Monday January 6, 2020 Craig Stowe

Theme:  LEADING LADY (58. Female box office star, and what the starts of the answers to starred clues can have) - The first word of each theme entry can follow "Lady".

17. *American independence symbol with a storied crack: LIBERTY BELL. Lady Liberty.

25. *1990 Gibson/Hawn film: BIRD ON A WIRE. Lady Bird.

35. *Pure chance, in poker and lotteries: LUCK OF THE DRAW. Lady Luck.

50. *Group of narrow bodies of water in upstate New York: FINGER LAKES. Ladyfinger..

Boomer here. 

I once visited the Lady Luck casino in Las Vegas and saw a wonderful magic show performed by (I believe her name was Belinda) a long time ago. Since back in those days my gambling was conservative nickel slot machines so I did not lose too much but Lady Luck was not near me.

Lady Luck was with P.J. Fleck and the "Row the Boat" Gophers on New Year's Day. I watched the game from my recliner chair for 3-1/2 hours and I was exhausted just watching P.J. run up and down the sidelines.  The Vikings did not "Row the Boat." They hooked up a 25 hp Evinrude to water ski past the Saints in the Big Easy. Both of our Minnesota teams were cast as severe underdogs but they proved the predictors wrong.  49ers here we come. 

Across:

1. Hired help: STAFF.  Wilson Staff is a sporting goods brand but normally takes a back seat to the specialized equipment makers.

6. Swiss currency: FRANC.  Very competitive to our $$$.  One Franc will cost you $1.03.

11. Show with a Miami spin-off: CSI.

14. With 31-Across, Spanish artist with a Blue Period: PABLO.  31. See 14-Across: PICASSO.

15. "Chicago" showgirl: ROXIE.  I believe there is a theater in San Francisco named ROXIE. I have two sisters that live out there.  C.C. and I were out there once but we did not see the theater.

16. "2001" computer: HAL.  Hal 9000 first appeared in a movie in 1968 back before anyone ever had seen a computer.

19. Civil War prez: ABE.  Until the golden dollars were minted, there were only a few presidents who had their likeness on money.  Abe made the penny and five dollar bill.  He deserves the recognition.

20. Fencing sword: EPEE.

21. "__ Haw": HEE.  I watch the reruns now and then.  Buck Owens and Roy Clark are talented but not my style. The jokes are CORNY.

22. About, on a memo: IN RE.

24. Some MIT grads: EES.  Electrical Engineers but I have never heard them acronymized.

29. Xterra automaker: NISSAN.  Seems to be a Japanese third to Toyota and Honda. I do like the looks of a Rogue but would not buy one.

32. Type: ILK.  The type M ILK comes from cows.

33. Four qts.: GAL.  The bells are ringing for me and my GAL.

34. Guy: MAN.  I am not old enough to remember MAN O'War but I know he passed up a ride in the Kentucky Derby because his owner thought the length was more that he could handle.

40. Gym exercise unit: REP.  Our Minnesota Rep is Dean Phillips, Dear Abby's grandson.  I like him but he sort of stays out of the limelight.   He is the first DFL Rep in our District in Minnesota since about 1961.

41. Peace symbol: VEE.  CNN showed "back to the 60s: films over the new year".  Lots of hippies with their VEE signals.  Timothy Leary tuned out in 1996.

42. Sticky stuff: GOO.

43. One kicked out: EVICTEE.

46. Maker of candy "Pieces": REESE'S.  And peanut butter cups.

53. European mount: ALP.  I wonder if they are sliding down one of these they holler "HALP"!

54. Waggable dog part: TAIL.

55. Deux halved: UNE.  In school I took four years of Latin and two quarters of French.  I don't know why unless it is required learning for "Jeopardy" and crosswords.

56. Shpeak thish way: SLUR.  I never was a drinker that got to slurring. but now I am on the wagon forever.  Doc says my pills and alcohol don't get along.

57. Cookie container: JAR.  If you drink moonshine out of a JAR, you may start to SLUR.

62. All-hrs. cash source: ATM.  Most only give twenties, but Las Vegas gives Benjamins.

63. Break up with a partner: END IT.  Sometimes three strikes will end it.  Baseball or bowling.

64. Mountain song: YODEL. Lady Hoo

65. "I'll do it!": YES.  There's a young lady bowler named Shannon Pluhowsky that hollers "YES" after every strike she rolls.

66. Plant anchors: ROOTS.  Alex Haley's Saga was one of the best TV dramas of all time.

67. Like Oscar Madison's room: MESSY.  And the "Odd Couple" wasn't too bad for comedy.

Down:

1. Organ near the stomach: SPLEEN.

2. Taiwan's capital: TAIPEI.  Taiwan is known as the "Republic of China". The "People's Republic of China" is the mainland.

3. Monastic sister's superior: ABBESS.  This is almost as confusing as what to call China.

4. Run away from: FLEE.

5. Jump-joy link: FOR.

6. Line cook's cooker: FRYER.  I have seen this produce great chicken under pressure in about 8 minutes.  I suppose KFC uses them non-stop.

7. Dressed like a boxer entering the ring: ROBED.

8. Firefighter's tool: AXE.  Normally they would use a hose ?

9. Nothing: NIL.  1956 Game Five of the World Series.  Yankees 2 Brooklyn Dodgers - NIL.  Don Larsen pitched for the Yankees that day and allowed NIL hits.  The toughest part was he had to catch Yogi jumping on him as the game ended.  Don passed away last week.  RIP.

10. Pertaining to the abdominal cavity: CELIAC.

11. Compelling charm: CHARISMA.  You don't see this much anymore.  I know I don't have it.

12. Handheld reciprocating cutting tool: SABER SAW.  I think I sold mine.You need to handle with care.

13. Land in la mer: ILE.

18. Consider: THINK OVER.  I have thought this over, and I think if you consider something, you think IT over.

23. "Straight Outta Compton" rappers: NWA.  See more here. Used to be an acronym for Northwest Airlines until Delta bought it.

25. Pitcher's wrong move: BALK.

26. Colorful fish: OPAH.  OOPS.  I better think this over.  At first I thought Ms. Winfrey was being called a colorful fish.

27. Color named for an African river: NILE GREEN.  Is this in a Crayola box??

28. Ages and ages: EON.  Like a PGA tournament ??

30. [Not my mistake]: SIC.

33. Onetime telecom giant: GTE.  Used to be a huge telephone company.  Now it just stands for a credit union that stole the acronym.

35. Rise in the air, as in a magic act: LEVITATE.  Belinda did not levitate anything, but part of her act was a motorcycle driver who did loops on the stage.

36. Indignant: UP IN ARMS.  Please do not get "Up In Arms" but this answer reminded me of "Babes in Arms" - a musical that my High School Drama club performed.

37. Have a hunch: FEEL.  How do you FEEL so far ??

38. Bucks' mates: DOES.  "Doe, a deer, a female deer, Re, a drop of golden sun."  The hills are alive, with the Sound of Music.

39. Canapé topper: ROE.  "Row the Boat, Gophers"

40. Football official: REF.  It seems that they are ALL called "REF" even though some are line judges and back judges.

44. Cinematic FX: CGI.

45. Bank employee: TELLER.  I spent awhile at the bank on Saturday. Either they did not have enough tellers or some of the customers took a long time with their business.

47. Beet and bean: SALADS.  I had a big salad for dinner on Saturday.  The kind Elaine likes on "Seinfeld".

48. Manages to evade: ELUDES.  It's amazing how sometimes a ten pin can elude me without even moving.  I picked all the buggers up on Thursday on the way to a 576.  I am getting better.

49. In an acrobatic fashion: SPRYLY.  No, I was not bowling SPRYLY.

51. Accountant's investigation: AUDIT. April 15 always comes too early.

52. Furrows, as one's brows: KNITS.

56. Gin flavoring: SLOE.  SLOE is some kind of a British fruit.  Leave it to some wise chap to figure out how to make liquor out of a prune.

57. Leno on TV: JAY.  I always liked him on the Tonight show.  I don't care much for his garage.  My garage is full of baseball cards.

59. Rock producer Brian: ENO.

60. Excitement: ADO.  "Adieu, Adieu, my friends adieu, yes adieu.  I can no longer stay with you."

61. Workout facility: GYM.

Boomer

Notes from C.C.:

Here is the hummus recipe from our foodie Steve.

He said "This sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. The blender does all the work, and all you're really doing is peeling an onion, separating a bub of garlic into individual cloves and boiling some water."