Saturday, May 4, 2019, Pawel Fludzinski

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Pawel Fludzinski

This first Saturday in May marks the 145th Run For The Roses in Louisville, Kentucky. Not only is it a showcase for beautiful 3 year-old thoroughbreds competing to don the famous wreath of roses, it also a opportunity to imbibe mint juleps and display charming millinery. The favorite Omaha Beach has been withdrawn from the race and so I am rooting for the new favorite Game Winner who is owned by an Omaha couple. The Derby proclaims itself to be "The most exciting two minutes in sports".

The constructor today is our retired organic chemist, now living in New Mexico - Pawel Fludzinski. Here you see him with his lovely 12 year-old daughter in Hawaii last Christmas. 

I asked Pawel for some inside info on this challenging puzzle and he was very generous in his response: In constructing a themeless, I always start with 2 or 3 seed entries.  In this case, I very much wanted to use PERFECT CRIME and FARM TO TABLE.  I had those "in pocket" for a while, and were in several puzzles attempts that were rejected - not because of the seeds, but the rest of the fill. I then found 2 other 11-letter entries that would work in the puzzle, and then spent a great deal of time working on creating 9-stacks that are interesting.  I thought HEDGE FUND and WOLVERINE were interesting enough to justify ANTIVENIN (not a first choice), and HERBARIA was the only thing that would work as I was getting close to the end in the fill.  Not an obvious answer, but perhaps a good challenge for a Saturday.

He added: PS - I always look forward to seeing which of my clues survive - especially for the seed entries and longer entries (i.e. 9-stacks).  I never see the final clues until the puzzle is published.

Now let's get in the starting gate (flamboyant headware optional) for our run for linguistic roses:

Across:

1. One of the X-Men: WOLVERINE - Front and center

10. Prior's superior: ABBOT - ABBOT Michael is on the right. Prior Delisi is on the left in this Georgia monastery 

15. Essential supply for an ophiologist: ANTIVENIN - Alternate name for ANTIVENOM which I first wrote in and which Pawel said was not his first choice 55. Less-common spelling: Abbr.: VAR - ANTIVENIN for ANTIVENOM?

16. Home of Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights": PRADO - Madrid, Spain's famous art museum

17. Vehicle in the 2012 film "Arbitrage": HEDGE FUND - Rotten Tomatoes opinion

18. New Mexico school athletes: LOBOS - In his last puzzle Pawel referenced Alamogordo, N.M. and today he uses the mascot of his now home state, The University of New Mexico

19. Italy's equivalent of the BBC: RAI - Radio Audizioni Italiane is the national public broadcasting company of Italy

20. Some necklaces: CHOKERS - Also athletes who fail at the end of a game

22. Its solution refutes its existence: PERFECT CRIME - The man on the bed (and his girlfriend in the background) thought they had committed the PERFECT CRIME. The man tried to cover up the murder by shooting himself, but Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov to the left) saw right through them in Death On The Nile

27. Not on edge: AT EASE.

28. Collections of plant specimens: HERBARIA and 31. Canonized Archbishop of Canterbury: ANSELM were my downfall as I chose an "E" at their confluence

32. Flow __: CHART.

33. Fill a hold: LADE.

34. Ireland's __ Féin: SINN - English: "Ourselves" or "We Ourselves") is a political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (Wikipedia) 

35. Follower of the old school?: MARM - Here's a School MARM and her charges on the treeless prairie near Dundy, NE

36. Favor, slangily: SOLID - "Hey buddy, would you do me a SOLID (favor)?"

37. Jokers: WAGS.

38. "Everybody Loves __": Johnny Cash novelty song: A NUT - Here sung with 3/4 of the Monkees

39. Pound, e.g.: POET - Ezra. UNIT felt the fury of my delete key! Do you think Pawel did that on purpose? 😏

40. Brawl: MELEE.

41. One with a family practice?: NEPOTIST - An interesting take on the word

43. Gap-related: HIATAL.

44. Becomes an overnight sensation in: TAKES BY STORM - Yeah, I'd say they did!

46. Department store staple: APPAREL.

49. Names: IDS.

50. "Grand Hotel" star (1932): GARBO - Yes, Rotten Tomatoes reviews older movies too

51. Like 24/7 news channels: ITERATIVE - Over and over and over...

57. Listing: ATILT - Leaning like a boat

58. Erin Brockovich, for one: PARALEGAL - real and reel versions 

59. Classic battlers: SEXES.

60. Reacts to a blow: SEES STARS - A comic book staple

And down the stretch we come... 

Down:

1. Nursery noise: WAH.

2. White Monopoly bill: ONE.

3. Inc., in Ipswich: LTD.

4. Bookie's cut: VIG - Wazzat?

5. High point of Hillary's career: EVEREST - Sir Edmund and his sherpa Tenzig Norgay 

6. Put a new front on, as a building: REFACE - Voila!

7. Nunavut native: INUIT.

8. "Under a Glass Bell" author: NIN.

9. Where a gaffer or grip is recognized: END CREDIT - From the funniest movie ever made - Airplane.  Who is that worst boy?

10. Equanimity: APLOMB.

11. Started to perspire: BROKE A SWEAT - 

12. Diamond immortal, with "The": BABE - Last Saturday it was Babe Ruth Day

13. Fridge-cleaning motivation: ODOR - This milk smell bad to you?

14. Not sleep well: TOSS - Let Bobby Lewis tell the melodic tale

21. Took on: HIRED.

22. Iconic dot-eater: PACMAN - Trapped!

23. Flammable gas: ETHANE.

24. Rise on hind legs: REAR UP - Hi Yo Silver!

25. "Knowing where your food comes from" movement: FARM TO TABLE - Info

26. Aspen abodes: CHALETS - Not A-FRAMES as it turns out

29. Grand Canal span: RIALTO - Our gondolier took us under the famous RIALTO Bridge in Venice 

30. Ready to roll: IN GEAR.

33. Part of a blabbing metaphor: LOOSE LIPS - "LOOSE LIPS might sink ships" from WWII

36. Abrupt increase: SPIKE - Have you bought gas lately?

40. Prayer books: MISSALS - Our paper MISSALettes are now both in English and Spanish 

42. Occult decks: TAROTS.

43. Hard-to-overcome evils: HYDRAS 

45. Brew in Brest: BIERE - How BEER is spelled in this French city that is 400 miles west of Paris

46. Ottoman officers: AGAS - Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini became the Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims or Aga Khan IV in 1957. Here he is shown in the celebration of his 60th yr in that capacity 

47. Crown: PATE.

48. Grand __: PRIX.

52. Inventor's monogram: TAE - The Wizard Of Menlo Park

53. Hanoi holiday: TET 

54. Franchise-based supermarket chain: IGA - Here is an Independent Grocery Association store in Nyah West, Victoria, Australia (pop. 552)

56. Local boundaries?: ELS - Yup, LocaL starts with an "L" and ends with an "L". No Ernie Els for our friend Pawel! (Jeffrey had 62. Divided trio?: DEES yesterday)

Now it's time to comment and have a mint julep! 

Friday, May 3, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: AM I too early?

I am back and so is Jeffrey. Our other resident cruciverbalist, JW, joins PC this week in giving us another UP-DOWN  puzzle. This one is the reverse - the theme is an added AM (morning) to the beginning (the "top") of four phrases two of which are grid-spanners, as is the reveal TOP OF THE MORNING. Showing off his mad gridding skills, he wraps the theme in double stacks of 7 and triple stacks of six in the middle.  Despite 69 spaces of theme, he includes such sparkly fill as BARCODE. BLOOPER, CURATOR, DEAFENS, DO A DEAL, EDAMAME, EURASIA, PINENUT, STAMENS, and UNIFIER. Much to say, so away we go.

3D. Chronicles of Sodom and Gomorrah?: AMORAL HISTORIES (15). While the Torah is an early written history, it likely is based on Oral histories handed down.

4D. Group of stealthy attackers?: AMBUSH LEAGUE (12). This is fun; bush league comes from a baseball term.

7D. Act like a court jester?: AMUSE AS DIRECTED (15). My favorite repurposing.

23D. Flashy jewelry for a stroll in the park?: AMBLING BLING (12). A bit of a stretch but maybe I just do not like the term bling.
And the reveal:

11D. Supposedly Irish greeting ... or a hint to four long answers: TOP OF THE MORNING (15).

Probably top o' the mornin'.

Across:

1. Org. monitoring wetlands: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. No politics.

4. Reachable: AT HAND. This was NEARBY until it wasn't.

10. Wall support: STUD. Stud is an ancient word related to similar words in Old English, Old Norse, Middle High German, and Old Teutonic generally meaning prop or support. In case you wondered.

14. Like the dawn's early light: DIM. No Star-spangled banner here.

15. "Old MacDonald" sound: MOO MOO. ... a moo moo there.

16. One might be commanding: TONE. Also not my first thought.

17. Year, in Seville: AÑO. Just straight Spanish, though the newspaper did not give you the hint.

18. Caviar fish: BELUGA. Beluga caviar is caviar consisting of the roe (or eggs) of the beluga sturgeon Huso huso. Not related to Beluga whales- they are being trained by the Russian  MILITARY.

19. Capital of Samoa: APIA. With all the nice vowels I am surprised we do not see this more.

20. Debussy's "La __": MER. The Sea in French.

21. Purposes: USES.

22. July 4th or December 25th, for many: DAY OFF. Some misdirection and holiday did not fit.

24. With 64-Across, "Henry and June" author: ANAIS. We get her full name in parts. 64A. See 24-Across: NIN.

26. Request at the bar, with "up": SET EM. A partial, I think.

28. Old-style "Tsk!": FIE. Fee fie fo fum?

29. Gardener's supply: MULCH. You really do not need mulch, but it is pretty and all.

30. Many a southwestern Asian: ARAB. Many forget that Arabs, Indians, and others are Asian. They all have booths at the annual Asian Festival in Fruit and Spice Park in Miami (the Redlands). You missed this year but there is still an Orchid Show and Fruit Festival coming up.

31. The "1" in 15, really: TEN. Base ten math.

32. Lucy's TV pal: ETHEL. Ethel Mertz is not related to yesterday's Zach Ertz.

33. Move using eBay: SELL.

34. Shop sign nos.: HRS.

35. Cause to boil: IRE. Not a favorite word, po'd appealed to me more.

36. '60s campus org.: SDS. My old friend is back to vote with your feet.

37. Chem. class suffix: IDE. This is a bit of classic fill.

39. Small shot: BBS. Almost funny. So big shot could be a cannonball? Damn, I just wasted a great new potential clue/fill. Or even a clecho - Big shots:CANNONBALLS the Not big shots: BBS.

41. When "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" is spoken in "Macbeth": ACT I. JW gets his obligatory Friday Will Shakespeare into this week early.

43. Identifies: NAMES. J'accuse!

46. PC key: ALT.

47. __ gum: thickening agent: GUAR. More than that it may be GOOD for you.

48. Tile space-filler: GROUT. Not to be confused with GROOT.

49. Friend of Tigger: ROO. The joey of Kanga.

50. More than asks: URGES.

52. "I didn't really say everything I said" speaker: BERRA. The amazing thing is how natural he was.

53. Pupil covering: CORNEA. I wonder if this is a tortured CSO to me since I have had so many Cornea operations? Nah.

55. "Sweet!": COOL.

57. "Platoon" setting, briefly: NAM. Viet-

58. Ronny Howard role: OPIE.

59. Teahouse mat: TATAMI. A tatami (畳) is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made using rice straw to form the core, the cores of contemporary tatami are sometimes composed of compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam. wiki

61. British suffix: ISE. Instead of IZE.

62. Divided trio?: DEES. There are three "D"s in that word.

63. Type of band: ONE MAN. Is this one word or two? What do you think?

65. Once, quaintly: ERST. Also, not related to Zach, at least not for a while.

66. Equestrian's forte: RIDING.

67. Empty talk: GAS. Stop gassing me was once popular.

Down:

1. Sushi bar side dish: EDAMAME. This is just a fancy name for boiled green soybeans.

2. Pesto morsel: PINE NUT. So much to know about this little GUY.

5. Ring holders: TOES. No, thank you.

6. Tiger's targets: HOLES. Woods, not cat variety.

8. Seasonal quaff: NOG.

9. Negotiate successfully: DO A DEAL. No politics.

10. Obedience school word: STAY.

12. One promoting togetherness: UNIFIER. Is that like a reveal?

13. Overwhelms with sound: DEAFENS.

25. Writer of sweet words?: ICER. Oooo, many hate the idea of calling one who decorates a cake an icer. Where is Tinbeni? Perhaps back on vacation at Hedonism, or off to Eastern Europe again now that it is warming up there.

27. Chic modifier: TRÈS. More accents.

36. Buck: STAG.

38. Take the risk: DARE.

39. Checkout facilitator: BARCODE.

40. Outtake, often: BLOOPER.  50 all-time FAVORITES.

42. Museum manager: CURATOR. Why since he doesn't cure anything? In Ancient Rome, curatores were senior civil servants in charge of various departments of public works, overseeing the Empire's aqueducts, bathhouses, and sewers. By the end of the 20th century, 'curator' came to describe a broad category of exhibition makers such as those who run museums.

44. It borders four oceans: EURASIA. This is the combined landmass of the continents of Europe and Asia - a portmanteau. It also is home to 71% of the world's population.

45. Pollen producers: STAMENS. Stamens are the units of androecium which are the male reproductive whorl of the flower.

51. "Ditto!": SO AM I.

54. Aerie, for one: NEST.

56. Arabian Sea nation: OMAN. One of the Oceans above.

60. Darth, when he was young: ANI. Anikan Skywalker sends off until next week.

What more fun can you ask on a Friday morning in spring? Well, ok a lot more but not in solving a very entertaining return from JW and his Boswell. Be well all. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy 75th birthday to Dave (D4E4H), who went through quite a few health issues last year, but he remained optimistic and cheerful through the whole deal. Did Lynn bake you another special cake pie, Dave?

Thursday, May 2nd 2019 Hoang-Kim Vu

Theme: Punditry -  four punning theme entries as follows:

20A. San Sebastián beachgoer?: BASQUE IN THE SUN. Also known as Donostia in the Basque language, San Sebastián is a beautiful city in Spain renowned for its beaches and its wonderful cuisine.

34A. Really cranky folks in Prague?: CROSS CZECHS

43A. Majestic Nairobi native? : GRAND KENYAN. Not for me. I pronounce "Kenyan" and "Canyon" quite differently.

59A. End of a Helsinki marathon?: THE FINNISH LINE. Odd one out here, I'd say. The punning "Finnish" and the punned "Finish" are too close for my liking.

Here we have another LAT debutant in Hoang-Kim Vu, Rich really is casting the net wide for new constructors, so congratulations.

I think I've said before that play-on-words puzzles are not my favorites; they're difficult to nail for one reason or another. I did like "basque in the sun" having said all that. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Radio letters: AM/FM

5. Oust: EVICT

10. Overly submissive: MEEK. Aren't the meek supposed to inherit the earth?

14. Composer Schifrin: LALO. I think I ought to know this by now, it's been used in more than a few puzzles. The crosses filled it in for me.

15. Where one might find shade on a 16-Across: LANAI. The veranda, originating quite aptly in the Hawai'ian islands.

16. Tropical spot: ISLE. Such as the island of Lanai, now 97% owned by my old boss Larry Ellison. He's come in for a lot of criticism regarding his promises to make the island "the first economically-viable 100% green community". Not a lot of progress has been made.

17. Ceremonial promises: I DO'S

18. Explosion: BLAST

19. Bread with vindaloo: NAAN. Food! I love garlic naan. I've tried making them at home, but you need that 800F tandoor to cook them in for the genuine taste and texture.

23. Doorbell ringers' response: IT'S US

24. Joshua tree habitat: DESERT. Let's hear from U2 with a live track from their "Joshua Tree" album. I saw them perform the album live at the Rose Bowl in 2017. What a great gig.

25. CPR specialist: EMT

27. Copy, in a way: TRACE

31. "Blue Bloods" network: CBS

39. Only state whose entire east and west borders are rivers: IOWA. News to me. The Missouri and Mississippi rivers are the borders. The author Bill Bryson once wrote "Iowa is so flat that if you stand on a phone book you can see for 200 miles". Made me chuckle.

41. "Mythology" author Hamilton: EDITH. Who? Apparently this Bryn Mawr graduate passed me by.

42. Word with day or year: LEAP

46. Like many Pinterest projects, for short: D.I.Y. I never quite "get" Pinterest. I've ended up there a few times searching for images, but I don't really understand what the site is all about.

47. Inkling: SENSE

48. Young Dickens hero: PIP. From Great Expectations. "I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse hands and my common boots."

50. Birthplace of Marie Curie: WARSAW. I knew this, no idea how. I must have read up on Mrs. Curie at some point.

55. PlayStation player: GAMER

62. Wielder of the hammer Mjölnir: THOR

63. Gate fastener: LATCH

64. Chip in chips: ANTE

65. See 66-Across: KANE and

66. With 65-Across, Susan Lucci role: ERICA. Crosses all the way. I don't watch daytime soaps, and thus I've never seen "All My Children". The actress was 71 when this picture was taken last year. Had some "work" done?

67. Like some dorms: CO-ED

68. Was in the red: OWED

69. Disintegrate: DECAY

70. Blunders: ERRS

Down:

1. Cover story?: ALIBI. Nice clue.

2. Really upset with: MAD AT

3. Dentist's advice: FLOSS

4. The Hagia Sophia, once: MOSQUE. This place in Istanbul, now a museum. It began life as a Greek Orthodox Christian cathedral before it became a mosque.

5. Dresden's river: ELBE. Crossword staple by now.

6. Still in effect: VALID

7. Cockamamie: INANE

8. Throws out a line: CASTS

9. Church donation: TITHE

10. Faire performer: MINSTREL. Entertainment at many a Renaissance "Faire."

11. First son of Isaac: ESAU

12. Lust for life: ELAN

13. "Inception" actor Watanabe: KEN

21. "Semper Fi" org.: U.S.M.C. Properly "semper fidelis", "always faithful"

22. Tight end Zach who scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Eagles' only Super Bowl victory (2018): ERTZ. Who? And I watched the game. He came from Stanford, so he's probably smart as well as large enough not to trifle with (6'5" and 249lbs)

26. Tough journey: TREK

28. Cruised through: ACED

29. Indian spiced tea: CHAI

30. Best Breakthrough Athlete Award, for one: ESPY

31. Smokes, briefly: CIGS

32. Drag: BORE

33. Ugly duckling, as it turns out: SWAN

35. Tribute piece: ODE

36. Confession in confession: SIN

37. Hog heaven?: STY

38. "I say, old __": CHAP

40. Got back to: ANSWERED. Strangely, this word has not appeared in either the LA Times nor the Shortz-era NY Times crosswords.

44. Unable to hear: DEAF

45. Approaching: NIGH

49. Royal home: PALACE

51. Irritated: RILED

52. It's a trap!: SNARE. Nice clue.

53. Caper: ANTIC

54. Neopagan practice: WICCA.  I had WICKA for no good reason at first, and ERIKA seemed OK. Not good enough for the "ta-da" though, so I sleuthed around until I saw my mistake.

56. Like the key of Beethoven's Fifth: MINOR. C minor in this particular instance. All together now - DA DA DA DUN!

57. Stage direction: ENTER

58. Some woodwinds: REEDS. The piccolo and flute are also part of the woodwind section of the orchestra, but do not have reeds.

59. Become less aloof: THAW

60. Give a fine edge to: HONE

61. Grammy-winning country duo Dan + __: SHAY. Crosses again, thank you. Never heard of these two chaps. 67 million folks have viewed their "Tequila" video on YouTube, so they're evidently popular somewhere out there. (See what I did with their/they're/there!)

62. Fight-ending letters: T.K.O. Technical Knock-Out, as I'm sure we all know by now. When the ref stops the fight.

And so to the grid, and that's my lot.

Steve

Wednesday May 1, 2019 Paul Coulter

It’s May, ribbit, ribbit!

“Tra la, it's May, the lusty month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray
Tra la, it's here, that shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear

It's May, it's May, that gorgeous holiday
When every maiden prays that her lad will be a cad
It's mad, it's gay, a libelous display
Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks
Everyone makes divine mistakes, the lusty month of May”

Recognize those lines? I’ll confirm or inform later on.

On to the puzzle with musical interlude #1. Today's cw is by our quasi-resident wordsmith, Paul Coulter.  For this mid-week effort, Paul placed all of the theme answers in the verticals, because.....well, because the theme demanded it.  The bottom word of each theme answer is a type of bell.
 
As a lowly enlisted swabbie, I can relate to the naval connotation of the Bell Bottom uniform. Those pant-legs were actually more stove-pipe than bell-bottom. The trousers were stocked extra long by waist measurement, and were then shortened to fit the individual sailor. The 13 buttons may be traditional (they represent the 13 colonies), but they’re a real bother to deal with. I’d vote for a zipper fly any day.

The Reveal:

28D. Retro pants, and a hint to the answers to starred clues:  BELL BOTTOMS  The bottom word of each theme answer is a type of bell.

3D. *Many Northeast tourists look up to her: LADY LIBERTY. Lady Liberty isn’t nearly so welcoming today as in years past. But here we’re talking about the Liberty Bell. When did it get it’s famous crack?

9D. *Bring-a-dish event: POTLUCK DINNER. The triangular dinner bell became popular in the early 1800s to call the family and workers in from the fields at mealtime.

 

18D. *Controversial educational institution: CHARTER SCHOOL. Your school bell might have been a hand-held model wielded by a bookish schoolmarm, but more likely it was an electric bell that signaled the beginning and end of class periods. I thought “saved by the bell” probably had a school connection. Nope, it originates in the boxing ring.

26D. *Real moneymaker: CASH COW. Cow bell. The company I worked for served as a Cash Cow for the parent corporate holding company. After the long recession in the “awl patch,” I wonder if that’s still the case.

 

Across:

 

1. Indonesian resort island: BALI. Just east of Java.

5. Champagne flute part: STEM.

9. Provide with lodging: PUT UP. Tried HOUSE first.

14. Australian export: OPAL. Wool would also fit...but it would be wrong.

15. Hilo feast: LUAU.

16. "SNL" alum Cheri: OTERI. Vowel-rich, but c’mon guys, she left SNL way back in 2000.

17. Lack of propriety: INDECORUM. I’ve been known to resemble that remark.

19. Link: TIE IN.

20. Marshal at Waterloo: NEY. Why did I think it was Dey? Oh, wait, that was L. A. Law.

21. Solo played by Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich: HAN. Han Solo, Star Wars.

22. Fly off the shelves: SELL.

24. Producing a direct electric current: GALVANIC. Back in the late 1700s Luigi Galvani discovered that muscle tissues would contract when electricity was passed through them. He experimented with frog legs, because he was prone to playing with his food.

27. Colorado town that means "town" in Spanish: PUEBLO. The USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in January, 1968. The ship was about 16 miles off the coast at the time. Here’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about the incident.

31. Tel Aviv's land: Abbr.: ISR. Israel.

32. Pre-exam feeling, if you didn't study: PANIC. I wanted ANGST.

34. Brain scan letters: EEG. I wanted MRI. I had a brain MRI last year. Contrary to popular belief, they found one.

35. Clog kin: SABOT. This was actually my first thought for this answer. Yay, me.

37. Down with something: SICK.

38. Short, for short: LIL. I really, really wanted IOU for this one. You may have noticed that I didn’t get a lot of the things I wanted in this puzzle.

39. Brunch serving: CREPE. Because Mimosa and Omelet were too long.

40. "Huh?": WHA. With the W in place, I immediately inked in the TF.  Nope, not to be.

41. Sweetly, to Solti: DOLCE. What do you suppose is the musical meaning of Dolce Vita?

43. Part of HRH: HER. Put in the H and wait for the ER or IS to show up.

44. Campus mil. group: ROTC. ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps). Back in the day, orientation lectures were required of all male freshmen. Those military instructors could stand the loud stamping of feet for just so long. They usually kicked us out after 10-15 minutes.

46. Out of favor: IN BAD. Also a sailor, missing his first letter.

47. "Dig in!": EAT.

48. In one fell __: SWOOP. I always say it as one “swell foop.” “If the shoe fits” gets similar treatment.

50. Paleo- opposite: NEO. Also the hero of the Matrix movies.

51. Source of theatrical fog: DRY ICE. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. It “sublimes” (goes directly from solid to gaseous state) when warmed. See, I didn’t sleep through every chemistry class, just most of ‘em.

53. "I'm qualified, too!": WHY NOT ME. Musical interlude #2 from this mother/daughter team.

57. "Gotcha": AH SO. Apparently “facetiously” is no longer required in the clue.

59. Bonanza find: Ore. Ben would’ve fit, but Hoss, Adam, and Little Joe were too long.

60. 1960s chess champ Mikhail: TAL. If you say so.

61. Historic Texas landmark: ALAMO. Easy for this pseudo-Texan to remember.

64. Book's epilogue: AFTERWORD.

67. "The Hobbit" hero: BILBO. Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo’s cousin, Frodo Baggins, was the hero of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

68. Hoops shot: HOOK. Basketball.

69. French friend: AMIE. Glue.

70. Creeping critter: SNAIL.

71. __ Major: URSA. The big bear in the sky.

72. Old autocrat: TSAR. “Old” tipped me off that it’d be TSAR and not CZAR.

Down:

 

1. Spring sound: BOING. I really liked this c/a. My first thought was CHIRP.

2. Sleep clinic study: APNEA. Is it really all that bad? I’ve never heard of death by snoring.

4. Paris's __ de la Cité: ILE. The had a fire there recently. You may have read about it.

5. "McSorley's Bar" painter: SLOAN. The oldest “Irish” tavern in NYC is actually known as McSorley’s Old Ale House.

6. Root vegetable: TURNIP. I don’t believe I’ve ever had one. How do you fix ‘em? Are they good? Do they get damaged when they fall off the truck?

7. __ Claire, Wisconsin: EAU. If it were in Florida, they’d call it Clearwater.

8. Rose Parade flowers: MUMS. Aren’t all flower types acceptable as float decoration?

10. Serving a purpose: UTILE. I’ve never spoken that word in my whole life as a person.

11. Links supporter?: TEE.

12. Ocean State sch.: URI. University of Rhode Island.

13. Debit card code: PIN. You also need a Pin from the IRS if you’ve been a victim of identify theft when somebody filed for your tax refund. (I think it’s safe to assume that nobody would steal your identity for the purpose of paying your taxes.)

23. Awesome: EPIC. Two of the most over-used words in the English language.

25. Brandy bottle abbr.: VSOP. “Very Superior Old Pale.” To bear that moniker, the youngest brandy in the blend must be at least four years old. In Wisconsin and Mini-Soda the brandy Manhattan is a popular cocktail...and only there, so far as I know.

29. German camera: LEICA. They’ve been at it since 1914.

30. Eyed inappropriately: OGLED. When is it an ogle, and when is it a leer? Discuss.

33. Long of "Empire": NIA. Recognize her name, but draw a blank at Empire.

35. Timetable: Abbr.: SCHED.

36. Backward, shipwise: AREAR. Gluey. Not to be confused with arrear or arrears – dead horses which were severely beaten in recent days.

40. Geneva-based commerce gp.: WTO. World Trade Organization.

42. Basie's "__'Clock Jump": ONE O. Musical interlude #3:

45. Has to pay: OWES.

49. Snaps: PHOTOS. Not ginger cookies.

52. Frost-y feet?: IAMBI. Robert Frost-y poetic feet.

54. California town wrongly thought to be named from a backwards "bakery" sign: YREKA. It’s the county seat of Siskiyou County, but you knew that. wy-REE-kə

55. "The Sound of Music" matriarch: MARIA. Von Trapp – that flibbertigibbet, will-o-the-wisp, and clown. In case you need a hint, the actress who played her in the movie also sang the words at the top of this post.

56. Church leader: ELDER. Also a tribal leader. I don’t remember any elders in the church I attended.

58. Maui neighbor: OAHU. Neighbor, if you ignore Molokai and Lanai…

61. Muscles seen at Muscle Beach: ABS. Does your muscle car have ABS?

62. Architect Maya __: LIN. Anybody else read this as “Ancient Mayan?” No, just me.

63. Montgomery's st.: ALA. Capital of Alabama.

65. In favor of: FOR. As opposed to agin.

66. Angkor __: Cambodian temple: WAT.

Quiz answer: Those lines were sung by Julie Andrews on Broadway as Queen Guinevere in Camelot.

I hope Melissa Bee is enjoying her time off. Desper-otto out. (With luck, C.C. will find a visual of the grid to stick here.)