Monday Jan 7, 2019 Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski

Theme: WINDBREAKER (50. Lightweight jacket, and a hint to 21-, 26- and 44-Across) - WIND is broken up in 3 different ways.

21. Sommelier: WINE STEWARD.

26. Court spot for giving testimony: WITNESS STAND.

44. One constantly fretting: WORRYING KIND.

Boomer here.

I witnessed the WIND on the PGA tour in Hawaii, but no WIN for my friend Desper-otto's a bit unLUCKy Houston Texans, (who I identified as Oilers by mistake a few weeks ago.)  The same fate the Vikings handed me last week. Congrats to the LA Chargers, who took care of the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Bowling - last Monday 525, Thursday 522. Feeling a little better about my game.  We'll see what happens this week.

Across:

1. "Forever" mail attachment: STAMP. Forever stamps price is going up to .55 on January 27.  Stock up because whatever forever stamps you own will be worth 5 cents more on the 27th.  Probably a better increase than the stocks you might own.

6. Time travel destination: PAST. Add an A if you are hungry.

10. __ and chips: FISH. Fishing is a year-round hobby for many in Minnesota. C.C. and I have drowned a few worms in the past. 

14. Deed holder: OWNER.

15. Drink with a polar bear mascot: ICEE. Drink it fast and your forehead will feel it.

16. "The __ Ranger": LONE. Who was that masked man? I wanted to thank him.  Clayton Moore.  There was a bowling center in St. Paul, West Side Lanes, which had many autographed 8 X 10s in their banquet room.  Clayton Moore was on that wall.

17. Specialized vocab: LINGO.

18. Workers with antennae: ANTS. Don't let them get in your pants!

19. Had bills to pay: OWED.  I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.

20. Psych 101 subject: EGO. Lego my Ego. (spelled it wrong on purpose to see if anyone complains.)

24. Range above tenor: ALTO. Okay but as I have complained before, I always knew Alto as a Female voice, and tenor - Male

25. '60s pop singer __ Lee: BRENDA.  I liked Skeeter Davis' rendition of "The End of the World", but Brenda Lee was okay too.

31. "The Gift of the Magi" author: O HENRY.  William Porter.  I think he invented a candy bar.

32. Years and years: EONS.

33. Litter cry: MEW.

36. Organic smoke detector: NOSE. A nose by any other name, still smells the same.

37. Uppercut target: JAW. Add an "S" and you might need a bigger boat.

38. Bavaria-based automaker: AUDI.

39. Adorns with Angel Soft, briefly: TPS.

40. Sandler of "Hotel Transylvania" films: ADAM. Happy Gilmore! A Hockey player joins the PGA.  (I won't tell you how it ends.)

42. Bit of corn: KERNEL.  There's a whole kernel of wheat, in every Wheaties flake. I drive by General Mills HQ 1-2 times every week.

46. Major road: ARTERY.

49. Strips of developed film, briefly: NEGS.

53. Proofs of age, for short: IDS.  We have an IDS Tower in Minneapolis. Built for Investor's Diversified Services.  (Now known as Ameriprise Financial.)  The tower was built in 1972 and is the height of about 910 feet.  It was behemoth at the time, and although many tall buildings have been added to the city, none are as tall as the IDS, I believe out of respect.

56. Hyped-up: AGOG.

57. Hard-to-resist feeling: URGE.

58. Harriet's TV hubby: OZZIE. Sitcom of the fifties.  Younger son Ricky Nelson, became a famous crooner who turned girls into swooners.  He competed quite well opposing stars like Elvis Presley and Pat Boone from 1957 - 1964.  His career hit a snag called the Beatles in 1964, yeah, yeah, yeah.  Ricky died in a plane crash in Texas in 1985.  RIP.  

60. Like kitten videos: CUTE.

61. Dark movie genre: NOIR.

62. Africa's Sierra __: LEONE. A relatively small country on the West Coast of Africa.

63. Risked a ticket: SPED.  I have had three or four lifetime speeding tickets, most when I was young and stupid and the fine was about $10.00. However, I got one when I was old and stupid and paid about $150.00.

64. Boys, to men: SONS.

65. Gave false hope to: LED ON.

Down:

1. Fish served "amandine": SOLE.  A member of the flounder family.  In our fishing expedition with C.C. in Minnesota, the goal was walleye or northern pike, however the result was usually sunfish.

2. Bit of kindling: TWIG. There once was a British model named after a Twig.

3. Part of A.D.: ANNO. The other half is Domini - Year of our Lord.  Told you I took four years of Latin.

4. "Little Women" woman: MEG.  Three letters, could have been Amy. Jo and Beth would not fit.

5. Cat, or cat burglar: PROWLER.

6. Upright and grand: PIANOS. I wish I would have learned to play the piano. But I was too busy bowling and playing golf.  Sigh.

7. Clearasil target: ACNE.

8. Tennis match segments: SETS. Or a set can be a complete run of Topps Heritage Chrome baseball cards.

9. Nuclear restraint topic: TEST BAN.  We don't hear much about test ban treaties anymore.  Unless you live near North Korea. 

10. Moved like water: FLOWED.

11. Hawkeye State resident: IOWAN. Just south of me, I've been there many times. Elizabeth Warren was there this weekend.  I hope she likes corn.

12. McCarthy's friend Mortimer: SNERD. We don't see ventriloquists on TV anymore. Where is Ed Sullivan when you need him ?

13. Ibsen's "__ Gabler": HEDDA.  Never heard of her, but I have heard of Ms. Hopper.

22. __-bitsy: ITSY. Teenie Weenie yellow polka dot bikini.  That she wore for the first time today.

23. Sea eagles: ERNS.

24. "Worst Cooks in America" judge Burrell: ANNE.

26. "This __ take long": WON'T. I hope you are not talking about a crossword puzzle. It usually takes me an hour to get about one third, then I give up.

27. Breakfast chain: IHOP.  Pumpkin Spice pancakes for Halloween. Now they have green pancakes to honor the Grinch. Ted Geisel was Dr. Seuss who wrote about the Grinch. I don't remember because I was 2 years old but I met Dr. Seuss in a San Diego library. My Mom purchased a copy of "If I Ran the Zoo", and Dr. Seuss autographed it.  I wish I still had it. 

28. Thomas Hardy heroine: TESS.

29. Disreputable: SEAMY.

30. Stranded driver's need: TOW.  Tow, Tow, Tow your car, Gently down the street.

33. City bond, informally: MUNI.  Tax free dividends.  You may wish you had these in a couple of months.

34. Garden locale in a Sistine Chapel mural: EDEN.

35. Like animals in the Serengeti: WILD.  Also a Minnesota NHL Hockey player.

37. Cookie container: JAR.  When is a door not a door?  When it's ajar.

38. Torah holders: ARKS. Noah's used boat lot.

40. Choice of two: A OR B. This choice occurs on "The Chase".  I cannot stand the shouting Brook Burns, and the Beast is no treat either.

41. Practice exercises: DRY RUNS.

42. Replaceable joint: KNEE.  The quarterback might take one or two with a lead at the end of the game.

43. Chinese appetizer: EGG ROLL.  I'll check with C.C.  A lot of American Chinese food is fake.

44. Squeezed (in): WEDGED.  Should have used a nine iron.

45. Comic book artists: INKERS.  I was a flyboy at a newspaper, but we had inkers too. They did not have comic books to read, or print though.

46. Spy plane acronym: AWACS. Airborne Warning and Control System.

47. Construct haphazardly: RIG UP. "Fry up another batch of bullheads, Muriel, I smell another election coming." Words of famous Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey. Although the elections were NOT rigged up.

48. Govt. security: T NOTE.

51. Suffix with sock: EROO.  I think this started with the Kangaroo, but now we see the suffix every where.

52. Not fer: AGIN.  Someone has been watching too many "Beverly Hillbillies".

53. Longtime seller of Lacoste shirts: IZOD.

54. "The Flintstones" pet: DINO.  Remember the "Sinclair" gas stations ?

55. Observed: SEEN.

59. Middle of Arizona?: ZEE.  Arizona, Take off your rainbow shades, Arizona, hey won'tcha

go my way.

Boomer