Monday, Aug 5, 2019 Ed Sessa

Theme: THE WHOLE SHEBANG (60. What the ends of 17-, 29- and 46-Across figuratively comprise) - Lock, stock and barrel end the three theme answers.

17. Wall safe access: COMBINATION LOCK.

29. Base for many soups: CHICKEN STOCK.

 

46. Classic country store container: PICKLE BARREL.

Boomer here.

And Happy August to all.  Coming soon to Minnesota is "The great Minnesota get together" where a fried dill pickle is sold $9 each.  Also known as the State Fair.  C.C. and I attended it each year until two years ago when parking was all messed up, and we skipped last year when my back was all screwed up. It's a pretty good fair though.

Across:

1. Tea service carrier: CART.  It also carries two senior citizen golfers.

5. Club in a Manilow title: COPA.  I think Ricky Ricardo sang there.

9. Shirk work: DOG IT.  Is this spelling missing an "sh" ?

14. Isaac's eldest son: ESAU.  Twin brother of Jacob.  Neither was a Minnesota Twin.

15. Tel __: AVIV.

16. Berlin Olympics star Jesse: OWENS.  Jesse broke world records as often as most people break bread.

20. Not yet bug-free, as software: IN BETA.

21. Smelling __: SALTS.

22. Lion in the sky: LEO.  Leo is Latin for lion, but the constellation order of stars looks more like a swan.

23. Grand __: wine label words: CRU.  I used to occasionally drink wine in Germany because it cost 2 marks (about 50 cents) a bottle back then.

25. Tijuana aunt: TIA.

26. Part of 24-Down: LOS. 24. Home to the NCAA Bruins: UCLA.  Famous for John Wooden's efforts at winning NCAA final four tournaments.  Thanks to Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Reggie Miller and others.

32. PC fixer: TECH.

35. Yale student: ELI.

36. Country divided in 1945: KOREA.

37. French friend: AMIE.

38. Part of a French toast: SANTE.  I have French toast for breakfast now and then, but I don't remember the SANTE.  Is that syrup?

41. Opposite of sloppy: NEAT.

42. Pool game call before "Polo!": MARCO.  Or a GEICO commercial.  (With a llama in it, I think.)

44. __ number on: confound: DO A.

45. Hathaway of "Ocean's 8": ANNE.  How many "Oceans" were there ??  

50. Tavern offering: ALE.  "Away, Away with rum by gum - The song of the temperance union"

51. Musical pair: DUO. DUET did not fit in the squares.

52. Paving material: TAR.  This is going on all over the place.  C.C. and I drove over to the Dam on the Mississippi the other day and we needed to walk a half mile just to get to the river.  They were repaving the parking lot.

53. __ Baba: ALI.

56. Doc's order to a pharmacist: SCRIP.  I had a conversation with my pharmacist last week.  I think he prefers the word prescription.

58. Use, as a scratching post: CLAW AT..

64. "West Side Story" heroine: MARIA.  "And suddenly that name, will never seem the same to me.  Say it loud and there's music playing, say it soft and it's almost like praying." 

65. New York canal: ERIE.

66. "In __ of gifts ... ": LIEU.

67. Titleholder: CHAMP.  See UCLA Basketball.  They have taken a step back since John Wooden.

68. Confers knighthood on: DUBS.  Hey, How did some of my golf hits get into this puzzle ?

69. Website for crafty people?: ETSY.

Down:

1. Director DeMille: CECIL.

2. All together: AS ONE.

3. Role for Stallone: RAMBO.  A bit of a Rocky role.

4. London underground: TUBE.  Used to have some lake fun on these.  Now the lakes have e coli!

5. Yellow songbirds: CANARIES.  They have some islands named after them off the east coast of Africa.

6. Egg cells: OVA.

7. Cherry discards: PITS.  Reminds me of Mr. Pitt in Seinfeld.  Had to have new socks right away.

8. Fly a plane: AVIATE.  I often wonder how Mr. Lindbergh felt as he aviated the Atlantic.

9. "Let's not talk about that": DON'T ASK.  "Don't tell"

10. Barn hooters: OWLS. Went to sea with pussycats.

11. Old Metro automaker: GEO.

12. End of many co. names: INC.  They need to incorporate to include this in your title.  Many corporations have red INK on their bottom line.

13. Cluck of disapproval: TSK. I thought this came in pairs.

18. Thing to scratch: ITCH.  "And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then, the witch, to satisfy an itch, went flying on her broomstick, thumbing for a hitch.  And Oooh what happened then was rich !"

19. Lena of "The Reader": OLIN.

26. Oscar winner Sophia: LOREN.  Best Actress twice in the 60s.

27. Atlantic or Pacific: OCEAN.

28. It can have wheels or blades: SKATE.  I used to have a pair of ice skates but I haven't used them for years.  I thought they were somewhere in the garage, but maybe I gave them away.

29. Cash alternative: CHECK. I still use the checkbook for some bills, but most of my bills are settled with ACH.  Saves a stamp. 

30. In a way, slangily: KINDA.

31. Having a key, in music: TONAL.

32. City on Florida's Gulf Coast: TAMPA.  I played golf at Grenelefe, went to Disney World, and got down to Tampa to visit Graybar.  Great City!

33. Computer message: EMAIL.  Another one of those new words that was created in the 90s.  "do you remember then?"

34. Homeric temptress: CIRCE.

39. Civil wrong: TORT.  I guess so.  I thought it was a lemon pastry, that must be a TART.

40. Divers' maladies: EARACHES.  What?

43. Addressee of many a Brit's "I say": OLD CHAP.

47. Current Italian currency: EURO.  When they first were approved and minted, I bought a bunch to sell at the flea market.  I think I made 75 cents,  I'm not sure.

48. Heated to bubbling: BOILED.

49. Author Gardner with many plots: ERLE.  His middle name was Stanley.  Not sure what Perry Mason's middle name was, but I thought Ham Burger was a clever name for the D.A.

53. Anticipate: AWAIT.

54. Highway divisions: LANES.  NO, NO!  These are synthetic boards made to look like wood that you roll a 15 pound ball at 10 pins and maybe knock down nine of them.

55. PC fixer: IT GUY.

56. Do pool laps, say: SWIM. I remember these at the high school pool.  Had to do 20 laps and get a life saver badge

57. Country where "Raiders of the Lost Ark" begins: PERU.

59. Blessed with the necessary skills: ABLE.

60. SHO sister channel: TMC.  Sorry, I don't pay for either one.  My TV bill is high enough and now DirecTV won't show CBS so I cannot watch the rest of the PGA tournament.

61. "I knew it!": HAH.

62. Significant period: ERA.  This is a significant pitcher's stat.  Twins just traded for Sam Dyson of the Giants, and he already laid two eggs.  I think his ERA for the Twins is about 19.00. 

63. Sis, to her sis: SIB.

Boomer

Notes from C.C.:

Here is a little clip of our corner blogging team.