Sunday Octobert 21, 2018 John Lampkin

Theme: "The French Disconnection" - LE is removed from the end of each theme entry.

23A. Painting of an annoying bricklayer at work?: MORTAR AND PEST. Mortar and pestle.

30A. 15th-century food-stained collectible?: GUTENBERG'S BIB. Gutenberg's Bible.

46A. Fabulist's Cheer alternative?: AESOP'S FAB. Aesop's Fable.

63A. Dollar for a shot?: BELT BUCK. Belt buckle.

67A. Dollars for shots?: ROUND TAB. Round table. Classic John Lampkin clue echo.

82A. "Snow White" witch's download?: POISON APP. Poison apple.

94A. Mud, slop, pig, etc.?: ELEMENTS OF STY. (The) Elements of Style. There's a stray LE in the first word.

107A. Sailing maneuver to avoid a pirate's threat?: DEFENSIVE TACK. Defensive tackle.

43D. Vehicle hired to carry steeplechase horses?: JUMPER CAB. Jumper cable. The only Down entry. Expertly placed in the middle. 

Reveal:

113. French article whose singular form is "disconnected" from nine puzzle answers: LES.

I actually read the title as "The French Connection" and thinking ET might be added to each theme entry.


Great to see John back. No one entertains like he does. Just look at these fresh and original clues:

4. Their pockets aren't deep: PITAS.

7. Movement at a boring concert?: NOD.

28. Bios unread by their honorees: OBITS.

44. Tip for changing your answer?: ERASER.

56. Tip for solving in ink?: NIB.

Across:

1. Dropped-jaw stare: GAWP. Not GAWK.

5. Like loving caresses: SENSUAL.

12. Audio units: Abbr.: DBS. OK, decibels.

15. "The Americans" agcy.: FBI. Never saw this series. Starring Keri Russell. I like her "Felicity". Very sweet.

18. First name in erotica: ANAIS. And 105. 18-Across and family: NINS.

20. Place for a bootee: TOOTSIE.

21. Seedy motel, say: RAT TRAP.

25. Japan's emperor: AKIHITO. Since 1989.

26. Like many forest roads: UNPAVED.

27. Suffer: AIL. Glad you can be out of the hospital today, WikWak!

28. Least obfuscated: OPENEST. Tiny dupe with the clue 36. Breezy and open: AIRY.

29. Football laterals, e.g.: TOSSES.

33. Beachcomber's pace: STROLL.

37. Glance: PEEK.

38. Chaotic mess: SNAFU.

42. Bot head?: ECO. Wiki says "EcoBot is short for Ecological Robot and it refers to a class of energetically autonomous robots that can remain self-sustainable by collecting their energy from material, mostly waste matter, in the environment."

43. Harbor protector: JETTY.

45. Dutch South Africans: BOERS.

48. "Exodus" author: URIS.

49. Chickadee kin: TIT. Old Man Keith has a good blue tits story.

50. Undocumented Nepali?: YETI. Fun clue.

51. Peak in Thessaly: OSSA.

52. Big D cager: MAV. owned by Mark Cuban.

53. Annoy: IRK.

54. PC linkup: LAN.

57. Mexican mama bears: OSAS.

59. Slip away: ELAPSE.

61. Popular Oahu beach: WAIKIKI. And 45. 61-Across wear: BIKINI.

66. "Hmm": GEE.

68. Piles up: AMASSES.

69. Captain Hook's creator J.M. __: BARRIE.

71. Eight furlongs: MILE.

72. Caught: GOT.

73. Erstwhile U.K. recording giant: EMI.

74. Kind of trading, briefly: OTC.

75. Sweet Sixteen org.: NCAA.

77. With the bow, in music: ARCO. I learned from doing crosswords.

80. Of __ mind: ONE.

81. Qatar's capital: DOHA.

84. Refine, as ore: SMELT.

87. Stick on the grill: KEBAB. Popular street food in Xi'an. Often marinated in a mix of hot red pepper and cumin. I don't recall any other Xi'an food with cumin.

88. Beat it: LAM.

89. Jamaican hybrid fruits: UGLIS.

90. Fine-tune: HONE.

91. China-related prefix: SINO.

92. Irritates: EATS AT.

98. Mist and such: VAPORS.

103. Show great respect for, perhaps: IMITATE. This is true.

104. Mythical flapper: ROC. Very popular skin care brand as well.

105. Gulf of Guinea country: NIGERIA.

106. Easy time: LEISURE.

110. City on the Elbe: DRESDEN.

111. Morning paper, e.g.: EDITION. Tiny dupe: 114. Newsroom VIPs: EDS.

112. "Gymnopédies" composer: SATIE. Erik.

115. Boot protectors: TOECAPS.

116. Smartphone component: LENS. John is a great nature photographer. And a pianist.

Down:

1. Full range: GAMUT.

2. "That's __!": A NO NO.

3. Twists: WARPS.

5. Dutch town: STAD.

6. Geological period: EON.

8. Twin-but-not-Twins' city: ST PAUL. Our local crossword tournament used to be held in St. Paul. 

9. Half a fitness motto: USE IT.

10. Freezer __: AISLE.

11. Allow: LET.

12. Window hanging: DRAPERY.

13. Where brownies come together: BAKERY. Not the girl scout brownies.

14. Wasp's weapon: STING.

15. Disc golf "ball": FRISBEE.

16. More eccentric: BATTIER.

17. WSJ news bit: IPO. Uber soon.

19. Sets money aside: SAVES UP.

22. What an X may mark: THE SPOT.

24. Arm or chin follower: REST.

30. Universal: GLOBAL.

31. Endemic: NATIVE.

32. Neh. and Esth.: BKS.

34. Penalty callers: REFS.

35. Ric of The Cars: OCASEK.

38. Opinion: SAY. So lucky to have Inanehiker (Dr. Nina) to turn to for advice.

39. French word in bios: NEE.

40. Home of Elaine, in Arthurian legend: ASTOLAT. Learning moment for me.

41. Forces fraudulently (upon): FOISTS.

47. Cavalier "My bad": SO SUE ME.

49. Emotional wounds: TRAUMAS. VA Hospital has this wonderful slogan for their PTSD patients: Strong Enough to Serve, Strong Enough to Recover.

53. Iconic WWII island, briefly: IWO.

54. Unlike idioms: LITERAL.

55. Going by, for short: AKA.

58. Not in class: ABSENT.

60. Mystery award: AGATHA.

62. "Constant Craving" singer: K D LANG.

63. Carousel item: BAG.

64. Broody rock genre: EMO.

65. Long-running forensic series: CSI.

67. Put more varnish on: RE-COAT.

69. Owie: BOO BOO.

70. Not out-of-bounds, as a ball: IN PLAY.

76. Goals: AIMS.

78. Cost-of-living no.: CPI. Consumer Price Index.

79. Photo possibilities: OPS.

80. Bama rival: OLE MISS. 

81. Tightly packed: DENSE.

83. Some leave you powerless: OUTAGES. Another great clue.

84. Miss, say: SHE.

85. "Tartuffe" dramatist: MOLIERE.

86. Foes: ENEMIES.

87. Cute calendar subjects: KITTENS. Now we can't live without Google Calendar and D-Otto's sturdy pill box.

91. Caught: SNARED.

92. "Blah, blah, blah," briefly: ETC ETC.

93. Tel __: AVIV.

95. Liszt work: ETUDE.

96. Middle Corleone brother: FREDO. No spine.

97. Mezzo-soprano Anne __ von Otter: SOFIE. Swedish. Another learning moment.

99. Part of a flower: PETAL.

100. Speak: ORATE.

101. "Breaking Bad" toxin: RICIN.

102. Benefits: SAKES.

106. Cholesterol letters: LDL.

107. Tigers' home: Abbr.: DET.

108. Vardalos of film: NIA.

109. Bread, for stew: SOP.

Boomer updates:

Boomer got his ELIGARD (hormone) shot on Tuesday after the MRI and bone scan. He'll also receive Zoledronic acid shot next month. This shot is supposed to protect his bones. This will be repeated every 3 months. The hormone shot is every 6 months.

We're going to meet with a radiation oncologist on Nov 6th, 2018 to discuss the radiation process for those bad spots in his back. Dr. Thomas Downs and their neurosurgery department are quite concerned with those spots as they're too close to the spinal cord. Boomer also has a fractured T11. No wonder he has been in so much pain.

They're going to provide Boomer with a special brace to protect his back during this period. We're waiting for the fitting call.

Lots of tests, scans and treatments ahead, I hope you continue cheering Boomer up on Mondays (He does not read other days' blog posts). Thank you!

C.C.

Saturday, October 20, 2018, Lewis Rothlein

Themeless Saturday by Lewis Rothlein 

Tonight is International Observe The Moon Night sponsored by NASA. This NASA educator and you are all encouraged to go out and look at the second brightest object in our sky and Earth's only natural satellite. Here in Eastern Nebraska the Moon will rise shortly after 5 pm tonight and should be a magnificent sight after the Sun has set. I invite you to identify as many features of the lunar surface as you can, including, but not limited to, the magnificent Tycho crater and the Sea Of Tranquility that was visited by Neal and Buzz on July 20, 1969 - Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.

Today's constructor is Lewis Rothlein whose last puzzle appeared on August 28 of this year and was well-blogged by Steve. Lewis currently lives in Asheville, N.C. and teaches this course at UNC-Asheville. I wonder if I could take it online?

In a lovely note to me Lewis said he started doing crosswords a dozen years ago and constructing four years ago. His vocations include having been a magazine editor, a syndicated newspaper columnist (SF Chronicle) and an elementary school teacher. He added that he owned a yoga studio for 10 years and decided to stretch his mind with crosswords the way he was stretching his body with yoga.

Lewis's offering today stretched me especially in the SW. I will explain my perils with those fills as I blog this wonderful puzzle and prepare to look at the Moon tonight:

Across:

1. Name derived from a Kyrgyz word meaning "sea of islands": ARAL - A "big boy" clue for our old friend ARAL. The Kyrgyz word for sea of islands is "Aral-denghiz" which has lost much of its water between 1989 to 2014 as shown below

5. __ therapy: GENE - Not help for Messers Autry, Rayburn and Hackman

9. Food quality: SAPOR - A quality perceptible to the sense of taste

14. Makes a play for: MOVES IN ON - You'd have to be my age to remember the Everly Brothers lyrics, "Johnny is a joker that's a'tryin' to steal my baby" and the title of the song.

16. Patriotic nickname: U.S. OF A

17. Start of many a puzzle: ONE ACROSS - I commented there already

18. Enjoys a course: GOLFS - Just a minute, I have a tap in

19. Stopped using: KICKED THE HABIT 

21. Addie's husband in "As I Lay Dying": ANSE.

22. "Our acts make or __ us": Victor Hugo: MAR, "we are the children of our own deeds"

23. Fee: Abbr.: CHG - I wonder if Lewis has a Lab CHG for supplying crosswords for his class

25. "The Night They Invented Champagne" musical: GIGI.

27. Curved sword, to Brits: SABRE.

29. Elver, e.g.: EEL - At the bottom right of this cycle 

30. Bug: DEFECT - _ _ _ E C T cried out for INSECT and was my first roadblock. 

32. In a happy place: GLAD.

33. __ Fridays: TGI - We drive by one on our way to our favorite restaurants 

34. "Seriously?": IT IS  - IT IS? is synonymous and IT IS answers the question 


35. Hard-to-find items, to collectors: RARES - Do you really think this RARE, an 1895 Morgan Silver Dollar, just happened to walk into a Las Vegas Pawn shop?

37. Teller's output: YARN - Yeah my first teller first output was CASH. 40. "No more!": STOP IT, Lewis! 😉

38. Sydney's st.: NSW - The state of New South Wales is in Australia not Sydney in NEBraska's panhandle

39. Strong reaction: RISE - Some kids just want to get a RISE out of a teacher.  Good teachers follow the advice below

42. First cloned mammal: EWE - We all remember Dolly and I propose we clone C.C.

43. Increased: UPPED - Since becoming the Saturday blogger, I have UPPED my game and learned to be more 59. Quick to recover: RESILIENT 

45. Shaded: HUED - I have had a rose-HUED face from embarrassment on occasion 

46. Noël Coward, for one: SIR - S _ _ cried out for SPY which SIR Noël was during WWII. Churchill fought granting him a knighthood.

47. Proverbial team feature?: NO I 

48. Where Zeno taught: ELEA - On the west coast of current day Italy

50. Experimental vehicle: SELF DRIVING CAR - Hmmm... 

56. "Twilight" author Stephenie: MEYER - No idea, which did not help my SW ills

57. "Nurse Jackie" Emmy winner: EDIE FALCO - A lovely harvest of vowels

58. Compensate (for): ATONE  - A _ _ _ _  is not ALLOW. More SW issues! 

60. Wet: DOUSE - There was a time when this was a habit at Husker games

61. Spotted: SEEN  - Not PIED

62. Refusals: NOES - They all mean NO


Down:

1. Out of control: AMOK - Always sounds like AMUK to me

2. Pasta __: food brand: RONI - Rice-a-RONI was introduced in 1958, Noodle-RONI in 1964 and became Pasta-RONI in 1995

3. "__ plaisir!": AVEC - J'ai blogué ce puzzle avec plaisir (I blogged this puzzle with pleasure)

4. Auto fluid problems: LEAKAGES - What fluid is that on your garage floor?

5. Braces (oneself): GIRDS - Florida has had to GIRD their loins twice this hurricane season

6. Online reminders: E-NOTES.

7. It can tide you over: NOSH - How 'bout 9. Like many donuts: SUGARED.

8. Harmonious outfit: ENSEMBLE - Pronunciation? 

10. Tell __ story: elicit sympathy: A SOB - "Tell me again why you don't have your project done that I assigned 10 weeks ago"

11. Legal barrier: POLICE TAPE - You can have your own 1,000' for $19.29

12. How some survivalists live: OFF THE GRID - OFF THE LAND didn't cut it!

13. __ al-Khaimah: UAE emirate: RAS - In a very strategic location 

15. __ route: SCENIC 

20. Hound: HARASS - A questionable joke comes to my mind but I'll spare you.

24. Sparkle: GLINT - John Marshall forever changed the west when he saw the GLINT of gold flakes in a creek named for his boss  John Sutter on January 24, 1848

25. Sees through: GETS WISE TO - Too late, you voted for him/her

26. "Here's my advice ... ": IF I WERE YOU - A British comedy about a man and wife who change bodies and get a different 51. Viewpoint, metaphorically: LENS in the second act

28. Go along: AGREE - It's usually not a hill worth dying on!

30. Patronizes, with "at": DINES 

31. Word from the Greek for "three-footed": TRIPOD - I first learned this word in P.E. class 

36. Wannabes: ASPIRERS 

37. "I thought we were done": YOU AGAIN - Some in the above crowd follow the auditions from city-to-city despite being rejected

39. What animals do in the wild: RUN FREE - No more train rides for this elephant as Ringling Bros. retired all of them in 2015

41. Roger Goodell's gp.: THE NFL - The $30M dollar man who has tried to 44. Work out: DEVISE ways to keep players safer

49. Protest where people do and don't take a stand?: LIE IN - Ah, the 60's with John and Yoko

52. One from a penseur: IDEE - L'IDEE de Rodin était de faire une sculpture appelée "Le Penseur" (Rodin's idea was to make a sculpture called "The Thinker")

53. "Pinocchio" goldfish: CLEO - A charming example of Disney anthropomorphism starring CLEO and Figaro 

54. Often embarrassing outbreak: ACNE.

55. Doesn't keep: ROTS

56. __ money: MAD - He's not right all the time!

Before you try the "Down Dog" to honor our constructor or get out your binoculars and telescope for Moon viewing tonight, please take time to comment:

DA GRID

Friday, October 19, 2018 Craig Stowe

Title: STER the pot.

How funny, here I am writing up a Craig Stowe puzzle so soon after his Saturday. This is Craig's 20th  LAT publication, but his 11th in 2018!!!! Like I said, he has turned it on. I blogged the PUZZLE which was his debut in December 2015. Today, as befitting a Friday, features the impressive add, not 1 letter, not 2 letters, not 3 letters, but the 4 letters -STER- to common two word-phrases. We have seen this before from our Friday stalwart JW, but once again it is an impressive creation. And the inclusion of  À LA MODE,  COMPETE,  DATA SET,  ENOUNCE,  PARADOX,  RHOMBUS, CHEAP SHOT,  DERELICTS,  HORSEHIDE and  I'M ON A DIET shows the skill Craig has developed in less than 5 years. Okay, let's examine the result.

16A. Physician for Dickens' Miss Havisham?: SPINSTER DOCTOR (14). Do I play SPIN DOCTORs or explain the Great Expectations character? Spinster is such a fun old-fashioned word.

25A. Station for exercisers on wheels?: HAMSTER RADIO (12). If I were a hamster I would find this clue hurtful; these days HAM RADIOS are not that popular.

43A. Expert guard dog?: MASTER BARKER (12). MA BARKER was an infamous gangster head of a crime family. She and her son Fred were killed in Central Florida. 

56A. Cool cat's affectionate friends?: HIPSTER HUGGERS (14). Hip huggers fueled my adolescent fantasies along with mini-skirts.

On to the rest:

Across:

1. Trendy:  À LA MODE. Not only for pie and ice cream. We have a lot of French from our Canadian Constructor.

8. No longer outstanding: REPAID. "Does he still owe you money? No, he repaid me."

14. Catch-22: PARADOX.

15. "Am I the problem?": IS IT ME? One of the multi-word fill.

18. Morales of "Ozark": ESAI. This role is very far from his days on NYPD.

19. Canada's Buffy Sainte-Marie, by birth: CREE. She was born in Canada and was also a musical idol in my adolescent year when I listened to her, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez and so many more.

20. Math functions: SINES.

22. Fleur de __: sea salt: SEL. French - this means "flower of salt." Kazie, do you think it should be Sel de Mer?

23. Clever remarks: MOTS. Bon mots, also French. I guess this is all colloquial, perhaps influenced by Quebec?

24. Sedate: CALM.

29. Earth tone: OCHER. Ochre from yesterday or ocher is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in color from yellow to deep orange or brown.

32. Ancient colonnade: STOA. Stoa, plural Stoae, in Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway.

33. "Disgusting!": ICK.

34. Diamond figure: RHOMBUS. A square is also a rhombus.

37. Play seriously: COMPETE.

39. "... this night, being __ my head": Shak.: OER. Romeo and Juliet: ACT II, Scene 2
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
30Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

40. Hideout: LAIR. This was very big in the old Westerns and Adam West BATMAN.

42. Soft touch: PATSY. Last week, it was a sap.

47. Foil relative: EPEE.

48. Couple: DUAD. Another odd coincidence, as this was in Wednesday's puzzle and PK's post yesterday. That was its second appearance the first being in 2012.

49. Andean stew veggie: OCA.

52. Rapper Ice Cube's first name: O'SHEA. O'Shea Jackson Sr., known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Ice Cube initially gained recognition as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A.

54. Clothes to clean: WASH. Hi honey, I will do the wash tonight.

55. Zipcar parent company: AVIS. ZIPCAR is a car-sharing service, where you can rent a car for an hour or two, and pay by the minute or the hour. It is the response to the success of UBER, LYFT, and Airbnb.

59. Texas oil city: ODESSA.

60. State: ENOUNCE. Not in my vocabulary but an easy guess.

61. Waver: TEETER. Back and forth; cannot make up my mind.

62. Computer input: DATA SET. This is a collection of related sets of information composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.


Down:

1. Stained glass settings: APSES. A familiar church part also in Wednesday, right next door to ...

2. Slip: LAPSE. No, I am sure it was deliberate.

3. Type similar to Helvetica: ARIAL. One of many sans serif types.

4. Nail treatment: MANI. But no pedi?

5. Has too much: ODS.

6. One involved in a memorable "bubble": DOT COM. An insightful ARTICLE explaining the bubble and the burst.

7. Puts forth: EXERTS. Effort.

8. Tease: RIDE.

9. Juan's "that": ESO. Spanish one.

10. Selfies, e.g.: PICS.

11. Ancient region ruled by Athens: ATTICA. Some HISTORY.

12. Small portion explanation: I'M ON A DIET. Makes sense but not easy to get this multi-word fill.

13. Ones neglecting their duties: DERELICTS. I have only seen the word used to mean a person without a home, job, or property. I do know the term dereliction of duty, though.

17. Score marks: RESTS. Musical score.

21. Soul singer Robinson's debut album: SMOKEY. This was after he left the Miracles. LINK.

23. Material for Michelangelo's "David": MARBLE. David is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The STATUE.

25. Train bottom: HEM. Train on a dress; very tricky for a three letter fill.

26. Series-ending abbr.: ETC.

27. Pal of Piglet: ROO.

28. Stepped (up): RAMPED.

29. Words from a balcony: O ROMEO. This is the response to 39A.
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
35Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

30. Unsportsmanlike conduct: CHEAP SHOT. Some from FOOTBALL.

31. Baseball, in old slang: HORSEHIDE. Footballs were pigskins and baseballs...

35. Former Mideast gp.: UAR. United Arab Republic.

36. Member of the fam: SIB.

38. __ value: PAR. A securities term.

41. Control tower device: RADAR.

44. Mobile home?: TEEPEE. Cute, as you roll them up and go.

45. Hurried: RUSHED.

46. Islands VIP: KAHUNA. We do not often get Hawaiian words, this means a wise man or shaman.

49. Some Viking appliances: OVENS. Viking Range Corporation is an appliance company that manufactures kitchen appliances for residential and commercial use. Viking originated the "professional" segment of kitchen appliances with its introduction of the first professional-grade range for home use in 1987. wiki.

50. "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. In Greek, it is pronounced KIRKE. She was a goddess of sorcery (pharmakeia) who was skilled in the magic of transmutation, illusion, and necromancy. Not to be confused with CERSEI.

51. Plus: ASSET.

53. Kind of D.A.: ASST.

54. Diminish slowly, with "off": WEAR.

55. Líquido para café: AGUA.  Spanish two to finish language lesson.

57. "The Cocktail Party" monogram: TSE. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM, was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic

58. Grasped: GOT. I hope you all grasped the theme and solved with a smile on your face.

A very nice Friday workout built around a solid theme with enough crunch to remind us it is Friday. Welcome back to Friday Craig, thanks for telling us of your life and keep them coming. Lemonade out.

Thursday, October 18th 2018 Roger & Kathy Wienberg

Theme Three-Card Monte - as the reveal tells us:

55A. Vegas device used literally in three puzzle answers: CARD SHUFFLER

Which leads us to:

20. They may be added to soup: SODA CRACKERS. I had a little bit of a mental block with this one - I wanted SALT, not SODA and so things wouldn't work too well in this area. The reveal put me straight.

32A. Recognition event: AWARD CEREMONY

40A. Camp activities: ARTS AND CRAFTS

A simple but slick theme with plenty of weight in the theme answers. Add to that a couple of 10-letter across entries and two 11's in the downs and that's a pretty weighty grid to fill around. Roger & Kathy have done a great job with the fill, there's nary a clunker in sight, and where there are some very common fill words, the cluing is often fresh. Excellent stuff.

Across:

1. Cartman on "South Park": ERIC. There are websites where you can make your own "South Park" avatar - this is one of mine from the start of a Premier League season a couple of years ago:

5. John follower: ACTS. New Testament of the Bible. The Acts of the Apostles follows The Gospel according to St. John.

9. European farewell: ADIEU

14. Default takeback: REPO

15. Formal agreement: NOR I. I can't stop parsing this as NORI, the dried seaweed wrapper for sushi rolls.

16. Two-time Argentine president: PÉRON. Interesting use of "two-time" here - Juan Péron actually served three terms as president, but two were consecutive from 1946-1952 and 1952-1955.

17. Famous __: AMOS

18. Keys for Elton: GRAND PIANO

22. Tennis' Open __: ERA

23. Smooth-talking: OILY

24. Fight: COMBAT

28. "25" album maker: ADELE

30. Federal URL ending: GOV

31. Lennon's lady: ONO

36. Prop for Frosty: PIPE

38. Crown installer's org.: ADA. American Dental Association.

39. Short strings?: UKES

45. Inventor's monogram: TAE. Thomas Alva Edison, natch.

46. Head for Vegas?: LAS

47. Carpenter's joint: MITER

49. Like Justice League members: HEROIC

51. Stub __: A TOE

53. Stroke that doesn't count: LET. Tennis serve that hits the net cord before landing in the service court. I noticed last year at Wimbledon that they no longer have judges sitting at the side of the net with the finger on the net cord. When did that stop?

58. Prime hotel time: HIGH SEASON

61. Assessment: LEVY

62. Comforting words: I CARE

63. Support at sea: MAST

64. Destructive Greek god: ARES

65. Genres: TYPES

66. Watch pair?: EYES

67. Sly attention-getter: PSST!

Down:

1. Rub out: ERASE

2. Rider on a shark: REMORA. I'd never heard of these guys before. They're not parasitic as they do no harm to the shark, other than hitch a free ride. They're not really symbiotic either, as the shark doesn't really get much benefit from having them around. The sharks just seem to enjoy the company.

3. Audio system connector: IPOD ADAPTER. I fitted one of these gadgets in my last car to supplement the AM/FM and CD options. Then I lost the iPod.

4. Cuban thing: COSA

5. Hotter: ANGRIER

6. Color named for a sea animal: CORAL

7. Detective role for Beatty: TRACY. Dick Tracy. Didn't Warren co-star with Madonna in that movie? I think that led to something of a fling between them.

8. Cleaning area: SINK

9. Say yes: APPROVE

10. Reason-based faith: DEISM

11. Lyricist Gershwin: IRA

12. Many ages: EON

13. Mattel game since 1992: UNO

19. Furnishings and such: DECOR

21. Root beer alternative: COLA. See "Dad's" below.

25. Proprietors for word lovers: BOOKSELLERS. I love bookstores. If you want to drop me off somewhere and know exactly where I'll be by the time you get back, however long that is, leave me at a bookstore.

26. Diarist Frank: ANNE

27. Elves' output: TOYS

29. Ram fans?: EWES. The Rams fans are all around here.

30. Camping stuff: GEAR

33. Root beer since 1937: DAD'S. You can buy an original, empty bottle on eBay right now for $15.

34. Epidemic-fighting agcy.: CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

35. You won't see one at Westminster: MUTT. You will at Westminster Cathedral, they have a Pet's Corner. Oh wait, Poet's Corner, slight difference.

36. Trail: PATH

37. Requiem Mass hymn word: IRAE. Dies Irae, or "Day of Wrath".

41. They're assumed: ALIASES

42. Mother-of-pearl: NACRE

43. Bottom lines: AMOUNTS

44. Feudal estate: FIEF

48. John Wick portrayer: REEVES. My neighbor Keanu.

50. Natural clay pigment: OCHRE

51. Evaluate: ASSAY

52. More of that: THOSE

54. Secret rendezvous: TRYST

56. Title for Helen Mirren: DAME. "Der ain't nuttin' loik ..."

57. Flutter: FLAP

58. Baseball stat: HIT. Plenty of hits at this time of year. My Dodgers hoping for one better than last year, but have to get past the Brewers first! 5-1 tonight, so 3-2 in the series ...

59. Standoffish: ICY

60. Mountain pass: GAP

Wow - tempus fugit - time to call it a wrap!

Steve