Today we celebrate that fruit that the old saw says if ingested daily can keep the doctor away. It is significant to me because it falls so near my 9/11 birthday. It has become a tradition for my lovely bride and I to meet our kids and their kids in Nebraska City, NE at the Kimmel Orchards where we pick fruit from the trees and peruse their country wares in the store. Following that we go up to the Lied Lodge and Conference Center for a wonderful meal overlooking the lovely country bordering the Missouri River. I'll be so sad when we no longer do this.
Today's constructor is Michael Ansley. He writes of himself - I lived nearly 20 years in Manhattan, New York, and have now lived with my wife and two children in Scottsdale, Arizona, since 1993. Besides being a maniacal online chess buff, in my spare time I dabble at another sport which, on my better days, strongly resembles golf.
Michael is a wonderful crossword constructor and is very prolific in the construction of Acrostics. Click here to read more about Michael and see more of his other publications on Amazon.
My solving involved searching for any port in a storm and then eventually there were no more cells to fill. The SE corner was a treasure trove of known answers as soon as I remembered how to spell the rope-soled shoe.
Across:
1. Ones going downhill fast: SKI JUMPERS - Many of us remember when ABC's Wide World Of Sports opening used this SKI JUMP accident to show The Agony of Defeat
11. Opulent: LUSH and 11. Opulent: LUXE - I am not likely to use one of these synonyms
15. They always get underfoot: INNERSOLES - Get a "custom" one at these kiosks
16. Biblical preposition: UNTO.
17. Pop music feature: TOP TEN LIST - TOP TEN LIST of songs for every year since 1950
18. Wolverine, for one: X-MAN - If you're interested, you already know about him
19. "Westworld" airer: HBO - A violent sci-fi (yes, I said sci-fi) western
20. '70s-'80s self-improvement course: EST - Erhard Seminar Training A very intense course that eventually was labelled a cult and died out
21. Notre Dame's river: SEINE - Yup!
22. Legendary chanteuse: PIAF - A very young girl doing an fabulous imitation of Edith PIAF's distinctive singing/warbling style
26. Max.: ULT - Max(imum)/ULT(imate)
28. Equivalents of pairs of FGs: TDS
29. Somewhat out of place, as hair: MUSSED
31. __ dish: PETRI.
33. Type of medicine: HOLISTIC - Do what you like but I'll take my doctors
35. 1969 retail clothing debut: THE GAP - The founder Don Fisher couldn't find a pair of jeans that fit him so he opened his own store on Ocean Ave. in San Francisco.
38. Second film with Craig as Bond: QUANTUM OF SOLACE - Ah something new! A beautiful woman, suggestively attired, wearing illogical footwear and walking away from mayhem
40. "Counting Sheep" purchases: SERTAS - We have one and it is wonderful!
41. Monthly reading: GAS METER - Do meter readers still roam the landscape?
42. Pampers, with "on": DOTES.
44. More stingy: MEANER - Which was your favorite stingy Scrooge? Mine is Reginald Owen - circa. 1938
45. "Avatar" actress Saldana: ZOE - Her makeup probably took as long as John Travolta's for Hairspray
47. Attorney's letters: ESQ - Perry Mason, Esq.
48. Origin abbr.: ESTD - LA Times Crossword Corner - ESTablisheD 1/21/2008
49. Pointed: AIMED
51. Small city?: URB - The Oxford Dictionary says it is, "An urban area, a city" and so URB is a small word for a city
54. Base figs.: GI'S - A crazy bunch of GI'S in Stripes, shot on BASE at Fort Knox.
57. Scheme: PLAN.
58. Left in the dust: SAILED PAST - What Usain Bolt did in his Olympic races
62. Hang: PEND.
63. Shoe with a rope sole: ESPADRILLE - The spelling took some perp help
64. Contributes: ADDS.
65. Film with cues: THE HUSTLER - A great movie that garnered Oscar nominations for Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott
Down:
1. Jedi foes: SITH - Their starting lineup
2. Round handle: KNOB.
3. Hot: IN POPULAR DEMAND - The Beanie Babies were IN POPULAR DEMAND in the 90's but that craze wore off and some got stuck with lots of toys that did not appreciate in value
4. Fly quickly: JET.
5. Midge __, co-organizer of the Live Aid benefit concert: URE - Midge was a phonetic reversal of his given name Jim
6. AOL alternative: MSN.
7. German's neighbor: POLE - In 1939 the Germans dropped in on their neighbors unexpectedly and violently
8. "__ Comin'": Laura Nyro song: ELI'S - I remember Three Dog Night singing that song
9. Gather one's strength: REST UP
10. Retired flier: SST - A crash in 2000, the 2001 Trade Center attack and rising maintenance costs grounded our crossword friend
12. Brass: UNMITIGATED GALL
13. Orchestra pit aid: STAND - Usually with lights
14. Brushes up on: HONES
21. Westernmost of the Virgin Islands: ST. THOMAS and 55. 21-Down, e.g.: ISLE.
23. Digs: IS INTO.
24. Per prior mention: AS STATED - AS STATED in paragraph 4, subsection c...
25. Some ultrasound images: FETUSES - I would have liked to have known the gender of our children before they were born. You?
27. "Well, as I recall ... ": LET'S SEE, I think I told you I take a 30. Skeptical, as a view: DIM view of your talking while I am talking
29. Grimace: MOUE.
32. Cave: RELENT - She did neither
33. Command ctrs.: HQS - The Strategic Air Command's (Now Stratcom) HQ is just south of Omaha
34. Small part: COG.
36. Maker of Swift laptops: ACER.
37. Each: PER.
39. Sibs, uncs, etc.: FAM - The FAM dynamics at the funeral for my niece this week weren't all that great
43. Suppress: SQUASH.
45. 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement awardee: ZAPPA - Okay
46. Quieted, in a way: OILED - Get some on that squeaky wheel
50. Closes: ENDS.
52. Fit for harvesting: RIPE - This corn looks RIPE but is not fit for harvesting because the moisture content is too high at 29.2%
53. Boring: BLAH - Is that the best ya got, Husker Gary?
56. End of a mob?: STER - Is Al Capone your first image?
58. Full collection: SET.
59. Loyola domain: EDU - Loyola University of Chicago's web site is http://www.lcu.edu
60. OR principals: DRS - Do you know the names of any of these TV DRS or the show that featured them?
61. Peril in a Poe title: PIT - I chose the less graphic depiction of this 1843 Poe classic tale
Treat yourself to some caramel dip with an apple as you comment for us today!
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