Wednesday, February 19, 2020, Roland Huget

Theme:  GEAR SHIFTS. G-E-A-R is rearranged and spread across two words. I'm not sure why 18A does not have circles, but I included it in the theme answers below.

18. Region where broadcast reception may be poor: FRINGE AREA.

23. Progress at a faster rate: FORGE AHEAD.

37. Army rank last conferred in 1950: FIVE STAR GENERAL. Where have all the 5-star generals gone?

52. Riot control weapon: TEAR GAS GUN.

59. Automatic functions in most cars, and what can be found in this puzzle's circles: GEARSHIFTS.

Across:

1. Low poker pair: TWOS.

5. Mus. key with three sharps: A MAJ. From Wikipedia: A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, and G♯. Its key signature has three sharps.

9. Nigerian seaport: LAGOS.

14. Greet with fanfare: HAIL.

15. Pizza Quick sauce brand: RAGU.

16. "You've got a friend": I CARE.

17. First name in scat: ELLA. Fitzgerald.

20. Mix: BLEND.

22. Former Soviet leader Brezhnev: LEONID. From Wikipedia: served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the governing Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982. His 18-year term as general secretary was second only to Joseph Stalin's in duration.

26. Prefix with tourism: ECO. A form of sustainable travel that supports the local environment instead of putting more pressure on it and exploiting its resources. See here.

29. Navigation technology, briefly: GPS. Global Positioning System. I'd be lost without it.

30. Brooding genre: EMO.

31. "Spartacus" Oscar winner: USTINOV. Ustinov won for his portrayal of Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus. Learned from Wiki: In the climactic scene, recaptured slaves are asked to identify Spartacus in exchange for leniency; instead, each slave proclaims himself to be Spartacus, thus sharing his fate. The documentary Trumbo suggests that this scene was meant to dramatize the solidarity of those accused of being Communist sympathizers during the McCarthy Era who refused to implicate others, and thus were blacklisted.

34. Bowler's pickup: SPARE. Boomer!

36. Amtrak express: ACELA. Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 14 intermediate stops, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.

42. Breakout game developer: ATARI.

43. Pool triangles: RACKS. Standard 8-ball rack:

44. Sent a message, old-style: TELEXED. Telex was a major method of sending written messages electronically between businesses in the post-World War II period.

47. Rock's Ocasek: RIC. Lead singer for The Cars, who died just 5 months ago at the age of 75 from natural causes.

48. Grow older: AGE.

51. Thorn __, former Virgin Records owner: EMI. Major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defense and retail.

55. Arizona MLBers: DBACKS. Baseball - short for Diamondbacks.

58. Dig find: RELIC.

63. "Ciao!": TATA.

64. Take in eagerly: EAT UP.

65. Yule tune: NOEL.

66. Saroyan's "My Name Is __": ARAM. First published in 1940 - assigned reading in some schools - about a boy of Armenian descent growing up in Fresno, California, and the various members of his large family.

67. Collaborative 1993 Sinatra album: DUETS. Followed up in 1994 with the sequel Duets II, which was Sinatra's final studio album. Speaking of 17A Ella, her 1956 Ella and Louis [Armstrong] was another successful collaborative effort (how could it not be?).

68. Looking like rain: GRAY. I'm in Oregon. It's been mostly gray for months, although we do see some intermittent sun. I'm one of the freaks who likes long rainy stretches.

69. U. of Maryland athlete: TERP. Short for Terrapins. The terrapin is
a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the eastern and southern United States and Bermuda.

Down:

1. Roald Dahl novel adapted as a 2016 Disney film: THE BFG. The Big Friendly Giant.

2. Big hit: WALLOP. Ow.

3. Gretzky's first NHL team: OILERS.

4. Word on the street?: SLANG. Nice clue.

5. Canine greeting: ARF.

6. Tarnish: MAR.

7. Like gymnasts: AGILE.

8. Capital near Glacier Bay National Park: JUNEAU.

9. Property claim: LIEN.

10. Dark purple berry: ACAI. I unexpectedly spent (no joke) six hours at the Verizon store today. The agent who was helping me did not sound thrilled with his girlfriend's text update that they would be having acai bowls for dinner. After six hours I felt like we bonded.

11. Plant custodian: GARDENER.

12. Vein contents: ORE.

13. Briny expanse: SEA.

19. Neil Gaiman's "American __": GODS. I like Gaiman, but have never read this one. Fantasy is not my genre - anyone read it?

21. Get rid of: DEEP SIX.

24. Latin 101 verb: AMAT.

25. Circle dance: HORA. Known as the King of Israeli folk dances, it means round dance. Also called the chair dance, because the guests hoist up the bride and groom in chairs.

27. Cuba libre mixer: COLA. Drink also known as rum and coke.

28. Racecourse shape: OVAL.

32. Chemicals carrier: TANK CAR.

33. Treats, as a sprain: ICES.

34. Drought-plagued: SERE. Adjective meaning dry or withered.

35. Get an "Oh no" from Alex Trebek, say: ERR.

37. Inevitable end: FATE.

38. Tabloid couple: ITEM.

39. Stamp, as a passport: VALIDATE.

40. Teri of "Tootsie": GARR. Such a funny actress, who has dealt with health issues for many years. She bravely appeared on Late Night with David Letterman in 2008, to speak publicly about her battle with MS.

41. Vaping device, familiarly: E-CIG.

45. Mark on metal: ETCH.

46. Puck-handling skill: DEKING.

48. Shining brightly: AGLARE.

49. Instrument for The Romeros, a classical quartet: GUITAR.

50. Pitch tents: ENCAMP.

53. Regarding: AS FOR.

54. Tuned to: SET AT. My phone alarm is always SET AT my local NPR station.

56. Very dry, as Champagne: BRUT.

57. Nile vipers: ASPS.

59. H.S. dropout's test: GED.

60. __ de cologne: EAU.

61. Scone go-with: TEA.

62. Surreptitious: SLY.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 Craig Stowe

It's just a Jump to your LEFT.



20-Across. *  Billy Crystal comedy featuring a cattle drive: CITY SLICKERS.  City Center.

City Slickers was a 1991 film.

The Central Business District in New Orleans

30-Across. *  Exact look-alike: DEAD RINGER.  Dead Center.

 Dead Ringer was also a 1964 movie starring Bette Davis.

Dead Center

38-Across. *  Daily filming schedule on the set: CALL SHEET.  Call Center.  In my experience, the people at the call center are in some far-off town and often speak with such an accent neither one of us understand each other.

50-Across. *  One in la-la land: SPACE CADET.  Space Center.

And the unifier:
59-Across. Somewhat liberal, or where you might find the first words in the answers to starred clues: LEFT OF CENTER.

Across:

1. Govt.-backed investment: T-NOTE.  As in a Treasury Note.

6. Travelocity recommendations: INNS.

10. Comprehends: GETS.

14. Commandment verb involving parents: HONOR.  Fact: Did you know that the 10 Commandments are found in both Exodus and Deuteronomy and that the order of the Commandments differ depending upon one's religious theology?

15. Niño's "nothing": NADA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

16. Difficult exam: ORAL.

17. Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA.  Elena Kagan (b. Apr. 28, 1960) is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  When she assumed the office in August 2010, she was only the 4th woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.  Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she was the first female dean of the Harvard Law School.  She makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.

18. Fruit grown in bogs: CRANBERRY.  Massachusetts is known for its CRANBERRY Bogs.

22. __, amas, amat ...: AMO.  Today's Latin lesson.

23. Gnaw (at): EAT.

24. Grocery walkway: AISLE.

28. Offshore oil drillers: RIGS.

Oil Rigs as seen from the beach at Grand Isle, Louisiana

34. Stiff-upper-lip type: STOIC.

36. Under, in French: SOUS.  Today's French lesson.  Think of the Sous-chef, who is the second in command in the kitchen, after the executive chef.

37. Graffiti signature: TAG.  Many buildings in Rome are covered in graffiti.

42. Musical gift: EAR.

45. Roman robe: TOGA.

46. Hustle genre: DISCO.

54. Croat or Serb: SLAV.

55. Mexican mister: SEÑOR.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

56. Correct: FIX.

58. "__ had it!": I'VE.  Enough, already!

64. Soap opera genre: MELODRAMA.  A melodrama is a performance with a lot of exaggerated emotion.

67. 1960s jacket style: NEHRU.  The history of the NEHRU Jacket.

68. Cooking spot: OVEN.

69. Large-scale: EPIC.  Cecil B' DeMille's movie The Ten Commandments was an EPIC movie.

70. Warning signs: OMENS.

71. Like fake fruit: WAXY.

72. See socially: DATE.

73. From Lillehammer, say: NORSE.  Lillehammer, Norway was the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Down:

1. "My Best Friend's Girl" rock band: THE CARS.  Sadly, Ric Ocasek (né Richard Theodore Otcasek; Mar. 23, 1944 ~ Sept. 15, 2019), frontman for The Cars, died last fall at age 75.  Shortly before he died, he executed a new will, which specifically cut out  Paulina Porizkova (née Pavlína Pořízková; b. Apr. 9, 1965), his wife of 30 years.  They had been in the middle of a divorce, but still shared a house together.

2. Like poker games for high rollers: NO LIMIT.

3. Small takeout order: ONE TO GO.  Strange clue and answer.

4. Tiger mascot with a red scarf: TONY.  Of course, my first thought was LSU's Mike the Tiger, but he doesn't wear a read scarf.

5. Clear data from: ERASE.  //  And 52-Down. Wear away, as a coin surface: EFFACE.

6. Provoke: INCITE.

7. Dealer's foil, briefly: NARC.  Short for a narcotics agent.

8. Southern neighbor of Sask.: N. DAK.  North Dakota is south of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

9. Reasonable: SANE.

10. Enters: GOES IN.

11. "To say they __ I dare not be so bold": Shakespeare: ERR.

12. North Carolina __ Heels: TAR.  North Carolina had been was known as the Tar and Turpentine State due to its early industry of distilling pine sap.  The name later evolved into just TAR Heel.

13. Cunning: SLY.

19. Slow-cooked, as short ribs: BRAISED.  Braising is a cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats.  Food is first sautéed or lightly fried, then slowly stewed in a closed pot.  More complicated than my cooking methods.

21. Young chap: LAD.

25. Bilko's rank: Abbr.: SGT.  Sgt. Bilko was a character on The Phil Silvers Show, which ran in the late 1950s.  It was before my time.

26. Grazing area: LEA.

27. Joule fraction: ERG.  This has become a crossword staple.

29. [not my error]: SIC.  More of today's Latin lesson.  SIC is a Latin adverb that is inserted after a quoted word or phrase to indicate that the original quoted passage contained the error.

31. Family name in Mideast politics: ASSAD.  Bashar al-ASSAD (b. Sept. 11, 1965) is the current President of Syria.  The name al-Assad means Lion in Arabic.

32. Homer's "I'm an idiot!": DOH!

33. Feel remorse over: RUE.  Also the French word for Street.

35. Provided food for: CATERED.

39. Tone-__: "Wild Thing" rapper: LOC.

Tone-Loc (né Anthony Terrell Smith; b. Mar. 3, 1966).

40. NYC airport near Citi Field: LGA.  As in the LaGuardia Airport. I flew into LaGuardia the last time I was in New York last summer.  The airport is named in honor of Fiorello H. La Guardia (Dec. 11, 1882 ~ Sept. 20, 1947), the 99th Mayor of New York City.

41. "__ the season ... ": TIS.  Well, it will be the season in about 10 months!

42. Scout leader?: ESS.  Oh, as in the letter "S".  Not keen on this type of cluing.

43. Monkey relative: APE.

44. Sought a political seat: RAN.  Hot topic this year.

47. Move like a mamba: SLITHER.  The Mamba is a venomous snake native to Africa.

48. Carlsbad __ National Park: CAVERNS.  A visit to the Carlsbad Caverns is on my bucket list.

49. Do to death: OVERUSE.

51. Revolutionary territory: COLONY.

53. Nervous twitch: TIC.

57. Noble gas: XENON.  Xenon with the atomic number of 54 is a colorless and odorless gas.  It was first discovered in 1898.

60. Dancer Astaire: FRED.  Fred Astaire (né Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 ~ June 22, 1987) and his sister, Adele (née Adele Marie Austerlitz; Sept. 10, 1896 ~ Jan. 25, 1981), were both dancers.

61. Spanish appetizer: TAPA.  Yummers!

62. Leave out: OMIT.

63. Verne captain: NEMO.  Jules Verne (né Jules Gabriel Verne; Feb. 8, 1828 ~ Mar. 24, 1905) was a French novelist who is considered the "Father of Science Fiction".  Captain NEMO is the fictional character in 2 of Verne's novels: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island.  The former is the better known of the two novels.

64. Work on a lawn: MOW.

65. "Training Day" actress Mendes: EVA.

Eva de la Caridad Méndez (b. Mar. 5, 1974) is on the left.

66. "Superman" villain Luthor: LEX.

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  You think you can do anything, and then you slowly learn how wrong you are.  ~  Miloš Forman (né Jan Tomáš Forman; Feb. 18, 1932 ~ Apr. 13, 2018), Czech-born film director

Monday February 17, 2020 John R. O'Brien

Theme: JULIUS CAESAR (56. Attributed speaker of the circled words)

20. Deer hunter's dinner, perhaps: VENISON STEAK.

34. Cutting in half, in math class: DIVIDING BY TWO.

42. Nearby: IN THE VICINITY.

Boomer here.  

Interesting - I came, I saw, I conquered. Once again my high school Latin pays off.  Speaking of Julius Caesar's Palace, we drove by it last week on the way to Palace Station and the Fashion Show Mall. I did not conquer Caesar's but I did beat up on a couple of Craps machines.  Not huge, but I did go home with what I brought. It was the Annual meeting of OMEGA (Older More Energetic Graybar Associates), retirees at the Orleans.  I generally give a little of my humor to my "Medicare Miracle" friends. My middle name is Robert and my mother's name was Hope so I give them a little Bob Hope act.  All I needed was Bing Crosby and Raquel Welch.

Across:

1. Weed whackers: HOES.  I use the motorized kind with a nylon string that spins.

5. Annoy: MIFF.  Sometimes the craps dice can make you MIFFED.

9. Macbeth, by birth: SCOT.

13. Saintly glows: AURAS.  Las Vegas lights are something else.

15. Impressionist: APER.

16. Lola's nightclub, in song: COPA.  Home of Desi Arnaz' act. I don't think Bob Hope ever played there.

17. Like an old joke: STALE.  Yeah, I told a few of them at the banquet.

18. Wind that's worth a warning: GALE.  Could be Dorothy GALE from Kansas.

19. Idi of Uganda: AMIN.

23. Holy Ohio city?: TOLEDO.  Home of the Mud Hens.

26. Bridal bio word: NEE.

27. Sault __ Marie: STE.

28. "I think," to a texter: IMO.  In My Opinion.

29. Childlike race in "The Time Machine": ELOI.

32. Learn thoroughly: MASTER.  Coming to Augusta in April.

37. Seine summers: ETES.

38. Lincoln or Ford: CAR.  We rented a Ford Escape. If you are a Medicare Miracle don't even think about it.

39. Love, in Spain: AMOR.

47. Fidel who overthrew Batista: CASTRO.  U.S Presidents last 4 or 8 years.  This guy lasted til my hair started turning white.

49. Aussie birds that don't fly: EMUS.

50. San Francisco's __ Valley: NOE.  Another spelling of the name of the guy who floated a ship in a flood.

51. Diplomatic VIP: AMB. Ambassador.

52. NBA tiebreakers: OTS.  Our Timberwolves are usually 30 points behind so no overtime is necessary.

54. Sports team swaps: TRADES.  Twins made a bunch of trades this winter.  "World Series here they come ???"

60. Medical suffix: OSIS.

61. Sentry's "Stop!": HALT.

62. Swiss peak in an Eastwood film title: EIGER. The Eiger Sanction.

66. Eye part: LENS.  Eye of a camera??

67. Oil cartel letters: OPEC.

68. Iced tea wedge: LEMON.  I like a little lemon in iced tea.  But we don't drink it in the frozen tundra,

69. Icelandic poetic work: EDDA.

70. PC repair person: TECH.  Up here they are called the Geek Squad from Best Buy.

71. Avec's opposite: SANS.

Down:

1. Suffers from: HAS.

2. One of an inning's three: OUT. "And it's ONE, TWO, THREE Strikes you're out at the old ball game"

3. Pitcher's stat: ERA.  This can be raised if someone sets up a camera in center field and signals the guy with the bat to hit the trash can.

4. Soothing cream: SALVE.  I've tried Blue Emu, Arctic Ice and Biofreeze. I am open to suggestions.

5. Carol kings: MAGI.  "We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar."

6. Hoppy brews, for short: IPAS.

7. Serious criminal: FELON.  "When a FELON'S not engaged in his employment, or construing his felonious little plans... His capacity for innocent enjoyment is just as great as any honest man's."

8. Portmanteau for a false ally: FRENEMY.

9. "Beat it, feline!": SCAT.  I'm not done yet!!

10. Is remembered: COMES TO MIND.  February 14 comes to mind.  Belated Happy Valentine's Day.

11. Addictive narcotic: OPIATE. In 2018 I needed to take some of that Oxy stuff for pain. I did not feel addicted, but I only took it for a month or so.

12. Oil cartel ship: TANKER.

14. Started the grass-growing process: SEEDED.  Give me a couple of months.  The snow plow guy that does our driveway created some lawn to plant.

21. __ me tangere: "Don't touch me": NOLI.

22. Place to park it: SEAT.  I heard a cheap one at the Super Bowl ran about $2500.00.

23. Ocean motion: TIDE. We wash our clothes with Purex.

24. Skip over: OMIT.

25. Age-old romantic adage: LOVE IS BLIND.

30. A single time: ONCE.  "ONCE upon a time there were three bears".  You know the rest.

31. "__ it my best": I GAVE.  I GAVE the craps machine my best shot.  I like the machine because the minimum bet is very low, compared to the live tables.

33. Graceful pond swimmer: SWAN.

35. "That __ fair!": ISN'T.  Slot machines do not have slots anymore, just a place to slide in your Twenty.  What ISN'T fair are the bright lights promising jackpots in the thousands.  You can't fool me.  However I did win $17.00 on a .40 cent play once.

36. Fedora feature: BRIM.

40. Great Plains tribe: OTOE.  Once in the Great Lakes area, The OTOE moved south through Iowa and Missouri.  I think they are alive and well in Oklahoma.  I guess they couldn't take our winters.

41. Deli breads: RYES.  St. Patrick's day is coming.  Time for corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut on RYE.

43. Pants, briefly: TROU.

44. Someone who's good, and obviously knows it: HOTSHOT.  You're a poet and you don't know it, but your feet show it, they're Longfellows.

45. Skips, as class: CUTS.

46. Tel Aviv's land: ISRAEL.

47. Sweet-talk: CAJOLE.

48. Got a smile out of: AMUSED.  Here goes my intro. "I want to thank the company president for hosting this fine banquet and especially for letting us know that the people that were hired to replace us are doing a helluva lot better than we ever did."

53. Suffix with land or sea: SCAPE.  Or put an "E" in front of it and you're outta here.

55. Spring zodiac sign: ARIES.  Three days after St. Patrick's day.  Hope you have some corned beef left.

57. "Insecure" Emmy nominee __ Rae: ISSA.

58. Knighted actor Guinness: ALEC.  Obi Wan Kenobi.

59. Draw with acid: ETCH.  If you once owned an Etch-a Sketch you are a Medicare Miracle.

63. ABC show for early risers, briefly: GMA.

64. Long, long time: EON.  "A Long, Long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile."  Don McClean - "American Pie."

65. ICU workers: RNS.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Here is a picture of Boomer in front of The Orleans. It was a long trip. We left home at 2:30am on Sunday and arrived at our hotel room at 6:00pm. Heavy snow plus a few other issues. Boomer's annual Graybar OMEGA gathering went nicely tough. Here is a clip of his old colleagues at the event. The lady at the 1:44 minute mark is the big boss.