Theme:
couleurs du drapeau français
3D. Stuffed chicken dish : CORDON BLEU. blue ribbon. chicken stuffed with ham and swiss cheese. in french culinary tradition, the cordon bleu is awarded to food or chefs of particularly high quality.
5D. Loire Valley grape : CHENIN BLANC.. a white wine grape variety grown in california and the loire valley of france.
25D. Paris nightspot : MOULIN ROUGE. red mill. cabaret in the red-light district of paris.
31. Its colors appear in proper sequence at the ends of 3-, 5- and 25-Down : FRENCH FLAG
melissa here. The theme entries are arranged vertically for visual effect.
i expect a few groans from solvers who dislike foreign words.
Across:
1. Letters on some pre-1992 Olympic uniforms :CCCP. soyuz sovyetskikh sotsialisticheskikh respublik, i.e. union of soviet socialist republics. In the russian alphabet, the equivalent of "s" looks like the Roman "c", and the equivalent of "r" looks like our "p."
5. Suze Orman's network : CNBC
9. Bygone Mideast leaders : SHAHS
14. Landlocked Asian country : LAOS
15. Take on : HIRE
16. Best Supporting Actress before Paquin : TOMEI. marisa. needed perps. would anyone besides marisa or anna know the answer from that clue?
17. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA
18. Verve : ELAN
19. To the left, at sea : APORT
20. Divinity : GODLINESS. next to cleanliness.
22. "Gadzooks!" : YIKES
23. '70s-'90s Atlanta Hawks home : OMNI. coliseum.
24. __ day: Wednesday : HUMP. timely.
26. Intuiting : SENSING
29. Puffed-up fare : SOUFFLE
34. Stand waiter : CAB
35. Obsolescent slope conveyance : T-BAR. mostly found at beginner slopes or in locales where high winds may prevent chairlifts from running.
37. Embryo's home : UTERUS
38. Woody's boy : ARLO. welcome back.
40. Germ-killing brand : LYSOL
42. Left : WENT
43. Medit. spouter : MT ETNA. holy hotwick lava bomb.
45. eBay caveat : AS IS
47. Never, to Heinrich : NIE. german.
48. Convalescents, maybe : SHUT-INS
50. Empties upon arrival : UNPACKS
52. Some VCRs : RCA'S
54. Like some orders : RUSH
55. Fox series with Alfred E. Neuman in the opening credits : MAD TV
59. Title of respect : HONORIFIC. great word, don't remember seeing this in a puzzle before.
63. Coming or going word : ALOHA. and then the japanese say going for coming - so no one knows if they're coming or going.
64. Baseball family name : ALOU. felipe, matty, jesús, and moisés (felipe's son). the first all brother outfield.
65. Food for Fido : ALPO
66. Sure to end badly : NO WIN. a no win situation.
67. Criminal group : RING
68. Astonished reaction : GASP
69. Medicinal plant : SENNA
70. Chick follower? : ADEE. chickadee.
71. Ornate molding : OGEE
Down:
1. Stop up : CLOG
2. Opponent of Caesar : CATO
4. Longest Bible book : PSALMS
6. River through Sudan : NILE
7. Foolhardy : BRASH
8. Population profile : CENSUS. did everyone complete your form last year?
9. Remain in place : STAY PUT
10. Early Grand Canyon settlers : HOPI. moonrise from hopi point.
11. Out of control : AMOK. great word.
12. The Beatles' "__, There and Everywhere" : HERE
13. Is in session : SITS. clue feels a bit awkward.
21. Not out of contention : IN IT. so does this one.
26. Puts one over on : SCAMS
27. One of eight, now : EARTH. planets - pluto was demoted.
28. Merry : GAY. anyone see the jason jones bit on the daily show yesterday?
30. Not a whole lot : FEW
32. Soviet moon program : LUNIK. also a band from switzerland.
33. __ Park, Colorado : ESTES
36. Pretoria's land: Abbr. : RSA. republic of south africa.
39. Polo Grounds legend : OTT. mel.
41. Corvallis sch. : OSU. Oregon State University.
44. Kurt Cobain's group : NIRVANA
46. Boot attachment : SPUR
49. Much of Libya : SAHARA
51. Italian cheese : ASIAGO
53. Well-built : SOLID
55. Provides with personnel : MANS
56. Burn balm : ALOE
57. Consume : DOWN. like it.
58. Slender : THIN
60. Zero : NONE
61. __ dixit: assertion without proof : IPSE
