18. Paul Bunyan resting his eyes?: SLUMBER JACK. Lumberjack
28. What a boring sermon might precipitate?: SLEEP OF FAITH. Leap of faith.
48. Like lectures after a big meal?: SNOOZE WORTHY. Newsworthy.
62. Unexpectedly mild storm?: SNORE EASTER. Nor'easter.
Bruce's punny play today should subconsciously induce you to get some more rest as he leads common words and phrases with an S, and changes spelling as needed. Click on Process S above if you wonder about the theme title.
Across:
1. Leading trio: ABC. "It's easy as 1,2,3 or simple as do-re-mi, a,b,c,1,2,3, baby you and me, girl." Name the group.
4. Cheese made from cow's milk: GOUDA. One of hundreds.
9. Space Invaders platform: ATARI. Gaming has come along way from the original arcade style single player games like Space Invaders. I read about colleges and universities offering programs and scholarships in eSports after Husker Gary commented about the college in his city. Apparently UC Irvine has one of the most noted programs.
14. Swing adviser: PRO. A golf pro, aka a PGA professional.
15. Come clean: OWN UP. Fess up, or cop to, as was in Michael Wiesenberg's Saturday puzzle that Husker Gary blogged.
16. More cold and wet: RAWER. Weather.
17. Play critic?: REF. A referee on the field of play, such as in football or soccer. A nice misdirection. I wonder if there are eRefs in eSports gaming ?
20. They might be cracked: SAFES. Safecracker is often yegg in crossword puzzles.
22. Pool tactic: MASSE.
23. Sushi garnish: ROE. Fish eggs.
24. Highly season, as eggs: DEVIL. Is roe ever deviled ? History.com gives us The Ancient History of Deviled Eggs
26. Head for the hills?: ASCEND. Climb.
32. Opposite of stiff: TIP. Loved this one, too. Even with bad service, I'd leave something on the table.
33. Belgian city in 1917 headlines: YPRES. Famous WWI battle site.
34. Region bordering Mex.: SO CAL. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. So Cal is the land of 10,000 quakes.
38. Project Mercury chimp: ENOS. The USSR had sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit earlier. The US took a more conservative approach, not wanting to risk a human life. Enos died less than a year later of unrelated causes.
40. Helpless numbers?: SOLOS. You are on your own.
42. Ask: POSE. Query, inquire, question...
43. "Same here": ME TOO.
45. '70s TV talk show: DINAH. Dinah Shore, of course.
47. Suzuki's Quadracer, for short: ATV. Didn't know this, but it was easy to figure out. I read that prior to the introduction of the Quadracer, the sport all terrain vehicle market was dominated by three wheel ATV's.
51. NFLer who was a 2017 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year honoree: JJ WATT. This guy is a phenomenal athlete on the field for the Houston Texans. He's also a class act away from the game, using his celebrity for charitable work that has raised millions to help those in need.
54. Cuffed, old-style: SMOTE. A learning moment. I did not know that the second definition of cuff was to strike someone with an open hand.
55. Attention: EAR. Give me your attention for a moment.
56. Drifters: HOBOS. Sometimes you can find drifters under the boardwalk, down by the sea. Having some fun, people walking above. Falling in love.
60. Celebrations with nos.: B-DAYS. Numbers / birthdays
65. Prefix with -bar: ISO. You'll hear isobar on The Weather Channel frequently as storms roll in.
66. Pronged: TINED. As in a fork or a rake.
67. "Fingers crossed": I HOPE. Wish for luck.
68. Case study?: LAW. A case study is a detailed examination, but if you study cases, you are probably in law school or in the profession. Sue me for malfeasance if you disagree.
69. "Love Story" author: SEGAL. Perps. Saw the movie with Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal, but didn't read the book.
70. __ bar: TAPAS. Have never been. Will go one day.
71. Part of GPS: Abbr.: SYS. Global Positioning System. Owned by the United States. Operated by the US Air Force.
Down:
1. Financing figs.: APRs. Annual Percentage Rates. Truth in lending.
2. Depression Era sight: BREADLINE. And soup kitchens.
3. Morning aroma source: COFFEE POT.
4. Spewing dirt?: GOSSIPY. Like a yenta.
5. Night __: OWL. Shout out to a number of our regulars ! As they say, if the shoe fits, wear it. While we're at it, let's have a shout out to the early birds here. What is your chronotype ?
6. One for the money?: UNUM. E. pluribus unum. It means "Out of many, one."
7. Russian legislative body: DUMA. Russian studies are not my bailiwick. But I gather it is sort of like a combination of the US Congress and the departments of the executive branch.
8. LAPD messages: APBS. Los Angeles Police Department / All Point Bulletins.
9. Stops: ARRESTS. Clever wordplay. For instance, a spark arrestor stops (arrests) potentially flammable exhaust particles (sparks) in outdoor equipment and machines that have combustion engines. Like on that Suzuki Quadrunner, or on a chainsaw.
10. __ Boston: luxury hotel: TAJ.
11. Clued in: AWARE.
12. Drone job: RECON. Plenty of drones in the air over the flooded rivers, fields and towns after the record rainfalls in May.
13. Miffed: IRKED. Some of the golfers in my league have been miffed that the carts have been limited to cart paths only. The fairways, especially the low lying areas, have been waterlogged. One nearby private course hasn't opened for play yet.
19. Morales of "Ozark": ESAI. A fine actor that has gained additional fame in crosswords due to his vowel friendly first name.
21. "The serpent deceived me" speaker: EVE. The story can be read in Genesis.
25. Cuts: LOPS.
27. Cut of meat: CHOP.
28. Curtail: STEM.
I love those three in row. Cuts, Cut and Curtail. Lops, Chop and Stem. How slick was that ?
29. Tolkien hero: FRODO. From J.R.R. Tolkein's trilogy. I read the books. Never saw the movies.
30. Start of a seasonal Spanish greeting: FELIZ. Feliz navidad. Prospero año y felicidad. Merry Christmas and a prosperous year filled with happiness. The words from the very popular and enduring Christmas song by José Feliciano.
31. Together: AS ONE. United. How about a little Rhapsody in Blue ?
35. Metaphorical influence: COATTAILS. Early in my career a first line manager told me he was riding the second line's coattails to the top. It was the first time I'd heard the word used in that sense.
36. According to the proverb: AS THEY SAY. The answer wasn't apparent by the clue alone, and the perps did the lion's share of the work for me. As they say, good things come to those who wait.
37. Duty: LEVY. Tax.
39. Cub slugger: SOSA. Sammy. For certain, a polarizing figure, but ...
"...Many believe he and Mark McGwire helped put baseball on the map again in a resurgent 1998 season that helped make the strike of 1994/95 an afterthought. Count me among that group, as well.
He deserves all the credit in the world. People would show up to Wrigley just to see Sosa run out to the right field bleachers and camera bulbs flashed by the thousands every single time he came up to the plate for the better part of a decade. Waveland was sometimes so packed with ballhawks that there wouldn't be room to walk." - Tony Andracki nbcsports.com.
41. Cuts: SAWS. Clecho back to 25D.
44. Officially injured, in previous baseball lingo: ON THE DL. Disabled List.
46. Men of La Mancha: HOMBRES. Today's Spanish lesson. La Mancha is a region of Spain. Cervantes wrote his classic novel Don Quixote de La Mancha about a man from La Mancha that lost his sanity, aspired to live the life of a chivalrous knight, and among other things, tilted at windmills.
49. Siouan people: OTOE. The Otoe-Missouria Tribe history. Until reading that article, I did not know that the state of Nebraska gets its name from two Otoe-Missouria words which means “water flat.”
50. Hot __: ROD.
51. Kids: JESTS. Hey you jests ! Get off of my lawn !
52. __ and Jack, 2019 Gap acquisition: JANIE. Not familiar, but I gather from a few quick reads that they are purveyors of fashionable clothing for children 0 to 6 years of age.
53. "Guess again": WRONG.
57. Tempt: BAIT.
58. Org. concerned with plants: OSHA. Actually, any private workplace, and most public workplaces as well, but I liked the misdirection.
59. "Hold it right there!": STOP. Halt ! Avast ! Freeze !
61. Scatters in a field: SOWS.
63. Blues-rocker Chris: REA. We sometimes get actor Stephen.
64. Radon-regulating org.: EPA.
