Monday November 16th, 2020 Mark McClain

Theme: RECYCLE SHOP (54. Earth-friendly retailer ... and a hint to the circled letters) -SHOP is scrambled inside each theme answer, moving one letter at a time.

 17. "Fingers crossed!": HERE'S HOPING.

 24. American addition to Chinese cuisine: CHOP SUEY.

 34. Vessel carrying soldiers: TROOP SHIP.

 46. Steph Curry hoops specialty: JUMP SHOT.

Boomer here. 

It's a little early for Christmas SHOPping but "Black Friday" will soon be upon us.  I believe it got the name when retailers profits got into the black on that day. Might be a long SHOP (I mean long shot) this year .

Across:

1. Wedding party escort: USHER.  Unfortunately these parties are being blamed for a lot of positive COVID tests.

6. Witch's incantation: SPELL.  "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!"  As much as I liked Costner's "Bull Durham", "Wizard of Oz" is still my favorite.

11. Image file suffix: JPG.

14. Garden-guarding spirit: GNOME.  We have a couple of glass owls to scare the squirrels.  They don't do the job however.

15. Free-for-all: MELEE.  Vikings verses Bears tonight ?? 

16. Poetic "before": ERE.  "And I heard him exclaim ERE he drove out of sight."

19. Golf starting point: TEE.  You get to the TEE and put your TEE in the ground then TEE off.

20. Cattle identifier: EAR TAG.  Female cattle get rings.

21. Puts dressing in, as a turkey: STUFFS.  Coming soon to a Thursday near you.

23. Painter or sculptor: ARTIST.

26. Face cover: VEIL.  These days we might just call it a MASK.

27. Hawaii's Mauna __: LOA.

28. Watch over: TEND.

29. Shakespearean rumpus: ADO.  "Much ADO about nothing."

30. Sad on the Seine?: BLEU.  This word refers to BLEU cheese also.  Cheese is not Blue so if you spell it blue, you BLEW it. 

32. Migratory salmon: SMOLTS.  Reminds me of Braves pitcher John Smoltz.

 

36. Directs (to), as a specialist: REFERS.

39. Fibbed: LIED.

40. __ moment: revelation: AHA.  I know you don't yell it, but many of you think it when you fill a word that you were stumped on.

43. Yemeni port: ADEN.

44. Bumped into: MET.  New York's AMAZIN' players in 1969.

45. Hoity-toity sort: SNOB.

49. Draw idly: DOODLE.  "I'm a Yankee DOODLE Dandy !"

51. College grounds: CAMPUS.  I have only seen a few, but they all seem very elite.

52. Lighthearted banter: LEVITY.  Sure, I get to 52-Across and get called a word.

53. See 53-Down: PAL.53. With 53-Across, money transfer app: PAY.

57. Consumed: ATE.  The same letters are EAT.  Thanksgiving is coming.

58. Stay away from: AVOID.  AVOID too much turkey and stuffing. Pumpkin pie is okay.

59. Offends the nose: REEKS.

60. "Spot on!": YES.

61. Dots on a map: TOWNS.  Timberwolves Karl Anthony TOWNS - AKA KAT.

62. Doctrinal belief: TENET.

Down:

1. "This tastes awful!": UGH.

2. Smiled with disdain: SNEERED.

3. Fictional captain Hornblower: HORATIO.

4. "Bam!" chef: EMERIL.

5. Takes ten: RESTS.  Bowls a strike, then rests.

6. Air quality issue: SMOG. Our suburban Minneapolis air is pretty fresh.  But occasionally full of white stuff.

7. __ talk: team motivator: PEP.

8. "Happy Endings" actress Cuthbert: ELISHA.  ELISHA GRAY along with Enos Barton founded  Western Electric which became Graybar in 1929 when the employees purchased the distribution and sales portion of the company.  I owe them a lot! 

9. Largo relative: LENTO.

10. Assistance, with "a": LEG UP.

11. Propellant for a flying fighter: JET FUEL.  Is it unleaded ?

12. Roll call response: PRESENT.  Or you may start purchasing some on Black Friday.

13. "Who knew?": GEE.  WHIZ.

18. __ trick: hockey player's three goals in a game: HAT.  And everyone tosses theirs on the ice.

22. SLR setting: F STOP.

23. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA.  Also Ms. Gardner.

24. Rhyming pair: COUPLET.

25. NFL stats: YDS.  Viking Dalvan Cook has a bunch.

27. Zodiac feline: LEO.  I was once in a bowling league with LEO Mann.  The guy was a PBA member but once in awhile I might sneak out a win. 

30. "Turn on the heat!": BRR.  We had warm weather a couple of weeks ago, but this week it's "Welcome to Minnesota". 

31. __ Angeles: LOS.

32. "... __ loves me not": SHE.

33. Prefix with night: MID.

34. Local news hr.: TEN PM.  Also Five and Six. More commercials for us all.

35. Obedience school command: SIT.  I like the lactose free milk commercials where the guy says "If it wasn't real milk then those aren't real cows."  Then he tells them to "SIT ... I said SIT. "

36. Friend of TV's Sheldon and Leonard: RAJ.

37. Provide schooling for: EDUCATE.  This is a real hassle for schools this year.  Especially with the recent spike in cases, I'm not sure I would send school age kids to school.  I do coach bowling to High School kids but that has been delayed until spring, Or maybe next year.  Pfizer has hinted that a vaccine is coming, but needs to be stored at minus 80 degrees C.  Wow???

38. Ewes and does: FEMALES.

40. "Subsequently ... ": AND THEN.  "AND THEN Along came Jones"  - Ray Stevens.

41. Mount __: oldest Seven Sisters college: HOLYOKE.

42. Civil War prez: ABE.  back when Minnesota was a new state. 

44. Red Square city: MOSCOW.

45. "It's pretty obvious": SO I SEE.

47. Nursery rhyme dieter: SPRAT.  "Jack SPRAT could eat no fat"

48. Spanish omelet ingredient: HUEVO. Egg.

49. Joe Biden's st.: DEL.  What did DELAWARE - She wore a brand NEW JERSEY.

50. Unconcealed: OVERT.

52. Certain TV screens: LCDS.

55. Yang's counterpart: YIN.

56. Wash. winter hours: PST.  State, not D.C.

Boomer