Standard Operating Procedures
20. 100-mile-an-hour fastball, often: STRIKE OUT PITCH.
25. Classy neckwear: STRING OF PEARLS.
42. Bike storage bags, e.g.: STRAP ON POUCHES.
47. What a plus sign indicates on a golf match scoreboard: STROKES OVER PAR.
A reveal hidden in plain sight. See the answer to 1 Down. Clever.
I first noticed the STR starts to the answers. Then saw the O P and thought STROP ? As in a sharpening strop ? Bzzt.
Across:
1. Enjoys Breckenridge, say: SKIS. Breckenridge, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. Never been there, but I have skied at Seven Springs in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains.
5. Cries out loud: SOBS.
9. "If I Had a Hammer" singer Lopez: TRINI. This Pete Seeger song and covers of it by Peter Paul and Mary, Trini Lopez and others got old after the 3 gazillionth play on the radio. It was inescapable. "Why didn't he just go to the hardware store and buy a hammer ?"
14. In the past: ONCE.
15. Geometry calculation: AREA. A surveyor needs to understand geometry. Calculating Surface Areas Of Irregular Shaped Fields
16. Pay by mail: REMIT. We probably average a roll a year now, and most of those are at Christmas.
17. Metered work, usually: POEM.
18. Duck that lends its name to a color: TEAL.
19. Word from the wise: ADAGE. 'If you can't take it, don't dish it out." "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." OKAY, OKAY, alright already. I take it back. If I Had a Hammer is a fine song.
23. Vent opening?: PRE.
24. Stein filler: ALE.
33. Total confusion: CHAOS.
34. Made public: AIRED.
35. Summer Games org.: IOC. International Olympic Committee
36. Admission of fault: OOPS. Mea culpa.
37. Less clumsy: ABLER.
38. Back up a step, as in an app: UNDO.
39. "__ is me!": WOE.
40. For all to hear: ALOUD.
41. Good feature: ASSET.
45. Partner of to: FRO.
46. 22.5 deg.: NNE.
55. Pick up gradually: GLEAN. Over time I gleaned that arguing with a woman is like reading a software license agreement. In the end you just click "I Agree"
56. Crafted, as a tale: WOVE.
57. Keep for later: SAVE.
58. Wonderland cake message: EAT ME. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
59. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI.
60. Express line unit: ITEM. Grammarians note when the sign reads, "10 items or less" but it doesn't peeve me. A full shopping cart in that line might.
61. Jacket material: TWEED.
62. Bakery product: ROLL.
63. Fiddling emperor: NERO. An awful man on all accounts. As despicable as he was, he couldn't have played a fiddle because it wasn't invented yet. Perhaps a lute ?
Down:
1. Soaks (up): SOPS.
2. Wood imperfection: KNOT.
3. Cake finisher: ICER.
4. Part-time players: SEMIPROS.
5. Glossy fabric: SATEEN.
6. Layered Nabisco treat: OREO.
7. Belle's counterpart: BEAU.
8. Basic food preservative: SALT.
9. Was behind in the match: TRAILED. Golf, tennis, chess
10. Herbal brew: RED TEA.
11. Apple since 1998: IMAC. IMAC is also an IT term for Installs, Moves, Adds and Changes.
12. Soon to happen: NIGH. As quaint as anon.
13. Suffix with urban: ITE.
21. Songwriter Kristofferson: KRIS. He's in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of fame. The opening lyrics from one of his most famous songs:
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
When I was feeling nearly faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way to New Orleans
When I was feeling nearly faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way to New Orleans
22. School research assignment: PAPER.
25. Slap the puck toward the goal: SHOOT. Patrick Sharp demonstrates.
26. Get to the point?: TAPER.
27. Cameroon neighbor: GABON. Two of the thirty-seven errors I made on Husker Gary's countries of Africa geography quiz last week.
28. Prepare for a bodybuilding competition: OIL UP.
29. Middle Corleone brother: FREDO. Fredo is the younger brother of Sonny, and the older brother of Michael in Mario Puzo's The Godfather, portrayed by John Cazale in the movie.
30. Salon procedure: RINSE.
31. Rich ore deposits: LODES.
32. Many a clan member: SCOT.
33. Farm moms: COWS. They are heifers until they become moms.
37. "Take __ at this!": A LOOK. Take a look at this school mural. That's a real fire extinguisher.
38. Signals the arrival of, as a new era: USHERS IN.
40. Dressed like a chef: APRONED.
41. Embarrassing spots: ACNE.
43. Typical chalet: A-FRAME.
44. Launch, as a new product: UNVEIL.
47. Side with a sandwich: SLAW.
48. Head of Haiti: TETE. Président Jovenel Moïse since the Nov 2016 elections. Protestors stoned his house and called for his resignation Saturday.
49. Vessel with a spout: EWER.
50. Ho-hum: SO SO.
51. Avocado shape: OVAL.
52. Canapé spread: PATE.
53. Say with certainty: AVER.
54. San __, Italy: REMO. Zoom in, Zoom out
55. "__ it?": "Comprende?": GET.
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to our sweet LaLaLinda. Linda does not post these days, but she still reads our posts and comments every day. We miss your presence, Linda!
