Saturday, December 14, 2019, Ed Sessa

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Dr. Ed Sessa

Our retired M.D. makes another prescription of fun with this themeless puzzle. Here we see him with a very able and cute assistant.

If the good doctor carries a remedy for impatience, he could give me a scrip (see lightning bolt below on grid). When I saw - A _ D A, I filled in one crossword staple - AIDA, instead of another one - ALDA, without reading the clue or wondering about any place name MAITA. 

So I'll take dose of humility while lauding Ed's always pleasing construction and try to move on with my life with one bad cell.

No Blue Cross/Shield card required as we x-ray Dr. Ed's work:

Across:

1. Ring in one's ears?: CROP CIRCLE - Wow! Make room for this in my clue hall of fame. It turns out the rings are CROP CIRCLES and the ears are on cornstalks, not the sides of our heads!

11. Common dressage gait: TROT - A debate on this practice

15. It may offer dining options and a spa: RESORT AREA.

16. Tanning target: HIDE - Mom threatened to tan ours but never laid a hand on us

17. Imperfections affecting diamond clarity: INCLUSIONS.

18. '60s pop singer Sands: EVIE - All about Evie (Hey, you had to see that coming!)

19. Called to the shepherd: BAAED - Awww... 

20. Trial for a would-be atty.?: LSAT - A sample question from the Law School Admissions Test (Choose an answer and then click on Submit to get a detailed analysis)

21. One told to leave, maybe: PEST 

22. Camera choices: SLRS - I loved my Single Lens Reflex cameras but the iPhone is always with me so...

23. No longer is: WAS -My 24. Round number?: GIRTH WAS much larger two months ago than it IS now

25. Trig function: COTAN - If you really wonder what a COTANGENT is

27. Pickett's Charge charger: REB - Despite Longstreet's objections, Lee ordered  his REBS to attack across open ground against the strong Union position on Cemetery Ridge and many died

28. High in an irritating way: SHRILL - Gilbert Gotfried's SHRILL voice and real voice

32. Weak-kneed: TIMOROUS - An upscale adjective for TIMID

36. Sign that may have a dog silhouette on it: KEEP OFF THE GRASS - Oh...

38. "I hear ya": YEAH YEAH - That's why I had to put up the dog sign

39. Child's milestone: AGE TEN - You're a  big deal when you hit double figures

40. Future flounder: ROE - Fish eggs, of course

41. Mulligan, e.g.: RETRY - Uh, you can take a mulligan, Gary. Mulligan derivation

43. Fix: AMEND.

45. "__ little faster, please": GO A - Not the state of GOA in SW India today

46. Retinal cells: RODS - Sensors that see black and white while cones see colors 

50. Thorn in one's side: BANE - Some thought that Stella's puzzle last Saturday was this


51. Hawaiian staple: TARO - TARO root being pounded into poi with a basalt lava pestle 

53. Word from the Hebrew for "teaching": TORAH.

54. "Scientific American Frontiers" host: ALDA 

55. Tippling point?: ONE TOO MANY - AA tells it members that ONE is TOO MANY

57. Each cha in cha-cha-cha: STEP - 1, 2, CHA, CHA, CHA

58. Bad taste: INELEGANCE.

59. Lawman who was also a boxing referee: EARP - Wyatt lived in Pella, IA from 2 - 14-yrs-old

60. Green Hornet's great-uncle: LONE RANGER - Fun new info for me about Fran Striker who created both characters. The Lone Ranger's "real" name was John Reid and then later Fran invented a character who was a descendant - Britt Reid - who assumed the identity of The Green Hornet in more modern times.


Down:

1. Cheats, in a way: CRIBS - The use of CRIB meaning "to pilfer" dates to 1740. I remember cheat sheets being called CRIB sheets in my day

2. Nephric: RENAL - I know nephritis is a kidney disorder and RENAL is an adjective for kidney issues so...

3. Jazz pianist Peterson: OSCAR - Info on this Canadian Jazz artist

4. Flag bearers: POLES - A POLE carrying a POLE with the POLISH flag in the 2018 Olympic parade

5. Guck: CRUD  

6. "__ not my call": IT'S.

7. Upbraid: RAIL AT.

8. Start of a pedestrian caution: CROSS AT THE GREEN - I take issue with Dr. Sessa's preposition here. CROSS AT THE LIGHT maybe...

9. Dunham of "Girls": LENA - I've never seen her work but she is a veteran apologizer

10. __ Coast: EAST.

11. NYC landmark overlooking Central Park: THE PIERRE.

12. Inland navigator: RIVERBOAT.

13. Penner of praiseful poetry: ODIST.

14. Muscle: TEETH putting real TEETH in anti-texting/driving laws might decrease the 30. Tailgating danger: REAR ENDER this driver poses

23. Tom who coined "radical chic": WOLFE.

24. Like a drunken sailor, in more ways than one?: GROGGY - Gotta love those sailors who are GROGGY from drinking too much GROG

25. Laid it on thick: CLOYED - TV's best example

26. Med. research agency: NIH - National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD

28. Overhead expanse: SKY.

29. Half a bray: HEE - HAW. 

31. Cell download, perhaps: IPHONE APP - My golf IPHONE APP

33. Ben Stiller's mom: MEARA - Ann MEARA and Jerry Stiller. Our Hawaiian blogger Chef Wendy lives a stone's throw from Ben on Kauai 

34. Purpose: USE - The Swiss Army site says this baby has 32 USES

35. Return ID: SSN.

37. Wide partner: FAR.

42. Emulate Galway: TOOTLE - Virtuoso flute player Sir James Galway is a first-rate TOOTLER

43. Denigrate: ABASE.

44. 122-square-mile republic: MALTA - A better and more methodical solver than yours truly would have seen MALTA to correct his single error of AIDA/ALDA

46. __ candle: ROMAN.

47. Bornean beast: ORANG - Breakfast with the ORANGATANS is an option in the Singapore Zoo. Is any animal's name mispronounced more often?

48. Hustle, say: DANCE - From Latin to Disco dancing. What? You don't remember how?

49. More 32-Across: SHYER - Shier works too

51. Considerable effort: TOIL.

52. Word on some headstones: ANNO - On buildings too. Can you compute the year "In The Year Of Our Lord" below to Arabic numbers?

53. Costume in some Shakespeare plays: TOGA - "What a deformed thief this fashion is."  (Borachio to Conrad. Much Ado About Nothing, act 3, sc.3, l.126-9.)

56. Key preposition: O'ER - Aha, Dr., you didn't fool me on Francis Scott Key's line about looking "OER the ramparts"

Dr. Ed seems to have provided a lovely remedy for the tough pill some felt had we had to swallow last Saturday 

Friday, December 13, 2019 Victor Barocas

Time to Trim That Tree !

17. "O Tannenbaum" and others?: PINE NUMBERS.   Pin Numbers.   I mostly use four of them, all between 0 and 9.  Seems like too few possibilities.   

24. One trying to photograph a partridge during the holidays?: PEAR SHOOTER.   Pea shooter.   So quaint.  Wish it were now.

38. Muchacho working with wood?: ELM NINO.   El Nino.  Perfect clue / answer agreement with Muchacho / El Nino.

50. Boob tube yule log residue?: ASH SEEN ON TV.   That's just funny !  One channel airs continuous loops of "It's a Wonderful Life", another of "A Christmas Story", and another of "The Yule Log" from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.  A television tradition.

60. Do some holiday decorating ... and what you need to do to four puzzle answers to produce familiar phrases?: TRIM THE TREE.

The Pine, Pear, Elm and Ash trees all need to drop a letter in Victor's imaginative creation, rather than the now more commonly accepted meaning of "trimming a tree",  as in adorning.

More commonly accepted of course, unless you are old-school and still relish in the final pruning of the tree you and your family have just hewn from the local Christmas tree farm. 

Across:

1. Innocents: LAMBs.

6. Uncool crime?: ARSON.    Literally and figuratively.

11. "That cracks me up!": LOL.  Laugh Out Loud

14. Video game giant: ATARI.   Early successes were Pong,  Asteroids and Missile Command.

15. Old-school: RETRO.

16. Leave breathless: AWE.

19. Resting place: INN.

20. Meal in a pot: STEW.

21. Meal in a pot: SOUP.   Loved the consecutive clue duplication.

22. Styx home: HADES.   They're not from Hades.  They are from Chicago.   You may not recognize their name, but you would most likely remember so many of their hit songs from the '70s and '80s.

27. Submerge: ENGULF.

30. Multilevel marketing giant: AMWAY.   "Multilevel marketing" just seems to reek of a pyramid scheme to me.  Caution flags go up. 

31. Most Belgraders: SERBs.  Belgrade, Serbia.

32. Playing with a full deck: SANE. 

34. Free game version, perhaps: DEMO.

37. This answer's consonant count, aptly: TWO.   Creative clue.

41. Title for Jagger: SIR.   Mick Jagger. 

42. NRA member?: ASSN.    National Rifle Association

44. Actress Skye: IONE.   Her father was Donovan, perhaps best known for mid '60s pop hits  Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow. 

45. Barely leading: UP ONE.

47. Lacrosse need: STICK.   La crosse is of French Canadian origin.  It literally means crooked stick.

49. Finds exciting: IS IN TO.
 
53. Fail to match: CLASH.     Like plaid pants and a striped shirt.   Or, The Clash.  "The only band that matters."   An English band that you may recall from the song "Rock The Casbah" 

54. Air Force prog. that first admitted women in 1969: ROTC.   Reserve Officer Training Corps.

55. Sworn statement: OATH.

59. Like rappers Jon and Wayne: LIL.   Spotify now lists over 8,000 artists with “Lil’” or “Lil” at the beginning of their name. 

63. Monopoly abbr.: AVE.   Mediterranean Avenue, Baltic Avenue, Oriental Avenue, etc.

64. "Biography" channel: A AND E.

65. Toroidal bread: BAGEL.

66. Victorious shout: YES.

67. "Understood": ROGER.

68. Fair-haired: BLOND.

Down:

1. Track count: LAPs.

2. Fighting: AT IT.

3. Clydesdale feature: MANE.   Perhaps Clydesdale was chosen on the off chance that someone might not know of the famous horses.   But I would say that the most significant feature of the Clydesdale is their massive size.     In the area where I grew up,  there are various breeds of heavy horses still being used for farm labor, especially by the Amish and Mennonites.   We called them Pennsylvania draft horses or just draft horses,  regardless if they were Belgian, Percheron, or Clydesdale.

4. Craft beer server: BREW PUB.    Budweiser was hardly a craft beer when August Busch Jr. presented his father with the famous hitch and first case of beer after the repeal of Prohibition.  Busch Sr. saw the marketing potential and had the team sent by rail to NY and New England, delivering cases of beer to both Alfred E Smith and Franklin D Roosevelt.  The rest, as they say, is history.

5. Serious code-breaking?: SIN.

6. Strong suit: ARMOR.   The deck of cards clue had me thinking of card games.

7. Picture puzzle: REBUS. 

8. Zimbalist of "Remington Steele": STEPHANIE.    The show launched the career of Pierce Brosnan.      

9. Hockey legend: ORR.   Bobby.   His primary role on the ice was as a defenseman, but he twice led the NHL in scoring.  He scored the game winning goals in each of the two Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup victories in the early '70s.  He remains the only defenseman to have ever won the scoring title. 

10. Reason for an empty seat: NO SHOW.

11. Saw: LAID EYES ON.   Have you seen the Peloton  "The Gift That Gives Back" commercial ?   Struck me as cringe worthy.    I found it on YouTube and the comments were not favorable, and then comments were disabled as the story went viral. 

Then Ryan Reynolds hired her for a commercial for his Aviation Gin product.   In this take, she's having a different perspective after receiving a Peloton from her husband.  I love how her girlfriends are trying to figure out what to say and how to help her.  

12. "For sale by" sign poster: OWNER.    Obvious, but cute.   Gives me an idea for a practical joke to pull on a buddy.

13. Spyglass part: LENS.

18. Its Space Command has HQ in Colorado: USAF.  

23. Not much at all: A TAD.

25. Otherwise: ELSE.

26. Sign to interpret: OMEN.

27. Cuban pronoun: ESTA.   

28. Latest: NEWS.

29. Financial report line: GROSS SALES.

32. Caterpillar's exhalation in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland": SMOKE RING.   I didn't specifically remember.    Looked it up later.    The caterpillar was lazing on a mushroom and smoking from a hookah pipe.  

33. Andy's doll pal: ANN.   The Raggedy siblings.

35. 36-Down flavor: MINT.  

36. Classic cookie: OREO.    Anyone ever try a mint flavored Oreo ?

39. Tiny parasites: LICE.

40. Drive from power: OUST.

43. Unnamed degrees: NTHs.

46. Indispensable: PIVOTAL.

48. Fictional title country in a 1987 film: ISHTAR.   Roger Ebert said,  "It's not funny, it's not smart and it's interesting only in the way a traffic accident is interesting."  He gave it one star.

49. Foot fraction: INCH.   Foot fracture ?   You'll probably need the special boot.  Been there, done that.  

50. Still in the game: ALIVE. 

51. __ plume: NOM DE.   A pen name or pseudonym.

1. David John Moore Cornwell ?
2. Charles Dodgson ?
3. Eric Arthur Blair ?
4. Stanley Lieber ?
5. Samuel Clemens ?

52. River swimmer: OTTER.   Eric "Otter" Stratton became a successful Beverly Hills OB/GYN after leaving Farber. 

53. Art class medium: CLAY.

56. Ship to Colchis: ARGO.  Perps.

57. Many a gamer: TEEN.   Our language evolves.  Before video games and RPGs, # 2 was # 1.

1. 
   

   a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.
2. 
   

   North American (especially in sports) a person known for consistently making a strong effort.

       Similar to a gamer, calling a basketball player a baller is a compliment.

58. Kept: HELD. 

61. '90s Indian prime minister: RAO.   Perps.

62. Recede: EBB.    Reseed: Sow (again).

PSA - Speaking of the clue at 2D.  Fighting:

A flu shot is your best protection.

Check you answers here:

Thursday, December 12th 2019 Joe Deeney

Theme: A Call to Arms Rams Mars

20A. Mars: FOURTH PLANET. The "Mars" part of Gustav Holst's "Planet Suite" is a cracking piece of music, and probably inspired more "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"-type themes than any other. Lots 'o notes in the score shown below:

33A. Mars: CHOCOLATE BAR. In the great Anglo-American confusion stakes, the Mars Bar and the Milky Way provide yet another example. The UK Mars Bar and Milky Way are similar to the US Milky Way and Three Musketeers respectively, while the US Mars Bar is similar to a Snickers bar, which until recently was called a Marathon bar in the UK. Clear? There'll be a quiz at the end.

41A. Mars: POP STAR BRUNO. I like Bruno Mars. This track from British producer and songwriter Mark Ronson  is actually credited "Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars", but of course everyone thinks of it as a Bruno Mars song. It's hella catchy though! The video was filmed on 20th Century Fox's "New York Street" set in LA, you can see the lighting mounts on top of the buildings in a couple of the shots.

53A. Mars: SON OF JUPITER. God of War, too.

Fun theme from Joe today. There seemed to be quite a few proper names in the fill, but if the crosses are solid for names unknown I've got no problem with that. SPARTACUS and EXORCISMS in the downs are excellently done, crossing no fewer than three theme entries each.

Four entries not seen before in the LA Times, including RUTHIE which surprised me.

Let's see what else there is to muse on:

Across:

1. Baseball Hall of Famer Speaker: TRIS. Note the capitalized "S" in "Speaker" that tells us we're looking for a name. Tris Speaker, of whom I had never heard until today. Tricky start at 1A, but the crosses were solid.

5. Big name in interstellar communication: UHURA Lt. Uhuru, communications officer and translator on the starship "Enterprise" in Star Trek. Nice clue to this useful crossword name.

10. Window part: SASH. Tried "PANE". Was wrong.

14. Rope fiber: HEMP

15. Weighs an empty container on, as a deli scale: TARES. I got there in the end, but I'd not heard the word used before. I wanted something on the "zeroes out" line like your kitchen scales. The crosses let me to the "oh!" moment.

16. Oberlin's state: OHIO. A town best known for its liberal arts and music college.

17. "Frozen" sister: ELSA. I must get around to watching "Frozen" one day, then I might not having to keep guessing at the frequent references to the characters; two in today's puzzle.

18. Early 2010s Mideast anti-government movement: ARAB SPRING

22. American Red Cross founder: BARTON. Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton, American Civil War nurse and ... patent clerk? What is it with patent clerks - Einstein was one too.

23. Silently understood: TACIT

27. Creative nuggets: IDEAS

28. "Me too": AS AM I

32. "Te __": Rihanna song: AMO

36. Giants manager before Bochy: ALOU. Felipe of the Alou clan. He's still associated with the club in a "Special Assistant" capacity.

39. "Two Women" Oscar winner: LOREN

40. Valentine letters: XOXO

44. Number one woman?: EVE

45. Plan B lead-in: IF NOT

46. CBS news anchor Barnett: ERROL

50. It's in your jeans: DENIM. Hmm, I get the wordplay with the clue, but denim isn't really "in" your jeans, more "is" your jeans. Bar the zipper, buttons, optional rivets - and currently hipster slashes.

52. Gap: LACUNA. Often a gap in a text or manuscript.

58. Yellow mollusk that became the U.C. Santa Cruz mascot: BANANA SLUG. "Best nickname in College Basketball" according to ESPN.

61. Booted, say: SHOD

62. __ rug: AREA

63. Oozy stuff: SLIME. You can buy Banana Slug merchandise with "I've Been Slimed" on it.

64. "Hands off!": MINE!

65. __ chic: GEEK. A fashion trend, or a now-defunct manufacturer of high-end gaming tables.

66. Big name in baseball cards: TOPPS

67. Fortuneteller: SEER

Down:

1. DOJ division since 1908: THE FBI. Bit odd this one, with "The" tacked on the front, no? I think the clue would be better written as "A DOJ division ... " to include the article.

2. Browser's circular arrow function: RELOAD

3. "No doubt about it!": I'M SURE!

4. Gladiator played by Kirk Douglas: SPARTACUS

5. Jazz aficionado?: UTAHN. Basketball team from Salt Lake City. I like the word, it's got a nice unusual letter progression.

6. Angelic strings: HARP

7. Risk territory between Ukraine and Siberia: URAL

8. First name in country: REBA

9. Org.: ASSN.

10. Ish: SORTA

11. Big tuna: AHI. I've got some in my freezer right now waiting to be sushi'd for Christmas Day family pot-luck.

12. Do wrong: SIN

13. Refuse to share: HOG

19. __ four: small cake: PETIT

21. Peter of reggae: TOSH

24. Mexican resort, for short: CABO

25. Big-screen format: IMAX

26. Capa attacker: TORO. Bullfighting, the bull attacking the matador's cape. Also the best cut of tuna for sushi - the fatty part of the belly.

28. Some kind of a nut: ACORN

29. Kevin who played Hercules on TV: SORBO. Thank you, crosses.

30. On one's toes: ALERT

31. Premier League rival of Arsenal, familiarly: MAN. U. England soccer. I won't go on a bore-fest here, but Manchester United and Arsenal are not really rivals, they compete in the same league, that's all. The real rivalry for Arsenal is with Tottenham Hotspur, their North London neighbors. Man. U's true rivals are the other mancunians Manchester City and fellow Merseysiders Liverpool.

I don't know when you cross over from competitor to rival - it's the same here, especially in college sports. Take the PAC 12 - Oregon/Oregon State, Cal/Stanford, USC/UCLA are all rivalries, but none of the schools would consider fellow-confererence member Utah a rival.

34. "Frozen" snowman: OLAF

35. Ways of dealing with inner demons?: EXORCISMS. Is the red cartoon fellow on your shoulder with a trident whispering temptations in your ear an outer demon?

36. Made like: APED

37. Word with bird or nest: LOVE

38. Go first: OPEN

42. Pumbaa's "The Lion King" pal: TIMON. Where would we be without Disney crossword clues? Athens, that's where.

43. __ tide: NEAP

47. Foster of folk music: RUTHIE. Thank you, crosses. I should buy Crosses a drink today for all the help.

48. Impossible NFL score: ONE ONE. Any other score "non-one" score is theoretically possible in football, although in some cases highly unlikely. I did see a scoreboard reading "2-4" a few years ago where a college game was well into the second quarter and the only points registered at that stage in the game were three safeties.

49. Pantry: LARDER. There's an oh-so-subtle difference between the two - a larder originally was cooler than a pantry and used to store meat, milk and other foodstuffs likely to spoil faster. The pantry was where you kept your dry goods, spices and what-not. Nowadays synonymous, and perfectly OK.

51. "Wicked Game" singer Chris: ISAAK. I always want to call him ISAAC until a cross clunks me (cluncs me?) on the top of the head and tells me not to be so silly.

52. Olympic racers: LUGES. Want to slide at 80 miles an hour downhill, feet-first lying on a tray? No, me either. The doubles event is even crazier.

54. Condé __: NAST

55. Nobel ceremony city: OSLO

56. Lose one's cool: FLIP

57. Leap: JUMP

58. Carry-on unit: BAG

59. "__ you serious?": ARE

60. Used to be called: NÉE

Well, I've run out of stuff to talk about, so I'd better stick a fork in this one and call it done.

Steve

Wednesday, December 11, 2019, Michael Schlossberg

 Theme: JOB SAFETY

17. Result of overexposure in the field?: FARMER'S TAN.

28. Result of carelessness in a locker room?: ATHLETE'S FOOT.

49. Result of excessive practice in calligraphy class?: WRITER'S CRAMP.

63. Occupational concerns such as 17-, 28- and 49-Across: JOB HAZARDS.

Very few stumbling blocks, all came together pretty easily. Appears to be Mr. Schlossberg's debut, at least here at the Corner. Welcome Michael, hope to see more of you.

Across:

1. Super silly: WACKO.

6. Gum balls, e.g.: WADS. Only if they're ABC (already been chewed).

10. Surgery memento: SCAR.

14. "Once more!": AGAIN.

15. MLB family name: ALOU. For those (like me) who don't follow baseball, here.

16. Voice mail signal: TONE.

19. "Yeah, that'll never happen": UM NO.

20. Actress Mendes: EVA. Longtime love of Ryan Gosling, they have two children together.

21. Brewpub orders: IPAS. India Pale Ale, a hoppy style of beer within the pale ale category.

22. Fencing blades: EPEES.

23. Blitz by a linebacker: RED DOG. In football, strategy of sending a player on a full-out defensive rush, known in the modern era as a blitz.

26. Ill-fated Ford: EDSEL.

33. Hot rod: DRAGSTER.

36. Cellist with multiple Grammys: YOYO MA.

37. Sales pro: REP.

38. Picks from a lineup: IDS. Identifies.

40. Champagne label word: SEC. Champagne Sec is the title used for off-dry Champagne wines with between 17 and 32 grams per liter of residual sugar. Although the word sec means 'dry,' there are in fact four styles of champagne which are drier: Extra Dry, Brut, Extra Brut and Brut Nature (zero, non-dose).

41. Sighing contentedly: AAHING. Yep, it's a word.

45. Salve: OINTMENT.

51. Cloud, as of gnats: SWARM.

52. Title Mozart valet who married Susanna: FIGARO.

56. "__ Health": Quiet Riot album: METAL.

58. Hops hot spot: OAST. A kiln for drying hops or malt, or drying and curing tobacco.

61. Laundry hamper: BIN.

62. Greek Cupid: EROS.

66. Balmy: WARM.

67. Free speech org.: ACLU.

68. Sampler wisdom: ADAGE. A sampler is a decorative piece of needlework typically having letters or verses embroidered on it in various stitches as an example of skill.

69. Eyelid irritation: STYE.

70. "That's enough": WHEN.

71. Dancer cohort: COMET. Santa's reindeer.

Down:

1. Thin cookie: WAFER.

2. Tequila plant: AGAVE.

3. Spot for a Mercedes: CAR AD. Tricky.

4. Second-oldest Kardashian sister: KIM.

5. Formula __ auto racing: ONE.

6. Winged stinger: WASP.

7. Ski resort near Snowbird: ALTA.

8. Complete one exercise segment: DO A SET.

9. Space heater?: SUN. 😎

10. Utterly shock: STUPEFY.

11. Grow slack, as a poorly tied knot: COME LOOSE.

12. Novelist Tyler: ANNE. Pulitzer winner. Where to start when reading Anne Tyler.

13. Classic autos: REOS. The band REO Speedwagon took their name from the  a 1915 truck designed by Ransom Eli Olds. Neal Doughty had seen the name written across the blackboard when he walked into his History of Transportation class on the first day they had decided to look for a name.

18. "Correctomundo!": RIGHT. Famously spoken by Henry Winkler as Fonzie in Happy Days, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jules in Pulp Fiction.

22. Standard Oil brand: ESSO.

24. Former U.N. leader Hammarskjöld: DAG. Swedish economist and diplomat.

25. NFL periods forced by ties: OTS. Overtimes.

27. Susan of "L.A. Law": DEY. Also from The Partridge Family.

29. Hawaiian garland: LEI.

30. Triage MD: ER DOC. Emergency Room Doctor.

31. Portent: OMEN.

32. Diplomat's need: TACT.

33. "Do I need to __ you a map?": DRAW.

34. Fanny: REAR.

35. Difficult H.S. class covering U.S. or world events: AP HISTORY. AP = Advanced Placement.

39. Round Table title: SIR.

42. "I'm the culprit": IT WAS ME.

43. "Cryptonomicon" novelist Stephenson: NEAL. Award-winning 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson, set in two different time periods. Absurdly banned in many prisons.

44. Dog's "I'm warning you!": GRR.

46. '90s trade pact: NAFTA.

47. "Yuck, tell someone else!": TMI. Too Much Information.

48. Fuel efficiency stat: MPG. Miles Per Gallon.

50. Kiss: SMOOCH.

53. The "A" in James A. Garfield: ABRAM.

54. Narrow hilltop: RIDGE.

55. Initial stage: ONSET.

56. Kitty cries: MEWS.

57. Middle proof word: ERAT. Latin,"which was to be shown or demonstrated."

59. Fit: ABLE.

60. Avoid like the plague: SHUN.

63. Uppercut target: JAW.

64. Efron of "Baywatch" (2017): ZAC.

65. Hubbub: ADO.

Note from C.C.:

Here is a beautiful picture of Melissa's two grandkids and their parents. You can click here to see all the cute pictures of Jaelyn and Harper.