Theme: Boomers - A shout out to C.C.'s husband?
20A. One who can talk you to sleep : CRASHING BORE
33A. Audible sign of hunger : RUMBLING STOMACH
41A. Flappers’ decade : ROARING TWENTIES
56A. Weather event where you’d hear the starts of 20-, 33- and 41Across : THUNDER STORM
Argyle here. I was going to link some storm sounds for you to hear here but this is just not the season for thunder storms. Did you know YouTube has a eight hour downloads of storm sounds? East Coasters are probably not ready to hear that right now.
Oh, and the puzzle; it is from Lila Cherry("Really Rich"), a pseudonym of Rich Norris, our editor. He has fit two grid spanners in the center. Some of the fill is ho-hum but there's not a Natick in the bunch.
Across:
1. Part of PGA: Abbr. : ASSN. (Professional Golfers' Association)
5. Desert tableland : MESA
9. Character weakness : FLAW
13. Chase away, as a fly : SHOO. Anybody having shoofly pie for Thanksgiving?
14. Plot surprise : TWIST
16. “Queen of Country” McEntire : REBA
17. A psychic may read yours : PALM. No, not your palm tree.
18. Yemen’s capital : SANA'A
19. With 8-Down, really simple : EASY and 8D. See 19-Across : AS ABC
23. Pellet shooter : AIRGUN
24. AFL partner : CIO. (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations)
25. Madrid Mrs. : SRA. (Señora)
28. Tabula __: blank slate : RASA
31. “That’s enough out of you!” : "STOW IT!"
38. Cruising on the briny : ASEA
39. Org. offering motel discounts : AAA. (American Automobile Association, also called "Triple A")
40. Chat room “Here’s what I think ...” : IMHO. (in my humble opinion)
46. Present from birth : INNATE
47. Salinger title teenager : ESME. "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor"
48. Court divider : NET
49. “Criminal Minds” network : CBS. (Columbia Broadcasting System)
51. Bible book of 150 poems : PSALMS
59. It might begin, “Knock knock” : JOKE
62. Word after maternity or shore : LEAVE
63. Prefix with dextrous : AMBI. (ambidextrous: able to use both hands equally well.)
64. Allies’ opponents : AXIS. us/them.
65. City that inspired van Gogh : ARLES. Wheat Fields near Arles.
66. Banister : RAIL
67. Old wives’ tale : MYTH
68. Lions’ homes : DENS. No, it's Detroit; watch 'em play on Thanksgiving.
69. “Bus Stop” dramatist William : INGE
Down:
1. Critters’ rights gp. : ASPCA. (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Kill your turkey humanely or have tofurkey.
2. Lewis with Lamb Chop : SHARI. PLEASE, no Lamb Chop for dinner.
3. From the sun : SOLAR
4. Asian menu assurance : [NO MSG]
5. Where Moses received the Commandments: Abbr. : MT. SINAI
6. Actor McGregor : EWAN
7. Croon a tune : SING
9. At no cost : FREE
10. Grazing area : LEA
11. Middle muscles : AB's. (abdominal muscles)
12. Method : WAY
15. Follower of Laotzu : TAOIST. Déjà vu?
21. Throw hard : HURL
22. __-Rooter : ROTO. The company originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines.
25. Hindu guru : SWAMI
26. Rolling in French euros : RICHE. French for rich, if you couldn't guess.
27. Pal of Porthos : ATHOS. The Three Musketeers (with Aramis)
29. Unexpected problem : SNAG
30. Colorful marble : AGATE
32. Neglect to include : OMIT
33. __ to go: ready for action, in dialect : RARIN'. Rarin' for a big dinner and good football.
34. Me.-to-Fla. highway : U.S. ONE
35. Intended : MEANT
36. Old-time actress Theda : BARA. Don't be late if she's cooking!
37. Tree cutters : SAWS
42. Restless desire : ITCH
43. Cosmic cloud : NEBULA
44. Catherine the Great, to Russia : EMPRESS
45. Eliot of the Untouchables : NESS
50. Wooden Mortimer : SNERD. Déjà vu?
52. Pong producer : ATARI
53. Fictional salesman Willy : LOMAN. (from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman)
54. Boss, slangily : MR. BIG
55. Photographer’s request : "SMILE"
56. New Age musician John : TESH
57. Chip’s chipmunk pal : DALE
58. Neck and neck : EVEN
59. Traffic trouble : JAM
60. Natural Skin Science company : OXY. A line of acne care products. Web site. I'm not sure the CA company is the same one.
61. First-aid aid : KIT
Argyle
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Creature! Long time regulars know how sweet and caring she was when she was active on the blog. I sure miss her warm presence.
I mentioned in one of Splynter's write-ups ( See 20-Across KLU) earlier this month that Creature still solves LAT & reads our blog every day. She wrote a short comment the next day.
I hope you do something special for yourself today, Creature. We all look forward to your return.
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Creature! Long time regulars know how sweet and caring she was when she was active on the blog. I sure miss her warm presence.
I mentioned in one of Splynter's write-ups ( See 20-Across KLU) earlier this month that Creature still solves LAT & reads our blog every day. She wrote a short comment the next day.
I hope you do something special for yourself today, Creature. We all look forward to your return.
