Sunday January 15, 2017 Ed Sessa

Theme: "Say Cheese!" - Cheese puns.

  

 23A. Cheese tray displays? : BRIE ARRANGEMENTS. Pre-arrangements.

 45A. Real cheese? : TILSIT LIKE IT IS. Unfamiliar with Tilsit cheese. Wiki says it "is a light yellow semi-hard smear-ripened cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers".

69A. Cheesehead's accessory? : FETA IN ONE'S CAP. Feather in one's cap. Reminds me of this fun picture.

97A. Cheese graters? : ROQUEFORT FILES. The Rockford Files. Golden entry for cheese puns. 

123A. Highland cheese? : LOCH NESS MUENSTER. Loch Ness Monster.

16D. Cheese-growing plot? : GARDEN OF EDAM. Garden of Eden.

63D. Cheese factory supplies? : CHEDDAR BOXES. Chatterboxes.

I absolutely have no grasp on pun theme and admire constructors who can pull it off regularly. Finding soundalike words is a challenge to me, not to mention injecting enough fun and surprising factors to the theme clues.

Ed took full advantage of the manageable 7-entry theme grid  (8/9/10 are trickier, but not for Mr. Ed) and gave us a sparkly puzzle.  He has ten 8-letter fill in the grid.  Just look at the upper left edge. Three 8's and a long themer. Amazing.

Across:

  

1. Put away the leftovers? : EAT. I put in ATE. Right direction.

4. Stagecoach shout : WHOA. For some reason, stagecoaches were not popular in old China. Emperors or other VIPs or new brides all traveled in chair sedans.

8. Charge : ACCUSAL

15. Like much brandy : AGED. 61. Brandy flavor : APPLE. Clue echo. We also have 29. Screwdriver component : VODKA

19. Avian water source : BIRD BATH

21. Heated dispute : RHUBARB. I'm in love with this left edge.

22. Go ballistic : RAVE

25. Scientologist Hubbard : L. RON

26. X-Men co-creator Lee : STAN

27. Full of holes : POROUS

28. GPS info : RTE

30. Jet black : ONYX. Thought of EBON first.

32. Prepare for the prom : DRESS. No prom in our school.

34. Pastina relative : ORZO

36. Moray or conger : EEL

37. Repress : GAG

38. Exams for future J.D.'s : LSATs

41. One-customer link : PER

43. Partners' phrase : YOU AND I

49. Bologna bone : OSSO

50. Dirt cake ingredient : OREO. Unfamiliar with dirt cake or CHESS PIE (9. Classic Southern dessert). Google Images also showed some Dirt pie pictures. Is it the same as Dirt cake?

51. Queen Victoria's toy, for short : POM. I only knew the current queen loves Corgis.

52. Looks at : BEHOLDS

54. Shaky : IFFY

57. They may be good losers : DIETERS. Fun clue.

60. Coke by-product : TAR

61. One-named "Skyfall" singer : ADELE

62. Meager : SCANT

64. Strip stake? : BET. Oh, strip poker. (Correction: Strip here is The Strip. Thanks, Peter.)

66. Lever in a limo : GAS PEDAL

68. Unspecified degree : NTH

 74. iPhone purchase : APP

75. Abandoned buildings, say : EYESORES. There's a big office building complex near our home. Been empty for a few years.

77. D.C. insider : POL

78. Raw bar selection : CLAMS. Never had raw clams. You? We also have 107. Shell-shedding creature : CRAB

80. Catkin producer : ALDER

81. Half a dance : CHA

83. "My 60 Memorable Games" author : FISCHER (Bobby). Chess players seem to have fantastic memory.  Speed chess astonishes me.

86. Change the decor of : RE-DO

87. Diamond nickname : THE BABE (Ruth)

90. Affliction : WOE

91. Creamy color : ECRU. Creamy makes me think of food. Not cream color.

95. Puffin relatives : AUKS. Learned from doing crosswords.

100. Bunch of clowns in a circus stunt, say : CARLOAD. Vivid clue.

103. Word of enjoyment : YUM

104. Wipe out : ERASE

105. "__ been a puppet, a pauper ... ": Sinatra lyric : I'VE

106. "Foolery ... does walk about the __ like the sun": Shakespeare : ORB. Constructors work hard for fresh clues.

109. Syrian president : ASSAD

111. Title for Helen Mirren : DAME

113. Foam : FROTH

115. Make hay? : MOW. Lovely.

117. Like the talus : TARSAL

120. First name in desserts : SARA

122. Idée __ : FIXE

126. Twilight times : EVES

127. Packs, in a way : ENCASES

128. Military encampment sight : ARMY TENT

129. Take it easy : REST

130. Prepare, as dough for zeppole : DEEP-FRY. Never heard of zeppole. Look like mini donuts.

131. Early depictor of today's Santa Claus : NAST (Thomas)

132. Muddy quarters : STY

Down:

  

1. Goes out : EBBS

2. Like missiles in a dogfight : AIR TO AIR

3. Percussion instrument : TRIANGLE. Also 5. Instrument featured in "Waltz of the Flowers" : HARP

4. Ring org. : WBA

6. Other, to Quixote : OTRO

7. Grief : A HARD TIME. Not fond of the extra A.

8. Have a row : ARGUE

 

10. Summa __ laude : CUM

11. Lyft competitor : UBER

12. __ Domingo : SANTO

13. Channel with many branches : ARTERY

14. Avg. newborn's 7.5 : LBS. What's yours? Boomer was a big baby: 9 lbs and 10 oz.

15. "Alice's Restaurant" arrestee : ARLO

17. Summoned : EVOKED

18. North America's highest peak : DENALI

20. Naysay : DENY

24. Language of Oslo, in Oslo : NORSK

29. Paris pronoun : VOUS. You.

31. First year of Claudius' reign : XLI. 41. Got via crosses.

33. Meyers of late-night TV : SETH

35. Places staffed by vets : ZOOS. Ed wanted us to think of Army vets.

37. Old Pontiac with a V8 engine : GTO

39. Key holder in much religious artwork : ST PETER. I never paid attention to what's in his hand. Wiki says it's the key of heaven.

40. Scads : A LOT

42. Hoot : RIOT

44. Off-topic remark : ASIDE

46. It's often drawn through straws : SODA

47. Clampett portrayer : EBSEN

48. Forms into metallic waste : SLAGS

53. Stoker creation, briefly : DRAC (Dracula)

55. Plane features : FLAPS

56. Shepherd's cry : YELP. Dog.

58. Likely to experience : IN FOR

59. Batting stat : RBI. "Batting" shouldn't be part of the clue.

62. Distinctive manner : STYLE

65. Premier : TOP

67. Potpourri holders : SACHETS

68. Get close to : NEAR

70. Debugging pro : TECH. Dear TTP lost his dog Charlie last weekend. They were very close, taking walks every day, rain or snow. I sobbed reading his email about driving Charlie to the vet for the last ride.

71. "My Name Is __ Lev": Potok novel : ASHER

72. Like some ATM withdrawals : NO FEE

73. Cotton gin inventor Whitney : ELI

76. East Asian capital : SEOUL

79. "Whose woods these __ think ... ": Frost : ARE I. Some partials are tricky to clue.

82. Birth announcement words : A BOY

84. Athos, for one : SWORDSMAN

85. "The Last of the Mohicans" sister : CORA. No idea.

87. Old Russian dynast : TSAR

88. Blue-green color : AQUA

89. Lead that misleads : BUM STEER. Learned from doing crosswords. Not a phrase I use.

92. Subarctic and Mediterranean : CLIMATES

93. Deferential : REVERENT

94. "What's the ___?" : USE

96. NYC mayor after Beame : KOCH

98. Therapy subjects : FEARS. Fears are natural.

99. Gratified : FED

100. Valuables holder : COFFER. This is similiar to my mom's, except hers was red color. Her parents gave it to her when she married my dad. In it there were pretty bed sheets, quilts and other exquisitely hand-made clothing items. Also a small jar of precious sugar, which was rationed then. She was worried that my little brother and I would put our fingers in the sugar jar. Sugar was only used for goodies during Chinese Spring Festival.

101. Come : ARRIVE

102. Brooklyn crooner Vic : DAMONE

108. Italian bowling game : BOCCE

110. Likely to talk back : SASSY

112. Kind of D.A. : ASST

114. Acid __ : TEST

116. Sound of a blow : WHAP. Is this a common word? My WHAM would not work.

118. Ambient quality : AURA

119. NASA lunar transports : LEMs

121. Like some gallery patrons : ARTY

123. Headed up : LED

124. Bad check letters : NSF. We go burned at a card show. The guy bought a few pricey jersey & signed cards and wrote us a bad check. Such a painful & costly experience. St Peter will not give him the key.

125. Ochs Sulzberger pub. : NYT

To those who get the wrong grid today, please click here for the correct puzzle. On the top right, you should see Print or Download button. The above link will disappear in a week. If you still have trouble, please email me crosswordc@gmail.com, I'll send you the correct grid.

C.C.

Saturday, Jan 14th, 2017 Roland Huget

Theme: None

Words 68 (missing B,F,J,K,Q,Z)

Blocks: 25 

A perfectly symmetrical construction with chunky corners and no way to get from one to the other without going through 15-letter spanners and climbers makes this possibly the most difficult grid to work with;  I have to own up to one Google cheat, but other than that, I call this one a win - no fun-sponge answers, and solid fill throughout.  The last Saturday puzzle from Mr. Huget was nearly an identical grid, and I re-read my write-up and it was a struggle then as well.  Still, I liked the challenge, and I was within my personal allotted time, so one cheat is fair, right~?  Anyway, the four spanners and climbers;

31a. Classic children's story about healing : THE SECRET GARDEN - I'd heard of it, but knew nothing about it, so I went to the the Wiki

36a. '60s TV sidekick : AGENT NINETY-NINE - from Get Smart - one of my favorite openings for a show and theme song - here's the 60's Agent 99; I liked Anne Hathaway in the 2008 movie myself

GET SMART

7d. Find the weakness of : HIT WHERE IT HURTS

8d. Accessory for FDR : CIGARETTE HOLDER - see also 55d. for a WWII contemporary

bONnieWARD~!

ACROSS: 

1. "Yikes!" : "OMIGOSH~!"

8. Whitewash : COVER-UP

15. Ancient Roman coins : DENARII - I took Latin for four years in school, so the couble "I-I" at the end was acceptable

16. "It's not an option for me" : "I HAVE TO." - I have to add a leg image - it's not an option for me

17. Court exhibit, perhaps : DNA TEST

18. Squared up : GOT EVEN - I was not sure if this was a carpentry clue, or an "I.O.U." one

19. Customs : MORES - dah~! Not NorMs

20. '70s org. for 21-Down : WHA - I immediately filled in NHL, as I knew who we were looking for at 21d - and I was wrong~!  The WHA was the World Hockey Association, a league I had never heard of - I grew up with the NY Rangers, the team my dad followed before the birth of the Islanders - who got their start from the legal battles of the NHL with the WHA - the Wiki
 

22. Viking family dog of comics : SNERT - Hägar the Horrible

23. Notable periods : ERAS - a gimme for Saturday

24. Side issue? : THORN - a "thorn in one's side" - har-har

26. Piano __ : TRIO - yeah, this one was vague, at best; I pondered LEGS

27. Hound : NAG - oops, not the 'other' hound - DOG - I have an idea for a new board game that I have been working on all week, and there's a good chance I can produce it if the prototype is good - my friend Mike works with China to produce backyard games and such

28. Little ones : PEE-WEES

30. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO - perps

34. "What's Hecuba to him, __ to Hecuba": Hamlet : OR HE - OK, the only fill that was "meh", but not too bad when you quote Shakespeare

35. St Ives gallery : TATE - a WAG off  '--TE'

43. Discount tag abbr. : IRRegular

44. One giving a thumbs-up? : HITCHER - Always makes me think of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

45. Put the kibosh on : NIX - ARGH~! not HEX, not POX

46. Actors Glass and Silver : RONs - both have died; I knew Ron Silver - he was a lawyer on Law & Order, but I had to look up Ron Glass - ah, from Barney Miller, just before my time

48. Total confusion : CHAOS - I mentioned this word last week - and KAOS was in Get Smart, too

49. High seas adverb : THAR - she blows~!

50. Creamer of the LPGA : PAULA - perps and WAG

52. Search result : URL - oops, not HIT

53. "Rocky IV" antagonist Ivan : DRAGO - this was "my time", but Rocky movies were not my thing; 1985 was a good movie year - Back to the Future, A View to A Kill, and a tie-in to 28a. - see here

54. Being tracked, in a way : ON RADAR

56. Think it likely : DARESAY - I pondered DEEMS SO

58. Reference : RESPECT - should this have been reVerence~?  I'm calling blooper

59. Hyundai 1990 launch : ELANTRA - Nailed it, even if it was a WAG

60. Locks : TRESSES

61. Unfair treatment : RAW DEAL 

 DOWN:

1. Leftover : ODDMENT

2. Festival of Lights symbol : MENORAH - big help in the NW

3. Really ticked : IN A RAGE

4. 36-Down areas : GATES - did not work with my NorMs

5. They may be picked out : ORES - ah, a fresh clue for an old fill

6. Family nickname : SIS

9. "Look what I found!" : "O HO~!"

10. Brewery fixtures : VATS

11. What happened : EVENT

12. Venerated : REVERED - still calling blooper at 58a.

13. Womb-related : UTERINE

14. Floatplane feature : PONTOON

21. Six-time Hart Trophy winner : HOWE - either HOWE or HULL

24. Lego line that may include gears and motors : TECHNIC - my favorite collection of Lego sets; I have several kits still in a closet at mom's house, including the "old" helicopter set - here's the latest helicopter, but all the new kits have pre-molded parts that take some of the fun out of building

25. Countermands : NEGATES

28. Capital of Western Australia : PERTH - ooh, good WAG off just the "H"

29. Faun look-alike : SATYR

32. Male issue : SON

33. Cartoon canine : REN

36. Site with scanners : AIRPORT

37. It usually doesn't get a laugh : GROANER

38. Hospital triage pro : ER NURSE

39. Mayberry's home: Abbr. : N. CARolina

40. At the last minute, say : IN HASTE

41. New York county north of Erie : NIAGARA - my one cheat - and living in NY, I shoulda known....

NW corner - polar opposites; I'm in Suffolk, SE

42. 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, e.g. : EX-ROYAL - hockey is my thing, not baseball

47. Sharp rebukes : SLAPS

49. General direction : TREND

51. Citrus coolers : ADES

53. Main attraction : DRAW

55. Dogfight participant : ACE - Iron Maiden's Aces High

57. Like : À LA

Splynter 

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear JD, who joined our blog after she retired in 2008. Below is the first picture JD shared with us back when her daughter Shelby got married. Truman was only a baby then. How time flies. You can click here for many beautiful pictures JD shared with us over the years.

Friday, January 13, 2017, Bart Beisner

Title: Any PORT in a storm. Maybe we can go drinking at that place on the left in Oporto, where they hook you to an IV to get you the liquor quicker.

We return this Friday with another one clue fits all puzzle; this time the word is PORT and all four themers are 15 letters! There are many other meanings for PORT in the DICTIONARY but Bart picked some entertaining ones. It is also our first Friday the 13th of 2017....I assure you unlike Splynter I have never worn a hockey goalie mask.

We also continue our trend to bring back constructors from the past, this time with Lt. Col. (ret.) Beisner who had ONE previous publication that I have located.  He did stop by to say hello that day, perhaps he will again. With all the gridspanning you would expect little room for long sparkly fill, but we do have ESCROW,  TUNEUP,  FANNED, AWAY TEAM,  TARHEELS,  PRINCESS and  ROSE OILS. Now it is time to look at the theme:

20A. Port : CITY WITH A HARBOR (15).

25A. Port : AFTER DINNER WINE (15).

43A. Port : LEFT SIDE OF A SHIP (15).

48A. Port : CONNECTION POINT (15).

A nice set; now the rest.

Across:

1. Cabo's peninsula : BAJA.  Cabo San Lucas, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, is known for its beaches, water-based activities and nightlife. Playa El Médano is Cabo’s main beach, with outdoor restaurants and numerous bars. Past the marina is Land's End promontory, site of Playa del Amor (Lover's Beach) and El Arco, a natural archway in the seacliffs.

5. Stupefy : BESOT. Getting drunk with love.

10. Earthy shade : ECRU. They really do not agree on this simple ("Raw") color.

14. "Don't have __, man!" : A COW. Bart must be a fan of his namesake Simpson. A nice subtle Selfie SO.

15. Jennifer Saunders' "Ab Fab" role : EDINA. The frumpy one; Patsy was Joanna Lumley who was a replacement for Mrs. Peele when they tried the New Avengers.

16. Room service challenge : SLOB.

17. Simba's mate : NALA. Disney's Lion King Queen.

18. Pack animal? : HIKER. This was hard for being so easy.

19. Shrewd : CUTE. I understand it now, nut also hard to suss.

23. Heavy weight : TON.

24. It may need a boost : EGO.

34. "Mean Girls" actress : LOHAN. Rumored to be trying to get a sequel going to revive her now dead career.

35. Instrument heard in the Doobie Brothers' "Black Water" : VIOLA. Their producer, the great Ted Templeton did not see it as a hit.

36. Lived and breathed : WAS.

37. Uncompromising : GRIM. Hmm.

38. __ nus: barefoot, in Bordeaux : PIEDS. High level French. A very pedestrian clue.

39. Hilarious one : RIOT.

40. Scotch datum : AGE. I pass this to the Tinman to explain.

41. Construct : ERECT.

42. Friend of Jerry and George : COSMO. Kramer.

46. Org. with a square-rigger on its seal : USN. See the square-rigger? You all can discuss.

47. Jungle swinger : APE. I always heard it was tarzan who was a swinger who would go both ways.

57. Ointment additive : ALOE.

58. De Valera of Ireland : EAMON. The perps were solid and I needed 'em all. New York City native, Éamon de Valera was a prominent politician and statesman in twentieth-century Ireland. His political career spanned over half a century, from 1917 to 1973; he served several terms as head of government and head of state, as taoiseach (prime minister; 1932–48, 1951–54, 1957–59) and president (1959–73) of Ireland. (various)

59. "Dies __" : IRAE.

60. Array of options : MENU.

61. Urban air problem : SMAZE. No thanks, this all sminks to me.

62. Reposed : LAIN.

63. Rear deck : POOP. Is that why we call...oh never mind.

64. Blush-inducing H.S. class : SEX-ED.

65. House meas. : SQ FT. Why are square feet not square? Why not call them SQUEET?

Down:

1. Judicial seat : BANC. Literally bench in French (take that Owen and Moe!)

2. Smoothie fruit : ACAI. Ah  I See

3. Cola named for its intended effect : JOLT. A Louisiana slant.

4. Football squad in white jerseys, typically : AWAY TEAM. Why? Television I bet. LINK.

5. Lagging : BEHIND.

6. Time change? : EDIT. huh?

7. Turbaned Punjabi : SIKH.

8. Selective Service classification : ONE-A.

9. Blue Devils' rival : TARHEELS. Duke University and U. of North Carolina. ETYMOLOGY.

10. Homeowner's account, perhaps : ESCROW. Most financial institutions require borrowers to pay into such an account every month to insure money is available to pay taxes and insurance on property. It also is where we hold deposits until closing.

11. Kind of sandwich or soda : CLUB. Or something I can hit you with, or deal to you.

12. Tiller opening? : ROTO. Want to know how to BUY one?

13. Taxi alternative : UBER. How many of you have used Uber or Lyft?

21. Unlike new clothes : WORN. Most of my new clothes get worn...

22. Indian tourist mecca : AGRA. Want to book a TOUR?

25. Like some pond growth : ALGAL. I know it is probably legit but all I see is
The POEM.

26. Blacksmith's need : FORGE.

27. Copper? : THIEF. A nice reversal here, as the copper is not the cop but the one who cops what is not his.

28. Like Wrigley Field's walls : IVIED.

29. Many a flower girl : NIECE. Mine was a granddaughter.

30. Acknowledge, in a way : NOD TO.

31. "It'd be a dream come true" : I WISH.

32. Judd matriarch : NAOMI.

33. Legally prohibit : ESTOP. We also obtain estoppel letters from Condo associations etc.

38. One of Disney's official eleven : PRINCESS.  As of 2015, the eleven characters considered part of the franchise are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida.

39. Perfume staples : ROSE OILS.

41. Forum infinitive : ESSE. Latin to be.

42. Yokum cartoonist : CAPP. Alfred Gerald Caplin, better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which he created in 1934 and continued writing and drawing until 1977. Wiki.

44. Garage service : TUNE-UP.

45. Agitated : FANNED. Fanning the fire? Again, not me.

48. Where much tie-dyeing takes place : CAMP. Really?

49. Kitchen bar : OLEO.

50. Prohibition : NO NO.

51. Tone down : TAME.

52. Camera that uses 70mm film : IMAX.

53. Move like honey : OOZE.

54. Modern-day Mesopotamia : IRAQ. Iran is Persia.

55. Newbie : NAIF. The same root as Naive.

56. Commonly anchored shelter : TENT.

Well it is time for me to fold my tent and rest my weary legs. Lucky 13 to all,  thanks and come talk Bart. Lemonade out.

Thursday, January 12th 2017 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C. and E's Letter addition to the four theme entries to create a new phrase.

17A. Miss America runner-up? : SILVER BELLE. The Silver Bell is a pretty tree from the south-east USA. "Silver Bells" is the movie, and doesn't work with the letter addition.

36A. Passage for the birds? : AVIAN FLUE.  Avian flu usually is not transmitted to humans, the virus needs to go through a number of mutations before it becomes a threat.

42A. Little Jack Horner's dream? : LIFE OF PIE. "Life of Pi" was a wonderful book, I didn't see the movie, I couldn't imagine how it could match up to the text.

62A. Emulating the writing style of "The Quiet American"? : GOING GREENE. Kermit's favorite environmental initiative; Graham Greene wrote some of my favorite books.

Here comes C.C. with a letter-addition theme. Simple idea, but the theme entries are fun and it's not easy to find a set of these which don't make you groan. There's a couple of her "trademark" long downs and some solid blocks throughout which make the fill flow. Let's see what else jumps out:

Across:

1. Buccaneers' home : TAMPA. The Bucs haven't exactly lit up the NFL since they won the Superbowl in 2002. They last topped their division in 2007.

6. Silly bird : GOOSE

11. Revolting word? : ICK!

14. Plane read : E-BOOK. I take real books along, but I do have some e-books on my iPad as a backup.

15. Large grouping : ARRAY

16. Pen user : CON. Convict. Penitentiary. I had to stare this one down before the lightbulb clicked on. Very nice.

19. Part of a royal flush : ACE. TEN at the other end of the flush, so wait for a cross.

20. Anastasia __, "Fifty Shades of Grey" character : STEELE. When this book first went viral, it was amazing to see how many people (women!) were reading a book with the front cover removed on the plane.

21. Emergency signal : SOS

22. Frosted flakes : SNOW

23. Called up : RANG

25. "Unsafe at Any Speed" author : NADER

27. Put in order : SORT

30. Fab alternative : ERA. Detergents. Would the FAB ERA be the 1960's?

32. Special Forces trademarks : BERETS. There are Green Berets in both the US and British armies. The British wearers are commandos. The Red Beret is usually worn by airborne forces.

35. Legendary horse tale setting : TROY. The Y was my last fill in the puzzle. I couldn't see past TRON for absolutely no good reason. Sanity prevailed. Those dastardly Greeks, hiding in plain horse.

38. Gold, in Granada : ORO

39. "My bad" : SO SORRY

41. Wartime prez : ABE. The civil war. Sneaky, I was expecting FDR or HST.

44. Proofreading mark : STET. The dots indicate what needs to stay after first being DELE'd

45. Overwhelm : ENGULF

46. Biological building block : DNA

48. Flight-related prefix : AERO-. Cue -Run DMC featuring -smith.

49. Emerged : AROSE

51. Carrier that doesn't fly on the Sabbath : EL AL

53. Order with tzatziki sauce : GYRO. Food! I was getting hungry. I love gyros. The Mad Greek truck stop in Baker on the I-15 between Las Vegas and Barstow has one of the best I've eaten.

55. Some Samsung TVs : HDS

57. "Yay, me!" : I DID IT! Crossword-solvers' cry everywhere.

61. Fishing __ : ROD

64. Weaken, perhaps : AGE

65. Jack's links rival : ARNIE. Nicklaus and Palmer. Along with Gary Player and agent Mark McCormack, they were instrumental in developing the commercial success of the sport.

66. Start a correction process : ERASE.

67. Secret competitor : BAN. Deodorants this time.

68. Bounded : LEAPT

69. Ice cream purchases : PINTS. Way down my list of what I'd be buying in pints.

Down:

1. Hardy heroine : TESS. Cracking read. Here's the Vale of Blackmore where the novel is set.

2. Minimally : A BIT

3. Lawn disruption : MOLE. I went with MOSS first as I had MO__ . That didn't work out so well.

4. "The parent of revolution and crime": Aristotle : POVERTY. I wasn't familiar with this assertion, but it makes perfect sense.

5. Cub Scout leader : AKELA. I was a Cub Scout way back when. "Akela, we will do our best". The significance of the all the "dybbing" and "dobbing" went straight over my head until I went to look it up two minutes ago. Now I find that we were text-speaking in 1965. DYB - Do Your Best. DOB - Do Our Best. Who knew?

6. Yak : GAB

7. Miner matters : ORES

8. DuPont acrylic : ORLON

9. Mexican buffet feature : SALSA BAR. I went to a very different salsa bar when I was in Hong Kong - a great bar in Lan Kwai Fong where the music was all Latin ballroom. There were some great dancers among the customers. I was not one of them, but that did not deter me. It was July 4th, and there was drink taken, in my defense.

10. Contact's spot : EYE

11. "Tell me about it" : I CAN RELATE

12. Nickname for late-night host O'Brien : COCO. New to me. Giving Ms. Chanel the day off cluing duty.

13. Didn't just think : KNEW

18. Russo of "The Intern" : RENE

22. Feudal grunt : SERF. Low man on the totem pole in Medieval England.

24. Comprehend : GRASP

26. Shoot down : DENY. As rumors.

27. Ripped off : STOLE

28. Longtime Utah senator Hatch : ORRIN

29. Area for urban growth : ROOF GARDEN. Nice.

31. Get around : AVOID

33. Potato, e.g. : TUBER. If you go green, you'll be growing these in your roof garden.

34. Look after : SEE TO

37. Goddess of peace : IRENE. I need to file this away for future recall. I must have seen this before but it was crosses all the way for me today.

39. Red cup brand : SOLO. Those ubiquitous party cups.

40. Like some oil rigs : OFFSHORE

43. Mark's successor : EURO. German (and Austrian) currency.

44. "Amadeus" narrator : SALIERI

47. Eccentric Sacha Baron Cohen persona : ALI G. This was his original alter ego, and his best as he was completely unknown at the time.

50. Twin Cities suburb that hosted the 2008 U.S. Women's Open : EDINA. In C.C's neighborhood.

52. Madison Ave. agent : AD REP

53. Snatch : GRAB

54. Discipline with poses : YOGA

56. Cut : SNIP

58. Big man on campus : DEAN

59. Caltech, e.g.: Abbr. : INST.

60. Golf tournament souvenirs : TEES. Tees like this?

or like these?

62. Country miss : GAL. She may belong to FarmersOnly.com, a website which I was convinced was a hoax when it first started airing ads.

63. Comprehend : GET. Got it!

And I think I've run out of runway, so that's it from me. Here's the grid!

Steve