BLUFFY McLIARPANTS
It seems fitting that I should get a poker/card-playing theme - sadly, I was down on Long Island this past weekend to attend the wake of my dear friend Greg B., whom I'd known for nine years, as he died last Tuesday after a three-year battle with brain cancer. I had not seen him since the diagnosis, as the disease had made it diffiuclt for him to retain your name or the thread of a conversation, so he opted to spend his time ( rightfully ) with his wife and daughter. I was grateful to him for inviting me to his home for a poker game once a week, and you knew it was poker night because he would wear a shirt with "Bluffy McLiarpants" across the front; the image above was my response to that shirt; I wore this at the card table to "distract" the other players 😵. We've seen several Emma Oxford puzzles for the LA Times, and today's grid was a pleasant solve for me; no circles, just a few names, and a Wednesday difficulty. The themers which represent the "stages" of a card game;
18. 1977 Top 20 single by Boz Scaggs: LIDO SHUFFLE - Cool song
23. "Love your work!": I'M A HUGE FAN - we would fan first, to see who dealt first
38. Engagement ring option: PRINCESS CUT - done by the player to the dealer's right
54. Aspiring musician's goal: RECORD DEAL - always to the left
59. Dramatic presentation often staged during Lent: PASSION PLAY - we would PLAY high/low games, with a "stack" of chips, and the winners would "split" the pot; you could also go 'both ways', and if you won, you would "sweep" - thus, the words on my T-shirt
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Civil War POTUS: ABE - I wondered what his middle name was; POTUS is the abbr for President of the United States, so I wondered what A_L would be - more here
4. Anklebones: TARSI - crossword staple
Such beautiful Tarsi
9. Lawn ornament in a hat: GNOME
14. Bagel topping: LOX - I stopped in to see Cooper ( also my brother, who shares the same house with the dog ) and had me another bagel with chocolate chip cream cheese - it's better than it sounds~!
15. Not suitable: INAPT
16. Aspirational, as goals: LOFTY - my lofty goal is to be recognized for my fantasic board games - still trying to figure out how to get them produced
17. Hill worker?: ANT - not the quaint reference to the "US Capitol", on the "hill"
20. DEA agent: NARC
22. 44th first family: OBAMAS
27. Drive-__: THRU
30. Polite assent in Seville: SIS, ENOR - Si, C.C.~!
31. Court figs.: DAs - District Attorneys
33. Rower's implement: OAR
34. "The Mystery of __ Drood": EDWIN
36. Face With Tears of Joy, for one: EMOJI - 😂
41. Selected: CHOSE
43. Cars: AUTOS
44. Zeus, e.g.: GOD - "high -ODs" . . .
45. Skip the grass seed: SOD - low "-ODs"
48. Cloaks: MANTLES - I watched two "classic" movies over the weekend - "The Curse of Frankenstein" ( that's Fron-ken-schteen - see 7D. ) and "The Horror of Dracula", both starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - two actors who would later have roles in the Star Wars films
Tis the season~!
52. Highlander of ancient Peru: INCA
56. Zeus's daughter: ATHENA
58. Not fooled by: ONTO
64. Do some mending: SEW
65. The Ivies, e.g.: OCTET - those eight being these
66. Leader of the girl group Red Velvet: IRENE - we've seen her here before - KPOP
67. Before, before: ERE - "Able was I . . . "
68. Some Southwest landmarks: MESAS
69. Things to read on the road: SIGNS - 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯 if you're gonna rock down to . . . .
... and not recharge your smart phone 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯
70. Australian airport code: SYDneyDOWN:
1. "Ironic" singer Morissette: ALANIS - I linked her and the song in a previous puzzle
2. Brand of scouring powder: BON AMI
3. Bonuses: EXTRAS
4. Up to, for short: TIL - unTIL
5. Alex and __ jewelry: ANI - I had ANN to start, but she showed up later at 62D. Here's a shocking story behind the woman who founded the jewelry company
6. "Tubular!": "RAD~!"
7. "Spaceballs," for one: SPOOF - Mel Brook's parody of the Star Wars films; it's a tough call as to which of his other spoofs is better - Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein~?
Dark Helmet & Colonel Sandurz
8. Bleak assessment: IT'S BAD
9. Down in the dumps: GLUM
10. Skim, in the dairy aisle: NO FAT
11. Branch: OFFSHOOT
12. The NHL's Canadiens, on a scoreboard: MTL - abbr for Montreal; I had MON - MTL is nearly a unique fill; The "Habs" - too early in the season for me still, CandianEh!
13. Quiet part of a hurricane: EYE
19. "Pitch Perfect" actress __ Mae Lee: HANA - filled via perps
21. "Here's to you!": "CHEERS~!"
24. Boxers or briefs: UNDIES - which are you~? Or do you go "commando"~?
25. Formal dress: GOWN - were undies "formerly" worn beneath that gown . . . ?
26. Actor Stoltz: ERIC - I liked him in Pulp Fiction
Prank caller~!
28. "The Big Bang Theory" character: RAJ - I asked my brother, sitting across his dining room table, for this answer - he likes it, but I cannot stand to watch a single scene of this show
29. New England sch.: URI - University of Rhode Island - my "CT nextdoor neighbor"
32. __ fiddle: SECOND - HA~! FIT-AS-A- worked, too~!
35. Teacher's org.: NEA
37. High-priority activity, per some guidebooks: MUST-DO
38. Downloads before a long road trip, perhaps: PODCASTS - ROAD MAPS worked, too, but duped
39. Japanese sport: SUMO
40. Rating unit: STAR - I give this crossword four-and-a-1/2 out of five "Moe Stars"
41. Much of the F/X in the MCU: CGI - Computer-Generated Imagery, the Marvel Comic Universe; I am not a fan of this genre, tho I did like Deadpool
42. Babe: HON - I prefer this quaint three-letter SO nickname to "bae"
46. Black-and-white treat: OREO
47. "Mystic River" novelist Lehane: DENNIS - I have read the book; one of a just a handful from authors whose work gave me an emotional response - another was The Secret Place by Tana French
49. Inserts in some frames: LENSES - those kinds of frames
50. Diner or bistro: EATERY
51. Lost steam: SLOWED
53. Lost: AT SEA
55. Island off Naples: CAPRI
57. Battleship successes: HITS - the Milton-Bradley ship-hunting game
59. Juice brand with distinctive bottles: POM
60. Nail, as a test: ACE - R.I.P. ACE Frehley of KISS
Shock Me - the extended "smoking guitar" solo from 1977
61. Relay segment: LEG
62. "The Baby-Sitters Club" writer __ M. Martin: ANN - more here
63. "Affirmative": "YES."
For Greg
Splynter
