Theme: SHUFFLEBOARD (54. Game played on a floor or table, and a
hint to this puzzle's circled letters- Three types of boards are
scrambled inside each theme answer.
20. Particular: HARD TO PLEASE. Dartboard.
28. Hospital bigwig: CHIEF SURGEON. Surfboard.
44. Formally accuse of wrongdoing: PRESS CHARGES. Chessboard.
Boomer
here.
Melissa lost her internet connection due to the bad weather, so
Manager C.C. called me off the bench to pinch hit. Of course,
Spring training baseball is in session but I looked out of the dugout
and I did not see spring yet here in Minnesota. Continued snow and cold
as March comes in like a lion but hopefully will go out like a lamb.
One more note to follow up on Monday - I am not a big NBA fan however
Timberwolves All-Star, Karl Anthony Towns survived a car accident when
the car in which he was a passenger was hit from behind by a semi
truck. Karl passed concussion protocol and returned to the court
Monday vs. Sacramento and scored 34 points with 21 rebounds, so it seems
he is okay. My bowling is getting better, but nothing over 600 yet.
Across:
1. Old Russian ruler: TSAR. I think this a Bulgarian word for king.
5. Landlocked African nation: MALI.
9. Wedding registry category: CHINA. C.C.'s native country. The wedding registry is DISHES.
14. Famous final question: ET TU. How many eggs did you have for breakfast Caesar ?
15. "Ducky" Mallard's alma mater, on "NCIS": ETON.
16. Support people: AIDES.
17. Prefix in juice names: CRAN.
"Raspberries, Strawberries, the good wine we brew." The Kingston Trio
did not mention cranberries. Not close enough to Thanksgiving,
18. Tends to the lawn: MOWS. I have heard of this, but we are shoveling the lawn here these days.
19. '50s four-wheeled failure: EDSEL. Strange name. Edsel Ford was Henry Ford's son and Henry Ford II's
father. I believe the model came out in 1958, when I was a kid and
everyone visited car dealerships to view the new models. I remember
some dealerships had canvas tarps over their new models until THE day!
The Ford Edsel had a nose on the grill and did not seem to entice
acceptance by the public.
23. Kitchen counter?: TIMER. I use mine frequently.
24. "__ thought": IT'S A. __ bird, __ plane, it's Superman !
25. Place to unwind: SPA.
31. Gig gear: AMP. Okay, but when I see this word, I think of electric current.
34. Lessen: EASE.
35. Tweak, as text: EDIT.
36. Some trucks: DIESELS. Actually auto makers tried to make cars run on diesel but it did not seem to catch on.
38. The North Pole, for Santa: ADDRESS.
Every time we see Santa in a clue, we think of Argyle. Interesting,
the pastor of my church is father Tom Santa. In a previous sermon he
read some interesting mail that he received around Christmastime.
41. Opposite of endo-: ECTO.
42. Flat-bottomed vessel: SCOW. I spell this BOAT.
43. Daisy Ridley's "The Last Jedi" role: REY.
49. Blue Jays' home: Abbr.: TOR. My only touch in Toronto was a plane change on the way to New Hampshire.
50. Mimicked: APED.
51. Small lizard: GECKO. Not a car insurance ad.
57. Fluffy-eared "bear": KOALA. Not a soft drink.
60. Hair-removal brand: NAIR.
61. Vintage ski lift: T BAR. I wish they had these on some of the golf courses that I have played.
62. Arouse, as wrath: INCUR.
63. Basic French verb: ETRE. Still do not like foreign words in puzzles.
64. Theta follower: IOTA. I am not sure if Greek letters are foreign words. This one means a little bit.
65. Tank fish: TETRA.
You won't catch these fish in Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. I think this
is another Greek prefix meaning four or five. I think a TETRA blast
would mean 5 strikes in a row, without leaving a TETRA pin.
66. "Keep it __": REAL. This is a confusing word. I see it in front of "Real Estate". Is there a "Fake Estate"?
67. Provide job support for?: ABET. Five dollars on the Pass Line please.
Down:
1. __ support: TECH.
Someone just called trying to sell me tech support. I lied and said I
don't have a computer. That always makes them go away.
2. Classic Fender guitar, for short: STRAT.
Earlier this month we remembered the death of Buddy Holly 60 years
ago on February 3, in Iowa. Buddy made his Fender Stratocaster famous,
Oh Boy!
3. Arcade pioneer: ATARI. Yup, I had a bunch of these old video game cartridges.
4. "Walk This Way" rap trio: RUN DMC.
5. Many a D.C. landmark: MEMORIAL. I have never visited D.C. I bet it would be very interesting.
6. Perched on: ATOP. Old Smokie ?
7. Good-for-nothing: LOWLIFE.
8. Mini-maps: INSETS. Sometimes on line, you can enlarge them.
9. 14-Across speaker: CAESAR. He's the one who ET TU eggs.
10. Go underground: HIDE.
11. Cards checked at the door: IDS. Saw this in a previous puzzle. I've told you about the IDS tower - the tallest building in Minneapolis.
12. French word in bios: NEE. I think it means "Ma'am, what was your surname before you got hitched."
13. Syst. for the hearing-impaired: ASL.
21. Giggle: TE HEE.
22. Sun Devils' sch.: ASU. I heard that it snowed this year in the state of Arizona.
25. Passover feast: SEDER.
26. Self-assurance: POISE. There seems to be a lot of self-assured POISE going on in the MLB millionaires baseball camps this spring. We shall see.
27. On pins and needles: ANTSY.
29. Curvy letter: ESS.
30. Berlin's home: Abbr.: GER. How can GER be an abbreviation for Deutschland ?
31. Showing mastery: ADEPT.
32. Prefix with brewery: MICRO. If you like a craft beer. My keyboard says it can also be a prefix for soft.
33. Rocker Frampton: PETER. Pumpkin eater.
37. Scrubbing brand: SOS. These are made from steel wool. Be careful.
38. Unlike this ans.: ACR (Across)
39. Technically flawed comic poetry: DOGGEREL.
40. Nerdy sort: DWEEB.
42. Tragic end: SAD FATE. See the Buddy Holly story above.
45. Much of North Africa: SAHARA. Formerly a casino in Las Vegas. The Sahara Avenue is still there but the casino is gone.
46. PC brain: CPU.
47. Noted bunny lover: HEFNER. The last of the Playboy mansions has closed and Hugh left us in 2017. Quite a story.
48. Nova __: SCOTIA.
52. Skewered meat: KABOB. Shish ?
53. Give a political speech: ORATE. Did not care much for the orations at the Oscars. Nobody thanked me.
54. Put-down: SLUR.
55. Turkey bacon?: LIRA. Old Italian bacon as well.
56. "Well, shoot": DRAT.
57. Modeling convenience: KIT. I loved these things when I was a kid. Glued together a lot of planes and cars.
58. Tip jar bill: ONE.
This is an expensive task for our government to print these bills. They
have tried Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and President golden
dollars, but nothing catches on. People stubbornly continue to fill
their wallets with dollar bills that last about two years, and scorn the
coins which will last a lifetime.
59. Perform: ACT.
Boomer
Notes from C.C.:
The 42nd American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (March 22 to March 24) will be held at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut. For those who attend, don't miss the Cru Dinner organized by the great Mike Alpern, who welcomed his first grandson a few months ago.
The Cru Dinner (6 pm to 8 pm, Friday, March 22) officially kicks off the tournament and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers. The space is limited, esp this year, so be sure to contact with Mike as soon as possible.
