A Spooktacular Halloween!
Bruce Haight has given us a Frightening puzzle for this Halloween.
24. Sci-fi character trying to creep it real?: MISTER SPOOK. Mr. Spock's evil twin.
35. Comedian who says no body's perfect?: RED SKELETON. As in Red Skelton (né Richard Skelton; July 18, 1913 ~ Sept. 17, 1997). He had lots of amusing characters in his repertoire. When I was a kid, I thought his surname really was Skeleton.
49. Pop group whose music is in en-crypted files?: SPICE GHOULS. Kin to the Beastie Boys. Very appropriate since one of the members was known as Scary Spice.
58. Actor who frights for every part?: SCARY GRANT. As in Cary Grant (né Archibald Alec Leach; Jan. 18, 1904 ~ Nov. 29, 1986).
What other scary things appeared in today's puzzle?
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
~ Scottish Poem
17. Actor who's anxious to get the Halloween party startled?: BOO BRIDGES. Long lost brother of Beau Bridges (né Lloyd Vernet Bridges, III; b. Dec. 9, 1941).
And the unifier:
42. Like this puzzle's theme?: HAUNTED.
What other scary things appeared in today's puzzle?
Across:
1. Story with many chapters: SAGA. I can really get lost in a good Saga.
5. Hoops gp. since 1996: WNBA. As in the Women's National Basketball Association.
9. Colorado tribe: UTEs.
13. Curved fastener: U-BOLT. Not to be confused with Usain Bolt.
15. Remote batteries: AAAs.
16. Former Persian ruler: SHAH. The last Shah was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Oct. 26, 1919 ~ July 27, 1980). He was shah from September 1941 until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in February 1979.
19. Only: MERE. I initially tried Sole.
20. Man __: trendy hairstyle: BUN.
21. Neighborhood: AREA.
22. Sonnet line fivesome: IAMBI.
23. Communications co. with a blue-and-white globe logo: ATT.
27. Bends to retie laces, say: STOOPS. Or a place to sit.
29. Velvet-voiced Tormé: MEL. As in the singer Mel Tormé (Sept. 13, 1925 ~ June 5, 1999). I remember him from being the hero of the Honorable Judge Harry T. Stone from the sit-com, Night Court.
30. Air rifle ammo: BBs.
31. One might put stock in it: SOUP. How to make a Soup Stock.
32. Small keyboard: SPINET. It doesn't look so small to me.
39. Zero: NOT ONE. The perps gave me this answer, which I initially parsed as NO TONE.
40. Composer who was a CBS reporter: TESH. As in John TESH (né John Frank Tesh; b. July 9, 1952). I think he was more of an entertainment reporter, not a news reporter.
43. Medium ability: ESP. As in ExtraSensory Perception.
46. __ de deux: PAS. A ballet dance for two people, generally a man and a woman and a Red Sox player.
47. Everycity, USA: PEORIA. But does it play in Peoria?
53. __ shot: FLU. I got my Flu shot. Did you get yours?
54. Pear centers: CORES.
55. __ B'rith: B'NAI. B'nai B'rith is a Hebrew phrase that means "Children of the Covenant". Founded in 1843, B'nai B'rith is the oldest Jewish service organization the world.
56. Former Fed chair Bernanke: BEN. As in Ben Bernanke (né Ben Shalom Bernanke; b. Dec. 13, 1953). He served as the 14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve from February 2006 through January 2014.
57. Just barely: A TAD.
61. Show impatience, in a way: PACE.
62. Opposite of away: HOME.
63. Actor Nick: NOLTE. As in Nick Nolte (né Nicholas King Nolte; b. Feb. 8, 1941).
64. Ice cream brand: EDY'S. This brand of ice cream makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.
65. Messy stack: HEAP.
66. Ran, as dye: BLED.
Down:
1. Speaker for low sounds: SUB-BASS.
2. Momentarily will, after "is": ABOUT TO. As in the sentence: Dinner is About To be served.
3. Travel with the band: GO ON TOUR. Thank you, perps. This is another one I tried to parse incorrectly. I initially looked at it as Goon Tour. Well, that fits with today's scary theme!
4. Greece neighbor: Abbr.: ALB. As in Albania, the country to the west of Greece.
5. Gets one's feet wet: WADES.
6. Bedevil: NAG AT.
7. Sweetie, in slang: BAE. We've had discussions of this puzzle word in the recent past.
8. Donkey: ASS.
9. 50states.com graphic, for short: US MAP. As in a Map of the United States. If you had a map of the US without the States identified, could you place all the States in their correct location?
10. Crime film group: THE MOB.
11. Dangling jewelry: EARBOB. I think of this as being an old-fashioned word. I remember reading about Earbobs in Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.
12. Mideast chieftains: SHEIKS.
14. Pooch who shared spaghetti with Lady: TRAMP. A reference to the Disney animated movie Lady and the Tramp.
18. Crocus kin: IRIS.
22. Florida key, e.g.: ISLET.
25. Novelist Zola: ÉMILE. Émile Zola (Apr. 2, 1940 ~ Sept. 29, 1902) is best known for his role in the Dreyfus Affair, in which Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was wrongfully accused of revealing military secrets solely because he was Jewish. Zola wrote a letter that was published in the Paris newspaper accusing high ranking army officials of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was ultimately exonerated. Dreyfus Affair.
26. Russo who plays Frigga in "Thor" films: RENE. As in actress Rene Russo (née Rene Marie Russo; b. Feb. 17, 1954). She began her career as a fashion model.
28. Uncork, say: OPEN.
32. Smidge: SKOSH. A fun word.
33. Fenced-in area: PEN.
34. "Africa" band: TOTO. You know you've heard this song.
36. Chowderheads: DOPES.
37. Dudes-only: STAG.
38. Spongy toy: NERF BALL. You can get one for all sorts of sports.
41. Matte finish?: SILENT E. Not keen on this type of cluing.
43. Way out: ESCAPE. Another appropriate word for Halloween. This reminded me of Harry Houdini (né Erik Weiss; Mar. 24, 1874 ~ Oct. 31, 1926), the great ESCAPE artist. Sadly, he died on Halloween.
44. Brief TV plug: SPOT AD.
45. Kidd stuff: PIRACY. Think of Captain Kidd, the pirate, not the USS Kidd, which is now housed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
47. Remote button: PLAY.
48. Complete, as a PDF contract: E-SIGN.
50. Gives over (to): CEDES.
51. Michelle Robinson's married name: OBAMA. As in the former First Lady, Michelle Obama (b. Jan. 17, 1964).
52. Gen. Assembly member: UN REP. As in a Representative in the United Nations.
58. "Lower your voice!": SHH! Don't awaken all the Ghouls tonight!
59. Country singer David Allan __: COE. I am not up in my country music, so was not familiar with David Allan Coe (b. Sept. 6, 1939).
60. Steal from: ROB.
This puzzle was a real Treat.
Here's the Grid:
Here's the Grid:
