Wednesday, September 15, 2021 Stephanie Lesser

Theme: I'm So Delighted

17A. Delighted: OVER THE MOON.

36A. Delighted: GLEEFUL.

53A. Delighted: BEYOND HAPPY.

11D. Delighted: TICKLED PINK.

25. Delighted: ON CLOUD NINE.

Boomer here again, happily filling in another blog slot. Congrats to Stephanie Lesser for her LA Times debut.

I guess you could say that I am beyond happy, Tickled Pink, On Cloud Nine and over the Rainbow to be able to blog and continue my bowling leagues and coaching the kids.  "Things are seldom what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream."

Across:

1. Wine, with "the": GRAPE.  With my medicine, I am not even allowed one drop of alcohol.  I never much like wine anyway.

6. Athletic gripper: CLEAT.  I have these plastic CLEATS on my golf shoes.  I guess that's all you are allowed to have anymore.

11. 5 mL, in some recipes: TSP.

14. Big state: TEXAS.  I have a pal in TEXAS.  It's been in the BIG NEWS recently.  

15. Believer in karma: HINDU.

16. Order from a stool, maybe: IPA.  BEER has too many letters.

19. Cartoon collectible: CEL.  I have never seen nor owned one.

20. Back-combs: TEASES.  Most look ridiculous.

21. __ sock: ANKLE.  That's all that I own

23. Last one in, competitively: SLOWEST.  No medal in Tokyo this summer.

26. Folklore cave dwellers: TROLLS.

27. Jipijapa hat, familiarly: PANAMA.

28. Call it a day: GO HOME.  I already AM HOME !

30. Stephen Hawking's journalist daughter: LUCY.  Also Charlie Brown's girlfriend.

31. Mouth-watering reaction?: DROOL.

32. Forest female: DOE.  DOE a deer, a female deer, Ray a drop of golden sun.  Me a name I call myself...... The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music.

35. Not online, briefly: IRL. In Real Life.

38. Bit of wordplay: PUN.  Yes, I have been accused.

39. Eastern principle: TAO.

40. Theater parts: ROLES.  I have mentioned it before.  I was Noye in Benjamin Britton's "Noye's Fludde". Britton was a lousy speller.

41. Listen to: MIND.  Your Manners.

42. Log-in need: USER ID.  And a Password.  Do not use "PASSWORD"...Really.

44. The "P" in TAFKAP: PRINCE.  TAFKAP stands for The Artist Formely Know As Prince. Minnesota guy remembered by "Purple Rain".

46. "No doubt": INDEED.

48. Kept from leaking, in a way: CAULKED.  This stuff is normally a big mess to work with.

49. Spun flax fabric: LINEN.

50. Sear and simmer: BRAISE.

52. "__ dreaming?": AM I.  Jack Horner put his thumb in a pie and said what a good boy "AM I".

58. Prefix with dairy or fat: NON.  I need NON sugar.

59. Math calculations: AREAS.  Two and Two are Four, Four and Four are Eight.  Tom Paxtom learned it in school.

60. Mild oath: EGADS.

61. "Affirmative, cap'n": AYE.  In the Navy of course.  Soldiers just said YES SIR.

62. Like survey questions with two boxes: YES NO.

63. Stick-on decoration: DECAL.  I never use these.  I think cars with those things stuck on the windows brag.

Down:

1. Trailblazer in the muscle car category: GTO.  Three deuces and a four speed, and a 389. So says Jan & Dean.

2. Gun for a race: REV.

3. Tool that's swung: AXE.  Larry Hennig's Nickname

4. At some point during a trip, say: PARTWAY.

5. Great regard: ESTEEM.

6. Storage furniture: CHEST.  I do not have any furniture in my CHEST.

7. Margarita garnish: LIME.  Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Lime.

8. Ten-time all-star Slaughter: ENOS.  We just had him.

9. It may be about nothing: ADO.  It could be a bad call by an umpire?

10. Sushi choice: TUNA ROLL.

12. Be in a bee: SPELL.  Could be a cold ___ in bowling.

13. Doesn't measure up: PALES.

18. "It __ familiar ring to it": HAS A.

22. Word on a French passport: NOM.  I have never had a French Passport.  Only fries and toast.

23. Took off: SPLIT.  I have had plenty of these.  A pocket 7-10 is the worst.

24. Dern or Linney: LAURA.

26. Bank heist unit: THOU.  I think we used to say this in church.  I never knew that it was about a bank robbery.

28. One of the deadly sins: GREED.

29. Comics punch lines?: OOFS.

31. Sandwich seller: DELI.

33. Unit of perfume: OUNCE.

34. Wrapped up: ENDED.  Not quite.  We are almost there.

36. Packers home: GREEN BAY.  Yes indeed.  Stadium named after Curly Lambeau.  I think he was on of the three stooges.

37. Voldemort's title: LORD.

41. It's unlimited with some rentals: MILEAGE.

43. Take in: SEE.  "I SEE" said the blind man.  But he really didn't.

44. Forked over: PAID.  I usually use a credit card and not a fork.

45. Didn't dawdle: RUSHED.

46. Comedian Glazer: ILANA.

47. Longtime Shatner co-star: NIMOY.

48. Affirmative playground retort: CAN SO.  No you can't.

50. Tourney passes: BYES.  For the Vikings in the NFL tourney it's either BYE or Good BYE. 

51. Horse of a certain color: ROAN.  In the "Wizard of Oz" it's a horse of a different color.

54. Old-timey "before": ERE.

55. Ms. __-Man: PAC.  I beat the heck out of Pac-Man at Great America park in Northern Illinois.  I did not play Ms. Pacman too much but I was nice to her.

56. Acronym for unabashed intimacy: PDA. Public Display of Affection.

57. DKNY competitor: YSL.  I have no idea what this means.  Must be only for better crossword solvers than I.

Boomer