Or, if you want to get in touch with the Dread Pirate Roberts: Elwes, CARY@ID.com
I did a cursory Google search for Elizabeth Duker-Gold, and found her on LinkedIn and Facebook, but with no clear indication that I had the correct person; I can tell it's her LA Times debut, and if this is her overall first publication, then double congrats~! I loved the clever theme of this puzzle - varied common words/phrases with a & t, or "@", in the middle, restructured to resemble an email address, and nothing related to today's bank holiday. Very cool, but some of the people may not be that common - I did know all five of them, partly from doing crosswords. There was some Friday fill, to be expected, and a few that had alternate answers - see below - plus one or two "meh" ones, maybe~? Standard grid, no circles, 19 3LWs, just 6 names - excluding the ones intended for the theme. The five themer email "addresses", no reveal [ BTW, the text format of the crossword screwed up my blogging due to the use of < and >, which are html code separators ];
18. To: Comedian Michael, bedding salesman [.com] - CHE(AT)SHEETS - Michael Che @sheets.com, which I think is a valid website . . . yup
24. To: Athlete Jackson, lawn products salesman [.com] - BO(AT)YARDS - Bo Jackson @yards.com - Bo of both major league baseball and football fame, and 'yards' would be a good website/email address for lawn products - it does come up as a website, but no content
36. To: Broadcast journalist Anderson, surgical supply salesman [.com] - COOPER(AT)ORS - Anderson Cooper @ors.com - "Operating RoomS" but not a real site - and not my buddy Cooper the Australian Shepherd - see 58D. Here's Anderson being interviewed by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
I'd play the segment, but NSFW
50. To: Actor Cheadle, chemistry lab supply salesman [.com] - DON(AT)IONS - Don Cheadle @ions.com - I know Don from his role as "Basher" in the Ocean's Eleven, et. al. heist movies - and a valid website for the TV channel Ion
57. To: Singer Bruno, bulletin board salesman [.com] - MARS(AT)TACKS - my favorite break out ( if not my personal choice in music artists, but our host likes him 😁) - Bruno Mars @tacks.com - and this one led to a "non-secure" go back~! link ( I wrote this while still down on LI, so I was on my brother's network )
Hey Tom, it's "not unusual" to find Martians invading Earth . . .
1. Jaguar or Charger: CAR - I do the Downs first, had two wrong fills to start; I knew this was either NFL - two teams in the national football league - or two automobiles
Trevor Lawrence, and, uh, well, that's not Justin Herbert, and #19 ( on the helmet ) was retired
. . . thanks, A i ~!
4. Orchard basket: BUSHEL - so my "AMASS" at 7D was wrong . . .
10. Gillette brand: ATRA
14. Bullpen stat: ERA
15. "Reckon maybe, yeah": "IS'POSE..." - slang for "I suppose" - I am feeling ambivalent about this fill; it's valid, but is it a Twurd~? Is it 'meh'~?
16. Urge on: GOAD
17. Part of a journey: LEG
part of a "legs" journey
20. Jazz great James: ETTA - Crossword staple, name #1
22. Cropped up: AROSE
23. ThirdLove purchase: BRA - not that I "knew" this, but I had _R_, and it sounded like a lingerie website - so what are the first Two Loves~? I could take a guess . . .
27. Like a best-case scenario: IDEAL
29. "Love it!": "SOGOOD~!"
30. Queerplatonic orientation, briefly: AROACE - short for aromantic asexual - the Wiki, if you care to know more - aah, Friday . . .
31. Dirge: LAMENT - ELEGY did not fit
35. Bills replaced by coins in Canada and Australia: ONES - tell us more, CanadianEh!
39. Mil. no-show: AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave - oh, SNAFU - now that's FUBAR . . .
41. Haberdashery purchase: TIE PIN
42. People in the background of a selfie, perhaps: RANDOS - Ah. Right. "random person" in 21st century-speak; I had the last two letters, so I went with WALDOS - hey, I could see that working . . .
I found him~!
44. Dillydally: LINGER
49. Juvenile eel: ELVER - Learning moment for me; more here
53. Pub pour: ALE
54. Beloved, in Bordeaux: CHERI - Frawnche
56. Set that might have an OLED screen: HDTV - Organic Light-Emitting Diode, and High Definition; 'Set' threw me at first - a TeleVision set, which, now that I think of it, is kinda weird . . . it's a set of electronic tubes, circuits~? And I did not know what the "O" stood for, even knowing what an LED was
61. Taste: SIP
62. Show opener: ACTI - Ha~! Had this last Friday, too
63. Leash: TETHER
64. Part of a rock band?: ORE - Clever - new way to clue the old fill - a 'band', or stratum in geology
65. Smart home system by Google: NEST - I bought a "smart" thermostat for my house, but the furnace uses just two wire leads - so it's useless; the furnace tech I needed to call two weeks ago told me not to bother with a smart device - he is if the mindset that the most efficient way to heat/cool one's house is to "set it and forget it" - thanks Ron Popeil~!
66. Grooms, as feathers: PREENS
67. Homer's neighbor: NED - Pffft - Ned . . . Name #2
DOWN:
1. Red carpet VIPs: CELEBS - Dah~! Not A LISTS
2. Defiant reply: "ARETOO~!" - Dah~!! Not I AM NOT
3. Motley: RAGTAG - I toyed with CALICO, which we had last Saturday
Definitely "ragtag" - Mötley Crüe
4. Pen name: BIC - another clever clue - literally, the 'name' of a pen maker, ergo, name #3
5. See to a seat, casually: USH - more 21st century-speak for "ushering"
6. Pickle serving: SPEAR - I guess in the 21st century, it's 'one syllable easier' than to ask for a pick-le
7. Stockpile: HOARD - Dah~!!! Not AMASS
8. These, in Spanish: ESTOS - and yet I nailed the Español word . . .
9. "__ is more": LESS - well, more or less, I guess . . . 🙄
10. Number that's always positive: AGE - Ah. True. Mine is getting further along on the spinny-wheel thing on websites these days
11. Cutesy name for paw pads: TOE BEANS
12. Unpleasant routine: RAT RACE
13. Media revenue source: AD SALES
19. Trust-worthy figure?: HEIR
21. From __ Z: A TO - three out of four two-word answers in a row
25. Texter's encouragement to try something new: YOLO - You Only Live Once - but maybe in multiple universes~? - ooooh . . . trippy
26. Assimilates: ADAPTS - I wanted adOpts
28. Portal: DOOR - into another plane of the multi-verse . . .
30. __ the Hun: ATTILA - he lived an "active, outdoor lifestyle", per George Carlin; name #4
32. __ fun: noodle dish: MEI - never heard of this - the "E" came from knowing the themer that crossed
33. Bard's before: ERE - poetic
34. Suede quality: NAP - Sleep quality; NAP time
36. New fans: CONVERTS - CON-verts, the noun, not the verb
37. Like a quaint shoppe: OLDE - ye olde quaynte shoppe
38. "I got this!": "ONIT~! - Dah~! I had ON ME, like the check/tab
39. Local guy in The Onion headlines: AREA MAN - this was a total unknown for me - an example
40. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" poet Stevens: WALLACE - name #5, no clue - the poem, sort of a Zen-like "what is the sound of one hand clapping" mental exercise
43. Antarctic predator: ORCA
SE(ri)AL killer
45. Research org. with facilities in Bethesda: NIH - National Institutes of Health - filled via perps on my second pass - the website, if you care
46. Jake Gyllenhaal, to Jamie Lee Curtis: GODSON - huh. I tried COUSIN, which sort of helped, as the "O", "S" and the "N" actually worked; name(ish)
47. Complete: ENTIRE
48. Answered, in a way: RSVP'ed - I like it, but YMMV
50. Put off: DETER - Not DELAY, and not DEFER, so I didn't understand the crossing themer at first
51. Provide an address: ORATE - the "speechify" version of address, like Lincoln's Gettysburg
52. Not wide-ranging: NICHE - ah. Good one. I knew what we were looking for, but needed perps
55. URL intro: HTTP - the "other" kind of address; http//www.crosswordcorner.blogspot.com
58. Gather dust: SIT - gather pet fur; dog-sit - Cooper is so bad in the summer, my clothes were covered
we stopped to "smell the flowers"
59. "KPop Demon Hunters" voice actor Jeong: KEN - no clue, name #6 - his Wiki
This is my fourth Emma Oxford crossword - the last one was the memorial to my friend Greg and our mutual enjoyment of playing poker puzzle. I breezed through this Friday fill-in, with only a typo slowing me down. Today we have five themers, no reveal, totaling 51 squares, that are a punny play on common phrases, redefined as types of ( mostly ) popular bars of soap. A standard grid, no circles, a three-knight "dog" (🙄), eleven 3LWs, a handful of names, a ridiculous number of abbreviations and/or acronyms - but - was missing just the F & J for a pangram~!
17. Soap that's easy to conceal?: POCKETDIAL - Not the "politically incorrect" butt-dial, this soap -
23. Soap that could use a friend?: LONESOMEDOVE- Not the town from the 1986 Pulitzer-prize winning book ( and TV series ), but a solitary bar from this collection -
37. Soap that's super popular?: HOTLAVA - Not the exercise we used to 'play' in Phys Ed., but this -
49. Soap that's falling apart?: BREAKINGDAWN - Not the early rising sun, but the outlier, as this is more dish detergent soap - "Dawn is breaking everywhere . . . " lyric @ 0:30
Refreshing Rain scent is the one on my kitchen sink, and I buy the gallon refill at BJs
61. Soap that's perfect for adding color to a shower routine?: ORANGEZEST - not the 'shaved' skin of the fruit, but this cleansing product -
1. Easter month, often: APRIL - It can be March - the convoluted way it's calculated; the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon after the Spring equinox 🙏
6. Apple resource with curated guides: MAPS - I am Android, so it's Google's version
10. Bygone handhelds, for short: PDAs - Personal Digital Assistan - it could be either, as in 'holding hands' being a bygone Public Display of Affection - either way, it's abbr/acr #1
14. Lift a finger?: POINT - 👉
15. Landed: ALIT
16. Reply to "I'm sure they'll be fine without you," perhaps: "OUCH." - Harsh, man . . .
19. Low-carb diet: KETO - My friend Jay was a "keto" dieter; I missed his B-day last month, so I reached out via text a week late; he responded with "it's OK - btw, I met the love of my life, quit my job, sold my house, moved to North Carolina - oh, and had triple by-pass surgery in November . . . ' - and he's younger than me. Sheesh. Reminded me of this song
Billy Joel, My Life
20. Hunk: SLAB
21. Setting of the graphic novel "Persepolis": IRAN - filled via perps, Geo name #1
22. Arrive: GETIN
26. Estimate from a contractor: QUOTE - I tried PRICE first; Bzzzzt~!
28. "Me too": SAME - I wanted SO AM I, then AS ME - which was close, but, wrong
29. Relish: GUSTO - the noun, usu. in the prepositional phrase "with gusto" - you're welcome.
30. Big name in gaming monitors: ACER - filled via perps, crossword staple, name(ish)
32. Dec. holiday: XMAS - abbr/acr #2 - only 195 shopping days til . . . the countdown clock
36. Goal: AIM - Still have the same goal / aim / desire / intent to produce my board games - and now I have a fourth one to promote, too; I ran off a simplified version of the board on paper so I could work out the play details
40. Computer file suffix: EXE - for adding programs to PCs / Windows, "executable" - abbr/acr #3
41. School gps.: PTAs - PDAs and PTAs - abbr/acr #4
43. Root vegetable related to Swiss chard: BEET - I had the "EE" from my Down fills
44. SF NFLer: NINER - AND - 52D. SF MLBer: GIANT - five-letter San Fransisco major league teams, football and baseball respectively
46. Astronomical light show: NOVA - meh. Technically, yes, but I think aurora is a better match
48. Birthplace of K-pop: SEOUL - Geo name #2
54. Signs on for another tour: RE-UPS
55. Pop diva Celine: DION - name #3 - the hot dogs go on . . .
Peter May, comedian
56. American white __: Gulf Coast bird: IBIS - mostly perps
60. Org. with sponsored Medicare plans: AARP - American Association of Retired Persons - you can actually join at the age of 18 - but I doubt you've 'retired'. I got my letter from UPS last month, saying I was now eligible for my retirement, having turned 55 in February this year - I think it's a whopping $337/mo., but I'll take it~! abbr/acr #5
63. Pop sensation: IDOL
64. Have too little of: WANT
65. Bowie's role in "The Prestige": TESLA - name #4, I had T _ _ _ A, but not having seen the movie . . . IMDb
66. Where Anheuser-Busch is BUD: NYSE - the New York Stock Exchange listing = BUDweiser beer - abbr/acr #6
10. Progress tracker for one trying to "catch 'em all": POKEDEX - I figured it was something like this, but waited on perps - the index of the Pokémon universe - more here
11. Caused by: DUE TO
12. When the fate of Ophelia is revealed: ACT IV - been doing crosswords long enough to know that this type of clue is looking for "ACT _ _", so it was either II or IV, possibly other Roman numerals
13. Sparkled: SHONE - ha~! Nailed it
18. Prong: TINE
22. Jewel: GEM
24. Letters of equivocation: OTOH - On the Other Hand . . . I just read George Carlin's book, 'How to Rid Yourself of Doubt - or, Should You~?' abbr/acr #11
25. Harry's accomplice in "Home Alone": MARV - I did not know this name, #6
26. Walk out: QUIT - Dah~! Not EXit, but 50% correct
27. Home of the NCAA's Black Knights: USMA - knights #1, abbr/acr #12 - wait -
there's a whole team of them~?
Uh, no - the United States Military Academy - the West Point football squad
29. Word with age or wage: GAP
30. Took off right after dinner: ATE AND RAN - Cool fill, and a nine-letter Thwurd
31. Rock & Roll HoF city: CLEveland, abbr/acr #13
33. Grubhub link: MENU
34. Rink leap: AXEL
35. Title for a knight in Westeros: SER - I am ashamed to say, I have not seen Game of Thrones
38. Short "Duh": OBVI - 21st century-speak for "obviously" - abbr/acr #14
39. Over again: ANEW
42. Maker of Trop-a-Rocka tea: SNAPPLE - Ah. I didn't see this fill until I did the blog, and I was today-years-old when I learned that this was a flavor "invented" by the band Poison's frontman Bret Michaels for The Apprentice, though I did know he was a diabetic
45. Charges, in a way: IONIZES - WARNING~! Science content
47. Gives a thumbs-up: OKs - 👍
48. Performed in a choir: SANG
49. Scarecrow's desire: BRAIN - ooops; I put in HEART, but that was the Tin Man - no, Oz never did give nuthin' to him - and an Easter ( see 1A) Egg chorus lyric at 1:11
America - Tin Man
50. Good to go: READY
51. Money in Monaco: EUROS - I didn't take the 'plural' into account, but I did think EURO - and I also learned today that this place is a "microstate", not a 'city' in France . . . Huh
You can just see my "other" house up on the left, overlooking the Frawnche Riviera . . .
53. Taboos: DON'Ts - I had "NO-NOs", 60% correct
57. One-up: BEST - the 'Canes are one-up on the LV Knights - knight #3, and my musical pun
58. Tropical spot: ISLE - I'd prefer a trip to Europe over any tropical vacation
59. Movie lead: STAR
61. Be in arrears: OWE - "I know the rent is in arrears" - see the themer link at 49A., lyric @ 3:30
62. GPS prediction: ETA - Estim . . . oh , never mind, it's another abbr/acr, #15
. . . and here's the missing F, J
Here's my buddy Cooper - chillin' in the humidity on Long Island
Well, now, this one was right up my allez~! I loves to poke fun at the French additions to English crosswords more than any other language crossover. Today we have a collaboration between two constructors who have contributed to the LA Times in the past - Jess's last puzzle was a Saturday in September 2025, and the one from Andrew was in 2023 with co-author Marin Wells. A clever interpretation theme of French words in English context, but I thought one did land a bit flat. Yet another oversized 15x16 grid, 22 3LWs, just a couple of names, no Twurds, but two Naticks - ah, Friday. The themers and the reveal, once again in the center;
18. "You can't be serious!": EAUBROTHER - "O" brother~!, how 'eau' sounds in Frawnche, the word for water, as in, e.g., eau de parfum or, cologne ( see yesterday - and I think the LAT editor needed to pay attention to an answer that was a theme answer in the next puzzle ) - and an argument that "odor" is not a synonym for "fragrance"
26. Chant from a giant: FILLE-FI-FO-FUM - the "correct" pronunciation of Fille, "Fee" = girl
Ma chérie, mon amour~!
55. First words of the Constitution: OUITHEPEOPLE - "Wee" - back in college, when any of my friends "ass.u.me'd" I was joining them ( meaning 'we' ) in some escapade, the go-to catch-phrase was "when did you start speaking Frawnche~?"
65. "RuPaul's Drag Race" catchphrase: SACHETAWAY - "say-shay", which is 'bag' in Frawnche; FWiW, I listened to the pronunciation, per Google's translator, and it does not sound like the "leitmotif" RuPaul speaks, which is based on another Frawnche word, chasse . . . here's a YouTube collection video, with a poorly spelled title 😒
38. "Please excuse the bad language," and what can be said about 18-, 26-, 55-, and 65-Across: PARDONMYFRENCH
pardon MY Frawnche~!
Mais Attendez, Il y a Plus~!
ACROSS:
1. Antlered animal: STAG - I do the Downs first, which messed up this corner
5. Chews like a beaver: GNAWS - I found this story to be fascinating, and promising, too
Geronimo, literally
10. Verbal digs: BARBS
15. Super Monkey Ball company: SEGA - filled via perps - the Wiki
16. Dulce de __: LECHE
Sounds good; I have added my chocolate recipe * at the bottom
17. Native Alaskan: ALEUT - learned by doing crosswords
20. Undersea data carrier: CABLE
21. Flight segment: RISER - AND - 30. Flight segment: STEP - Clecho; flight as in stairs, not SSTs
22. Chance: RISK
24. Bulldogs sch.: UGA - The "G" was Natick #1, University of Georgia
Lucky Dawg . . .
25. Up to, informally: 'TIL
32. Be sick: AIL
33. Wok dish: STIR FRY
34. Untainted: PURE
35. Barrel wood: OAK
37. Cal. neighbor: ARIzona, so ARIZ is not the answer to 62D. - and a Thursday dupe
44. Pilates surface: MAT
45. 56-Down pioneer: AOL - early provider of "electronic", not "snail" mail
46. Glitz and __: GLAM - I grew up in the 1980s, so I was into all the "GLAM" bands of the era; Mötley Crüe, Poison, Cinderella, 27D., and these guys🠟 - can you name the band~?
Here's a hint - their "anti-Satanic" hit from the 80s
48. Lends a hand: ASSISTS - not ass.u.me-s🙄
52. Indent key: TAB
54. __ ayam: Indonesian chicken noodle soup: SOTO - Natick #2, the "T" was a WAG . . . [sigh] Friday
58. Novel: NEW
59. Patient care pros: RNs - Registered Nurses - another Thurs dupe
60. Quick study?: CRAM
61. Glowing coal: EMBER
63. Pageant topper: TIARA
69. Religion with a call to prayer five times a day: ISLAM
70. Let one's actions speak for themselves: MIMED - har-har
Here's unreleased behind-the-scenes footage of the "mime caterers" from Spinal Tap
71. Imperial gem of ancient China: JADE
72. Flings: CASTS
73. Kills it on the runway: SLAYS - ask RuPaul
74. Mars counterpart: ARES - Gods of War, Roman & Greek respectively
DOWN:
1. GPS heading: SSE - Dah~! Not RTE, but 1/3 correct
2. Go wild on the dance floor: TEAR IT UP - I pondered CUT A RUG, too short
3. Christina of "Burlesque": AGUILERA - not that I've seen this, but I put Christina and dance together, and . . . name #1
Cher, too~!
4. Talks and talks: GABS - Dah~! Not YAKS, 1/2 correct
5. "I Will Survive" singer Gaynor: GLORIA - I knew this one, name #2
. . . Frank~!
6. Catch: NET - Dah~! Not NAB, 1/3 correct
7. German cry: ACH - Hey, I got the Deutsch word 100% correct, go figure . . .
8. "__ were we?": WHERE - alliteration, like the world wide web
9. Ornamental lines: SERIFS - Ha. I tried "SHRUBS" - hey, it is 1/2 correct . . .
10. Go the wrong way?: BACKFIRE - I have been rewatching YouTube and Amazon clips of Top Gear and The Grand Tour
11. Gulf st.: ALA - Alabama abbr; I tried FLA, was 2/3 correct
12. Brush off: REBUFF
13. Tabbouleh grain: BULGUR - Ugh. The other half of Natick #1 - the "G" was a total WAG
14. Like some "Heated Rivalry" scenes: STEAMY - I didn't know of this Canadian TV series about bromance and hockey, more here - I had ST _ _ _ Y on my second pass
19. "What game are you watching!?" target: REF - Ah. Shouting at the TV during a bad hockey, NFL, soccer, etc., official's call
23. Raga instrument: SITAR
25. Baking soda amt.: tsp - Funny story - I was shopping for spice at my Big Y supermarket when an older guy in the aisle asked me what I was looking for; I said "bagel everything" seasoning; he said "Huh, I'm looking for "bagel salt" . . . so I offered him several choices I had found, and he walked off in disgust; then he came back and showed me what he really needed - baking soda . . . Ah. Guess I need to clean my ears 😜
27. Pride member: LION
Glam metal artist White Lion, When the Children Cry
great guitar solo @ 2:36
28. Quechua pack animal: LLAMA
29. Rubber gaskets: O-RINGS - the part that failed tragically on the Space Shuttle Challenger
31. Allow: PERMIT
36. Capital in Honshu's Kansai region: KYOTO - My first thought, hesitated; Geo name #3
39. Producers of road movies?: DASHCAMS - I have one, need to install it before I drive down to Long Island next week to house-, dog-, cat- and fish-sit for my brother and his wife on their one-year anniversary vacation. I'm hangin' with Cooper~!
40. Abalone eater: OTTER - I tried SEALS
41. To-do: FLAP - A bit if Brit slang, refers to a state of panic, agitated fuss, or noisy tumult
42. Backdrop of an animated series in a Lucasfilm franchise: CLONE WAR - the IMDb
43. Harsh negativity, in slang: HATERADE - A mockery of "Gatorade", and Natick #2, part 2
. . . only when I'm driving
47. Take the field?: MOW - I had to replace the flat 10x8 Four-ply tire on my tractor, which I could not get fixed at six locations - had to go back to the place that sold me the machine, and it cost $210 - I can get two tires with change replaced on my car for that money . . .
I cringe to think what a BACK tire goes for . . .
48. Like some heart valves: AORTIC - nailed it
49. Gymnast Lee who won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award in 2025: SUNISA - Ah. I knew it was Suni, I did NOT know it was SuniSA - her Wiki; - name #4
50. Natural rug fibers: SISALS - nailed it, number two - Monday dupe
51. Little jerks: SPASMS - nailed this, number three - it's not the pain-in-the-a$$ type of jerk . . . 🙄
53. Runs, in a way: BLEEDS - Missed this one on the first pass
56. Username, often: EMAIL
57. CPR expert: EMT
62. Cal. neighbor, informally: BAJA - I was thinking ARIZ~? OREG~?
64. "I smell a __!": "RAT~!"
66. Nashville honor, for short: CMA - Counrty Music Award
67. "Psst!": "HEY~!"
68. "You rang?": "YES~?"
Splynter
* Made my own chocolate this weekend - 1/2cup cocoa powder, 1/2cup coconut oil, which is all saturated fat - and all the calories, 2tsps organic honey, 1/2tsp vanilla extract and salt - so, so good, but I'm going to try and swap out half the oil with unsweetened applesauce to reduce the calories
I also use a similar silicone tray in my air-fryer to make breakfast "stacks"
I had the "up" words Z-D-L puzzle in January and RB handled his last crossword back at the start of May. Today our consistent constructor gives us a "redefinition" of what one's career might entail, but with a humorous twist (~?) - I have mixed feelings about this one; I found it Friday challenging, and therefore enjoyable, but as it's been said at The Corner in the past, the juice maybe not be worth the squeeze; YMMV. Another over-sized 15 x 16 grid, chunky 9-letter corners, several, and some obscure, names, twenty-two 3LWs, and ALOT of Twurds. The themers, followed by the centrally located reveal;
18. Photographer?: CHEESEMONGER - a one-word professional who selects, cares for, cuts and sells cheese; I linked a "How It's Made" episode on cheese making back in March
26. Police officer?: TICKET AGENT - I've never gotten a speeding ticket; I have, however, had two DUI arrests, one arrest & ticket for lapse of insurance, and two for operating a commercial vehicle in the HOV lane & illegally crossing the HOV buffer "line". Sheesh. This is what drinking cost me; once I stopped, so did the tickets - go figure . . .
I was never THAT drunk . . .
52. Carpenter?: FLOOR TRADER - in my carpentry work days of yore, I have done several ceramic tile floors, and a couple of Pergo ones - one could argue I "traded" the old linoleum for something better
Floor Cheese
63. Realtor?: STREET VENDOR - It's true, in a sense - David Cook, my Realtor here in CT, sold me a house while we were on the "street" I now call home . . .
The cheese on the street . . .
38. "That's someone else's problem," or an apt title for this puzzle - NOT MY JOB - As a retail manager in the home improvement industry, I heard employees say the reveal far too many times. For those who read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the clue is a different "thing" altogether . . .
But Wait - There's More Cheese~?
ACROSS:
1. Like some temples: MASONIC - Dah~! I wanted to fill this in, hesitated
8. Epiphany trio: MAGI - I do the Downs first, already had the "G" in place
12. Maker of Sticking Point press-on nails: OPI - Nailed it, but this is a crossword staple
15. Tennis period since 1968: OPEN ERA - my one mistake; I had openerS at first
16. Make smooth: IRON - ah, the verb - good one
17. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN - name #1, which I did actually know
20. Pester: IRK
21. Bandleader's command: HIT IT - It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses . . .
"Hit it."
22. Hosp. areas: ERs - Not ORs - that was yesterday
23. Dry Italian whites: SOAVES - filled via perps
Swah-vay
25. Object of adoration: IDOL - this one's protected by the Hovitos . . . if only you could speak Hovitos
31. Roasted entree that may be served with mint jelly: LEG OF LAMB - I knew this; once I had some crossings, the V-8 can flew
Leg of LamP
32. Kotero of "Purple Rain": APOLLONIA - I vaguely remember the movie, released in 1984 - before my HS days, and did not see - not a Prince fan back then - name #12, and a unique fill. The IMDb
nylons don't do well with those shoes
33. Letting off the hook: PARDONING - $2 word
34. SHO subsidiary: TMC - no clue, knew we needed a TV abbr - SHOwtime, The Movie Channel
35. __ contact: EYE - I am getting much better at this as I "mature"
39. Level: TIER
40. Fragrance: ODOR - IMHO, I don't think of a fragrance as an "odor"
41. Email covertly: BCC - Blind Carbon Copy
44. Collar named for an elite school: ETON - learned by doing crosswords
47. Erode: EAT INTO - Twurd #7
50. Active volcano in Eur.: Mt. ETNA - Iv'e had this "abbr full fill" once before
51. Warren who played Dick Tracy: BEATTY - knew it, still name #13
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