Wednesday January 31, 2018 Ed Sessa

Theme: TRAIL MIX (63. Hiker's snack that's literally found in 17-, 29-, 39- and 47-Across). Anagram of TRAIL is hidden inside each familiar phrase.

 

17A. Five-time NBA championship-winning coach : PAT RILEY

29A. Same old story : FAMILIAR TUNE

39A. Finger painting? : NAIL ART

47A. Captain's choice at the Super Bowl : HEADS OR TAILS

Hello everyone, Boomer here. Visiting you live from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and safe Groundhog Day. Hopefully, Punxatawny Phil will not see his shadow and we might have less than six weeks of winter left.

But in any case, 48 hours after Groundhog Day, Minneapolis will be visited by the Superb Owl at U.S. Bank Stadium. The NFL is hoping that Mr. Owl will not fly into the glass panels at "The Bank" and be injured.  Whether you are a fan of the Eagles or the "Brady Bunch" I hope you  enjoy the game.  The Vikings were eliminated drastically last week but I still plan to tune in the game because I usually enjoy the commercials. 

Across:    

1. Heist : ROB - Mr. Petrie on the Dick Van Dyke show

4. Pasta nutrient : CARB - Not sure if this is actually a nutrient but they will make your blood glucose go higher. 

8. Archie Bunker types : BIGOTS

14. Statement softener, in emails : IMO - In My Opinion

15. Command to Silver : HI YO - I am sure Clayton Moore hollered "Hi Ho" Silver.

16. Shangri-la : UTOPIA

19. Find hilarious : ROAR AT

20. No votes : ANTIs - All in favor of this answer say AYE, all opposed NAY

21. Half an oz.? : ZEE.

23. Olympian Lipinski : TARA - I think she was the first to perform a triple jump

24. German wheels : OPELs - I actually drove one of these once.  It was like a roller skate.

27. Seize the opportunity, sunshinewise : MAKE HAY - Think about it.  Can you actually make hay, or should you let the sun do it and then bale?

32. Metal corrosion : RUST

  

33. Part of a biathlete's gear : SKI

34. 2017 award for Emma Stone : OSCAR - Yup, the Academy Awards are know as Oscars, but I do not know why.

38. Yale email address ender : EDU

42. "Deadwood" channel : HBO - I do not subscribe to HBO but I have been to Deadwood, SD.  really crummy casinos there

43. A little lit : TIPSY - And thank you for not driving.

45. Hellenic "H" : ETA

46. All hands on deck : CREW - Military haircut

51. Italian rice dish : RISOTTO

54. Transparent soap brand : PEARS - some kind of glycerin concoction that I never heard of and probably would not spend the money to buy.

55. "I'm __ you!" : ONTO

56. "Hunh!?" : WHA - I really object to non words in puzzles.

58. Harvard's is "Veritas" : MOTTO 

61. Excited reply to "Who wants dessert?" : I DO, I DO - I think you need to say this when you get married.  The second one comes when your future wife kicks you.

66. Evening meal : DINNER

67. John known for overlapping diagrams : VENN - I googled this guy and if he were alive today he would be 184 years old.  How are we supposed to know him?

68. Loved, with "up" : ATE

69. Agrees : SAYS OK

70. Air Quality Index factor : SMOG - This is a combo of smoke and fog. We don't have much of that here in the frozen tundra.

71. Owen, to Stephen King : SON

Down:

  

1. Morning co-host with Seacrest : RIPA - Live with Kelly and Ryan.

2. Muscat's country : OMAN

3. "Cheers!" : BOTTOMS UP! - Where everybody knows your name! Don't get tipsy though.

4. Sculptor's tool : CHISEL

5. Be under the weather : AIL - Did you get your AIL shot this year??

6. Grass in a J.D. Salinger title : RYE - required reading in ninth grade. I thought it was "Catch her in the Rye."

7. R&B's __ II Men : BOYZ

8. Part of a bedroom set : BUREAU - I always called it a dresser.  I call the FBI a bureau.   

9. "What am __ do?" : I TO - I suppose you could clue the Simpson trial judge but we have all seen that before.

10. Buffalo Bill and Charles Dickens wore them : GOATEES - Colonel was sad to be overlooked.

11. "60 Minutes" part-time correspondent : OPRAH

12. Prom queen's crown : TIARA

13. Thai snack : SATAY - Chicken on a stick.

18. Hit the ball hard : RIP IT - Bowling coach's last words,  "Grip it and rip it"

22. Defib expert : EMT - We talked about this last time. I am a Graybar Electric Vet and EMT is Electrical Metallic Tubing - thin wall conduit!

25. Bart's brainy sibling : LISA

26. Munro pen name : SAKI. H. H. Munro.

28. Pretzel shape : KNOT - Sorry but I think a pretzel shape is not a knot.

29. Ridge on a neck : FRET

30. German wheels : AUDI - High quality with my apologies to those who own Opels.

31. Makes mad : RILES

35. Present time? : CHRISTMAS 46. 35-Down song : CAROL

36. Eve's second : ABEL

37. Theater seating arrangements : ROWS

39. Putin's no : NYET - "NYET collusion, NYET Collusion!"

40. Perched on : ATOP

41. Like a double eagle in golf : RARE - A double eagle is sometimes used to define an Albatross.  A hole in one on a par four, or a two on a par five. It really makes no sense though, since an eagle is a score of 2 under par on a hole, (or a Philadelphia player) so a double eagle would be four under par on a hole - (or a requirement for a Brady sack.) 

44. Sure victors : SHOO-INS - I would go with Shoe In, however I learned that this is also a horse racing term.

48. On the clock : AT WORK

49. "How stupid am I?!" : DOH

50. Title job for Shakespeare's Petruchio : TAMING - The only Shakespeare I ever read was Julius Caesar, and it was pretty boring.  "How many eggs did you have for breakfast this morning, Caesar ?"  Et tu Brute

51. PEDs, in slang : ROIDs - I wonder if Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, and Sammy Sosa called them that.

52. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" locale : INDIA - I have never been to India, but I drove through Indiana once.  Does that count?

53. Poker-faced : STONY

57. Off-rd. transports : ATVs

59. Bandleader Puente : TITO

60. Team on a field : OXEN - Good old English language. Most every plural ends in "S", except several oxes.

62. __ volente : DEO

64. Sleep phase : REM

65. Mexican year : ANO

  

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Happy birthday to dear Bill G, who's been with this blog for over 9 years. Bill is always gentle and warm, even to mean anons. I feel like I've "had" some Cuban food because of Bill.

Bill and his wife Barbara