Theme: Heave-Ho - The first words (all nouns) are all synonyms.
16A. "Good Guys Wear Black" star : CHUCK NORRIS. I only knew him in "Walker, Texas Ranger."
24A. Post-performance celebration : CAST PARTY
36A. Stroke with a wedge : PITCH SHOT. Like this.
51A. Display for lecture illustrations : FLIP CHART
61A. Sofa decor : THROW PILLOW
Boomer
here. Live from Minnesota. Home of the 3M Company. Believe it or not,
Scotch tape is not made in Scotland. It's made right here in St. Paul.
Boomer at 3M Championship, August 5, 2016
Minnesota is known for 10,000 lakes, and that does not include the ones that eat my golf balls. I feel a fishing theme in this puzzle. You CAST your line from your reel. PITCH the lure into the weed bed. FLIP the fish into the boat; then THROW it back ... Too small.
Across:
1. Pour love (on) : DOTE. Maresey Dotes and Doesey dotes ...
5. Sledding spot : SLOPE. Did not like the clue slopes are for skiing. Hills are for sledding.
10. Work the aisles, slangily : USH. Ush is no word that I've ever heard. Hey I'm a poet and didn't know it.
13. Very familiar with : UP ON
14. Not spontaneous : STAGED
15. Howe'er : THO. Hope you got this with down clues, because I don't get it.
18. Haul to the shop : TOW
19. Sailor's pronoun : HER. I guess this refers to a ship. Why they are all female, I'll never know.
20. Full of energy : ALIVE. Golfer Jim Furyk touts 5 hour energy and he is still alive.
21. Stereotypical Geek Squad employee : NERD
22. Mass-mailing tool : E-LIST. I'm surely on a few of these, my junk mail box is full
27. Went astray : SINNED
29. Pupil's cover : EYELID
30. Drawn-out account : SAGA
31. Not as demanding : EASIER. That's what I am talking about. Better clues would be easier.
35. USN clerk : YEO. Never heard of this - but I was in the US Army
39. Take steps : ACT. Take steps is to walk. Thespians act.
42. Defiant retort : MAKE ME
43. __-Seltzer : ALKA. Remember Speedy with the funny hat?
47. Touchdown spot : TARMAC. I suppose you wanted people to think "Football". Well football teams fly 10 times per season.
49. Log-shaped pastry : ECLAIR. Eau Claire, Wisconsin is about 100 Miles from the Twin Cities. I suppose you could get an Eclair there.
55. "Siddhartha" author : HESSE. I'm not good at books. The last one I read was "Harps in the Wind".
56. Charitable gift : ALMS
57. Instagram upload : PHOTO. I don't have Instagram. Facebook upload would be an easier clue for me.
59. "__ matter of fact ... " : AS A.
Better clue for me would be Hutchinson Family Singers leader, ___
Hutchinson OR the governor of Arkansas ____ Hutchinson. (See "Harps in
the Wind". Asa Hutchinson was my great great grandfather and founded the
town of Hutchinson).
60. Young __: tykes, in dialect : UNs. Too much Beverly Hillbillies watching.
64. Shear (off) : LOP. I recently lopped off my hair. I was starting to look too much like Donald Trump (only thinner and with a smaller mouth).
65. Residences : ABODES
66. __ Romeo : ALFA
67. Onetime rival of Delta : TWA. Founded by Howard Hughes (AKA The hermit at the Desert Inn.) TWA flew from 1925 !! to 2001. Flight 800 hurt them a lot.
68. Having a key, in music : TONAL
69. Go against : DEFY
Down:
1. Title for Prince William's wife : DUCHESS of Cambridge. See also 17. Prince William's wife : KATE
2. The "thee" in "Get thee to a nunnery" : OPHELIA
3. Seeing the sights : TOURING
4. Letter-bottom letters : ENC. I usually see this as ENCL. Another crossword shortcut I suppose.
5. Dispassionate : STOIC.
NFL often used this adjective to describe former Vikings coach Bud
Grant. Now nearing 90, did you see him blow the big horn at US Bank
Stadium Sunday night?
6. Cocoon contents : LARVA. These are ugly. Some use them for bait to catch panfish.
7. Ungentle giants : OGRES. They live under bridges and under kids' beds.
8. Shar-__: wrinkly dog : PEI. I never saw a wrinkly dog, I never hope to see one. But I can tell you anyhow, "I'd rather see than be one".
9. Paper staff, briefly : EDS. some of these three letter answers are starting to look like abbreviations for illness or drugs.
10. Downright : UTTERLY
11. Skimpy nightgown : SHORTIE. If you say so. Spellcheck says it's a word, I would spell it Shorty, but then it would screw up the puzzle.
12. Folksy greeting : HOWDY DO. I may have heard Barney Fife of Mayberry say this.
14. NBC skit show broadcast from 30 Rock : SNL. Another drug abbreviation. Many people are hooked on this show.
21. Scottish isle denial : NAE. I always thought it was "NAY". But ask a Scot if they make Scotch Tape and he will say NAE.
23. Finger-clicking sound : SNAP. Also a really good Ginger cookie.
25. A little laughter : TEE HEE
26. Prefix with technic : PYRO.
I've always liked the pyrotechnics at Comiskey and US Cellular Field. I
hope the White Sox will continue the explosions at Guaranteed Rate
Stadium.
28. Unhook, say : DETACH
32. "Crikey!" : ACK. Now this really makes no sense.
33. Sailor's pronoun : SHE. There's the ship again
34. Doctrinal suffix : ISM
37. Desktop with an AppleCare option : iMAC
38. "Canterbury" story : TALE
39. Guilty : AT FAULT
40. "Operators are standing by!" : CALL NOW. I dislike TV commercials that beg you to call.
41. Bygone weight-loss pills : TRIMSPA.
People were duped by Fen Phen. If you want TrimSpa I guess you have to
call now - Operators are standing by. There's a reason this stuff is
not sold at stores.
44. French explorer who named Louisiana : LA SALLE
45. Rude dismissal, in slang : KISS-OFF
46. Passage between buildings : AREAWAY. This could also be viewed and clued as ARE AWAY. (On Vacation ??)
48. AWOL seekers : MPS. Military Police, Not a drug.
50. Kenneth __, portrayer of Judge Lance Ito in "The People v. O.J. Simpson" : CHOI. Korean surname.
52. Baker's protection : APRON. Or concrete at the end of your driveway.
53. Valerie Harper sitcom : RHODA. Great show. Rhoda got her start on the Mary Tyler Moore epic sitcom - staged in Minneapolis.
54. Item draped on a rack : TOWEL
58. Scout gps. : TPS. Sorry, I have noooo idea what this is. Troops???
61. Skin pic : TAT. Tattoo.
62. "True Detective" network : HBO
63. Stripling : LAD
