Monday April 27, 2020 Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke

Theme: DOUBLE ROOMS (56. Hotel accommodations for couples, and a hint to both parts of 20-, 27- and 49-Acros) - Room can follow both two words in each theme answer.

20. Strategy with delaying tactics: WAITING GAME. Waiting room. Game room.

27. Rental industry with units for extra belongings: PUBLIC STORAGE. Public room. Storage room.

49. Household gathering to discuss something: FAMILY MEETING. Family room. Meeting room.

Boomer here.

I couldn't help but notice how the theme answers seem to fall into our fight with Covid-19. It certainly is a waiting game to try to get back to at least partially normal.  I am sure we all have family meetings to decide how to spend time while we stay at home.  And hotel accommodations??  I see reports on TV almost daily about Las Vegas and the empty hotels. In the meantime we have golf courses here that are open with strict rules.  I am still staying at home but I could try golf in a week or two.  Hoping you all are well and coping.

Across:

 1. Pull a pre-exam all-nighter: CRAM.  Or try to fit a dozen golf balls in one of those small pockets on your golf bag.

5. High-five sound: SLAP.  Or SLAP a 40 foot putt into the hole.

9. Hamster homes: CAGES.

14. Word in a bailiff's order: RISE.  "ALL RISE !"  Yankee Aaron Judge's nickname.

15. Comics possum: POGO.  POGO has internet games.  I play the Trivial Pursuit daily, but it seems that it will not be available next year.

16. Seashore recess: INLET.  In our lakes we call them bays.

17. Mail-routing abbr.: ATTN.

18. How some close NFL games are won: IN OT.  The NFL draft took place this week.  Now we have to wait and see if there will be a season.

19. Black, in Bordeaux: NOIRE.

23. There's no winner in one: TIE.  I have some TIEs in my closet that are winners.

24. Defense org.?: ABA.  American Bar Association.

25. Enticed: TEMPTED.  Yes I am TEMPTED to see if I can still hit the ball. FORE!

32. Grabbed a bite: ATE.

33. Loafer or moc: SHOE.  I have two pairs of bowling shoes and two pairs of golf shoes.  I have one pair of black leather dress shoes I only wear to church so they have been in the closet for awhile.

34. Outlying communities: EXURBS.  It seems that the virus is less dominant in rural areas.

37. Brown shades: TANS.

39. Push in some chips: BET.  Sorry, not available on the "Sin City" Strip for awhile.

41. Fab Four first name: PAUL.  Not JOHN.

42. "Jeepers!": SHEESH.

45. Agrees quietly: NODS.

48. Capote nickname: TRU.  I remember Truman's book "In Cold Blood" about a nasty murder in Kansas.

52. Pancake flipper: SPATULA.  The spat won't do it all by itself.  It needs an operator.

54. Not within walking distance: FAR.  Where Aaron Judge hits baseballs.

55. Ab neighbor: PEC.  A bushel and a pec and a hug around the neck.  (Doris Day.)

62. Dog collar dangler: ID TAG.  We called them "Dog Tags". Mandatory item to wear in the Army.

64. When many start lunch: NOON. I usually start mine about 11:00 but that's AM so it's noon somewhere. 

65. Slender wind: OBOE.

66. Eat away at: ERODE.  I can ERODE a bag of sunflower seeds.  When I had real teeth I would eat the salted in the shell variety.  Now I just settle for the seeds.

67. Lump of dirt: CLOD.  Golfers call it a divot.  Pick it up and put it back where you found it.

68. Bread with hummus: PITA.

69. Sensitive skin spots: SORES.  Golfers may get these on their feet in the Spring.

70. Cooped cluckers: HENS.  Plenty of them at my Uncle Bill's farm on Burnikel Road in Siren Wisconsin.

71. Place to hold a snifter: STEM.

Down:

1. Stick in one's __: CRAW.  Does a CRAW have a father?? CRAWDAD ??

2. "Lovely" musical meter maid: RITA.  Lovely Rita meter maid, may I inquire discreetly, when are you free to take some tea with me ?  (Sergeant Pepper's Lonely hearts club band.) I own the vinyl album on a bookshelf.

3. Piedmont wine center: ASTI.

4. __ telepathy: MENTAL.  You need some of this to finish these puzzles.

5. Veggie favored by Popeye: SPINACH.  I'm strong to the finish, cuz I eat my spinach.

6. Like epic novels: LONG.  "A LONG, LONG time ago, I can still remember when the music used to make me smile."  Don McClean - "American Pie".  I have that one next to SGT. Pepper.

7. Super-excited: AGOG.

8. Idaho product: POTATO.  At least I have not heard of those being scrapped and not sent to market.

9. HBO-owned broadcaster: CINEMAX.  These guys are going crazy now with movie theaters closed.

10. "It's __-brainer!": A NO.  A Doctor.  Dr. No - Bond, James Bond.

11. Beautiful people, as a group: GLITTERATI.

12. Like a fog-enshrouded cemetery: EERIE. Actually these days, nearly any quiet walk in the evening. 

13. Jouster's mount: STEED.  A five-letter word for horse.

21. Sacred Nile bird: IBIS.  A Latin word for a bird with a long beak.

22, Not more than: MERE. We went to the grocery store for milk and canned fruit and spent a MERE $100.00 

26. Scrolling PC key: PG UP.

27. Frisks, with "down": PATS. A TSA guy frisked me at the airport in February. Evidently my hernia created a problem.  TSA guys do not look too busy now.

28. Salt Lake City's state: UTAH. The great Salt Lake is the eight wonder of the world.  I have only driven by the Southern Shore on I-80 but it is magnificent.  The only puddle we have that comes even close is our Mille Lacs Lake in Central Minnesota.  

29. Philanthropist: BENEFACTOR.

30. Get all blubbery: SOB.

31. So, so small: TEENY.  Itsy bitsy yellow polka dot bikini.

35. Severely overcook: BURN.  Or one half of a surname.

36. Fake coin: SLUG.  I have never seen or used one.  I guess they are great subway cheaters in NYC. 

38. Couch or bench: SEAT.  Rosa Parks would not give hers up.  Way to go, Rosa.

40. Quarterback Brady: TOM.  With the Buccaneers now.

43. Erasure marks: SMUDGES.

44. Big Island port: HILO.  I have never been to Hawaii but I know it's on the biggest Island.

46. Comes to the aid of: DEFENDS.

47. Scorch: SEAR.

50. Cape Canaveral event: LAUNCH.  I have only been to central Florida but I know Canaveral is off the eastern coast on what is sort of like a long island.  Maybe it is called a cape ?

51. Bunches of Brownies: TROOPS.  My buddies in Hardheim Germany were also called TROOPS.

52. Seekers of intel: SPIES.  Bond, James Bond.

53. Martinez with three Cy Youngs: PEDRO.  Pretty good pitcher with the Green Monster behind him.

57. Tree trunk: BOLE.

58. Minnesota's state bird: LOON.  That is our bird.  We are all a bit LOONIE.

59. Last bio: OBIT.

60. Bit of dust in a sunbeam: MOTE.

61. Tailor's line: SEAM.

63. Drink suffix: ADE.

Boomer