Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024, Rebecca Goldstein

 HURDLES

Today's construction makes two Rebecca puzzles in a row for me, AND the second in a row that's 16 x 15.  Plus the fourth grid of hers that I have blogged since I started guest blogging last year.  Two spanners and two 10-letter theme answers.  IMHO there was some meh fill, but that may be due to the fact that I am getting "older" and not keeping up with the world as it races past me.  The theme clues/answers: 

17. Undercover undertaking: STEALTH OPERATION

36. Winter getaway deal: SKI PACKAGE

43. Meet, Maps, and Drive, e.g.: GOOGLE APPS

62. Bend over backward, or what each set of circled letters is: JUMP THROUGH HOOPS - three synonyms for "jump", which 'bound' from one word to another, while being "circled" by a hoop.

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Pleads: BEGS

5. Clear as day: LUCID - eh, I like this better when referring to dreams

10. Brunch side: HASH

14. "Lunch __ a Skyscraper": iconic New York photograph: ATOP - I did not know it was a publicity stunt; the Wiki

Totally Photoshopped

15. Trip to see Africa's "Big Five": SAFARI - I did not know there was a "set" that should be on one's African safari bucket list; they are listed here on this site

16. Capital city with public transit ferries: OSLO - this strikes me as being "Ektorp", but there's "Norway" it's going to be Swedish 😜

20. Owns: HAS

21. __ Lingus: AER - Crossword staple

22. As of now: TO DATE

23. Toy that may get stuck in a tree: KITE - ah.  Not "POM"

C'mon, that's funny~!

25. Sweater pattern: ARGYLE - a shout-out to our dear departed Santa

28. Fully __ nachos: LOADED

30. Apt rhyme for tear: WEAR - "wear & tear"; took me a minute

31. Lovers' quarrel: SPAT - and - 50A. Tizzies: ADOs

35. Garden shelter: ARBOR - my maiden excursion on my new tractor did not go so well; trashed my garage door track, twice, trying to get it out; knocked myself silly when the folding roll bar folded on my head, then when I was out mowing, first the roll bar snapped a branch off my pine tree and then....

38. "Wild" card game: UNO

39. 4-Down sigh: AHH....

41. Country north of Kenya: Abbr.: ETHiopia

42. Unlikely to reprimand: LAX - not the airport this time

47. "Don't cry for me" singer: EVITA

49. Web content std.: HTML - oops, I tried HTTP

51. Soaks in a salt solution: BRINES - meh.  Don't care for the 'verb'; salt solutions...better

52. "Even still ... ": AND YET. . .

54. "So I __": "LIED" - OK, "So I LIED" - that's not really my tractor 😁

55. Infinitesimally small: ATOMIC

58. Things put in to power?: AAs - bitty batteries

59. Wheelbarrow groove: RUT - yeah. meh.

67. Novelist Rice: ANNE

68. Vehicles with pedal assist: eBIKES - I have such a short drive to work, I considered buying one of these for the exercise and to save on gas

69. All over the place: AMOK

70. Fridge incursion: RAID

71. Folder contents: FILES

72. Top diving scores: TENS


DOWN:

1. Swinging soiree: BASH

2. Gospel icon James: ETTA

3. Makes a big noise: GOES KABOOM - remember this game~?

4. Relaxation station: SPA

5. Judy Garland co-star Bert: LAHR - you won't find this lion in Africa

Wow - he even signed it to my given name~!

6. Mysterious sight in the sky: UFO - I wondered if this would be the 21st century "UAP" answer

7. Tube top?: CAP - ah, toothpaste, e.g.

8. Intense anger: IRE

9. "Traitor!": DIRTY RAT

10. Choose a spot in an open office: HOT DESK - never heard of this; I have been booted from several desks (workbenches, actually) at my job because I fill two roles - I am a pipe organ technician, but also the next CAD pipe organ design guy; since I painted the CAD office, my co-workers seem to think that my other work space has been 'conceded' .  Sigh.

11. Most populous continent: ASIA - Antarctica comes in a close second. . . .

12. Gumball machine opening: SLOT - meh.  There's a coin "slot", but the opening is sort of like a hinged gate, if you ask me

13. Make sharp: HONE

15. Camel in a caravan, maybe: STEED - yeah, I suppose.  I happen to like camels - I want a stuffed one to add to my Webkins collection; I have two dinosaurs and a dragon; used to play on the computer with my once-step-daughter

and it's HUMP DAY~!

18. Like some job moves: LATERAL - I would have thought splitting my time between two "offices" at work would be considered "lateral".  Bzzzt. 

19. Early web portal: AOL

24. Eager reply to "Who wants this cookie?": "I DO~!" - I was expecting "ME~! ME~!"

25. Uncomfy, casually: AWKward

26. Hiking gear rental co.: REI- Crossword staple

27. Stops and stares: GAPES

Oh, sorry, I got distracted. . . .a lucid dream about a HOT DESK~?

28. Guffaw: LAUGH

29. "I take it back": "OR NOT. . ."

32. Race car or kayak: PALINDROME - the same spelling, forwards and backwards

33. Banded gemstone: AGATE

34. Home state of Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion: TEXAS - did not know this, nor would I care.  I guess I AM getting old(er).  Filled via perps.

36. Suspicious: SHADY - I'd link Slim Shady, but the lyrics....

You've Been Warned. . . .

37. Think of fondly: CHERISH

40. Captain cook?: HEAD CHEF - har-har

44. Rented a yurt, maybe: GLAMPED - High living while "roughing it"

45. "The Bells" poet: POE - also did not know this; filled via perps

46. Hollywood hrs.: PST

48. Strive (for): VIE

51. Slight depression, with "the": BLAHS - not the BLUES, but 60% correct

53. Tiny issue: NIT

55. Cracked just a bit: AJAR

56. Mackerel relative: TUNA

57. Potent prefix: OMNI

58. Life times?: AGES

60. Wish __ a star: UPON

61. Tuts: TSKs

63. Squeeze play stat: RBI

64. Menorah liquid: OIL

65. "Aloha 'Oe" instrument, briefly: UKE

66. Granola grain: OAT - four in a row, letters three, that's all you're gonna get from me~!

Splynter