"SHIP WRECKS"
18. Performances by Chippendales dancers: STRIP SHOWS.
23. Jubilation: HIGH SPIRITS.
38. Slam-dancing area: MOSH PIT.
50. Right now: AT THIS POINT.
61. Sea disasters, and a hint to what's literally hidden in 18-, 23-, 38- and 50-Across: SHIPWRECKS.
Ship gets jumbled, or wrecked, so to speak, in this latest offering from Bruce and Gail.
Across:
1. Campaign donation orgs.: PACS. Political Action Committees
5. Actor's nickname heard in the song "Key Largo": BOGIE. The lyric is, "We had it all. Just like Bogie and Bacall." "Here's looking at you, kid."
10. Be in sync (with): JIBE.
14. Airline that doesn't fly on Shabbat: EL AL. "El Al is the only commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defense systems to protect its planes against surface to air missiles, and is considered one of the world's most secure airlines, thanks to its stringent security procedures, both on the ground and on board its aircraft." - Wikipedia
15. Diarist Nin: ANAIS. "We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are." – Anais Nin.
16. Spoken: ORAL.
17. "The Beverly Hillbillies" daughter __ May: ELLY. Jed's daughter. A tomboy and an animal lover, here shown with one of her "critters."
20. Sidekick: PAL. Batman and Robin, Wyatt and Doc, Snoopy and Woodstock
21. McJob worker: PEON.
22. Le frère d'un père: ONCLE. French. The brother of a father: Uncle. That's according to Google Translate. Perps solved it for me. Wilbur would have known it.
27. Beach shade: TAN. You might end up paying for all of that free UV exposure.
28. Nods off: SNOOZES.
32. Squash underfoot: STEP ON. Someone posted a picture of a stink bug on Nextdoor, asking what it was. 74 responses came in with similar advice: Don't (squish, squash, step on, stomp on, crush, smash) them. Some recommended vacuuming, while others advocated spraying them with everything from Lysol to peppermint spray. One guy said he swallowed one that was in his coffee.
35. "Law & Order: __": SVU. Special Victims Unit. The long running NBC series was recently renewed for a 21st year. Corner favorite is # 1.
36. Snack: NOSH.
37. Dallas hoopster, briefly: MAV. Dallas basketball player, unabbreviated: Maverick.
41. Kilt wearer's "no": NAE.
42. Like thrift shop items: USED.
44. Pitchfork target: HAY. You need the right tool for the job. Pitchforks are excellent for spreading hay, turning over the mulch pile, cleaning out the horse stall and more. When paired with torches and an angry mob, pitchforks are effective at cornering a monster in an old mill, and then burning it down.
45. Began, as a hobby: TOOK UP.
47. Phil Collins' longtime band: GENESIS. Live from Wembley.
49. Serious fwy. violation: DUI. Driving Under the Influence. Other acronyms ? DUIL, DWI, OWI, OUI...
55. Digging tool: SPADE.
58. Art community NNE of Santa Fe: TAOS. In New Mexicos's high desert. View or order the visitor's guide here.
59. Pinup's leg: GAM. The internet tells me that gam comes from Middle English gamb leg, which came from Old French gambe, which came from Late Latin gamba, meaning leg of an animal. I'd wager that James Holzhauer knew that. The History Of Pin-Up Girls
64. Top-drawer: A ONE.
65. Shameful symbol in a Hawthorne novel: RED A. Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic, The Scarlet Letter, set in Puritanical Massachusetts. About social shaming and and stigmatizing a few centuries ago. Now there are plenty of social media apps for people that feel the need to publicly focus their attention on others.
66. E-cigarette's lack: ASHES. They still have nicotine, an addicting drug.
67. Novelist Victor: HUGO. Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
68. Ballet title bird: SWAN. 2 hours for your listening and viewing pleasure.
69. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. Portrayed by Meredith Baxter. Baxter Birney at the time.
70. Store securely: STOW.
Down:
1. Sound from a nest: PEEP.
2. Quran deity: ALLAH.
3. Declare all debts resolved: CALL IT EVEN.
4. Devious: SLY.
5. Wrigley Field corners: BASES. First and third base are called the corners (of the infield). Technically, since the bases form a square, second base and home plate are also corners. They're just not called corners in baseball. Third base is called the "hot corner" so if you ever see that as a clue and the answer is five letters, enter THIRD.
6. Winning: ON TOP. The St Louis Cardinals are on top of the National League Central Division and are currently projected to have a 6% chance of winning the World Series.
7. Bouquet __: herb bundle: GARNI. More French. Garnished bouquet. Google Translate not needed.
8. Square root of IX: III. Math with roman numerals.
9. Seer's "gift": ESP. Extra Sensory Perception. A hallmark of psychic charlatans.
10. Either "J" in J&J: JOHNSON.
11. Camaro __-Z: IROC. A well written article from a dealership in Albany, NY about the legendary Chevrolet Camaro.
12. Turn on the waterworks: BAWL. Blubber.
13. Apart from this: ELSE. Meaning different in this sense.
19. __ speak: SO TO. "You use so to speak to draw attention to the fact that you are describing or referring to something in a way that may be amusing or unusual rather than completely accurate." - Collins Dictionary. Speaking metaphorically. As in the ships in this puzzle are wrecked, so to speak.
21. __ Penh: PHNOM. Cambodia's capital.
24. Lack of continuity: GAP. Turning the switch to the off position creates a lack of continuity in a simple electrical light circuit. Those free electrons can't jump from valence shell to valence shell to complete the path when the switch is open.
25. Answer the invite, initially: RSVP. Repondez S'il Vous Plait. LMOA; Left a Message On your Answering machine.
26. Alaskan native: INUIT.
29. Nodding off: ZONKING OUT.
30. Jacob's twin: ESAU.
31. Herding dog name: SHEP. Apropos.
32. Too sure of oneself: SMUG.
33. Subdue with a zap: TASE.
34. Like an extremely well-pitched game: NO HIT.
35. Short, moneywise: SHY. You wouldn't get the moneywise helper on a Friday or Saturday LA Times puzzle.
39. Window framework: SASH. An obi for glass.
40. Disturbances: TO DOs.
43. Like many a successful poker player: DEADPAN. Expressionless, or of a singular expression.
46. "Certainement!": OUI. More French. More Google Translate. More perp help. It means certainly. Makes sense.
48. Crock-Pot dinner: STEW. The crackpot chef tried to roast prime rib in the crock-pot. It resulted in a stew, but no one complained.
51. Like wool, for many: ITCHY. Abejo, has the poison ivy cleared up ? And BTW, belated Happy Anniversary !
52. "For goodness __!": SAKES. I thought it was for Pete. Either way, it's a euphemism used as an expression of frustration , exasperation or annoyance, but in the case of goodness, also for surprise. The speaker's tone inflection and body language will tell you more.
53. Rustler-chasing group: POSSE. I think of The Ox-Bow Incident, starring Henry Fonda.
54. Dance that "takes two": TANGO. The last one was in Paris. Did you see it ? It was rated X when it came out in '72, recut and rereleased and rated R in '81, and then rerated NC-17 in '97. I've never seen it, but I remember there was a controversy about it when it came out.
55. The Baltics, once: Abbr.: SSRS. Soviet Socialist Republics
56. "Close call!": PHEW.
57. Verdi opera: AIDA. Set in Egypt.
60. Catty utterance?: MEOW.
62. Grammy winner Corinne Bailey __: RAE. No idea.
63. Bilingual subj.: ESL. English as a Second Language
64. Massage reactions: AHs.
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