After only three weeks, Dr. Ed is back again and his distinctive grid immediately caught my eye. His 10/13/15 horizontal top rows were mirrored with his 15/13/10 bottom row (TERRACE LEVEL?) in this 64-word puzzle. The bottom such trio was much more helpful but as usual Dr. Ed's Rx helped mitigate some of the gloom of this dreary, winter season here on the Great Plains. I wonder if the fill dictated the grid or the grid dictated the fill. Maybe the good doctor will enlighten us.
Avoid Walgreens today and get your elixir direct from the Sessa enclave on Sanibel Island, FL (a spoonful of crossword helps the medicine go down):
Across:
1. "We're done here": CASE CLOSED.
11. Wit: FACETIOUSNESS - How hard can she throw that club?
14. Lead-in for an old saw: AS THE SAYING GOES - "Hell hath no fury..." (see above)
16. Bio lab preparation: STAIN
17. Star associated with Venus: SERENA - The tennis star sisters
18. It may be taken before a vote: POLL
19. Reality: FACT.
23. __ Stadium, home to the 49ers: LEVIS and 48. Word with box or dome: SKY - Here's a SKYBOX at LEVIS Stadium
24. Wild fruit is a feature of it: PALEO DIET - A diet that emulates our hunter-gatherer ancestors
27. Unadon fish: EELS - A classic Japanese dish consisting of steamed rice topped with filets of EELS (Unagi).
28. Manufacturing statistic: NEW ORDERS
30. Either co-author of Curious George books: REY.
31. Ward of "FBI": SELA - A beautiful and frequent crossword law enforcement visitor
32. Clubs for Cubs: BATS - In 1932
34. Movement-controlling pedal: GAS - 42. Fill up again: REPLENISH - How hard you push the pedal determines how often you have to REPLENISH the GAS
37. Decides when: SETS A DATE - My granddaughter Emma has SET A DATE of January 2021 for her wedding after Colten popped the question in Estes park
40. Aphrodite's love child: EROS - Another cwd All Star
44. Opposite of original: TIRED.
46. Baseball's Maglie and Bando: SALS - If you're interested - Maglie - Bando
47. TurboTax pros: CPA'S - My tenth year using this instead of a CPA
49. Tequila sources: AGAVES.
51. Short-legged lizard: SKINK - Cute?
52. Song title line after "once, twice": THREE TIMES A LADY - A very nice musical respite
57. Basements, to Realtors: TERRACE LEVELS - This apartment building units are Upper Floor, Main Floor and, uh, TERRACE LEVEL
58. Sources of sprays: NEBULIZERS - The only way my poor asthmatic brother got through his childhood
Down:
1. Andorra's only official language: CATALAN - "I am a citizen of Andora" is "Sóc ciutadà d’Andorra" in CATALAN and "Soy ciudadano de Andorra" in Spanish
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| CATALAN is the first language of 38% of Andorrans |
3. Understood: SEEN.
4. "Men in Black" gp.: ETS and 5. "Men in black" gp., some say: CIA - Aliens and spooks
6. Myrna who played Nora Charles: LOY.
7. Sí, across the Pyrenees: OUI - When those ANDORRANS cross the Pyrenees into France
8. Figs. with two dashes: SSN'S.
9. Tannenbaum topper: ENGEL - In Deustchland, "Our Christmas tree has an angel on top" becomes "Unser Tannenbaum hat einen ENGEL an der Spitze"
10. Master's award: DEGREE - I've got one of those
11. Depth-of-field setting: F-STOP.
12. To any extent: SO EVER.
13. Declining in later years: SENILE - MIL's Dementia and Alzheimers issues have dominated our last few months
14. Slithery danger: ASP.
15. Back-talking: SASSY.
19. Bit of deception: FOOLER - If Penn and Teller can't figure out how a magician does a trick on their TV show, the magician is called a FOOLER, wins a cheesy FU (Fooled You) trophy and gets to appear in their Las Vegas show. Sample
20. Marketing fees: AD RATES - The AD RATE for the Super Bowl I was $37,000 for thirty seconds. This year for Super Bowl LIV, it was over $5M for the same time
21. "El Cantar de mío __": Castilian epic poem: CID - The Song Of My CID (Lord or master)
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| More Spanish Geography |
22. Minor league game?: TEE BALL - This minor is serious about using a TEE in this league game
26. Sports news highlights: TRADES - The most lop-sided TRADES in history
29. Hockey Hall of Famer Mikita: STAN - One of a few STANS we get here
33. Exacting sort: STICKLER
34. Try to say: GET AT.
35. Correctly: ARIGHT - Have you ever said something stupid and then had to set things ARIGHT with a sincere apology? Me too!!
36. Like a June day, to Lowell: SO RARE.
38. Where many get manis: SPA.
39. Observations: ESPIALS - A natural collection of ESPYING efforts
41. The U.S. Naval Academy is situated at is mouth: SEVERN - Two weeks ago, Evan Kalish clued Annapolis as the second city in an alphabetic list of state capitals.
43. Piano duet quartet: HANDS - These four hands had a beautiful Top 40 Hit in my yute
45. Caterpillar rival: DEERE.
51. Act with a rainy day in mind?: SAVE.
53. Hosp. area with few visitors: ICU.
54. "AGT" judge __ B: MEL - She storms off the show dramatically by throwing water in Simon's face during a taping of America's Got Talent
55. Singer in the Whiffenpoofs, e.g.: ELI.
56. Slangy states?: SEZ - Mike Royko's book
I'm thinking of going off to pack to take up Dr. Ed's invitation of three weeks ago for any of us to visit him on Sanibel Island. You can comment while I get out my suitcase.
