Saturday, January 25, 2020, Evan Kalish

Saturday Themeless by Evan Kalish

Evan Kalish is our much-travelled collector of post office pictures. Evan chronicles his collection at his fun web site and is closing in on 10,000 post office sites he has documented. 2019 saw him visit 708 new, active facilities.

In this picture, he is shown at the post office in San Antonio, Puerto Rico eleven days after visiting all the post offices on the island. He circles every post office on his AAA map and then highlights them once he has visited them. In this picture his right index finger is pointing at the office in San Antonio, P.R.

Sometime during his quests he finds the time to, "put his stamp" on "first-class" puzzles like this and definitely doesn't just "mail 'em in"! Okay, okay I'm through.

When I contacted Evan, he was kind enough to send me a wonderful narrative about how this puzzle came to be. I have posted his response at the bottom of this write-up and I highly recommend that you take time to read it.

Now for our special delivery from Evan (Okay NOW I'm through):

Across:

1. Moisture-catching linings: SWEAT BANDS - My lawn mowing fashion statement 

11. Barbecue crust: CHAR - National Cancer Institute says agents in charred meat can cause changes in DNA that may increase the risk of cancer and advises those parts be cut off and discarded. Not good for me to hear!

15. Period that included the Civil War: LINCOLN ERA.

16. Place with rolling pins, perhaps: LANE - Cute clue for our bowlers, Evan!

17. Making a plea: ENTREATING.

18. Present opener?: OMNI - It's an election year so guess what will be OMNIPRESENT

19. Have the chutzpah: DARE 21. Word with interest and error: HUMAN- This 8-second clip is a HUMAN interest story about a HUMAN error for a "hard to sight-read" word

20. Farm structure: SILO - Can hold corn or ICBM's

22. Farm structure: STY - and either can be next to one of these

23. Date night convenience: ATM - Insert $4.25 and you can get your date a Sprinkles Cupcake at this ATM

24. Pauses: LET UPS - Not a good idea when your team is on a roll

      Hélène Dutrieu

25. "Femina Cup" (1910s contest) competitor: AVIATRIX - an award of 2000 francs established in 1910 by Pierre Lafitte the publisher of French women's magazine Femina to honor women pilots who, by December 31, had kept an airplane in the air longest without landing. Here is the first winner - Hélène Dutrieu who was in the air for 2 hrs and 35 min. on 12/31/1910 

28. Turn: ROT.


29. Informal "Right?": AIN'T IT TRUE - or more commonly around here: AIN'T IT THE TRUTH?

32. Ball, e.g.: GALA.

33. Links legend: SNEAD - Arnie fought to get in here but... 

34. It's above lead on tables: TIN - There's Lead (Pb - PlumBum) right below TIN (Sn - StaNnum) in the Carbon family 

35. Ring of Saturn?: ORBIT - Cute again! Saturn's ORBIT path 

36. Hash ingredient: SPUD.

37. Makes even more gross?: GETS A RAISE - Cute again! My gross teacher salary was $488.33/month in 1968. In 2012 it was $4,883/month - I GOT quite A RAISE!

39. Plural possessive: OUR.

40. Leo is one: FIRE SIGN - If you believe in such, uh, science

41. Jalopies: CRATES.

43. __ wolf: CRY - Aesop had a fable about the consequences of doing this once too often

44. Nasty current: RIP - Swim sideways to the current to escape

47. R&B family name: ISLEY - Otis Day and The Knights covered The ISLEY Brother's song Shout in Animal House

48. Caps on a protective vest: SWAT - Those CAPS are letters not headgear. Fun!

50. Fundació Joan __: Barcelona museum: MIRO - The Joan Miró Museum in Barcelona that contains most of his art

51. Family member: AUNT.

52. Blocks off: BARRICADES - The "construction" of the BARRICADE on stage in Le Miserables often draws applause on its own.

54. Level: TIER.

55. Gerald Ford and Glenn Ford, e.g.: FREE MASONS - Mason symbolism on the $1 bill

56. Blues first name: ETTA - Her ETTA Is Betta Than Evah album led off last Friday's puzzle

57. Intermediary's compensation: FINDER'S FEE.


Down:

1. They often have runners: SLEDS - Mine was a Flexible Flyer

2. Succeed in: WIN AT and 3. Contest form: ENTRY - To WIN AT Power Ball after you make an ENTRY has a chance of 1 in 292,000,000

4. Estate unit: ACRE - Highclere Castle (used in Downton Abbey) was originally set on 5,000 ACRES in Hampshire, England

5. __ the line: TOE.

6. "Dang!": BLAST IT.

7. Part of the Enterprise's power source: ANTIMATTER - It was also in Dan Brown's book

8. Diamond of song: NEIL.

9. Bond classic: DR NO - My first image that DR NO evokes for me is of Ursula, especially on this cold, winter's day

Ursula Andress in Dr No

10. Decline: SAG - None spotted in the picture above

11. Leverage: CLOUT.

12. Early code name?: HAMMURABI - One of his 282 rules from his code of ~1754 B.C.

13. Alphabetically second on a list of U.S. state capitals: ANNAPOLIS - Oh yeah, it's the capital of Maryland AND the home of The Naval Academy 

14. Put back: REINSTATE - It may be a while before AJ Hinch is REINSTATED into baseball because the Astros got 44. No longer forced to deal with: RID OF him. Hinch didn't 24. Whopper you can't eat: LIE - He admitted he knew of the cheating, didn't approve of it but did not stop it

21. Curse: HEX.

23. All in: AVID - I would say Evan is "All In" on his post office avocation. 

25. Ever so slightly: A TAD.

26. Not remotely fresh: TRITE.

27. Flees in a panic: RUNS SCARED - I would if he were 30. Chasing, with "of": IN PURSUIT  of me

29. Like eight Supreme Court justices: ASSOCIATE - Chief Justice Roberts has a big responsibility these days

31. Artificial intelligence framework: NEURAL NET - Explained from MIT

32. __ Torino: 1970s Ford: GRAN - The producers of GRAN Torino (a 53. Ford product: CAR) found the car they wanted on Ebay. Clint Eastwood bought the car after the movie was done for his collection 

35. Bacchanalia: ORGY - Curious?

37. Beneficiaries of a 1944 bill: GI'S - A well-deserved benefit for The Greatest Generation and military men and women that followed 

38. PAC's election season purchase: AIR TIME - INFLUENCE had too many letters

40. "30 Rock" creator: FEY - Can you find the "creator" in the More Info area below?

42. One-third of dodeca-: TETRA - One-third of twelve is four

45. Sherlock's foe Adler: IRENE - Based on a real person?

46. Term in Old West and hip-hop culture: POSSE.

48. Indian garb: SARI.

49. Chirpy bird: WREN - They are a drab addition to our winter landscape but their songs can lift my spirits

50. Keyword in Newton's second law: MASS - Bigger masses are harder to speed up

52. Texting partner, like, srsly!: BFF - Part of the modern lexicon by now

Here is what Evan wrote to me about the genesis of this puzzle:

The origin of this puzzle dates back six years, to when I was effectively filling grids manually and with a distinctive lack of success. Here is an early draft of the grid. I love reading about scientific developments and try to keep my word list updated accordingly. This grid was originally developed around the HIGGS BOSON, front and center (well, top and left). You can see the origins of the current puzzle in the SE corner, with fill that included FISA Courts—which were in the news at the time—and some other short entries that I find unsatisfying today...

Back then I left several half-filled versions in a folder (including a version with the NE and SE corners of the grid as they stand today). I remember being excited to include HAMMURABI, ANNAPOLIS, and FINDER’S FEE because they hadn’t appeared in a modern NYT crossword before… (and indeed they still haven’t!) Fast forward to July 2018 and this puzzle came to life. I had to scrap HIGGS BOSON, but was able to get my sci-tech fill with ANTIMATTER and a NEURAL NET from AI research. Other than that, I tried to make all the longer answers radiating from the center interesting while keeping everything smooth.

Favorite submitted clues: “Spot with rolling pins?” = LANE, “Present opener?” = OMNI, “Like fans you can’t turn off?” = AVID, and “Early code name?” = Hammurabi. Glad to see my clue for ORBIT made the cut!

Friday, January 24, 2020 Paul Coulter

"TURN DOWN SERVICE"


Let's go with the reveal first.

62. Hotel amenity, and a hint to three puzzle answers: TURN DOWN SERVICE.   At the end of three across answers, you have to read the intersecting down answer.   Very neat !

The theme entries:

16. (across) Blamed for personal advantage: THROWN UNDER THE B, with
18. (down) Clear: BUS.
THROWN UNDER THE BUS - Mark's clue nails it succinctly.    In business, politics, sports, personal relationships...  

31. (across) Punch with force, maybe: GIVE A FAT L, with
34. (down) Backtalk: LIP.
GIVE A FAT LIP - Nothing figurative here. 

44. (across) Chanoyu ceremony essential: JAPANESE T, with
46. (down) High __: TEA.
JAPANESE TEA. - This was hard for me because I didn't know what a Chanoyu ceremony was, but then looked at the other two theme answers and aha !   Changed my 46D from High def to TEA, and that also cleared up the stall where MOOLA belonged.

"The simple art of Chanoyu is really a synthesis of many Japanese arts with the focus of preparing and serving a bowl of tea with a pure heart." - Chanoyu   

You would think the genesis of this puzzle was the reveal TURN DOWN SERVICE, wouldn't you ?



Across:

1. Draft category: ONE A.   Actually, it's 1-A.

5. Crisply played, in mus.: STAC.   Music / Staccato.

9. Qatar's capital: DOHA.   Whatever happened to Doha Doc ?

13. Inflammation treatment: CORTISONE.   And 39. Ibuprofen brand: ADVIL.  Corticosteroids vs. NSAIDs

While we're on the subject, take the pain quiz.

15. Apple product: IPOD.

19. More mean: NASTIER.

20. Sci-fi helmsman: SULU.

21. Burdened: LADEN.

24. Portable chair: SEDAN.     Champagne glass: Coupe.

26. "Uno __": cantina request: MAS.    "One more" in Spanish.

27. Fundraising targets: ALUMNI.

29. Boar's mate: SOW.

35. Greatly beloved ones: GEMs.

38. He reunited with his fictional ex on Valentine's Day in 2011: KEN.   I assume with Barbie ?

41. Backboard attachment: RIM.

42. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA.   Loved this clue / answer.  Etta Place

Life with the Sundance Kid

47. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr.: SSR.   Soviet Socialist Republic.

49. Waste time: DAWDLE.

50. __ store: APP.

53. Many an Indian: HINDU.

57. Green: MOOLA.   Both slang for money.

58. Game with two secret passages: CLUE.   No clue on this answer based on the clue alone.   Never played it; don't know much about it.    Didn't know there were secret passages.   But, with C from ACT, -. U from PULSE, and E from EYES, what else could it be ?   C-UE.

60. Advice: COUNSEL.   Advice, advise, counsel and council.    Simple nouns and verbs that can easily be confused.   Only one of the four works as both a noun AND a verb.   Which one ?

67. They can make you better, briefly: MEDs.   Medicines, like Aleve and Advil.

68. Basically: IN ESSENCE.

69. Annoyance: PEST.

70. Do, for example: NOTE.   Trickery.   The musical note.     '...Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Si are used to name notes the same way that the letters C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are used to name notes in English." - Wikipedia.

71. Cutty __: SARK.   The famous fast clipper sailing ship built in Scotland in 1869, now residing in dry dock at Greenwich, London as a museum ship.   Some fifty years after her construction, the Scotch whisky was created and named after her.    The ship was named for the short skirt worn by the witch in the Robert Burns poem Tam o' Shanter. 

Down:

1. Fall mo.: OCT. Month / October

2. Kabuki kin: NOH.

3. Give the wrong change, say: ERR.

4. Acts of reparation: ATONEMENTs.

5. IRS IDs: SSNs.   Internal Revenue Service / Social Security Numbers.

6. Talks up: TOUTs. Talks down: Calms.

7. Musical in which FDR is a character: ANNIE.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Here's the famous scene:

8. Gave up: CEDED.    Gave down: See 23(D).

9. Board mem.: DIR.   Member / Director.

10. Expresses a preference (for): OPTs.

11. Blah: HO-HUM. Meh.

12. "A Passage to India" heroine: ADELA.   Adela Quested - SparkNotes

14. "Lemme!": I WANNA.

17. Age relatives: ERAs.   A distinct period of history. eg, The Dinosaur Age or the Ice Age.   Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reason.

21. Delay: LAG.

22. Not quite identical: ALIKE.   Like fraternal twins.

23. Comforter: DUVET.   What is the best down for a duvet ?   Hungarian goose down ?   Icelandic Eiderdown ?    Best Downs for a Good Night's Sleep

25. It's often served with nutmeg: NOG.   Here served in a coupe:

28. "... __ woodchuck could chuck wood?": IF A.   "Hey you dang woodchucks!   Quit chucking my wood !"    BTW, in the Geico Sequels run off, the Racoon commercials are comfortably ahead.

30. Subjects of European trials during the Renaissance: WEREWOLVES.

32. Wd. ending in -less: ADJ.   Adjective.   The part of speech.    This clue stumped me for way too long, and that was with AD- in place !   After finally getting enough letters to see JAPANESE at 44A, it became clear. D'OH !

33. FDR power plan: TVA. Franklin Delano Roosevelt / Tennessee Valley Authority.  The TVA at History.com 

36. Botch: MISDO.   Act wrongly.

37. Common sense?: SMELL.    Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense.  "The most important political tract of the Revolution was written not by a lawyer or university-educated philosopher, but by a former corset maker."

40. Bloke: LAD.

43. It may be tapped into a tray: ASH.

45. Parents, usually: NAMERs.

48. P.R. part: RICO.   Puerto Rico.

50. Appear: ACT.

51. Fluff, as pillows: PLUMP.   The history of fluff.

52. Blender button: PUREE.    The first button I pushed was pulse, but the blend(er) of crossing clues didn't agree.

54. Hopeless: NO WIN.

55. "Beats me!": DUNNO.

56. Up in the air: UNSET.    Not yet decided. 

59. Aims: ENDs.   Had eyes first.  Don't know why.

61. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE.

63. It ends shortly after 1-Down: DST.   Daylight Savings Time

64. __ moment: IN A.

65. "Bad Moon Rising" band, briefly: CCR.    Creedence Clearwater Revival.


66. "A rat!": EEK.


Check your answers against this grid:

Thursday January 23rd 2020 Bruce Haight

Theme: Cash Up - Five theme entries in the downs contain currencies running south-to-north:

3D. New Year's Day event in Pasadena: ROSE PARADE. Peso, or $ in most Latin counties (the Philippine Peso symbol is ₱.) There's what possibly is an urban legend that there is an upsurge in U-Haul rentals in the East and Midwest after the Rose Parade when the lovely Californian weather is usually on parade, along with the floats and people decide to move.

10D. Finish impressively: END WITH A BANG. Baht, or ฿.

21D. Lamb Chop puppeteer: SHARI LEWIS. Lira, or ₺. The Italian Lira is now defunct, having gone the way of the Euro, but Turkey still has theirs.

25D. It helps you go places: TRAVEL BUREAU. Ruble, or ₽. The symbol was officially adopted in 2013 following a public poll.

34D. Get support, in a way ... and what the puzzle circles do: RAISE MONEY. Yen, or ¥. I like how this is both the reveal and a theme entry in its own right.  Clever.

Another solid puzzle from Bruce, and again, we're looking at a 16x15 grid; I think this is the third Thursday in a row sporting that grid configuration. It's not impossible to place the two 12-letter theme entries in a 15x15 grid, but adding the extra row gives a little more elbow room and potentially a less scrappy fill. Bruce is just a "J" short of a pangram here, when I see Q, X and Z in a puzzle I start to look out for the J's, K's, V's and W's.

Let's take the grand tour:

Across:

1. Spunky: SCRAPPY

8. Longest-serving Japanese prime minister: ABE. Shinzō Abe, who is the current prime minister and has held the office since 2012.

11. Ave. crossers: STS.

14. Steel foundry input: IRON ORE

15. Traction-improving: NON-SLIP

17. "Try some!": TASTE IT! I need no further encouragement.

18. Lamaze class attendee: DAD-TO-BE

19. Expectant time: EVE.

20. One of the family: SIS

22. About 24% of the U.S. Congress: WOMEN

23. Stations: DEPOTS. Are these synonymous? To my mind, stations are for passengers and depots are for freight or stabling locomotives on the rail network.

26. Place for choppers: HELIPORT

29. Not quite right: AWRY

30. Oodles: A LOT

31. Broadway song that begins, "The most beautiful sound I ever heard": MARIA. From "West Side Story".

33. Brief encounter: BRUSH. Brush off, brush by and a brush with the law are all brief encounters of different types.

34. Flag thrower: REF. American Football. I can't think of another sport where a flag is thrown to indicate that an infringement has occurred.

37. Co-tsar with Peter I: IVAN V. Nice clue, I enjoyed the "co-star" play on words.

38. Saucepan cover: LID

39. Missile Command game company: ATARI

41. Place to stay: LODGE

42. Newcastle Brown __: ALE. A very famous beer in the UK. Like the Bass "Red Triangle" symbol, the iconic blue star logo, which was introduced in 1928, is instantly recognizable.

43. Starts bubbling, maybe: BOILS

44. Fleecy one: EWE

45. Loafs: LAZES

47. Strong suit: ASSET

48. Lost, as a big lead: BLEW

49. Way back when: ONCE

50. Rum drink: DAIQUIRI. I wasn't sure how to spell this, I had to let the crosses help me out.

54. Competition that includes snowboarding: X GAMES

57. Pianist Rubinstein: ARTUR

58. California's __ Gabriel Mountains: SAN. The backdrop to the Rose Parade. Pasadena is in the San Gabriel Valley.

60. Egg cells: OVA

61. Like the most busy busybody: NOSIEST

64. Mid-Michigan city: SAGINAW. I first learned this city from Simon and Garfunkel's song "America" from their Bookends album.

67. Uganda's capital: KAMPALA

68. Accessory for an Aquaman costume: TRIDENT

69. Before, in poems: ERE. 

Maid of Athens, ere we part,

Give, oh, give me back my heart!

Or, since that has left my breast,

Keep it now, and take the rest!

Hear my vow before I go,

Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ

Lord Byron - Maid of Athens

I'm not sure I understand the device of the last line in Greek - it translates as "My life, I love you!" but it doesn't rhyme with "go", neither in Greek nor English. Any scholarly folk have any idea what Byron was doing here?

70. Coffee hour sight: URN. It was a vase with feet last week.

71. "Sounds right to me": I'D SAY SO

Down:

1. Positioned: SITED

2. Really want: CRAVE. Why can't I crave kale? It's always fried chicken or truffles.

4. Tiny toiler: ANT

5. Name in eerie fiction: POE

6. Proper to a fault: PRISSY

7. Himalayan legend: YETI

8. "Furthermore ... ": AND

9. Fluffy wrap: BOA

11. Sportscast technique: SLO-MO

12. River near Vatican City: TIBER. Rome's river. The name of Trastevere, one of my favorite districts in Rome, comes from the latin Trans Tiberim, "beyond the Tiber".

13. Exhausted: SPENT

16. "Hold it!": STOP

24. Short, in a way: OWING

27. Gives the slip: ELUDES

28. Part of LAPD: LOS. Because none of the alternatives of Angeles, Police or Department would fit.

31. Pedometer unit: MILE. This is a little odd, I think. I wanted "step" at first, because that's what pedometers measure. A pedometer, strictly speaking, doesn't measure distance although it can provide an estimate based on an individual's stride length.

32. Swear: AVOW

33. Sport coat: BLAZER

35. Writer Gardner: ERLE

36. Rock that, oddly, loses to paper: FIST. I was trying to think of a type of rock at first, something along the TALC lines, then the penny dropped.

40. Puccini opera: TOSCA

46. Boxer Laila: ALI

49. Ventura County city: OXNARD

50. German word of gratitude: DANKE

51. Wildly cheering: AROAR. I've grown to like this word, I thought it was a little contrived when I first encountered it.

52. Knocker's words: IT'S ME!

53. Zinger: QUIP

55. Chris of "Captain America": EVANS. Thank you, crosses.

56. Handled: SAW TO

59. Wine made from Muscat grapes: ASTI

62. Camera type, for short: SLR. Single-Lens Reflex. When introduced, allowed the photographer to frame the picture looking through the lens of the camera, rather than a separate viewfinder lens.

63. You basked for it: TAN

65. USO show audience: GI'S

66. Wyo. neighbor: IDA.

That just about wraps it up for today!

Steve

2026 Cwd Map

LA Times Crossword Map 2026

This is an update done on January 22, 2026.

I deleted some people who have not been here for awhile (according to my feeble memory)

If you would like to add a name, subtract a name or change anything else just let me know at

gschlapfer@gmail.com

Wednesday, January 22, 2020, Jared Tamarkin

Theme: CRACK THE CODE

20. Combat: ARMED CONFLICT.

28. Compel to land, as a plane: FORCE DOWN.

48. Red or white unit: BLOOD CELL.

58. Speaking Spanglish, say ... or a hint to what's hidden in 20-, 28- and 48-Across: CODE SWITCHING.

Took me a bit to crack this CODE and realize the theme - the word CODE is SWITCHed up and spans across two words in three theme answers. A real mix of gettable and huh? words made this one last a little longer than a typical Wednesday. An enjoyable solve when it was finally completed.

Across:

1. Construction guideline: SPEC. Specifications, also called specs, are the details for the work that needs to be completed in a construction project and includes information such as materials, the scope of work, installation process, and quality of work.

5. Pitfalls: TRAPS.

10. Bible book that chronicles the conversion of Paul: ACTS. Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the new testament.

14. Rake prong: TINE.

15. Soprano Fleming: RENÉE. Renée Fleming names six of her all-time favourite soprano arias, below.

16. Fluctuate: VARY.

17. 500 sheets of paper: REAM.

18. "I'm on __!": A ROLL.

19. Access, as a computer program: OPEN.

23. Characterized by: PRONE TO.

24. Provide parenting for: RAISE.

27. Art Deco icon: ERTÉ. Romain de Tirtoff was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials. Erté was known for his glamorous opera sets, jewelry, costumes, and graphic arts. His work is quintessentially emblematic of the Art Deco style in its use of tapering lines and simplified ornamentation inspired by the natural world.

32. Massage therapist's employer: SPA.

34. Penn. neighbor: DEL. Pennsylvania and Delaware.

35. Handling the situation: ON IT.

36. Lilly of pharmaceuticals: ELI.

39. Coffee cup insulators: SLEEVES. My daughter and I traveled to Burbank, CA earlier this month to take the Gilmore Girls fan tour at Warner Brothers. Luke's coffee was served (exceptionally good) with the Luke's SLEEVES, along with pop-tarts and other GG-inspired fare (those are dragonfly shortbread cookies).

42. Texting format, for short: SMS. Short Message Service.

43. "Boogie Nights" actor Reynolds: BURT.

45. Night school subj.: ESL. English as a Second Language.

46. Fashion plate: FOP. Wikipedia: Fop became a pejorative term for a foolish man excessively concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th-century England. The pejorative term today carries the connotation of a person, usually male, who is overly concerned with trivial matters (especially matters of fashion) and who affects elite social standing.

51. Put one over on: FOOL.

54. Islamic denomination: SUNNI. The larger of the two main branches of Islam, which differs from Shia in its understanding of the Sunna, its conception of religious leadership, and its acceptance of the first three caliphs (rulers).

55. Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia: ASTORIA.

62. Competent: ABLE.

64. Suck-up: TOADY. Huh? A person who behaves obsequiously to someone important. The word toady has a gross, yet engaging history. Not familiar with this word.

65. Afrikaans speaker: BOER. Huh? The Dutch and Afrikaans noun for "farmer." In South African contexts, "Boers" refers to the descendants of the proto-Afrikaans-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th and much of the 19th century. From 1652 to 1795 the Dutch East India Company controlled this area, but the United Kingdom incorporated it into the British Empire in 1806.

66. Shiraz's land: IRAN. Shiraz is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province. 

67. Make one's case: ARGUE.

68. Cupid's wings: ALAE. Wings or flat winglike process or structure, such as a part of some bones and cartilages. ALAE is the plural form of ALA. This is an awfully scientific term for a fictional character - but common enough in crosswords.

69. Anti-DUI org.: MADD. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

70. Tango moves: STEPS.

71. "This is for you": HERE.

Down:

1. Guitar support: STRAP. Not stand.

2. Missouri River capital: PIERRE.

3. Fill with affection: ENAMOR.

4. Fixes in place: CEMENTS.

5. Activist's handout: TRACT.

6. Install new shingles on: RE-ROOF.

7. Quote book abbr.: ANON. Anonymous.

8. Ill-gotten gains: PELF. Huh? Money, especially when gained in a dishonest or dishonorable way. New to me.

9. Move for money: SELL.

10. Guacamole ingredient: AVOCADO.

11. Underwriting?: CAPTIONS. Nice clue.

12. Roman three: TRE.

13. Many a crossword clue: Abbr.: SYN.

21. Ocean trenches: DEEPS.

22. Fury: IRE.

25. Enjoy the pool: SWIM.

26. Tonsillitis-treating MDs: ENTS. Ear, Nose and Throat specialists.

29. Former "Entertainment Tonight" co-anchor Nancy: O'DELL.

30. Make growl, as an engine: REV.

31. Sheet music symbol: CLEF. Any of several symbols placed at the left-hand end of a staff, indicating the pitch of the notes written on it.

33. Actor Baldwin: ALEC.

36. Goes back out: EBBS.

37. Humdinger: LULU.

38. Like a rock-solid contract: IRON CLAD.

40. Language suffix: ESE.

41. Start of civilization?: SOFT C.

44. Constantly: TO NO END.

47. Bureaucratic bigwig: POOHBAH. Grand Poobah is a term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

49. Impersonated: DID.

50. On the injured list: LAID UP.

52. Camden Yards player: ORIOLE. Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland.

53. One-dimensional: LINEAR.

56. Eye annoyances: STYES.

57. Be on the same page: AGREE.

59. Share-a-ride pickup hrs.: ETAS. Estimated Time of Arrival.

60. Microsoft Excel command: SORT.

61. Compensation: WAGE.

62. Crossbow wielder's asset: AIM.

63. Maidenform garment: BRA.

Melissa

Note from C.C.

Here are two great pictures from the Gilmore Girls tour Melissa and her daughter took earlier this month at Warner Brothers'. Click here to see more.

lorelai's house

on the couch at "central perk" from friends