Thursday, June 7th 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Round in Circles - things that revolve are nattily revealed by an appropriate agent - the circles.

Clockwise from the NE we have

WINDMILL

CAROUSEL

THE EARTH and

HULA HOOP (The P is missing its circle from the grid below, but not from the puzzle itself).

and the reveal:

40A. How the things in the circled letters go: AROUND AND AROUND. The wheels on the bus ....

Now I've got that ear worm stuck in your heads ... good effort from Mark. The eight-letter progressions all start at the same place in the "wheel", the fill is nice with some fresh entries: OLLIE and SICK BURN! are nods to the yutes ("What's a yute?" My Cousin Vinnie) and some trickery-pokery making a nice Thursday work-out.

Lets explore:

Across:

1. Disheveled: MUSSY. Many will have had MESSY. I like MUSSY, as in having your hair mussed.

6. __ 180: skateboarding trick: OLLIE. Of course, I do these every day. Not! I tried skateboarding way back when but I just didn't have the balance for it. I couldn't even stand still on one.

11. Piqued: IN A HUFF. The other meaning is "stimulated" as in "he piqued my interest".

14. Maximally moist: DEWIEST

16. Star name meaning "she-goat" in Latin: CAPELLA

17. Weather-changing currents: EL NIÑOS

18. Footless creature: APOD. Footless MP4 player: iPOD.

19. Snorkeling spots: ATOLLS

21. Letters after Sen. Schumer's name: D-NY Democrat -  New York, naturally. Nice bit of trickery this, as the answer could have been, but wasn't, DEM.

22. Eponymous brewer Bernhard: STROH. There's a quite significant memorial to the gentleman in Detroit. He and his German compatriots revolutionized the brewing industry in the US.

24. Adjust one's sights: RE-AIM

26. Assurance on certain menus: NO MSG. As the great food writer Jeffrey Steingarten asked: "If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn't everyone in Asia have a headache?".

29. Uzbek neighbor: TAJIK. These are the languages of the people (Uzbekis, Tajiks) in the countries Uzbekistan and Tajikstan.

33. Name prefix for "son of": MAC

36. Settled: REPAID

39. U.N. chief after Boutros: KOFI. Kofi Annan who held the post from 1997 to 2006. He told stories about being mistaken for Morgan Freeman.

43. Withdraw gradually: WEAN

44. Actor Estevez: EMILIO

45. Hot __: ROD

46. Numerical relationship: RATIO

48. Citrus cuttings: ZESTS

50. Red pool ball: THREE. I don't play a lot of pool, but I knew it had to be the three or the seven. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that the eight ball is black.

53. Bay of Naples isle: CAPRI

57. [Shrug]: MEH. Oh, those kids of today, making up words and all. It's like English is a living language. *grumble*

60. Beer mug with a hinged lid: SEIDEL. I don't think I knew this. Mr. Stroh would have known.

63. Believability, briefly: CRED. Almost always with his buddy "street".

64. Device that builds six-packs?: AB TONER. Tried AB ROLLER and ran out of space.

66. Admonish: REPROVE

68. Like some sports contract clauses: NO-TRADE. Usually at the request of the player, a clause is inserted in the contract stipulating that the player cannot be traded without his or her consent.

69. Jumps to conclusions: ASSUMES

70. "Hop __": Dr. Seuss book: ON POP

71. Young salmon: SMOLT

Down:

1. Flaky minerals: MICAS. Not TALCS then?

2. Not suitable: UNAPT

3. Quality that affects taste: SAPOR. You'd be tempted by "SAVOR" when you had most of the letters in place. I was. I resisted.

4. Sprinkle with hair, cat-style: SHED ON. "Sprinkle" doesn't seem quite accurate in describing the process, but it'll do.

5. Brynner of "The Ten Commandments": YUL. He came a long way, literally. He was born in Vladivostok.

6. Takes full responsibility: OWNS IT

7. Full deck in old Rome?: LII. Fifty-two cards in a full deck of cards. Roman ones were carved out of marble and were very heavy. You had to train with the Roman army for two years before you were strong enough to play bridge.

8. Allow to use: LEND

9. Airs: IS ON. It took me a while to parse this one out.

10. Crafter's website: ETSY

12. Southernmost of the 48 sts.: FLA. Not really, not any more. This gets the (archaic) qualifier in my book.

13. Butter or lard: FAT

14. Editorial mark: DELE. Indicating deletion.

15. First name in scat: ELLA

20. Put in order: ORGANIZED

23. It may be heard on the street: HORN. Definitely heard around these parts.

25. Powerful shark: MAKO

27. Ancient Persian: MEDE. Usually seen in the plural as in "The Medes".

28. Email folder: SPAM

30. Day in Dijon: JOUR

31. "__ One Will Listen": Kelly Clarkson song: IF NO I was going to link the song as I'd not found a musical interlude today, so I went to listen to it on YouTube. I spared you the link.

32. Captain hanged for piracy: KIDD

33. Bryn __ College: MAWR

34. Vicinity: AREA

35. Nail polish layer: COAT

37. Not engaged: IDLE

38. Stand during a lecture: DAIS

41. Army outfit: UNIT

42. Campus mil. group: ROTC

47. "Sick burn!": OH SNAP! I've never heard anyone say "sick burn!" in my life. This is what Google came up with - I still don't understand it. I'm getting too old for this stuff :)

49. Bone at the base of the spine: SACRUM

51. Pond plant: REED

52. Cork locale: EIRE. Oh, begorrah, the Emerald Isle. It's green because it rains. A lot. Just so you know.

54. Teaser: PROMO

55. Glory (in): REVEL

56. Often-abbreviated Latin phrase: ID EST i.e. that is. I enjoyed writing that!

57. When repeated including "a," fighting term: MANO-a-mano

58. Black, in verse: EBON

59. URL intro: HTTP. All together now: "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol".

61. Notable time: ERA

62. Paris article: LES. Not the article you drop in the street.

65. Top medalla: ORO. Gold medal in Spain. I think they now give out medals in the World Cup, the quadrennial 2018 tournament is starting shortly in Russia. I watched every game in the last World Cup. If my blogs are short and littered with soccer references for the next month, please forgive me.

67. Ltr. addenda: P.S.'S. Postscripts. I had no idea how to punctuate this, so I guessed. I find it funny when I get an email with a PS - wouldn't it be easier to put in where it belongs in the text?

I think I'm done - I'll just check my internal temperature with my meat thermometer. I'm looking for medium-rare.

Steve

Wednesday, May 9, 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: I'M OUTA HERE! The first word of two-word entries is a synonym for some kind of void.

17. Horror film setting: VACANT HOUSE.  I'm not a maven of this genre, but it seems like an appropriately scary choice.

24. Rural "Out of the office" sign: GONE FISHING.  Alternatively, in slang, oblivious or unconcerned about the realities of daily life.  Also, this:

37. Ammo for a starter pistol: BLANK CARTRIDGES.  Contains gunpowder, but no bullet or shot.  When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound (report), the wadding is propelled from the barrel of the gun, and the firearm's action cycles. [Wikipedia]

48. One whose "chicks" have flown?: EMPTY NESTER.  Parents in the house, after the children are grown and gone.  Tough transition for many.  Our kids are approaching that point in life.

59. Explanation for an evolutionary transition: MISSING LINK. Presumed gap in the evolutionary fossil record.  Most scientists find the term to be cringe-worthy.

Hi gang, JzB NOT absent today, and here to lead the way through - well - nothing, really.  The irony is that, with 5 entries, a theme built around absence is so full of thematic richness.  Let's see if we can poke holes in the rest of the puzzle.

Across:

1. Bullpen hero: CLOSER.  The pitcher who is usually brought in for the 9th inning of a game when his team has a small lead he is supposed to protect.

7. Technical opening?: PYRO.  PYRO-technical refers to fireworks displays or a brilliant performance of some specific skill.  Fireworks and affix clues generally leave me cold.

11. Juan or Jose lead-in: SAN.  City names.  SAN Jose is the capital of Costa Rica.   SAN Juan is a town in Trinidad and Tobago, located in the San Juan-Laventille Region in Saint George County.

14. Mom's sis: AUNTIE.  My Mom's twin sis is still alive and will be 97 in a few days.

15. Semi warning: HORN.  Beep-beep.

16. Asian menu general: TSO.

19. Physicist with a law: OHM.  His law states that the current through a conductor is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance: I = V/R.  R is a constant property of the conducting item, and the current flow depends on the applied voltage.

20. Bird feeder cake: SUET.  White animal fat.  The fat is white.  The color of the animal doesn't matter.

21. Common math base: TEN.  The base is the number of symbols [numerals or letters] that a counting system uses to represent numbers.  In base TEN, these symbols are the digits 0 through 9.

22. Ocean dots: ISLES.  Dots represent small islands on maps.

27. Acting twins Mary-Kate and Ashley: OLSENS.  Former child actresses, born in 1986, they shared the roll of Michelle Tanner on the TV series FULL HOUSE.  They have had several other acting projects, and are now fabulously wealthy fashion designers.

30. Feel some pain: ACHE.  Day-after-yard-work syndrome.

31. Send forth: ISSUE.  Emit.

32. Hotshot: ACE.  High-level performer.   What you want your CLOSER to be.

33. Easy gait: LOPE.  A long, bounding stride.

41. Zingers: MOTS.  Short for Bon MOT, which is French for "good word," said of a witticism or biting retort.

42. Vote, say: OPT.  Make a choice from among a range of options.  Also from French, and ultimately Latin optare, choose or wish.

43. Title Kazakh in a 2006 spoof: BORAT.  More low humor.

44. Big heads?: EGOS.  In psychoanalysis, the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.  More loosely, a person's sense of self esteem and importance.  In context, an overweening self-importance.

46. Revolver?: PLANET.  Each PLANET in the solar system rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun.

52. Color separator: PRISM.  This video, just under 6 minutes, gets pretty deep into the weeds.  I suspect Gary, at least, will like it.

53. __ Gang: OUR.   Kids comedy team from back in the day.  There are lots of long vids on YouTube, if you want to go down that rabbit hole.  Here's a short excerpt.  Evidently the piano was over-dubbed later, so this 7-yr-old did a really good job of staying in tune on this great old song.

54. Minimally: A BIT. Not too much off the top.  It's thin there.

58. Many times, in poems: OFT.  Because "frequently" is hard to work into the metric scheme.

63. Pointillism unit: DOT.  A neo-impressionist painting technique that uses tiny dots of pure color that become blended in the viewer's eye.  Interesting counter-point [so to speak] to the prism we encountered not so very long ago.

Georges Seurat - A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884

64. Stirring solo: ARIA.   An operatic song, not mixing alone in the kitchen.

65. Rio Grande city: EL PASO.  In far west Texas, across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

66. George Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas": EXS.  As long as we're in Texas, why not.   George Strait is one of the few country singers I can tolerate for more than about 12 seconds.  Here's a link.

67. Watch over: TEND.

68. Bird hangouts: ROOSTS.  Birds' resting spots.  They usually sit upright on roosts.  Bats, however, will hang.  Just sayin'  .  .  .

Down:

1. LeBron et al., briefly: CAVS.  LeBron James and his team mates on the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team.

2. Waikiki party: LUAU.  A traditional Hawaiian party or feast that is usually accompanied by entertainment. It may feature food such as poi, Kalua pig, poke, lomi salmon, opihi, haupia and beer, and entertainment such as traditional Hawaiian music and hula. [Wikkipedia]

3. Back in the day: ONCE. Frex, when the OUR GANG kids were kids.

4. Saves, for a 1-Across: STAT.  If the lead is 3 runs or fewer in the expected final inning of a baseball game when the CLOSER enters, it's a save situation.  If he then shuts down the inning without the opposing team either tying or going ahead, his team wins, and the save is recorded.  Otherwise, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

5. Strauss' "__ Heldenleben": EIN.  "A Hero's Life," an 1898 tone poem by Richard Strauss.  In it's entirety, it lasts ca. 50 minutes.  Here is a short low brass excerpt - and, oh, boy, are these guys good!

6. 1984 Olympics gymnastics standout: RETTON.  Mary Lou [b 1968] won a gold medal, along with 2 silver and 2 bronze, back in the day.

7. LG product: PHONE.  LG Electronics Inc. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea, and is part of the LG Group, employing 82,000 people working in 119 local subsidiaries worldwide. [Wikipedia]

8. "That's so __!": YOU.  Said of clothing or a situation that seems to suit a person perfectly.

9. $200 Monopoly props.: RRS.  The Rail Road properties.

10. Vague lunch date time: ONE-ISH.  Approximately 1:00 pm.  Hold a spot for me.

11. Skyy alternative, familiarly: STOLI.  Vodkas. Skyy, now available in at least 17 flavors, is owned by the Campari Group of italy.   Stolichnaya [for long] comes from the former Soviet Union.  Ownership is disputed between a Russian state owned company and a private company owned by a Russian billionaire.

Now vodka is fine in its place;
in martinis, though, never a trace!
It’s swilled on the docks,
Can be used to clean clocks,
The gearwork, the hands and the face.

12. Looking drained: ASHEN.  Pale from shock, fear or illness.

13. Chinese menu promise: NO MSG.  MonoSodium Glutmate, a flavor enhancer.

18. Coop residents: HENS.  Not sure if they are allowed to occupy the ROOSTS.

23. Jim's role on "The Big Bang Theory": SHELDON.

24. Best Buy "Squad" member: GEEK.  Computer experts.

25. It's true: FACT.  Something that is indisputably correct - though you can always find somebody who will dispute it.  Cf, Flat Earth Society.

26. One piping frosting: ICER.   Cake decorator.

27. Kon-Tiki Museum city: OSLO.  The museum presents a broad selection of Thor Heyerdahl's life work.

28. Hurdle for atty. wannabes: LSAT. Law School Admission Test.

29. Stereotypical Western-ending backdrops: SUNSETS.

31. Watson's company: IBM.  Watson is a computer designed to answer questions asked in natural language.

32. National Gallery attraction: ART.  The Gallery is an ART museum located on the National Mall in Washington D. C.

34. Meanie: OGRE.  A mythical man-eating giant, or, figuratively a mean-spirited boss, or bully.

35. Fuel used in some whisky production: PEAT.  An earthy material made of partly decomposed vegetation.  It's used in Scotland for whisky production.  Anywhere else?

36. Md. winter hours: EST.  Eastern Standard Time.

38. Masked critter: COON.  The raccoon is the largest animal of the procyonid family,

North American Mammal

39. Holy recess: APSE.  Usually the semi-circular or polygonal shaped end of a church, where the altar is located.

40. Building girder: I-BAR.  A metal structural beam shaped like the letter I.  this shape maximizes stability in all dimensions.

45. Floor exercise surface: GYM MAT.

46. Spitting sound: PTUI.  Erm  .  .  .

47. "My Fair Lady" lyricist: LERNER.    Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe also collaborated on Camelot, Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon.

48. Lyric poem: EPODE.  A form written in couplets, with alternating long and short lines.  Another meaning is the third and final part of an ode, following the strophe and the antistrophe  Last time out, I had EPOS, and didn't know that, either.

49. "Fantastic" Dahl character: MR. FOX.    Eponym for the 1970 novel, and then 2009 movie.  A rare story, in which a predator is the hero, and the farmers and their live stock are the enemy.

50. Pulitzer-winning columnist Leonard: PITTS.  His home paper is the Miami Herald.  He won his Pulitzer in 2004.

51. "Alas!": SO SAD.  [sigh]

54. Lunch for Spot, maybe: ALPO.  A dog, and his dinner.

55. Fairness obstacle: BIAS.  A skewed point of view that enables interpreting new information as confirmation of existing beliefs, even when it isn't.

56. Brookings, e.g.: Abbr.: INSTitution, a century-old American research group on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C. It conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development. [Wikipedia] 

57. Boxing stats: TKO's.  Technical Knock Out.  A decision by the referee or ring physician that the boxing match cannot safely continue.

60. Fury: IRE.  Anger.

61. Ignore a Commandment: SIN.  A transgression of divine law.

62. Day-__: GLO.  An American paint and pigment company, and it's registered trademark for luminescent decorative products.

That wraps up another Wednesday, in a bright and colorful manner.  Here's the filled-in grid, then I really am outa-here.

Cool regards!

JzB

Note from C.C.:

Happy 55th birthday to Yellowrocks' son Alan! Have a wonderful day shopping and visiting places you love. You have the best mom!

Kathy and her son Alan, Costa Ric, 2009

Thursday April 19 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: To Enlightenment - find the path.

17A. *Look for a specific passage in, as a book: PAGE THROUGH. Flip, flip, flip - there it is! I've done this a thousand times. I like the phrase.

26A. *About 22% of an average 18-hole golf course: PAR THREES. A "classic" par-72 18-hole golf course will have four par-threes, four par-fives and 10 par-fours. Of course (ha!), all is variable. Muirfield, one of the "classic" links courses in Scotland began with just 14 holes. St. Andrews began life with 22 holes. They met in the middle at 18.

37A. *Point where it starts to hurt: PAIN THRESHOLD. Ow!

51A. *Like baklava layers: PAPER-THIN. Food! You should be able to read a newspaper through the pastry when it's rolled out.

61A. Explorers ... and ones who can determine what the answers to starred clues have in common?: PATHFINDERS

Nice clean puzzle from Mark, the reveal is nicely-placed at the foot of the puzzle, and the hint is clear - look for "PATH" in the theme entries. Symmetry with the theme entries starting with "PA" and broken with the second part beginning with "TH". Pleasing, maybe just to me.

Let's go and look around:

Across: 

1. Space station wear: G-SUITS. Nice enough entry, but you don't wear a G-suit in the space station, where there's zero G's - you don't need one. Fighter pilots wear them.

7. "Walk Like __": Four Seasons hit: A MAN. The best version of this I ever heard was by a British a cappella group I saw performing in a pub in London in 1980. Sadly, no recording of that survives, but here's the single they recorded in 1983 that went to number 1. They were quite amazing. No special effects, just voices.

11. Sharp-tack link: A SA

14. Stage of intensity: DEGREE

15. Pitch a fit: RANT

16. Happened upon: MET

19. It's near the midpoint of the Miss. River: ST. L. St. Loius. No "on scoreboards" reference?

20. Rap sheet data: CRIMES

21. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA. Very nice. Etta Place, mysterious associate of the Butch and Sundance "Wild Bunch".

22. "Gotcha!": PSYCH! I'd never heard this before - the "gotcha" moment after a teasing lie. "Hey - your car is getting towed! Psych!".

28. Every time: ALWAYS

30. Key: ISLET

31. Salt formula: NACL. Good old Sodium Chloride. Don't under-use it when you cook.

32. Sprain application: ICEBAG. I'd be more likely to use an ice pack, but that's just me.

42. Watch creepily: LEER AT

43. Corn syrup brand: KARO. My sister-in-law in England asked me to bring some over on my last trip. She's just starting a cake-decorating business, and apparently neither corn syrup nor marshmallow fluff exist across the pond. Who'd a thunk it?

45. Chimney plumes: SMOKE

49. Largest cat in the genus Leopardus: OCELOT. Pretty! They can hunt by low speed-stalking, or high-speed in-your-face full-on assault. They like to swim too. Don't be a small mammal or an iguana.

56. Change as needed: ADAPT

57. Musical meter maid: RITA. The Beatles "lovely" one.

58. Exposes, in a way: RATS ON

60. Gender-neutral possessive: ITS. No apostrophe. If you're not sure - "It's an apostrophe". Contraction of "it is".

66. Numeric prefix: TRI-

67. Tête output: IDEÉ. "Je pense, donc je suis"

68. Canadian dollar coin: LOONIE. I liked the story that a loonie was smuggled in and frozen in the rink at center ice in the hockey arena at the Salt Lake Olympics and Canada won the gold medal in the men's tournament for the first time in 50 years.

69. Buddhist school: ZEN

70. Give up: CEDE

71. Con target: STOOGE

Down: 

1. Macroeconomics abbr.: GDP. Gross Domestic Product. I studied Economics at school back when Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations" and no-one could agree how to measure GDP. I don't think it's changed.

2. Bering, for one: SEA. Thank you, Dutchman Vitus Bering for exploring it, so the rest of us didn't have to go up there and freeze our nadgers off.

3. Footwear brand: UGG

4. Wrath: IRE

5. Easily peeved: TETCHY

6. Very, to Schumann: SEHR. Your German lesson for the day.

7. Candle emanation: AROMA. We had "SMOKE" earlier, so here's an alternative.

8. Catcher Joe with a trio of consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2008-10): MAUER. Thank you, crosses. C.C. would have known this without pause - he is the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins.

9. Fretful feeling: ANGST

10. Indefinite ordinal: NTH. It must have been tempting to clue this with reference to 14A.

11. Heineken brand: AMSTEL. They used to be competitors. The Amstel river flows through Amsterdam. Heineken bought them out in 1968. The best bargain in Amsterdam used to be the Heineken brewery tour before these things were common. The tour lasted about 30 minutes, then you could spend as long as you liked in the tasting room for the princely sum of about $2. Eventually word spread too wide, and like all good things, the tour came to an end.

12. Parlor piece: SETTEE

13. Finally: AT LAST

18. Material flaw: RIP

21. LPN workplaces: ER'S. Emergency Rooms where those amazing Licensed Practical Nurses ply their trade.

22. __ for gold: PAN

23. Open-handed hit: SLAP

24. Fem. advocacy group: YWCA. Young Women's Christian Association. I was a member of the London Central YMCA for quite a few years - they had the most amazingly affordable gym and swimming pool for many, many miles around and slap-dab in the center of London. I even made the swim team. I believe that year they were short of talent.

25. City WSW of Bogotá: CALI

27. Expensive: HIGH

29. Where it's at: SITE. I didn't see this until now, crosses filled it in for me.

33. 2008 biopic starring Benicio del Toro: CHE. The famous "Che Lives" poster from the 70's. My sister had one on her bedroom wall:

34. Blow it: ERR

35. Arthur with two Emmys and a Tony: BEA

36. Concerning: AS TO

38. Met or Nat: NL'ER. More baseball to keep C.C. happy!

39. Signed off on: OK'ED

40. Refrain syllables: LA LA.

41. Stop talking about: DROP

44. Legendary Giant: OTT. Mel. Baseball!

45. Quick squirt: SPRITZ

46. __ d'hôtel: MAÎTRE. The one you need to impress to get a table at a popular restaurant.

47. Decides to join: OPTS IN

48. Mauna __: KEA. or LOA. Wait for the crosses.

50. "All the Light We __ See": 2015 Pulitzer novel: CANNOT. This is really fantastic book that I read a couple of years ago. If you want to see a brilliant mind at work, read Anthonys Duerr's wonderful novel.

52. Woodworking, e.g.: TRADE

53. Despised: HATED

54. "With this ring, __ ... ": I THEE

55. Bad check letters: NSF. "Not Sufficient Funds". This can have rather unhappy consequences.

59. Lubricates: OILS

61. Photo: PIC

62. __-wop: DOO

63. Roxy Music co-founder: ENO. Brian, he of "Elevator Music". Roxy Music really were ground-breakers in pop - here's their first big hit from 1972. I remember watching Bryan Ferry and wondering which planet he came from! Brian Eno is the guy with the blond hair and psychedelic tie on the other side of the stage from Bryan Ferry. David Bowie and his "Ziggy Stardust" persona landed the same year. Good times.

64. Fix badly?: RIG. But if you rig it well, is it still fixed badly?

65. Observe: SEE.

That's about it from me - I've still got Roxy Music rocking in the background, so I'll sign off with the grid!

(with Roxy Music seguing into the Bob Dylan-penned song "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall")

Steve

Wednesday, March 21 2018, Mark McClain

Theme: CHECKING IN- The first words can be CHECKED.

17. *Many a museum piece : OIL PAINTING. Oil Check.

36. *Choice spot at the opera : BOX SEAT. Checkbox.

11. *Family crest : COAT OF ARMS. Coat check.

27. *Ellington genre : SWING MUSIC. Check swing. (Baseball.)

56. Words to a server ... or a hint to the first words of the answers to starred clues : CHECK PLEASE.
 

Melissa here. I struggled more than I should have with this one, due to a handful of tricky clues and a few unknowns. The theme didn't help with solving much because sometimes CHECK preceded the first word of the answer, and sometimes it followed. Only short a Q and Z of a pangram.

Across        

1. Jordan's capital : AMMAN

6. Amounts to : COSTS

11. Cleveland hoopster : CAV

14. Tour leader : GUIDE

15. Popcorn brand whose logo resembles a movie marquee : ACT II

 
16. Corrida cheer : OLE

19. "MSNBC Live" co-anchor Velshi : ALI

20. Big Dipper's constellation : GREAT BEAR

 
21. Birth-related : NATAL

23. Couple of gags? : GEES. Wording of clue seems odd. Couple IN gags would make more sense.

24. Tied-on protectors : APRONS

25. Without : ABSENT

28. Not even close : WAY OFF

30. Vise features : JAWS

31. British nobles : EARLS

32. Roger Federer's org. : ATP. Association of Tennis Professionals (males). Female counterpart is WTA (Women's Tennis Association), founded by Billie Jean King in 1973.

35. French buddy : AMI. AMIE is the feminine form.

38. Pi follower : RHO

39. Stood for office : RAN

40. Powerful Japanese dog : AKITA. Much like yesterday's SHIBA INU.

41. Black bird or black cat, to some : OMEN

42. Go round and round : GYRATE

44. Messed (up) : LOUSED

46. Obtain : COME BY. Stumped me.

48. Is not misused? : AINT. Nice clue.

49. Very serious, as a water shortage : ACUTE. Medically speaking, ACUTE does not always mean serious, but indicates sudden or recent onset - as opposed to chronic, which is long-lasting.

50. Blunder : FALSE STEP

55. Humanities degs. : MASE. Master of Arts in Special Education. Not sure why this clue is plural. (Correction: the answer is MAS. Master of Arts. Thanks, everyone.)

58. "The Book of __": 2010 Denzel Washington film : ELI

59. Exorbitant interest : USURY

60. Ceremonial place : ALTAR. I like this clue 💕.

61. Fond du __, Wisconsin : LAC

62. Closed : ENDED

63. Braid : PLAIT

Down

1. Twittering : AGOG. In this internet age, twittering has a new meaning.

2. "Studies in the Sierra" writer John : MUIR. Originally appeared in 1874 and 1875 as a series of seven articles in the Overland Monthly, which were later (1915 to 1921) reprinted in the Sierra Club Bulletin. 

 
3. Fitbit unit : MILE. Not STEP.

4. Much of the Sunday paper : AD PAGES. Not ADVERTS.

5. Spruce (up) : NEATEN

6. Walking sticks : CANES

7. Penta- plus three : OCTA

8. Cup-a-Soup direction : STIR

9. Pewter component : TIN

10. Footpath aid : SIGNPOST 

12. Poe's middle name : ALLAN

13. Concealing accessories : VEILS

18. "Probably not" : I BET. Sneaky because it's sarcasm - normally "I bet" indicates total agreement.

22. "Wanna go out?" response : ARF

24. Protagonist of Auel's "Earth's Children" novels : AYLA

25. Somewhat open : AJAR

26. Auburn rival, familiarly : BAMA

28. Squander : WASTE

29. Surface product : AREA. For rectangles and squares - height x width = AREA. Area calculator.

31. Bright word in a dark theater : EXIT

33. You, back in the day : THEE

34. Koi habitat : POND

36. Kansas City cuisine : BARBECUE. Variation is BARBEQUE. That and a Z would make for a pangram.

37. Not bad : OKAY

41. Fly off the shelf faster than : OUTSELL

43. To date : YET

44. Struggle with sisters? : LISP. Great clue.

45. 400 meters, on many tracks : ONE LAP

46. It has one hump or two : CAMEL

47. Florida's __ National Forest : OCALA

48. Binder for some paints : ALKYD. New to me.

50. 2017 FX miniseries subtitled "Bette and Joan" : FEUD. Anyone watch this series?

51. Spacious lot : ACRE

52. Part of TTFN : TATA

53. Actor Morales : ESAI

54. Cheeky : PERT

57. QVC sister station : HSN. Home Shopping Network.

Thursday February 22 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Timber Trickery - as neatly explained by the reveal, but can you see the wood for the trees?

63A. Primitive area, and what's literally found in this puzzle's circles : BACKWOODS

The circled letters, reading backwards, contain the timber:

17A. Longtime PBS news anchor : JIM LEHRER. Elm. Most of the elm trees in the UK were wiped out by an outbreak of Dutch Elm disease brought into the country by a shipment of logs from Canada. It literally changed the face of the country.

23A. Site for a railroad signal : GRADE CROSSING. Cedar. Moths hate cedar, hence the cedar planks in your sock drawer to stop the buggers from chewing holes in them. The term "grade crossing" was new to me when I moved to the US. I knew them as "level crossings".

39A. Statistic including farmers and their neighbors : RURAL POPULATION. Poplar. Here's a fine stand of them on a roadside in France:

51A. Kielbasa : POLISH SAUSAGE. Ash. Most baseball bats are made of ash, although MLB also sanctions maple, hickory and bamboo.

Nice theme and nice crunchy theme entries concealing the wood. This was quite a challenge for me for some reason, I had to stare down the north-west corner for some time before I started to unravel the mystery up there. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Word with rose or road : BED

4. AMA part: Abbr. : ASSOC. American Medical Association.

9. __ Bornes: card game : MILLE. I finally remembered this from a prior crossword. The NE corner gave me a lot of trouble today. It translates from the French as "Thousand Milestones" according to my French colleague, but the French name is used for the English version.

14. Caen comrade : AMI

15. Thick-skinned herbivore : RHINO. Is the "-ceros" redundant now?

16. Big Apple stage honors : OBIES. I simply could not remember this. Off-Broadway awards, hence the name. The Tony awards are for Broadway theater.

19. Open, in a way : UNZIP.

20. Delon of cinéma : ALAIN. Came easily, but I'm not sure I've seen any of his movies.

21. Exactas, e.g. : BETS. Pick the horses to win and place, in exact order (hence exacta). An "exacta box" bet allows the horses to come in any order, which rather blows the "exacta" definition.

30. Part of __ : A SET

31. Hawk or eagle : RAPTOR

32. Tic-toe link : TAC

35. "That was close!" : PHEW!

38. Buckwheat dish : KASHA. Food! Putting "PASTA" here didn't exactly help matters in this section of the puzzle. Kasha can refer to the grain itself, or the porridge-like dish made from it.

43. "25" album maker : ADELE. Very talented artist. She won the "Album of the Year" Grammy for this one.

44. Wedding invitation encl. : SASE.
.
45. Yellowknife is its cap. : NWT. Canada's Northwest Territories.

46. Mournful artwork : PIETAS. Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus in Christian art. The most famous is the Michelangelo sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

48. Abhor : HATE

55. Anorak part : HOOD.

56. Really cool place to live? : IGLOO. Nice clue.

59. Grouchy look : SCOWL

66. Ventricular outlet : AORTA

67. Thar Desert country : INDIA. Never heard of it, so thank you, crosses. It forms part of the natural border between India and Pakistan.

68. JFK Library architect : PEI. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.

69. 180-degree river bend : OXBOW. When a meander breaks through from one side of the loop to the other, the remains is an oxbow lake.

70. __ Heights: Mideast region : GOLAN

71. Serpentine letter : ESS

Down:

1. Mexicali's locale : BAJA. Baja California. The town on the other side of the US/Mexico border is Calexico, fittingly.

2. Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL. More crosses to the rescue.

3. Joltin' Joe : DIMAG. I was all down the caffeine route with this one, and couldn't find anything to fit. It didn't help that I'd never heard the "DiMag" moniker before. Writing this up, I just went to do a Google search, and DiMaggio doesn't show up until half-way down the second page. I think that might be a little obscure for non-Yankees fans.

4. Bull-riding venues : ARENAS

5. Warning to a chatty theatergoer : SHH!

6. Chivalrous title : SIR

7. Year not designated as such until centuries later : ONE BC. ONE and wait for the crosses. It could quite easily be ONE AD.

8. Kitchen gizmo : CORER. I've got a lot of kitchen gizmos, but I don't own one of these things. I'm amused that the soundalike Iron Chef Cat Cora is sitting next to moussaka, one of her go-to dish styles. She has a Greek background.

9. Greek menu staple : MOUSSAKA. Food! Eggplant-layered ground lamb dish.

10. Hebrew : Ben :: Arabic : __ : IBN. I tried BIN first which again messed me up in the North-east.

11. Lemon on "30 Rock" : LIZ. Crosses all the way. I was at a meeting at 30 Rock last week - here's the rather gloomy view out of the window of the conference room.

12. Floral neckwear : LEI

13. Clairvoyant's gift : ESP. Extra-sensory perception.

18. Turkish dough : LIRA. I can never remember LIRA or LIRE. I wait for the cross.

22. Only Canadian MLB team : TOR. The Toronto Blue Jays.

24. "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) actor : DEPP. I didn't see the movie, so solid crosses necessary.

25. Value system : ETHOS

26. Irritated words : SPAT

27. "__ the bag" : IT'S IN

28. "Not gonna happen" : NO HOW. Tried NO WAY, was wrong.

29. Researcher's request : GRANT

32. "The Sound of Music" name : TRAPP. Strictly, the name is actually Von Trapp, but it's pretty obvious what is being asked for here.

33. Sound : AUDIO

34. Fish basket : CREEL. One of these things:

36. #TestforRadon org. : E.P.A. Not heard the hashtag before, but it didn't take a lot of figuring out.

37. Chinese martial arts : WUSHU. Learning moment for me. Looks pretty dangerous!

40. Meter opening? : ALTI-

41. Rule governing intentional walks? : LEASH LAW. Nice one. I enjoyed the punning here.

42. Open fields : LEAS

47. "Ray Donovan" network, briefly : SHO. I had the "O" and was tempted by HBO, but I refrained from jumping in with both feet.

49. Ang Lee's birthplace : TAIWAN

50. Its main product was originally given the portmanteau name "Froffles" : EGGO. French toast and waffles. Who knew?

52. Ferber novel : SO BIG

53. Hersey's "A Bell for __" : ADANO. A crossword staple. Has anyone actually read this book?

54. Skip church? : ELOPE. Nice one. Skip the church wedding.

57. Pindaric verses : ODES. Pindaric: "Relating to or characteristic of the Greek lyric poet Pindar or his works".

"I will not steep my speech 

in lies; the test of any man lies in action."

58. Malady suffix : -OSIS

59. __ Paulo : SÃO

60. Regatta chief : COX. The smallest and lightest person you can find to steer the boat, and, optionally, depending on experience, call the stroke rate.

61. Marble, e.g. : ORB

62. Geneva-based commerce gp. : W.T.O. World Trade Organization.

64. XLV x X : CDL. Simple Roman math. For some reason it always takes me a minute to dig the letter for "500" out of my head.

65. Sedona, for one : KIA. Took me a while to cotton on to this one. Nice misdirection.

That about wraps it up for this week. I've been on terra firma this week which makes a nice change. Back in the air next week though!

And  ... here's the grid ....!

Steve

Thursday, February 1st 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Price Hikes - Common phrases fall prey to inflation, as the reveal suggests:

59A. Economic factor that affects three puzzle answers : INFLATION RATE

So we get:

20A. Really cheap : QUARTER A DOZEN. Up from "dime a dozen". Apropos of Sunday's "Big Game" (shh, you can't say $üperßøw£ without getting sued by the NFL!):

37A. Precisely : TO THE NICKEL.Up from "to the penny." Accountants need to tie their books to the penny, especially in the corporate world.

44A. Worthless item : PLUGGED DIME. Up from "plugged nickel". A plugged nickel is a coin where the center disc has been removed, reducing the value of the metal in the coin. Used as a colloquialism for "worthless".

I liked this theme - "TO THE NICKEL" gave it away for me, so then it was a simple matter to backtrack and fill in 20A then I was off and running.

The puzzle is also a pangram today - all the letters of the alphabet appear. When you start to collect the higher-value Scrabble letters like X, Z, Q, K and J you know you're probably in for a full set.

A couple of nice longer downs kept things moving along nicely too. Let's see what else jumps out:

Across:

1. Rankles : IRKS

5. Go higher : CLIMB

10. Burgoo or ragout : STEW. Food! One of my favorite recipe sites Epicurious has a recipe for Kentucky burgoo with bourbon in it. Sounds worth a try to me!

14. Harvest : REAP

15. Speeder spotter : RADAR. Nice alliteration in the clue.

16. Dance for a lei person : HULA. I like the play on "lei".

17. Cornstarch brand in a yellow-and-blue container : ARGO. I've got a tub of this in my pantry but I had no idea what the brand name was! Thank you, crosses.

18. String in a kids' song : E-I-E-I-O. Old MacDonald earworm .... I'll spare you a link.

19. African antelope : ORYX. There's a few four-letter antelopes in Africa. You need to be careful before jumping in.

23. Baltimore's __ Harbor : INNER

24. Enjoy Vail : SKI

25. Podded plant : PEA

28. Fountain output : SODAS

32. Sully : TAINT. Because "Nickname of US Airways pilot who ditched in the Hudson" doesn't fit.

34. Rest area freebie : MAP. Do they still give these out? Gas stations stopped handing them out for free years ago.

40. Mother Nature's balm : ALOE

42. "The Glass Lake" writer Binchy : MAEVE

43. Trillion: Pref. : TERA- I have a 2 terabyte external hard drive for backups. When I started my computer career that kind of capacity was pure science fiction. The IBM mainframes I first worked on had disks with a capacity of 300MB. My external drive holds more than 6,500 times that much data.

47. "Mamma Mia!" number : S.O.S. Catchy stuff from from those Swedish pop-tastic greats Abba. The videos have a fantastic Seventies look too.

48. Slow movement : LARGO

49. Move through muck : SLOSH

51. Kennedy twins? : ENS. Two of 'em in the name. I wanted "EES" first. Was wrong.

52. Luthor of the comics : LEX

55. Infield fly : POP-UP

64. Naan relative : ROTI. Food! I had a couple of them with my first dinner in Delhi earlier this month.

66. Demand and obtain, as vengeance : EXACT. Or revenge. Nice clue.

67. Adopt-a-Pet pet : MUTT

68. "Dilbert" intern : ASOK. He's one of my favorite characters in the strip.

69. Comparatively friendly : NICER

70. Geek Squad client : USER

71. LGBT Pride Month : JUNE

72. 2017 A.L. MVP José Altuve, for one : ASTRO. Houston ball team. I was changing planes in Houston on Monday. I like the airport, it's one of the NICER ones I pass through.

73. Zip : ZERO

Down:

1. Kirkuk native : IRAQI

2. "Seinfeld" episode, now : RE-RUN. I could watch every episode all over again.

3. See 53-Down : KAGAN

4. Reproductive bodies : SPORES

5. Hudson Bay nation : CREE. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.

6. Bear's home : LAIR. Tried CAVE. Obviously a bad idea.

7. One may be called bright when it isn't : IDEA. Lovely.

8. "Downton Abbey" figures : MAIDS. We recently binge-watched all six seasons of Downton on Amazon Prime. Totally got into it.

9. Forest babbler : BROOK

10. Christian Louboutin creation : SHOE. Barney's has a men's shoe with his trademark red soles for $850 a pair. I think I'll stick to the outlets.

11. Tolls are taken on them : TURNPIKES. Nice. Took me a while to see this one.

12. Bridge expert Culbertson : ELY

13. Candle stuff : WAX

21. Easy gait : TROT

22. Tubular pasta : ZITI. Food! My kind of puzzle today.

26. Summer month in Uruguay : ENERO. January, in the Southern Hemisphere. More of a tricky Thursday-level clue for this Spanish month.

27. Book with 11-Down : ATLAS. Another one a long time a-coming. Turnpikes, among other things, are represented in a road atlas.

29. St. Paul's feature : DOME. The famous cathedral in London designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren. As recently as 1967 it was the tallest building in the city. I'm off to London tomorrow, the flight path into Heathrow passes above St. Paul's. and the rest of Central London. You get a great view of all the landmarks if the weather is clear. The dome gets a little lost among the tall buildings, but I've outlined it here:

30. Minimally : A TAD

31. Drops, as pounds : SHEDS

33. Part of ACA : ACT. The full name is The patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, familiarly known as Obamacare.

34. Scott Joplin's "__ Leaf Rag" : MAPLE. I learned this on the piano when I was a kid. I loved Scott Joplin's music after first encountering it in the movie "The Sting".

35. Literary middle name : ALLAN

36. Goes all out : POURS IT ON. Took me a while to parse this.

38. Downright nasty : EVIL

39. "Finding Dory" character : NEMO

41. __ salad : EGG

45. Club sport : GOLF. Nice clue. Could refer to the institution or the equipment.

46. "Around the Horn" channel : ESPN

50. Strait of __: Persian Gulf outlet : HORMUZ

53. With 3-Down, justice since 2010 : ELENA

54. Graph line : X-AXIS. Could be Y- or Z- so wait for the cross to confirm it.

56. Hesitation : PAUSE

57. Unmitigated : UTTER

58. Chemical prefix? : PETRO-

60. Maker of LeBron 15 basketball shoes : NIKE. More expensive footwear. Foot Locker has them for $185/pair. Not bad for a pair of sneakers.

61. Delicate handling : TACT

62. Pastry prettifier : ICER

63. Other, in España : OTRO. Second Spanish reference today.

64. British rule in India : RAJ. "Raj" is the Hindustani word for "Rule".

65. The Cowboys of the Big 12 Conf. : O.S.U. Oklahoma State University.

And with that, I think I'm done. Here's the grid - and I'll see you all next week from Blighty!

Steve

Thursday, December 7th 2017 Mark McClain

Theme: No, Why? The "Y" is dropped from the end of the theme entries and the resulting phrase is clued accordingly. As the hint says:

61A. Make smart remarks ... and a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues : WISE OFF

And the themers:

19A. *Award-winning defense unit? : TOP FORT. Top Forty.

31A. *Manchester hospital hookup? : ENGLISH IV. English Ivy. Hedera Helix, aka common ivy, or simply ivy. This theme entry is interesting as the pre- and post- "Y" versions are homophones, and techinically "IV" is an abbreviation and not clued as such.

38A. *Either of a historic PGA pair? : ARNIE'S ARM. Arnie's Army. Golfer Arnold Palmer's legions of fans were known as "Arnie's Army". Notice that the pre- and post- versions of this entry actually refer to the same person.

49A. *Enforcer of greenhouse gas restrictions? : CARBON COP. Carbon Copy. I wonder if carbon paper actually exists any more?

Well, good day to you all. An interesting theme from Mark today. I got ENGLISH IV first, and as I mentioned above I thought that all the themers were going to be homophones, so that put me off track for a couple of minutes. I put myself firther off-track in the north-east corner when I jumped to an IAMS conclusion without waiting for any cross-confirmation, but that was easily fixed.

The Z was my final fill, and actually a WAG - Both ZESTA and AZERA were unknowns; the alphabet run turned up Z as feeling the most likely, and I guessed right. Phew!

Let's see what else we've got going on:

Across:

1. Not insignificant : BIG

4. LeBron's hometown : AKRON. Basketball star LeBron James, who famously decamped from Cleveland to Miami to win "not one, not two, not three ..." championships. He got his ego under control after a couple of years. He won two championships with Miami, then returned to Cleveland and won his third in one of the best Finals for years against the Golden State Warriors.

9. Pet food brand : ALPO

13. Discontinued iPod model : NANO. I've still got one of these somewhere, it's probably at the bottom of one of my laptop backpack pockets.

14. Saltine brand : ZESTA

15. Action word : VERB

16. Words after an estimate : ORSO

17. Divisions politiques : ÉTATS. I enjoyed seeing the close proximity of ROI in the grid; it reminded me of Louis XIV and his famous statement "L'etat c'est moi."

18. Those, to Pablo : ESOS

21. Sculler's blade : OAR

23. Capri suffix : OTE. A couple of entries filled themselves in for me today, this was one of them. A native of the island of Capri is a Capriote.

24. Trattoria menu suffix : INI. Two suffixes in a row. One would suffix - I mean suffice.

25. Chaucer offering : TALE. The Canterbury Tales. Bane of many a schoolboy's life when read in medieval English.

27. "Stagecoach," for one : OATER

29. Birdcage feature : PERCH. 

34. Multichannel : STEREO. I guess two is "multi." Quadrophonic was all the rage when I was growing up, but if you didn't sit dead center of the four speakers it was rather a waste of time. Great for lonely audiophiles though.

36. Saturn SUV : VUE

37. One of the Nereids : IONE. This was another of the entries that filled itself in for me. There are 50 of these sea-nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris. You've got a minute to name them all - GO!

41. Neatnik's opposite : SLOB

44. Pioneering ISP : AOL

45. Warm-weather wear : SHORTS. I wear shorts in most weathers, I've got so used to the California climate. I got some odd looks in England a couple of weeks ago, I guess an overcoat and a pair of shorts is an odd sartorial combination.

52. Three-time Wimbledon champ : EVERT. The great Chris. Her record is quite amazing - she reached the semi-finals or better in 52 of 56 of the Grand Slam tournaments she entered, and she one at least one Slam tournament for 13 consecutive years.

53. Directive : ORDER

54. One of the three bears : PAPA

56. Mai __ : TAI

57. Arctic coast explorer : RAE. Scotsman John Rae. He probably didn't wear shorts - he would have been wearing a kilt.

58. Consume : EAT

63. Mosque figure : IMAM

65. Big name in craft stores : JOANN. This had me foxed for a little while - I knew the store, but I didn't realize the name lacked a final "E"

67. Response to being slain, in texts? : ROFL. "Slain" in the "Wow, that's funny" sense. Rolling On the Floor, Laughing".

68. Khartoum's river : NILE

69. Match : AGREE

70. "Would __?" : I LIE. Usually the answer is "Yes, through your teeth."

71. Notable deed : GEST. Learning moment for me. I know the French "Geste", I didn't realize there was an English equivalent, but there it is in the dictionary.

72. Saratoga action : RACES

73. PC panic button : ESC. Escape. It usually doesn't do very much.

Down:

1. British nobleman : BARONET

2. Motivate : INSPIRE

3. Mess (up) : GOOF

4. Korean sedan to be discontinued in the U.S. after 2017 : AZERA

5. Whistling vessel : KETTLE. It took me a loooong time to see this, and it was so obvious when I did.

6. Nation surrounding 10-Down: Abbr. : R.S.A. The Republic of South Africa.
.
7. Director Preminger : OTTO

8. "Hidden Figures" org. : NASA

9. "__ Maria" : AVE

10. Enclaved African land : LESOTHO.  The beautiful Maletsunyane Falls:

11. Tofu nutrient : PROTEIN

12. Watch : OBSERVE

13. Custom on some cruises : NO TIPS. I've never been on a cruise; at least not one where I wasn't sailing the boat myself.

20. Multiple-choice choice : OTHER. I like this one. I was thinking of different letters at first.

22. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI

26. Wrap around : ENVELOP

28. "I, Robot" writer : ASIMOV

30. Champion swimmer/actor Buster : CRABBE. Clarence Linden Crabbe II. He made over a hundred movies and played Flash Gordon in the TV series. However, I'm sure his middle child didn't thank him for the name "Sande".

32. Director Van Sant : GUS

33. Where ewes can hang out : LEAS. Meadows, by another name.

35. __ even keel : ON AN

39. Biennial games org. : I.O.C. The transparently honest and wholly uncorruptable International Olympic Committee.

40. Flightless birds : RHEAS. I always forget these fellas, I get stuck on EMU and go no further.

41. Making a touchdown : SCORING. Except you don't actually have to touch the ball down. The equivalent in rugby is a try, and you do have to touch the ball down, under control, otherwise the try doesn't count.

42. Metro area SSE of Casper : LARAMIE. Wyoming. I've flown over it a ton of times, but never actually been there.

43. Major hassles : ORDEALS

46. Updates the plant : RE-TOOLS. Of course I was on the flora track for the longest time.

47. Rush hour report topic : TRAFFIC. 

48. Suppress : STIFLE

50. Vein contents : ORE

51. Plains tribe : PAWNEE

55. Source of hard and soft lumber : PINES

59. A bit cracked : AJAR. I was thinking "cracked" in the mildly insane sense. I was wrong.

60. Forum attire : TOGA

62. Lackawanna's lake : ERIE. Nailed it! Thank you, hundreds of crosswords.

64. Ran into : MET

66. __ welding : ARC

That's all from me!

Except that's not all from me - here's the grid!

Steve

Monday, November 27, 2017 ~ Mark McClain

Theme: The Three Amigos - synonyms.

20A. Seaside shade provider: BEACH UMBRELLA

37A. Philatelist's volumes: STAMP ALBUMS

44A. Practice that develops a variety of employee skills: JOB ROTATION

59A. Kid's imaginary companions, and what's literally found in this puzzle's circles: SECRET FRIENDS

Argyle here. Bit more secret with out the circles but you should know where to look for them, spanning the two words. Definitely a male slant to the entries but are there feminine equivalents?

Across:

1. The "m" in E = mc²: MASS. This formula states that the equivalent energy (E) can be calculated as the mass (m) multiplied by the speed of light (c) squared.

5. Put into force: ENACT

10. Wood-shaping tool: ADZE

14. Severely damaged sea: ARAL

15. Morning show featuring Al Roker: TODAY

16. Drubbed or whipped: BEAT

17. Calf-length skirt: MIDI

18. Lady's canine love: TRAMP. "Lady and the Tramp" Disney Movie (1955)

19. Omar of "The Mod Squad": EPPS. Popular guy in crossword land.

23. Bone: Pref.: OSTEO

24. Second person: YOU. I am first person.

25. Grammy category: RAP

28. "Don't play" music symbols: RESTS

32. "I'll do that!": "LET ME!"

34. Opposite of pos.: NEG.

40. Soothing succulent: ALOE

42. Inclined: ATILT. 'A' words. 53D. Come to light: ARISE

43. Sitter's nemesis: BRAT

47. Letters after ems: ENS. Alphabetically speaking.

48. "Not __!": "Quiet!": A PEEP

49. Macho guy: HEMAN

51. Not agin: FER

52. Musician's gift: EAR

55. Curriculum __: résumé: VITAE

64. Remove a rind from: PEEL

66. "Ask me if __": I CARE

67. Pigeon banter: COOS

68. Drops the ball: ERRs

69. Country south of Egypt: SUDAN

70. French I verb: ÊTRE. (to be)

71. Path behind a ship: WAKE

72. Poet's muse: ERATO

73. Taken in, as a movie: SEEN

Down:

1. Cuban dance: MAMBO

2. Spring zodiac sign: ARIES

3. '70s-'80s Egyptian president Anwar: SADAT. Ended in assassination.

4. Deli machine: SLICER

5. Caesar's ides-of-March words: "ET TU?"

6. Good name for an average guy: NORM

7. Not much (of): A DAB

8. Top-selling Toyota: CAMRY

9. Blood bank spec: TYPE 'O'

10. Second son: ABEL

11. Act of leaving: DEPARTURE

12. Microwave: ZAP

13. Sci-fi beings: ETs

21. Long-handled garden tools: HOEs

22. Break in the action: LULL

26. Capital of Jordan: AMMAN

27. Annoying types: PESTS

29. "Now!" in the OR: "STAT!"

30. Brit's sign-off: TA-TA

31. Northampton women's college: SMITH. Smith College is in Northampton,MA. Established 1871 (opened 1875).

33. Flow back: EBB

34. City south of Baghdad: NAJAF. Minneapolis and Najaf are Sister Cities since 2009.

35. Wed on the wing: ELOPE

36. Lose it big-time: GO BERSERK

38. Ballet dip: PLIÉ

39. Tiny physics bit: ATOM

41. Poetic palindrome: ERE

45. Oil gp. that includes Iraq: OPEC. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

46. "Avatar" race: NA'VI. The movie.

50. Nephews' sisters: NIECEs

54. Happen multiple times: RECUR

56. Govt. security: T-NOTE

57. Love dearly: ADORE

58. German steel city: ESSEN. "European Green Capital 2017"

60. Beyond that: ELSE

61. "Look what I did!": "TA-DA!"

62. Group with pledges: FRAT. (college fraternity)

63. Nevada gambling city: RENO

64. Church bench: PEW

65. Notable time: ERA

Argyle