Sunday April 26, 2020 Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman

Theme: "Undercover Work" - Seven different type of service are hidden in each theme answer.
  
22A. *Rejects, in a way: SWIPES LEFT. Self service.

113A. *Journeys that aren't fun: GUILT TRIPS. Lip service.
  
7D. *"Landslide" group: FLEETWOOD MAC. Food service.

13D. *Revere: PUT ON A PEDESTAL. Postal service.

15D. *Nissan Leaf, e.g.: ELECTRIC VEHICLE. Civic service.

42D. *Inverts: TURNS UP SIDE DOWN. Turndown service.

50D. *Farmers' market find: HEIRLOOM TOMATO. Room service.

61D. *Dish commonly made with cod: FISH AND CHIPS. Fan service is new to me.

Reveal:

33. President's protector ... and a hint to the circled letters: SECRET SERVICE.

Great to see Hoang-Kim Vu back. He gave us this puzzle last year.  Congrats, Jessica, on your LA Times debut.

For  this type of "Secret" or "Hidden" theme, we normally we get the key words fully embedded in each theme entry. This is a variation.

Heavy themage. I like how two of the Across themers intersect two Downs. This grid can be flipped and then we'd have a normal Sunday grid with theme entries mostly in Across.

Across:

1. Features of many beds: SLATS.

6. Curly coif: AFRO.

10. Evite request: RSVP.

14. Like half a towel set: HERS.

18. Cliff dwelling: AERIE. It's also the name of American Eagle's underwear line.

19. Place at the pier: SLIP.

20. World's smallest island nation: NAURU.

21. Lamb pen name: ELIA. Charles Lamb.

24. "... but maybe I'm wrong": OR NOT.

25. Took off: WENT.

26. Rest, in Rioja: SIESTA. Alliteration.

27. Nutmeg State Ivy Leaguer: ELI.

28. Social media movement since 2017: ME TOO.

29. Movie SFX: CGI.

30. Fashion monogram: YSL.

31. Speeds up: HASTENS.

34. Carolina quarterback with a Heisman Trophy: CAM NEWTON. And 37. Kneeling quarterback Tim with a Heisman Trophy: TEBOW.

38. Mount: GET ON.

40. State to be true: AVER.

41. Part of CDC: Abbr.: CTRS. Never paid attention to who the CDC director was until the virus hit us. Dr. Robert  Redfield at the helm now.

43. How some like it?: HOT.

45. NFL sportscaster Collinsworth: CRIS.

46. Green film on bronze: PATINA.

49. Down in the dumps: BLUE.

50. Style of earrings: HOOP.

51. Kylo in "The Rise of Skywalker": REN.

52. Commonly misplaced camera part: LENS CAP.

53. Run, as a museum: CURATE.

55. Sees: DATES.

57. Features of many 48-Down: ADS. 48. Phone downloads: APPS.

58. Celeb, say: VIP.

59. Dojo instructor: SENSEI. Literally "born before". Japanese and Chinese have the same characters. The second character here means "born".

60. Visibility reducer: MIST.

61. Enemy: FOE.

62. Comes together: GELS.

63. Rise to an exalted level, as spirits: SOAR.

64. Early Southwestern natives around the Virgin River: ANASAZI. New word to me. The Smithsonian says "Their descendants are today's Pueblo Indians".

67. Persian for "king": SHAH.

69. Rode teacups, say: SPUN.

71. Inc. relative: LLC.

73. Squeezes (out): EKES.

74. "Fiddler" toasting song: TO LIFE.

77. Dadaist Jean: ARP.

78. __ the line: TOE.

79. Chart with lines: GRAPH.

80. Largest U.S. federation of unions: AFL- CIO.

81. Aerospace task: MISSION. And the Mars-obsessed 86. Musk in the news: ELON.

83. Head, for short: LAV.

84. Cloud of gloom: PALL.

87. Dre protégé: EMINEM.

88. Gp. that looks to the stars?: SETI.  OK, the real stars.

89. Soul mate, with "the": ONE.

90. Salon colors: DYES. What's the first thing you'll do when this virus is over? Haircut for me.

91. Pub flier: DART.

92. Dog: POOCH.

94. Reps' pitches: DEMOS.

96. Peels out: STEPS ON IT.

99. Have humble pie: EAT CROW.

101. Side dish piece: FRY.

104. Taken in: HAD.

105. Chinese gambling mecca: MACAO. Macau is more common. Love their egg tarts and pork chop buns.

107. Informal rejection: NAH.

108. Dish: ENTREE.

110. Scores: A LOT.

112. Bitter: ACERB.

115. Christchurch native: KIWI. Wiki says Christchurch is the "largest city in the South Island of New Zealand."

116. Lands like a rock: THUDS.

117. Like some inappropriate comments: UN-PC.

118. Navel variety: OUTIE.

119. Pull hard: YANK.

120. "My bad!": OOPS.

121. Combat vet's affliction: PTSD.

122. Highlighter hues: NEONS.

Down:

1. Fresh: SASSY.

2. Narnia creator C.S.: LEWIS.

3. Disney mermaid: ARIEL.

4. Check additions: TIPS.

5. Boils: SEETHES.

6. Syst. with hand signals: ASL.

8. Search through hastily: RIFLE.

9. Selecting: OPTING.

10. Numismatist's prize: RARE COIN.

11. Basking goals: SUNTANS.

12. Big engine sound: VROOM.

14. Take down: HEW.

16. Jewelry-inspired pop nickname: RINGO. Wow, it has a ring connection?

17. Lustrous fabric: SATIN.

20. Happy eating word: NOM. Looking forward to making this, as soon as I receive my Amazon salted kelp. Amazon is soooo slow these days.

23. Swedish auto: SAAB.

32. NYC or London area: SOHO.

35. Captain America portrayer Chris: EVANS.

36. Waters: WETS.

37. Quisling's crime: TREASON.

39. "__ bien!": TRES.

41. Idea: CLUE.

44. "Rappa Ternt Sanga" artist: T PAIN.

47. Stick, as a landing: NAIL.

49. Former NCAA football ranking sys.: BCS. Bowl Championship Series. Replaced by College Football Playoff.

52. Vientiane people: LAO.

54. Important Kenya export: TEA. Mostly black teas.

56. Flight safety org.: TSA.

62. Proofreaders' proofs: GALLEYS.

65. Pseudonym letters: AKA.

66. One of the Marx Brothers: ZEPPO.

68. Where stars are honored: Abbr.: HOF. Boomer is in this Hall of Fame. Ha ha. Our hallway is full of his plaques and patches.

69. "Ditto": SAME.

70. Kat's sister in "The Hunger Games": PRIM.

72. Novelist Deighton: LEN.

75. Verizon bundle: FIOS. Acronym for Fiber Optic Service.

76. Long time span: EON.

78. Fancy cake feature: TIERS.

79. Felino doméstico: GATO. Domestic feline.

82. Digital sound?: SNAP. Hand!

83. Ballet garb: LEOTARDS.

85. Discomfiting look: LEER.

88. Add zest to: SPICE UP.

90. Dear Abbey for many?: DOWNTON.

93. Emotional problem: HANGUP.

95. Bubbly brand: MOET.

96. Unreliable: SHAKY.

97. __ al Ghul: daughter of a Batman enemy: TALIA. Learning moment for me.

98. Salsa holder: NACHO.

100. Bleachers' dig: TAUNT.

101. Crunchy snack: FRITO.

102. Adjust on a lapel, perhaps: RE-PIN.

103. Ayes: YESES.

106. Birthing room docs: OBS.

109. Loyal: TRUE.

111. __Tok: video sharing service: TIK.

114. HDTV choice: LCD.

Kazie (Kay) kindly sent me this lovely picture with below note:

"I'm attaching a recent photo if you'd like it--Lea's school beginning last August, which the whole family attended. The large school bag, an item of pride to her that day, distinguishes schoolkids from the Kindergartners, and the huge cone called a Zuckertüte in Saxony, is filled with candy and gifts. In most German states, they have a huge ceremony to introduce the 1st graders to real school, after they're done with kindergarten. In Lea's case, she had been going to kindergarten since she was about a year old.  She just turned 7 this January, but of course has been home with her sister and mom since the virus closed everything down."

Here's Lea with Grandpa Barry in 2013.

C.C.

Saturday, April 25, 2020, C.C. Burnikel

Themeless Saturday by C.C. Burnikel

Our dear blogmistress C.C. has given us a real Saturday challenge today. Her multicultural knowledge never fails to amaze! This is her comment about the puzzle:

"I sent in this puzzle on June 17, 2019 and it was accepted on August 26, 2019. Just a standard 72-word grid with triple stacks on each corner. " [Husker comment: "Yeah right!]

I only do Saturday puzzles online because I want to do them in advance to better blog them. I was shocked when I put in the A to complete DAE and TEASEL, as you see below, which were unknown to me and as you see, I got the Congratulations message! Patience and educated guesses won the day for me as I got my first real 14. Initial access points: TOEHOLDS at the bottom.

C.C. and me                                                 Final screen image 
                                                                        after successful solve

Now let's take a look at what C.C. calls "just a standard 72-word grid with triple stacks in the corners" 

Across:

1. "Stop kidding yourself": LET'S BE REAL - My response when C.C. said, "Gary you can construct puzzles like I do"

11. Hits or runs: STAT.

15. The Canadian film "Away From Her" is based on one of her short stories: ALICE MUNRO - Alice's The Bear Came Over The Mountain was the basis for this powerful film about Alzheimer's disease. 

16. Lima locale: OHIO - C.C.! Okay, Peru would be too easy on Saturday 

17. Turn sometimes prohibited: RIGHT ON RED 

18. Take risks: DARE.

19. Historian Yuval Noah Harari's country: Abbr.: ISR - The website for this Israeli-born historian

20. Target for a hook: HOOP - Clever, C.C., not a CHIN! Kareem called this shot his Sky Hook and here Dave Cowens is finding it impossible to block

21. Hidden difficulty: CATCH 

22. Fish in a poke bowl: AHI - Poke is Hawaiian for slice. This is typically Ahi or Yellowfin tuna, that's cubed and layered up with a satisfying serving of sticky rice and power-packed pickles

23. "Are you comin'?": WANNA GO? - I have developed an ear as to whether my wife really means, "I want you to go along, Gary"

25. "Patrick Melrose" network, briefly: SHO - Starring Benedict Cumberbatch on SHOwtime

26. "Take a bite!": TASTE IT - Let's get Mikey to try it

28. Awaiting trial, maybe: ON BAIL - Usually one hears "OUT ON BAIL"

30. Chutney fruit: APRICOT - Recipe

33. "Elusive Butterfly" singer Bob: LIND - A one hit wonder that dredges up memories of my college days

34. Zero hour: START -  Zero Hour (1957), the movie that the Zuckers turned into Airplane (1980), the funniest movie I've ever seen.

37. "Not a huge fan": MEH.

38. Traitor: JUDAS 

39. __ stick: POGO.

40. Get the job done: DELIVER.

42. "And here I thought I was the only one": YOU TOO? - My reply to, "I had trouble with TA-NEHISI in Debbie Ellerin's puzzle two weeks ago."

44. Ionic and Versa: FITBITS - Didn't know/had to be

48. __ run: SKI.

49. Internet security company acquired by Carbonite in 2019: WEBROOT.

52. Bug snare: NET.

53. Berry on-screen: HALLE - My fav Cat Woman

55. Count equivalent: EARL - Yes this sandwich chain was founded by John Montagu, the 11th Earl of Sandwich

56. "The Good Doctor" actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE - I knew him from here

57. Conform to: OBEY.

58. Most prevalent grape in Chianti: SANGIOVESE - No chance for me but it filled itself in

61. Snapper rival: TORO - I've had both but I went battery power this time and love it so far

62. Longtime clothing tag: UNION LABEL - Look for the UNION LABEL

63. Symbol of grace: SWAN.

64. "You deserve better": DON'T SETTLE 


Down:

1. It's thrown at rodeos: LARIAT.

2. Cuthbert of "24": ELISHA - It appears ELISHA is not a male

3. River through Iraq: TIGRIS.

4. MIT, for one: SCH.

5. Ante matter?: BET - Cute again. File POT under "Right Idea, Wrong Word"

6. Style characterized by long bangs brushed to one side: EMO HAIR - Okay...

7. Arrive as scheduled: RUN ON TIME - Mussolini's train claim

8. 2001 scandal subject: ENRON - It cost my uncle his dignity and his pension

9. Colombian cornmeal cake: AREPA - An AREPA cheese sandwich

10. City served by Ben-Gurion airport: LOD - A 14 minute Uber ride

11. Common mixer: SODA.

12. "However ... ": THAT SAID.

13. Carrier with a Chengdu hub: AIR CHINA - Speaking of air travel, it takes over a day to fly from Chengdu to Ben Gurion airport via AIR CHINA with stops in Shanghai and Addis Ababa 

21. Mexican menu preposition: CON - I like my chili CON carne

23. Turned blue?: WEPT and 24. Understood: GOT - John WEPT when he GOT this

27. Card worth a fortune?: TAROT.

29. Dust jacket promo: BLURB Here's the BLURB for this book 47. "Fifty Shades of Grey" heroine Ana __: STEELE 

31. Collectible frame: CEL.

32. "Oops, slipped my mind": OH I FORGOT

34. Unauthorized photos of yet-to-be-released cars: SPY SHOTS - It's a thing! Motor1.com's best SPY SHOTS

35. Acknowledged applause: TOOK A BOW - "I'll bet you made the cutest BOW"

36. "Beautiful" singer: AGUILERA - Christina

38. "I Love Rock 'n Roll" singer: JETT - Ya gotta love it!

40. Generic surname: DOE.

41. String section: VIOLINS

43. Be shy: OWE and 45. Seeing red?: IN DEBT - You've gotta have some miles on your tires to know who is saying this (Answer at the bottom *).

46. Plant with prickly leaves: TEASEL - A Eurasian plant that has never crossed my path

50. Bingo relative: BEANO - Parker Brothers said you could call it either one

51. Took to the cooler: RAN IN - That was Danno's job

54. City north of Marseille: LYON - Marseille est presque au SUD de LYON

59. Spirited cheer: OLE 

60. Winery vessel: VAT - What Lucy looked like (in color) after the famous VAT scene

*That indebted hamburger consumer is Popeye's friend Wimpy (late addition)

Comments for C.C.?

Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Kazie (Kay), who started contributing to our blog a few months after I started. I've benefited greatly from her knowledge of German & French.

Kay and her husband Barry on Tamborine Mountain, overlooking Brisbane

Friday, April 24, 2020 Brian Temte & Jeff Chen

"An Average Puzzle"


18. "The Shape of Water" director: GUILLERMO DEL TORO.

43. Snapchat marketing expert, in modern lingo: SOCIAL MEDIA NINJA.

65. "Watch your mouth!": DON'T GIVE ME ANY LIP.

And the reveal:

71. Garden-variety, and a hint to what's hidden in 18-, 43- and 65-Across: AVERAGE.


An LA Times debut for Brian Temte, who in collaboration with Jeff Chen, gives us three grid spanners that hide the theme answers.

And unless you got the answers via perps, they also give us three clues that need the reveal answer to provide you with, well, a clue:

22. Below 71-Across: BLAH.
47. Below 71-Across: SUBPAR. 
72. Below 71-Across: POOR.

If you are a top to bottom solver, or happened to hit one of those three clues early, you may have looked to 71A to figure out what the clue should be.   Average didn't immediately come to mind for Garden-variety.   At least it didn't for me.  Horticulture came to mind.  Outdoor plants versus indoor plants.

Also, Brian and Jeff didn't exactly make solving the reveal at 71A easy.   Grid spanners hiding the theme answers, no circles to help you find them, and perhaps not-so-easy perps crossing the reveal.

Adam Savage I knew.
Super star ?  A famous person ?  Idol ?   No, it was noVa.  So a literal super star.
Bartleby left me clueless, and I had no idea that he or she was a scrivenEr.
Angle and athlete prefix tRi came easily enough.
Noir weapon could have been rod, but this time it was gAt.
Then we get to: Spanish soccer association that means "the league": La LiGa.  Did you know this ?
Then an easy E in gavEl.

Thus, AVERAGE.   So "Below average" as the clue for 22, 47 and 72 across.

I have to admit that after solving the mini-theme test and then completing the grid, I almost forgot to look for the hidden words in the spanners.   Mean, Median and Mode explained.

Across:

1. 35th pres.: JFK.   John Fitzgerald Kennedy

4. Smaller-than-life depiction: ICON.

8. Larger-than-life creations: COLOSSI.

15. Spleen: IRE.

16. Hilo shindig: LUAU.

17. Put into play: ENACTED.

21. Construction __: SITE.

23. "Frontline" network: PBS.   A favorite PBS program.  Thought provoking.

24. What a pursuer seeks to narrow: THE GAP.

28. Evergreen shrubs: ERICAs.    Oops.  Make that three words that had to be corrected.  Had yuccas.  Bzzt !  The Genus Erica   You may know it as heath or heather.

31. Meat on a stick: KEBAB.   Key in a K (skip a cell), Key in a B (skip a cell),  Key in a B and then check perps.

33. English "L'chaim!": TO LIFE.   Hebrew translated to English.  A toast.

36. Pack animal: ASS.

39. "Gimme the skinny!": TELL IT.    TELL me went in.    It wasn't until I got the second grid spanner that I saw that it should be IT.

Cue up Aaron Neville.  He wants to know if she's just playing with his emotions in this 1966 song:


42. Stiff: RIGID.

46. Northern Iraqis: KURDS.

48. Virtual-city denizen: SIM.  A simulated person.

49. __ column: SPINAL.

51. Cabbage in a French café?: EUROs.   Usually, slang in the clue would require slang in the answer, but it is Friday.

Google Translate tells me the French word for the vegetable cabbage is chou, and sounds something like shoe.

Chou looks like a Chinese word.  It sounds something like cho, rhyming with show.  Chou seems to mean draw, or pump, or take out, or pick out, or shrink, or quilt, or flagellate.   Must be about the tone.

Many Asian languages (exempli gratia, Chinese) are tonal, so in addition to having vowels and consonants, tones can change the meaning of words.   I read that some Chinese dialects can have as many as 12 tones.

I also read that in some other languages (e.g. Japanese, Hebrew, Norwegian, et al.) that pitch accent can change the meanings of words by stressing different syllables.

Where was I ?    Cue up Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands:


53. Long trip: VOYAGE.

56. Old tankard metal: PEWTER.

59. Suffix for but-: ANE.   Butane.   "Man, that's cold !"

61. Rolling rock?: LAVA.

Meet the Volcanoes

63. High pair: ACES.

73. In bygone days: AGO.

74. __ status: MARITAL.

75. Ward with awards: SELA.

76. Explosive stuff: TNT.

Down:

1. Lively dances: JIGS.

2. __ Roll-Ups: FRUIT.

The boxes no longer say "Made with real fruit" and have very limited use of fruit imagery.

3. Urban of country: KEITH.


4. Not well: ILL.

5. Numberless type of ball: CUE.   My first thought was gum. 

6. Pole in a lock: OAR.

7. Indifferent: NUMB.   Apathetic.

8. Chest material: CEDAR.

9. Like some wonders: ONE HIT.  nh

10. LeBron's team, on scoreboards: LAL.   LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

11. World Series mo.: OCT. ober.

12. Corner quartet, perhaps: STOP SIGNS.   The town we moved to when I was eleven had no 4-way stop signs.  There was only one traffic light, with a constant flashing yellow in one direction, and a flashing red in the other.   Two churches, a hardware store, a pharmacy, a one pump gas station, a bar, a post office and our high school.   Cue up John Mellencamp.



13. Balkan native: SERB. ian.

14. Altar words: I DOs.

19. Welsh national emblem: LEEK.  Wait, what ?  Why ?  Let's check with  Wales Online

20. Cheer for a banderillero: OLE.   Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de banderillear.

25. Have one's chance to speak: GET A SAY.

26. Genesis victim: ABEL.   For some inexplicable reason, I keyed in Cain rather than ABEL, but fixed that two words later when I got to KEBAB.

27. Conceals, in a way: PALMS.   Sleight of hand.

29. Stylist's braid: CORN ROW.   Versus a farmer's rows of corn.

30. Others, in Latin: ALII.    As in Et (and) al. (others).  "... the phrase in Latin could be written three different ways, depending on whether the other things one referred to were masculine (et alii), feminine (et aliae), or neuter (et alia)."  - Merriam-Webster

32. French flag couleur: BLEU. 

34. Island nation whose flag has a Union Jack on it: FIJI.

35. Dutch cheese: EDAM.

36. Seeks permission: ASKs.   Some are big.

37. Common stock option?: SOUP.   What's the diff ?

38. Bartleby, notably: SCRIVENER.   "Bartleby the Scrivener" at Sparknotes

40. "__ delighted!": I'D BE.

41. Hold higher, as a baby bottle: TIP UP.

44. License fig.: I.D. NO..   I remitted the fees to have my driver's license renewed for another 4 years via the online portal for the Secretary of State.   Didn't expect to get it back for awhile, but it came back within a few weeks.  Real ID can wait.

45. Swiss river: AARE.

50. Spanish soccer association that means "the league": LA LIGA.   Am familiar with some of the teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, but not familiar enough to know the association name.

52. Command to Fido: STAY.

54. Bench mallet: GAVEL.  The piece of wood struck by the gavel is known as a sounding block.

55. Christmas __: EVE.

57. Conspicuous display: ECLAT.

58. Hold sway: REIGN.

59. Savage of "MythBusters": ADAM.   This program fist aired in 2003 and immediately captured my interest.  Myths weren't always busted.  Sometimes they held true.   

60. Super star: NOVA.

62. Roadie's haul: AMPs.

64. Stain: SPOT.

66. Prefix with angle or athlete: TRI.

67. Noir weapon: GAT.


68. Fair-hiring initials: EOE.

69. Co. that bought Netscape in 1999: AOL.

70. Food service trade org.: NRA.  The annual National Restaurant Association was scheduled for May 16th to May 19th at McCormick Place in Chicago but North America's largest convention center has been turned into a medical facility.



Check your answers against this grid:

Thursday, April 23rd 2020 Ed Sessa

Theme Metallic Mystery - the word "golden" has gone missing from five theme entries

The reveal hints at the word we're missing:

59A. His touch will complete five puzzle answers: KING MIDAS. It didn't work out quite the way Midas had planned, he didn't really think it through, did he?

and so we find:

17A. Generous severance package: [Golden] PARACHUTE

32A. Chance of a lifetime: [Golden] OPPORTUNITY

41A. Marriage milestone: [Golden] ANNIVERSARY

10D. McDonald's trademark: [Golden] ARCHES

45D. Automatic promotion on "America's Got Talent": [Golden] BUZZER

A slick theme from Ed. I actually saw the theme right away when I got to 17A, but it was only the symmetry with ARCHES that led me to BUZZER - I don't watch America's Got Talent and so I had no idea there was such a device as a "golden buzzer" which I discover immediately puts a contestant through to the final rounds.

Let's take a tour:

Across:

1. Title critter in Blake's "Songs of Innocence": LAMB. Blake was apparently quite fond of lambs, if you look at his "Songs of Innocence" (strictly speaking, "Songs of Innocence and of Experience") there's not only "The Lamb" referenced by this clue, but a whole bunch of lamb-y lines in other poems. If you've ever seen the movie "Chariots of Fire" you'll be familiar with my school hymn "Jerusalem" which plays at the end. And references a lamb. Talented chap, lamb-centric.

5. Almost dry: DAMP

9. Football's "Papa Bear": HALAS. George Halas, founder, owner and head coach of the Chicago Bears. He was also known as "Mr. Everything" in consequence.

14. __ vera: ALOE

15. __ Eats: delivery service: UBER. Their drivers are busy at the moment. Note that there's no umlaut in the company name.

16. Hold the floor: ORATE

19. Bobby in a 1971 #1 hit: MCGEE. Janis Joplin classic which still sounds great today. The recording was released posthumously and reached number 1 on the Billboard chart. It was written by Kris Kristofferson.

20. Toss aside: DITCH

21. Bad loser: SOREHEAD. I've never heard this expression. Sore loser, of course, but not sorehead.

23. Locks: HAIR

26. Stage of adolescence: PUBERTY. All angst and acne.

27. Frito-Lay brand: TOSTITOS. Chips and salsas.

31. Sudoku fill: Abbr.: NOS.

34. Web spots: ADS

37. Ethically uncertain: GRAY. American spelling. Wouldn't it be more accurately be a "gray area"?

38. Ring bearer: EAR

39. Came down to earth: ALIT

40. "Atlas Shrugged" writer Rand: AYN. I read this a number of years ago and I can't remember a single thing about it.

45. Lily of France garment: BRA. I had to validate, of course, that this clue/answer combination was in fact correct. After much long and painful research I can confirm that it is. You're welcome!

46. Citrus grove sight: LIME TREE

47. Covered, in a way: INSURED

51. NYC area above Houston Street: NOHO. There's a NoHo in LA too, the trendy name for North Hollywood. It's a bit of an oddity, to be honest. It's so far north of Hollywood that it's across the Cahuenga Pass in the San Fernando Valley, and you have to struggle through Studio City and Toluca Lake before you actually get there.

52. Suddenly stops working, as an engine: SEIZES UP. Not a good thing to happen. My motorbike sprung an oil leak while I was riding back in 1976 and I didn't notice. Suddenly the engine went from a two-cylinder four-stroke to a single, and useless, lump of metal.

54. __ Gay: ENOLA. Not so fast, it could be sprinter Tyson Gay. And he is fast.

58. TV host Gibbons: LEEZA

62. Garden tool: EDGER

63. Biblical twin: ESAU

64. California's __ Valley: SIMI. It's the safest city with a population of more than 100,000 in the USA, primarily because police officers from the LAPD were given incentives to move there by the City Council.

65. Stadium levels: TIERS

66. Droops: SAGS. What "Lily of France" hopes to have us avoid.

67. Air filter acronym: HEPA, our old friend the High Efficiency Particulate Absorbing filter.

Down:

1. W. Coast force: LAPD. Nice clue, it took me a which to see this one. In fact this corner of the puzzle was my last fill.

2. Court game word: ALAI

3. Cartoonist Drucker: MORT. "Master of the Mad Caricature".

4. Bucket shaped like a sandcastle, for one: BEACH TOY. I find this clue a little odd. Would you call a bucket that's designed to make sandcastles "shaped" like one?

5. "Thank you, Captain Obvious": DUH! I love Billie Eilish's song "Bad Guy" which is so catchy and features a few "DUH"s.

6. __ Dhabi: ABU

7. Team that retired Mike Piazza's #31: METS. It's odd, I associate him more with the Dodgers than the Mets, but the Dodgers didn't retire his number. I remember him hitting a home run clean out of Dodger Stadium and into the parking lot, a wallop estimated to be 440 feet.

8. Hosp. area: PRE-OP

9. __ Industries: L.A. youth program: HOMEBOY. I like the salsas produced by Homeboy Grocery which are sold in my local Kroger market.

11. Ale alternative: LAGER. I bought a couple of bottles yesterday of "limited edition" Midnight Lager produced by Stella Artois. It's almost black in color. I'll report back when I've tried it.

12. Bugged a lot: ATE AT

13. Like some bagels: SEEDY. Did you know that restauranteur Joe Bastianich is credited with inventing the "everything" bagel? He was working in a bagel bakery and was tasked with putting the poppy seeds, sesame seeds and what-not on each type of bagel. At the end of his shift he decided to dip the last few bagels in the spillover of all the toppings, and bingo, the Everything Bagel was born.

18. Department head: CHAIR

22. Litter lightweight: RUNT

24. Addams cousin: ITT

25. Monet's "Cathedral Series" city: ROUEN. I once stayed in a hotel opposite the cathedral in the main square in Rouen. The bellringers started on Sunday morning 6AM, and that was the end of my night's sleep.

27. Forum robe: TOGA

28. "Live at the __": Patsy Cline album: OPRY

29. Spread across: SPAN

30. __ mail: SNAIL. 

33. "The Empire Strikes Back" director Kershner: IRVIN. Thank you, crosses

34. Old apple spray: ALAR. Daminozide was banned in 1989 as a "probable carcinogen".

35. Desperate: DIRE

36. Eye woe: STYE

39. Blow away: ASTONISH

41. Unpaid balance: ARREARS

42. Highland refusals: NAES

43. Punk subgenre: EMO. I never really got into Emo music; it seemed a little too naval-gazing for my taste.

44. Shorten, as a pants leg: RE-HEM

47. Spot of land: ISLET

48. "__ say more?": NEED I

49. Onslaught: SIEGE

50. They're put up in fights: DUKES

Did you know that Notre Dame were called, variously, The Terriers, the Horrible Hibernians, The Catholics and the Ramblers before settling on the Fighting Irish moniker? I quite like the Hibernians one.

53. City in Tuscany: PISA

55. Comic strip canine: ODIE. From the "Garfield" strip by Jim Davis.

56. Light source: LAMP

57. Sri Lanka locale: ASIA. Because "Laccadive Sea" doesn't fit.

60. Old horse: NAG

61. "Better Call Saul" drug lord Fring: GUS. Another "thank you" to the crosses today.

Which just leaves the grid to wrap things up:

Steve