Monday October 28, 2019 Craig Stowe

Theme:  MIDDLE GROUND.(52. Compromising standpoint ... and what the answers to starred clues contain?) - LAND is in the middle of each theme entry.

20. *Do business shrewdly: WHEEL AND DEAL.

28. *Murmur lovingly: BILL AND COO.

34. *Basic experimentation method: TRIAL AND ERROR.

41. *Like a typical walking stride: HEEL AND TOE.

Boomer here.

Land Ho!!  Enjoy the Monday puzzle!  First of all, I wish to thank C.C. and all of you faithful Crossword Corner member bloggers for all of the fine birthday wishes I received yesterday.  Also, I have been enjoying the World Series without favoring one team or the other. But I do find it incredible that the visiting team has won every game so far.  I do not remember that ever being the case in a World Series, but sometimes, at my age, I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. I have not heard if the Astros asked to stay in Washington for game 6, but I think they are watching the "Wizard of Oz" and trying on the ruby slippers and clicking the heals and repeat, "There's no place like home, There's no place like home." 

Across:

1. Gives in to gravity: SAGS. Old folks like me fight this gravity problem constantly. Some of us are losing the fight.

5. Annoying little kids: IMPS.

9. Hunter's plastic duck, e.g.: DECOY.  I am not a hunter. I have seen these but I don't think they work.  You cannot fool a duck.

14. Clear off the road, as snow: PLOW.  This season is coming to our home in Minnesota soon.  part of the reason why our taxes are on the high side.  It's expensive to keep the roads clean.

15. Actress Gilbert of "The Conners": SARA.

16. Make amends: ATONE.

17. What "Ten-hut!" is short for: ATTENTION.  I thought it was a row of Quonset huts on a Marine base.

19. Income __: TAXES.  The season is coming next April.  About time the flu season subsides. 

22. Tidy up: NEATEN.

23. "__ you kidding?": ARE.  No I am not.  I wish there was a tax shot to buy.

24. Off-the-wall: ODD.  Add an "S" and my mind wanders to the craps table.  I know the odds for every number.  I learned them the hard way.  You can make a 4, 6, 8,or 10 the hard way.  You may get 30 to one, but correct odds are 35 to one.

27. Walmart warehouse club: SAM'S.  We have one of these west of our home, but it does not seem much different than Walmart, except I think you have to purchase a membership. Like Costco

32. Muslim mystic: SUFI.

33. Lake near Carson City: TAHOE.  This is a beautiful lake in the higher elevation of Nevada.  I never went to Carson City, but we visited Harrah's club in Tahoe after bowling in Reno.

39. Sea item sold by 39-Down, in a tongue-twister: SHELL. 39. See 39-Across: SHE.  She sells sea shells by the seashore.  Say that real fast three times.

40. Say no to: DENY.

44. Bygone Japanese audio brand: AIWA.  I don't remember them.  I think Sony acquired them.

48. Conclusion: END.  It's not the end.  We still have the "down" clues.

49. Boardroom VIP: CEO.  Interesting - in the 19th century, native Americans had a chief, and the military had officers.  Not sure where the executives came from.

50. The Lone __: RANGER.  At a bowling center I used to patronize, there was an autographed photo of Clayton Moore.  "Who was that masked man? I don't know, I wanted to thank him."

55. Deck alternative: PATIO.  Our home does not have a patio.  We have a raised deck that serves us well.  Except I don't know how the squirrels get up on it.

58. Belittle: DENIGRATE.

59. 17-syllable Japanese poem: HAIKU.

60. Suffix with major: ETTE.  "Halftime brings on pretty girls, with little short skirts and long blonde curls. - But who's got time for majorettes, when NBC has got the Jets and I just can't afford two sets."

61. Auth. unknown: ANON.

62. Desert retreats: OASES.  Singular OASIS was a brand of cigarettes,  I don't see them anymore.

63. Monica's brother on "Friends": ROSS.  "Also the surname of George's fiance on Seinfeld."  I don't watch "Friends".  I've had enough.

64. German thinker Immanuel: KANT.

Down:

1. Reproduces like salmon: SPAWNS.  If salmon reproduces so much, how come it's so expensive ?

2. __ Gibson, first African-American to win a Grand Slam tennis title: ALTHEA.  Virgil Tibbs wife on "In the Heat of the Night".

3. Pep rally cheer: GO TEAM.  "Go Wild, and take the Timberwolves with you!"

4. Candy and such: SWEETS. Then there was Wilson Sweet, also on "In the Heat of the Night."

5. Turkey's largest city: ISTANBUL.  I thought it was Constantinople. I am old.

6. Principal: MAIN.  I will bet this is the most common name for a street.

7. Spur to action: PROD.

8. Beach footwear: SANDAL.

9. Job of typing in facts and figures: DATA ENTRY.

10. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.  What's the difference between ET AL and ETC.? One letter of course.

11. Courtney who played Monica on "Friends": COX.  I do not watch "Friends".  I remember a timid comedian named Wally, and also Courtney had a bit role on a Seinfeld episode, before she got famous and rich.

12. Single: ONE.  Gotta pick up those single pins.

13. "By all means!": YES.

18. Phillies' div.: NLE.  It seems there is a team called NATS in that division doing quite well,

21. Significant stretch of time: ERA.  Mainly because their pitchers have low ERAs.

24. Twice cuatro: OCHO.  If this were German I would say Gesundheit.

25. Way in: DOOR.  Add an "S" "Light my Fire"

26. Forest female: DOE.  A deer, a female deer - The hills are alive, with the "Sound of Music".

29. "__ tree falls in the forest ... ": IF A.  With no one around, does it still make a sound??

30. High-end chocolatier: LINDT.

31. __ es Salaam: DAR.

32. Lustful: SALACIOUS.

34. At that time: THEN.

35. Oboe or clarinet: REED.  I remember Donna Reed.  This was back in the day when some of the sitcom was named after the leading actor or actress.  Isn't that right, LUCY?

36. Not feeling well: ILL.  The Great State of TTP,  Notice in campaign season, All states are great.

37. __ volente: God willing: DEO.

38. Vigorous qualities to put into one's work: ENERGIES.  Our power supplier is XCEL Energy.  They serve us very well.

42. Nancy Drew's beau: NED.

43. Walk feebly: DODDER.  That's how I walk, especially upstairs. I just didn't know what it was called.

44. Arctic jacket: ANORAK.

45. Exotic lizard kept as a pet: IGUANA.

46. Was happening: WENT ON.  Fires in California wine country seem to go on and on.  Hope folks up there are safe.

47. Passionate: ARDENT.

51. Buenos Aires' country: Abbr.: ARG.  With all the problems in the middle east we don't hear about unrest in South America. Except recently there was hubbub in Santiago, Chile - A spinoff of a subway fare increase.  Reminds me of Poor Old Charlie on the MTA.  "Did he ever return?"

52. Karaoke prop that often ends in "c" nowadays: MIKE.  "Mike, Mike, Mike what day is it??  Hump day".  Don't get me wrong, I am still no fan of car insurance commercials.

53. Jared of "Dallas Buyers Club": LETO.

54. Tolkien creatures: ENTS.

55. Vietnamese soup: PHO.

56. Small battery: AAA.  These are not that small.  I have things in my possession that take those little round batteries that have a four digit number for their name.

57. "__ the season ... ": 'TIS.  To be Jolly, Fa la la la la la la la la.

Boomer