google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Kevin Christian

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Showing posts with label Kevin Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Christian. Show all posts

Dec 26, 2024

Thursday, December 26, 2024, Kevin Christian & Doug Peterson

Just Some Singers
in a Rock and Roll Band

Veterans Kevin Christian and Doug Peterson team up today with a simple theme consisting of 5 two word question clues, each beginning with a play on the last name of a pop singer.  They fill each clue with a two word in the language phrase beginning with the singer's first name.  I couldn't find any pattern in the second word of the fill and there was no reveal.  Here are the themers ...

17. Iggy's therapist?: POP PSYCHOLOGIST.  You can see why Iggy Pop might need a psychologist -- he was A Real Wild Child ...

23. Taylor's comeback?: SWIFT RECOVERY.  Taylor came back from her recent ERAs Tour and apparently finding the last leg to be rather torturous she was in need of some RECOVERY  ... 

39. Donna's time off?: SUMMER VACATIONS.  Known as the "Queen of Disco", Donna Summer's life was tragically cut short by lung cancer, even though she was not a smoker.  After getting thru this song you can see why she might need a VACATION ...

51. Fiona's rapidly changing backup band?: APPLE TURNOVER.  Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter.   Classically trained on piano as a child, she began composing her own songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album, Tidal, containing songs written when she was in her teens, was released in 1996 and received a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single Criminal.  Here she tells us The Way Things Are ...

61. Al's state-of-the-art recording equipment?: GREEN TECHNOLOGY.  Al Greene (born April 13, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer.  Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and is referred to on the museum's site as being "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music" and is considered by some to be "The Last of the Great Soul Singers".  Here's his Take Me to the River ... 

Here's the grid ...


Despite the simplicity of the theme, I did find some clever cluing and IMO I didn't find any pop culture references that couldn't be resolved with perps.

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Rock blaster?: AMP.  TNT fit, but didn't perp.

4. Plus: BONUS.

9. Celery unit: STALK.

14. Fragrant garland: LEI. A perfect accessory for sitting on a 16A.

15. Are: EXIST.

16. Sunporch: LANAI.  A lanai or lānai is a type of roofed, open-sided veranda, patio, or porch originating in Hawaii. Many homes, apartment buildings, hotels and restaurants in Hawaii are built with one or more lānais.  
Albert Spencer Wilcox Beach House
Hanalei, Hawaii
17. [Theme clue]

20. __ equity: SWEAT.  Sweat equity refers to work one does to build up value without a salary. This ownership interest, or increase in value, is created as a direct result of hard work by the owner. For example, homeowners who renovate or repair their house themselves are investing in sweat equity that increases the value of their home.

21. Tide competitor: ERA.  Here are the best and worst laundry detergents for your money.  Spoiler alert: the best, most economical detergent is neither Tide nor Era.  And you can save even more money on laundry detergent by rolling your own.

22. Came across: MET.

23. [Theme clue]

28. Far away: NOT NEAR.

30. "Cobra __": Netflix series about a dojo: KAI.  Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy drama television series created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. It serves as a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen.  Here's a preview of Season 6 ...

31. Primatologist's subject: APE.  Probably the most famous primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, who for 60 years has been studying chimpanzees, a species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. 
Eastern chimpanzee
Kibale National Park, Uganda

32. Chocolate-and-caramel candy: ROLO.  Approximately 24.2 million pounds of ROLO® Candy are sold annually. 
35. Square quartet: SIDES.  Squares have four sides.

39. [Theme clue]

43. Evaluate: ASSAY. Usually specifying a quantitative evaluation, e.g. measuring the percentage of gold in an ore.

44. Even once: EVER.  If it has EVER happened, then it has happened at least ONCE.

45. 2016 Super Bowl MVP Miller: VON.  Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL).  At the conclusion of the 2015 NFL season, Miller was named Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl 50.  In 2021, Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LVI. 
Von Miller
46. Apr. 15 addressee: IRS.  

48. Word on some Oscars: ACTRESS.  The Oscar for Best Actress award has been presented 97 times, to 79 actresses.  The recipient of the most awards is Katherine Hepburn, with 4.
Katherine Hepburn
51. [Theme clue]

56. Wedding notice word: NEE.  Today's French lesson: Feminine adjective --"Née = Born".

57. Honest prez: ABE.  Did Lincoln really deserve the nickname, Honest Abe?
Abraham Lincoln
58. Attacks with vigor: HAS AT.

61. [Theme clue]

66. "Mercy!": LORDY.

67. Judges' attire: ROBES.  Here are nine ...
The Supreme Court of the United States
68. Prune: LOP.

69. Happen next: ENSUE.  70A ENSUES ...

70. Elitist sort: SNOOT.  See 71A.

71. __ trip: EGO. See 70A.

Down:

 1. Jungfrau's range: ALPS.  Today's German lesson: "Jungfrau (YOONG-frow) = maidenvirgin".  The Jungfrau ALP, at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Swiss Alps and definitely not a climb for children.  It is located in the Bernese portion of the range.
Jungfrau Alp
2. 13-Down greeting: MEOW.

3. Mouthpieces for some smokers: PIPE STEMS.  This is not a pipe ...

4. Ride-or-die pal: BESTIE.  Or abbreviated BFF.

5. Stridex shelfmate: OXY.  Both products are used in the treatment of ACNE, a mild form of crosswordese.  The jury seems out as to which product is best, but as OXY is imported from South Africa it costs more ...
6. Actor Cage, informally: NIC.  Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards.  The first movie we ever saw him in was Moonstruck, co-starring with Cher.  
7. Playbill carrier: USHER.

8. Put away: STORE.

9. __-mo: SLO.

10. See 12-Down: TAG.

11. "Demon Slayer" genre: ANIME.  Thank you perps.  Demon SlayerBlade of Demon Destruction is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga (comic book) series of the same name by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a Demon Slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon. 

12. With 10-Down, game with light weapons?: LASER.  Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits.  In late 1970s and early 1980s, the United States Army deployed a system using lasers for combat training.  But laser tag didn't begin to take off until 1984 when George Carter III, inspired by the Star Wars movies, invented the first affordable system. So how do laser tag systems actually work ...?
 

13. Cat, affectionately: KITTY.

18. Front-row chess piece: PAWN.  This term also refers to a person who does not have any real power, but is used by others to achieve something, e.g. "The refugees were pawns in an international political dispute".

19. Deficiency: LACK.

24. Jamie of "M*A*S*H": FARR.  Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Corporal Klinger, a soldier who tried getting discharged from the army by cross-dressing.  You have to wonder who kept him supplied with duds -- "Hot Lips" Hoolihan maybe?
Jamie Farr and Loretta Swit

 25. Cache: TROVE.  E.g. a TREASURE TROVE, the subject of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island.  There have been several adaptations of this novel including our favorite, this 1990 film with Charlton Heston as the obsessive pirate Long John Silver ...

26. Hops drier: OAST.  An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, e.g. Kent and Sussex, England. Many redundant oasts have been converted into tourist inns.  
Oasts
Maidstone, Kent, England

27. Two before X: VIII. Today's math lesson (in base BCE):  "X (formerly known as Twitter) - II = VIII". 😀

28. Org. that oversees the Artemis moon program: NASA.  The Artemis moon program is named for the eponymous Greek goddess, the twin sister of Apollo, who was of course the namesake of the Apollo moon program.  Here is the Artemis Program logo, which tells the story in a nutshell ...

29. Major work: OPUS. The plural of OPUS is OPERA, which has come to mean a musical drama or comedy telling a story via a series of works such as an overturearias, and interludes.  Ludwig van Beethoven, whose birthday we celebrated just 10 days ago, wrote only one opera, entitled Fidelio.  He wrote a total of 4 overtures to it, finally settling on this one ... 
33. Loo: LAV.  A Brit place to sit. 😀

34. Surname of heist masterminds played by Sinatra, Clooney, and Bullock: OCEAN.  Frank Sinatra played Danny Ocean in the 1960 film Ocean's 11.  In Ocean's ElevenTwelve, and Thirteen Danny was played by George Clooney.  In Ocean's Eight women stole the franchise and Sandra Bullock played Debbie Ocean.  Got that?  Hand up if you've seen any of these flicks and put both yer hands up if I got any of that wrong!

36. Flatfish named for an English port: DOVER SOLE.  The town of Dover, England, directly across English Channel from Calais, France is famous for it's White Cliffs -- my Mother used to sing us this song about them.  As Dover was also a major fishing port in the late 19th century and a delicate white fish  called "King of Sole" was common in the town markets, the name was eventually changed to Dover Sole, a flat fish with a white underside.  Here's a simple recipe with capers, parsley, and butter.

37. Mireille of "Hanna": ENOS.  Hanna is a sci-fi TV series about a young girl played by Esme Creed-Miles raised in the wilds of Finland by her father, an ex-CIA man, to make her the perfect assassin. She has been receiving injections of DNA since birth as a part of a program called ULTRAX to make her a super-soldier.  Mireille Enos plays Marissa Wiegler, the CIA operative put in charge of the original UTRAX program, but who turns from a foe to an ally and mother figure to Hanna.  Here's a trailer ...

38. Hyphenated IDs: SSNS.

40. Lancelot's strong suit?: MAIL.  Well it must have been chain mail because it certainly wasn't Lancelot's fidelity to King Arthur

41. Literary governess: EYREJane Eyre  is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë, published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847. It is a coming of age story that follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall. The novel revolutionized prose fiction, being the first to focus on the moral and spiritual development of its protagonist through an intimate first-person narrative, where actions and events are colored by a psychological intensity.  
First Edition, vol 1.

42. With the bow, in music: ARCO.  "arco" a the literal score notation and it indicates when to return to bowing the violin after an interlude of "pizz", that is pizzicato -- plucking the strings with the fingers.  If you listen carefully and look closely at this score of Edvard Grieg's -Anitra's Dance from his Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, you'll hear and see the alternation between pizz and arco ...

47. ESPN datum: STAT.

49. Ryan Seacrest, for one: TV HOST.  Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest co-hosted and served as executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and has hosted other media including American IdolAmerican Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He became co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2005, and became the sole host following Clark's death in 2012.
Ryan Seacrest
50. Concrete: REAL.

51. A matter of degrees?: ANGLE.  An ACUTE clue ... 😀
52. "Evita" name: PERON.  The quoting of "Evita" probably indicates that this is a reference to the musical based on the life of Eva Perón, an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her death in July 1952, as the wife of Argentine President Juan Perón.
Eva and Juan Perón

53. Scholarly article reviewers: PEERS.  Peer review is a quality control system for academic publications.  It is especially important for scientific publications, which can have widespread societal impact on medicine, health, and public policy.  In recent decades this process has come under severe stress due to the high stakes economic importance of some scientific disciplines, and the "publish or perish" phenomenon.  These are the probable causes of what concerned scientists call the reproducibility crisis -- the retraction of articles after publication due to the failure of other scientists' to get the same results using the same methodology.  This problem has become so serious that in 2010 two longtime health journalists, Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus, founded Retraction Watch, “a site dedicated to reporting on scientific retractions and related issues” to bring to light how many scientific papers are withdrawn yearly and why.

54. Gets taken for a ride, in a way: UBERS.

55. Intel gathered by scouts: RECON.  One of the first RECON missions is recorded in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible.  In the painting below the scouts are shown returning from Canaan with grapes (sans the rumored milk and honey) and with bad news about the fortified cities and the race of giants they found there ...
The Grapes of Canaan
by James Tissot

59. Awestruck: AGOG.  Awesome - two vowels and two gerund endings!

60. Autocorrect target: TYPO.  I'd prefer DWIM ("Do What I Mean") to "autocorrect".

62. College domain: EDU.

63. Dec. 31: NYE.

64. "The White Lotus" network: HBOThe White Lotus is an American black comedy drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO.  "It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose interactions are affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions".  While I've not seen it, I suspect that like all satires it's on the edge of becoming what it parodies.  Here's the season 1 trailer (language) ... 

65. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.

Cheers, 
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

Dec 11, 2023

Monday December 11, 2023 Kevin Christian

  

Hello Cornerites!

sumdaze here. Veteran constructor Kevin Christian keeps us entertained with a fast & fun Monday solve. Our theme is:                       HOSERS

Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted Great White North on SCTV in the early 1980s. Bob is played by Rick Moranis (left) and Doug is played by Dave Thomas (right).
They introduced this impressionable Lower 48-er to the Canadian term "hoser" (an unsophisticated, rural person).

Now, for the actual puzzle.... 
We have 4 themers and a unifier:

17 Across. Baskin-Robbins option: WAFFLE CONE.  

25 Across. Lemon-lime soda brand discontinued in early 2023: SIERRA MIST.  
a PepsiCo product

37 Across. Wet postgame celebration: CHAMPAGNE SHOWER.  
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, Wedding Crashers (2005)

47 Across. Wealthy executive's plane: PRIVATE JET.
This themer answered the, "Are we doing 'foods'?" question.

59 Across. Backyard item with settings found at the ends of 17-, 25-, 37-, and 47-Across: GARDEN HOSE.
Technically, we are talking about an attachment to a GARDEN HOSE. Close enough! Works for me!  
CONE, MIST, SHOWER, and JET are all settings on a spray nozzle for a GARDEN HOSE.
(They seem to be specifically designed to land on the lever when I set them down so either I or my dog gets sprayed.)

Across:
1. Sheets of paper: PAGES.  Hand up for first thinking "reams", but I waited for perps.

6. Indian prince: RAJA.

10. Walk back and forth anxiously: PACE.

14. Walled city near Madrid: AVILA.  
You can take a train from Madrid to Avila for about 15 Euros.
15. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.

16. MC or Visa alternative: AMEX.  credit cards

19. Green gemstone: JADE.  
This past summer I was at an art fair where all the booths sold JADE. I saw some unpolished JADE and thought to myself, "Huh, I have a 6 lb. (2.7 kg.), bright green rock. I wonder if it is JADE?" I went home and did some research and found this video online. Prospector Dan shows three tests. I do not have the tools for Test #1 "Light Passing Through" (at 15 min.) or Test #2 "Hardness" (at 17 min.), so I decided to do Test #3 "Specific Gravity Test" (at 20:25 min.) When DH got home, I said, "We're going to do a Science experiment!" Our calculations equaled 3. My rock is JADE!

20. Minor complaint: NIT.  
knitters' NITs ???
21. North Carolina campus: ELON.  I learned this one from doing XWDs.

22. Dasani product: WATER.  Easter egg #1!  
pricier than water from your GARDEN HOSE
23. Piggy bank opening: SLOT.  

28. __ monitor: prenatal device: FETAL.  "FETAL" is an adjective which means "relating to a fetus."

30. Smidgen: IOTA.  
PSI'm sorry for the bad puns.
31. One over par, in golf: BOGEY.  
Are the top two real? I do not remember hearing of them.

33. "Back in Black" rock band: AC🗲DC.

34. Part of TNT: TRI.  Trinitrotoluene

41. Corn discard: COB.

42. "Yeah, right": I BET.

43. "Circle of Friends" novelist Binchy: MAEVE.  She was an Irish novelist and playwright. (1939-2012). 
44. Aspire laptop maker: ACER.

45. Big name in farm equipment: DEERE.

51. Put in the overhead bin: STOW.  
Hmm....Is Earl a hoser?

54. Within the rules: LEGAL.

55. Part of TLC: CARE.  Tender Loving CARE
Sending some TLC out to C.C. this week. 💜

57. Latvia, once: Abbr.: SSR.  In the past, Latvia was part of the Soviet Socialist Republic.

58. "Put a lid __!": ON IT.  This idiom means to stop something before it gets out of control.

62. Sandals brand owned by Deckers: TEVA.  Deckers was founded in Santa Barbara (Hi Picard!) in 1973.  It acquired the UGG brand in 1995, TEVA in 2002, and Hoka (a running shoe brand) in 2012.
TEVAs are great for water activities!
63. Figure skating leap: AXEL.

64. "Coming along?": YOU IN?

65. Fortuneteller: SEER.

66. Like grass at dawn: DEWY.  
Huey, Dewey, & Louie on DEWY grass???
67. Adds to the poker pot: ANTES.

Down:
1. Chess pieces that are often moved first: PAWNS.  
2. To no __: in vain: AVAIL.

3. Ability to speak persuasively: GIFT OF GAB.  One source traces the origin of this idiom to the Middle English word 'gob', which means mouth, and 'gabbe' which means idle talk.

4. Santa's helper: ELF.  With Christmas just 2 weeks away, I need some ELF help!

5. Black Friday event: SALE.  Black Friday Around the World

6. Shrink back in fear: RECOIL.  Easter egg #2!  (sort of)
After you finish watering, it is good to RE-COIL your GARDEN HOSE.
(OK...it's just "coil" -- but this is more fun!)
7. Make amends: ATONE.

8. Middle Brady girl: JAN.  
Being the middle child, JAN sometimes got tired of her older sister, Marcia, getting all the attention.
9. Pub brew: ALE.

10. __ party: sleepover: PAJAMA.  I started filling in S-L-U-M-B-E then ran out of boxes.

11. Valuable violin: AMATI.  AMATI is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived from about 1538 to 1740. In May 2013, an auction record $654,588 was paid for an AMATI violin.

12. Gives over (to): CEDES.

13. Apply, as pressure: EXERT.  I was thinking "massages"....

18. Actress Pataky: ELSA.  She was born in Madrid on July 18, 1976 and is mostly known for being in the Fast & Furious movies.
sexy Elsa with her hunky husband Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

22. "Don't think I won't!": WATCH ME.  Fun clue & fill!

24. Overflow (with): TEEM.

26. Grain grown in a paddy: RICE.  
I took this picture of a farmer harvesting his RICE in Japan.
27. Towel holders: RODS.

29. Usual: TYPICAL.

31. Include on an email surreptitiously: BCC.

32. "Caught you!": OHO.  an exclamation used to show pleased surprise or recognition

33. Picnic invader: ANT.  They frequently invade XWD puzzles as well.

34. Announces on X: TWEETS OUT.  Now that Twitter has been renamed X, I guess it would not sound right to say "Xes OUT".

35. Gun, as an engine: REV.  Vroom! Vroom!

36. Wrath: IRE.

38. Help in wrongdoing: ABET.

39. Richard of "Sommersby": GERE.  his IMBd page

40. Rowboat set: OARS.

44. Gamer's virtual persona: AVATAR.  An AVATAR is a personalized graphical illustration that represents a computer user. Sometimes it is a character or alter ego that represents that user.  
Here is an excellent example ... and choice!

45. Lethal: DEADLY.  

46. "To be," in French: ETRE.

47. Parcels of land: PLOTS.

48. Actress Zellweger: REN
ÉE.  her IMBd page

49. "Uncle!": I GIVE.  

50. Preppy clothing brand: J.CREW.  This company turned 40 this year. It filed for bankruptcy in 2020 but it is still selling its Cape Cod look.

52. "Grumpy Old Men" actor Davis: OSSIE.  (1917 - 2005)  He led a distinguished life.  
Ossie Davis played Chuck in Grumpy Old Men (1993).

53. Small chirpy birds: WRENS.  
Wren ten tin ???

56. Irish New Age singer: ENYA.  IIRC, RosE also likes ENYA's music. Since it is December, I am choosing Christmas Secrets (2006).  

59. Wander (about): GAD.  Def:  (verb) 
go around from one place to another, in the pursuit of pleasure or entertainment.
While GADding about the internet, I accidentally came across this history video entitled The Sunken Town of Gad, West Virginia (17:46 min.) Some of you might find it interesting. The town was lost to the Summersville Dam in 1966. I especially liked the interviews with the former residents. (Watch for the water skiers in the background at 5:34 min.!)

60. Logger's tool: AXE.  The other day I watched firefighters loading up their truck after a false alarm. One carried a large AXE.  #NotJustAStereotype

61. Sweetie: HON.  Bs make HON.

That's all for today. I look forward to reading your comments. Have a great week, everyone!

Oops! I just realized I forgot to add the grid. Better late than never....


Sep 6, 2022

Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Kevin Christian and Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre

Yoga Class:  The last word of each theme answer is also a yoga pose.

17-Across. *   George Plimpton football memoir set in Detroit: PAPER LION.  [Name # 1.]

25-Across. *   Courtroom hotshot: LEGAL EAGLE.


35-Across. *   Informer: STOOL PIGEON.  This is my favorite yoga pose.


48-Across. *   Cowardly type: SCAREDY CAT.

And the unifier:

57-Across. Asanas found at the ends of the answers to the starred clues: YOGA POSES.  Everything you wanted to know about Asana Yoga, but didn't know to ask.

Over a decade ago, C.C. interviewed Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre.  You can read the interview here.

Across:
1. "Sorry, rules __ rules": ARE.


4. Dizzying designs: OP ART.  Short for Optical Art.


9. __ up on: unites against: GANGS.

14. Villain LuthorLEX.  [Name # 2.]  //  Change the vowel, and you get 29-Across. Bagel topper: LOX.

15. Prefix with -lithic: PALEO-.  Paleolithic.  Also known as the Old Stone Age.

16. Love to pieces: ADORE.

19. One awarding stars, perhaps: RATER.



20. "... the __ of defeat": "Wide World of Sports" phrase: AGONY.



21. "Black Panther" director CooglerRYAN.  [Name # 3.]  Ryan Kyle Coogler (b. May 23, 1986) has directed a number of films.


23. Excite, with "up": AMP.

24. King or queen, but not prince or princess: CARD.


28. House pest: ANT.  Remove a consonant from the Pest and the ANT becomes a house Pet.  Yesterday, the ANT was an Unwelcome Picnic Guest.


30. Manage to achieve: ATTAIN.

31. Reciprocal of cosine: SECANT.  //  And 39-Down. Inverse trig function: ARCSINE.  We all remember our high school math class, right?




34. Trace: HINT.

38. Water-to-wine town: CANA.  A Biblical reference where Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding.

40. Hiking sites: TRAILS.


41. Maker of Zesty Curly frozen French fries: ORE-IDA.  Yummers!  Actually, I have never tried these, but I do like Ore-Ida's Tater Tots, which appeared in yesterday's puzzle.


44. D.C. stadium: RFK.  Formally known as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.  It is currently being demolished.  [Name adjacent.]


45. D.C. fundraising org.: PAC.

51. Love, in tennis: ZERO.  Why does Love mean nothing in Tennis?


52. Chiding syllable: TSK.

53. Milne bear: POOH.  Winnie the Pooh is a fictional teddy bear created by A.A. Milne (né Alan Alexander Milne; Jan. 18, 1882 ~ Jan. 31, 1956) in the 1920s.


54. Puts in order: SORTS.

55. Sibling's daughter: NIECE.  Word origin.

60. Scandal-plagued energy company: ENRON.  This company disintegrated almost overnight back in 2001.


61. Nebraska city: OMAHA.  Hi, Husker Gary!  Years ago, when I was first looking for a job, I was offered a job in Omaha.  My potential boss told me, however, that moving from the Northeast, I would experience "extreme cultural shock" living in Nebraska.  So instead, I moved to the South.  No cultural shock there, eh?

62. Mined resource: ORE.  Not to be confused with the 41-Across and the Ore-Ida potato products.

63. Patch, as a lawn: RE-SOD.

64. Fruit-hitting-the-floor sound: SPLAT.



65. Big Apple paper, for short: NYT.  As in the New York Times.

Down:
1. Llama kin: ALPACA.



2. 1980s president RonaldREAGAN.  Ronald Wilson Reagan (Feb. 6, 1911 ~ June 5, 2004) was the 40th President.  Can it really be over 40 years since he began his term as President?  [Name # 4.]

3. Commodity sold abroad: EXPORT.



4. The Grand Ole __: OPRY.  The home of country music.


5. Chum: PAL.

6. Boxer who said, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am": ALI.  Muhammad Ali (né Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; Jan. 17, 1942 ~ June 3, 2016) would "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." [Name # 5.]



7. Corp. shake-up: RE-ORG.  As in Reorganize.  It seems like the banking industry is always undergoing re-orgs.

8. Skater HardingTONYA.  Tonya Maxene Harding (b. Nov. 12, 1970) is best known for her troubles past.  In 1994, her ex-husband attacked her rival, Nancy Kerrigan.  Tonya was banned from competitive skating and turned to boxing.   [Name # 6.]


9. January birthstone: GARNET.  I have 3 options for my birthstone.


10. Oral health org.: ADA.  As in the American Dental Association.

11. "Why does this keep happening!?": NOT AGAIN.  Yup.  I'll be out next week again.

12. Unseen troublemaker: GREMLIN.  Also the model of a vehicle that was manufactured in the 1970s.


13. Garden of Eden creature: SERPENT.


18. Terminate: END.

22. Mobile's st.: ALA.  Mobile, Alabama is on the Gulf of Mexico.  The George Washington Tunnel on I-10 runs under the Mobile River, then emerges to join the bridge that spans the Bay of Mobile.  The tunnel is a bottleneck on the interstate and there is always a long line of traffic of cars waiting to go through the tunnel.  Interesting fact about Mobile: the first Mardi Gras in the Americas was held in Mobile.



25. El Pollo __: southwestern restaurant chain: LOCO.  El Pollo Loco is a California-based chain.  I was about to say I had never heard of this restaurant, but our local paper recently announced the company is expanding in south Louisiana.


26. Glorify: EXALT.

27. One of the Musketeers: ATHOS.  The Three Musketeers is a French historical adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas.  It was written in 1844 and is on my TBR list.  The novel, which is set in the 1620s, recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan who befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis, who are the musketeers.  [Name # 7.]


29. Summer sign: LEO.  Hi, Leo III!

31. Flight part: STAIR.


32. "Fresh Air" airer: NPR.  Fresh Air is a radio talk show hosted by Terry Gross.  She has been hosting the show since 1975.  [Name # 8.]


33. Small crown: TIARA.  Apparently in the British royal family there are strict rules about wearing Tiaras.


35. Tennis shoes: SNEAKERS.


36. Birthday present: GIFT.

37. Caribou cousin: ELK.  What's the difference between an Elk and a Caribou?

38. Kevin of "Yellowstone": COSTNER.  Kevin Costner (né Kevin Michael Costner; b. Jan. 18, 1955) plays the patriarch in the television show Yellowstone.  [Name # 9.]


42. Rely (on): DEPEND.

43. Commotion: ADO.

45. Human being: PERSON.



46. Major thoroughfare: ARTERY.

47. Pamper: COSSET.  Not a Tuesday word.



49. Toys on strings: YOYOs.



50. Bite hard: CHOMP.

51. Opening setting of "Madagascar": ZOO.


54. Squabble: SPAT.

56. Dove's sound: COO.

58. "Death on the Nile" actress Gadot: GAL.  Gal Gadot (b. Apr. 30, 1985) is an Israeli actress.  [Name # 10.]


59. "I understand now!": AHA!


Here's the Grid:



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