Yijing Chen - is back again; her last LA Times puzzle was the "no notes" musical theme back on Oct 16th that we either loved or hated. I loved that one, and today's construction, too - it might well be the epitome of a crossword, at least within the context of a themed, Friday-level one. A solid concept, four answers in a pinwheel, plus a grid-spanner, with each of the matching "?" clues beginning with "Go", but interpreted as "G and O" - the letters that start the matching two-word fills. A theme that even if solvers sussed out, only gives them two cells for "free". Plenty of deceptive and/or obscure clues, with almost no dreck for fill, a high Grid Flow, and four 9-letter Downs on top of the themers. My only 'nits' ( 58D. ) were the five additional "?" clues that were non-themers, used as a hint at punny answers, and of the mere four names ( one a themer ), one could have been clued differently; perhaps a change by the editor. The five themers, no reveal; 18. Go with the flow?: GIANTOTTER - This animal "weaseled" its way into the crossword . . . 🙄
38. Go wild?: GREATOUTDOORS - An 80's movie I did not see - Dan Aykroyd, John Candy
I went as Dan Aykroyd's Ghostbusters character Ray Stantz at the gym on Halloween
59. Go vegan?: GREENONION - A.K.A. 'scallions', I liked the fact that "Go Green" was not used for any of the clues. I chop up and add the whole bunch when I make my Kung Pao Chinese chicken dish. Here's the musical version
Booker T & the M.G.s
3. Go blond?: GOLDENOREO - I liked the cute clue for this version of our beloved crossword cookie
31. Go figure?: GARYOLDMAN - One of my favorite actors, I am fascinated how his appearance and demeanor changes drastically from role to role, with hardly any makeup; here he is in the Fifth Element as Zorg, then Sirius Black from the Harry Potter movies, and again as commissioner Gordon from one of the Batman triologies - name #1
But Wait - Go On - There's More~!
ACROSS:
1. Wilts: SAGS
5. Lacking the knack: INEPT
10. Each, informally: APOP - OK, twurd(ish)
14. Monkey's fist, for one: KNOT - solid Friday obsure, if you're not into sailing - or crafts . . .
15. James of "North by Northwest": MASON - second of only four names today; didn't have to be one - he was the actor originally cast as "Drax" for the 007 movie "Moonraker"; here's more from YouTube . . .
Fact #9 @ 8:12
16. At its prime, in a way: RIPE - this is true, of fruit - B.O., not so much - see 56 Down
17. Online chat status: IDLE
20. Reduce the importance of: DEVALUE
22. Osso buco cut: SHANK
23. Early tourney rounds: PRELIMS - tournament & preliminaries both abbrs
25. Storage tower: SILO
27. German article: EIN - "a"
28. Clothes line: SEAM - We've seen this misdirection before
30. Herding breed that originated in Wales: CORGI - proper noun, not quite a 'name'
33. Sponsor, as a stretch of highway: ADOPT - Here's a link to the history, and how it works
I believe this is on a stretch of I-84
35. Exceed 21 at a casino, say: LOSE - Dah~! Not BUST
37. Legged it: RAN - my thanks to the constructor fo teeing this one up for me . . .
A leg, a run, a tragedy
41. Shrill cry: "EEK~!"
42. Part of AM: ANTE - Latin, ante meridian, before ( meri dies ) mid-day
43. Make quickly, as eggs: FRYUP - Also learned this is what Brits call a full breakfast
47. One, for two: HALF - another vague, yet great clue for Friday
49. It's mined, all mined!: ORE - Great new way to clue this old fill
"Mining" Nemo
50. Noun suffix: NESS - I read this as the suffix one puts on a noun - e.g. SOFT is an adjective - softness, however, is the noun . . . one can't put "ness" on a noun; I have never enjoyed the "deskness" of my office . . . 😜
52. Handout to a passerby: LEAFLET
54. Tempo slower than adagio: LARGO
57. Gulped down: INHALED - had this clue/answer two weeks ago
61. "Could not agree more": "AMEN~!" - two weeks in a row for Friday
67. Point of view: TAKE - as in, "what's your - - - on things~?"
68. Optional stair part: RISER - the vertical part between treads if they're NOT optional by code
Vertiginous
69. With 23-Down, stir-fry vegetable: SNOW - AND - 23. See 69-Across: PEA
. . . OR . . .
DOWN:
1. Compete in the super-G, e.g.: SKI - I start with the Down clues to give me some crossings at the themers, which was only 3/5ths effective today; I did not know what 'sport' this clue referred to
2. "Is there more to this story?": "AND . . .?"
4. __ wool: STEEL - Dah~! I shoulda known this one . . . 😖
5. "Sign me up!": "I'MGAME~!"
6. Paperless filing center?: NAILSALON - "?" clue #2, very clever, and the first of four 9-letter Down fills; the place one can go to get your fingernails filed, trimmed, painted, etc.
7. Genesis sibling: ESAU - Dah~! I went with ABEL; CAIN, SETH, and even LEVI fit; name #3
8. Southern cornmeal cakes: PONES - A bit Meh in the plural
9. Letters on red Minecraft blocks: TNT
10. Hybrid subgenre for Ari Aster and Jordan Peele: ARTHORROR - Down 9 #2, I have not heard of this type of film-making, and I only recognized ONE movie from this IMDb list; name(ish)
11. Kebab bread: PITA - Dah~! I filled in NAAN to start
12. Kick off: OPEN
13. Added benefit: PERK - I tried PLUS; 25% correct
19. Scandinavian city served by Gardermoen Airport: OSLO - Four letter yada yada Scandinavia~?
21. Far-reaching outlook: VISTA
24. Like Ruffles: RIDGED
26. Sugar-coated, in a way: ICED - another great clue, talking birthday cake, e.g.
29. Cave entrance: MOUTH - I pondered our more obscure crosswordese "ADIT"
32. Create a policy for: INSURE - spot on, but took me a while
34. Toy breed that originated in China: PEKINGESE - Down 9 #3
36. Touch base in an unusual way?: STEALHOME - "?" #3, and Down 9 #4 - baseball, but it's a bit 'meh' as home is a 'plate', not a base . . .
39. License plates: TAGS - I see this in books and hear it in movies, but most of the people I am acquainted with on the East coast do not call them "tags" - it's just "the plates". Perhaps due to my time in New York where the registration is a sticker in the lower corner of the windshield, not on a corner of the plate
40. Ingredient used by nose-to-tail chefs: OFFAL - Another learning moment; I never realized that "offal" is the word/term/definition of the edible organs of an animal. More about the cuisine - also British - here in an LA Times article
44. Caress: PET - I put in PAT
46. Inert gas: NEON - second in the Noble gases class
48. More economical: LEANER - CHEAPER didn't fit, but I left in the "E R" and waited on perps
51. Red Sea peninsula: SINAI - More Bible, Geo name #4
53. Psychoanalysis topics: FEARS - nailed it - not the fingernail kind of hammering fear, either . . . 🙄
54. Pride Month letters: LGBT
55. Side by side?: AREA - a very clever, but fourth "?" non-theme clue
56. Raise a big stink?: REEK - our last, "?" clue #5
58. Minor complaints: NITS - see above
60. Poetic contraction: O'ER - in just a couple of weeks, we will be o'er the fields jingling bells . . .
62. I, to Claudius: EGO - Dah~! I went with "ONE", for the Roman numeral
63. Still in the box: NEW - "in mint condition" - I have these two original Star Wars toys, but they're pretty banged up, as I played with them when I was a kid . . .
We have a Halloween-themed puzzle a day early; I was unaware that we would have a similar theme yesterday, as I wrote today's blog earlier in the week, but solve the rest of the week's puzzles as they come out . . . The LA Times editor, Patti Varol, is back again with a crossword that takes common in-language phrases and gives them a trick-or-treat-ment . . . 🙄 Five themers, including a grid-spanner, totalling 61 squares, that become "creepy" puns in a timely fashion. A solid Friday construction, maybe more names than I would care for, but I did some historical research, and found even our host & crossword master C.C. has "bemoaned" them - on Halloween, no less. Huh. Standard grid, no circles, no outliers, a Twurd, and thirteen names - we have a Friday the 13th coming in November. The themers, no reveal;
17. Suggestion at the start of a Halloween decoration workshop?: MAKE-A-WITCH - Make-A-Wish; I don't have a tree in my front yard, or I'd put one of these up . . .
23. Expectation during a Halloween concert?: RHYTHMANDBOOS - Rhythm & Blues
Atlanta Rhythm Section - "Spooky" - but they weren't the original band
Bminor, same key as Hotel Cali- . . .
36. Apparition who only appears on Halloween in the Golden State?: CALIFORNIAGHOST - I had ghoul first - as in California girl, but no, it's the California Coast, which I see is currently threatened
Ghost, "Faith" 🠟
49. Got separated from a spooky friend at a Halloween party?: LOSTONE'SGHOUL - Lost One's Cool - the "nameless Ghouls" are the members of the Swedish rock band Ghost, behind "Papa Emeritus V". Now for a song about that vampire from Transylvania . . . not the Muppet, the other one
Nosferatu, off "Spectres", from Blue Öyster Cult
59. "My Halloween monster costume is so disappointing!"?: IDON'TSCARE - "I. Don't. Care."
"We're Ready to Believe You"
Buuuuuut Waaaaaait There's Mooooooan~!
ACROSS:
1. Oodles: ALOT - A Twurd to start us off
5. Mattress material: FOAM - I do the Downs first, had perps
9. Tablet downloads: APPs
13. Kidney-related: RENAL - my dad had a kidney transplant, so I heard this word ALOT growing up
15. Red inside, maybe: RARE
16. Victory lap speed: TROT
19. Depend (on): RELY
20. Sugar suffix: OSE - fructose, sucralose ( OK, that's fake sugar ), etc.
21. Shoreline shaper: TIDE - The King Tide is the threat to the west coast
22. Yaz's team from 1961 to 1983: BOSOX - abbr for abbr - Carl Yastrzemski, played for the Boston Red Sox - not a baseball fan, but I knew this name, #1
27. Athletic honor: ESPY - The award given out by ESPN, the sports network; I see our favorite crossword WNBA player made the list . . .
28. Horn of Africa nation: ERITREA - Geo name #2
31. Omnia vincit __: AMOR - Latin, "love conquers all"
34. "Right on!": "AMEN~!"
These Halloween tights are right on
35. Dragon boat steerer: OAR - Chinese "ship", but when I punched "Dragon Boat" into Google, I get more Chinese restaurants than rowers; more here
11. See 24-Down: POLO - AND - 24. With 11-Down, "The Fosters" actress: TERI name #s 6 & 7
12. River that made Achilles (mostly) invincible: STYX - dipped all but his "heel", hence the "weak" term
14. Plastered strips: LATHS - Meh in the plural
18. Fraidy-cat: WIMP - fitting clue/answer
22. Sound of spring?: <<BOING>> - Har-har
25. Lovato with the 2025 album "It's Not That Deep": DEMI - name #8; her website
26. City near Anaheim: BREA - west coast, again - I get it - it's the LA Times . . . 😑Geo name #9
29. Smooth sailing: EASE - Dah~! I tried CALM
30. Newspaper section: ARTS - not op-ed
31. Checkbook no.: ACCT
32. Home of Kahului Airport: MAUI - sounded Hawaiian, tried OAHU to start - Geo name #10
33. Tex-Mex brand: OLDELPASO - I usually buy their flat-bottom taco shells
34. Echidna snack: ANT - learning moment; did not think of Echidna as an animal, but a place . . . turns out it's another Greek mythology figure, and the mother of Cerberus, for one
37. "F" on a test: FALSE - Five letters, therefore, not "FAIL"
38. Notice in passing?: OBITuary - Standard crossword humor
39. Credit report blot: REPO - A repossession, typically of a vehicle - I own my two cars
40. Leftovers dish: HASH - I toyed with STEW but waited on perps
45. "The Favourite" Oscar winner Olivia: COLMAN - looks like it might be a funny movie; name #11
46. Seed: KERNEL - corn - candy corn
47. Skeptical reply: "ISIT~?"
48. Showing shock: AGASP - Dah~! Not AGAPE
The Scream
50. With 51-Down, 2019 and 2021 Australian Open winner: NAOMI - AND -
51. See 50-Down: OSAKA - tennis, a Corner shout-out, and name #12
52. General Assembly fig.: UNREP - United Nations representative - the list, here
54. __ mater: ALMA
55. Bellyache: MOAN - Bark at the Moan . . .
OZZY~!!!
59. Travel stop: INN - How about a stop at "The Stanley Hotel"~? it's the one from The Shining
60. Generic surname: DOE - lucky #13, didn't hafta be one . . .
61. Horologist's piece: COG - I was thinking astrology, but this is a watchmaker
This is Winston's LA Times puzzle #15, and the first one I've had to blog - Chairman Moe had ths last one, here, back in April 2024. This one kinda fizzled on me; even owning up to a single cell mistake, I found the construction & theme to be bland - in fact, 30D. is not even a unique crossword answer. The rest of the fill contained little to make me go "RAH~!"; YMMV, but again, I think the editor is more to blame on this one - and not the first time I felt that way this week. Standard grid, no circles, no outlier letters, far too many proper nouns ( names ) & "foreign"clues, and the same count of 3LW to 5LWs. The Across themers and Down reveal:
18. Gospel music?: PRAISEBEAT - "Praise Be" being the base phrase; the addition of the "A T" does not really result in a 'punny' or 'alternate' themer, IMHO
46. Brag obnoxiously after winning a swabbing contest?: MOPANDGLOAT - Mop & Glo, the floor cleaning product
That'll work . . .
59. Generous Volkswagen promotion?: FREEPASSAT - Free Pass - I have a "free" VW Jetta in my backyard if you'll give me $1500 to get rid of it . . . 😜
48. "Finally!," or what can be found in 18-, 30-, 46-, and 59-Across: ATLAST - The theme answers all end with the additional letters A & T, or "at, last". I see Mr. Emmons was able to slide "ETTA" into the grid as well "@" 31D.
But@ Wait@ There's@ More@~!
ACROSS:
1. "Ring out the thousand __ of old": Tennyson: WARS - no clue, tough way to start a puzzle - the poem
5. Hat holders: PEGS
9. Figure in a Faustian bargain: SATAN - A.K.A. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles
14. Name on a former lake in Central Asia: ARAL - Geo name #1, even if it's a crossword staple
15. Sandwich title: EARL - the Earl of Sandwich, credited with the "invention" of the meat-between-bread fare that now bears his name . . . and name(ish)
26. High cloud: CIRRUS - made my "TRES" at 28D. wrong
34. Fiver: ABE - seen this before in crosswords; money, not moniker, but still, name (ish)
Hey, that's not Abe . . .
35. Uncomfortably honest: TOOREAL
36. Pulitzer winner James: AGEE - Popular in crosswords, still name #3
37. African language family: BANTU - "foreign" fill, first of many . . .
40. __ Atleos: big name in ATMs: NCR - Dah~! Didn't get my "ta-DA~!", could not find my mistake - I had ECR, yet I am familiar with this company, as they made cash registers, initially - in fact that's what "N C R" stands for - National Cash Register - the history
41. Oscar, but not Big Bird: AWARD - two Muppets, one trophy - very clever clue / answer
42. Vicinity: AREA
43. Tenor Pavarotti: LUCIANO - Italian, name #4
45. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA
50. Gymnast Olga with four Olympic gold medals: KORBUT - Belarusian, name #5
52. 128 oz.: GALLon
53. Colorado Plateau Native: UTE - Indigenous, name (ish)
54. Model/actress Kate: UPTON - American Michigander, name #6
8. Buttonhole, e.g.: SLIT - SLAT & SLIT in the same grid
9. Veto on movie night: "SEENIT."
10. Cautionary color: AMBER
11. Spot for a metti: TOE - South Asian Indian, learning moment - the Wiki
12. Two-time WNBA Finals MVP Wilson: A'JA - name #7, coulda been clued as a Steely Dan album
13. Picky criticism: NIT - I had a fair number of name "nits" in this grid today
19. Golden St. region: SoCal - Southern California - I am East coast, so this did not come readily to mind, but this song did after it filled in - I'd heard it growing up, but would've never guessed the artist
Albert Hammond
21. "Silly goose!": "OHYOU~!" - Oh, Twurd~!
25. Distraught: TORNUP - Dah~! I simply did not see the option of the past tense version of this phrase, and I blanked on the crossing ECR not being correct - I'll take the one-cell hit on this one . . .
27. Sitar piece: RAGA - Asian Indian - You don't want to go raga . . .
28. Very, informally: ÜBER - German - Dah~! I tried TRES
29. Pomegranate bit: SEED
31. "__ Is Betta Than Evvah!": 1976 album: ETTA - an Easter Egg. Etta James, crossword staple, and the singer associated with the muscial number that my future ex-wife chose for our wedding herself. It's certainly a "numb-er" for me - thus, I am not a fan of the "theme"; I wanted "Leather & Lace" which was 'dismissed', but my brother snuck it in during his best man speech. Name #8
32. Home of the Kaaba: MECCA - Arabic, Kaaba = 'cube', geo name #9
33. Revealing to all: BARING
36. Missing GI: AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave
37. Flavorful part of a cinnamon tree: BARK
38. View from the Uffizi: ARNO - No clue this was an art gallery; Italian again, geo name #10
The Circle of FIFTHS - A minor = C major: C = "B#" - get it~?
This is Yijing Chen's fifth LA Times puzzle - I blogged her debut puzzle here, and today's offering may have led some Cornerites to a Circle of FITs, or even the fifth circle of hell - see 51A. I however, loved this puzzle - I enjoy the extra challenge of trying to figure out the hidden, underlying meaning of a crossword's theme. It took me about 8mins over my usual Friday time to finally figure out just the SW corner alone. Once I caught on to the reveal "NOTES" being the musical Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti vocalizations, it was enough to figure out that the theme answers were completely undefinable from the clues themselves - 45A being the most obscure & difficult to parse; I'm not even sure I am 100% correct, but there is no "sourson" word - the closest I could find was soursop - this fruit. The solution is to take out the duplicate "notes", ( which had to be doubled to match the plural reveal ) and Bob's your uncle. I am sure this construction is going to cause a fair amount of grumbling, but it's Friday, and it does have a theme, albeit a very cryptic one. An over-sized 15 x 16 grid, no outlier letters, several names, no Twurds, sixteen 3LWs, and no circles, but perhaps "*" on the themers would have helped, as they coincided with other same-length fills:
17. Female sib: DOSIDOS - SISter, abbr in the clue, abbr in the answer, no relation to the actual fill of do-si-do, the dance step ( and now I see, a strain of marijuana, plus the Girl Scout cookie ); the same non-relation goes for all of the themers . . .
18. Cozy eatery: CAREFREE - CAFE, not the 'care-free' attitude, e.g.
23. Man of La Mancha: SEMIMINOR - SEÑOR, Español for "man" in the Spanish city - which we also learned from last week's clue/answer "Dulcinea" fiasco; filled mostly via perps, and I did not know what the definition of "Semi Minor" was;
38. The complete set: ALFALFA - ALL - strangely, a sorta dupe from yesterday . . .
45. Big flowerpot: SOURSON - URN - "loses interest in"; almost impossible to fill in without understanding the theme
57. Extemporizes: LAVALAMPS - VAMPS - the "musical improvisation" definition. The green one in my office -
67. Low-level laborer: PETITION - PEON, my first thought, but was obviously too short for the eight-letter fill in the grid
69. "Perfect!," or how to make seven answers in this puzzle match their clues?: NONOTES - D'Oh~! A deer, a female deer - if you were able to "Be Sharp" and remove the doubled Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do pairings ( and I know it's usually referred to as "SOL" ) from the answers, what you're left with are explanations for the clues 😁
ACROSS:
1. Barnyard call: MAA - cows go "moo", sheep go "baa", so this must be goats
4. A pop: PER
7. Compels: FORCES
13. Like some pickup-only deals: IN-STORE
15. Prehistoric hand tool: STONEAXE - A uniquie fill
20. Second singer to be honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: SINATRA - and the first singer was~? Answer at the end, name #2
22. Some laptops: PCs
25. Ernie's "Sing After Me" duet partner: ELMO - Good guess on my part; not BERT - name #3
28. Monument Valley formation: MESA
30. Winter layer: COAT - I was not fooled, didn't go with SNOW, RIME or HOAR
33. __ Nation: Jay-Z's conglomerate: ROC - name (ish)
36. Novelist Quindlen: ANNA - No clue, more here, name #4
40. Approximately: ABOUT
42. Many a K-pop singer: IDOL
44. Starting lineup: A-TEAM
47. Gaelic speaker: CELT
49. Cornerback Bly in the College Football Hall of Fame: DRÉ - No clue, name #5
50. Was gripping?: HELD - Har-har
51. Breathe fire, say: RAGE - the sin of the Fifth Circle of Hell
53. Inhale, maybe: EAT - slang for eating fast
55. Couple: DUAD - Not being DUET caused all sorts of grief
62. "Thrilla in Manila" boxer: ALI - Crossword staple, name #6
64. Approached bedtime: LATENED - "got late"
66. Wife of Zeus: HERA - name #7
71. Peppers in some mole sauces: POBLANOS - oof. I didn't know the name of this pepper, and it's a unique fill, so new to any crossword - more here
72. Writer/illustrator who often wrote in anapestic tetrameter: Dr. SEUSS - the rhyming 'pace', depicted as da - da - DUM. My blogs are written in all-a-puzzle octalmeter . . . name #8
73. Villainous looks: SNEERS - This fish, my S-i-L calls "Vegas", hovered in the corner of the tank and stared at me the whole time I was down on Long Island . . .
I'm watchin' you . . . Creepy
74. With 27-Across, big name in watercraft: SEA - AND - 27A. See 74-Across: DOO. Their website
75. Therapist's maj.: PSYchology
DOWN:
1. King with a touching story?: MIDAS - the golden touch of mythology - my first thought was ELVIS😜, #9
2. Battery part: ANODE
3. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - Dah~! Not PEKOE
4. Pea sheller's discard: POD
5. Canyon former: EROSION
6. Amber, once: RESIN
7. "Seriously?": "FORREAL~?" - Rhymes with . . .
8. "Gorilla Warfare" artist Shaquille: O'NEAL - Name #10, but that's who I figured - not too many people named Shaquille - and his "art"
9. NWSL official: REF - abbr for the National Womens' Soccer League; I ventured a guess at something something Sports League . . . enough to take a WAG
10. Didn't ride solo: CARPOOLED
11. Corp. bigwig: EXECutive
12. Goes out with: SEES - Crossword friendly "E"s and "S"s on the edge
14. Retiring: TIMID - Dah~! Not IN BED, but an obscure definition
15. Shake: SCARE - Friday. Vague.
16. Ink spot, for short: TATtoo - so many ladies at the gym with ink art, but I just don't care for it; to me, it's like graffiti on the Venus De Milo
Yecht - looks "dirty"
21. Digital __: remote tech worker: NOMAD - I have not heard this phrase, but sounds like a great way to work in the 21st century
24. Deep defenses: MOATS - two weeks in a row on Friday
Caerlaverock castle, Scotland
26. MD-to-be's exam: MCAT - Medical College Admission Test
29. Clearance event: SALE
31. Not nearby: AFAR
32. No longer feral: TAME - this guy only gets feral when the FedEx guy pulls up . . .
Told you he was a licker . . .
33. Impetuous: RASH - I went with RUDE, only 25% correct
34. Clarinet kin: OBOE - about the only 'gimme' in the SW
35. "Do my eyes deceive me?": "COULDITBE~?" - Solid, but tough to suss in the Down position, and no crossings to work with either
37. Totenberg of NPR: NINA - I don't listen, more here. Name #11
39. Like some flaws: FATAL
41. Linguistic cousin of Hindi: URDU
43. One of a geographic quintet: OCEAN - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic & Arctic
46. Formally decrees: ORDAINS - that's the word I could not think of; I was stuck on ORATES
48. Galena, e.g.: LEADORE - I knew this, but for some reason, put in IRON - that's these ores
52. Bonny landscapes: GLENS
Aye, she's a bonny lass
54. Sierra Nevada lake: TAHOE - Geo name #12
56. Match point?: ALTAR - And I thought I was being clever with "FLAME" = tip, but this is the wedded bliss kind of point - the "location"
58. Sells: VENDS
59. Came together: METUP
60. Olive oil maker: PRESS
61. Flip: SASSY - flip, the adjective, not the verb
62. Intro courses?: APPS - Ah. The restaurant menu appetizers, that is
63. Swimmer Marchand who won four gold medals at Paris 2024: LEON - oof. Friday. Frawnche. Name #13
65. "__ true!": TOO - I had "TIS" to start
68. __-de-France: Paris's region: ILE - Frawnche #2 - guessed it, put it in, took it out, put it right back in, and I shaked it all about . . . 🙄
Happy Birthday to our dear Dave (CrossEyedDave)! He's always there when I need a helping hand with the blog, and he never misses a chance to celebrate our regulars with his wonderful birthday cake pictures. Thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness, and all the smiles you bring to our little crossword family. We're so lucky to have you in our corner, Dave!
