Monday July 15th, 2019 Gary Larson

Theme: COLD FRONT (56A. Harbinger of lower temperatures, and a hint to the answers to starred clues)

16A. *Metaphorical tablet for the overly nervous: CHILL PILL.

37A. *Flattering deception: SNOW JOB.

10D. *2005 Disney figure-skating film: ICE PRINCESS.

 24D. *Stop-action effect: FREEZE FRAME.

Boomer here. 

Yes indeed a chilly theme. Reminds me of about 4 months of Minnesota weather.  We have two seasons in Minnesota - bowling season and golf season. Sometimes they overlap. However I want to send sympathy and good wishes to those in the gulf coast states who once again are ravaged by hurricanes and tropical storms. We may freeze here in the north, and have occasional tornadoes, but we are never ravaged by hurricanes or earthquakes.  Wishing the best to those down south.

Across:

1. Chums: PALS.  We have a baseball card shop in Andover MN named Pals.

5. Lacks the ability to: CAN'T. No spot for apostrophe in a crossword grid.

9. Not spicy, as wings: MILD.  The weather we are having up north right now.

13. On the Pacific: ASEA.

14. China's continent: ASIA.

15. Potato-prep kitchen tool: RICER.

18. Ancient Greek theater: ODEON.

19. Sailors' yeses: AYES.  I think you need two of these for one yes.

20. Trinidadian music genre: CALYPSO.

22. Batman's butler: ALFRED.  Played by Michael Gough.  His surname in the Batman shows was Pennyworth.

25. Buyer's opposite: SELLER.  We hear these two terms about now in the Major League baseball season as the trade deadline approaches. Teams at the top become "Buyers" from lower teams with star players who want to "Sell".

26. Fishing boat: DORY.

27. Actress Pinkett Smith: JADA.  I have enjoyed Will Smith movies.  I hope they are doing well.

28. Troubles: AILS.  Buy a boat and SAIL away what AILS you.

31. Trouble: WOE.

32. Sacred: HOLY.  "And the three Men I admire the most, the Father, Son, and HOLY Ghost, - They caught the last train for the coast, the day - the music … died.  (Don McClean, Miss American Pie.)

34. C.S. Lewis' fantasy world: NARNIA. - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Oh my!

36. Mimic: APE.

39. Disney collectible: CEL.  Okay but if it is a phone, don't use it while driving.

40. Do a city planner's job: RE-ZONE.

42. Farm cluckers: HENS.  Reminds me of my great uncle Bill's farm in Siren, Wisconsin.  He had crops but also had a building of hens.  Each one would lay about 20 eggs per month.

43. "Bambi" doe: ENA.  Doe, a deer, a female deer.  (Sound of Music)

44. Biblical garden site: EDEN.  The bible says it was a great place to live, except for that darn apple tree.  Many cities have adopted the name.  We have an Eden Prairie in Minnesota.  A nice place to visit, but we can't afford to live there.

45. Riyadh resident: ARAB.

47. Played for a sap: USED.  Interesting lot at most car dealers.

48. Influential moneybags: FAT CAT.  Most of these rich "Cats" are not really fat.

50. Tousles, as hair: MUSSES.

52. Old-fashioned, close-fitting undergarments: CORSETS.  When my back was under repair, I had to wear a hard plastic one.  Very uncomfortable.

54. Diamond Head's island: OAHU. Gesundheit!  Hawaiian God bless you.

55. Let up: ABATE.

61. Nero or Claudius: ROMAN.  First date rebuke.  No ROMAN hands or Russian fingers.

62. Running shoe brand: AVIA.

63. __ Lackawanna Railway: ERIE.  Silly me.  I thought it was a Great Lake.

64. Look intently (at): PEER.  I always thought Peer Gynt was a third base coach for the Boston Red Sox.  Turns out it was a play.

65. Come dramatically into view: LOOM.  Summer activities.  We would string loops onto a LOOM and make a potholder for Mom.

66. __ between the lines: READ.

Down:

1. Lobbying gp.: PAC.

2. Tapped-off cigarette part: ASH. Believe it or not, there was a tobacco store in a mall called "Ashes".  The fellow who owned it was George Ash who also happened to be a little league umpire.

3. Luau garland: LEI.

4. Weekly pay, say: SALARY.  Of course if you're hungry, you may use your SALARY to buy CELERY.

5. Dressed like many a superhero: CAPED.  We heard about the butler, now we see the CAPED Crusader.  Keep your eye open for the Bat phone or that fancy car.

6. Without warranty: AS IS.  See the USED car lot mentioned above.

7. No goals, in soccer: NIL.

8. Sprinkled with baby powder: TALCED.

9. Halfway-through-the-term exam: MIDYEAR. Maybe in high school.  In college we had mid terms about every 4-5 weeks.  Maybe that's why I only lasted a year.

11. Some July babies: LEOS.  Interesting sign of the Zodiac, but also the name of a Lion - (Not Burt Lahr).  Could be a man's name.  In fact I bowled with a great bowler named Leo Mann.  So that would make it a Mann's name also.

12. Bond villain who attended med school: DR NO.  It sounds like you show up for a scheduled surgery and the doctor talks you out of it.

15. Sushi __: ROLL.

17. Corrosive chemical: LYE.

21. Support group for families of drinkers: AL-ANON.  I used to enjoy a cocktail now and then but it never hooked me.  I feel sorry for those fighting this disease.  I was told "NO BOOZE" because it does not agree with the cancer meds.  I donated the full bottles as door prizes to my bowling league and gave the open bottles to friends.

22. Pop-up-producing program: ADWARE.  This pops up everywhere all the time.  Welcome to the 21st century.

23. Like a lasso's business end: LOOPED.

25. "Come again?": SAY WHAT.  I don't know who started this response but I wanted to tar and feather him.

27. Former "Idol" judge, familiarly: J-LO.  The big stars all have abbreviated handles.  If you don't believe me, you can ask Tony O about Puck, and Killer.

29. One with a collateral loan: LIENEE.

30. Caesar and Cobb: SALADS.  Julius and Ty.

32. TV shopper's channel: HSN.  Why watch this if you have Amazon.com??

33. Type of short play: ONE-ACT.

35. Tummy muscles: ABS.  We all have them.  Short for abdominal.

38. Ex-Florida governor Bush: JEB.  I heard his Dad and brother did pretty well

41. Astronomical way to wish: ON A STAR.  When you wish on one, it makes no difference who you are.  - Jiminy Cricket.

46. Imp: RASCAL.  Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, etc.  Also known as Our Gang.

47. Loan shark: USURER.  I have lost count of the number of emails I get with an offer to lend money.

49. High-schooler, typically: TEEN.  She was just seventeen, You know what I mean - (I saw her standing there.)

50. Palindromic title: MADAM.  "She took me in a washed away my childhood" - Statler Brothers.

51. Old TV dial letters: UHF.

52. Kvetch like a fish?: CARP.  I guess it means complaining,  But we have many Carp in our 10,000 lakes, and if you catch one you are not allowed to throw it back.

53. Bassoon kin: OBOE.

54. Varied mixture: OLIO.  Food sharing, however people in Wisconsin's dairyland will not share their OLEO

57. Ab __: from the beginning: OVO.

58. Salem is its cap.: ORE.  I have never been to Oregon.  Seems like a nice place to visit.  I am sure they have bowling centers and golf courses.  Rumor has it that it may have D.B. Cooper's body also.

59. Actress Long: NIA.

60. Texas senator Cruz: TED.  A narrow victory over Beto in 2018.

 Boomer

Sunday July 14, 2019 Mark MacLachlan

Theme:  "Code Crackers" - The letters, as hinted by part of the theme entries, orderly spelled out FBI AGENTS.

23A. One way to enter a pool: FEET FIRST. The first letter of the word "Feet" is F.

29A. One end of a church key: BOTTLE OPENER. The opening letter of "Bottle" is B.

36A. Physical location?: MEDICAL CENTER. The very center of "Medical" is I.

54A. "Mobile" communications device used in law enforcement: DATA TERMINAL. The terminal letter of "Data" is A.

64A. Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" has one that includes cannon fire: BIG FINISH. The finishing letter of "Big" is G.

72A. 2012 Beyoncé hit with the repeated line "Say you'll never let me go": END OF TIME. The ending letter of "Time" is E.

81A. Summing-up words: IN CONCLUSION. The concluding letter of "In" is N.

102A. Guru whose opinions are trusted: THOUGHT LEADER. The leading letter of "Thought" is T.

110A. 2019 "Game of Thrones" event: SERIES FINALE.The final letter of "Series" is S.

Reveal entry:

120A. Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle ... and who might be called in to decode them: FBI AGENTS.

Fun gimmick from Mark.

Reminds me of the "DEAR JOHN LETTERS" puzzle I made of for the NYT a while ago. So I fully understood the amount of research and work he put into this grid.

Across:

1. College loan co-signer, maybe: DAD. None for me, thankfully. Chinese government paid all my college education.

4. Establish as law: ENACT.

9. Long-legged birds: WADERS.

15. Five-O nickname: DANO.

19. Before, poetically: ERE.

20. Prepare to surf: LOG ON.  Most Chinese use WeChat. Quite a few neat features.

21. Reunion attendee: ALUMNA.

22. King Harald's father: OLAV.

25. __ media: SOCIAL.

26. Film scene shot without interruption: TAKE.

27. Kenya's first prime minister __ Kenyatta: JOMO. No idea. Wiki says he was also Kenya's first president. He died in office in 1978.

28. Hydroelectric project: DAM.

31. Amazon assistant: ALEXA.

33. Abundant element in Earth's core: IRON.

35. Thingamajigs: DOODADS.

41. Humor: INDULGE. me.

42. Winans of gospel: CECE.

43. Most hip: COOLEST.

45. Supposed to arrive: DUE.

46. Spa sounds: AHS. And 49. Plotting chuckle: HEH.

51. Delta rival renamed in 1997: US AIR.

53. Moving aids: VANS.

60. Jack in a suit: KNAVE.

62. Initial Hebrew letter: ALEPH. We also had 39. 12th Jewish month: ELUL.

63. Mountain melody: YODEL.

68. Lose it: GO APE.

69. Matching game: LOTTO. Our old neighbor won $100,000. Lost them all, including his house.

71. Total, as a bill: RUN TO.

76. Slips through the cracks: OOZES.

79. Domingo, for one: TENOR.

80. One of Australia's six: STATE.

83. Thin coin: DIME.

86. Digitally approve: E-SIGN.

88. Game-winning line: OOO.

89. Hallelujah trio?: ELS. Halleluja. Just the letters.

90. Spanish article: UNA.

91. Sharp tingle, as of fear: PRICKLE.

95. Ford contemporary: OLDS.

98. Discount: CUT RATE.

107. Surname on Elm Street: KRUEGER (Freddy)

108. Chiwere-speaking native: OTOE.

109. Trial subject: CRIME. Even our local Star Tribute carried this story.

114. 45, in classic pop: RPM.

117. Well-behaved: GOOD.

118. Like many Horace works: ODIC.

119. Mexican madam: SENORA.

122. __ Reader: UTNE.

123. When Hamlet kills Polonius: ACT III.

124. Divider of pews: AISLE.

125. Word in many obituaries: NEE.

126. Collectible '90s caps: POGS.

127. Put away for later: STORED.

128. Kingdom: REALM.

129. Important stretch: ERA.

Down:

1. Kanye West label: DEF JAM.

2. Ring of color: AREOLE. 

3. Regarded: DEEMED.

4. 2003 holiday comedy: ELF.

5. Reason for being barred at a bar: NO ID.

6. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.

7. Immense: COSMIC.

8. Blast cause: TNT.

9. Suspected: WAS ONTO.

10. Heaps: A LOT.

11. Tear channel: DUCT.

12. Czech track legend Zátopek: EMIL.

13. Cellular process affecting nucleotide sequences: RNA EDITING. New term to me.

14. Scene of some "Gunsmoke" action: SALOON.

15. College address ending: DOT EDU.

16. Actor born Alphonso D'Abruzzo: ALAN ALDA. Full name.

17. First of three Leslie Nielsen comedies, with "The": NAKED GUN.

18. Supervises: OVERSEES.

24. Venomous: TOXIC.

29. U2 frontman: BONO.

30. Whale group: POD.

32. Pitching staff star: ACE. Life is so fragile. You never know what's going on in other's life.

34. VCR button: REC.

37. Masseuse's target: ACHE.

38. Not sure (of): LEERY.

40. Hi-__ graphics: RES.

44. Munro pen name: SAKI. I wonder why he picked this name.

46. "Great minds think alike," e.g.: ADAGE.

47. Fire-suppressing gas: HALON.

48. Position: STEAD.

50. Med. care provider: HMO.

52. U.K. fliers: RAF.

53. They may be changed by judges: VENUES. Trial venue.

55. Place side by side: APPOSE.

56. Taking it badly?: THEFT. Fun clue.

57. Run in place: IDLE.

58. Modernist's prefix: NEO.

59. TV chef Brown: ALTON.

61. Love of antiques: VIRTU.

64. Renowned clown: BOZO.

65. Navel formation: INNIE.

66. Stand-up comic's seat: STOOL.

67. Lock __: come into conflict: HORNS.

70. Front-of-bk. list: TOC. Table of Content.

73. __ Bo: TAE.

74. "Just what I wanted!": IT'S PERFECT.

75. '70s Israeli prime minister: MEIR.

77. "Music for Airports" producer: ENO.

78. Move quickly: SCOOT.

81. Ruler unit: INCH.

82. Veg out: LOLL.

83. A piece of cake: DUCK SOUP. Love this fill.

84. More than familiar with: INURED TO.

85. Growing up: MATURING.

87. "Shoo!": GIT.

92. Brand with a pitcher-shaped mascot: KOOL-AID.

93. Bard's instrument: LUTE.

94. Freudian focus: EGO.

96. Mo. when Festivus is celebrated: DEC.

97. Beetle Bailey nemesis: SARGE.

99. Treats again, as a sprain: RE-ICES. Or hernia.

100. Grow older: AGE.

101. Actress Thompson and ice dancer Virtue: TESSAS.

103. Disney Beetle: HERBIE. Herbie the Love Bug.

104. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" singer Warwick: DIONNE.

105. Drama queen, e.g.: EMOTER.

106. View from Jidda: RED SEA.

111. Really digging: INTO.

112. Pinot __: NOIR.

113. Grammy winner India.__: ARIE.

115. Galileo's birthplace: PISA. Oh hello!

116. Strip __: MALL.

120. Away companion: FAR.

121. Rock in a setting: GEM.

 

Belated happy birthday to dear CanadianEh, one of the most insightful commenters on our blog. How did you celebrate this year, Eh?

Saturday, July 13, 2019, Greg Johnson

Themeless Saturday by Greg Johnson

Today celebrates the delight/bane of my existence - National French Fry Day. I've often said that if were no potatoes, I'd be many pounds lighter. (See fast food fries ratings just above the grid at the bottom of the blog)

As a matter of fact, there isn't much you can do to a potato to make it unpalatable to me. Well, If you put them under liver... 😖

I managed to sail right through Greg's pangrammatic puzzle with nary a potato necessary

Across:

1. It may be tuna-flavored: CAT FOOD 

8. Words spoken while pointing: THAT WAY - Assistance from a tuna lover

15. Places with tanks: AQUARIA.

16. Some Australians call it "chateau cardboard": BOX WINE - A fun new phrase for me

17. In a peculiar fashion: FUNNILY - Reminds me of last Sunday's LY puzzle

18. 1996 Olympics site: ATLANTA.

19. Most of pewter: TIN.

Periodic Table Composition of PEWTER

20. [Uh-oh!]: GULP.

22. Money: TENDER - something tendered or offered, especially money, as in payment. 1535–45; earlier tendre, noun use of Anglo-French tendre to extend, offer. 

23. Golden __: ALES - Here ya go

25. Original "Jeopardy!" announcer: PARDO - Even this poor video quality brings back fond memories of Don PARDO and Art Fleming (:39)

27. It's put on: GARB and 1. Garment commonly seen in Morocco: CAFTAN - Hasbro will sell you an Indiana Jones villain wearing GARB known as a CAFTAN

28. Rock bottom: NADIR - NADIR in poetry

30. Sugar __: BEETS.

32. CV section: BIO - Writing a BIO in your Curriculum Vitae 

33. Two-thirds of 900?: ZERO ZERO - The other third is a 9

35. Place to go in London: LOO - A public LOO where you can, uh, go on a London street

36. One hanging around near the church entrance: GREETER.

39. Matching 401(k) contribution, e.g.: JOB PERK.

41. "Everybody Hurts" band: REM - A nice listen

42. Drink served in two states?: ICE WATER - Physics Phun! Here we see water in two of its states - solid and liquid

44. "__ recall ... ": AS I.

45. Title for Juan Carlos I: EL REY  - Juan Carlos I fue EL REY de España desde 1975 hasta 2014 (Juan Carlos I was the king of Spain from 1975 - 2014)

46. Pony Express employee: RIDER - The phrase "Orphans preferred" says something about this job

50. Sugar __: CONE 

52. Words on perishables: USE BY - Once that time strikes, my lovely bride pitches it no matter what 

54. The printed one doesn't include specials: MENU.


55. Massages: KNEADS - One kitty KNEADS another

57. Eccentric: KOOK.

59. Waiter at a stand: CAB 

60. Weak: LANGUID - A synonym was used in  the broadcast phrase "Wound my heart with monotonous LANGUOR" which signaled the French Underground that D-Day was imminent  

62. Fruit, so to speak: OUTCOME - Deeds are FRUITS, words are only leaves.

64. Territory within another territory: ENCLAVE -  Le Petit Senegal in Harlem, Manhattan

65. Walk all over: TREAD ON - South Carolinian Christopher Gadsen's Revolutionary War flag 

66. Heinz Field athlete: STEELER.

67. Elves, in some cases: HELPERS.


Down:

2. Constellation whose name is Latin for 51-Down: AQUILA and 51. Mexican flag bird: EAGLE.

3. Stored in a cask: TUNNED - I suppose if it's stored in a TUN... 

4. Agitate: FAN - Every group has someone who tries to FAN the flames of an argument 

5. Not a copy: Abbr.: ORIG.

6. Prepare to show some muscle: OIL UP 

7. Some farmhands: DAY LABORERS 

8. Not yet on the sched.: TBA.

9. More than eager: HOT TO TROT.

10. Semi bar: AXLE.

11. Bluegrass characteristic: TWANG.

12. Like some watches: WINDABLE - I've had them but can't remember the last time I wound a watch

13. Situated toward the front: ANTERIOR - The ACL is in front of the PCL below

14. High school memento: YEARBOOK.

21. Top suit: PREZ - Suit is vernacular for management 

24. What "L" may indicate: SIZE - I just love this joke!

26. Nightclub VIP's spot: DEE JAY BOOTH.

29. Fix, as laces: RETIE.

31. Not at all wasted?: SOBER - Ah the many synonyms for being drunk

34. Unlikely to be out and about: RECLUSIVE - Time magazine's Top 10 most RECLUSIVE celebrities

36. Crowlike birds: GRACKLES - FINALLY they have mostly left our yard! They are big, noisy bullies that arrive around the first day of spring and leave around the first day of summer. Our little birds now have a chance at the feeders and our sunflower chip bill will go down

37. Sonorous: RESONANT - My RESONANT voice was a great asset for me in my teaching career 

38. High standing: EMINENCE.

40. Proper partner: PRIM.

43. Word with day or end: WEEK.

47. Solve, as a cipher: DECODE - Perhaps the most famous DECODER was Alan Turing in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park

48. Win over: ENAMOR.

49. 17th-century Flemish painter: RUBENS - Lovely Christina Hendricks of AMC's Madmen is said to have a RUBENESQUE figure

53. "'A' - __ Adorable": Perry Como hit: YOURE.

56. Serving two purposes: DUAL.

58. "Goofy Greats" record label: KTEL - This commercial brings back memories

 
61. Essen article: DER  - Dies ist DER vorletzte Hinweis (This is the penultimate clue)

63. Hat for an Angel: CAP - Many think the Angel under this CAP is today's best MLB player. His name is at the bottom of this blog *

After digesting this LA Times ranking of fast food fries, you can move on to comment:

* That California Angel is Mike Trout 

Friday. July 12, 2019, Bruce Haight

Title: Even STRANGER THINGS, Eleven's little brother Nine.

Bruce offers us a 15 x 16 puzzle where the theme is the grid which contains 72 words and uses only 9 letters in the alphabet!!!!!!!!!
We do have a reveal- 64A. Country spelled with the only nine letters used in this puzzle's answers: SINGAPORE (9). Gimmick puzzles can be a lot of fun but seldom have such perfect reveal. I was very impressed by the skill required to bring this home while maintaining the left/right symmetry. The only cheater squares are the three on each side of  SINGAPORE. The puzzle allowed for such sparkly fill as APENNINES, APPEASING, ENGAGES IN, PING PONGS, ASIAN PEARS, and REGRESSION. No doubt some of the fill was a bit obscure, but the final result was all doable once you understood you did not need any alphabet runs. We have some music, some tv, some food.... well it is time to work.

Across:

1. Getaway spots: SPAS. This was a good start for me.

5. Prefix with phobia: AGORA. Initially, I had left this blank, but when I had filled ARGO and ANGORA, I came back put AGORA in. I did not quite get the theme at that point, but it made sense.

10. 2012 Best Picture: ARGO. Ben Affleck.

14. Subside: EASE.

15. Place to start an IV: PREOP. Do you think it needs a hyphen? Pre-op. Nicely misleading clue because I was trying to decide where they were sticking me.

16. Accessories: GEAR.

17. Yeats' birthplace: ERIN. WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS appeared in a comment this week. Not only a well-respected poet, but he was also very proud of his Irish heritage.

18. Dissect in class, in a way: PARSE. A common crossword concept.

19. "To share, or not to share?" food brand: EGGO. No waffling on this answer.

20. Butters up, maybe: PRAISES. Unless it is your waffle...

22. Long-haired cats: ANGORAS.  This BREED.

24. Prefix with -gon: NONA. This is geometry -a plane figure with nine straight sides and nine angles.

25. Zip: NONE. Hmm, next to each other.

26. Fill in: APPRISE.

29. Wintergreen family herb: PINESAP. This is any of several yellowish or reddish parasitic or saprophytic herbs (genus Monotropa) of the wintergreen family resembling the Indian pipe. It has nothing to do with the SAP from a pine.

32. Once called: NÉE. For a female.

33. Assigning to, as blame, with "on": PINNING.

35. Multitude: SEA.

36. Hoppy brew, briefly: IPA. India Pale Ale. Very hoppy.

37. Search tools: ENGINES.

38. Apple platform: IOS.

39. Formal addressees: SIRS.

41. Factions in "West Side Story": GANGS.

42. Word in family business names: SONS.

43. Former CNN journalist David: ENSOR. I no longer watch any national news but seems like a NICE man.

45. Misunderstanding metaphor: GAP.

46. Pick up: SENSE.

47. Bird seen in only one state: NENE. CSO to our Hawaii readers.

49. Letters near zero: OPER. If you remember the classic telephone.

51. Germane: APROPOS.

54. Like some doubts and injuries: NAGGING.

58. Polish for "dumplings": PIEROGI. Food.

59. Less experienced: GREENER.

60. Football's "Boomer": ESIASON. A HOF quarterback, sort of.

61. Inflation-indexed U.S. savings bond: SERIES I. What is FOR SALE now.

62. __ Marino: SAN.

63. W-2 info: SSN.

Down:

1. Trickle: SEEP.

2. Last of three Catherines: PARR. She was an interesting woman, and here is a LINK to a wonderful historical website.

3. Far East fruit: ASIAN PEARS. This looks like an apple but tastes like a pear and is available in the street markets in Thailand and some large Asian markets here in Florida. Many of the fruits named in this THAI FRUIT LINK are grown in Homestead. Just be careful of the Durian.

4. Ranking: SENIOR. My card says "senior assistant" meaning I am old.

5. Settling down: APPEASING.

6. French fat: GRAS. Foie gras...a delicacy that extends back thousands of years, based on a rather barbaric CUSTOM.

7. Anthem word with an apostrophe: O'ER the ramparts we watched...

8. Parks in American history: ROSA.

9. Corno Grande's range: APENNINES. A complete unknown despite talking with my son and d-i-l about their time in Italy, but nothing here. Geography is clearly my weakest subject.

10. Early personal milestone: AGE ONE. Weird phrasing.

11. Word in medicine that sounds bad but is often good: REGRESSION. Another word that goes both ways - sometimes good, sometimes bad. re·gres·sion (rē-gresh'ŭn), such as shown:
1. A subsidence of symptoms.
2. A relapse; a return of symptoms.

12. Infatuated: GAGA.

13. Spanish medals or metals: OROS. Spanish Gold.

21. Take potshots: SNIPE.

23. Loud ringers: GONGS.

26. Biscotti flavoring: ANISE. Alphabetically first, but man they make many FLAVORS.

27. Jacques of PBS' "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home": PEPIN.
I did not know this SERIES or M. Pepin       

28. Does: ENGAGES IN.

29. Goes back and forth: PING PONGS. A nice visual clue.

30. Long periods: AEONS.

31. So yesterday: PASSE.

34. 1493 Lisbon arrival: NINA. HEADLINE.

40. Only Mexican state that borders Baja: SONORA.

42. Composer Rachmaninoff: SERGEI. I really did not know his first name. Listen.

44. They get carried away: REPOS.

46. "Night Moves" singer: SEGER. Listen and watch.

48. Scrubbed, as a launch: NO GO.

50. Cut back: PARE.

51. Parrots: APES. Funny, two animals used to mean imitates.

52. City on the Arno: PISA. You can see the river through the town.

53. Hold back: REIN. You need to control your joy at getting this Friday puzzle.

55. Supermodel Sastre: INÉS. This was the last of the total unknowns for me. She is quite pretty and more. Sorry for the removed info.

LINK

56. Loch of note: NESS. No Eliot for Boomer.

57. Silly look?: GRIN. Yes, what my face looks like now that I made it to the end.

Bruce always delivers some fun and creativity, and today was a classic. I feel blessed to do Friday puzzles because they are so diverse and this was an incredible challenge to create without making it clunky. Thanks, Bruce. Lemonade out.