Across:
1. Celebrate Black Friday, say: SHOP - There is no item for which I'm willing to risk life and limb to save $100
5. Data transmission unit: BAUD - If you're interested
9. Jets: SPEWS - Here are various SPEW patterns including Jet but not a 21. Windex unit: SPRITZ.
14. TV show set in a theme park: WEST WORLD - If you're interested
16. Island along the Au'au Channel: LANAI - There's the channel and the island
17. Scheming: IN CAHOOTS - He may have this all wrong
18. Red Sox slugger David: ORTIZ - "Big Papi" in the news this year
19. Spears label: RCA.
20. Epps of "House": OMAR - I wonder if this name was ever clued as "The Tentmaker" before House
22. Noble title: LORD.
24. Nickname for "The King of Clay": RAFA.
26. Goofy image?: CEL - This Disney CEL recently sold for over $33,000 at auction. Is that goofy?
27. California wine region: SONOMA - Charred vineyards in Sonoma from the Kincade fire last month
30. Tchotchke holder: ETAGERE - Yeah, sure, I knew this word and needed no perps. 😏 Looks like shelves to me
33. Beyoncé and Jay-Z, e.g.: POWER COUPLE and 62. Tabloid twosomes: ITEMS
36. Symbolic gift, often: DIAMOND RING.
38. Corporate espionage target: TRADE SECRET - Roger Easton (right), KFC's CEO, moves the Colonel Sanders' handwritten secret recipe into a newer, more secure safe
40. Swamp gas, essentially: METHANE.
43. Watch closely: PEER AT - Intently watching a colleague fish? PEERING at your PEER on the PIER
45. The "black" in black ice: TAR - A scary driving problem in our part of the country
46. Worshipper's subject: IDOL.
49. "The Open Window" author: SAKI - Pen name for Hector Hugh Munro
50. Coat-like garments: FROCKS
53. Collars: NABS.
56. It can be risky to work without one: NET - Here's how you train to do that
58. Place to get some culture?: PETRI DISH - Some faculty lounge refrigerators contain unintended examples of one of these
60. Arabic for "struggle": JIHAD.
61. Repurposed railway, perhaps: BIKE ROUTE - Part of the 195 mile long Cowboy Trail (abandoned Chicago and Northwestern RR line) in northern Nebraska
63. Lot: SLEW.
64. Bruise-resistant potatoes, say, briefly: GMOS - Very interesting reading about Genetically MOdified potatoeS.
Down:
1. Some cake decorations: SWIRLS.
2. House with many layers: HEN COOP - HEN house? Yes! Chicken COOP? - Yes. HEN COOP? and 6. Cheering loudly: AROAR - Constructors hafta to do what constructors hafta do.
3. Character recognition?: OSCAR NOD - There are those who feel John Wayne could have gotten the OSCAR NOD for playing John Stryker, Sean Thornton, Tom Doniphon, et al and not necessarily for playing Rooster Cogburn in 1969
4. Bk. fair organizer: PTA.
5. Good time: BOOM - My farmer friends all say you'd better put some money away during a BOOM because a bust is sure to follow
7. __ running: more-than-a-marathon race: ULTRA - Various definitions of ULTRA Running
8. Driller's deg.: DDS - Last week we had the ROTC drilling and in the past we have had OPEC drilling
9. Farm fare: SLOP.
10. Henry VIII's sixth: PARR
11. Sweet-talk: ENTICE.
12. One needing orders: WAITER - Doing so electronically
13. Pizzazz: SIZZLE.
15. "Don't know her": WHO
21. Course for H.S. exam takers: SAT PREP - Sample question: (math haters move on). Answer at the bottom *
23. Benefit by: DO WITH - I could DO WITH losing more weight
25. Longstanding disputes: FEUDS - They headed up a famous one
28. Funny Anne: MEARA - Jerry Stiller's wife Anne
29. Fancy suits: ARMANIS.
31. "... a grin without a cat!" thinker: ALICE.
32. Action and adventure: GENRES - Prounced [dZSH]AWN-ruh with the Z, d, and SH all combined into one sound.
34. Produced some Java: CODED - Computer CODE not 54. Produce some java: BREW coffee
35. x/x: ONE - Only we math peeps know/care that x ≠ 0
37. Garden favorite also known as cranesbill: GERANIUM - A very distinctive scent
39. Becomes fond of: TAKES TO - I have really TAKEN TO golf now that I have time to play a lot
40. Peak that last erupted in 1707-'08: MT FUJI - MT FUJI in winter from the International Space Station. The Hoei crater was the site of the last eruption
41. Be deserving: EARN IT - Hmmm...
42. Cough drop: TROCHE - Didn't know the word or its pronunciation
44. Donates, in a way: TITHES.
47. First African-American major-league coach Buck: O'NEIL - In the sea of Royal Blue seats in Kansas City, a red chair is the Buck O'NEIL legacy chair that honors people who have done outstanding things in the K.C. area. Buck was a star for the KC Monarchs in the old Negro League but his trail-blazing coaching job was with the Cubs
48. Hanukkah dinner staple: LATKE - One potato dish I have never had
51. Chowder morsel: CLAM.
52. Some kicks, so to speak: KEDS - I knew this was slang for shoes but put EEE'S first
55. It may precede and follow yes: SIR - As Emma Stone says here
58. "Finding Your Roots" airer: PBS
59. __ days: DOG - The DOG Days of summer are long gone here on the prairie
On a personal note, I want to show you the picture of my wife opening her birthday present last Sunday. It was a painting I had done of her kitty Lily. I finally got something right!
All comments welcome:
*Answer to 21 Down: w + (w + 6) + w + (w + 6) = 4w + 12 (Answer B)