Saturday, August 28, 2021, Craig Stowe

 Themeless Saturday by Craig Stowe 

Our Toronto themeless regular is back for more Saturday entertainment after a one month absence! Here is what Craig had to say about this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the email.  I hope you're doing well.

I don't have much to say about this one.  I started with THERE'S THAT and PODCASTER as anchors and wove my way around the grid looking for interesting fill.  I hope people enjoy it!

All the best,

Craig

ACROSS

1. Dangerous Beijing blanket: SMOG - SMOG is now back to the its pre-covid level 

5. Many an online host: PODCASTER - My favorite

14. Unladen weight: TARE - Also called light weight (LT WT) for an empty rail car

15. Ephemeral emporium: POP UP STORE - Here's a unique one that will be gone soon

16. Biblical Rodin work: ADAM - Interesting ties between Rodin's Adam and Michalangelo (even I get the extended right index finger)

17. Phenomenal: SUPERHUMAN - Our healthcare workers and first responders!

18. Business card abbr.: TEL.

19. Honduran hands: MANOS.

20. Filing aids: TABS.

21. May birthstones: EMERALDS.

23. Not as nice: WORSE.

24. Pay equity concern: SEXISM - Teacher pay schedules are the exact the same for men and women 

25. Word with social or media: EVENT.

27. Muse with a lyre: ERATO.

28. Classical theaters: ODEA - Speaking of Greek, here is an ODEUM (pl. ODEA) where those using ERATO as a muse might present their work

29. Brit's nap: KIP - All you'd ever want to know about KIP and nap

32. Georgia neighbor: ARMENIA - ALABAMA was just so "not Saturday" cluing (yeah, I put it in  first anyway)

34. Its capital is St. George's: GRENADA.

37. Lille lily: LYS.

38. Ostrichlike bird: RHEA.

40. Industrial heavyweight: BARON.

41. Deplete: USE UP - The erasers on my crossword pencils (e.g. LIT replacing HOT and others from yesterday)

43. Economic curve: DEMAND - The far right side is for people who bought Beanie Babies many years ago.

44. Brief aides?: ASSTS.

46. Precursor of today's musical theater: OPERETTA - such as:

48. Mackerel type: CHUB 

Chub Mackerel on top
Blue Mackerel on bottom

49. Make short work of the test: ACE IT - Hey, it could happen!

50. Subside: EBB.

51. "Point taken": THERE'S THAT.

53. Woody Guthrie, e.g.: OKIE.

54. Like some feuds: HEREDITARY - "Hey, gramps, can you even remember why we're mad at those Hatfields?"

55. Brief bio: VITA - VITA Curriculum is a crossword staple

56. Ergo: AS A RESULT.

57. River partly on the Poland-Germany border: ODER.

Down:

1. Washington's features George: STATE SEAL.

2. Partied hearty: MADE MERRY.

3. Deterrents to ghostwriting: ORAL EXAMS.

4. Treasure: GEM.

5. Hammer: POUND - We baseball peeps know of Hank "The Hammer" Aaron for how he used to POUND the baseball. Okay, also for the alliteration. 

6. Not in favor: OPPOSED - Being OPPOSED to your party leader's position can have serious consequences for you

7. Some charges: DUES - Three days of subbing last week earned me enough for 40% of my yearly golf club DUES

8. ER technique: CPR.

9. He played Michael in "That '70s Show": ASHTON - I recently saw ASHTON Kutcher starring as Steve Jobs in the movie Jobs

Steve Jobs                                 Ashton Kutcher

10. Mary, Queen of Scots' house: STUART - Mary is five lines down on the STUART side before she was beheaded by her Tudor cousin Elizabeth.

11. Some memorials: TOMBS - Mary's remains were moved to Westminster Abbey and this is her TOMB

12. Wipe out: ERASE.

13. __ Zhengfei, CEO/founder of smartphone giant Huawei: REN.

15. Church reading: PSALM.

19. Cement mixer: MASON - We MASONS called it a mortar mixer

22. Liturgy: RITE.

23. Grate (on): WEAR - Fran Drescher discusses  her "grating" voice

26. Lyra's brightest star: VEGA - This summer when you saw VEGA as a bright star in "The Summer Triangle", that light left VEGA in 1996 and just reached Earth in 2021.

28. Home to most of Hawaii's population: OAHU - This population density chart for Hawaii makes it pretty easy to pick out OAHU

29. Mr. Miyagi's charge, with "The": KARATE KID - "Wax on, wax off"

30. "It's ok, you can trust me": I DON'T BITE.

31. Black-and-white Chinese native: PANDA BEAR - Its range has really shrunk

33. More than displeases: IRES.

35. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic: EBERT.

36. Title: NAME.

39. Earth-shattering: EPOCHAL - Truman, Churchill and Stalin made EPOCHAL decisions at Potsdam in 1945

41. Person of interest?: USURER - Are these people USURERS?

42. "Father of Eng. History": ST BEDE.

43. Exalted one: DEITY.

44. Smarts: ACHES.

45. Superheroine Adora, more commonly: SHE-RA.

47. Rush drummer Neil: PEART.

49. Alaskan island in the Eastern Hemisphere: ATTU - Fun fact: Alaska has the farthest East and West point in the USA

51. Lil Wayne's "__ Block Is Hot": THA - He made a filthy version and a radio version and I guarantee you that kids today know both.

52. Household nickname: SIS.

53. Ab __: from day one: OVO - Latin for "from the beginning, the origin, the egg"

Friday, August 27, 2021, David Alfred Bywaters

 Title: HBDTMe

David (DAB) exploded on the 15x15 puzzle scene in December 2016 with a publication in both the NYT and the LAT. I count this to be his 120th puzzle in the major venues NYT, LAT, UC and UCS but my eyes started to cross trying to count them all so YMMV. Add to that all of his work on his own website A little DAB'll Do you and you a creative and dedicated man making his mark. I blogged his initial PUZZLE HERE .   

This theme to me is one of the trickier as it has both verbal and visual aspects. But is Friday so we must work a little harder. This is especially so since all of my fellow bloggers have upped their game so much. 

I wonder if Mr. Bywaters planned this as a Friday, as there are not his usual amount of sparkly non-theme fill with DIADEMS, DINETTE,  MAHALIA and  GIVE OVER the lot. We also have 52 of the 74 words at 5 letters or less and 40 blocks which are many for a 15 x 15. But I liked it and did not find it easy which is my favorite combination for a Friday. Off we go...

7A. Hi?: THIN SKINNED (11). If you take the word THIN and skin it, which is taking its outside layer off, it become HI.

24A. A?: REDUCED FAT (10). This time if you reduce the word FAT, all that is left is A. Again, the outside layer is removed. 

36A. In?: CLIPPED WING (11). Now picture clipping the word WING and remove the ends...

51A. Lower?: CUT FLOWERS (10). If you take away the F and the S... This is consistent, but for me CUT is not as precise as the others.  

58A. Lea?: CLEAN SHAVEN (11). Also clearly part of the theme, and the perfect compliment to 7A, with the work being done to the first word. The 11/10/11/10/11 symmetry also is preserved. 

I also spent some time trying to find a meta from the remaining parts of the butchered words, but nothing came to mind. I hope David stops by again as he often does.       

Across:

1. Ending of a Greek story?: OMEGA. The final letter of the Greek alphabet which we are seeing often.

6. Not just bad: AWFUL. When I was in high school we used to go Friendly's a New England specialty restaurant and order the AWFUL AWFUL. Since fall is approaching it seems a good time to see this drink's HISTORY.

11. Italian word that becomes its English synonym when "h" and "e" are added: TRE. THREE.

14. May and others: CAPES. Using the first letter capital trick made this a very Friday clue/fill. I liked it.

15. Way to go: ROUTE. A literal one to follow just to throw us off.

16. Veer off course: YAW. Didn't we recently discuss THIS?

19. Org. that began as the National Congress of Mothers: PTA. History LESSON. 

20. Head turner: ADONIS. 

Obviously not Jewish.

21. Ways to go: GAITS. Another tricky one as your gait is how you move.

23. Guilty, at times: PLEA. Not guilty, nolo contendre or guilty are the only choics in criminal courts.

28. Purpose: AIM.  

29. Jewish deli specialty: KNISH. An eastern european jewish, or yiddish, snack food consisting of a dumpling stuffed with potato, kasha or other delights.

30. Bit of force: DYNE. This is a unit of force that, acting on a mass of one gram, increases its velocity by one centimeter per second every second along the direction that it acts. Also great for dine puns.

31. Dickensian objects of pity: WAIFS. Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1620s), from the adjective in the sense "lost, strayed, homeless."

34. "Fab!": NEATO. Very 60s. 

40. Common bike-lock design: U-BOLT. No, not Usain; or is it?

41. Brief digression: ASIDE. But I digress...

44. "Not likely!": AS IF. Also a popular valley girl phrase of the 80s.

47. Annie who voiced Bo Peep in "Toy Story 4": POTTS. The former Designing Woman, Ghostbusters' receptionist is now:

50. Word on Italian street signs: VIA.

53. Stuff: GEAR. Random.

54. Low bones: TARSI. I always loved when Bones would play with the baby's phlanges.

55. Barefoot: UNSHOD. A hint to the feet?

57. "The Blacklist" agcy.: FBI. What next for Red Reddington?

63. Cheering word: OLE.

64. Mall booth: KIOSK.

65. One can be public or sworn: ENEMY. Or a frenemy.

66. Cabernet or merlot: RED. Quit whining, some have it too easy.

67. Process parts: STEPS.

68. Analyze, in a way: PARSE. My life's work.

Down:

1. It was eighth in old Rome: Abbr.: OCTober. 

2. First name in gospel: MAHALIA.

3. Happening all over: EPIDEMIC. An all too timely clue/fill.

4. Ligurian Sea city: GENOA.

5. Pt. of 19-Across: ASSN.

6. Come up: ARISEN.

7. Captured: WON.

8. Amusement: FUN.

9. Eponymous people of the Southwestern U.S.: UTE.

10. Pigeon's perch: LEDGE.

11. Be exemplary of: TYPIFY.

12. Wicker material: RATTAN. In case you wondered, the word rattan is derived from the Malay "rotan", the local name for climbing palms.

13. Old computers and cellphones, say: EWASTE. Like this fill.

18. Michael Douglas' middle name: KIRK. That makes sense since his father, Issur Danielovitch, had taken the name to become Kirk Douglas.

22. Extras: ADD ONS. Crossing ADONIS.

23. "Give me your __": PAW. How sweet, but I don't know you well enough.

25. Kitchen set: DINETTE.

26. Sold for less, as a rule: USED.

27. Tobacco wad: CHAW.

32. Blown lines, say: FLUFFS.

33. Bro, e.g.: SIB.

35. Hermana de la madre: TIA. Sister of your mother in Spanish.

37. Cops, in slang: POPO. Originally from Southern California, where bicycle police, beginning in the 1980s, wore T-shirts marked 'PO', for 'police officer', in block letters. As these officers rode in pairs, their shirts would read 'POPO' when side by side. 

38. Furrow maker: PLOW. Hopefully not in your brow.

39. Abandon: GIVE OVER. A stretch but I don't know the cute cartoons for words. I can only say...

 42. Glittering headgear: DIADEMS. 

Elizabeth the Queen Mother pictured here wearing the Strathmore Rose tiara given to her by her father, the Earl of Strathmore, for her marriage to the Duke of York, at the time not knowing that later he would become King George VI and mother of QE II.

43. Musical skill: EAR. 

44. Represent: ACT FOR. What lawyers often do for clients hoping to not make them...

45. Subject to litigation: SUABLE. But all you can do is say...

46. Consolatory post-failure reflection: I TRIED.

48. Swimming __: TRUNKS.  You ask WHY?

49. "Last four digits" IDs: SSNS.

52. The home team gets the last ones: LICKS. Not a joy from OKL or the Chairman, but Baseball and softball are unusual games, in that the rules are explicitly different for home versus visiting teams, since by rule home teams bat second in each inning.

53. Togo neighbor: GHANA. I once got an email from a young lady from Ghana who wanted me to help her sell her gold bars. The fact that she also wanted me to buy her some Milo made me a bit skeptical.

56. Apt collie name: SHEP. Owner was just too lazy to come up with a name.

59. On fire: LIT.

60. Fair-hiring abbr.: EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.

61. Deadly viper: ASP. Poor Cleopatra.

62. Bill promoting science?: NYE. I am afraid the show is over, but we leave on a cute pun. I am 73 today which I find quite amazing, but I am very grateful for all of my added cyber friends some of whom I have met. Thank you all for the encouragement over the years; thank you DAB and CC our queen mother. Be safe all. Lemonade out.

Now you can guess what the colors and + signs mean!

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 73rd birthday to Lemonade, who has guided us for so many happy years. When he started, he did not even know there's an Oo in this world and we waited for the puz files late at night. Solve this mini I made some two months ago. Thank you for so many years of entertainment and hard work, Lemonade!

King Lemonade and Oo, Thailand

 

Thursday, August 26, 2021, Chris Sablich

 

Good morning, curciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here wishing everyone a terrific Thursday.

Our constructor today is Chris Sablich who had his debut puzzle reviewed here on June 21st of this year.  Welcome back, Chris.  For today's theme, Chris has chosen something to which almost all Cornerites can, as we used to say, relate (we all seem to enjoy groaners).  

STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE

Here is the unifier:

49. Dated jokes ... and what the ends of four Across answers are, in a way: STALE MATERIAL

At four places in the grid (he said that, didn't he?) we find anagrams of STALE:

19. Kin of urban legends: OLD WIVES TALES.  Supposed truths which are actually spurious.

25. Possible result of a bankruptcy filing: CLEAN SLATE.  A new beginning.

35. Minimally: AT LEAST.

43. "That's some bargain you got!": WHAT A STEAL.  Idiomatic.  Not a misdemeanor.

Here is how this looks in the grid:

Now that Chris has teed it up for us, let's see if we can have a bit of fun with a stale joke or two.

Across:

1. Group for whom "Drive" was a Top 10 hit, with "The": CARS.  The CARS front man, Ric Ocasek, often makes appearances in crossword puzzles.

5. Sarge's charges, briefly: PFCS.  Private(s) First Class

9. Finishes in the bakery: ICES.  What does Frosty The Snowman like on his cupcakes?  Icing.

13. Part of an agenda: ITEM.

14. Fracas: MELEE.  A confused fight or struggle.

15. Bar purchase: SOAP.  I used to be addicted to SOAP but I'm clean now.

16. Wanted things: DESIDERATA.  A bit arcane.  DESIDERATA means those things desired as essential.  Max Ehrmann wrote an eponymous poem in the early 1920s.  It begins, "Go placidly among the noise and the haste."  Readings have been recorded by Les Crane and Leonard Nimoy, among others.  In 1972, The National Lampoon released a parody called DETERIORATA.

 

 

18. Santa __: Sonoma County seat: ROSA.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released a song called "Santa Rosa" on the album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy.

21. Shows: BARES.  Why was the tomato blushing?  She saw the salad dressing.

23. Wander: ROVE.  I just flew in from the coast.  Boy are my arms tired.

24. James of jazz: ETTA.  ETTA visits quite often.

Etta James

31. ERA, for example: STAT.  A baseball STATistic.  Earned Run Average.  Misdirection in that the clue could also have been referring to a period of time or to the Equal Rights Amendment.

32. Suffer: AIL.  Did you hear that the CEO of Fox News had died?  I wonder what AILed him.

33. Some, in Potsdam: EINES.  Today's German lesson.

34. Dirt alternative, at times: TAR.  A road surface reference.  Do you know what I love about baseball?  The pine TAR and the dirt. . . . and that's just in the hot dogs.

38. Member of the 2019 World Series champs: NAT.  The Washington (D.C.) NATionals.  Champs is a shortened version of Champions, ergo  . . .

39. Large quantity: OCEAN.  What did the ocean say to the shore?  Nothing.  It just waved.

41. Beethoven preceder: VAN.

42. "¿Qué __?": PASA.  Today's Spanish lesson.  "What's up?"

46. Assist badly?: ABET.

47. Indian nurse: AMAH.  An Indian or East Asian nursemaid who takes care of children and frequents crossword puzzle the world over.

48. Jacques' title, in a children's song: FRERE.   One of today's French lessons.

55. Guitarist's gadget: CAPO.  Allows one to play in different keys without having to learn a new set of chords.

56. Tennessee Williams specialty: ONE ACT PLAY.  He wrote more than seventy.

59. King toppers: ACES.  A playing card reference.  I ACEd my chemistry quiz on the PH scale.  It wasn't difficult.  In fact, it was really basic.

60. Brazilian range __ do Mar: SERRA.  "Mountain Range of the Sea".  It would be nice to swim along that coast someday.

61. Architect Saarinen: EERO.  He often stops by to visit because his first name is a four-letter word containing three vowels.

62. Leader: BOSS.  My boss says that I have a preoccupation with vengeance.  We'll see about that.

63. Egyptian vipers: ASPS.  A snake charmer was bitten on his lips.  He didn't know his ASP from his oboe.

64. "Glee" character, usually: TEEN.  The TV show.

Down:

1. "Le __": 1636 Corneille play: CID.  Not the 1961 motion picture, El Cid.  Not the actual historic figure (1043 - 1099).  Same subject matter, though.

2. Put away: ATE.  Constructors/Editors love to clue with words whose tenses are ambiguous.  Could have been EAT.

3. Vacation destination: RESORT AREA.  Did you hear about the professors who went to a RESORT AREA to discuss research paper titles?  It was a topical vacation.

4. Greet with a grin: SMILE AT.  What is the longest word in the English dictionary?  SMILEs, because there is a mile between the first and last letters.

5. Prefix meaning "all around": PERI.  A learning moment.

6. Rapper with a clock necklace, familiarly: FLAV.  The clock was hungry so it went back for seconds.

Flavor Flav

7. Et __: CETERA.

8. Salt, say: SEASON.  Used, here, as a verb.  SEASONing would not fit in the allotted space.

9. Begin, for one: ISRAELI.  A play on words.  Not "commence" but, instead, an ISRAELI Prime Minister.

10. Hip: COOL.

11. Alleviate: EASE.  My friend pushed a book across the table to me.  It slid with EASE.  It was non-friction.

12. Places to relax: SPAS.  Not many people know that the local SPA has closed.  Apparently,  they did not get the massage,

14. Cry from a litter: MEW.

17. ADA member: DDS.  Americans with Disabilities Act?  No.  American Dental Association.  Dentist.

20. Tube, so to speak: TV SET.  Slang.  Sometimes, boob tube.

 

21. Grant: BESTOW.

22. Staple, e.g.: ATTACH.  Staple is used, here, as a verb.

25. Monopoly token that replaced the iron: CAT.

26. Unlike Abner, actually: LIL.  Al Capp's LIL Abner was not a small fellow.

27. École attendee: ELEVE.  Another French lesson.  École is school and ELEVE is student.

28. "Kingdom by the sea" maiden of poetry: ANNABEL LEE.

29. Come-on: TEASER.

30. Executor's concern: ESTATE.

35. "What's in __?": A NAME.  That which we call a rose . . . .

36. Motorists' org.: AAA.

37. NBC weekend show: SNL.  Saturday Night Live.  Since 1975.

40. Clueless: AT A LOSS.

42. Castle feature: PARAPET.

44. Stuffed Indian pastry: SAMOSA.  Samoza (with a z) was a Nicaraguan dictator.

45. Macduff and Macbeth: THANES.  In Scotland, THANES are the chiefs of clans.

48. Hale: FIT.  You cannot FIT inside a tuna can.  But some tuna can.

49. Sign of healing: SCAB.  Sometimes, SCAR.

50. Snack from a truck: TACO.  Did you hear about the tortilla rebellion?  It was a hostile TACO-ver.

51. Primatologists' subjects: APES.  Why did the giant APE climb up the skyscraper?  The elevator was not working.

52. UMD athlete: TERP.  University of Maryland TERraPins

53. Some crop units: EARS.  As in corn, wheat or rice.  The grain-bearing tip of the stem.  Why do scarecrows find it difficult to keep a secret?  Because the potatoes have eyes and the corn has ears.

54. __ Building, now 30 Rockefeller Plaza: RCA.  Known as the RCA Building from its completion in 1933 until 1968.  Known as the GE Building from 1968 until 2015 and, subsequently,  as the Comcast Building.    Frequently called 30 Rock.

57. Exist: ARE.

58. "... the morn ... / Walks o'er the dew of __ high eastward hill": "Hamlet": YON.  Meaning over there or in that direction.

Headin' Toward YON High Hill

________________________________________________

Wednesday August 25, 2021 Alan Olschwang

Theme: THREE-PEATS (57. Features of the answers to starred clues, from a trademarked sports term) - Each theme entry contains three identical letters in the middle.

21A. *Edge of a storm: SQUALL LINE.

39A. *Chase away: SHOO OFF.

3D. *Severe legal penalty: STIFF FINE.

35D. *Incense-burning implement: JOSS STICK.

C.C. here. Hope all's well with Jazzbumpa, who was supposed to blog today. He might have lost power in his house.

Good to see Alan Olschwang back. For a middle 7-letter theme entry, we often see this type of pinwheel design, though often with first theme answer in Row 3 rather than Row 4.

Across:

1. Sun-blocking piece: VISOR.

6. Lay eyes on: SPOT.

10. Mischievous types: IMPS. Hi there, Spitzboov!

14. IV component: INTRA.

15. Sub that never plays?: HERO. Sandwich rather than the sub at a ball field.

16. Civil suit cause: TORT.

17. Met favorites: ARIAS. The Met.

18. Ship that survived the Clashing Rocks: ARGO. Lemonade and his Argonaut went through that pair of rocks.

19. Instrument heard in the intro to Madonna's "Crazy for You": OBOE.

20. Departed: LEFT.

23. Crusty fellow: FOGY. Old.

25. Teased: NEEDLED.

26. Insults: AFFRONTS. 50. Bolshevik foes: TSARISTS. Two of the longest non-theme fill in this grid.

30. __ shift: DAY.

31. "You mean yours truly?": MOI. Always thought of our farmer Windhover.

32. States, abroad: ETATS.

34. Bar Keepers Friend alternative: AJAX.

38. Tolkien's The Prancing Pony, e.g.: INN.

42. Pamplona plaudit: OLE.

43. [It's a keeper]: STET.

45. Native Israeli: SABRA.

46. __ Barton, first Triple Crown horse (1919): SIR.

47. iPad launched in 2013: AIR.

52. Allayed: STILLED.

56. Wee ones: TOTS.

60. Brood: STEW.

63. Setting of Camus' "The Plague": ORAN.

64. French friar: ABBE. And 26. French friends: AMIS. And 48. Land in l'eau: ILE. And 59. Chapeau's place: TETE.

65. Return option: E FILE.

66. Abolitionist Lucretia: MOTT. Quaker. Died in 1880.

67. Shaker fill: SALT.

68. Port St. __, FL: LUCIE.

69. Stuns, in a good way: AWES.

70. Shoe insert: TREE.

71. Tatted up: INKED.

Down:

1. Ampule: VIAL.

2. Legal memo opener: IN RE.

4. Source of windiness, maybe?: ORATOR. Long-winded.

5. College dorm figs.: RAS.

6. NBAer seen in IcyHot ads: SHAQ.

7. Machu Picchu's place: PERU.

8. Pipe __: ORGAN.

9. Equipped with machinery: TOOLED.

10. "Shoulda listened to me!": I TOLD YA. And 44. Audition display: TALENTS. Love these pair of 7's.

11. Exxon merger partner: MOBIL.

12. Inclined (to): PRONE.

13. Knight's horse: STEED.

21. Moog, briefly: SYNTH.

22. __ & Perrins: Worcestershire sauce: LEA. Never tried Worcestershire sauce.

24. Departs: GOES.

27. Lettering choice: FONT.

28. Southwestern art mecca: TAOS.

29. Weasel cousin: STOAT.

33. Sorrowful sounds: SOBS.

36. Hit the ground: ALIT.

37. '60s-'70s births: XERS. I'm one.

40. Brothers' housing: FRATS.

41. Baccarat relative: FARO. Sounds like "pharaoh".

49. Meal: REPAST.

51. "Whee!": IT'S FUN.

52. Tiny leaf opening: STOMA.

53. Fling: THROW.

54. Quite hot: IRATE.

55. Exclude from practice: DEBAR.

58. Qualified: ABLE.

61. Writer Wiesel: ELIE.

62. Work in the garden: WEED.

65. First name in pharmaceuticals: ELI.

I'm very sorry to tell you that Hahtoolah (Susan) lost her father yesterday. As you know, she flew to Maine to take care of her Dad and continued to blog for us the past few weeks.

Please accept our deepest condolences, Susan!

C.C.