Wednesday, April 27, 2022, Susan Gelfand

Theme: IN THE ARENA

20. Extremely expensive fungi: BLACK TRUFFLES. TRACK

35. Injury-prone area for pitchers: ROTATOR CUFF. COURT

43. Novelist known for legal thrillers: JOHN GRISHAM.  RING

52. Request from a trial attorney, and a hint to this puzzle's circles: CHANGE OF VENUE.

Melissa here. The circled letters can be rearranged to spell a type of venue. Racing TRACK, tennis COURT, and boxing RING. See?

Why is it called a boxing RING, even though it's a square?

Across:

1. Wished, as a farewell: BADE.

5. Gently waters using a spray bottle: MISTS.

10. Leave flabbergasted: DAZE.

14. "The Hurt Locker" setting: IRAQ.

15. Natty neckwear: ASCOT. Natty: (of a person or an article of clothing) smart and fashionable. Also, slang (bodybuilding): someone whose muscle gains are natural and not aided by the use of steroids.

16. "Night Sky With __ Wounds": poetry collection by Ocean Vuong: EXIT.

17. Triple Crown of Surfing locale: OAHU. Have not heard of this before now. A specialty series of professional surfing events that have been held annually since 1983 on the North Shore of Oahu, a coastline whose winter swells can reach 50 feet (15 m) feet in height. Wow.

18. Major mess: SNAFU. An acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression Situation Normal: All F***ed Up. It is a well-known example of military acronym slang. It is sometimes bowdlerized to "all fouled up" or similar. It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs.

19. Pond plant: ALGA. Alga is singular form and Algae is plural. Algae have a nucleus. The differences between plants and algae, many algal species are closely related to plants, but the algae are very diverse. The term Algae covers many different organisms capable of producing oxygen.

23. __ Cruces, New Mexico: LAS.

24. Quaint "Tsk!": FIE.

25. Dice game: CRAPS.

28. PX patrons: GIS. PX = Post Exchange. Commissary on a United States Army post. PX was chosen to differentiate it from BX (Base Exchange) used on Air Force bases. "In the US Armed Forces, BX is a common name for a type of retail store operating on United States military installations worldwide.

31. Iowa senator Joni: ERNST.

38. Raw bar need: ICE. A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live shellfish are shucked and served.

39. Without purpose: IDLY.

40. Advisory group: BOARD.

41. Vineyard measure: ACRE.

42. "Give __ break!": ME A.

45. Old West crew: POSSE. "Posse" started out as a technical term in law, part of the term "posse comitatus," which in Medieval Latin meant "power or authority of the county." As such, it referred to a group of citizens summoned by a sheriff to preserve the public peace as allowed for by law.

47. Mobile network std.: LTE. In telecommunications, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals.

48. Fitbit units: STEPS. I see lots more Apple Watches than Fitbits any more.

49. Fannie __: mortgage company nickname: MAE. The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise and, since 1968, a publicly traded company.

51. "Mr. Blue Sky" gp.: ELO.

59. Swerve: VEER.

60. Bright light: GLARE.

61. Calligrapher's supplies: INKS.

63. Polish prose: EDIT.

64. Slow-cooker brand: OSTER. Not limited to slow-cookers, OSTER produces many kitchen appliances.

65. Slow-cooker dish: STEW.

66. The MTV Generation: XERS. According to Wikipedia, Generation X is the demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s as ending birth years, with the generation being generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980. See this table for Age Range by Generation.

67. Fits (inside): NESTS.

68. Vacuum attachment: HOSE.

Down:

1. Playbill paragraph: BIO.

2. Many a Qatar native: ARAB.

3. Arlene of the silver screen: DAHL.

4. Workplace compensation concern: EQUAL PAY.

5. Snorkeling needs: MASKS.

6. "__ it ironic?": ISN'T. I thought of this.

 

7. Emotional trauma consequence: SCAR.

8. Vegan protein: TOFU.

9. Fill up, as a pillow: STUFF.

10. Casino employee: DEALER.

11. Bar in a limo: AXLE. Sneaky.

12. Sharp turns: ZIGS.

13. Itinerary info: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

21. Theatrical ensemble: CAST.

22. Feudal domain: FIEF. An estate of land, especially one held on condition of feudal service.

25. Pinch together: CRIMP.

26. "This ain't my first __": RODEO.

27. Country album?: ATLAS. Nice clue.

28. Dave of the Foo Fighters: GROHL.

29. "Sorry, no": I CAN'T.

30. Sudden power increase: SURGE. Most power strips now come with built-in surge protectors to protect electrical devices from voltage spikes

32. Like specialty markets: NICHE. 6 Weird, Niche Companies Making Good Money.

33. Remnant: SCRAP.

34. Abounds (with): TEEMS.

36. "Price negotiable," in ads: OBO. Or best offer.

37. New Deal pres.: FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

41. Really wow: ASTONISH.

43. "Bridgerton" actor Regé-__ Page: JEAN. Anyone watch this series? I've heard good things but haven't watched yet.

44. 17-Across, e.g.: ISLE.

46. Hurts a lot: SMARTS.

50. Goad: EGG ON.

51. Civil rights leader Medgar: EVERS.

52. Give up: CEDE.

53. Next in line: HEIR.

54. Otherwise: ELSE.

55. Granola grains: OATS.

56. Fingerboard ridge: FRET.

57. Golden Rule word: UNTO.

58. Squeezes (out): EKES.

59. Annoy: VEX.

62. Nor. neighbor: SWE.