Wednesday November 20, 2013 Victor Barocas

Theme: BACK BUTTON (66A. Browser feature, or what the ends of 17-, 31-, 38- or 50-Across can have) - "Button" can follow the last word of each 2-word theme entry.

7A. Series of "Got milk?" spots, e.g. : AD CAMPAIGN. Campaign button. Some of the rusty looking old JFK buttons at the flea markets are repros.

31A. Snowballing financial crisis : BANK PANIC. Panic button.

38A. It's used to break a habit : WILLPOWER. The only one-word theme answer. Power button.

50A. American bacon source : PORK BELLY. Belly button.

C.C. here, pitch-hitting for Jazzbumpa, who still has no power due to the big storm last weekend. He said "no home phone, TV, or internet... It's taking me back to me early 'ute - the 40's."

Beautiful grid from Victor. Normal word count, but only 34 black squares. Solid 7's in all four corners.  This type of design is often the result of a 9-letter theme entry in the middle row 8 & an adventurous spirit from the constructor, as it's easier to break one edge into two 3's.

I met Victor a few times. He's extremely talented. Very unassuming.

Left to Right: George,  Victor,  Andrea, C.C. & DK

Across:

1. Food at a bar : SALAD

6. 54-Across vaccine developer : SALK (Jonas). And 54A. See 6-Across : POLIO. He chose not to patent his vaccine, while Oprah tried to patent her "Aha moment"!

10. "My stars!" : EGAD

14. Run off, in a way : ELOPE. 29. Ran off with : STOLE. Quite a few clue echos & cross references in this grid.

15. Help in solving : CLUE

16. Age-old stories : LORE

19. Suffragist Lucretia : MOTT. I must have googled her before. I recognize this face.

20. Emmy-winning Arthur : BEA

21. "__ Gang" : OUR

22. Tolstoy work subtitled "The Story of a Horse" : STRIDER. Never heard of it.

24. Queen's subjects : ANTS. Queen ants. I only know Queen bees.

26. Dismissive cry : BAH. My feeling when I clicked on that talk from Jayce's mean boss.

28. Kitchen attraction : AROMA

34. Mexican cover-up : SERAPE. SARAPE is a var.

36. JFK Library architect I.M. : PEI. He was born in Guangzhou.

37. Connecticut hrs. : EST

42. That girl : SHE

45. Garden pond fish : KOI

46. Weather map line : ISOBAR

55. Whirlpool subsidiary : AMANA

56. Sweet tuber : YAM. I just call it sweet potato.

58. MacDonald's home : FARM

59. Ristorante dish : RISOTTO. And 2D. Ristorante request : AL DENTE. 

 

62. Apprehend : NAB

64. Place for some me-time : SPA

65. Make a muffler, perhaps : KNIT

69. Clothing fluff : LINT

70. Actress Elisabeth : SHUE. I only notice now that her name is not Elizabeth.

71. French sweetie : CHERI. Mon chéri/ma chérie.

72. Tense : EDGY

73. Undiluted : PURE

74. Company with "counting sheep" ads : SERTA

Down:

1. Popular food fish : SEA BASS

3. The "L" in URL : LOCATOR. URL= Uniform Resource Locator.

4. Org. for shrinks : APA

5. Showroom model : DEMO

6. Sacred beetle : SCARAB

7. Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da __ G Show" : ALI.  Ali G, Borat & Brüno are 3 of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters.

8. Galoots : LUGS

9. Reporter known for ducking into phone booths : KENT (Clark)

10. New York city near the Pennsylvania border : ELMIRA. I can never remember this name. What's it famous for again?

11. "Well played!" : GOOD ONE!

12. Sister of Apollo : ARTEMIS. Twins.

13. Take away (from) : DETRACT

18. Watering hole : PUB

23. See 68-Down : RAP. And 68. With 23-Down, what an accused thug may beat : THE

25. Fries alternative : SLAW

27. Antepenultimate fairy tale word : HAPPILY.  Antepenultimate is quite a mouthful. Third to last

30. Prefix with center : EPI

32. Not paleo- : NEO

33. New Zealander : KIWI

35. Actress Sommer : ELKE. Learned her name from doing xwords. Very pretty.

39. Typed chuckle : LOL

40. Seer's claim : ESP

41. Sleigh's parking spot : ROOF. Hi there Santa!

42. Vivacity : SPARKLE. Marti! So full of life and love.

43. Neanderthal, for one : HOMINID

44. Frequent schoolroom activity : ERASING

47. Weapon for Han Solo : BLASTER

48. Touchdown site : AIRPORT. Nice clue.

49. Bucharest's country : ROMANIA

51. Difficult : KNOTTY

52. Club on the diamond : BAT. And YANKEE (53. Mariano Rivera, e.g.). He's not going to save the Yankees any more.

57. Fairy queen of English legend : MAB

60. 1/16 of a cup: Abbr. : TBSP

61. Site of the Ko'olau range : OAHU. Easy guess.

63. Tampa NFLers : BUCs

67. Lowlife : CUR

Informal survey: Do you have an Old Country Buffet in your area? Do you like the place?

C.C.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Victor Barocas

Theme: Sultans of Swing

17A Legend with an ax: PAUL BUNYAN. I had JOHN at first (confusing my ax-men and my medieval preachers) and obviously this meant the NW corner took a little longer than it should.

23A Legend with a clarinet: BENNY GOODMAN.  The "King of Swing"

36A Legend with a vine: TARZAN OF THE APES: Burrough's tale first appeared in All-Story Magazine in 1912 before being published two years later in book form.

46A Legend with a bat: MICKEY MANTLE. Yankees Hall of Fame center fielder.

57A Legend with a bathrobe: HUGH HEFNER. I'll spare you the visual.

and the hint

65A Important word for 17-, 23-, 36-, 46- and 57-Across: SWING

Happy Wednesday everyone! Steve here with a really nice construction job from Victor Barocas. Five long theme entries, one a grid-spanner and an additional hint with the final Across entry. Some smooth fill tying together those theme entries. A really good job!

(Bonus points if you can name the British rock band associated with the theme title).

Let's look at the rest:

Across:

1 Saw point: TOOTH. Nice play on words in the clue here.

6 Etching fluid: ACID

10 Touches affectionately: PATS

14 Prenatal exam, for short: AMNIO. Amniocentesis, for long.

15 Body part that smells: NOSE. All kinds of possibilities here, but thankfully not one of the "ewww" ones.

16 Jump in a skater’s short program: AXEL. Could it not be a jump in the long program too?

19 Actress Hayworth: RITA

20 Dinner pair?: ENS

21 Like cough syrup: ORAL

22 Indigenous New Zealander: MAORI. You most definitely do not want to mess with these guys.

26 Alcove: RECESS

29 Not at all well-done: RARE. Food! In "how do you like it cooked" terms, there's one more "rarer" designation which the French call "bleu". The meat is briefly seared on each side and that's it.

30 “Let’s Get __”: Marvin Gaye hit: IT ON

31 Udder parts: TEATS.

33 Jamaican genre: SKA. This musical style boomed in the UK in the late 70's. Check out the aptly-named Madness in this goofy music video.

40 Animal on Michigan’s state flag: ELK

41 Coffee shop cupful: LATTE

42 Fishing tool: LURE

43 “Your Majesty”: SIRE

44 It includes a bit of France: IBERIA. A very petit peu indeed - French Cerdagne comprises 210 square miles out of Iberia's total of more than a quarter-million.

51 Betting every last chip: ALL-IN 

52 Hat-borne parasites: LICE. That's why you never buy a hat at a yard sale. Eeew. They're pretty horrific magnified, so I'll spare you that.

53 Toward the rudder: AFT

56 Charlatan, e.g.: LIAR

60 Sour: TART

61 Actor Morales: ESAI. I have a mental block with this actor - I always have to get it through the crosses.

62 Dutch pianist Egon who taught Victor Borge: PETRI. Talented chap, didn't he invent the dish for growing gross things in the biology lab?

63 Lime beverages: ADES

64 Holiday song: NOEL

Down:

1 Packer’s need: TAPE. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers might think they need a wide receiver and a running back more than tape. Oh! Mover's tape! Forget what I just said.

2 Arab League member: OMAN

3 Burden: ONUS

4 Up to, briefly: 'TIL. Briefly, and poetically.

5 Bindle carriers: HOBOES

6 Former U.N. chief: ANNAN. Thank you, crosses.

7 How some flirt: COYLY.

8 Life-cabaret link: IS A. Liza Minnelli singing this classic in the movie

9 Place to relax: DEN. Not if it's a lion's den it's not.

10 Where to see floats: PARADE

11 Self-evident truth: AXIOM

12 Flashy tank swimmer: TETRA. Looks more like a neon "eat me" sign to any self-respecting predator.

13 Like many characters in Shakespeare’s dramas: SLAIN

18 Catering hall dispensers: URNS

22 Dashing inventor?: MORSE. I loved this - great clue.

23 1885 Motorwagen maker: BENZ. Note the German reference in the clue.

24 Reduce to small pieces: GRATE. I had GR so needed to wait for crosses to determine GRATE/GRIND

25 Inauguration Day pledge: OATH. The other type of oath is when the President-elect drops the Bible on his toe.

26 Customary observance: RITE

27 Reference list abbr.: ET AL. This is interesting in that the unabbreviated form can be one of three different ones depending on the gender of the items in the list: Et alii for masculine, Et aliae for feminine and Et alia for neuter. Those languages with noun genders really do cause lots of trouble (especially for 11-year old schoolboys like me learning Latin).

28 Bulletin board material: CORK

31 Icon on a pole: TOTEM

32 Immature newt: EFT. I never remember this one either. They are cute-looking though.

33 Goad: SPUR

34 “Felicity” star Russell: KERI

35 Like the Flying Dutchman: ASEA. Because "Ghost ship doomed to sail the seven seas for all eternity" doesn't fit.

37 “In space no one can hear you scream” film: ALIEN. If you magnify one of our head-scratching friends from 52A you get something pretty similar to this chap.

38 Not, quaintly: NARY. I've used this to mean "not even"; I didn't realize it actually meant "not".

39 On the safer side: ALEE. A sailboat should pass a sizeable object (like an island, a reef, a much bigger boat) on the lee side - there's no risk of being blown onto the danger.

43 Bypasses: SKIRTS

44 Chickenpox symptom: ITCH

45 Expletive replacements: BLEEPS. Tom Hanks sidestepped the bleep machine recently on Good Morning America and woke up the audience with a F-bomb. Ooops.

46 Sicily neighbor: MALTA

47 Epic that ends with Hector’s funeral: ILIAD. Homer's 8th Century BC Trojan War bestseller. Scribes managed to turn out three copies a year or something close to that.

48 County on the River Shannon: CLARE. Ireland's longest river reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Carrigaholt in Co. Clare.

49 Pond plants: ALGAE

50 Zero, to Nero: NIHIL

53 Prefix with war or hero: ANTI-. I'm not sure I've ever heard the term "anti-hero" before. Now I have.

54 Forest floor flora: FERN

55 High school math class: TRIG. Trigonometry for Farmers: Swine and Coswine.

57 Feathery layer: HEN. Lay-er. Another nice clue - had me head-scratching (no, not 52A!) for a moment. We had the plural in yesterday's puzzle.

58 Club for GIs: U.S.O. United Service Organizations. A non-profit, not a government agency.

59 “... but __ are chosen”: FEW. Or a bad day at the ice-cream cake factory - "Many are cold, but few are frozen"

I think I'd better call it a day after that! Have a great one!

Steve

Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Victor Barocas

Theme: Pop Art - Three series of paintings by a leading figure in the visual art movement.

17A. "A revolution is not a dinner party" leader : MAO TSE TUNG. A series of prints based on a photograph. He used the same technique for Marilyn.

28A. It's "M'm! M'm! Good!" : CAMPBELL'S SOUP

46A. Actress born Norma Jeane Mortenson : MARILYN MONROE

60A. Artist born 8/6/1928 who painted 17-, 28- and 46-Across : ANDY WARHOL

Argyle here. Rather straightforward puzzle for this eccentric artist. There were a few unexpected nuggets, however.

Across:

1. Snack in a shell : TACO

5. Walked the floor : PACED

10. "Survivor" host Probst : JEFF

14. Attending a Lakers home game, briefly : IN LA

15. Indian coin : RUPEE

16. __-friendly : USER

19. Mama's guy, to baby : "DADA"

20. Bird Down Under : EMU

21. Philosopher __-tzu : LAO

22. Month named for an emperor : AUGUST. Sheesh, I keep reading it as Moth.

24. Word in "The Shining" with two mirror-image letters : [REDRUM]. Scary movie.

26. Get the whole family together : REUNE. Back formation from reunion I supose. Found chiefly in NYT puzzles.

33. Out of control : AMOK

35. Granny Smith, e.g. : APPLE

36. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA. The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.

37. Strips (of), as property : DIVESTS

40. Made bubbly : AERATED

42. Big diamond : ACE

43. Spring Zodiac sign : ARIES

45. "__ the night ..." : 'TWAS

50. Sunday dinner entrée : ROAST

51. Leaking slowly : OOZING

54. Football field shape : OBLONG. Stretched out square... or circle. I was thinking it may have meant the football itself.

57. Last year's jrs. : SRs

58. Icky stuff : GOO

59. Educator with an elite list : DEAN

64. "Whip It" rockers : DEVO. If you need a reminder. LINK(2:39)

65. Youngest of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA. (not on my reading list)

66. Road curve : BEND

67. Hand measurement : SPAN

68. Skater Kerrigan : NANCY. She was the one clubbed on her knee in January 1994.

69. Hunch, say : IDEA

Down:

1. Hourglass or stopwatch : TIMER

2. Make __ for oneself : A NAME

3. Sun blocker : CLOUD COVER. The SPF varies.

4. Feed bag morsel : OAT

5. Stereo system signal booster : PREAMP

6. "Car Talk" topic : AUTO. AUDI would have worked, too.

7. PC brain : CPU. (central processing unit)

8. Twilight, to a bard : E'EN. A contraction of even which is a contraction of evening. Those crazy poets!

9. General for whom a Paris airport is named : DE GAULLE

10. Bench warmers? : JUDGES

11. Jacob's twin : ESAU

12. T-men and G-men : FEDS

13. Toga party setting : FRAT. (fraternity house)

18. Skid row area : SLUM

23. Racing family name : UNSER

25. Leaf-gathering tool : RAKE

26. Sales staff member : REP

27. Texas border city : EL PASO

29. Sinks : BASINS

30. Was more important than : OUTWEIGHED

31. Eye part containing the iris : UVEA

32. Goalie equipment : PADS

33. Sandler of "Spanglish" : ADAM

34. Isinglass : MICA. Translucent mineral.

38. Place to get a perm : SALON

39. "Give it another shot" : "TRY AGAIN"

41. Encyclopedia range : A TO Z

44. CPR expert : EMT

47. Like some decals : IRON-ON

48. Ibsen's country : NORWAY. Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. Wikipedia

49. Alabama-born activist Parks : ROSA

52. Dismal turnout for a party : NO ONE. Shoulda had a toga party.

53. Israel's Meir : GOLDA

54. Bookie's offering : ODDS

55. Answering machine alert : BEEP

56. Eruption output, perhaps : LAVA

57. Together, after "in" : SYNC

61. Second Amendment org. : NRA. (National Rifle Association)

62. Clamor : DIN

63. Sac fly result : RBI. Sac, short for sacrifice, because even though the batter is out, a run scores.

Argyle

Friday, June 28, 2013, Victor Barocas

Theme: Counting on you.

In the time I have been blogging I have had times where it is hard to name a puzzle and describe the the theme, but I usually manage, but this one has me, well, puzzled. The reveal is the a three step multi-word answer reminiscent of the quotation themes from days of yore. There is no way to solve the three parts to get the reveal except through perps, though because I always place the number of letters in a theme fill after the words, the concept came quickly. This allowed me to get it done after I had some of the letters. 54 theme letters and the wonderfully preserved symmetry makes this an impressive work from Victor Barocas, the Minnesota based constructor who was pictured along with C.C. in her Sunday write up. He has done early week puzzles for us before now, and this effort does include many 3 and 4 letter words which helped, but a trade off for such an intricate two headed theme. Let's dissect this one.

18A. With 33 and 52-Across, what 23-, 42- and 61-Across have in common : EACH OF THEM,(10)

33A. See 18-Across : ENDS WITH. (8).

52A. See 18-Across : ITS LENGTH. (9).

then:

23A. Intermediate level : MEZZANINE. Notice the number of letters in this entry? Exactly 9.  The only one where the pronunciation changed.

42A. How some veggies are sold : BY WEIGHT. This entry has 8 letters.

61A. Creator of Emma Woodhouse : JANE AUSTEN. This entry has 10 letters. This took a bit to focus on which Emma it might be, and it is nice to see a complete name. LINK. (2:17).

Across:

1. Pooh-pooher of the provincial : SNOB.

5. Round trip? : ORBIT. Actually, most orbits are elliptical not round.

10. Barclays Center team : NETS. This is tricky and meant for a true sports fan as the Brooklyn Nets are not a household name. What is most interesting is the appearance the team was bought only as part of a master real estate development PLAN.

14. Irish pop group family name : CORR. All perps, but they seem interesting, will have to listen, LINK.

15. How most fly : COACH. Nice clue/fill and more true now than ever.

16. Overseas "other" : OTRA. Straight translation.

17. Start to till? : ROTO. I was thinking how cool it would have been if the previous fill was OTRO, which along with ROOT is an anagram.

20. B-boy link : AS IN. Speaking of B-Boy, has anyone watched the Liberace movie on HBO with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon?

21. Foofaraw : ADO. Never heard of this word but the fill was easy.

22. It's often grated : ROMANO. Cheesy but easy answer when Parmesan did not fit. Not to be confused with this CHEESY (8:02) one.

26. Lets use for now : LENDS. Poor Polonius.

27. Skye writing : ERSE. The old language of this North Sea Island.

28. Tree sacred to the Druids : OAK.

30. Wheel man? : SAJAK. He has made a Fortune standing while they spin; as Fermatprime pointed out, he lends his name to the publication of some crosswords.

38. Force on Earth, for short : ONE G.

39. "___ of Identity": Conan Doyle story : A CASE. One of Sherlock Holmes most fun cases with the added twist that is a  fiction story telling how life is stranger than fiction.

41. ___ Cakesters : OREO.

44. Get value out of, in a way : SMELT. Another fishy clue, that misled me completely.

45. Firing org.? : NRA.  National Rifle Association.

46. Massage target : ACHE. It was not knot.

48. Not now? : DATED. Not new not now?

57. 1972 self-titled pop album : OLIVIA. She was young when I was young, and a CUTIE. (3:28)

59. Service support gp. : USO. United Service Organizations. Bob Hope anyone?

60. Blind element : SLAT. Literal clue originally from Venice?

63. Drop : LOSE. A few pounds? Money? Weight?

64. Eclipse, to some : OMEN.

65. Sierra ___ : LEONE.

66. Connecticut's State Composer : IVES. This Danbury born MAESTRO.(6:01).

67. Puts turf on : SODS.

68. Game with doubles and triples : DARTS. Not baseball this time C.C.

69. "Sesame Street" roommate : BERT. Why are some "E" and some "U"?

Down:

1. "Out!" : SCRAM.

2. Image on a poster for Eastwood's "Hang 'Em High" : NOOSE. I cannot find one to post, though there are many for sale, they all seem protected.

3. 2006 A.L. home run champ : ORTIZ. Red Sox star Big Papi David Ortiz.

4. Period marked by copper use : BRONZE AGE. I smelt out the answer to this one quickly.

5. Title word with eleven, twelve or thirteen : OCEANS. Brad Pitt, George Clooney...

6. Tour toter : ROADIE. Nice alliteration and I was initially thinking redcap or the like.

7. Quiche Lorraine ingredient : BACON. My favorite RECIPE.(26:46).

8. German I : ICH. This week was the 50th anniversary of the famous JFK speech, Ich bin ein Berliner, a speech which many claim means he was a jelly doughnut.

9. Title foe of Loki in a 2011 film : THOR. Ladies?

10. "Sorry, wrong guy" : NOT ME.

11. Wharton's Frome : ETHAN. A very sad tale.

12. Vogue : TREND.

13. Birthplace of Pythagoras : SAMOS. He had figure out all the ANGLES.

19. People : FOLKS.

24. Ship with two zebras on it : ARK. and two aardvarks.

25. Long periods : EONS.

29. Lemon attachment : ADE. Wow, a full blown shout out to your Friday phrase flinger!!! It is enough to make me...

30. Blubber : SOB.

31. One or more : ANY.

32. Shylock, e.g. : JEW.

33. Get down : EAT. I was thinking more of jamming with some good music, but I have also choked down some food.

34. Movement that fought stereotypes : WOMEN'S LIB. Really nice long fill.

35. Spleen : IRE.

36. Rolodex no. : TELephone.

37. ___ pants : HOT. Boys?

39. Dept. with a plow on its seal : AGRiculture.

40. Spiced tea : CHAI.  Interesting because the YUMMY is very much tied to the culture of....

43. Columbus's elusive destination : INDIA.

44. Ella's English counterpart : SHE.

46. Nod, say : ASSENT.

47. "Star Wars Episode II" soldiers : CLONES. This MOVIE. (2:31).

48. Schools where boards may be used to measure ability : DOJOS. Really fun Karate clue, where breaking a board is part of the training, as opposed to taking a medical or legal board exam.

49. Where Davy Crockett died : ALAMO. San Antonio however lost it in Miami in the last 25 seconds of game 6.

50. Pointed at the table? : TINED. Meh.

51. Ties : EVENS.

53. Seneca, to Nero : TUTOR. Really interesting history, though I must warn you the link includes ancient Roman politics. READ.

54. Boxer's protection : GLOVE. Interesting thought, because the padded glove is important in reducing injury, though not completely effective.

55. It's a stunner : TASER. Nice phrased clue, bro.

56. Operation Redwing event, 1956 : H-TEST.

58. "___ Lang Syne" : AULD. really? It is almost July?

62. Black or Labrador : SEA. I liked this deception, and the black lab image made it harder to focus on the simple answer.

Another Friday done, and another month almost gone; I am very curious how you all will react to this effort. Keep those cards and letters coming and have a wonderful week end. Thank you Victor.

Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Here is the photo Lemonade mentioned earlier. Our local constructors had a delightful get-together when Andrea Carla Michaels visited MN last week. Andrea, who is based in San Francisco, grew up here. Victor Barocas is a professor at the University of Minnesota. 

Left to right: Tom Pepper; Marcia J. Brott; George Barany; David Hanson; DK, C.C.; Andrea; Boomer & Victor

Thursday, March 28, 2013 Jeff Hyson and Victor Barocas

Theme: "Whatever floats your boat!"

20A. New Year's Day staple, familiarly : ROSE BOWL PARADE. The official name is the "XXXth Rose Parade," sponsored by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation.

32A. Place to learn to crawl : SWIM CLASS. Australian or American crawl.

43A. It has a handle and flies : TACKLE BOX. Fun riddle for the clue!

56A. Place to split a split : ICE CREAM PARLOR. Aw, sweet.

And the unifier:

68A. What one might see in a 20-, 32-, 43- or 56-Across : FLOAT.

Just missing a V for a pangram (or Victor?) I was racking my brain, trying to figure out the theme as I went along. Nope. No chance. Without the unifier, I doubt if I would have "got" it. So I had a real "AHA" moment, which should please Victor no end. (^0^)

Marti here, blogging for our Thursday puzzlers. I have had the great pleasure of blogging a couple of Victor’s puzzles, so it was wonderful to see him team up here with another new constructor, Jeff Hyson (isn’t he some kind of tea I have spotted before in crosswords??) Unlike Jeff, BEQ’s #3 ACPT had me scratching my head. The first entry was CAPTCHA, if that will give you any hint…

Across:

1. Short glasses? : SPECS. I wanted "shots" at first.

6. 1979 exile : SHAH.

10. "Collective unconscious" coiner : JUNG. I put myself dangerously near to a coma by reading on and on about this. So, I will eschew any link...

14. Necklace material : CORAL.

Nicolaas Rubens wearing a coral necklace, by Peter Paul Rubens

15. Big Island port : HILO.

16. "Beauty ___ the eye..." : IS IN.

17. President who appointed Sotomayor to the Supreme Court : OBAMA.

18. Loads : A LOT.

19. Beatles movie : HELP.

23. One making sidelong glances : EYER. One who sees beauty?

24. Bias-___ tire : PLY.

25. Mil. roadside hazard : IED. Improvised Exploding Device.

26. Highest of MLB's "minors" : AAA. Division in the minor league of baseball.

28. Ode relic : URN.

29. Animation unit : CEL.

37. "Harold and Maude" director Hal : ASHBY.

39. Aptly named 22-Down : LE CAR. And 22-Down. 39-Across automaker : RENAULT. French automaker.

40. Band since 1980 that disbanded in 2011 : R.E.M. The name was chosen at random from a dictionary.

41. Freeway no-no : U-TURN.

42. "The Wizard of Oz" device : IRONY.

45. Comăneci score : TEN. At the 1976 Olympics, Nadia became the first female gymnast to score a perfect "10."

46. "Now I ___ me..." : LAY.

48. Getting-in approx. : ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

49. 90210, e.g. : ZIP.

50. Stylist's supply : GEL.

52. Run in the heat? : MELT.

60. Goes downhill fast : SKIS. The season is winding down, but there's still some great skiing out there.

61. Ricelike pasta : ORZO.

62. Worthless : SORRY. As in, "You're a sorry excuse for a man!"

63. Confined, with "up" : PENT.

64. "Terrif!" : NEAT.

65. Lena and others : OLINS.

66. Surfers' guides : FAQS. Internet surfers. Frequently Asked Questions.

67. ___ qua non : SINE. Latin for "without which [there would be] nothing."

Down:

1. Make a point : SCORE.

2. NOLA sandwich : PO' BOY. A New Orleans, Louisiana classic. Where's your favorite place to get them, Hahtoolah?

3. Wipe clean : ERASE.

4. One concerned with composition and angles : CAMERA MAN.

5. Hunk : SLAB. Oh. Sorry, I was thinking of this kind of hunk.

6. Wrapped accessory : SHAWL.

7. Like links golf courses : HILLY.  "Link" comes from Old English "hlinc," which means "ridge." Links courses are typically found along the seashore, built on sand dunes.

8. Crooked : ALOP.

9. Bloviator's talk : HOT AIR. Love that word!  I'm going to use it in a sentence today.

10. Muslim holy war : JIHAD.

11. Exploited : USED.

12. "Aida" backdrop : NILE.

13. Macroeconomics fig. : GNP. Gross National Product. Jazzbumpa knows everything about economics.

21. Gem for a Scorpio, perhaps : OPAL.

27. Fake nail material : ACRYLIC. Don't they look real?

28. "Semper Fi" org. : USMC. Short form of "Semper Fidelis" ("Always Loyal"), the motto of the United States Marine Corps.

29. Carp family fish : CHUB. Pretty fish.

30. Spanish Civil War battle site : EBRO. The Ebro river was the site of one of the bloodiest and most devastating battles of the war.  Map.

31. Snowshoe hare hunter : LYNX.

32. Narrow cut : SLIT.

33. Are in the past? : WERE. Fun clue!

34. Emblem : ICON.

35. Pretentiously showy : ARTY.

36. "Wide Sargasso ___": Jean Rhys novel : SEA.

38. Overpower : STEAMROLL.

44. Plant in an underwater forest : KELP.

47. Golf green borders : APRONS.

49. Citrus peels : ZESTS.

50. Certain strip native : GAZAN. From this strip.

51. Overact : EMOTE.

53. California town whose name means "the river" : EL RIO. Pop. 7,198.

54. Doone who turned out to be Lady Dugal's daughter : LORNA.

55. Secret rendezvous : TRYST.

56. Furniture store that also sells Swedish meatballs : IKEA.

57. Quatre et un : CINQ. 4+1=5. French.

58. "...___ saw Elba" : ERE I. Our favorite crossword palindrome.

59. Starting from : AS OF.

60. No. at the beach : SPF. Sun Protection Factor. Dennis knows how important this is!

See you all next week!

Hugs,

Marti