Monday April 29, 2019 Matt McKinley

Theme: MLB (66. Org. in which the start of five answers is a "central" player) - Each starting word is a AL or NL Central player.

 

16A. Advice columnists Ann and Abby, e.g. (AL Central): TWIN SISTERS.

37A. Monarch's self-referential plural pronoun (AL Central): ROYAL WE.

59A. Pride or greed, e.g. (NL Central): CARDINAL SIN.

 

9D. Preteens in a pack (NL Central): CUB SCOUTS.

32D. Warnings of serious danger (NL Central): RED ALERTS.

Boomer here.

A bit of a tough time last week. Our homeowners association hired a contractor to replace our roof shingles. Not only was the noise unbearable, but they also moved my Direct TV satellite dish off line and I had NO TV for three days!

C.C. and I spent several days out of the house, donating a little money to Mystic Lake casino, (a small gambling loss and feasting at their buffet for lunch two days.) We also made a stop at the famous Mall of America, however we did not buy much, MOA has tourist trap pricing in most stores. 

Across:

1. Britannica ref.: ENC. 

4. Singer LuPone: PATTI.  Not familiar with her, but I have heard of Patti Page.

9. Baseball hat: CAP.  I have quite a few.  Some are TC, Some are Vikings, and a lot are Golf.

12. Classic grape soda: NEHI.  I believe this was a favorite of Radar O'Reilly.

14. Sarge's command: TEN HUT.  Sarge's command for Attention.  Ten Huts is where we lived.

15. Put into play: USE.

18. "If I may digress ...," in texts: BTW.

19. Sprinted: RAN FAST.  When I was a kid, women wore nylon stockings that ran fast.

20. Jackie's Ari: ONASSIS.  Jackie could have written the book "How to Marry a Millionaire",

22. __ one's time: didn't rush: TOOK.

23. Sharp-tasting: ACIDIC.

24. King's tenure: REIGN.  "Uh Ha, Oh no, don't let the reign come down."  

27. Tiered Asian temple: PAGODA.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

30. Apt.'s sleeping area: BDRM.  Still not fond of abbreviations.

33. "Bro!": DUDE.  "Hey Dude, Don't make it bad, Take a sad song, and make it better."

35. Hitch, as a ride: THUMB.  Wow, I did this so many times before I had a car.  My high school was 5 miles from my home, and if I needed to stay after school there was no activity bus.  Once I hitchhiked home from Sacramento to Minneapolis.

36. Commit perjury: LIE.

39. Shop __ you drop: TIL.  You can really get exhausted at good old Mall of America.

40. "The Giant" of wrestling: ANDRE.  He spent some time in Vern Gagne's AWA.  I remember his battle with Hulk Hogan in WrestleMania, however I do not think he ever fought (Governor) Jesse, "The Body" Ventura.  Andre was one year older than I but he passed in 1993.  Those seven foot 520 pounders don't seem to last as long as six foot two - 180 lbs. (But they make more $$$)

42. Food for hogs: SLOP.  Aw, don't call my dinner slop.

43. "Ohio" quartet, initially: CSNY. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

44. St. Peter's domain: HEAVEN.  I checked with Warren Beatty and "Heaven Can Wait" 

46. "The Lion King" hero: SIMBA.  I know lions are kings of the jungle, but I never saw one wearing a crown.

48. Chinese PC giant whose name is partly derived from the Latin for "new": LENOVO.  I am preparing these comments on our Lenovo, which has been very dependable over several years. 

50. Hertz rival: AVIS.  We always answer this clue with Avis. We don't often  see National, Budget, Dollar, Payless, Enterprise, Alamo, Advantage, or Thrifty.  Maybe Avis is the only four letter rental company. 

53. Faddish pursuit, after "all": THE RAGE.  Isn't this where kids go to smoke pot and listen to bands?  "Or is that only on Law & Order"?

55. Carefree antics: HIJINKS.  My Mother used to bowl on a team with a lady whose nickname was Jinks.  So when I saw her I said ---

58. "The Fault in __ Stars": 2014 film: OUR.

61. Obtain: GET.  That's why they say Go-getter, and not Go-obtainer.

62. Neatened (up): TIDIED.  Or clean up your wash.

63. Chekov bridgemate, in "Star Trek": SULU.

64. GEICO specialties?: ADS.  Not only GEICO.  I get a kick out of all those companies try to "Out funny" each other. I do laugh at their lies about how much money they can save us though. 

65. Little cuts: SNIPS. 

Down:

1. __'acte: intermission: ENTR.

2. A novice in: NEW AT.

3. Trouser material: CHINO.  Never had a pair and Santa, do NOT bring me one

4. Kid brother, at times: PEST.  I never had a brother and my sisters were not pests.  But here in Minnesota, we have plenty of mosquitoes.

5. Colony crawler: ANT. And ANTS

6. 2000s teen drama set in California: THE OC.  I have heard of this, it is something about Orange County.  But I think it's a stretch for a Monday puzzle.

7. Rutabaga, e.g.: TURNIP.

8. Tryst-confirming words: IT'S A DATE.  I try to avoid politics but I cannot resist.  An MSNBC guest the other day said that Cory Booker is trying so hard to be the next Obama, he was waiting for him to ask Michelle for a date.

10. Italian wine hub: ASTI.  I never liked wine.  Is Italian better than French.  I remember Christmas Eve my uncle would bring a quart of Mogen David to Grandma's and we would all have a sip.

11. Chapel seats: PEWS.  Correct, and they don't smell.

13. Bring up to speed: INFORM.  Step on the gas ??

14. "__ the season ... ": TIS.  To be Jolly Fa la la.  A little early, or late for this clue.

17. Sushi bar drink: SAKE.  Does this taste like Mogen David ??

21. [Ah, me!]: SIGH.  Once there was a silly old ram, thought he'd bust a hole in the fam.  But he had SIGH hopes.

23. "Furthermore ... ": AND ALSO.  I expect we will hear these words in many speeches next year.

25. Altar promise: I DO.

26. Five __: burger chain: GUYS.  I think I have heard of this.  Is one of the guys named McDonald ??

28. Key with one flat: Abbr.: D MIN.  Also on my Report Card.

29. With dexterity: ABLY.  Hope I can ABLY hit a golf ball if the weather warms up.  I think it was 40 on Saturday, but there was a prediction of snow and thankfully it did not show up.

30. "How dull": BLAH.  "Save the Life of my Child"  Simon and Garfunkel "Bookends"

Said officer MacDougal in dismay:
"The force can't do a decent job
'Cause the kids got no respect
For the law today (and blah blah blah)."

31. Enjoy fine food: DINE.  Okay, and what kind of wine??

34. Wells sci-fi race: ELOI.  "The Time Machine".

37. Performs in costume, as a Civil War battle: RE-ENACTS.  I think the Civil War was a terrible era of U.S. history and I am not a fan of any re-enactment or movie.

38. Typist's meas.: WPM.  Believe it or not, First Sergeant Chapman liked me and the Army taught me how to type and I became a Company Clerk along with Mail Clerk so everyone liked me.  I was the Radar O'Reilly of the 606th Medical Ambulance Company of Fort Campbell, Ky. 42223

41. KOA patron: RVER.  Never owned one.  There is a company in Iowa that makes Winnebago RVs.  They are expensive and huge. Many people spend a lot of money on vehicles and fuel, just so they don't have to stay in a hotel.   

43. Nitpicks: CAVILS.

45. Consequence of an absence of pain, in an exercise mantra: NO GAIN.  I have some exercises to try, hopefully to improve my balance. Thank you, Dr. Nina.

47. Mexicali's peninsula: BAJA.  This is an interesting peninsula.  It's a Mexican State which does not seem to be connected to Mexico.  Northern border is California with maybe just a touch of border with Mexico across the Colorado River.  I visited Tijuana once many years ago.  The entire city was a flea market.  Is it still that way?? 

49. "Rigoletto" composer: VERDI.

51. "To wrap up ... ": IN SUM.

52. Proficiency: SKILL.  Hope those of you with SKILL at crosswords got this far without using any cross words.

53. Frat party garb: TOGA.  Cannot help but thinking of John Belushi in "Animal House".

54. Tinted: HUED.

55. Makes haste, old-style: HIES.

56. Swing voter: Abbr.: IND.

57. Cold shoulder: SNUB.  Go a little lower and you'll get to BUNS

60. Quick swim: DIP.  Yup but this can also be an adjective.

Final season bowling report. My Thursday night league had an 8 team roll off which my team was not included.  So I competed with other outcasts in a three game no tap tournament.  No Tap is a form of bowling that when you knock any nine pins down on your first ball, it counts as a strike. The huge advantage is consecutive strikes will add to your score, plus you do not have to worry about missing the ten pin if you leave it.  I did encounter a pocket 7-10 which screws thing up, but my final was 224-189- and 258=671.  With my handicap I think I finished 3rd out of about 32 entries.  It's not a big money event, but I expect to receive maybe $20-$25 which of course I will split with my wonderful wife, C.C. so she can buy some Tofu.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Wendybird emailed me this question yesterday.

"For some reason, when I type my comment in the box and hit “publish”, it never appears. I thought I had indicated my “name” as Wendybird, but that doesn’t show up either.  I thought maybe I was supposed to hit “preview” first, so I did, but my comment just vanished."

I remember SwampCat or CanadianEh! experienced the same glitch a while ago with their iPhone or iPad. How did you guys solve the problem?