... "     

Here, then, is the grid and then off to the rest of the puzzle words

 

Across:

1. Burdened: BESET.

"Burdened" didn't make the top ten

6. Puff: WISP.  See 6-Down ... we have WISP crossing WASP

10. Grifter's game: SCAM. If the word "game" had been capitalized the answer might have been "BOOK"

14. French honey: AMOUR.  "Honey" as in dearie - French word for "my love"

15. Org. co-founded by Helen Keller: ACLU.  American Civil Liberties Union

16. Angelic ring: HALO.

17. Semper __: Space Force motto: SUPRA.  All you need to know about the US Space Force 

All you need to know about Semper Supra

18. Spotted: SEEN.  Not this spotted:

19. Enthusiastic: AVID.

[entry]

23. Oscar winner Tomei: MARISA.  One of my favorite clips from the movie, "My Cousin Vinny".  Marisa in her role as Mona Lisa Vito

26. Pickleball need: PADDLE.

27. Some pyramid-topped monuments: OBELISKS.  

Unlike 50-Down, this Luxor is an obelisk

30. Scare word: BOO.  Irish Miss must be pleased today as Katherine only used 11 three-letter words in her puzzle (if I counted correctly)

31. Scottish cap: TAM.  And of course, another three-letter word appears right afterwards ... 

[entry]

37. Long-billed wader: IBIS.  Also, the mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes 

Sebastian, the IBIS

39. Mexican kinsman: TIO.  Would the clue "Uncle in Uruguay" have been any easier?

40. Cabbage cousin: KALE.

[entry]

46. B'way passes: TIX.  Moe-ku:

        Can dogs that have fleas

        Get into a theater

        Without having TIX?             

47. Exclamation of discovery: AHA.

48. Formidable: FEARSOME.  Any football fans remember the "FEARSOME" foursome?
 
50. Off-road vehicles?: LEMONS.  When was the term "lemon" first used to describe an "off" car?

How about a lemon-colored lemon??

53. Done for: RUINED.  

[reveal]

57. Teammates who really pull for you?: OXEN.   Clever clue

58. Small ensemble: TRIO.  Duo and quartet didn't fit

59. Wrinkle removers: IRONS.  Thankfully as a retiree I no longer need to worry about removing wrinkles from my dress shirts, as I used to when I worked in the corporate world ... 

63. Pop singer Amos: TORI.

  

64. Haughty manners: AIRS.

65. Part of one's inheritance: TRAIT.  My good looks, I'm told ... 😀

66. Clog decorated with Jibbitz charms: CROC.  Not familiar with this?  Watch below:

67. Invited: BADE.  Friday clue

68. Primitive: EARLY.  Friday clue

Down:

1. __-relief: BAS.  Moe-ku:

        A professional

        Fisherman mounted his catch:

        His bass bas-relief

2. Australian source of some cosmetic oil: EMU.  Johnny Bench is a spokesman for this brand:

3. Soak (up): SOP.

4. Continental train pass: EURAIL.  All you need to know about Eurail passes

5. Part of BART: TRANSIT.  Bay Area Rapid Transit

6. Queen mother?: WASP.  All you need to know about a Queen WASP

7. Cake shop artist: ICER.  Moe-ku:

        What bakery does

        When bride carps on wedding cake?

        Of course, they ICER

8. With 13-Down, laptop setting: SLEEP.  [13-Down. See 8-Down]: MODE.  Moe-ku:

        Breyer's IT staff

        Equipped their computers with

        SLEEP a la MODE 

9. Most prevalent language of Pakistan: PUNJABI. [Brittanica dot com says] "Punjabi language, or Panjabi language, Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab in India and Pakistan. Punjabi has about 26 million speakers in India and more than 60 million in Pakistan—nearly half the population of the latter—but linguists have sometimes considered the dialects of southwestern, western, and northern Punjab province in Pakistan a different language. Inhabitants of southern Punjab province have agitated for consideration of their speech, Siraiki (with more than 12 million speakers), as a distinct language, though Siraiki and Punjabi are mutually intelligible"

10. Pomelo: SHADDOCK.  [Wikipedia says] "The pomelo , also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia and Malaysia."

11. Kvetch: CAVIL.  What's the difference between Kvetch and CAVIL?

12. Chez Panisse owner Waters: ALICE.  Anyone here familiar with this woman and/or restaurant? Here is a conversation I found on YouTube

21. Vague amount: DASH.  Moe-ku:

        Recipes are vague;

        How salty should the dish be?

        Just ask Mrs. Dash

22. Japanese noodle: UDON.  The vagueness of the clue could have steered you toward SOBA, too.  Want to know the difference?  I'll also compare ramen noodles to them

23. Repeated pattern: MOTIF.  Moe-ku:

        What boxer said when

        He saw his incisors gone:

        "I just want Motif"

24. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA.  Addis-Ababa translates to "New Flower"

25. Pay: REMIT.  The word REMIT has a boatload of definitions 

28. Low-carb regimen: KETO.  Diets are just fads 

29. Polish (up): SPIFF.  My friend the Thesaurussaurus agrees; sort of

Again, "polish (up)" didn't make the top ten

33. Tedious learning method: ROTE.  I wonder if this is how actors learn their lines?

34. Brand of fine stationery: EATON.  I remember using this brand of stationery when I prepared my work resume, as it added both quality and professionalism to the document 

35. Goopy stuff: SLIME.  When the Ghostbusters got slimed ... "why am I drippings with goo?"

36. Sch. health class: SEX ED.  Click here for a preview of an article on SEX EDucation

38. Like some New Agey practices: SHAMANIC.  According to [shamanichealing.org.uk]: "Shamanic healing is an ancient spiritual practice that focuses on restoring balance and harmony to an individual's mind, body, and spirit through various techniques and rituals.  According to [Urban Dictionary]: New Agey is an adjective used to describe a new age type individual, i.e., someone who has a crystals collection, has many self-improvement books, believes in alternative medicine, practices yoga and meditation, eats organic, wears socks and sandals, and/or believes in auras and energy fields. Can also be used to describe new age practices such as shamanic healing"

42. Online instruction site: E-HOW.  Moe-ku:

        Old MacDonald song

        Lyrics are found online at

        "E-I-E-I How"

43. Deferred payment: RAN A TAB. Moe-ku:

        The teetotaler

        Who drank unsweetened cola

        Just ran a Tab® tab 

44. Mata __: HARI.  If you have 24 minutes to spare, please watch this video as it tells the story behind the woman known as Mata Hari

45. Scholarly: ERUDITE.  I've never been confused with someone who's erudite; glib, maybe 😉

49. Jagged-looking range: SIERRA.  Literal translation for the word sierra is a jagged mountain range.  Go figure!  Here is a look at a very small portion of the Sierra Mountains at a very famous lake that borders CA and NV ... taken by the Chairman when he was on sabbatical ... 

Along the western edge of Lake Tahoe

50. Vegas hotel whose rooms have slanted windows: LUXOR.  The Luxor Hotel resembles a pyramid from its exterior.  If you book a room there your windows will look like this

Yes, the windows are slanted

51. Month when it's not chilly in Chile: ENERO.  Hah! Enero is the Spanish word for January; Chile is located in the Southern Hemisphere where the month of January is the start of their summer season.  Now, if you were located here in Chile, in Enero, you would definitely be chilly unless you were wearing a warm jacket

52. Ancient Palmyra's land: SYRIA.

54. Campus mil. group: ROTC.  Reserve Officers' Training Corps

55. Blue-footed booby, for one: BIRD.  I wonder if the blue-footed characteristic of the booby indicates a male, and the females are pink-footed?  Actually, the blue feet are the male's way of attracting a female for mating ... 

If you were a female booby, would you find this guy attractive?

56. Neither red nor white: Rosé.  Speaking of pink, I'm guessing this clue/answer refers to wine.  If so, here's a fun fact from your resident sommelier:  Rosé wines are generally made from red grape varietals and are not a result of blending a white wine with a red wine, though that is an option.  During fermentation, especially with red and/or darker skinned grapes, the longer the pressed grape "juice" stays in contact with their skins, the darker the color of the wine.  When making rosé, many winemakers will leave the skins in contact with the fermenting wine for mere hours.  That is generally long enough to provide a tinge of color and create a pink-colored wine. Here are a just a few of the red-grape varietals that can make rosé: Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Mourvèdre, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel

60. Coxswain's lack: OAR.  The coxswain is the person at the front of the boat yelling the cadence to the rowers

This is for our cat-loving Cornerites

61. Nothing at all: NIL.  At some point (maybe it's already happened) this word might also be clued as: NCAA athlete compensation acronym

62. Barnyard dwelling: STY.  What lives in a STY?  Why, little piggies I'm told.  Here's a cut from the White Album to lead you towards the comments ... see you in a couple ...

Oh, I have a post-script to add as I found a picture recently of a spud that resembles my blogging partner, Malodorous Manatee.  He will provide the jocularity next week

Quite the resemblance, eh?

Friday, June 13, 2025, Katherine Simonson

No. No. The Other Way! The Other Way!

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, and welcome to Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.  Your host for today will be Marlin Perkins.  Oh, sorry.  Your host, today, is Malodorous Manatee and the program for today is a recap of a Friday puzzle by Katherine Simonson.

Let's start with the reveal:

56 Across:  Annual mass relocation, or a movement that happened four times in this puzzle?: ANIMAL MIGRATION.

At the places where the theme is applied, Katherine takes well-known two-word combinations, each involving an animal of some sort, and reverses the order of the words.  I guess that this could be called "MIGRATION".  While MIGRATION is a form of relocation it does seem to be a little bit of a stretch.  However, because the gimmick is more readily identifiable than in many other puzzles, there is no need to belabor the point.  

Here are the four "times":

17 Across:  Meeting of monarchs?: BUTTERFLY SOCIAL.  A social butterfly is a person who is outgoing, enjoys attending social events, and often moves between different social groups without forming deep connections. They are typically charismatic and thrive on interacting with others. Flip Social Butterfly around and we have a group of Monarch butterflies enjoying each others company. Did anyone first think that kings and/or queens would somehow be involved?

23 Across:  Lingerie for a grizzly?: BEAR TEDDY.  From this:

To this:

34 Across:  Shortage of raptors? HAWK DEFICIT.   Deficit hawk is a political slang term for people who place great emphasis on keeping government budgets under control.  As the federal deficit alone is in excess of $35 trillion there is, apparently,  a shortage of this type of hawk.  Flip Deficit Hawk around and we have a dearth of flying carnivores.

51 Across:  Protest in support of the loser of a fabled race?: HARE MARCH.  The March Hare from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland morphs into:

This is how it all appears in the completed grid:

.... and here are the rest of the clues and answers

Across:

1. Raucous field cry: CAW.  A reference to the noise a crow makes and the first of 21 three-letter answers.

4. Workforce: STAFF.  Does the STAFF at REI or EMS sell staffs?

9. Wounded by a scorpion: STUNG.

14. Suffix with mod or nod: ULE.  ModULE or NodULE

15. Arctic: POLAR.  

16. Break down: PARSE.  Bill Clinton brought PARSE into the broader lexicon with his famous "It depends on what the meaning of is is" and  “Well, I’m just showing the American people what a verb is and what a noun is, would you like me to show them another verb and another noun?"

20. Words of the weary: I'M BEAT.

21. Box: SPAR.  Not a carton.  Pugilism.    

22. Mocking irreverence: SNARK.

28. Sea dog: MARINER.  Both GOB and Tar were too short.

30. Kicks on Route 66?: NISSANS.  Nice mash-up.  The NISSAN Kick is an automobile.  I don't think that the song anticipated that.  We'll let Ray Benson and company explain . . .

31. Moisturizer brand: OLAY.

33. Central Asia's North __ Sea: ARAL.  A place we frequently visit.

39. Half-moon tide: NEAP.

41. Lad of La Mancha: NINO.  Spanish for a young lad.

42. Divide with two cuts: TRISECT.  One might also create four pieces with two cuts (but the cuts would have to intersect each other).

46. Slices of American cheese: SINGLES.

53. Plot: TRACT.  Not the arc of a story.  A parcel of land.

54. Pedestrian: BLAH.  Meh.

55. Contort in pain: WRITHE.

61. Under the __: RADAR.  Idiomatic for intentionally not drawing attention to one's own self.  Look, the Norwegian RADAR operator has reported seeing some birds on the screen!  He's Scandinavian.

62. Entreaties: PLEAS.

63. Not gross: NET.  Not yucky.  A financial reference.

64. Acknowledge: THANK.

65. Had a restful night: SLEPT.

66. Burro: ASS.  A small one.

Down:

1. Avant-garde movement pioneered by Georges Braque: CUBISM.  Per Wikipedia, the CUBISM movement was pioneered in partnership by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Still Life - Georges Braque

2. Spelman graduate: ALUMNA.  Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1881.

3. Suite amenity: WET BAR.  Perhaps.  A hotel room that is not a suite could also have a WET BAR and a suite of multiple rooms could be without one.

Literally

4. "Last chance to object": SPEAK NOW. . .  or forever hold your peace.

5. Lawsuit basis: TORT.  A frequent cause of action in our puzzles.

6. Landon who was governor of Kansas in the 1930s: ALF.  ALF Landon was a Kansas governor and a Republican presidential candidate in 1936. He lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt and was the only Republican governor to win reelection in 1934.

7. Like some starts and returns: FALSE.  The former might result in a disqualification, the latter might result in a heavy fine and jail time.

8. Skillet: FRY PAN.  More often frying pan.

9. Hurling and curling: SPORTS.  Hurling is a contact sport played by men and women with a wooden stick and a ball. It is one of Ireland's native Gaelic games.  Alternatively, see 25 Down.  Curling is somewhat akin to  shuffleboard played on ice.

10. Middle of a winning trio: TAC.

Tic Tac Toe

11. Ocean State sch.: URI.

12. Cryptography org.: NSA.

13. Set: GEL.  Used as a verb as in how Jello firms up or GELs.

18. Polo of "Good Trouble": TERI.

19. Dress for a formal puja, perhaps: SARI.  This solver was not familiar with puja but SARIs are a form of dress frequently worn in crossword puzzles so, with a couple of perps, the answer quickly came to mind.  Once, I accidentally offended an Indian woman by using the wrong word for her clothing.  So I said "SARI."

23. Small nail: BRAD.

24. Morales of "Mission: Impossible" films: ESAI.

25. Feathered projectile: DART.  How does a dart board on the ceiling make you sick?  It causes you to throw up.

26. Forensic sample: DNA.

27. French fashion monogram: YSL.

29. Large ruminant in the Rockies: ELK.

32. Japanese dough: YEN.  Dough as in slang for money.

34. Locks: HAIR.

35. Cathedral feature: APSE.  A place frequented in our puzzles.

36. Amy Tan's "Saving __ From Drowning": FISH.  Tan is perhaps best known for The Joy Luck Club.

37. Pasta suffix: INI.  Bucatini, Ditalini, Capellini, Tagliolini, etc.

38. Distinction: CONTRAST.  As opposed to, say, horizontal hold?

39. Advanced degree?: NTH.  Not an academic reference.  Extremely/as much as possible.

40. Time capsule time: ERA.  A big 'thank you" for not heading down the Swifties road.

43. Board: EMBARK.  Do dogs ever leave?  Of course not.  They EMBARK.

44. Buzz: CALL.  As in "I'll give her a buzz".  No, not that kind of buzz.

45. Wanders (around): TRAMPS.  Like a TRAMP steamer.  ROAMS and ROVES were both too short.

47. Sandpaper measure: GRIT.

48. America Ferrera, for one: LATINA.  Clued this way, for this answer there were hundreds of millions of clues from which to choose.

49. Repeats: ECHOES.

50. Medical tubes: STENTS.  I have a friend who has been feeling really sentimental about a stent she had put in several years ago.  It still holds a special place in her heart.

52. "You need to relax": CHILL.  CHILL, man.  Gee.

55. Cloak: WRAP.  As in a riddle WRAPped up in an enigma.

56. Part of LACMA: ART.

57. Casual refusal: NAH.  Nah.

58. NAACP co-founder __ B. Wells: IDA.  A frequent visitor.

59. "Hoo boy": MAN.  Gee.  Chill, MAN.

60. Bagel center?: GEE.  GEE, man, chill.  Oops, sorry.  Force of habit.  It's actually one of those types of clues (but we're on to this trick).  B A G E L

Well, we've wrapped things up up five- three-letter words in a row so there's not much left to say except "Bye Bye For Now."  I will add, however, that the relative lack of proper nouns was refreshing, indeed.

On a further note, this recap marks the first time that this marine creature has ventured into the realm of AI generated images.  Did you spot them?

___________________________________________

Wednesday, April 23, 2025 Katherine Simonson

Theme: It's the unifier - FAILURE TO LAUNCH.   At my age, I think of this as an unsuccessful attempt in rocketry.  But the modern usage refers to young adults who struggle to achieve expected milestones of independence and self-sufficiency.  This seems to be Google's preference.  More generally, it can be any unsuccessful venture.  Here, we have an imbedded word or phrase in each theme fill that represents the concept.  Ironically, it seems like a success.

17 A. *Call to Rapunzel: LET DOWN YOUR HAIR.  Rapunzel is the main character in a German folk tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812.   She is trapped in a tower with a window and no other entrance.  Her long, golden hair, when dropped down from the window, becomes a type of ladder.  A LET DOWN is a failure to provide some expected assistance.

Wikipedia

22 A. *Outmoded forms of payment for some commuters: BUS TOKENS.    Physical or digital tickets that allow passengers to ride a bus or other public transport service.  A BUST is a failed endeavor of almost any variety. 

33 A. * Like a beagle but not a corgi: FLOPPY EARED.  A description of an animal's ears that hang down the sides of the head, rather than standing upright.  A FLOP is an unexpected failure of some activity.  Our oldest granddaughter just returned from 15 months in Japan, where she was dancing at Tokyo Disney.  When she returned, I called her "cookie," because she was away fer so long.  As you can imagine this joke was a complete FLOP.  But I was amused.

Not Snoopy, probably

49 A. *Western vacation destination: DUDE RANCH.  This is a vacation site where city dwellers can experience some aspects of cowboy or old west living.  A DUD is an object that doesn't work, like a fire cracker that doesn't crack.

 55. Rocket mishap, or what can be found at the start of the answer to each starred clue: FAILURE TO LAUNCH.  Still, this gets the puzzle off to a good start.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here, hoping to continue with success in this puzzle journey.  

Across:

1. Fish tacos fish, familiarly: MAHI.  More formally, mahi-mahi, a tropical fish also known as dolphinfish. 

5. Give a ring: PHONE.  Call someone on a telephone.  They don't necessarily ring any more, though that alert sound setting is usually an option.

10. Portland-to-Boise dir.: ESE.  East-south-east.

13. Revered figures: ICONS.  Originally depiction of religious figures, now often referring to famous athletes or entertainers.

15. Ingested: EATEN.  Consumed.

16. Bolt: RUN.  Run away suddenly.

20. Largest African antelope: ELAND.   A spiral-horned African antelope that lives in open woodland and grassland. 

Built like a cow

21. Party with a piñata: FIESTA.  A Latin-American party.  The piñata is a decorated vessel (such as of papier-mâché) filled with candies, fruits, and gifts and hung up to be broken with sticks by blindfolded persons as part of especially Latin American festivities 

26. Move stealthily: CREEP.  Move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard or noticed.

27. Tension: UNEASE.  Mental or emotional strain.

28. Home to three of Massachusetts' Five Colleges: AMHERST.  Actually, there are five colleges there:  Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  The greater Boston area has dozens more.

30. Bagel shop: DELI.  A store where ready-to-eat food products (such as cooked meats and prepared salads) are sold; short for delicatessen.

31. Free, in a way: UNTIE.  Remove a restraining rope or cord.

38. Puffed on an e-cigarette: VAPED.  Inhaled and exhaled vapor containing nicotine and flavoring produced by a device designed for this purpose.

39. Honey liquor: MEAD.   An alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water.

42. Innocence: NAIVETE.   Lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment.  Is this innocence?  You decide.

46. NPR White House correspondent __ Keith: TAMARA.  Tamara Dawnell Keith [b. 1979] is an American journalist. She is the White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast with Scott Detrow. She regularly appears on the PBS NewsHour weekly segment "Politics Monday". Keith is on the board of the White House Correspondents' Association, of which she served as president from 2022 to 2023

48. Big name in kitchen appliances: OSTER.  Oster is an American manufacturing company specializing in small kitchen appliances, known for its blenders, toasters, and roaster ovens. 

52. Vitriolic rant: TIRADE.  A long, angry speech of criticism or accusation.

54. Get fit for competition: TRAIN.  Prepare someone or yourself for a job, activity, or sport, by learning skills and/or by mental or physical exercise.

60. Stone or ice follower: AGE.  These are notable periods on planet earth.  The Stone Age is a prehistoric period characterized by the use of stone tools and weapons. It spans roughly 3.3 million years, from the first evidence of stone tools to the introduction of metalworking, marking the beginning of the Bronze Age.  An ice age is any geologic period during which thick ice sheets cover vast areas of land. Such periods of large-scale glaciation may last several million years and drastically reshape surface features of entire continents. A number of major ice ages have occurred throughout Earth history.  The last major ice age, also known as the Last Glacial Period, occurred between approximately 115,000 and 11,700 years ago. 

61. Eco-friendly vehicles: BIKES.  A two-wheeled vehicle powered by peddling.

62. Smooth change in topics: SEGUE.  A movement without interruption from one piece of music, part of a story, subject, or situation to another:

63. K'Nex connector: ROD.  K'Nex is a building toy with a variety of interlocking shapes.

64. Clairvoyants: SEERS.  Persons who claim to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact.

65. "So many!": LOTS.  An unspecified large quantity.

Down:

1. Domain suffix for a private employer: MIL.  You expect this to be COM, for a private company, but it's MILitary, the employer of privates.  Clever clue.

2. Star pitcher: ACE.   A person who excels at a particular sport or other activity.

3. Like cayenne: HOT.  Spicy! 

4. With painstaking precision: IN DETAIL.  With close attention to particulars; thoroughly.

5. Tubular pasta: PENNE. Penne pasta, a popular Italian pasta shape, derives its name from the Italian word "penna," which translates to "pen" or "quill" in English. The name reflects the pasta's shape, a short, cylinder-shaped pasta with diagonally cut ends, reminiscent of a quill or writing pen. 

6. Composer Joseph who mentored Mozart and Beethoven: HAYDN.  Franz Joseph Haydn [1732 - 1809] was an Austrian composer and a central figure in the development of Classical music. He's often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" for his contributions to establishing their forms and styles. 

7. Great Plains Native: OTO.   A Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk tribes.

Historically, the Otoe tribe lived as a semi-nomadic people on the Central Plains along the bank of the Missouri River in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. They lived in elm-bark lodges while they farmed, and used tipis while traveling, like many other Plains tribes. They often left their villages to hunt buffalo.

8. Nine, in Normandy: NEUF.  9

9. Agent that gets good results: ENRICHER.  A component or entity that improves or adds to the quality, value, or richness of something.  This generally refers to things, not persons.

10. Soft end of a pencil: ERASER.  It's soft because it made of rubber; and it's called rubber because it erases pencil marks by rubbing them out.

11. Multiroom accommodations: SUITES.  A set of rooms designated for one person's or family's use or for a particular purpose.

12. Mesmerized: ENRAPT.  Fascinated, enthralled.

14. Pilots' milestones: SOLOS.   The experience of flying an aircraft alone, without an instructor or other pilot in the flight crew. It's a significant milestone in flight training, signifying a student pilot's proficiency and readiness to operate an aircraft independently. 

18. Ship follower: WAKE.  The track left by a moving body (such as a ship) in a fluid (such as water)

19. Present: HERE.  In or at this place or position.

22. Sign of spring: BUD.   A compact growth on a plant that develops into a leaf, flower, or shoot.

23. Half of deux: UNE. 1/2 * 2 = 1.

24. Subject of an autobiography: SELF.  A person's essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action.

25. Quenched: SATED.   Satisfied fully, regarding drink or food.  Truly equivalent?  You decide.

29. Soccer star Hamm: MIA.  Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm [b. 1972] is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the United States national team from 1987 to 2004.

31. Boosted: UPPED.  Augmented of amplified.

32. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE.  William Sanford Nye [b. 1955] also known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy", is a scientist, comedian, inventor, author, and television personality. He's best known for hosting the Emmy award-winning PBS show Bill Nye the Science Guy, which first aired in 1993 and educated millions about basic science. 

34. Layers audio tracks: OVERDUBS.   Overdubbing is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more available tracks of a digital audio workstation or tape recorder.

35. Gentle touch: PAT.  Touch quickly and gently with the flat of the hand.  With the back of the hand, it's a TAP.

36. President of France Macron: EMMANUEL.  Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron [b 1977] is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Minister of Economics, Industry and Digital Affairs under President François Hollande between 2014-16. He has been a member of Renaissance since he founded it in 2016.

37. College bigwig: DEAN.  a senior administrator who oversees a specific academic unit, such as a college or department. They are responsible for academic, programmatic, managerial, and fiscal responsibilities within that unit. Deans typically ensure the adequacy of instruction, monitor academic integrity, and are involved in student recruitment, admission, and academic progress. 

40. Path of a fly ball: ARC.   A continuous portion of a curved line, as part of the circumference of a circle.  Sometimes the result of a launch.

41. "Well, lah-di-__!": DAH.  Describes someone who behaves in an affectedly elegant or refined way, often in a way that seems unnatural and intended to impress others. It implies a pretentious or upper-class manner that is considered to be an over-the-top show of sophistication. 

42. In the vicinity: NOT FAR.  Near by.

43. Italian cheese with a nutty flavor: ASIAGO.  A cow's milk cheese, first produced in Asiago in Italy, that can assume different textures according to its aging, from smooth for the fresh Asiago (called Asiago pressato, which means "pressed Asiago") to a crumbly texture for the aged cheese (Asiago d'allevo, which means "breeding farm Asiago"). 

44. "Did my best": I TRIED.  Sometimes one's best u=isn't good enough.

45. Scaloppine meat: VEAL.  Veal is the meat from young cattle, typically those under one year old. It's a lighter, more tender meat than beef and is often pale pink in color. Veal production involves raising calves, many of whom are male calves from dairy breeds that are not needed for milk production. 

46. Blue-green hue: TEAL.  Or aqua.  Always need perps.

47. Prima donnas' songs: ARIAS.  Accompanied, elaborate melodies sung (as in an opera) by a single voice. 

50. Vocalize: UTTER.  Speak.

51. Trivial matter: DROSS.  The scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of molten metal, hence something useless or worthless.

53. Great Lake that drains into the Niagara River: ERIE.  Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point, Lake Erie is 210 feet (64 m) deep, making it the only Great Lake whose deepest point is above sea level.

56. __ out a living: EKE.  Manage to support oneself or make a living with difficulty.

57. Private aid gp.: NGO.  Non-Governmental Organization.
 
58. Trim: CUT.  Make something smaller by cutting away or otherwise removing a portion.

59. "__ making a list ... ": HE'S.  Keeping a record, to use for cataloging or decision making,   Sung of Mr. Claus.

And here we land after today's successful launch.  Hope you enjoyed the ride.

If you're in the Dearborn area on Sunday, come on down to the Michael Guido Theater in the Civic Center on Michigan Ave.  The Dearborn Big Band is playing a free concert at 3:00.  You can hear a song I wrote.

Cool regards!

JzB