Sunday March 13, 2016, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: PLUGGED NICKEL

Some of us with a few miles on our odometers, can remember this 50's novelty song by Teresa Brewer whose first line was, "Put another NIckel in, In the NIckelodeon". 

Well our lovely den mother C.C. and her frequent puzzling partner Don (Hard G) Gagliardo did not insert nickels but rather dropped in the chemical symbol for the element nickel - NI - into some common phrases to make some clever crossword fills. They were having so much fun, they "coined" ten theme entries. C.C. told me their original title was TENNIS ANYONE? which  I absolutely did not get until she explained it to me. If you don't get it, I've explained it at the bottom of the write-up.

Theme fills (without and then Plugging In That NI)

23. Flier with a magical rod? : DIVINING BIRD  - A fowl plummeting toward its next meal OR a feathered friend wielding this magic DIVINING rod to find water, minerals or whatever...

25. Signal that nails are dry? : MANI BELL - The colloquial name for Bell Telephone pre-divestiture OR a time piece with an alarm to let you know your polish is dried

35. Sweet tooth? : SUGAR CANINE - The tall, green plant from which much sugar is derived or this. Yeah, I know the CANINES are further back but work with me here.

41. Nocturnal critter enjoying a meal? : DINING BAT - Archie's pet name for Edith Bunker OR 

56. Rejection of a parcel? : PACKAGE DENIAL - The whole kit and caboodle OR Jerry saying "I don't want it!" (Splynter's nightmare)

80. Part of the ad that sells the product? : FINISHING HOOK - A barb to catch a lenten meal OR how to catch a customer

94. Ace garage door mechanic? : GENIE WHIZ - A wistful remark OR the guy you'll need to fix one of these. He was at our house on Wednesday.

97. Ralph Lauren's "Celebrate Radio" clothing line? : MARCONI POLO - The Italian who spent years in the court of Kublai Kahn (but did NOT bring back spaghetti) OR the inventor of radio as a couturière

114. Superhero who doesn't do well in a crisis? : PANIC MAN - A early popular video game OR Superman who just wasn't up to it that day

116. Carrier pigeon's daily delivery? : NEWS CANISTER - A radio or TV reader of daily events OR the container attached to a homing pigeon to carry messages during WWI in this case

Now, filling my NIche as a blogger, I present my NIckel and Dime musings

Across     
    
1. Compares poorly : PALES

6. Unites : MERGES - How we do Christmas card envelopes

12. Scoundrel : CAD

15. Terminus of all roads? : ROME - Yes all their wonderful roads did lead there at one time

19. Slip past : ELUDE

20. Lizard with a dewlap : IGUANA - Not an attractive feature

21. Coleridge wrote one on dejection : ODE

22. Scrape, in totspeak : OWIE

27. "We gotta go" : IT'S TIME 

28. Work in a park, perhaps : STATUE - Work of art

30. Fight sites : ARENAS

31. Couple in a boat : OARS - Sometimes I don't have both of mine in the water

33. Venice glider : GONDOLA

46. Sporty auto roofs : T-TOPS

47. Cut with a beam : LASE -  Would you really want to LASE your eyes as cheaply as possible?

48. First name in fashion : COCO - Ms. Chanel

49. Word accompanying finger-shaking : NO NO

50. San __: jet set resort : REMO - In the map above, it appears that one of those roads that led to Rome came from this far NW Italy town 30 miles from Nice, France

51. Many an earring : CLIP ON

53. A grand's ten : C-SPOTS - It takes ten of these C-NOTES to made a grand - $1,000

55. "__ you serious?" : ARE  - A variation

61. Slow start? : ESS - The letter ESS starts both words

62. Founder of what is now Lima : PIZARRO - My first Juan had two Z's

64. Drag racing gp. : NHRA - Should I write out National Hot Rod Association? Nah!

65. "My bad!" : I'M SORRY - Popularized in '95 move Clueless

67. Showed pain : MOANED 

69. "__ I done?" : WHAT'VE

70. Eatery serving filled fare : TACO BAR - Let me at it!

72. First park with a Home Run Apple : SHEA - Home of the Mets from 1964 - 2008

75. Potpourri : GRAB BAG

79. Hockey great : ORR

83. 67.5 deg. : ENE - Here 'ya go

84. DVD player error message : NO DISC

86. Call before a snap : HUT ONE - Start of a QB's cadence but usually shared with the center

87. Sharp turns : ZAGS

88. All square : EVEN - Tied up

89. __ the crack of dawn : UP AT

91. Time to give up? : LENT - 40 days that start on Ash Wednesday 

93. Hamlet and Victor Borge : DANES - Victor would be bigger laughs at a party!

99. Where Puccini's "Turandot" premiered : LA SCALA - Turandot contains the fabulous aria Nessun Dorma

101. Salon, say : E-MAG

102. Patio door : SLIDER

106. In the thick of : AMIDST

109. Game with melding : CANASTA

118. Airbrush target : ACNE - Before and after airbrushing. SHAZAM!

119. Explosive first used as a yellow dye : TNT

120. Subside : DIE OUT

121. Scottish feudal lord : THANE - Macbeth was the THANE of Glamis

122. Wicked one's lack? : REST

123. Garden chopper : HOE

124. Controversial blasts : A-TESTS - America's first A Bomb TEST was in central New Mexico  three weeks before Fat Man was dropped on Hiroshima (see 74 Down)

125. Gossip queen : YENTA
 

Down
 
1. Digital indulgence : PEDI - Maybe you'll need a PEDI BELL like 25 Across 

2. Came down : ALIT

3. Ultra Leakguards brand : LUVS - Our girls had cotton diapers

4. Polish for publication : EDIT - Not Polish as in the country but as in polish - make better

5. Fourth-year group : SENIORS - SENIORitis is epidemic this time of year in High Schools

6. __ water : MINERAL

7. Metaphorical facial embarrassment : EGG - Sling one and you might get one back

8. Coaxes from a lamp, with "out" : RUBS - Coaxing out the Genie that doesn't make garage door openers 

9. Canter or trot : GAIT

10. Really tick off : ENRAGE

11. "__ say ... " : SAD TO - "Well I'm SAD TO say, I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day"

12. Chuckle-inducing : COMEDIC - Some good COMEDIC material makes us uncomfortable 

13. Oral health org. : ADA

14. Alaska Range highlight : DENALI - Pres. Obama moved to change the name back to this rather than Mt. McKinley. Works for me.

15. Loungewear item : ROBE - My summer ROBE just came upstairs this week

16. Wilson of "Marley & Me" : OWEN - Not on my radar

17. Leon Uris' "__ 18" : MILA - Title comes from the address of the Jewish Resistance in Warsaw ulica Miła 18 (18 Mila Street, in English) 

18. Elongated fish : EELS

24. Desktop since 1998 : IMAC - Our great iMAC experience is not shared by all here

26. Persian Gulf land : IRAN - I met a woman who identified herself as Persian (ethnicity) not IRANIAN (nationality), adding that she preferred to separate herself from the politics of the country.

29. Come __: lose one's composure : UNDONE - She's Come UNDONE - The Guess Who

32. Vending machine item : SNACK

34. Tokyo-born artist : ONO

35. Spaghetti __ : STRAP  - These spaghetti-STRAPPED bib overalls are not intended for farm chores

36. Gestation sites : UTERI

37. Addams family patriarch : GOMEZ

38. Mil. address : APO - Army Post Office

39. Key, e.g. : ISLAND

40. Stable negative? : NEIGH

42. Econ. measure : GNP - Gross National (State) Product equivalents in 2012

43. Anti at the ballpark : BOOER - Also a boor

44. Full of nervous energy : ANTSY - Example A - Teaching a 2nd grade art class

45. Deep-six : TOSS - I'll bet you know the huge movie where a woman decided to DEEP-SIX this diamond 

48. Sonata finale : CODA

52. According to : PER

53. Leader who gave up cigar-smoking in 1985 : CASTRO

54. Polish relative : SLOVAK

56. Checks for errors : PROOFS - I PROOF my blogs to check for errors, but the best laid plans of men and mice...

57. Mideast language : ARABIC

58. Late-night show since 2010 : CONAN

59. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH-  National Institute of Health 

60. Insect stage after pupa : IMAGO - The end product of the process

63. Theater chain initials : AMC

66. Johnny __ : REB - His side got second

68. Pa. airport north of PIT : ERI(E)

69. Ring Cycle composer : WAGNER - Hitler's iPod would have had lots of Richard's work

70. Treasure stash : TROVE

71. "As You Like It" forest : ARDEN - From the River Avon to the River Tame

72. Close : SHUT

73. Top 10 song : HIT

74. __ Gay : ENOLA - Delivery vehicle for device mentioned in 126 Across

76. Bingo cousin : BEANO - A predecessor where I'll bet you know what was used to mark the cells 

77. Word from the Latin for "messenger" : ANGEL

78. Painter's undercoat : GESSO - Applying and sanding Golden Brand GESSO

79. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG -  As you can see, O-Negative blood can be given to any other type and AB+ only to other AB+'s

81. Gomer Pyle exclamation : SHAZAM

82. Thus : HENCE

85. Pasta suffix : INI

87. Heat up quickly : ZAP

89. Hesitant sounds : UH'S 

90. Hot and spicy : PICANTE

92. Alley lurkers : TOMCATS

93. It's good to lose with it : DIGNITY - or...

95. Juice: Abbr. : ELEC

96. Geniality : WARMTH 

97. Reached the big time : MADE IT - Like George and Weezie 

98. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAAN

100. Singer Ronstadt : LINDA 

102. Practice for a bout : SPAR - World's worst job? SPARRING with Mike Tyson.

103. Bra fabric : LACE

104. Holiday lodgings? : INNS

105. South Beach, for one : DIET

107. __'Pea : SWEE - Swee' Pea was left on Popeye's doorstep

108. General __ chicken : TSO'S 

110. 1975 Wimbledon champ : ASHE - He won, lost and lived with DIGNITY!

111. Asian country suffix : STAN - There's a few

112. Lawn party rental : TENT

113. Interior designer's statistic : AREA

115. "Is that __?" : A NO - He's good at it!

117. "Stop filming!" : CUT - Or Stop Blogging! 

C.C.'s original title of TENNIS ANYONE means TEN NI'S ANYONE as in ten insertions of NI. Duh, Gary!

Well, that's my NIckel's worth. Now, how about your two cents? 

GRID

Saturday, Mar 12th, 2016, Bruce Venzke

Theme: Two Triple Stacks

Words: 68 (missing F,J,Q,Y)

Blocks: 38

I am always fascinated when I see spanners grouped in threes (and fours) with crossings (perpendiculars) that are not such a stretch that the puzzle seems forced; and then I get that feeling that it's going to be a tough grid to solve.  Today, however, I seemed to breeze through with very little trouble - but I had some incredible WAGs that were solid from the get go.  Our regulars here at the blog will be quick to point out that big groups of 15-letters usually leads to shorter Downs.  Not so much today, though we did have a high block count - and a good-looking grid, at that.   The spanners;

1. Where to see pop-ups : ELECTRIC TOASTER

16. Holding capacity : SATURATION POINT

17. Doesn't do anything : SITS ON ONE'S HANDS

57. Security employees : STORE DETECTIVES

60. Doesn't care for : TAKES A DISLIKE TO - slightly 'meh'

61. Prepare for a ball : DRESS TO THE NINES - the origin~?

O                 N                 W                 A                 R                D             ~            !

ACROSS:

18. Caning material : RATTAN - oops, not WICKER

19. Shows frugality : STINTS

20. N.S. setting : AST - Nova Scotia, and Atlantic Standard Time; I happen to know they are 1 hour ahead of my time zone, EST

21. Word on some dipsticks : ADD - just looked at the one in my van yesterday - and it was at the "ADD" mark

22. Thickening agent : AGAR

25. '70s congresswoman known for wearing wide-brimmed hats : ABZUG - 3 perps and 2 WAGs

29. 15th-century golfer, probably : SCOT - ah, a 'generic' answer

33. Likely to skid : BALD - tires

34. Train puller : BRIDE - bang~! Nailed it

35. Iolani Palace locale : OAHU - seen before in crosswords

36. Search result : URL - dah~!  Not HIT

37. Org. with a WaterSense program : EPA - sensible WAG

38. Mad man of film : MAX - I have yet to see the 2015 remake of the 1979 film

39. Letter-shaped beam : Z-BAR - went with I-bar first; a genuine 75% correct

41. Early 17th-century pope : PAUL V - I tried 'PIUS -' with early crossings

43. "If wishes __ horses ... " : WERE

44. Sector : ZONE - not AREA

45. Liberal : AMPLE

46. They're frequently tapped : ALES - not KEGS

47. Incidentally, briefly : BTW - texting shorthand for "By The Way"

49. __ Karate: old aftershave : HAI

51. Cricket official : SCORER - I tried UMPIRE; then I had to look to see if this was an actual 'official'

54. Certain summons : TICKET

DOWN:

1. First of September? : ESS - September

2. Cave, say : LAIR

3. Kett of old comics : ETTA

4. Crème brûlée preparation : CUSTARD

5. Hambletonian events : TROTS

6. Deferred payment : RAN A TAB

7. Get __ the record : IT ON -

8. Rose team, on scoreboards : CINcinnati; Pete Rose of the Reds - C.C. must be thrilled we are at Spring Training - just means we are close to the Stanley Cup playoffs for me....

9. Word in a readiness metaphor : TOES - "be on one's toes"....eh

10. Performing : ON STAGE - sometimes on your toes here, too

11. Orchard pest : APHID

12. Dirty rat : SO-AND-SO

13. Glare reducer : TINT

14. Circle's lack : ENDS - I was close with EDGE

15. NFL linemen : RTs

22. Talking excitedly : ABUZZ

23. "The Kiss" was her last silent film : GARBO

24. Historian Nevins : ALLAN - I guessed the two "L"s

26. Another name for bluegill : BREAM

27. Close, as a parka : ZIP-UP - how about 'close, as heels' for Saturday cluing~?

28. 1960s Interior secretary Stewart __ : UDALL

30. Alpaca relative : CAMEL - I like camels

I found so many other funny ones (add 9d.), but....

31. Orchard Field, today : O'HARE - I knew this from crosswords

32. Spiffy attire : TUXES - sort of a mini-theme going on

40. Engine rebuilding jobs : REBORES

41. Checked out, feline-style : PAWED AT

42. Jam component : VEHICLE - nice misdirection, if you tried some sort of fruit

43. Surfing mecca : WAIKIKI - great fill

48. Bun element : TRESS

50. Join the cast of : ACT IN - second semi-theme going on, with 10d. and the next clue;

51. Beverly Hills sighting : STAR

52. Old beehive oven product : COKE - new to me; the Wiki

53. Change in appearance : RE-DO

54. Sellecca's "Intelligence for Your Life TV" co-host : TESH - didn't see this filled in until I came to write the blog

55. Still : EVEN

56. Toque spot : TÊTE - I knew a toque was chef headware, and that it was Frawnche

57. Benchmark: Abbr. : STD - standard

58. "__-Willow": "The Mikado" song : TIT

obdurate definition

59. Cleaning product with two periods in its name : S.O.S

remember "Wacky Packages~?"

Splynter

Friday, March 11, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Pull up a chair and sit a spell at my table.

We are back to having a Friday JW challenge and this one is a visual that really demands having the circles. The reveal; 61A. Item graphically depicted by this puzzle's circles : TABLE, advises that you are looking for a representation of a table. The letters in the circles describe a type of table. You must do this on paper or a site with circles. The six tables, running in three sets of pairs West to East are: BACCARAT-DRESSING, PARLOR-DINNER, DRAFTING-BILLIARD.  The top two pair of tables and bottom two are 4 across with three down legs, while the middle are four by two. We have triple seven stacks in every corner and have a total of 19! seven letter fill. PC CARDS,  DRONE ON, SPOILER,  PER DIEM,  TARTARE, HESSIAN, ABETTOR, ORIENTS,  PACKS ON,  HE'S A MAN,  CODEINE,  POOL BOY, LOFTING, LOAF TIN, GILLIAN,  CARTING, UNITARD,  OLD GAGS and. REBINDS. No fill is more than seven letters. JW still likes multi-word fill, so let's see what he did to fool you today.

Across:

1. Notebook memory devices : PC CARDS. We start with a tricky phrase. A PC Card (previously known as a PCMCIA card) is a credit card-size memory or I/O device that fits into a personal computer, usually a notebook or laptop computer. Probably the most common use of a PC Card is the telecommunications modem for notebook computers. Per whatis.techtarget.com.

8. "The butler did it," maybe : SPOILER. Alert, poor Carson.

15. Tuna preparation : TARTARE. The latest RECIPE.

16. Revolutionary War mercenary : HESSIAN. The German mercenaries hired by the British.

17. Getaway driver, e.g. : ABETTOR.

18. Sets right : ORIENTS. This was hard, though accurate when you think align or position (something) relative to the points of a compass or other specified positions.

19. Suitor : SWAIN. An old timey word, which in keeping with Jerome's comments  derives from Old Norse sveinn ‘lad.’

20. Sediment : DREGS.

21. War on Poverty org. : OEO. Office of Economic Opportunity, part of LBJ's Great Society.

23. __ Chess: video game : WII. Their promotion, ""Wii sounds like 'we,' which emphasizes this console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii."

24. Gains quickly, as weight : PACKS ON.

28. Opening track on Madonna's album "I'm Breathless" : HE' S A MAN.

33. First name in folk : ARLO.

34. Book after Micah : NAHUM. The prophets. LINK.

36. Simba's mate : NALA. Lion King.

37. Fruit cocktail ingredients : PEARS. I like the cherries, but there were never enough.

39. Little troublemaker : IMP. He's coming back soon. LINK.

40. __ child : INNER. Bradshaw was a smash for a while.

41. Symposium group : PANEL.

42. Children's author Asquith : ROS.  ASQUITH is an important name in British political history but Ros does CARTOONS and kiddie books.

43. Raison __ : D'ETRE.  Similar to one's mission in life, literally French for "reason to be."

44. Attack : ASSAIL.

46. Aids to sure footing : CLEATS. Important for football, both kinds.

47. Employee with a skimmer : POOL BOY. Apparently a number of movies have been about this profession. This ONE is supposed to be fun starring Hercules.

51. Sputnik reporter : TASS.

55. Target of blue sky laws : FRAUD. Securities laws which require many layers of disclosures for both registered and unregistered  shares. They are enacted by the states.

56. Egg holders : SACS.

60. __ chamber : ECHO.

62. Tennis legend : ASHE. Arthur.

63. Bakeware item : LOAF TIN. I use them more for meat loaf than bread.

65. David's "X-Files" co-star : GILLIAN. Duchovny and Anderson.

67. Sanitation service : CARTING. Huh? Here we call those bulk pick up days.

68. Gym suit : UNITARD.Oh, we did make fun of them, but had to wear them to wrestle. Ours were not so creative.

69. Inducers of more groans than guffaws : OLD GAGS.

70. Strengthens the spine of : REBINDS.

Down:

1. Educational gp. : PTA. Parent Teachers Association.

2. Fleet on the street : CABS. Nice imagery.

3. J. follower : CREW. This retailer started as a catalog store.

4. "__ girl!" : ATTA.

5. Pi and others : RATIOS. Nice clue.

6. Lecture boringly : DRONE ON.

7. Sun. delivery : SERmon.

8. "Nurse Jackie" network, in TV listings : SHOwtime. Edie Falco again this week.

9. Fixed expense : PER DIEM. Fixed in the sense of being for a day. Latin.

10. Underworld deity : OSIRIS. Know your Egyptian gods.

11. "Of course" : I SEE.

12. Duck tail? : LING. Cute and better than half a Panda.

13. Greasy spoon sign word : EATS.

14. OR personnel : RNS. Registered Nurses.

22. Studio caution : ON AIR. Twice this week.

23. Gives a Dixie lickin' : WHUPS.

24. __ al pomodoro: Tuscan soup : PAPPA.  I like soups. RECIPE 2.

25. Regions : AREAS.

26. Blood groups? : CLANS. Tricky.

27. Former country on its own peninsula : KOREA. The two countries were created by the post-WWII power brokering of the US and the Soviets when they stripped the country from Japan.

29. Year abroad : ANNEE. More French.

30. Wide swimmer : MANTA. I have a video of me petting them last summer.

31. Warn : ALERT.

32. Rhinoplasty concerns : NARES. Just the Latin plural of Naris, the nostril.

35. Aetna offering : HMO.

38. Omission, say : SLIP.

40. How casual thoughts are offered : IDLY.

45. Hitting up : LOFTING. The best golf shot of my life was a 60 degree over a tree landing on the green at La Costa. After watching me play mediocre golf all day, my caddy was amazed.

46. Tylenol 3 component : CODEINE. A natural part of the poppy, the name is derived from the Greek word kodeia (κώδεια) for "poppy head".

48. Sumatran swingers : ORANGS.

49. Curie workplace : LAB. Madame.This Polish born chemist/physicist was a trly amazing person.

50. Durum wheat cereal : BULGUR. I think these are two different kinds of wheat, but then I never ate my Wheaties.

51. A T & T e.g. : TELCO.

52. "His nose ... is like __ of fire": "Henry V" : A COAL. JW gets his Shakespeare.

53. Broken piece : SHARD. 58D. White option, briefly : CHARDonnay. I prefer the beet clue.

54. Generous feature? : SOFT G. A simple but effective deception.

56. 1972 missile pact : SALT I. From memory, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

57. Like India and Pakistan : ASIAN. The 26th annual Asian Festival at Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead this past week end was great. This GROUP with a full complement of 18 drummers wowed us and the rest of the crowd there.

59. FedExes : SENDS.

64. __ Maria : TIA.

66. Bldg. where much research is done : LIBrary.

Welcome back to Friday JW and thank you for another creative work. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead everyone and we will see you next week. Lemonade out.

Thursday, March 10th 2016 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Chatterboxes - the ends of the four entries are described thus:

41D. Ultimate authority ... or what's hidden in the answers to starred clues : FINAL SAY

Which are: 

17A. *Star of Comedy Central's "Insomniac" : DAVE ATTELL. The mark of a good crossword is great crosses, or, as some say, solid perps. I don't know this gentleman, but I didn't miss a beat. Most of it was filled in for me when I went back to it.

61A. *Home business? : REAL ESTATE. Seems to have been boom or bust in my neighborhood over the last 20 years. Right now it seems to be tear down, build the biggest house on the smallest lot and wonder why you're having an open house every weekend for months.

11D. *Popular cosmetic moisturizer : SHEA BUTTER. Making a comeback? Just cropped up last week.

28D. *Leonardo DiCaprio feature : WIDOW'S PEAK. Didn't see it, not sure I'd heard of it. I parsed it as WIDOW SPEAK until I saw sense. Leo got his Oscar for "The Revenant" a couple of weeks ago, to the relief of all his fans.

Salut! Here's a C.C. Thursday with an interesting across/down theme layout. Two 10's horizontally, two 10's vertically mix things up a little. I really liked that the reveal didn't come until way late in the process and helped me with the missing De Caprio entry.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Aboveboard : LEGIT. Had LEGAL first, as I wasn't expecting slangy/something from the clue. Fixed it quickly, but caused a hesitation.

6. Triumphant cries : HAHS. AHAS went in, AHAS came out. This was my tough section. I really need to remember how to spell ACAI (not with a "K") and RUNS LAPS just slotted right in there. Good Thursday stuff.

10. Hurdle for a jr. : PSAT. I was never a jr., let alone a sr. so this whole xSAT thing was alien to me. I'm slowly getting to grips with it now.

14. Lose some ground : ERODE

15. Berry rich in antioxidants : ACAI. Not K. Self-slap upside the head.

16. "Pygmalion" author : SHAW. GBS, or George Bernard. Adapted for a screenplay for the musical "My Fair Lady" with the lovely Audrey Hepburn.

19. Sleek, in car talk : AERO-

20. Best replacement? : STARR. Pete Best. Ringo Starr. We had a chat about "Fifth Beatles" last week. Another of the "Fifth Beatles", producer George Martin, passed away yesterday.

21. Exercises, in a way : DOES LAPS. RUNS LAPS caused me a wobble.

23. Daily Planet VIP : LOIS. I think VIP is a stretch for Lois. She's a beat reporter for the paper.

25. Insensitive : NUMB

26. "The Good Wife" field : LAW. Perps, I salute you.

29. Man cave fixture : SMART TV. Does this mean my home office is a man cave? Maybe I'd better install a couple of beer taps and a refrigerator.

32. Caller in a mask : UMPire. If someone argues a call and he gets mad, is that Ump ire?

35. Get up : ARISE

37. Dupe : FOOL

38. "bye 4 now" : TTYL. Talk To You Later. Although I generally h8 txtspeak, this one is handy.

39. Praise : KUDOS

40. Big letters in home security : ADT. The big question is how many homes displaying the warning signs are actually connected to the network?

41. Islamic decree : FATWA. "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie was a high-profile recipient of a fatwa against his life. If you've not read "Midnight's Children" that won him the Booker Prize for fiction,  you might like to try it out. It's quite amazing.

42. "Of __ curls on calmed brows": E.B. Browning : EBON

43. City where Perry's flagship Niagara is exhibited : ERIE. Three times this week - popular place!

44. "Which is to say ... " : I MEAN

45. Viewed : SAW

46. 1988 Oscar winner for Best Picture : RAIN MAN

48. Bread for Reubens : RYE. Hmmmm - capitalized "R" seems a little bit ... not quite right. That reminds me - next Thursday is St. Patrick's Day, and I've got 12lbs of brisket brining in the refrigerator for corned beef. I'll let you know how it turns out!

49. Roasting aid : SPIT

51. Shutter piece : SLAT

53. Smooches : LIP LOCKS. Fun, slangy entry.

57. Justice Kagan : ELENA

60. Snack with a Thins variety : OREO. Snack/Treat/Sandwich staple.

64. Layer on a wall : COAT

65. Not again? : ONCE

66. Mall map symbol : ARROW

67. Press supplies : INKS. Long may there be presses and ink. Nothing beats a book to hold or a newspaper to fold.

68. Got up : WOKE

69. "I rock!" : YAY ME! I got this answer! Woo Hoo!

Down:

1. Spearheaded : LED

2. Big Band and Swing : ERAS

3. C-SPAN subject : GOVT. Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network - no wonder there's an abbreviation for that. Cool that they kept the hyphen.

4. Often unreachable goal : IDEAL

5. Fragrant hybrid blooms : TEA ROSES. A seemingly unending array of names can be found here. In honor of my home state, this is "California Dreamin'":

6. Bean topper? : HAT

7. Didn't have to putt on : ACED. Hole-in-one. In a touching moment, this last Monday pro golfer Ricky Fowler made an ace for $1M playing in Ernie Els' charity tournament in aid of autism research. Els has an autistic son and almost bear-hugged Fowler to death before throwing him into the crowd.

8. Angel hair topper : HALO. Great clue. I made pesto on Saturday and wanted that that to fit! Basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese. (Psst! Add blanched spinach leaves and you'll have the greenest pesto you've ever seen).

9. 10-Down feature : SILENT "L"

10. Item in a five-section Bible book : PSALM. Nice pairing.

12. Boomer advocacy group : AARP. Baby Boomers. It's not abbreviated any more - the company name is AARP, not A.A.R.P.

13. Ark units : TWOS. Don't cubits some into play somewhere as well?

18. Tidy cut : TRIM

22. Lexus GX, e.g. : S.U.V.

24. Exotic vacation : SAFARI. I'm currently reading Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari" and learned that the word simply means "journey" in Swahili. Nothing to do with wildlife.

26. Lures for anglers? : LAKES. Lovely clue.

27. Its capital is Oranjestad : ARUBA. This is one great example of a clue. My thought process was as follows: You can probably surmise that "Orangestad" might be Dutch, although this is not a city you've ever heard of. So you're narrowing down the possibilities to the Netherlands themselves or the Dutch colonies. The East Indies, Indonesia, East Africa - nope, drawing a blank. Then - whoa! The Caribbean! Didn't the Dutch have .... yeah! Aruba! 69A!

30. "The Kiss" sculptor : RODIN. LIP LOCK!

31. Symbols on poles : TOTEMS

33. Classic hit that begins "And now, the end is near" : MY WAY. Frank Sinatra. Thumper.

34. Control tower concern : PLANE

36. Lad : SON

38. Highland cap : TAM

43. Issue an embarrassing retraction : EAT CROW. Someday I'm going to try crow to see if it's so bad.

46. 2016 Olympics city : RIO

47. On the safer side : ALEE. The quiet side of the island.

50. Maps out : PLOTS

52. Aquarium fish : TETRA

53. Point sets, in math : LOCI. There's a reason my head hit the desk in math classes.

"... ellipses with foci (a,0), (-a, 0) whose generic member we pass through the point (0,t). We look at the locus of the points of intersection of the tangent through the point (b,0)."

On the upside, I did remember enough that when I met Buzz Aldrin at a football game I could casually mention that I was impressed that he basically did a doctorate in orbital physics without ever having to write anything down.

54. One is often used in the rough : IRON. Not me. I had a magic club made by a friend of mine in England that was basically a 5-wood with some voodoo built into it. Unless I couldn't actually see the ball, this thing would work wonders.

55. Ball game : KENO

56. Santa's burden : SACK

58. __ a one : NARY

59. Tiny energy source : ATOM. Packs a punch, though. It's almost 30 years since the Chernobyl power plant almost made the through-the-earth trip to the antipodes.

62. Finch creator : LEE. Atticus. Harper. "Go Set A Watchman" topped the 2015 Publisher's Weekly bestseller list for fiction.

63. Woolly mom : EWE

And ....... I think that about covers it.

Except .. here's the grid.

Steve

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme: Will my do do for you? The second words of common two-word phrases are relocated to a common location, as indicated by the unifier, so let's start there.

62. Permanent place, and a hint to the ends of the answers to starred clues : HAIR SALON.  Nice play on "permanent" indicating something of long duration, or, as in this case, a coif treatment. The SALON, of course, is the place where it all happens.

17. *Seriously indoctrinate : BRAIN WASH.  Generally BRAIN WASHING involves some radical or extreme set of ideas, and some powerful coaxing.  A HAIR WASH might be the first step in the SALON's process.

21. *Improvised rap : FREE STYLE.  New usage to me, but it's a real thing.  HAIR STYLE is the way the actual tresses are arranged.

28. *Risqué : OFF COLOR.  Of questionable taste, not suitable for polite company, or as we say here: DF.  The phrase evidently arose ca. 1860 in the diamond industry, referring to stones that are not pure white or of any definite color, and therefore of poor quality.  Hair COLORing is a SALON service.

37. *Weight-training exercise : BICEP CURL.   Demonstrated below.  People with straight HAIR want to acquire a CURL.  This seems to work the other way, as well.

49. *Markdown : PRICE CUT.  Of course, those of us with HAIR need to have it CUT occasionally, even if, as in my case, there's not a lot of it.  A PRICE CUT means you can save money on your purchase - but not as much as if you opt not to make it.

56. *Brand created in Toronto in 1904 : CANADA DRY.  Soft drinks.  And drying the HAIR is what completes the process.

Hi gang - JazzBumpa here, doing my part, so to speak.  With 6 theme entries plus a unifier, this puzzle is unusually thematically rich.  Let's see if we can make it through without getting either clipped or locked up.

Across

1. Computer whose 27-inch version has a Retina 5K display : I-MAC.  Apple product.

5. Down in the mouth : BLUE.  As in "I haz a sad."

9. Rum-soaked cakes : BABAS.  Yo ho ho!

14. Part of rock's CSNY : NASH.  Graham, of Crosby, Stills, NASH and Young.

15. Midterm, e.g. : TEST.  Usually we get EXAM.

16. Eel, to a sushi chef : UNAGI.   If you say so.

19. 13-Down actress Normand : MABEL. [1892-1930]  She collaborated with Mack Sennett.

The Queen of Comedy

20. Miracle-__ : GRO.  Plant food.

23. Medical screening system : TRIAGE.   The assignment of degrees of urgency to prioritize the treatment of a large number of patients.

26. Tell (on) : RAT.  Spill the beans.

27. Fiver : FIN.  Slang for a $5 bill.

31. Hill-building stinger : RED ANT.

Not only that - they're also communists

33. LAX summer setting : Pacific Daylight Time.

34. Director Kazan : ELIA.   Elias Kazantzoglou [September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003] brought us On The Waterfront, East of Eden, and many more films.

36. "Blue Bloods" actor Will : ESTES.

Will testament

40. Nurse at a bar : SIP ON.   Another nice word play.

43. 1956 Mideast crisis site : SUEZ.  Seems like it's always a crisis in that part of the world.

44. Mensa concerns : IQ'S.  Intelligence Quotient.

47. Hometown of the Ivy League's Big Red : ITHACA.  Cornell University.

52. Chinese menu general : TSO.  Of chicken fame.

53. Nev. neighbor : IDAho.

55. Binges : SPREES.

60. Chow line? : ARF.   Chow is a dog variety, and ARF is the line it speaks.

61. More than chubby : OBESE.  Seriously over weight.

66. "__ Black" : MEN IN.   Will Smith movie.

67. River to the English Channel : ORNE.  In French Normandy.  

68. "Don't look at me" : NOT I.   Somebody else did it.

69. Brown ermine : STOAT.  Either way, it's a weasel.

70. Hard to box in, ironically : CAGY.  Secretive, cautious, wary, noncommittal.

71. 52 Pickup need : DECK.  Playing cards. 

Down

1. Having five sharps, musically : IN B.  B Major, specifically - not a common key, and quite awkward on the trombone.  The notes in the scale are B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B.  

2. Scratch, say : MAR.  Cause a defect.

3. At no cost : AS A GIFT.  Freebie.

4. President before Sarkozy : CHIRAC.   Jaques, b. 1932, president from 1995 - 2007.

5. Digression lead-in, in texts : By The Way.

6. Table extension : LEAF.

7. Cold War initials : USSR.  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, where many of the residents had red aunts.

8. Early anesthetic : ETHER.

9. Foul tip? : BUM STEER.   Word play for a bit of bad advice.

10. Med. school subject : ANATomy.

11. Newborn's natural insulator : BABY FAT.   Still - you shouldn't leave them out in the cold.

12. Botox target : AGE LINE.   Wrinkle.

13. Films that usually had live music : SILENTS.

18. Scrubbed, at NASA : NO GO.

22. Word with bud or flap : EAR.  For a personal music device or hat.

23. Bikini part : TOP.   Usually it's BRA.

24. Country mail svc. : Rural Free Delivery.

25. Utility abbr. : ELECtricity.

29. Chihuahua cheers : OLES.   Not a dog this time, but a state in the United States of Mexico, or the capital city of that state.

30. Tear to pieces : RIP UP.

32. ISP option : Digital Subscriber Line - technology used to transmit data over phone lines..

35. Service pro : ACER.  Tennis, I assume.

37. Feathery neckwear : BOA.

38. Contentious border happening : INCIDENT.

39. Israeli guns : UZIS.

40. "Maude," "Phyllis" and "Rhoda" : SIT-COMS.

41. "You're on!" : IT'S A BET.   Wagering agreement.

42. Dir. assistance info : PHONE NO.

44. Frozen floater : ICE FLOE.   Berg also fits.

45. "¿__ pasa?" : QUE.  What's happening? in Chihuahua.

46. Beale and Bourbon: Abbr. : STreetS.  Bourbon is in Nashville, Beale is in Memphis.

48. Canine care gp.? : American Dental Association, which apparently is not going to the dogs.

50. Tax time VIPs : CPAS.  Certified Public Accountants.

51. Thing to run : ERRAND.  Places to go, things to do, people to see.

54. For this purpose : AD HOC, as a committee.

57. Pacific Rim continent : ASIA.  Large, with lots of people.

58. Avis modifier : RARA.   Rare bird.

59. Hip-hop's __ Yang Twins : YING.   Of whom I know nothing.

63. King of Spain : REY.

64. Non-Rx : Over The Counter.

65. Neat ending? : -NIK.  Referring to someone overly fussy about keeping things in order.  Well, I'm not fond of this type of affix clue, so we end on my nit-NIK.

We have 22 each of 3 and 4 letter fill, giving the puzzle a Monday-level average word length.  But that's the kind of trade off you face with so much themeage. Nothing ever comes for free.  Overall, a nicely done puzzle.

Cool regards!
JzB