Monday November 30, 2020 Kurt Krauss

Theme: Phrases with numbers at the start are literally itemized.

17. Big burger chain, literally?: GUY GUY GUY GUY GUY. Five Guys.

27. "I Can't Help Myself" R&B group, literally?: TOP TOP TOP TOP. Four Tops.

44. Many a sports car, literally?: SEATER SEATER. Two-seaters

58. Exec's dressy suit, literally?: PIECE PIECE PIECE. Three-piece.

Boomer here. "Eight Days a Week" - The Beatles - Day Day Day Oh never mind.  I only do the blog comments on one or two days.  Hope your Thanksgiving went well.    

Across:

1. Two-wheelers: BIKES.  Yes I had one. Years ago "Two wheeler" was a common term when one graduated from a tricycle.

6. Haunted house sound: MOAN.  I am old.  Does not MOANing aches and pains count?

10. Stick a fork in: STAB.  Between the "R" Tab and the "T" Tab.

14. Standing at attention, say: ERECT.  Or build a metal Ferris Wheel with your set.  I could never do it.

15. Oscar winner Paquin: ANNA. Won Oscar at 11 for "The Piano".

16. Soft drink nut: KOLA.  Odd looking and terribly expensive.  I get cashews at Fleet Farm.

20. Yale student: ELI. 

21. Homes for bears: DENS.  I was a young Cub Scout back when IKE was President.  We had meetings in the den of the pack leader's home.

22. Con jobs: SCAMS.

23. __ strength: ability to withstand stretching: TENSILE.

25. On the briny: ASEA.  "We sail the ocean blue, in our saucy ships of beauty."  Gilbert and Sullivan.

32. Honors with a fancy party: FETES.

35. "Wild Blue Yonder" mil. group: USAF.  I was in the Army.  I suppose I would have to serve more than two years in the Air Force to get a jet.

36. __ de Janeiro: RIO.  Home of the 2016 Olympics.

37. Dutch cheese: EDAM.  On the river between the "D Dam" and the "F DAM". 

38. Worker in a shaft: MINER.

40. Curve in a road: BEND.

41. Round Table title: SIR. "How do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?" - Lulu.

42. Locker room powder: TALC.  This is the stuff that Johnson and Johnson is getting sued about.  Maybe they can make it up by selling vaccine.

43. Walrus features: TUSKS. "I am the egg man, they are the egg men, I am the Walrus goo goo g'joob."  The Beatles.  I had to Google the last three words.  I thought it was "coo, coo, kachoo."

48. Floor space calculation: AREA.  Length times width.

49. Sticks around: LINGERS.

53. Big rigs: SEMIS.

56. Bowling targets: PINS.  And on LANES not ALLEYS.

57. Animal doc: VET.

62. One of 12 in a foot: INCH.

63. Farm size unit: ACRE.

64. Confess: OWN UP.  I confess - I forgot what a bowling target was.  The only time I have picked up a ball since last March was to get at my golf clubs.  Where is that vaccine everyone is talking about?

65. Classic grape soda: NEHI.  I believe RADAR on M*A*S*H drank it.

66. Hair colorings: DYES.

67. Handy carryalls: TOTES.

Down:

1. Procreate: BEGET.

2. "Go, me!": I RULE.

3. Enter, as data: KEY IN.  We used to call it typing.

4. Cardio readout: ECG.  AKA EKG.

5. Small apartments: STUDIOS.  Sleep in the living room - between the TV and the computer.

6. Wall calendar : nail :: shopping list : __: MAGNET.

7. Burden: ONUS.  Some times a puzzle becomes a burden ON US.

8. "__ further discussion?": ANY.  Yeah, we have more clues to kick around.

9. Old horse: NAG.

10. Airport porter: SKYCAP.  They were busy last weekend, even though governors asked people not to go.

11. Forum wear: TOGA.  Did someone say "Animal House"? 

12. High school reunion attendee, briefly: ALUM.  Skipped my 55th.  It was cancelled due to virus.

13. Howls at the moon: BAYS.  I used to love fishing in these parts of our 10,000 lakes.  Water was calm and fish were always biting.

18. Puppy's cry: YELP.  Also a company in San Francisco that spies on businesses.

19. Make __: employ: USE OF.

24. Flower holder: STEM. Or VASE.

25. Semicircular cathedral area: APSE.  I often wonder why Catholic Churches have really high ceilings.  This is Minnesota.  The buildings are impressive but heat in winter and AC in summer are not cheap. 

26. Lead actor or actress: STAR.

28. Postal scale unit: OUNCE.

29. "__ bien!": TRES.  "Je ne sais pas". 

30. Sty cry: OINK.  That's the way we spell it, not the way pigs yell it.

31. Snow pea holders: PODS.

32. Come clean, with "up": FESS.  "Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the wild frontier."  FESS Parker.

33. Falco of "The Sopranos": EDIE.

34. Butler's quarters?: TARA. Rhett Butler. "Gone With the Wind".

38. Female horse: MARE.  The old gray one "Ain't what she used to be".

39. "Casablanca" heroine: ILSA.

40. Town: BURG.

42. Wasting few words: TERSE.

43. Sawbuck: TEN SPOT.  "Sawbuck" is a bit of an insult to Alexander Hamilton.  We call a $100 a Benjamin, we call a $20 a Jackson, and we call a $50 bad luck in Las Vegas.

45. Meditative martial art: TAI CHI.

46. Restaurant in an Arlo Guthrie hit: ALICE'S.  "You can get anything you want" there.  And you can get a year older if you can recite the entire ditty.

47. Fork prong: TINE.

50. Discus or pole vault: EVENT.

51. Prompt, as a forgetful actor: RECUE.

52. Staircase divisions: STEPS.  Down is no problem but I have to take my time going up.

53. "Wheel of Fortune" choice: SPIN.

54. German article: EINE.  Rhymes with WINE.  Only 50 cents a bottle over there in 1969.

55. Kind of drawing: Abbr.: MECH. Mechanical.

56. Dijon dad: PERE.

59. Note-taking aid: PAD.  I don't think anyone uses them any more.  Just record the note on a phone.

60. Aloof: ICY.  Anyone who think ICY is aloof, never landed on their butt taking the garbage can out to the street in the winter.

61. __ Jima: IWO.

 I didn't know I have friend with friends in high places.

Janet Yellen with Graybar CEO Kathy Mazzarella. Kathy with Boomer

Boomer