17. Visitor's first attempt : DING DONG
30. Visitor's second attempt : KNOCK KNOCK - I ain't answerin' that door!
Maybe they're there or maybe they're not. Matt's puzzle was a big Wednesday challenge for me. His clever gimmick and cluing made me labor longer than usual for a humpday. The very last cell was a natick for me but E seemed to complete colettE and alE satisfactorily and so all was well on the southeastern front.
ACROSS
1. Big initials in tobacco : RJR
4. Devices with scroll wheels : MICE
8. Many an old-movie criminal mastermind : MAD MAN - He was a master at that role
14. Perrier, par exemple : EAU - In France (French) EAU (water) costs more than huile (oil)
15. Sick as __ : A DOG
16. Jittery : UNEASY - What losing coaches are this time of year
19. Emphatic type : ITALIC
20. Training group : CADRE
21. Like milligrams and kilograms : METRIC - USA, Liberia and Burma (Myanmar) are the only countries that aren't using this system
24. Actress Thompson of "Family" : SADA - A favorite show of ours
25. "My bad!" : OOPS
29. Queen-to-be, maybe : PAWN - Black PAWN advances to last row (rank), becomes a Queen and delivers a Checkmate (give it a few seconds).
35. Common starting time : NINE
36. Justice Dept. division : FBI
37. Sean's mom : YOKO - Guess what happened when my Beatle fanatic friend and his family walked by NYC's Dakota in November. Her daughter Kyoko took the picture and Jim said YOKO was very gracious
41. Student carrier : BUS
44. Peeled-off item : RIND
46. "Big crunch" pickle brand : VLASIC
53. Asti export : VINO - Gosh I miss Marti!
54. Kids' __: restaurant offering : MENU - From Shanghai. C.C., what looks good?
55. "The Dukes of Hazzard" deputy : ENOS
56. Indigo source : ANIL
57. Ottoman shelter : IMARET - Hostels or hotels originally built for the poor and needy. Yeah, I knew that! :-)
60. Playing marble : AGATE
61. Nixes : VETOES
66. How megastores buy goods : IN BULK - Our Super Walmart had hundreds of TV's for Black Friday. How many must they have purchased nationwide?
67. Boo-boo : OWIE
68. Snitch : RAT - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano got a pass on 19 murders for RATTING out his boss John Gotti
69. Assumes to be true : POSITS
70. Ring units: Abbr. : RNDS - Mike Tyson's early fights did not go many RNDS
71. Porter kin : ALE - Not a clue, but it seemed plausible with AL_
Down
1. Baggage handlers : RED CAPS - In the 1860's George Pullman hired former slaves as Porters on his train cars. Later black men were also hired to handle baggage in train stations and were called RED CAPS
2. Game with cestas and pelotas : JAI ALAI - Here we see the pelota (ball) leaving the cesta, at a speed that can reach 188 mph.
3. Seedy : RUNDOWN
4. Good way to have it? : MADE
5. Knot-tying words : I DO
6. One with a racket : CON MAN - In a Downton Episode, cash-strapped Robert toyed with the idea of investing with "a chap in America" named Charles Ponzi
7. Stirred up : EGGED ON
8. Conservationist John : MUIR
9. Against : ANTI
10. Church official : DEACON - Rector didn't cut it
11. Start to practice? : MAL - This doctor left our town quickly and fled back to Pakistan to escape MALpractice suits due a hepatitis outbreak at his unsanitary clinic
12. "__ live and breathe!" : AS I
13. B'way setting : NYC
18. Seedy : GRUNGY
22. Unspoken : TACIT - No answer is sometimes an answer
24. Chicago suburb : SKOKIE
26. Stomach-punch response : OOF
27. Banned chem. contaminant : PCB - Possible cancer source
28. Snow glider : SKI - Gosh I miss Marti!
31. Sushi chef's array : KNIVES - $569.99 but free shipping!
34. Unable to choose : TORN
38. "Rings __ Fingers": 1942 Fonda/Tierney film : ON HER - Starring one of Omaha's favorite sons
40. Wild and fierce : SAVAGE - What my uncle used to call all us kids when we were growing up
41. Emeril exclamation : BAM
42. Le Mans article : UNE
43. Peek, for peep: Abbr. : SYN - How 'bout SIN for SYN?
45. Toast, so to speak : DONE FOR
47. Ol' Blue Eyes : SINATRA
48. Monogram component : INITIAL
49. "Gigi" author : COLETTE - Pen name for Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
51. "Right away, madame!" : OUI OUI - Don't you think this phrase was in Madame Colette's Gigi
52. Four Tops' record label : MOTOWN
58. Get all mushy : MELT
59. Invites : ASKS
60. Long stretches : AGES
61. Bigwig : VIP - View from a VIP Suite at AT&T Stadium, home of Dallas Cowboys
62. Brian of Roxy Music : ENO
63. Airer of some MLB postseason games : TBS - Turner's Braves haven't won a post season series since 2001
65. Clear (of) : RID
"Knock, knock. Who's There? Ima? Ima who? I'm about done!" Now lets go see who answers the bell for today's comment page. I know you're out there!
Answer Grid
