Theme: Love letters. Ya gotta love a theme with letter strings!
20A. Travels far and wide? : SAILS THE CCCCCCC (seven "c"s)
40A. Makes U-turns? : DOES ONE EEEEEEEE (eight "e"s)
55A. Era referred to in the United Kingdom as "naughty"? : THE GAY TTTTTTTTT (nine "t"s)
Marti here, listening to the Boston Pops while I blog this.
Across:
1. Power a bike : PEDAL
6. Tuscaloosa team, briefly : BAMA. Big-time Auburn rival (football, baseball, spittin' - you name it, they are rivals!)
10. Offers : BIDS
14. Make euphoric : ELATE
15. Peer, to Pierre : EGAL. French for "equal".
16. "You've come to the right person!" : I'M IT.
17. Delta worker : PILOT. Delta airlines, that is. Could also be a tugboat pilot on the Mississippi delta??
18. She plays Susan on "Desperate Housewives" : TERI. Hatcher. Snubbed by her co-stars.
19. Tabula ___ : RASA. "Blank slate" in Latin.
23. Queens landing place: Abbr. : LGA. La Guardia airport in Queens, NY.
24. Casual assent : YEAH
25. ___ Moines : DES
28. Automaker until 2004 : OLDS
31. Impreza automaker : SUBARU
35. "___ up!": "Pay your share!" : ANTE
37. Scoreboard record : OUTS
39. Graf rival : SELES. Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, tennis rivals.
43. Smart fellows? : ALECS
44. Graceful bird : SWAN
45. Reddish brown : RUST
46. Low bow : SALAAM
48. Slugger Musial : STAN. AKA, "Stan the Man".
50. Racer Fabi : TEO. You either know him, or you don't...
51. Some old theaters : RKOS. From "Radio-Keith-Orpheum" pictures.
53. NYSE listings : COS. Companies.
63. Rescuer, often : HERO. Like Dudley. (No, not my blogger neighbor...THIS one!)
64. Port on its own lake : ERIE
65. "The View" co-host : BEHAR. Joy Behar, this lovely lady.
66. Send out : EMIT
67. One may be hitched : RIDE. Does anyone dare hitchhike, or pick up a hitchhiker nowadays??
68. Liqueur herb : ANISE
69. Titles for attys. : ESQS. Lemony!
70. Zoomed : SPED
71. They may be measured in capsules : DOSES
Down:
1. Invigorates, with "up" : PEPS
2. Essayist's pen name : ELIA. Charles Lamb's "Essays of Elia"
3. Mustachioed surrealist : DALI. Yes, indeed - the original "flower child"...
20A. Travels far and wide? : SAILS THE CCCCCCC (seven "c"s)
40A. Makes U-turns? : DOES ONE EEEEEEEE (eight "e"s)
55A. Era referred to in the United Kingdom as "naughty"? : THE GAY TTTTTTTTT (nine "t"s)
Marti here, listening to the Boston Pops while I blog this.
Across:
1. Power a bike : PEDAL
6. Tuscaloosa team, briefly : BAMA. Big-time Auburn rival (football, baseball, spittin' - you name it, they are rivals!)
10. Offers : BIDS
14. Make euphoric : ELATE
15. Peer, to Pierre : EGAL. French for "equal".
16. "You've come to the right person!" : I'M IT.
17. Delta worker : PILOT. Delta airlines, that is. Could also be a tugboat pilot on the Mississippi delta??
18. She plays Susan on "Desperate Housewives" : TERI. Hatcher. Snubbed by her co-stars.
19. Tabula ___ : RASA. "Blank slate" in Latin.
23. Queens landing place: Abbr. : LGA. La Guardia airport in Queens, NY.
24. Casual assent : YEAH
25. ___ Moines : DES
28. Automaker until 2004 : OLDS
31. Impreza automaker : SUBARU
35. "___ up!": "Pay your share!" : ANTE
37. Scoreboard record : OUTS
39. Graf rival : SELES. Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, tennis rivals.
43. Smart fellows? : ALECS
44. Graceful bird : SWAN
45. Reddish brown : RUST
46. Low bow : SALAAM
48. Slugger Musial : STAN. AKA, "Stan the Man".
50. Racer Fabi : TEO. You either know him, or you don't...
51. Some old theaters : RKOS. From "Radio-Keith-Orpheum" pictures.
53. NYSE listings : COS. Companies.
63. Rescuer, often : HERO. Like Dudley. (No, not my blogger neighbor...THIS one!)
64. Port on its own lake : ERIE
65. "The View" co-host : BEHAR. Joy Behar, this lovely lady.
66. Send out : EMIT
67. One may be hitched : RIDE. Does anyone dare hitchhike, or pick up a hitchhiker nowadays??
68. Liqueur herb : ANISE
69. Titles for attys. : ESQS. Lemony!
70. Zoomed : SPED
71. They may be measured in capsules : DOSES
Down:
1. Invigorates, with "up" : PEPS
2. Essayist's pen name : ELIA. Charles Lamb's "Essays of Elia"
3. Mustachioed surrealist : DALI. Yes, indeed - the original "flower child"...
4. Coral ring : ATOLL. I didn't mind this clue at all...
5. "Shake a leg!" : LET'S GO
6. Letter before gimel : BETH. If you look at the list in wiki, it comes "after". But the Hebrew alphabet is read from right to left, so it really is "before" gimel.
7. '40s film critic James : AGEE
8. Mount ___, highest Adirondack peak : MARCY. Highest point in New York state. (Not to be confused with Mount WTF...)
9. Restaurant in a 1969 film title : ALICE'S. We play this at noon, every Thanksgiving... (22:31)
10. Soda containing a bark extract : BIRCH BEER. One of Polar Beverage's favorites in New England.
11. Apple product : iMAC. I am typing this on an iMac...
12. Apple insert : DISC. No, I didn't have to insert a disc to do the blog...
13. Like a dotted note, in mus. : STAC.cato
21. Raptor's claw : TALON
22. It may be lost or just : CAUSE
25. Words from cribs : DADAS. Or, certain artists...
26. ___ Gay: hostoric bomber : ENOLA
27. Paradigm of strength : STEEL
29. Some annual bills : DUES
30. Simmers : STEWS
32. Inuit relative : ALEUT
33. Hall of Fame Dodgers shortstop : REESE. Pee Wee. I actually remembered him!
34. Of ___: helpful for : USE TO
36. Edilble snails : ESCARGOTS
38. Place for a cushion : SEAT
41. Port near Kobe : OSAKA. Yes, that would be true...
42. Make into law : ENACT
47. Journalist Bill with a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award : MOYERS
49. "Pretty good" : NOT BAD
52. ___ poker : STRIP. Oooohhh, so much I could link here...
54. Short shorthand writer? : STENO.grapher
55. "Get ___ to a nunnery": Hamlet : THEE
56. Skirt boundaries : HEMS
57. La Salle of "ER" : ERIQ. This guy.
58. 6-Across nickname, with "the" : TIDE. Alabama Crimson Tide.
59. Fuming, with "off" : TEED. Or, if you are Husker Gary, "Started a round..."
60. Not that : THIS
61. Stun, in a way : TASE
62. Muy, across the Pyrenees : TRES. Not in Spain, but "very", in France.
Answer grid.
No chance to link music for this puzzle, but I leave you with this. (3:21) I hope you all had a happy 4th!!
Hugs,
Marti
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Linda. Your presence is always felt. Thanks for being there.
