Theme: Spelling Bee
20A: February greeting card request!: BE MY VALENTINE
30A: Utah's nickname: BEEHIVE STATE
39A: "Petticoat junction" star: BEA BENADERET
51A: Sue Grafton's second Kinsey Millhone novel: "B" IS FOR BURGLAR
Nice homophone. "C, SEE, SEA" & "I, AYE, EYE" popped into my mind, but I could not think of a 4th entry.
I have never heard of BEA BENADERET. The only BEA I know is BEA Arthur. Love BE MY VALENTINE. So sweet! Chocolate, roses & Paris. Actually, a hike in Appalachia Trail sounds romantic too. So does a 7-day stay in ARG (47A: Braz. neighbor).
Why "Mamma Mia!" trio? for EMS (25A)? The clue should be quartet, correct? There are four letter M in "Mamma Mia!".
Across:
1A: Tout's topic: ODDS. Alliteration.
5A: Broad tie: ASCOT. Named after the Royal ASCOT race.
10A: Left the launch pad: ROSE. And GOES (56A: Leaves) & STAY (64A: Hang around). Plenty of actions.
14A: Slightest concern: HOOT
15A: Juniper fruit: BERRY. I've never used juniper BERRY in cooking.
16A: Black, to Byron: EBON. Another alliteration.
17A: Cath. prelate: MSGR. Monsignor. Not a familiar abbreviation to me.
18A: Come apart: BREAK
19A: Keycard receiver: SLOT. Crossing ENTER, which is clued as "Key in".
23A: Baker or Bryant: ANITA. Only knew ANITA Baker.
26A: Bernese Alps peak: EIGER. I forgot. Someone mentioned Clint Eastwood's "The EIGER Sanction" last time when EIGER appeared.
27A: "You __!": "Sure thing!": BETCHA. First Minnesotan phrase I learned.
29A: Four-time Wimbledon champ Rod: LAVER
34A: Super Bowl highlights?: ADS. Nice clue.
35A: "Hedda Gablar" dramatist: IBSEN. And GYNT (53D: 35-Across's "Peer __"). Love cross reference.
36A: Bauxite, to aluminum: ORE. Did not know bauxite is the principal ORE of aluminum.
43A: Unrefined: CRASS. Wrote down CRUDE first.
45A: Tell to enter, as a prospective job applicant: SEND IN
46A: Kitchen bigwigs: CHEFS. Bam! Emeril is out of Food Network.
54A: First name in daredevilry: EVEL. EVEL Knievel.
55A: "Yippee!": OH BOY
60A: Strikeout king Ryan: NOLAN. Total Ryan with 5,714 strikeouts. Johan Santana now has 1,676. Nobody is going to catch NOLAN Ryan. Randy Johnson has tried his very best.
62A: Grounded fleets, briefly: SSTS
63A: "Looks __ everything": AREN'T. But very important.
Down:
1D: Resistance unit: OHM. The "Conductance unit" is MHO.
2D: MS-__: DOS. Windows preceder.
3D: Animal control officer's concerns: DOG BITES
4D: Yawn accompanier, often: STRETCH
5D: "Dear" columnist: ABBY. Our paper has dropped her column.
6D: Dish up: SERVE. Not "Dish out"?
7D: Dairy aisle buy: CREAM
8D: Think-on-your-feet tests: ORALS. I got the answer. Don't under the logic.
9D: Wee one: TYKE
10D: Nervous: RESTIVE
11D: Accommodate: OBLIGE
12D: At an earlier time: SOONER
21D: When doubled, a fish: MAHI. Mahi-mahi is very tasty. It means "strong-strong" in Hawaiian.
22D: In apple-pie order: NEAT
23D: Palindromic pop group: ABBA. "Mamma Mia!"
28D: Alternatives to Reeboks: AVIAS. Avia is Latin for "to fly". One more blank, the answer would be ADIDAS.
33D: Common news hour: TEN. TEN PM, to be exact.
36D: Have pizza delivered, say: ORDER OUT
37D: Bridle strap: REIN. Misread the clue as "Bridal strap". GOWN came to my mind.
38D: Frequent Italian erupter: ETNA. Literally "I burn".
39D: Perplexes: BAFFLES
41D: Start a new hand: DEAL
42D: Angers: ENRAGES. And RESENT (44D: React indignantly to) & ABHOR (47D: Despise). Not a happy puzzle.
43D: Leek cousins: CHIVES. Onions too.
46D: Turnpike "breakers": CB'ERS. Argyle mentioned the other day that the professional truck driver is called "Road Scholar", a take-off on Rhodes Scholar.
48D: Kirov cash: RUBLE. Easy guess. I don't know where Kirov is, but it sounds Russian. And I like the alliteration.
49D: Corny joke reaction: GROAN
52D: Novelist Jaffe: RONA. Have you read any of her books? I learned her name from doing Xword. Sometimes RONA is clued as "Gossipy Barrett".
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: February greeting card request!: BE MY VALENTINE
30A: Utah's nickname: BEEHIVE STATE
39A: "Petticoat junction" star: BEA BENADERET
51A: Sue Grafton's second Kinsey Millhone novel: "B" IS FOR BURGLAR
Nice homophone. "C, SEE, SEA" & "I, AYE, EYE" popped into my mind, but I could not think of a 4th entry.
I have never heard of BEA BENADERET. The only BEA I know is BEA Arthur. Love BE MY VALENTINE. So sweet! Chocolate, roses & Paris. Actually, a hike in Appalachia Trail sounds romantic too. So does a 7-day stay in ARG (47A: Braz. neighbor).
Why "Mamma Mia!" trio? for EMS (25A)? The clue should be quartet, correct? There are four letter M in "Mamma Mia!".
Across:
1A: Tout's topic: ODDS. Alliteration.
5A: Broad tie: ASCOT. Named after the Royal ASCOT race.
10A: Left the launch pad: ROSE. And GOES (56A: Leaves) & STAY (64A: Hang around). Plenty of actions.
14A: Slightest concern: HOOT
15A: Juniper fruit: BERRY. I've never used juniper BERRY in cooking.
16A: Black, to Byron: EBON. Another alliteration.
17A: Cath. prelate: MSGR. Monsignor. Not a familiar abbreviation to me.
18A: Come apart: BREAK
19A: Keycard receiver: SLOT. Crossing ENTER, which is clued as "Key in".
23A: Baker or Bryant: ANITA. Only knew ANITA Baker.
26A: Bernese Alps peak: EIGER. I forgot. Someone mentioned Clint Eastwood's "The EIGER Sanction" last time when EIGER appeared.
27A: "You __!": "Sure thing!": BETCHA. First Minnesotan phrase I learned.
29A: Four-time Wimbledon champ Rod: LAVER
34A: Super Bowl highlights?: ADS. Nice clue.
35A: "Hedda Gablar" dramatist: IBSEN. And GYNT (53D: 35-Across's "Peer __"). Love cross reference.
36A: Bauxite, to aluminum: ORE. Did not know bauxite is the principal ORE of aluminum.
43A: Unrefined: CRASS. Wrote down CRUDE first.
45A: Tell to enter, as a prospective job applicant: SEND IN
46A: Kitchen bigwigs: CHEFS. Bam! Emeril is out of Food Network.
54A: First name in daredevilry: EVEL. EVEL Knievel.
55A: "Yippee!": OH BOY
60A: Strikeout king Ryan: NOLAN. Total Ryan with 5,714 strikeouts. Johan Santana now has 1,676. Nobody is going to catch NOLAN Ryan. Randy Johnson has tried his very best.
62A: Grounded fleets, briefly: SSTS
63A: "Looks __ everything": AREN'T. But very important.
Down:
1D: Resistance unit: OHM. The "Conductance unit" is MHO.
2D: MS-__: DOS. Windows preceder.
3D: Animal control officer's concerns: DOG BITES
4D: Yawn accompanier, often: STRETCH
5D: "Dear" columnist: ABBY. Our paper has dropped her column.
6D: Dish up: SERVE. Not "Dish out"?
7D: Dairy aisle buy: CREAM
8D: Think-on-your-feet tests: ORALS. I got the answer. Don't under the logic.
9D: Wee one: TYKE
10D: Nervous: RESTIVE
11D: Accommodate: OBLIGE
12D: At an earlier time: SOONER
21D: When doubled, a fish: MAHI. Mahi-mahi is very tasty. It means "strong-strong" in Hawaiian.
22D: In apple-pie order: NEAT
23D: Palindromic pop group: ABBA. "Mamma Mia!"
28D: Alternatives to Reeboks: AVIAS. Avia is Latin for "to fly". One more blank, the answer would be ADIDAS.
33D: Common news hour: TEN. TEN PM, to be exact.
36D: Have pizza delivered, say: ORDER OUT
37D: Bridle strap: REIN. Misread the clue as "Bridal strap". GOWN came to my mind.
38D: Frequent Italian erupter: ETNA. Literally "I burn".
39D: Perplexes: BAFFLES
41D: Start a new hand: DEAL
42D: Angers: ENRAGES. And RESENT (44D: React indignantly to) & ABHOR (47D: Despise). Not a happy puzzle.
43D: Leek cousins: CHIVES. Onions too.
46D: Turnpike "breakers": CB'ERS. Argyle mentioned the other day that the professional truck driver is called "Road Scholar", a take-off on Rhodes Scholar.
48D: Kirov cash: RUBLE. Easy guess. I don't know where Kirov is, but it sounds Russian. And I like the alliteration.
49D: Corny joke reaction: GROAN
52D: Novelist Jaffe: RONA. Have you read any of her books? I learned her name from doing Xword. Sometimes RONA is clued as "Gossipy Barrett".
Answer grid.
C.C.
