Theme: In a Zone - Zone can follow the first word in each theme entry.
18A. Baked mac and cheese, for many: COMFORT FOOD. Comfort zone.
28A. Hit pay dirt: STRIKE IT RICH. Strike zone.
47A. "Aladdin" song whose title lyric follows "You ain't never had a": FRIEND LIKE ME. Friend zone.
62A. Buried record for future generations: TIME CAPSULE. Time zone.
Reveal:
68A. With 60-Down, on one's game ... and hint to the start of this puzzle's longest answers: IN A.
60D. See 68-Across: ZONE.
Boomer here.
I
used to bowl at the Brunswick Zone, however, some company purchased
them and renamed them to Bowlero. Never Mind, I still use my Combat
Zone, a reactive ball that works pretty well. Now I am waiting for a
vaccine. Both of my teams have voted for a delay in the start of
bowling. The Big 10+4, the PAC 12, and the SEC cannot be wrong.
Across:
1. Storied December shelf dweller: ELF. Santa's helper
4. Kind of gun that catches speeders: RADAR. Fortunately, I have never been caught. Maybe it's because I do not speed.
9. Burning crime: ARSON.
14. Pooh pal in a pouch: ROO. Roo Roo the Kangaroo.
15. Spanish month: ENERO. January.
16. Colorful tank fish: TETRA. Nice looking fish. I think they are foreign. I've never seen one in a Minnesota lake.
17. Cow call: MOO. I seem to remember that this was a Sorority in "Animal House".
20. When an after-lunch meeting might start: AT TWO. Or a tee time?
22. Blender maker: OSTER. I think it was a pioneer and most famous. Graybar sold thousands of them back in the 70s.
23. Deux halved: UNE.
24. Ones paid to play: PROS.
I guess the loot is coming from TV ads this year. No tickets have been
sold. Bar owners of locations around stadium are hurting.
26. Something that affects a result: FACTOR. I guess Aaron Judge's 9 home runs are a FACTOR
33. Issue, as light: EMIT.
34. Memo opening words: IN RE. I have seen and heard it but it seems redundant. Wouldn't "RE" be enough.
35. Kid's bear: TEDDY. Also a face on Mount Rushmore.
39. Willy Wonka portrayer Wilder: GENE. Famous movie star. My favorite was "Blazing Saddles."
40. Doctor's order?: SAY AH.
I thought only dentists say AH. My doctor has me pull up my shirt so
the lady can give me a needle shot in my stomach. It doesn't hurt much.
42. __ avis: RARA.
43. Leading the league: ON TOP. The Twins were there last week. Then they dropped four in a row so I'm not too sure now.
45. Plant stem joint: NODE. "Deal or NO DEal".
46. Of the mouth: ORAL. Now SAY AH !
50. Social blunders: GAFFES.
53. Carded at the door, briefly: ID'ED. Never happened to us. C.C. and I do not patronize those questionable places. Or maybe we are too old to be carded.
54. Christian sch. in Tulsa: ORU.
55. One way to read: ALOUD. Grade school chore, mostly.
59. TV host Gibbons: LEEZA.
65. OED book, e.g.: VOL. Volume.
66. Newborn's lack, usually: TEETH. But they still say "AH".
67. Big name in racing: UNSER. Bobby, Al, and Al Jr. are all millionaire race drivers that go real fast.
69. Analyze, as ore: ASSAY.
70. Fills fully: SATES.
71. "__ Misérables": LES.
Down:
1. Funny Bombeck: ERMA.
I used to like her stuff when published in the Minneapolis Star
Tribune. She was a clever humorist. We lost her in 1996 due to kidney
problems.
2. Pirate's take: LOOT.
3. Clue in the mud: FOOTPRINT. "in the Heat of the Night" - Lonnie Jamison makes cement casts to catch criminals.
4. Fix dinner?: RE-COOK. Usually cooking once is enough.
5. 15-Across starts it: ANO. Another Discover card commercial.
6. Free game version, maybe: DEMO. Do car dealers still let customers take out DEMOs?
7. Lab greetings: ARFS.
8. Word with square or cube: ROOT. Add an "S". I enjoyed that movie.
9. What opposites do, it's said: ATTRACT.
10. NBA official: REF. They finally got their job back.
11. Dark beer: STOUT.
12. Maine campus town: ORONO.
We also have an ORONO city in Minnesota. Very exclusive.
Multimillionaire Irwin Jacobs who owned Grain Belt Brewery and a stake
in the Vikings was known to commit a murder - suicide on his wife and
himself in April of 2019.
13. Consumer advocate Ralph: NADER. A consumer protection guy. He went after GM's Chevy Corvair and Ford's Pinto.
19. APR-reducing loan: RE-FI. Okay to lower your interest rate, but there are probably closing costs and other fees.
21. Bad loan, to an accountant: WRITE OFF.
25. Cinco y uno: SEIS.
"Two and two are four, five and one are six, and ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP. So
What did you learn in school today, dear little boys of mine?? Tom
Paxton.
27. Nation within Oklahoma: CHEROKEE.
28. Utah lily: SEGO.
29. IRS enforcers: T MEN. They would scare me.
30. Silly: INANE.
31. Test for fit in the changing room: TRY ON. Tough for me to find pants that fit. All are too big or too small.
32. Double-check, as totals: RE-ADD.
I have to RE-ADD our checkbook every month because I never write the
numbers after the decimal point. Over .50 round up and under .50 round
down.
36. Stunt double, e.g.: DAREDEVIL. Remember Evel Knievel??
37. Wee bit o' whisky, say: DRAM. I thought it might be SHOT.
38. Clinton's alma mater: YALE.
41. Prefix with pad: HELI.
44. Holier-than-thou: PREACHY. My priests have still not invited me back. I guess churches are borderline safe. I do not miss the PREACHY sermons though.
48. Puerto Rico, por ejemplo: ISLA.
49. Loafers: IDLERS.
50. "I __ go!": "Ciao!": GOTTA.
51. Astrological Ram: ARIES. Not a Los Angeles Football player. ARIES shows up on the first day of spring.
52. Running on __: weary: FUMES. When the needle hits "E" you better stop for gas. (Less than $2.00 per gallon here in Minnesota.)
56. Numbered work: OPUS.
57. Ensign-in-training inst.: USNA. US Naval Academy producing officers for the Navy. Like Spitzboov.
58. Tidy up a bit: DUST. If you want to "Tidy up" you might want to remove the dust.
61. Woeful cry: ALAS.
63. LAX calculation: ETA.
64. "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper: LEE. "Shoot all the Blue Jays you want, but it's a sin to Kill a Mockingbird." Harper Lee.
Boomer
