google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Nov 20, 2021

Saturday, November 20, 2021, David Distenfeld

 Saturday Themeless by David Distenfeld

Dave's notes: Excited to be making my themeless, published debut with this puzzle. I'm a film producer and executive living in Los Angeles. This construction had a classic bottom-up approach, not unlike a colonoscopy. The seed entry was SLEEP AWAY CAMP - a genuinely formative place for me from ages 9-14. I went to Camp Kweebec, which was surprisingly not in Quebec, but rather Schwenksville, PA. 

My favorite clue that - Wait, we didn't come to a crossword blog to hear about ins and outs of the puzzle. Tell us more about the Camp Kweebec! Oh, I dunno if that's really appropriate here. Y'know I'm particularly proud of the clue 23-Across because - No, enough about the clues! We get it... "blonde" is a type of beer and beers have foamy heads, sooo clever, moving on. Back to camp! Rude, but okay fine. [Excited clapping] So, what were the memorable moments of your sleep away camp experience? Spare no details:

Sure, well...if I had to choose:

· Slow dancing for the first time ever to K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life”

· Getting stuck on the zip-line over the lake for two hours

· Kicking the game-winning goal during a shootout at age 9 – to this day the only goal I have EVER scored during a soccer game

· The annual trip to Zerns, a local flea market where incense, beef jerky and throwing stars could all be purchased under the same dusty tent

· Stealing a parking lot sign from Hershey Park to gift to the Head of Boys Camp

who for some inexplicable reason collected stolen signs and hung them on his cabin

· Any time that instructional swim was rained out

· Writing and performing a parody of “I Want It That Way” called “White France is Going All the Way” during the annual Battle of the Countries – my team was White France

· Playing high-stakes Simon Says led by the Head of Boys Camp who for some inexplicable reason always wore a pair of novelty boxers with fake plastic butt cheeks exposed in the front

· And of course, when they first started offering nachos with cheese at the nightly canteen


Lights, Camera
Crossword!
It was a truly special place befitting a truly special puzzle, or at the least the only puzzle the LA Times saw fit to run today, and I’ll take that!


All right, let's see what kind of puzzle David has, uh, produced for us.





Across:

1. Some Hispanic pals: AMIGAS - Failure to change genders slowed me down

7. Winnie-the-Pooh salutation: HALLO.
















12. Barbara Eden and Barbara Walters: NONAGENARIANS - I wasted some time trying to make a connection between these two women. Of course it is that they are now both 90+ yrs old which is a "5 Down. Number that never goes down: AGE" (Hmm... AGE is going down in the fill here.)

15. Celiac sufferer's bar order: GLUTEN FREE BEER - Celiac disease - An immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye.


17. Singer Brickell: EDIE - EDIE and her husband Paul Simon reconciled in court after being arrested for a "domestic disturbance" in 2014. She said she started the "disturbance" and they left the court hand-in-hand to see their son play baseball.


18. Result of shooting at the sun: LENS FLARE - It can add a lot to a picture. (BTW, I say picture and not photo.)


20. Admits: LET'S IN - Paper tickets are passé


23. Blonde with a large head, perhaps: ALE.

24. One often hailed: CAB - Speaking of passé. Hailing UBER, et al. via your phone is much more common

25. Some plugs: ADS - Free TV isn't really free

26. "The King and I" setting: SIAM - Here we see a 1 Baht stamp from Siam and a 1 Baht stamp from Thailand after the name change in 1938.


29. Lyre-toting Muse: ERATO - ERATO could officially be the muse of crossword solvers

31. "Tuck me in" garb: JAMMIES.

34. Roast holder: OVEN.

35. Love-spoofing '30s-'40s film genre: SCREWBALL COMEDY - Nobody did it better than Cary Grant


39. Drove, with "off": TEED - FORE!

40. Slipshod: ILL MADE - An ILL MADE Nike left shoe (see his sock?) famously gave out on Zion Williamson.


41. Place to rest: OASIS.

43. ... and then __: SOME.

44. Sundance TV owner: AMC - A _ C/_ A N A M A was my only tentative entry but AMC for a TV franchise made sense. It also makes sense that Robert Redford was its founder.

47. Columbus sch.: OSU - Ohio State University 

48. Tubes: TVS - "What's on the tube?" originated when the TV screen was a cathode ray tube.

51. Reacted to a depression?: SAID AH - Fun cluing! Anyone have a "gag reflex"?


53. Aggressive demand: LEMME AT EM - It seems more effective than "Let Me At Them"

57. Award-winning Cooper: MINI.


58. Old-fashioned opening: DEAR SIR OR MADAM.

61. Summer destination for many youngsters: SLEEP AWAY CAMP - See all David's memories at the top.

62. Gets licked: LOSES.

63. Impersonate convincingly: PASS AS  - Speaking of getting licked, the Huskers can not PASS AS even a mediocre football team this year



Down:

1. __ Moss, Portia Doubleday's "Mr. Robot" role: ANGELA Portia's IMDB

2. Like many sandcastles: MOLDED.


3. Native Alaskans: INUITS - Sure I thought it might be ALEUTS too.

4. Airport array: GATES - After all my trips to Orlando, I have used a great many of their gates


6. Harris, pre-VP: SEN.

7. Storied also-ran: HARE.

8. Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, e.g.: ARENA - This famous venue famously holds only 9,300 people and is a tough place to play 


9. "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" girl, in a show tune: LIESL - The character was LIESL Von Trapp and here she dances to that tune with her young Nazi boyfriend who eventually betrays the whole family in The Sound Of Music


10. Chem class charge: LAB FEE.

11. Like Nash's lama: ONE L.


13. Art Rooney Award org.: NFL - Awarded for outstanding sportsmanship on the field. Teddy Bridgewate won last year

14. Phenomenon carved by waves: SEA CAVE - We have visited the Isle Of Capri which is home to a famous SEA CAVE called The Blue Grotto


16. Not for kids: R-RATED.

19. Black shade: EBONY.

21. Witness' words: I SAW - John E. Bingham was a witness to Lincoln's assassination and in a dramatic letter wrote what HE SAW


22. Latin for "clouds": NIMBI - Makes sense

27. Humanitarian Clooney: AMAL - AMAL (née Alamuddin) is the wife of George Clooney


28. Paper makers: MILLS - Wood pulp on its way to be made into paper in a 1947 paper MILL in Florida


30. "The Eternal City": ROME.

31. Yoda trainee: JEDI.

32. Mariners' saint: ELMO - Saint Erasmus of Formia also known as St. ELMO. 


33. Hustles: SCAMS - If it sounds too good to be true...

35. Option if the bar is raised: STOOL - Just such a bar in the 1940's


36. Quit: CEASED.

37. Documents with a Key Skills section, maybe: RESUMES - 99+ examples

38. Classic concert halls: ODEA - ODEA and its vowels are a frequent cwd fill 

42. Assembly with speakers?: STEREO - Why does this guy pull up beside me at so many traffic lights?


44. Shoe brand with a three-stripe logo: ADIDAS.


45. Bahrain's capital: MANAMA - It's a 20 minute drive from MANAMA, Bahrain to Saudi Arabia on the King Fahd Causeway.


46. Bubbles and Bonzo: CHIMPS - Bonzo's co-star went on to bigger things 


49. They may be put on pedestals: VASES - VAYSES not VAHSES for me

50. R.E.M. lead singer Michael: STIPE His IMDB

52. Apples for teachers, maybe: IMACS - The school where I sub has all Windows machines except for the media production classes. 

54. Place for a Santa sighting: MALL.

55. Aces have low ones, briefly: ERAS.


56. Shorten a plot: MOW - Fun cluing! 

59. Genre for Eve: RAP - Search for her lyrics if you must

60. One of four singers on 2001's "Lady Marmalade": MYA 
This song, from the movie Moulin Rouge,  is famous for its sexually suggestive French chorus of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?", which translates into English as "Do you want to go to bed with me?" 

MYA, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim


Nov 19, 2021

Friday, November 19, 2021, Jeffrey Wechsler

  Title: F as in Factor

As luck would have it, by switching with Moe to blog a JW puzzle, I am blogging another of his Friday frolics. One of his classic styles is an add a letter to create many punny places. Today is a simple exercise in adding an "F" to the beginning of an in the language phrase. The result is some serious frivolity, he said ironically. There may be more to it, but I have had an incredibly hectic week. The puzzle is sprinkled with so much yummy fill DIG THIS, LATERAL, PC DESKS, UNLINED, ADRIAN II, CEREMONY, DARKSIDE, DOG BRUSH, MEANNESS, PREPARED, RED NOSED and  STEMWARE. If you do not like the introduction of PC Desks it generates about 244,000,000 results (1.29 seconds) on google.The feel is much more of a traditional Friday with fewer words and more open spaces and no abstruse gimmick. I am not suggesting it is an easy puzzle, certainly 1A was not a gimme but it is a Friday crossword.

19A. Like one hiding contraband on his person?: FRISK AVERSE.(11). Perhaps some LSD? You can't be risk averse if you are carrying.

24A. First-time hot-dog griller?: FRANK AMATEUR (12). By far my favorite of the themers, as I picture someone who keeps losing the dogs between the grill parts. The phrase “rank amateur” employed this sense to mean, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, “a person who is completely inexperienced or inept at a particular activity” 

44A. Like designers of Halloween costumes?: FRIGHT MINDED.(12). Right minded is probably too political and Fright minded missed the deadline. 

55A. Campus anti-hazing policy, basically?: FRAT CONTROL (11).
Some might say RATs and FRAT boys are hard to tell apart.
On to the rest

Across:

1. Takes over: CO-OPTS. One meaning is to assimilate, take, or win over into a larger or established group: The fledgling Labor party was co-opted by the Socialist party.

7. Set: PREPARED. Are you ready? I am all set.

15. Mendeleev's homeland: RUSSIA. This clue is used periodically.

16. Nobel Prize presentation, say: CEREMONY. More 8 letter fill  COURTESY, EXERCISE, FUNCTION, HOLY RITE,  OCCASION, PRACTICE, PRIMNESS and PROTOCOL that are synonyms. 

17. Fix: ATTACH. Really?

18. Vader's choice: DARKSIDE. Actually it was Ani's choice for love.

21. "Dropped" drug: LSD. Why is LSD the only drug that is dropped?

22. Texas __: oil: TEA


23. Notable times: ERAS.

32. Aqua relative: TEAL


35. Flutes, for example: STEMWARE. Drinking glasses

36. Notepad option: UNLINED

40. Gridiron maneuver: LATERAL

41. Like some allergy sufferers: RED NOSED. No reindeer here.

43. __ Stone, co-star of the "Jacques Brel" musicals: ELLY
LINK

48. Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird," e.g.: GIRL.

49. Peninsular U.S. st.: FLA. CSO to all of us Flo-ridians

52. Org. with briefs: ABA. A CSO to all of us with law backgrounds
 
59. Lab neatener: DOG BRUSH. Not the laboratory but the puppies.

61. Face: VISAGE.

62. Ninth-century pope: ADRIAN II. You might not think this would be hard but there were twenty-one, yes 21 9th Century Popes!

63. Fill with love: ENAMOR.

64. Bully's trait: MEANNESS. Too many in the world.

65. Supremely irked: SOREST. It makes me sore.

Down:

1. Boats: CRAFT.

2. Quite odd: OUTRÉ. I always liked this word.

3. Harbor city of ancient Rome: OSTIA.

4. Useful TV spots: Abbr.: PSASPublic Service Announcements

5. Wall Street crawl: TICKER. When I began watching the stock market with my father when I was 12, that was literally how the prices came into the Hempill Noyes office.

6. Much of Algeria: SAHARA. Are desert their just desserts?

7. Modern office furniture: PC DESKS. This has billions of hits

8. With 13-Down, has a fender bender with: REAR. 13D. See 8-Down: ENDS

9. Isn't correct: ERRS.

10. Toy since ancient times: PEKE. More very difficult cluing, as we are looking for a toy dog!

11. KLM hub letters: AMS. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (IATA: AMS), known informally as Schiphol Airport is the, myself. main international airport of the Netherlands. If you know where KLM is based this is inferable. I like to call the airline Koninklijke Luchtvaartmaatschappij. 

12. Agitate: ROIL. The word roil is often confused with rile, which has a slightly different meaning. If you roil someone you're stirring them up but not necessarily annoying them. To rile someone is to deliberately provoke or antagonize them. Dictionary.

14. Like gumdrops: DYED. Gumdrops are notoriously unhealthy, but I never thought about the food colorings being dyes.

20. Ute relative: VAN. I do not equate the colloquialism for a utility vehicle for a van which is an abbreviation of caravan.

24. It often includes trysts: FLING. Not on the football field.

25. Falcons' home: Abbr.: ATL. American Football.

26. "Give __ break!": ME A.  

27. Qty.: AMT. Amount.

28. Wool fabric: TWEED. All you need to KNOW.

29. "Downton Abbey" title: EARL
30. Long border range: URAL.

31. Bank (on): RELY.

32. Gang land: TURF. Slang; the neighborhood over which a street gang asserts its authority.
                                       
33. Dept. formed under Carter: ENERgy.

34. German family-owned discount market: ALDI. There is so much more to this STORY than just cheap prices. TRADER JOE'S anyone?

37. Kabuki relative: NOH. Japanese theater alternatives.

38. Nov. NJ setting: EST.

39. Rep. foe: DEM.

42. "Oh, man, check it out!": DIG THIS. Another flashback Jeffrey?

45. Actor Cage, casually: NIC. Is he ever casual?

46. Large numbers: DROVES. They will come in droves comes from cattle drives. Makes you think.

47. Climate-disrupting phenomenon: EL NINO.

49. Home-building stage: FRAME.

50. Colonel Sanders' head, and its ilk: LOGOS. I like this.

51. Watchful: ALERT

52. Driver with lines: ADAM. Have you seen his sex scenes with Lady Gaga?

53. "This was my dream. What it doth __, God knows": "Henry VI, Part 2": BODE. Jeffrey will always include some Will in his puzzles, it just depends if Rich leaves it in.

54. India tourist city: AGRA.

55. Writer Lebowitz: FRAN. Xtra, xtra, read all about it.
HER UPDATE

56. Early writing symbol: RUNE. Maybe that is what ruined my handwriting.

57. Sale condition: AS IS. That is how you have to take me.

58. Past 15-Across leader: TSAR.

60. Receptacle: BIN. Laden?

And so we continue our trek toward so many holidays for so many, one for everyone; and we received an early present from our own Jeffrey W. I was too busy, but I had fun. Love to hear from you. Lemonade out.



Nov 18, 2021

Thursday, November 18, 2021, August Miller



Ahoy, cruciverbalists!  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap.  Today's puzzle setter is August Miller who has been seen in these parts quite often lately.  I recapped one on his puzzles on June 17th of this year.  That effort by August was followed with puzzles on September 3rd, September 29th, October 13th and, just a bit more than two weeks ago, on November 3rd.  Apologies if I missed any.

The theme of today's puzzle made all marine creatures feel right at home.  At six places within the grid, the names of six SEAS are placed, as anagrams, within circles.  Did you see it?  If your publication chose not to print the circles then you may have found yourself in a bit over your head, underwater, or, at least, up to your neck. . . theme-wise.

The explanation is found at 33 Down:  Dramatic shift . . . or what's literally found in each set of circles?: SEA CHANGE.  The vocabularic ancestor of Paradigm Shift.

PAINSCA -  CASPIAN
EAGANE -  AEGEAN
YLOWEL -  YELLOW
LITBAC -  BALTIC
INGERB -  BERING
ICRADIAT -  ADRIATIC

The phrase The Seven Seas" is a merely a figurative term so having six seas is okay.  Seas differ from oceans in that they are found on the margins of oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet.

Because there are no themed answers, per se, let's dive right in:


Across:

1. Apply softly: DAB.  Also, a small amount . . . and a flatfish.  Oh, and a puzzle constructor.

4. Indy 500 leader: PACE CAR.  Only at the start of the race.

11. About 40 gallons of it usually makes a gallon of syrup: SAP.


14. GPS calculation: ETA.  Estimated Time of  Arrival

15. Mollusk with a nacreous shell: ABALONE.  We often saw NACRE as a crossword puzzle answer back in the day.

16. Gp. for moms and dads: PTA.  Parent Teacher Association.  Abbreviated clue with GP for group.

17. Particles from far, far away: COSMIC RADIATION.  High energy charged particles , x-rays, and gamma rays produced in space.

20. Burger topping: ONION.  Relish wouldn't fit.  See 23 Across.

21. 23andMe subject: DNA.  23andMe is a company that offers genetic testing.  See 28 Across.

22. Lena Dunham TV show: GIRLS.  One of several actor/actress references, today.

23. Dog topping: RELISH.  Onion wouldn't fit.  See 20 Across.

25. To wit: NAMELY.

26. Wind-driven clouds: SCUD.  Also the name of a missile.

SCUD Clouds

28. Hereditary unit: GENE.  See 21 Across.  Might have been clued as  _____ Simmons or Autry.

29. Riddle end, maybe: WHAT AM I.  You can see me once in a year, twice in a week, but never in a day.  What am I?  The letter e.

32. 2001 NBA MVP Allen: IVERSON.  A basketball reference.

36. Goal: AIM.  Alternatively:  We ___ to please.  You ___, too, please.

37. Student, ideally: LEARNER.

39. Runner Down Under: EMU.  Down Under being slang for Australia.  EMUs are flightless.


40. Zoom alternative: SKYPE.  A bit of present-day technology.  Fixed focal length lens was not going to fit.

42. Race part: LEG.  Sometimes, a racer's part, too.

43. Over: AGAIN.

45. Brazilian soccer great: PELE.  Ne Edson Narantes do Nascimento.

46. Responds to a phone solicitation, perhaps: GIVES.  I first thought of YELLS, RANTS, RAVES.  Neither HANGS UP nor CURSES would fit.

48. Improvs, e.g.: ACTS.  I guess IMPROV is now an "official" word.  Its use here as a verb seems a bit off.

49. Eye-bending genre: OP ART.  An example:

51. Fiennes of "The Grand Budapest Hotel": RALPH.  Another of several actor/actress references, today.

53. Drops off before midday?: DEW.  Clever.  The drops of dew come off the grass before noon.  We were, I suppose, meant to think of something sleep-related,

55. Easy throw: LOB.

56. "Later": BYE.  As in "See you later."

57. Words With Friends, for one: APP.

60. Post-teaching title for some: EMERITA.  Female equivalent of EMERITUS.

62. Latvia neighbor: ESTONIA.



64. Fluorescent element?: SILENT C.  We have seen this type of c/a before.  They fool me less often than they used to.

65. Like many a wedding planner: ENGAGED.  For those who plan their own weddings.

66. "It's just a flesh wound": ILL BE OK.  A staple of OATERS.  

67. Repair crew with tiles: ROOFERS.  TILERS was too short and FLOORERS was too long.


Down:

1. Interior designer's specialty: DECOR.

2. Make reparations: ATONE.  Afterwards, one can be AT ONE with their conscience.

3. Margherita pizza herb: BASIL.



4. It tops out at ten in a doctor's office: PAIN SCALE.  It has been argued that the PAIN SCALE was used to inappropriately market opioids.  Pain Scales And The Opioid Crisis

5. "Mixed-ish" airer: ABC.  Another TV show.

6. Calling or playing follower: CARD.  Pick a CARD, ANY CARD.  But don't Teller which one.


7. Stylish vigor: ELAN.


8. Musical symbol resembling a set of crosshairs: CODA.


9. Young Darth: ANI.  Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are characters in the Star Wars series of films.



10. When the Cold War ended: REAGAN ERA.

11. Pinnacle of religion?: SPIRE.  A nice play on words.



12. Coral island: ATOLL.  I always forget if it's two tees and one ell or vice versa.

13. Violet hybrid: PANSY.  Violet could refer to a color, a flower (in this case), or her:


18. Like eyes starting to tear up: MOIST.

19. Dingy kitchen item?: TIMER.  Dingy means dirty or unclean.  A dinghy is a small watercraft.  In this case, though, the puzzler maker (or editor) wants us to think of something that makes the sound "ding".  Ding-y, if you will.

24. "A Treatise of Human Nature" author: HUME.


25. Campbell of "Scream" films: NEVE.  Another of several actor/actress references, today.

27. Ease up: DIAL IT BACK.  Idiomatic expression defined in the clue.

28. Spiced brew: GINGER BEER.  Hands up for first thinking of some kind of tea.

29. Paper-nest builder: WASP.  Did wasps invent paper?

30. Backpack, e.g.: HIKE.  Noun or verb?  Verb.

31. 1926 Pulitzer-winning poet: AMY LOWELL.


34. Neglect to mention: OMIT.

35. Sisters in the 2017 film "The Little Hours": NUNS.


38. Excite, with "up": REV.  The first of three three-letter answers in sequence.

41. Exuberance: PEP.  The second.

44. Gender __: GAP.  The third.

46. Underground recess: GROTTO.

Grotta Azzurra

47. Declines: SAYS NO.  PASSES would have fit the space and two of the letters would have worked out.

50. Flared dress style: A-LINE.  One can see whence the name was derived.


52. Released: LET GO.

53. Arnaz of early TV: DESI.  Another of several actor/actress references, today.

Babalu

54. Painter Nolde: EMIL.  One of the early Expressionists.


58. Place to drop a line: PIER.  Another play on words.  "Drop a line" is idiomatic for writing.  In this case, though, fishing.



59. Paw parts: PADS.

61. 1860s gray: REB.  A Civil War reference.  The soldiers of the Confederacy wore gray uniforms and re referred to as REBs (rebels).



63. Klutz: OAF.  So, this shark swims into a bar . . . "Arrrgg", he yells.  "I'm such a klutz!"

. . . and with that, the completed grid:
________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________


Nov 17, 2021

Wednesday, November 17, 2021. Paul Coulter

Theme: Done, but not with E's.  Theeclues would need a long "E" sound added at the end for the theme fill to make sense.  And even better, the "i.e." in the clue, suggesting "for example" is also the letter combo that needs to be added to the base clue to supply that sound.  Quite elegant.

17. Cook, i.e.?: BAKED TREAT.  Add the "E" sound for the COOKIE, not the baker.

23. Pink, i.e.?: LITTLE FINGER.  Not a Game of Thrones character, but add the "E" sound to get your PINKIE.

37. Rook, i.e.?: FIRST YEAR PLAYER.  With the added "E" sound a chess piece becomes a newly minted pro athlete.

61. Sort, i.e.?: AIR MISSION.  With the added "E: sound we get, not a separation and arrangement of things, but rather a SORTIE, defined as a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint - or something of that SORT. The term originated in siege warfare.  So the fill is a bit too specific for the clue.

50. E'er, i.e.?: BONE CHILLING.  When you add the "E"sound, it's not a Great Lake nor a response to seeing an elephant, but rather a reaction to something strange and frightening. 

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here to E's us through this puzzle.  This is a clever theme, but a bit gimmickEE for my taste.  Let's see what else is going on.

Across:

1. "Encore!": AGAIN.  A request for another tune at the end of a performance.

6. Small strings: UKES.

 
Mandatory

 10. Big zero: NADA. Nothing in Spanish, adopted into American slang

14. Ballet bend that's a homophone for a cheese dish: FONDU. Watch this video - which is not at all cheesy -  and you can have fun doing it.


 

 15. One chip, maybe: ANTE. Start of a poker hand.

16. Love, in Lima: AMOR.  Spanish

19. Canceled: NO GO.

20. 1953 Alan Ladd classic: SHANE.

 

 21. Many a dictator's quality: EGOMANIA.  

25. Actress Ryan of "Courage Under Fire": MEG.   Meg Ryan [b 1961] is an American actress and producer. Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982.

 

 28. Nickname of 1950s Reds slugger Ted: KLU.  Theodore Bernard Kluszewski [1924 - 1988] also known as "Big Klu", was an American professional baseball player known for his bulging biceps and mammoth home runs in the 1950s decade. He played from 1947 through 1961 with four teams in Major League Baseball.

29. Meds-approving agcy.: FDA. Food and Drug Administration.

30. Climbing vine: IVY.

31. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO.    Brian Peter George Eno [b. 1948] is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop and electronica.

33. Upright: ON END.

42. Elevator stop: FLOOR.

43. Leaves in small bags: TEA.  Then boiled in water - just that.

44. Pitcher's stat: ERA.

45. Univ. dorm mentors: RAS. Resident Assistant is a live-in position held by students. Generally, the goal of an RA is to create a safe and comfortable environment for the residents of a dorm.

47. Enero begins it: ANO.  January is the first month of the year in Spain and many other countries.

49. __ Jones: DOW.  Dow Jones & Company, Inc. is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp and led by CEO Almar Latour.  The company publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News and Private Equity News.  Every day they publish the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a price-weighted measurement stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.  I have commentary on my blog every business day, if you are interested.

56. City north of Des Moines: AMES, IOWA.  The home of Iowa State University.

57. Must-haves: NEEDS.  Self explanatory.

60. Stare open-mouthed: GAWP.  Yes, this is actually a word, and this is what it means.

64. Inner: Prefix: ENTO-. Or endo-  always need perps.

65. USAF noncom: TSGT.  Technical Sargent.

66. Lombardy's land: ITALY.  Northern region

67. Smartphone call record, say: LIST.

68. Citi Field predecessor: SHEA.  CITI is the home of the Mets. It was completed in 2009.  It replaced SHEA, with was built in 1964

69. Pluralizers: ESSES.  English language word construction.

Down:

1. Edwards, in Calif.: AFB.  Air Force Base

2. Dress like, for the costume party: GO AS. Impersonate someone.

3. Egyptian cross: ANKH.



4. Utopian: IDEAL.  Just about perfect.

5. Annoying sort: NUDNIK.  One who is a bore or a nuisance.

6. Old Mideast alliance: Abbr.: UAR.  United Arab Republics

7. Show respect, in a way: KNEEL.   A position in which the body is supported by a knee or the knees, as when praying or showing submission.

8. Eiffel Tower level: ETAGE.  Similar to the story of a house - in French.

9. Detonate: SET OFF.  Cause to explode.

10. Part of the "Hey Jude" refrain: NANANANA.  This goes on forever, and for my money, ruins an otherwise decent song.  YMMV.


11. "You're __ friends": AMONG.  Here among the cornerites.

12. Range rover?: DOGIE.  A motherless calf in a range herd

13. Loud, as a crowd: AROAR.  At a sporting event, frex.

18. Big name in 43-Across: TETLEY.   Founded in 1837 in Yorkshire, England. It is the largest tea company in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the second largest in the United States by volume.

22. Pain relief brand marketed to women: MIDOL.

24. Ditty: TUNE.  A simple song

25. Annoy: MIFF.  Be a NUDNIK.

26. Like villains: EVIL.  Well sure - they're the bad guys.

27. Greek lamb sandwich: GYRO.  The meat is a dense lamb meat loaf cooked on a rotating [hence gyro] vertical spit.

32. Breakfast cereal grain: OAT.

34. Checked out: EYED.  Leered or ogled, maybe.

35. Lyre-playing emperor: NERO.   Imperator Nero Cladius Divi Claudius filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus [37 - 68 CE] was the fifth emperor of Rome. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of thirteen, and succeeded him to the throne. Nero seems to have been popular with his Praetorian guards, and with lower-class commoners in Rome and the provinces, but was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy.

36. Sketch: DRAW.

38. Touchy subject: SORE SPOT.  Something difficult to talk about.

39. Singing sister of Toni Braxton: TRACI.  [b. 1971] is an American singer, reality television personality and radio personality. 

40. Authentic: REAL.  Not ersatz.

41. Pressed Italian sandwich: PANINI.  A grilled sandwich made with Italian bread.

46. Young hogs: SHOATS.  Weaned piglets.

48. Single-piece outfit for a baby: ONESIE.

50. Breakfast item: BAGEL.   A dense bread roll in the shape of a ring, made by boiling dough and then baking it.

51. Muscat native: OMANI.  Oman is a country on the south-east cleat of the Arabian peninsula.

52. Older efts: NEWTS. Semi-aquatic salamanders.

53. "If only": I WISH.  

54. Coffeehouse order: LARGE. Grande, perhaps.

55. Exploits: GESTS.  Adventures.

58. Sabado y domingo, por ejemplo: DIAS.  Saturday and Sunday, for example, are days of the week.

59. Exclusive: SOLE.  One and only - like a selected fish is a sole sole; or consider the bottom of a specific foot.

62. L.A. commuter org.: MTA.  Metropolitan Transportation Authority.    Not exclusive to L.A.

 

 63. Albany is its cap.: NYS.  Capitol of New York State.

That wraps up our Wednesday - not too hard and not too EEzy.  Did you brEEze through it?

Cool regards!
JzB