"Turn of Phrase"
17. Plumbing expert?: DRAIN BRAIN.
25. Cub Scout meeting refreshment?: PACK SNACK.
30. Candlemaker's choice?: WICK PICK.
45. Zookeeper's job, at times?: BEAR CARE.
51. School sports upset: JOCK SHOCK.
64. Inflated thread-count scam?: SHEET CHEAT.
Swap the words in the answers to get the real phrase. I have no idea what a pick wick is, but a few references say it is a pick like tool used for raising the short wick in an oil lamp.
Across:
1. Fit together: MESH.
5. Explodes: POPS.
9. Sources of shade: ELMS. So elms throw shade ? They seem more stately than that.
13. Lope opening?: ANTE. "Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play." Except, of course, they're really not antelope. They're pronghorn. Kind of like buffalo v. bison. Commonly accepted misnomers.
14. Pacifies: CALMS.
16. "The disease of kings": GOUT. I once had to see a backup doctor when mine was away. My sprained wrist was misdiagnosed as gout. Gout is now on my record at the hospital.
19. Tasmania's highest peak: OSSA. Didn't we just have Abel Tasman last week ? Or was it in a link from Lemonade ? Anyway, Mount Ossa is as high as Denver, CO.
20. Lively movements: RONDOS. Help me get her out of my heart Sounds like the definition of a rondo to me. The refrain. Yes / No ?
21. Snare: TRAP.
23. Idiosyncrasy: TIC.
24. Break up: END IT. Cause ending it is hard to do.
27. Mex. neighbor: USA.
29. Robbery: HEIST.
35. Food distribution giant: SYSCO. The world's largest. Headquartered in Houston.
38. Instrument named for an animal part: HORN. Love the opening of this song.
39. Name related to Marge: PEGGY. I tried Midge. My Aunt Peg would have been disappointed.
42. __ beer: NEAR. Tried one once.
43. Two-run homer situation: ONE ON.
47. United Kingdom language: SCOTS. One of three native languages spoken in Scotland today.
50. Private __: EYE. A gumshoe. A detective. A dick. Have you ever seen The Bank Dick starring W.C. Fields as Egbert Sousé, "...a drunk who must repeatedly remind people in exasperation that his name is pronounced "Sousé—accent grave over the 'e'!", because people keep calling him "Souse" slang for drunkard" ?
54. Kosher deli offering: LATKE. They tasted a lot like potato pancakes to me too, Yellowrocks.
59. Place for a slip, perhaps: ICE. Cute clue.
60. Cry of pain: YOWL. Tried yelp. Painful reviews.
61. Drawing tool: SIPHON. Nice wordplay in the clue. Loved it.
62. Give temporarily: LEND. First instinct was loan. Waited for another letter from a perp.
66. "I did it!": TADA. No melodic tada at WaPo like we had at the Mensa site.
67. Like cornstalks: EARED.
68. Wight, for one: ISLE. The Isle of Wight is just south of England.
69. Highbrow, perhaps: SNOB.
70. Pugilistic victories, briefly: TKOs. Technical knockouts
71. Prized: DEAR.
Down:
1. Familia member: MADRE. Esposa de su padre. As Hahtoolah would quip, today's Spanish lesson.
2. Company whose failure brought down an accounting firm: ENRON. Arthur Anderson.
3. Remain in force: STAND. e.g. The judge's gag order will (remain in force) (stand).
4. Alpine protagonist: HEIDI. Johanna Spyri's Swiss miss
5. Banned pollutants: PCBs. Polychlorinated biphenyls
6. Tool secured by tholes: OAR. Typically mounted on the gunwales
7. Oro y __: Montana's motto: PLATA.
8. Taint: SMIRCH.
9. Psych 101 subject: EGO.
10. Drifting, possibly: LOST AT SEA.
11. Bach's bailiwick: MUSIC.
12. Neat pile: STACK.
15. Treacherous type: SNAKE. "Instead you lay still in the grass, all coiled up and hissin' " - Keep on Loving You - Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon.
18. Still in bed: NOT UP. But not necessarily asleep.
22. Pitchfork-shaped letters: PSIs.
25. Walk or run: PACE.
26. Timberlake's former band: NSYNC. Justin Timberlake.
28. Liquid sample: SIP.
30. Question of identity: WHO. Who Are You is an album and song by English rockers The Who.
31. It carries a charge: ION.
32. Orchestral climax: CRESCENDO. There are two in The Beatles A Day in the Life.
33. Rap: KNOCK.
34. Cold War agcy.: KGB. Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti - Committee for State Security
36. Sleeper or diner: CAR.
37. Smeltery supply: ORE.
40. Nerd: GEEK. It's all geek to me.
41. Happy fan's word: YAY.
44. Intrusive: NOSY.
46. Natural history museum item: RELIC.
48. 56-Down's opposite: THOSE. And, of course, 56. 48-Down's opposite: THESE.
49. "I'm not impressed": SO WHAT. "Big whoop"
51. Stuns at the altar: JILTs. Maggie Carpenter left three grooms at the altar before the big city columnist came to town to investigate. Name the movie.
52. Eel's element: OCEAN.
53. Counter tender: CLERK. Be harsh.
55. Ladybug prey: APHID. I read that each ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day.
57. Eucalyptus eater: KOALA. Heartwarming story last week about the lady that saved the koala from the fire in New South Wales.
58. Put in: ENTER.
61. Norms: Abbr.: STDs. Who says, "The standard is the standard ?" Don't rack your brain unless you are an NFL fan. NFL Article from 2015
63. Apply with care: DAB. And the initials of today's constructor !
65. Fair-hiring letters: EEO. Equal Employment Opportunity.
Here's another place to check your grid:
Here's a picture of Bill G's granddaughter Bella enjoying the rain. Good to see you back in blue, Bill! Thanks for persevering through the login troubles.
