Wednesday, December 2, 2015, Alan Der Kazarian

Title: So CUTE, I can BEARLY stand it!

Alan's fun gimmick is to take the names of four of the BEARS shown above and not only use them as the first word in 4 starred fills (two great vertical spanners!) but have them go DOWN the grid to complement the reveal  in 55 Across - BEARS DOWN. Therefore we not only have the names of four BEARS but they are literally going DOWN. Wonderful! 

Theme Reveal:

55. Focuses even harder ... and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : BEARS DOWN

Theme Answers - All our ursine crossword visitors are pictured above

3. *Rhode Island school : BROWN (BEAR) UNIVERSITY

5. *Like Southern California beaches : SUN (BEAR)  DRENCHED

24. *One of two cold atmospheric cyclones : POLAR (BEAR)  VORTEX 

11. *Title female "trying to make a devil out of me," in a Santana hit : BLACK (BEAR)  MAGIC WOMAN

Across      

1. "Mamma Mia!" group : ABBA - Fun music!!

5. Tunes : SONGS

10. Fundamentals : ABC'S

14. Talking iPhone feature : SIRI - "Quick, SIRI, should I hit 15 or stand?"

15. Destroyer destroyer : U-BOAT - The Imitation Game told of breaking the Enigma Code so the Allies could destroy their destroyer's destroyers 

16. Messy stuff : GLOP

17. __ smasher : ATOM - What the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is

18. "I'm innocent!" : NOT ME - Middle School Theme Song

19. Hindu deity : RAMA - also known as Raghava, is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, but you knew that

20. High-speed war plane maneuver : POWER DIVE 

22. Hunter's device : DECOY - Some DECOYS placed near Dover made the Germans think D-Day would happen at Calais not Normandy

23. Gets close to : NEARS

24. Cheat, in a way : PEEK  

25. Seasonal malady : FLU 

27. Find work : GET A JOB - Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip, Mum mum mum mum mum mum, GET A JOB, but you knew that

30. Shakespearean fairy queen : MAB

33. Large-leafed tree : LINDEN 

35. Batman portrayer Kilmer : VAL - Everybody gets a turn

36. Skating commentator Lipinski : TARA

37. Passionate : AVID

38. Dishes for company : CHINA 

40. Eagerly excited : AGOG

41. Golfer Ballesteros : SEVE - The late SEVE had every shot!

42. Furrow maker : HOE

43. Ruling period : REGIME

45. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr. : HRE - According to Voltaire - Neither Holy, Roman nor an Empire

46. Avant-garde : NEW WAVE

48. Low or no follower : CAL 

49. Insert for a 6-Down : REED - Double REED actually 

51. Shoot well under par, in golf lingo : GO LOW - Who better to tell you how than the #1 golfer in the world Jordan Spieth? 

53. Syria's Bashar al-__ : ASSAD - Many groups are waging war in his country

59. Letters after phis : CHIS

60. "The Planets" composer : HOLST - A Philistine like me (I?) needed the H in HEF to finish this

61. Texter's "If you ask me" : IMHO 

62. Adorable : CUTE

63. Wipe off : ERASE 

64. Dismissed, with "off" : LAID - Schools call it RIF - Reduction In Force. "Losing your job by any other name..."

65. "Until next time," in texts : TTYL - Didn't all of us know it's "Talk To You Later"? OMG, LOL!

66. Oscar's roommate : FELIX 

67. Tolkien's Treebeard et al. : ENTS
 
Down

1. PDQ : ASAP

2. __-Honey : BIT-O - My teeth hurt just typing this

4. Pop singer Mann : AIMEE - Bassist and vocalist for 'Til Tuesday, but you knew that

6. Duck player in "Peter and the Wolf" : OBOIST - Didn't we all learn this in grade school?

7. Punishment with a grounding : NO TV - or iPad, iPhone, laptop, Wii, Xbox, PS4...

8. Risk, e.g. : GAME

9. Canonized Mlle. : STE

10. Feel the same way : AGREE

12. "¿__ está?" : COMO - Adding "usted" is very formal

13. Fix, as a pet : SPAY - We paid the Lincoln Humane Society $133 for Lily which included SPAYING. What a bargain!!

21. Blow one's top : RAGE

22. Cotillion honoree : DEB

25. Jiffy : FLASH 

26. Iron-rich meat : LIVER - I might opt for anemia! 

28. Miller's "__ From the Bridge" : A VIEW - Miller's tragic protagonist informed on  people in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Later Miller himself refused to do that in front of the HUAC committee.

29. First calendar pg. : JAN

31. Food court attraction : AROMA - That food court AROMA might be coming from our sometime cwd visitor

32. Something to pick lox for : BAGEL

34. '50s political monogram : DDE

36. Label : TAG

39. "__ so?" : HOW

44. Fish caught in pots : EELS

46. Author Buntline : NED - Dime novelist NED (actually Ezra Zane Carroll Johnson) may or may not have presented Wyatt Earp with one of these Colt Buntline Specials he commissioned

47. Tennis great Andre : AGASSI

50. Studio piece : EASEL

52. "Swan Lake" swan : ODILE - But you knew that

53. Customer holding: Abbr. : ACCT

54. Closed : SHUT

55. Produced, as fruit : BORE 

56. Tel Aviv airline : EL AL 

57. Smidgen : WHIT

58. Quiet yeses : NODS - Subtle

60. Celeb with a mansion : HEF

Now that you have your BEARINGS, let's hear your assessment.

Husker Gary

  

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Tribute - to Woody Allen

1A. With 69-Across, filmmaker born 12/1/1935 who directed and wrote five films in this puzzle : WOODY and so 69-Across. See 1-Across : ALLEN

18A. With 59-Across, 1980 film by 1-/69-Across : STARDUST and so 59-Across. See 18-Across : MEMORIES

27A. 2011 film by 1-/69-Across : MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

33A. 1971 film by 1-/69-Across : BANANAS

36A. 1973 film by 1-/69-Across : SLEEPER

45A. 1995 film by 1-/69-Across : MIGHTY APHRODITE

Rabbit, rabbit! Argyle here with a rare Tuesday appearance by Jeffrey Wechsler. Woody is 80 years old today. I won't even try to list all of his accomplishments.

Across:

6. Apparel : GARB

10. Sacramento's state, briefly : CAL. (California)

13. "Most certainly!" : "INDEED!"

15. Language that gave us "khaki" : URDU. Urdu is historically associated Hindustan.

16. Spanish she-bear : OSA. (el oso(m))

17. Look that way : SEEM TO

20. Suffers from : HAS

21. Sneaky tactic : RUSE

23. Kosher : LEGIT

24. Diagnostic machine : IMAGER. But not the operator?

26. Make __ for: argue in favor of : A CASE

31. Being kept cold : ON ICE

32. Sardinian six : SEI

42. Junio, por ejemplo : MES. Spanish month of June.

44. Low voice : BASSO

52. Like a softly blowing fan : ON LOW

53. Nincompoops : MORONS

54. Windy City airport : O'HARE

55. One of the deadly sins : LUST

56. Camp bed : COT

61. Camden Yards ballplayer : ORIOLE. Baltimore, MD.

64. Spanish gold : ORO

65. Sit for an artist : POSE

66. Have a place to call home : RESIDE. A place to hang your hat.

67. "__ the ramparts ... " : O'ER. "O, Say" yesterday. Any more and we will have to stand up.

68. Figure (out) : SUSS

Down:

1. Genie's offer : WISH. Three wishes is standard.

2. Most fit for service : ONE A

3. Keats works : ODEs

4. __ Bums: Brooklyn Dodgers nickname : DEM. (them)

5. "Despite that ... " : "YET ... ". (and yet...)

6. Tailor's inserts : GUSSETS

7. Major thoroughfares : ARTERIES

8. Nutritional meas. : RDA. (Recommended Dietary Allowance)

9. Sack material : BURLAP

10. Mountain lion : COUGAR

11. Birthplace of St. Francis : ASSISI. Assisi is a town and comune of Italy in the province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. Now you know.

12. Coffee drinks with steamed milk : LATTES

14. Hip-hop headgear : DO-RAG

19. Prefix meaning "ten" : DECA

22. "That's awful!" : "UGH!"

24. Ancient Peruvian : INCA

25. Personal bearing : MIEN

27. Unruly group : MOB

28. Words before flash or jiffy : IN A

29. Cacophony : DIN

30. Zip, in soccer scores : NIL

34. Novelist Tan : AMY. Her best-known work is The Joy Luck Club.

35. Smooth, as a transition : SEAMLESS

37. Black, to a bard : EBON

38. "CSI" actor George : EADS

39. Tire pressure meas. : PSI. (pound per square inch)

40. S.C. clock setting : EST. (Eastern Standard Time)

41. Fish eggs : ROE

43. Husbands and wives : SPOUSES

45. Cow sound in "Old MacDonald" : MOO MOO here and a moo moo there.

46. Response from another room : "IN HERE"

47. Supermodel's allure: Var. : GLAMOR

48. Prefix with scope : HORO. (horoscope)

49. Annoying types : TWERPS

50. Info on a store door: Abbr. : HRS. (hours)

51. Helicopter component : ROTOR

56. Slinky shape : COIL. Ah, the things we learn on the blog.

57. Merrie __ England : OLDE

58. High schooler, typically : TEEN

60. Letters that promise payback : IOU

62. Stephen of "The Crying Game" : REA

63. Alcatraz, e.g: Abbr. : ISL. (island)

Argyle

Monday, November 30, 2015 Don Rosenthal

Theme:      FREEZE!

17A. Started to sneeze and cough, say : CAUGHT A COLD

28A. Really worked hard : BUSTED ONE'S CHOPS

44A. Paid for everyone's dinner : PICKED UP THE BILL

58A. Taken away in handcuffs ... and a hint to the starts of 17-, 28- and 44-Across : UNDER ARREST

Argyle here. Don's previous puzzle here. Two grid spanning entries crossed by two long non-themed columns; a page from a C.C. puzzle book. Nicely done.

Across:

1. Beatle Paul's first wife : LINDA. Linda, née Eastman, died from breast cancer in 1998.

6. Second-string squad : B-TEAM

11. Tummy muscles : ABs

14. Lunchbox cookies : OREOs. Too many Oreos can hide those abs.

15. Hardship : RIGOR

16. "Nope" : "NAH"

19. Org. promoting hunter safety : NRA. (National Rifle Association of America)

20. Basil or rosemary : HERB

21. IV monitors : RNs. (registered nurse)

22. Honor __ thieves : AMONG. First of some clues that seem to be truncated. "No honor among thieves" is the phrase I'm familiar with.

24. Musical Apple : iPOD

26. Exposed : BARED

34. Critter that sleeps floating on its back : OTTER. Sea otters do.

35. National Anthem starter : "O, SAY ... "

36. Kitten cry : [MEW!]

37. Gen-__: post-baby boomers : XERs

38. Camera setting : F-STOP. Haven't seen this old crossword favorite in a while.

40. Wait : BIDE. Bide your time and all the old crossword favorites will show up eventually.

41. Small S.A. country : URU. Uruguay is in South America.

                            Vacation Guide

42. Red Sox star Big __ : PAPI. David Ortiz.

43. Panama divider : CANAL. What would it cost to swim it now?

48. Exhausted : TIRED

49. Fit for sainthood : HOLY

50. Catcher's position : SQUAT

52. Holiday tree : FIR. Got fir?

53. Rock's Mötley __ : CRÜE

57. Continent north of Afr. : EUR.

62. Aragon aunt : TIA. Aragon is in northeastern Spain.

63. Argue the opposing viewpoint : REBUT

64. Hit half of a record : SIDE A. Usually.

65. Home of the Cardinals: Abbr. : STL. St. Louis.

66. Small and glittering, like eyes : BEADY

67. Terminate the mission : ABORT

Down:

1. Scot's swimming spot : LOCH. Don't harass the monsters. They are national treasures.

2. "Dies __": hymn : IRAE

3. Nerve: Pref. : NEUR

4. Wounds from an aggressive pooch : DOG BITES

5. Silvery gray : ASH

6. Godfather portrayer : BRANDO. Marlon Brando, Jr.

7. Muscle twitches : TICs

8. Self-image : EGO

9. "You've got mail" company : AOL

10. Elizabeth Bennet's suitor in "Pride and Prejudice" : MR. DARCY

11. In the year of the Lord, in dates : ANNO DOMINI

12. Farm building : BARN or shed or silo or ....

13. Layered haircut : SHAG

18. Walked : TROD

23. "Not so great" : "MEH"

25. According to : PER

26. Kiss from Carlos : BESO

27. "Do it yesterday!" on memos : ASAP. (As Soon As Possible)

28. Pack in cartons : BOX UP

29. Wombs : UTERI

30. Like earthquake damage : STRUCTURAL

31. Inept waiter's comeuppance : NO TIP

32. Foot-operated lever : PEDAL

33. "Peachy!" : "SWELL!"

38. Gradually vanish : FADE

39. Tater : SPUD

40. Nursery furniture with bars : BABY CRIB. Behind bars at such a young age!

42. Bother : PERTURB

43. Animation frame : CEL

45. Seoul-based Soul maker : KIA. Cars.

46. Minimum age for a U.S. senator : THIRTY

47. Jewish wedding dance : HORA

50. Tennis divisions : SETS. game, set, match.

51. Give notice : QUIT

52. Animosity spanning decades : FEUD

54. Change the decor of : REDO

55. __-friendly : USER

56. State, in France : ÉTAT

59. Wedding page word : NÉE

60. Corp. alias letters : DBA. "doing business as"

61. Pretoria's land: Abbr. : RSA. Pretoria is one of Republic of South Africa's three capitals.

Argyle

Sunday, Nov 29, 2015 Gary Schlapfer & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "Man to Man" - Both parts of each theme entry can precede "Man".

23A. Position for Walter Cronkite : ANCHOR CHAIR. Anchorman. Chairman.

25A. Bell site : FRONT DOOR. Front man. Doorman.

36A. Official arachnid of South Carolina : WOLF SPIDER. Wolfman. Spider-Man.

45A. Political fund-raiser : SUPER PAC. Superman Pac-Man.

70A. Stroll around the station? : SPACEWALK. Spaceman. Walkman.

93A. Camping attraction : FRESH AIR. Freshman. Airman.

101A. Focused group? : CAMERA CREW. Camera man. Crewman.

117A. Lou Gehrig nickname, with "The" : IRON HORSE. Iron man. Horseman. We originally had BOATHOUSE here. Rich said that "Houseman" is an old term and might not resonate with many solvers, so we came up with IRON HORSE, which is snazzier, though this resulted in 70A being the only one-word entry.

119A. Hobbit world : MIDDLE EARTH. Middleman. Earthman.

C.C. here.

Gary originally proposed to me a set of four players who once played Batman. The letter lengths would not match. More importantly, the names are still names. He had BUSTER KEATON for Michael Keaton, MAE WEST for Adam West, CASEY AFFLECK for Ben Affleck & ROSEMARY CLOONEY for George Clooney. The only one that might work is WEST, as we can use THE WILD WEST. If you click this puzzle I made with Argyle, you'll see what I mean. It's important that those names are non-names in the theme context. Just normal nouns.

I asked Gary if he was interested in changing direction and going with  this "Man to Man" approach. He was game. So here is the result of our team work.  Gary is hard-working and super creative. A natural when it comes to clues.  Always fun to collaborate with him.

Across:

    

1. Healthy bar creations : SALADS. Light start.

7. Rudiments : ABCs

11. Diced dish : HASH. Food again.

15. Bee relative : WASP

19. End of an uncertain statement : OR IS IT? Not easy to parse.

20. Qatar home of the Aspire Tower : DOHA. Gary's hard work. Tough to come up with fresh clues.

21. Canyon response : ECHO

22. "__ Dinka Doo" : INKA

27. "The Black Cat" author : POE

28. Out of juice : DEAD. For DEAD, I always go for "Batteries" direction.

29. Style : MANNER

31. Surfer wannabe : HODAD

32. Rounded hammer part : PEEN

33. Wish list responder : GENIE

34. Mortar spreaders : TROWELS

40. On the money : PRECISE

42. Arabic leader? : ALIF. First letter in Arabic alphabet.

43. Finish the team practice : DO LAPS

49. Stuck with : KEPT TO

52. Silent film star Lillian : GISH. Feeling sheepish to put this in our puzzle.

53. Tipped toppers : HATS. Rich's clue.

54. Benny's 39, so he said : AGE

55. Superhero letter : ESS. Superman.

56. Make changes to : AMEND

58. Keats' "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" begins one : ODE

60. Narrowly escape bogey, in golf lingo : SAVE PAR. Shout-out to Gary.

63. Real poser : ENIGMA

65. Gobble (down) : SNARF

67. Most prudent : WISEST

68. Guitar accessory : STRAP

73. Holliday allies : EARPS

74. "Manhattan" and "Nashville" : MOVIES. Gary's clue.

76. Shout target : STAIN. Nice clue from Rich.

77. Gift giver's cry : OPEN IT!

79. Brings together : UNIFIES

81. "I pity the fool" speaker : MR T

82. Allen who never really made furniture : ETHAN. Also Gary's clue.

83. ''That's gross!'' : ICK

86. __ center : REC

87. Biathlon needs : SKIS

89. Pandora's inventory : ILLS

91. Buck Rogers weapon : RAYGUN

96. Crazed Muppet drummer : ANIMAL. This I learned from Gary also.

98. Nothing but : MERE

99. Monkeys (with) : TAMPERS

104. Beverage made with buds : ROSE TEA. Rose buds.

107. __ Martin: Bond's car : ASTON

109. Actress Rowlands : GENA

110. Three Stooges specialty : ANTIC

111. Seafood sauce : TARTAR. Never had it myself. Boomer likes it with his fried fish.

113. Bridge position : EAST

114. Sun Devils' sch. : ASU

122. Actor Dick Van __ : DYKE. Kind of like GOGH. Rich allowed, but it was wobbly.

123. Duel-purpose tool : FOIL. Nice play on "Dual-purpose".

124. Drink with a polar bear mascot : ICEE

125. Penguin suit : TUXEDO

 

126. Appear : SEEM

127. Chef Bobby to beat on a reality show : FLAY. Messy divorce from his wife.

128. Low in fat : LEAN

129. Conspicuous display : SPLASH

  

Down:

1. Ivory in a dish : SOAP

2. River through Florence : ARNO

3. Hat-borne parasites : LICE

4. Louisville Slugger material : ASH. The prices for those authenticated game-used bats are insane.

5. Two-element tubes : DIODES

6. Actress with a record 19 Oscar nominations : STREEP

7. Ritalin target : ADHD

8. '20s fashion accessory : BOA

9. Mythological fire-breathers : CHIMERAS

10. Microwaving aid : SARAN

11. Pajamaed publisher : HEFNER. Never used "Pajamaed" before.

12. Spread unit : ACRE

13. Drivers' local knowledge : SHORTCUTS. Not the one who purposely misled Irish Miss at Barbados. So mean.

14. Babe : HON

15. Dating scene returnee, maybe : WIDOWER

16. Battery terminal : ANODE

17. "Cheers!" : SKOAL

18. Western buds : PARDS

24. Fox or wolf : CANID. Oops, wolf dupes with WOLF in our themer. Sorry. Escaped us.

26. "__ Were the Days" : THOSE

30. Small bites : NIPS

32. Fizzling-out sound : PFFT

33. Beyond cold : GELID

35. Carpentry tool : RIP SAW

36. Boat trailer : WAKE. Another great clue from Gary.

37. Cheers at soccer matches : OLES

38. Empty words : LIP SERVICE

39. Steals, as a toy : DOGNAPS. Liked the clue & answer.

41. That, in Mexico : ESA

44. Give minimal effort : PHONE IT IN. Not LAT puzzles. Every one gets carefully filled,  edited, test-solved, fact-checked & then published.

46. All-bark, no-bite type : PAPER TIGER

47. Visibly stunned : AGASP

48. After-dinner brand : CERTS

50. National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall locale : TAIPEI

51. Texter's "Horrors!" : OMG

53. Wife of Zeus : HERA

57. Slammin' Sammy quartet : EMS. Tiny contribution from me.

59. Rooster's cue : DAWN

61. Where Mozart met Haydn : VIENNA. Rich's clue. Rich plays piano.

62. He played Tony on "NYPD Blue" : ESAI. Cool guy, except when he's with his ex-wife.

64. Babe in the woods : NAIF

65. Cut reminder : SCAR

66. Lake litter : FLOTSAM. I like this fill & clue also.

68. Blue toon : SMURF

69. Office supply : TONER

71. Sources of after-hrs. cash : ATMs

72. Metric speed abbr. : KPH

75. Opening word? : SESAME. Rich's clue.

78. Corn carrier : EAR

80. Rescue team on the slopes : SKI PATROL

82. Violinist Mischa : ELMAN. Does this dupe the Man theme?

84. Smoke, perhaps : CURE

85. Wasn't surprised : KNEW

88. Pique condition : IRE. We've seen this clue before. Still good.

 

90. Twizzlers ingredient : LICORICE

92. Place with a pool : YMCA

94. Co-founder of Women's Media Center : STEINEM. Rich's clue. Did not know the center.

95. Escape mechanism : HATCH. Rich's clue also. Nice one.

96. Office underling: Abbr. : ASST

97. Not under the table : LEGAL. Have you heard the term "Princelings"? A clique of wealthy and powerful group of Chinese whose parents were once the important Communist Party leaders. The current president is one. I like him though.

100. Once in a blue moon : RARELY

102. Starts over : RESETS

103. Get in on the deal : ANTE UP

104. Surprise missions : RAIDS

105. How pastrami is often ordered : ON RYE. Never had "pastrami". Also not fond of hot dogs. The best food I discovered here in the US is pickled herring.

106. Stir the fire : STOKE

108. Language that gave us "cheroot" and "curry" : TAMIL

112. Continent with 11 time zones : ASIA. Nice trivia. China has only one time zone.

113. Not the best place for apple-tasting? : EDEN. Rich's clue.

114. Two-dimensional measure : AREA

115. Norms: Abbr. : STDS

116. "I'm in for it now!" : UH OH

118. Not right : OFF. CenturyLinks upgraded their DSL system on Nov 24, then we lost our phone dial tone on Nov 25.  They're coming to fix it today, but the lady said it's subject to a service charge if it's our problem. When I called a different tech support earlier, he said quite a few people had the same problem. He asked me to unplug a few stuff. I did, but no luck. I just hope they'll be fair with us today.

120. Crack gp.? : DEA

121. Rose of rock : AXL. Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses.

Answer Grid from Owen

C.C.

Saturday, Nov 28th, 2015, Greg Johnson

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

Upon review of the years gone by, I see that Mr. Johnson has been a consistent Tuesday contributor to the LA Times crosswords - but today he's given us a great challenge for a Saturday.  Non-standard grid, nicely symmetrical, with triple 7-letter corners.  I picked my way through this one clue by clue, and I eventually got a foothold in some places, and that allowed me to WAG a few.  Alas, I ran into one cell that just wouldn't fill in, and that was because of "spelling" mistakes on my part - so I went red-letter to see where I went astray.  Anyway, we had two spanners, and one 11-letter climber;

17a. Remote setting : MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

58a. Spanish-style home decor : TERRACOTTA TILES

18d. 1995 film in which Sean Connery played King Arthur : FIRST KNIGHT - good movie - and Julia Ormond is beautiful

'Tis the seas-on-ward~!

ACROSS:

1. Furniture support : SOFA LEG - he means this kind of leg....

8. Hard-to-find hardware? : SPY-CAMS

15. Learned : ERUDITE - the adjective, not the verb

16. Side trip guide : AREA MAP

19. __-Pak subcontinent: Asian region : INDO

20. Homework initials? : DIY - Do It Yourself; Home Depot has Do-It-HERself classes; we are about one day away from finishing up the house project - did the siding today

21. Like some backup files : ON CD

22. Top dog : NUMERO UNO

27. Cutesy plea for affection : KISS, KISS

30. Eye site : POTATO

34. Bird that will swim but not fly : EMU

35. Pound, e.g. : UNIT - dah~!  Not POET - 25% correct

36. Upset state : DISMAY

37. Letters associated with z's? : REM - Rapid Eye Movement sleep; I had a full-on sensory dream of a cat pawing me and then lying down on my back one afternoon while I napped; I asked my room-mate, and he said there was never a cat in the house - I looked it up on the dream interpretations site, and it's associated with feminine sexuality - damn, I hope so~!

38. Tetanus symptom : LOCKJAW

40. Former "NFL Today" sportscaster Cross : IRV

41. Train for firefighting : RAPPEL

43. 2014 Wales summit host : NATO

44. Iowa campus : COE

45. Refusal of hospitality, often : INSULT

46. Thief's target : IDENTITY

48. Literary legionnaire : BEAU GESTE - frequently in crosswords, but I did not know much more about the story until today - more here

50. Salinger heroine : ESME - Nailed it - but again, seen in a lot of crosswords

53. Golden ratio symbol : PHI - ah, like "Pi" for, well, 3.14159....in this case, it's 1.61803 - more here

54. It may be crunched : DATA - my one corner that messed me up

63. Treaty topic : TEST BAN

64. Dress uniform adornment : EPAULET

65. Reuse productively, as trash : UPCYCLE - new word for me - and my spell-check; the word "repurposed" has gained some traction around here

66. Dish from the Italian for "foam" : SPUMONI - Dah~!!  I put in spumATi, so I was all screwed up down here

DOWN:   

1. Trailer leader : SEMI - the tractor part

2. "Out __?" : OR IN

3. Hunter with a distinctive laugh : FUDD - Elmer, that is

4. Supplements : ADD-ONS

5. Small in a small way : L'IL 

6. Juillet's time : ÉTÉ - Frawnche

7. Like the Spaceship Earth sphere : GEODESIC

8. Panasonic subsidiary : SANYO

9. Supporting : PRO

10. "Dismal" tree in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" : YEW

11. Partnership : CAHOOTS

12. "You said it!" : "AMEN~!"

13. Standup comic Maron : MARC

14. Earned a citation? : SPED - har-har

23. Lute family member : UKULELE

24. Company that merged with Konica : MINOLTA

25. Screen alert subjects : UPDATES - always seems to be Adobe Flash Player

26. Firm denial : NO, I WON'T

27. Gymnast Strug : KERRI

28. "Let me explain ..." : "I MEAN..."

29. Collection areas : SUMPS - oops, not Dumps - but that was 80% correct

31. Firenze friends : AMICI

32. Typically 78-card deck : TAROT - I have a deck, but have not looked at it in years

33. Exasperated cry : "OY VEY~!"

39. Burmese gems : JADEITES

42. Time for significant changes : PUBERTY

47. Yawn inducer : TEDIUM

49. Barely ahead : UP ONE - oops, not ONE UP

50. Incredulous accusation : ET TU - Brute~?

51. Flow slowly : SEEP

52. Richie's mom, to Fonzie : Mrs. C

55. Téléphone greeting : 'ALLO

56. Mock election voter : TEEN

57. Product of white Muscat grapes : ASTI

59. Easy as __ : ABC - oops, not PIE

60. "East of Eden" son : CAL

61. Galaxy download : APP - Galaxy, the Samsung Smart Phone (or tablet; I have one)

62. Two before 53-Across : TAU

Thanks to all who comment, especially for those who comment on my Saturday postings.  Thank you, too, to C.C. for the opportunity to be able to blog here in the first place~!!!

Splynter