17. Pirates' offensive: SEA ATTACK. SEA DOG, aka seal --> not to be confused with THIS Seal. ATTACK DOG. Examples: Rottweiler. Originally people bred these dogs for cattle protection. Bullmastiff. Dogs of this breed are known for their physical strength. German Shepherd. These dogs are bold, confident, powerful, and fearless.
23. Tour amenity: GUIDE SERVICE. GUIDE DOG / SERVICE DOG. Kind of one in the same, no?
32. Homing pigeon, e.g.: DOMESTIC BIRD. DOMESTIC DOG / BIRD DOG Though I am not a hunter, I owned a Springer Spaniel once, and she was primarily a domestic dog with great birding skills. Fireworks and thunder scared the crap out of her, though .... literally
41. Newlyweds' adventure, maybe: HOUSE HUNTING. HOUSE DOG / HUNTING DOG. Is this another example of "doubling" in this puzzle?
51. Happy ending to a kidnap saga: POLICE RESCUE. POLICE DOG / RESCUE DOG many Police Dogs are German Shepherds. My favorite RESCUE DOG has a treat for me!
And the unifier: 61. Schoolyard dare intensifier ... and a hint to the five other longest: DOUBLE DOG And away we go ...!!
Across:
1. Protective wear for swimmers: VEST.
5. Disaster response gp.: FEMA. They are johnny-on-the-spot to assist after natural disasters
9. Jessica of "The Politician": LANGE.
14. Turner and a president: IKES. "I like Ike" was a popular campaign slogan back in the 1950's
15. Cockpit calculations, briefly: ETAS.
16. Think tank output: IDEAS. These puzzles usually provide me (and OKL, I presume) the IDEAS for our poems, limericks, and haikus. And even Ray-O-Sunshine, too, with his witty, homonymic puns!
19. "Drop it!": LET GO.
20. Popular ISP: AOL.
21. Fabled broom rider: HAG. She doesn't resemble a HAG, to me:
22. Trees with light wood: BALSAS. As a kid, I used to build model airplanes using this wood
27. Sicilian mount: ETNA.
28. Copy room purchase: REAM. 500 sheets. My printer paper is 99.99% jam-free. Not sure about whether it's peanut butter-free ...
29. Sign of spring: BUD. Was thinking Aries or Robin
37. Pioneer in canned soft drinks: RC COLA. Did not know this. More info on Wikipedia.
40. Pool toy: NOODLE. Is this better than a VEST?
45. Emotional poem: ODE.
46. Cat's back shape, at times: ARCH. I prefer this ARCH myself
47. Wanders (about): GADS. GADS? Gadzooks!
55. Gambling spot: CASINO. They are much different nowadays with social distancing
58. Tot's little piggy: TOE. And this little piggy cried
59. USDA section: Abbr.: AGR.
60. Drama Desk Award cousins: OBIES. Would you wear one of these when receiving this award?
64. Starbucks offering: LATTE. I drink my coffee black, thank you.
65. Rubik's __: CUBE.
66. Trig function: SINE.
67. Trick alternative: TREAT.
68. Hawkish god: ARES.
69. Gives a bit: SAGS. As I get older, the sagging is more pronounced. I've got "Dunlop's Disease": My belly Dunlop-ped over my belt
Down:
1. Face: VISAGE. According to dictionary.com, the usage of this word is increasing. Really??
2. Barely manage: EKE OUT. This wouldn't be a C Moe recap without a haiku!
After seeing mouse3. Keep from escaping: SEAL IN. When I worked for 3M, we always used tape
The poor woman had trouble
Getting the EKE OUT
4. Org. using wands: TSA. Haven't been on an airplane since last fall
5. Greek salad toppings: FETAS. We had FETA yesterday. FETAS today. Can we please have a different cheese tomorrow??!
6. Tchotchke stand: ETAGERE. Perps filled this one in for me. Tchotchke? Etagere? No comprende ...
7. It's big at the Golden Arches: MAC. iPhone? Yes. MAC? No. PC for me
8. "That's a big __": ASK. When C.C. "ASKed" yours truly to join the blog team, I said "Yes"!
9. Spring scent: LILAC. We had a lilac bush growing up next to our house ... hmm ... Yellowrocks: That doesn't sound right. Please help me with the grammar here!!
10. "Rolling in the Deep" singer: ADELE.
11. Barclays Center hoopsters: NETS.
12. Bonkers: GAGA. I guess there were enough proper name clues already. LADY ____ could've worked
13. Those, in Taxco: ESOS. In case you wanted to know where this is
18. Start of many Grisham titles: THE. I guess there were!
22. Chain in the Bahamas: BIMINI. We usually hear of these islands during tropical storm season
24. Workshop grooves: DADOS. We hear that Bugs Bunny prefers rabbet grooves
25. Hi-__ audio: RES.
26. Dye holder: VAT. I might have guessed T-Shirt if the solve was 5 letters instead of 3
29. Bit of eBay input: BID. Less popular than "Buy it Now"??
30. It might be bookmarked: URL.
31. '50s pres. monogram: DDE. Another double from PAK? See 14 across
33. Yolanda's "Yay!": OLE. A complete WAG; Yolanda? Anyone care to explain??
34. Hawaiian thanks: MAHALO. If you use the words MAHALO and ALOHA in Hawaii, you might not be thought of as a HAOLE*
35. Trick: CON.
36. MLB Hall of Famer Wade: BOGGS. Hall of Fame third baseman who played for both the Red Sox and Yankees. I'm guessing that Wilbur Charles and Tinbeni can fight over which team he helped more
37. Pi follower: RHO. ... Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, ... Pie follower: an antacid!
38. Fish with chips: COD. I've fished with worms and lures before, but not chips
39. Signal to enter: CUE. I wonder if you'd use a CUE to let your opponent know it's their turn, when shooting pool??
42. Ocean State sch.: URI.
43. __-1701: Starship Enterprise markings: NCC.
44. London Underground: THE TUBE.
48. Park near Bar Harbor: ACADIA. Beautiful part of the NE. Can't wait to see Picard's photos from here!
49. Manatee cousin: DUGONG. Perps filled in this. For more info on the difference, check out this
50. Suit fabrics: SERGES. Do sergeants wear serge?
51. Michelangelo work in St. Peter's: PIETA.
52. Start: ONSET.
53. Bedroom closet hangers: ROBES. My better half prefers it when I wear one of these around the house. But even they are pretty confining when it's 80 degrees inside, and 110 degrees outside. TMI?
54. Sushi bar fare: EEL. aka "Unagi"
55. Wild West weapon: COLT. As in Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. Founded by Samuel Colt in Hartford CT in the mid 1800's. Not this:
56. It's often walked into in jokes: ABAR. A termite walked into a saloon and asked: "Is the bartender here?"
57. Browsing target: SITE.
61. Reagan Airport code: DCA. Cockpit view of a landing at DCA. Full Flaps!
62. Word for us: OUR.
63. Soft opening?: ESS.
*A mainlander.
Well, hopefully you all had as much fun with this puzzle as I. Looking forward to poking a few eyes out as one of your new Crossword Bloggers!
Chairman Moe
