Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 Joseph Groat

Theme: "Sh!" - TCH is changed into SH.

23A. Score for Hawkeye's team? : MASH POINT. Match point.

25A. With 70-Across, clothing magnate David posing with a bass? : ABERCROMBIE. 70. See 25-Across : AND FISH. Abercrombie  & Fitch. Pricey brand. H&M and Zara are more popular.

39A. Convenient snack? : NOSH IN ONE'S BELT. Notch in one's belt.

 

99A. Money for fast-food fries? : SHOESTRING CASH. Shoestring catch. Never had  Shoestring potatoes.

 

115A. Outback outlaw? : BUSH CASSIDY. Butch Cassidy.

118A. Self-cleaning laundry? : SMART WASH. Smart watch.

 

33D. Avoid diner dishes? : ESCAPE HASH. Escape hatch.

53D. Spell? : WICKED WISH. Wicked witch.

Sunday debut for Joseph Groat. Congratulations! It's an incredible milestone to pull off a 21*21.

I thought it's very clever to break down 25A and 70A, esp since the latter is in the very central row so theme symmetry remains intact.

I was surprised to see these three entries in one grid. A bit overdone.

19A. Apple variety : IMAC. What a nightmare for D-Otto's. His Mac was only 2-year old. 

68A. Samsung Galaxy competitor : IPHONE

122A. Old Apple laptop : IBOOK

Across:

   

1. Wine holders : JUGS. Not VATS.

5. Taxco title: Abbr. : SRTA

9. Beat but bad : WHOMP. Sparkly 5-letter entry.

14. Crib cries : DADAS. I had MAMAS of course.

20. Sleuth with numbered offspring : CHAN. No idea. How many kids did he have?

21. Olympic champion on a 1939 Time cover : HENIE. I needed the extra "Sonja" bit in the clue.

22. Dancer Castle : IRENE

27. Space program event : MOONSHOT

29. Open the door for : LET IN

30. Bowling initials : AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Rival of Brunswick.

31. Address : SPEAK TO

34. Longfellow's bell town : ATRI. "The Bell of Atri".

36. One climbing the walls : IVY

37. Mai __ : TAI

38. Row dividers : AISLES

43. Sales rep's goals: Abbr. : ACCTs.  Tricky area for me. I also forgot PICOT (32D. Crochet loop) and did not know BOAZ (47A. Great-grandfather of David, in the Bible). I could only think of ENOS.

44. __ diem : PER

45. '50s British prime minister : EDEN (Anthony)

46. Regret : RUE

48. Want very much : COVET. Not CRAVE.

50. Funny Bombeck : ERMA

52. Cut : SAWED

56. Octane Booster brand : STP

57. They're often attached : GARAGES. The answer filled itself.

59. Works with a Singer : SEWS. Nailed it.

61. Sushi bar soup : MISO. Have you tried the Korean Doenjang, Steve/Jayce? It's similar to Miso paste. Often comes in a brown jar like this. 

62. Dept. with a sun on its seal : ENER. Nailed it.

64. Bygone birds : DODOS

66. Right-minded : ETHICAL. Oh, not leaning right.

73. Take the chance : RISK IT

74. Many beatniks wore them : GOATEES

76. Mississippi's __ City : YAZOO. The Down gave me the Z.

77. Amateur who won the 1968 US Open : ASHE. Unknown trivia to me. I presume he turned pro immediately.

78. Net __ : LOSS

79. Goes bad : ROTS

82. Puts more film in : RELOADS

84. Like some balances : DUE. Did you fill this immediately?

87. "Yeah, sure" : UH HUH

89. "Not so fast!" : WHOA!

91. Turbaned Punjabis : SIKHS

92. Healthy drink : SWIG

93. Italian counterpart of the BBC : RAI. No idea. Wiki says it stands for  Radiotelevisione Italiana. Italy's national public broadcasting company, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

95. Mystique : AURA

97. "The Good Wife" figs. : DAs

98. Making fun of : APING

104. Fast movement : PRESTO

105. Kenan's comedy partner : KEL

106. Prussian pronoun : SIE. You.

107. Tragic fate : DOOM

108. Two-time U.S. Women's Open winner Patty : SHEEHAN. The lady holding the Solheim Cup. Interlachen at the ritzy Edina. I was there that day.

109. Therapeutic pack filler : ICE

110. Cold cuts qty. : ONE LB

112. Space cadet's world : LA-LA LAND. Hello Linda!

123. Patronize, in a way : EAT AT. Really eat at.

124. DVR pioneer : TIVO

125. Stage number : ARIA

126. Beatles trademark : BANGS

127. Firewood measure : STERE

128. Meeting of Cong. : SESS

129. Golfer's putting woes, with "the" : YIPS. I finally saw Loren Roberts last year. He used to be the top putter in PGA.

Down:

1. Dandy guy? : JIM

2. Actress Thurman : UMA

3. __-guzzler : GAS

4. Mushy quality : SCHMALTZ. What a great word.

5. Slides (over), as on a bench : SCOOTS

6. Safari park critter : RHINO

7. Summer colors : TANS

8. Lit. compilation : ANTH (Anthology)

9. "Are you kidding me?!" : WHAT THE. Another great entry.

10. Synagogue lang. : HEB

11. Routine components : ONE LINERS

12. Wet tract : MIRE

13. Carbohydrate used in jellies : PECTIN. I've only used gelatin.

14. Bacchus, to the Greeks : DIONYSUS. God of wine.

15. Sea extension : ARM

16. Argue : DEBATE

17. Kingdom member : ANIMAL

18. Deem appropriate : SEE FIT

24. Facebook attention-getters : POKES. Do you still get poked?

26. Mississippi, e.g. : RIVER

28. Western treaty gp. : OAS (Organization of American States)

31. Autos from Trollhättan : SAABS

35. Tease : RIDE

39. 40-Down neighbor : NEVADA. And 40. 39-Down neighbor : OREGON. Nice pair.

41. "That's __": "My bad" : ON ME

42. "'Come to my arms, my __ boy!'": "Jabberwocky" : BEAMISH. Blank spot for me.

44. Spanish preposition : POR

48. Lifetime dedication : CAREER. If you could start your life again, what career would you choose?

49. Lingerie item : TEDDY

51. Stun : AWE

54. Morales of "Caprica" : ESAI. He's never a bad fill for me. I have fond memories of him in "NYPD Blues".

55. Simpleton : DOLT

57. Wilder in films : GENE

58. To this point : SO FAR

60. Treasured strings : STRADS

63. Uncertain : NOT SURE

65. Evaluates, with "up" : SIZES

67. Not a good reception : HISS

68. "House," in Inuit : IGLU. I suppose "in Inuit"  excuses it from having a "Var." mark. Still,  gluey fill.

69. Bear in a red shirt : POOH

71. Cones and spheres : SOLIDS

72. What the Wonderland caterpillar smokes : HOOKAH. Lots of nice Downs in this puzzle.

75. Farm female : SOW

80. Like Singha beer : THAI. I just learned that "Singha" means "Lion". Same root as Singapore. Singapore means "Lion City".

81. Nightly news snippet : SOUNDBITE

83. Sighs of relief : AHS

85. Range that includes Kings Peak : UINTA. Drew a blank as well.

86. Push : EGG ON. No more hard boiled eggs. Now, how do you prepare wild rice? Ours is a 3-hour process. Put two cups of rice in a big pot of salted water. Turn off the heat once it reaches a boil. Cover. Let it rest an hour. Rinse. Start the process again. Repeat. Salt & Pepper.

88. Places to put your feet up : HASSOCKS

90. Ship of Greek myth : ARGO

92. Indy 500 town, aptly : SPEEDWAY

94. Autobiography featuring Ike : I, TINA. This often stumps some.

96. Altar attendant : ACOLYTE

98. "__ you clever!" : AREN'T

99. Overalls on the slopes : SKI BIB

100. Trojan War queen : HECUBA. Mother of Paris and Hector.

101. "Little House" antagonist Nellie __ : OLESON. Forgot. We had this before.

102. Popular pieces : REESE'S

103. Physicians' org. : AMA

104. Alexandria lighthouse that's one of the Seven Wonders : PHAROS. Alexandria is also that blue-eyed girl Splynter has been smitten with.

108. Serbs and Croats : SLAVS

111. Future J.D.'s exam : LSAT

113. D-Day fleet : LSTS. Tough to get Sunday grids filled cleanly.

114. Parisian honey : AMIE

116. Biker's wheels : HOG

117. __ es Salaam : DAR

119. Jackie's second : ARI. I read somewhere that his true love was Maria Callas.

120. Taste : SIP

121. Exhibits, as nerve : HAS

C.C.

Saturday, Jan 16th, 2016, Alan Olschwang

Theme: None (1/16/16)

Words: 70 (missing F,K,Q,X)

Blocks: 28

  I didn't like the look of this grid right away, and my first pass revealed very little in the way of answers, and even then half of them were not correct.  However, on the DOWN pass, ZZ Top was the breakout point for me, and then POPE MOBILE was a huge help as well.  Still got bogged down in the SE, and ultimately caved in to red-letters.  Oh well, that's the thing with Mr. Olschwang - I looked over his previous Saturday offerings, and I see that I did not fare well with any of them.  Triple 10's in a pinwheel pattern, and even though that leaves a lot of 4-letter words, I had some 4-letter words of my own....

15. Last Tudor monarch : ELIZABETH I - completely forgot about the possibility of a queen; I filled in EDWARD VIII, but that's 20th century and the House of Windsor; my English parents would not be happy....

12. Head out on the trail : MOSEY ALONG - got it because I frequently use the word "mosey"

25. St. Peter's Square wheels : POPEMOBILE - the Wiki

61. Screen holders : STORM DOORS - makes me think of this album cover; very pretty

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Showy display : RAZZMATAZZ - Z Z Z Z s

11. 2010 CFDA Fashion Icon Award recipient : IMAN - I had I--N, so it was a good WAG; ironic to see her name in a puzzle after the passing of David Bowie; they had a 'miracle baby' Alexandria

16. Chess action : MOVE - dah~!  Not MatE, but that was 100% 50% correct

17. Wine seller : BOTTLE SHOP - sommelier was too short

18. "__ Death": Grieg work : ASE'S - the music of Peer Gynt

19. One standing at a counter : STOOL - clever, I like it

20. Assisting in the kitchen? : SOUS - Dah~! My first thought, but then I hesitated

21. Fröbe of "Goldfinger" : GERT - one of the better lines from James Bond

"No, Mr. Bond..."

22. Trepidation cause : PERIL - makes me think of the peril being "too perilous" from Monty Python

24. Qatari currency : RIYAL

25. Influential D.C. group : PAC - thought it, hesitated

28. Even : TIE - think verb, not adjective; the Rangers are looking to "TIE" the score

29. Cargo capacity : TONNAGE

31. Player in a pit : OBOIST - again, I hesitated

33. Walking on the beach, maybe : SANDALED - meh.  I get it, but meh.

34. Showy display : POMP

35. '70s-'90s Angola neighbor : ZAIRE

37. Color in a Spanish sunset : ROJO - that would be "red" in an English one

38. Delegates : EMPOWERS

40. "Wait just a darn minute!" : "HEY NOW~!"

42. Most temperate : MILDEST

43. Angle: Abbr. : P.O.V. - again, clever.  Point Of View

44. Mil. title : GENeral

45. Cat-tails bridge? : O' NINE - cat o' nine tails

46. Surprise at the door : POP IN

48. B'way Joe's alma mater : 'BAMA - I prefer women in pantyhose (here's the classic Joe Namath pantyhose spot)

49. Old apple spray : ALAR

51. One of two for Linus Pauling : NOBEL - OK, I cheated; I remembered the name, but not what for; and even when I looked, I don't recall why I knew the name - his Wiki

55. The Santa Monica Fwy. is part of it : I-TEN - got it, tho it was "I-ONE" first, and technically, it's US-1

56. Trading category : MOST ACTIVE - most - ly perps

58. Paar's successor's successor : LENO - one of the few I nailed

59. Borders : OUTER EDGES - I tried PAPer edges first - Bzzzzt

60. Arrival times, usually: Abbr. : ESTs

DOWN:

1. Stonewallers? : REBS - Rebels, the South in the Civil War - didn't get it; I just noticed the answer appeared thru perps while writing up the blog

2. Plenty : A LOT

3. 2002 A.L. Cy Young Award winner Barry : ZITO - C.C. might know more

4. Band with the Diamond album "Eliminator" : ZZ TOP - a blues trio at heart, this album, with the addition of some synthesizers - and some racy MTV clips - put them in the popular spotlight

5. Croquet clubs : MALLETS

6. Japanese prime minister since 2012 : ABE - Shinzō - the Wiki

7. Singer/actress O'Shea : TESSIE - perps and WAG

8. Dramatist Fugard : ATHOL - perps and WAG

9. Mao contemporary : ZHOU - hey, perps and WAG~!

10. Compresses, in a way : ZIPS - computer compression, zip files

11. Unreal : IMAGINARY - I had IMATERIAL, and yes, because it was in the down, I missed the missing "M"

13. Man on the street : AVERAGE JOE - very proud of trying this WAG out

14. Get cozy at bedtime : NESTLE DOWN - weak; I can think of a better way to clue it, even on a Saturday

23. Classes (up) : RITZES

24. Bout div. : RND - round.  eh.

26. Much more than dislikes : ABOMINATES

27. Paid item : COMPLIMENT

29. Apron covering : TAR - my drafting/construction background led me to guess that this was the curb apron, or 'easement', and I've rarely seen them paved in asphalt

30. Like many an easy grounder : ONE-HOP - baseball

32. Gadgets originally available only in black or white : iPOD NANOS - an answer last Sunday, too, in the singular

33. Household nickname : SIS - mom, dad, sis, bro....?

36. __ nouveau : ART

39. Little piggy's word : WEE - not gonna go with the Geico commercial

41. Made manifest : EVINCED - dah~!  Not EMERGED

43. Stout relative : PORTER

46. Milano meal : PASTO - got caught up thinking MANGIA, which wouldn't fit

47. Skip : NOT DO - clever; e.g.   I would like to "not do" this step

49. Isaiah contemporary : AMOS - no clue; I thought maybe this was referring to basketball stars, but in fact they're prophets - and it seems like things don't change; here's the Wiki on AMOS, and I see he had similar issues in his time (yes, I didn't win the Poweball)

50. Awkward sort : LOUT

52. North American tire franchise : BIG O - not in my area

53. In any case : EVER

54. What to eat to lose weight? : LESS - I tried LITE first

57. Slots feature : ARM - dang~!  Not BAR

Splynter

Friday, January 15, 2016 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Where do babies come from? The Stork Exchange!

Our Friday phenom Jeffrey Wechsler stops by with his first 2016 effort which is a simple letter substitution that leads to new fill clued whimsically, made special by having the letter C which is removed from the first word of a phrase ending in CK and is replaced with the letter R. The elegance comes in with the changed words being a vowel progression AEIOU. Lots of interesting and hard to pin down fill such as ASTORIA, CODEINE, GRAYISH, HOBNOBS, ILL READ, IRON ORE, SERPICO, VERDURE.  Okay then...

17A. Response from a dog on a horse? : BARK IN THE SADDLE (15). Back in the saddle gets a doggie boost. I grew up with this SONG. (3:03)

20A. Barista's schedule? : PERKING ORDER (12). The pecking order brewed us some coffee.

35A. Pet peeve? : IRK FACTOR (9). ICK Factor perhaps made famous by Friends has 289,000 google hits, while there are 367,000 hits on google and a BLOG for Irk Factor. Unusual for the pun to be more famous.

54A. Jerk in a cove? : DORK OF THE BAY (12). We have to have this SONG. (2:54)

57A. Satisfying sight to an Istanbul clothing designer? : TURK IN YOUR SHIRT (15). Ah, you are wearing one of my designs, but please tuck it in.

Across:

1. Kid : JEST. Not a youth. Some Friday style cluing already as these words are related but I do not see them as synonyms.

5. Sufficient : DUE. Dire due parole about this clue as well.

8. Girl who calls Peppermint Patty "sir" : MARCIE. Finally, one I got immediately.

14. __ map : AREA. Okay this is fair,

15. "High Hopes" critter : ANT. They look about my age.

16. Longstanding : AGE OLD. Hey! we are not that old!

21. A-one : PRIMO. So many choices, cuz. Right Lucina?

23. Diving birds : LOONS. The Minnesota state bird.

24. Iraq War weapon: Abbr. : IED.  Improvised Explosive Device.

26. Emphasize : ACCENT. Ah, a grave clue.

28. Little biter : GNAT.

29. Way of the East : TAO. The word means 'the way' in Chinese , right C.C.? (From C.C.: Just "way". Chinese and many Asian languages do not have definite article.)

30. Oklahoma native : OSAGE. Another visit with an easier clue.

34. Takes to heart : HEEDS.

37. Skirt : EVADE. An issue, not one for Splynter.

40. Words on a jacket : BLURB. Dust Jacket on a book. I never buy any autobiographies, I just read the 'about the author' on the jacket.

41. Esteemed one : GEM. A peach.

44. Chilean currency : PESO. I did not know this. I have been in many places in South America but not Chile.

45. Native : INBRED. Inbred has such negative connotations.

47. Etchings, for example : ART. Come up to my room....

48. "The West Wing" actor : SMITS. Loved him in LA LAW and DEXTER

53. Degree requirements for some : ORALS.

60. Colorful songbird : ORIOLE. Beautiful.

61. Ramallah-based org. : PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization.

62. Very short time: Abbr. : MSEC. Nsec n'sync Backstreet Boy arrested!

63. Inconsequential : MEASLY. My salary is what?

64. Carrier offering Carlsberg beer : SAS. Originally Scandinavian Airline System.

65. Ersatz : SHAM. I like the word ersatz which is a German word we have taken as our own.

Down:

1. Hook alternative : JAB. Boxing, not  a slice HG and Big Easy.

2. Jazz __ : ERA.

3. Peter Maas biography subtitled "The Cop Who Defied the System" : SERPICO. Pacino at his best.

4. "I want to go!" : TAKE ME. Go with?

5. Like many caves : DANK.

6. "... I thought, / __ my head was dizzy": "Endymion" : UNTIL. Not the most famous line of this POEM which begins, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever"

7. Graphic introduction? : ETHNO. Anthropology?

8. Trowel wielder : MASON. My uncle was a master mason who taught at a trade school.

9. Microbiologist's gels : AGARS.

10. Demond's co-star in a '70s sitcom : REDD. Most people did not know his real name was Jon Elroy Sanford.

11. Cough syrup ingredient : CODEINE. Very common when we were young but the narcotic is not used in cough medicine much anymore.

12. Like one who goes by the books? : ILL READ. OOOOO.

13. Ending with stamp : EDE. Meh. 50D. Suffix with beaut : IFY.

18. Smelter input : IRON ORE. Out comes steel.

19. It may require delicate handling : EGO.

21. Touch lightly : PAT.

22. Miley Cyrus label : RCA. Really? DKDC.

25. Sot's woe : DTS. Delirium Tremens.

27. Sound of disdain : TSK.

28. An official lang. of Luxembourg : GERman.

31. Edwards, e.g.: Abbr. : AFB. Air Force Base.

32. __ pal : GAL. Not pc.

33. Old French coin : ECU.

34. Works the room : HOBNOBS. This word in its schmoozing meaning was popular in my 'ute.

35. Common court response : I DO. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

36. Prefix with centennial : TRI. Are there any other three letter ones?

37. Org. monitoring brownfields : EPA. Live and LEARN.

38. Greenery : VERDURE.  If you know Latin or French or Spanish, this is easy.

39. Oregon port named for a 19th-century multi-millionaire : ASTORIA.  JOHN JAKOB.

41. Somewhat ashen : GRAYISH.

42. Long swimmer : EEL.

43. EKG readers : MDS.

46. Composer who championed Dvorák : BRAHMS. Great STORY?

48. Proficiency : SKILL.

49. What chips may represent : MONEY. How many of you play poker? There are pokers rooms everywhere here.

51. 'Vette roof options : T-TOPS.

52. Only NFL coach with a perfect season : SHULA. Once again the '72 Dolphins watched the ranks of the undefeated disappear.Don and Dan

55. Golden age theaters : RKOS.

56. God with a quiver : EROS.

57. Alley prowler : TOM. Okay CED, this is all you.

58. Actor Stephen : REA. Still most famous for the Crying Game.

59. Channel that shows Bogart films : TCM. Turner Classic Movies. Oo loves this and AMC.

So we had a rocky start but here we are halfway through January and three entertaining Fridays in the books. Be well all, stay warm and dry. Thanks JW, loved your NYT yesterday. Lemonade out.

Thursday, 14th January 2016 Danny Reichert

Theme: Unlike the Liberty Bell

17A. Well-cast "Into the Woods" actress? : MERYL STREEP

23A. Well-cast "An Education" actress? : EMMA THOMPSON

47A. Well-cast "Duplicity" actress? : JULIA ROBERTS

57A. Well-cast "Birds of America" actress? : HILARY SWANK

35A. Director's explanation as to why this puzzle's actresses were well-cast? : IT'S ALL IN THE NAME

Four movies, four actresses that appeared in the movie and four four-letter nouns embedded that relate in some way to the title.


Neat enough puzzle, although there can be a problem with proper name themes in that once you've tumbled the gimmick you can generally fill in a whole lot of squares without a great deal of thought. I've not seen any of the movies, but the actresses came pretty quickly.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Home of the Great Sphinx : EGYPT. The nose and beard are missing. According to one version of the story, the nose was shot off by a cannonball fired by Napoleon's soldiers.

6. French thinkers? : TÊTES. From whence come idées. I'm going to Paris next weekend, so a good time to brush up on my French.

11. Priestly garb : ALB

14. Charter : LEASE

15. Discharge : EGEST. New to me, but patently a perfectly good word. Makes throwing up sound classy.

16. __ chi : TAI

19. It's used for some trips : LSD. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - no, wait, Lysergic acid diethylamide.

20. Bank customer acct. datum : S.S.N. I mentally parsed DEP, BAL and CHK before making SSNse of the clue.

21. Tackle box items : LURES

22. It may have a nice bouquet : VASE. Could have been WINE. Wasn't.

26. Like the Detroit Lions in 2008 : WINLESS. A season of futility leading to the worst record in NFL history. They did, naturally, get the first draft pick in 2009 and selected QB Matthew Stafford. It didn't immediately do much good - they went 2-14 that year.

29. Financial pg. topics : I.P.O'S

30. Clod breakers : HOES

31. __ arguments : ORAL. Stop snickering at the back.

32. Spat : ROW

40. Familiar saint? : PAT. I don't mind this so much, but seeing "St. Patty" drives me crazy. He's not a burger. My Dad was Uncle Paddy to the nephews and nieces.

41. Gets ready to fire : AIMS

42. "Zounds!" : EGAD. We've had the "offensive" debate before, but I didn't read this article on "minced oaths" until just now. Interesting stuff.

43. Cable service extras : DVRS. Digital Video Recorders rather than your basic decoder box.

44. "Spoon River Anthology" poet : MASTERS. Thank you crosses - I'd not heard of this before. Looks like it might be a fun read.

51. Fissionable particle : ATOM. Strictly speaking, an atom isn't a particle, it's comprised of particles - protons, neutrons and electrons.

52. "Sorry, __ go!" : GOTTA

53. Whale watcher's dream : POD. Or a pea-sheller's nightmare, one of the two.

56. Software issue : BUG. I read somewhere that there's likely to be a bug in every 11 lines of code. During my coding days, I reckon I probably wrote somewhere north of 100,000 lines, so I was personally responsible for around 9,100 bugs. Sorry.

60. Bud : BRO

61. "Is that __?": challenging words : A DARE. Usually ends badly.

62. Quad Cities resident, maybe : IOWAN. If you're from Davenport or Bettendorf. Not if you're from Rock Island, Moline or East Moline. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation why there are five cities.

63. Rule of crime writing : ANN. Crosses filled this in for me, I didn't see the fill until now. Just as well, I'd never heard of her.

64. Actresses Diane and Cheryl : LADDS. I think I might have tried to construct this area differently to avoid another "actress" entry given the theme.

65. Address to a boy : SONNY

Down:

1. O'Neill's "Desire Under the __" : ELMS

2. Heist units : GEES. As in 1,000's. Fun clue.

3. Unlikely story : YARN. A priest, a rabbi and an imam walk into a bar. The bartender says "This is a joke, right?".

4. Subj. involving cognitive development : PSY. cology.

5. "Spill it!" : TELL ME

6. Aquarium fish : TETRAS. Fish do totally inconsistent things with plurals. Including "fish" itself.

7. Wetlands wader : EGRET

8. Top choice : TEE SHIRT

9. Legal conclusion? : -ESE

10. Brake fluid brand : STP. The name comes from "Scientifically Treated Petroleum. Now we know.

11. Low-tech GPS? : ATLAS. Nice clue. Modern GPS actually tells you where you are, rather than you pointing hopefully at a page in the atlas and saying "I think we're here".

12. Stock holder? : LASSO

13. Former senator known as "Amtrak Joe" : BIDEN. Amtrak's Wilmington station is named for Joe in honor of the more than 7,000 trips he took into DC from there.

18. Totals : SUMS

22. LBJ and Nixon, e.g. : VP'S

23. Einstein's second wife : ELSA. Thank you, crosses.

24. Hawaiian food fish : OPAH. Because humuhumunukunukuapua`a doesn't fit.

25. Lawn problem : MOLE

26. Blender button : WHIP. Really? Mine has "On" and "Off", I only use it to blend smoothies. I have more suitable whipping tools. Like a whisk.

27. Bit : IOTA

28. Brooding spot : NEST

31. Iron-__ : ONS.

32. Extreme road response : RAGE

33. "Rubáiyát" poet : OMAR. Here was I wondering "Why don't I know who wrote "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam? I'm sure I must!" And then the penny dropped.

34. Brings together : WEDS

36. California's __ Beds National Monument : LAVA. Beautiful spot in Northern California.

37. Way to get to N.Y.'s Citi Field : L.I.R.R.. Long Island Railroad. 17 miles and 25 minutes from Penn Station gets you to the ballpark.

38. Response to happy news : I'M SO GLAD

39. Brings home : NETS

43. Lacking luster : DIM

44. Scotland yards? : METRES. 39.3701 inches, so a wee tad more than a yard, laddie. Euro-spelling. Fun clue.

45. Pretentious : ARTY. Moi?

46. Balanced state : STASIS

47. "Star Wars" villain : JABBA. Big bloke, if I remember correctly.

48. Reversal : U-TURN

49. Start a telecommuting session : LOGON. That's me, most mornings. Not this morning - doing the Burbank - SFO commute with United. They were nice enough to upgrade me to First too. I  ♥ UAL.

50. Advisory body : BOARD

53. Puppet : PAWN

54. Put-act link : ON AN

55. Designer label initials : DKNY. Donna Karan, New York.

57. Evil computer of film : HAL "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that".

58. NW state : IDA -ho.

59. Court : WOO

Here's the grid with the circles for those of you missing then, and that's going to do it for me.

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear JD, who's been with the blog since she retired from her teaching job in 2008. JD and her husband Bob live very close to her two daughters and their family.  This picture was taken in 2014 when Dylan turned one.

Front Row (Left to Right: Grady & his dad Derek; Truman (Grady's big brother) & mom Corie; Dylan and mom Shelby; Cameron (Dylan's big brother) and dad Joe.

Back Row: Proud grandparents JD & Bob.