Saturday, August 4, 2018, C.C. Burnikel

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by C.C. Burnikel 

Today we celebrate one of the true staples of home, the chocolate chip cookie! Eating the dough, smelling the aroma of baking and finally eating the finished product with a glass of ice cold milk is a true sensory delight. My lovely bride makes one batch extra crispy just for me.

I hope you can get some of these wonderful baked beauties and enjoy them with my write-up or in spite of my write-up.

As you can see by the byline, our blogmistress shows once again that she can construct for any day of the week as she submits this beguiling themeless entry. Here she is pictured with me and the Husker t-shirt I took her when Joann and I met with her and Boomer in Minneapolis. She told me she has worn it twice and like anything else, I know it looked good on her!

As I read the cluing for 16 Across,

16. Walks caused by walks, perhaps?: TRIPS TO THE MOUND.

it occurred to me that something seemed familiar about that entry. Then, boom, it struck me that I had given C.C. that clue in response to a request from her for one of her great baseball fills. That is very cool but what is not so cool is that despite having written the clue and remembering that I had written it, it took way too many perps to remember what the fill was! Yeah, the Mensa people have no intention of contacting me. 😮 

Let's see what other gems our brilliant friend has for us today:


Across:

1. Biting: ACID.

5. Hooded African menace: MAMBA - Kobe Bryant bills himself and his shoe as The Black Mamba

10. One may be strapless: BRA.

13. Put on board: LADE - A bill of LADING from Valencia, Spain to Ashod, Israel via the Maersk Line

14. Girl Sebastian is referring to in the song "Kiss the Girl": ARIEL  - Advice from Sebastian the anthropomorphic Crab in The Little Mermaid

15. Poke: PROD.

16. Walks caused by walks, perhaps?: TRIPS TO THE MOUND - "Give me the ball, young man, that's one walk too many!"

19. Snatches: ABDUCTS

20. Always there: ETERNAL - JFK's ETERNAL flame at Arlington has gone out at least twice

21. Aware of: ONTO


22. "Battle of the Sexes" co-star: EMMA STONE - She played Billie Jean King to Steve Carrel's Bobby Riggs in the movie about their famous 1973 tennis match.

24. Dealer's order: ANTE UP  - Waddya mean I didn't ANTE UP?

26. Small grove: COPSE  - Most farmsteads around here have a small COPSE of trees surrounding the buildings including the chicken coop where you will find a 28. Fowl pole: ROOST.

27. Close one: PAL.

30. Graham who co-founded The Hollies: NASH - Later he left the Hollies and became the N of CSN&Y

34. 11th-century navigator: ERICSON - Leif makes celebrating Columbus Day seem silly 

36. Occasion to spiff up: HOT DATE.

39. Mother of the Titans: GAEA  - The mother of everything

40. App with pics, familiarly: INSTA  - Short for INSTAgram. 

42. Light color: RED - The RED light is on the right side in Japan

43. Cozumel coins: PESOS.

46. Impatient: SNAPPY -  He can't make it SNAPPY if he 48. Rests: TAKES A NAP.

52. Oct. 2017 Dodgers-Cubs matchup: NLCS  - A pricey ticket

53. Mine carriers: ORE CARS  and 57. Lose it: GET OUT OF CONTROL.

54. "Did it start already?": AM I LATE? - An OCD fear of mine

59. Imitated: APED.

60. King, e.g.: RULER.

61. "Hamilton" Tony winner Leslie __ Jr.: ODOM - Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the play and played Hamilton to Leslie ODOM Jr.'s Burr

62. Cantina condiment: SAL - Me gustaría la SAL en el borde de mi vaso de margarita (gustaría = like, SAL = salt, borde = rim, vaso = glass)

63. Convenient app for some drivers: E-PARK.

64. Scandinavian capital: OSLO.


Down:

1. Baja's opposite: ALTA - ¿Cuál fue la temperatura ALTA y BAJA del día? (What was the high and low temperature of the day?)

2. Creamy pasta dish: CARBONARA - Dr. Dolan used this fill in a puzzle I blogged on July 7th 

3. "That was a fact!": I DIDN'T LIE

4. Appoint as a posse member, say: DEPUTE - In High Noon, Gary Cooper tried to DEPUTE men and they all refused

5. Drudge online: MATT  - The editor of The Drudge Report

6. Cropped up: AROSE - Suddenly... 

7. Sch. in the 2008 film "21": MIT - Audiences liked it a lot more than the critics. I've watched it several times for the math, gaming and the story arc where the nerd becomes a player

8. Monstrous creatures: BEHEMOTHS - NASA's BEHEMOTH - the crawler/transporter that carried the Shuttle and the Moon Rockets out to the launch pad. Find the fire truck for comparison in size

9. Microbrewery fixture: ALE TAP.

10. Mars in music: BRUNO - Wayne Newton jokingly called BRUNO "so talented he makes me sick" 

11. Journalist Farrow: RONAN  - As fate would have it, RONAN made a big splash last week with this expose

12. Puzzle: ADDLE Here is a puzzle that might ADDLE you

15. Presage: PORTEND.

17. Rubs clean: SCOURS.

18. Private meal?: MESS - Most army privates would know what S.O.S. in the MESS Hall/Tent is

23. Mic holders: MCS - I had "Drop the MIC" in last Saturday's puzzle

24. Take down __: A PEG - One of the ongoing premises on Frasier was to see the pompous star taken down A PEG

25. Shih-__: mixed breed: POO  - The cute little dog with the unfortunate name

29. Introductory French course: ONION SOUP - I'd hope that one of the succeeding courses would be a filet mignon 

31. Holdings for many seniors: AARP CARDS - Getting one of these is a rite of passage like getting your driver's license, though perhaps less eagerly anticipated

32. Aid in changing a light bulb: STEP STOOL  - Yes, now just rotate the STOOL clockwise

33. Lamarr of "Boom Town": HEDY  

35. One side of New England's Bourne Bridge: CAPE COD  - Here is a 1970 b/w picture showing this bridge connecting the Massachusetts mainland with Cape Cod over the Cape Cod Canal

37. Some NBA periods: OTS.

38. Red wine substance: TANNIN - A naturally occurring substance found in grape skins, seeds and stems. White wine has less TANNIN and is less likely to give you a headache

41. Govt. code crackers: NSA  - The National Security Agency offers online code challenges like this one below where the hint is the Q in the code stands for an R in the answer

44. Hairy Genesis son: ESAU - Isaac and Rebecca's twins Esau and Jacob are born

45. "Being and Nothingness" author: SARTRE  - Jean Paul's essay in phenomenological ontology which rejects Kant's concept of noumenon. 

47. Overly: ALL TOO - We all know people who were taken from us ALL TOO soon

48. Forum wardrobe: TOGAS.

49. South American cornmeal cake: AREPA  - Shredded beef in AREPA

50. __ One: vodka brand: KETEL - Not a connoisseur so...

51. Harness race horse: PACER  - It appears a bunny wants to get into the race with these PACERS

55. 1981 TV groom: MORK  - A little of Robin Williams comedy can go a long way with me but I found him to be wonderful in Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting where he showed his acting chops

56. Ticklish doll: ELMO  - Tickle Me Elmo was the hottest Christmas toy in America one year

58. Grapefruit League locale: Abbr.: FLA - In March we went the other way to see The Cactus League doing spring training in ARZ

I hope you enjoyed those cookies during this excursion and will tell you there is no law against seconds on the cookies as you comment and read what others of our merry band have to say. 

p.s. Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter today! Here she is shown with her youngest.

DA GRID

Friday, August 3, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: Sounds like a punny puppy.

Paul makes a quick turn around after his Thursday last week,  this time featuring humor as the primary theme. The basics- take a breed of dog and pair it with a sound-alike word that creates a funny image. Then clue them all with "Dog who loves..." With only 40 squares of theme and no reveal, we have a variety of longish fill - EPISODE, ITERANT, MANDALA, MONOPOD RAINOUT, TREATER, BREATHER and INERRANT.  As we will discuss, ITERANT and INNERANT are both very much Friday words. We have some sports, some music, some food, some French, Italian and Spanish, lots of fun for me. Let's go.

17A. Dog that loves a burger topping?: ONION BEAGLE (11).  The ONION BAGEL often dresses up the lox and cream cheese with onion and tomato. Spitz, am I right the word bagel comes from a German word for bracelet?

29A. Dog that loves a winter sport?: HOCKEY PUG (9). Hockey and the PUCK are our first sport of the puzzle and the basis of this punny pup. Ice hockey and its various precursor games utilized balls until the late 19th century. By the 1870s, flat pucks were made of wood as well as rubber. At first, pucks were square. The first recorded organized game of ice hockey used a wooden puck, to prevent it from leaving the rink of play. wiki.

49A. Dog that loves to play in the rain?: MUD POODLE (9). A poodle playing in a mud puddle is a pretty cool image, especially if it a white one. 

65A. Dog that loves spaghetti?: PASTA COCKER (11). The use of a PASTA COOKER rather than merely boiling water may seem extreme, but a Cocker Spaniel eating spaghetti is a great image.

On to the solve.

Across:

1. Indian state bordering Bhutan: ASSAM.

6. Pasture sound: BLEAT. And the clecho 34A. Called from the pasture: BAAED.

11. Cheese go-with: HAM. Sorry, this was hard for me.

14. Fiji neighbor: TONGA. Geography 2.

15. Asperity: RIGOR. Fun five letter word, but I never thought of them as synonyms.
Asperity-harshness of tone or manner. Rigor-severity or strictness.  Dictionary.


16. Trick taker, often: ACE. Bridge, spades, hearts, etc. and a repeat fill from yesterday.

19. Mme., in Madrid: SRA. A little Spanish, literally.

20. Blueprint: MAP. We have two so far today.

21. Loved ones: DEARS.

22. Colorless: ASHEN.

24. Repeating: ITERANT. Ah, here we are; we have all heard people reiterate and probably iterate, but the definition repeating; iterating; as an iterant echo? I love this quote from George Sand, “Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress.”

26. "__ Day": chapter in the '50s "The Thin Man" TV series: ASTA. What an odd way to clue the dog, but perhaps a bonus dog fill.

28. Noel: CAROL. A little early Christmas.

36. Bearish?: URSINE. If you remember the frequent URSA major/minor, this is easy.

37. "The Facts of Life" actress Charlotte: RAE. This diminutive DIVA goes all the way back to Car 54 where are you?

40. Barbecue, say: BROIL.

42. "As if!": NOT. A popular phrase from the 80s.

43. Equanimity: APLOMB.

46. Vacant, as an apartment: UNLET. Let's undo this un-answer.

51. Green pair, often: PUTTS. Par is determined by an estimated 2 putts on every green.

55. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

56. Cancellation of a sort: RAINOUT. Common in baseball.

58. Bit of statuary: TORSO.

61. Undercover cops' gear: WIRES. Did you all watch the WIRE?

63. Part of un giorno: ORA. Day and Hour in Italian. Buon Giorno!

64. Brown, e.g.: IVY. Out of my league.

68. Born, in Brest: NEE. French.

69. Vast quantity: OCEAN.

70. Socially active sort: DATER. My meh of the day.

71. Triage ctrs.: ERS.

72. Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred: DURST. Then and now.

73. Black shade: EBONY. No Ivory today.


Down:

1. Very minute: ATOMIC.

2. Beethoven's "Moonlight," for one: SONATA. Clecho 44D. 27, for Beethoven's "Moonlight":  OPUS.

3. Inveterate critic: SNIPER. That sounds harsh, but then I think of Gibbs.

4. Back: AGO.

5. Hindu meditation aid: MANDALA. A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, maṇḍala; literally "circle") is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. In common use, "mandala" has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe. wiki.

6. Rest: BREATHER.

7. Pinocchio, at times: LIAR. And now a star of TV commercials.

8. Arachnid's hatching pouch: EGG SAC. All you need to KNOW.

9. Verizon subsidiary: AOL.

10. Generous bar buddy: TREATER. Not my favorite clue/fill.

11. Chop finely: HASH. Dictionary says to chop (food, such as meat and potatoes) into small pieces.

12. Real estate unit: ACRE.

13. Signify: MEAN.

18. Oscar winner Kingsley: BEN. 35 years ago. 1983 OSCAR.

23. Comes out with: SAYS.

25. Take badly?: ROB. A repeat but fun.

27. "Hamlet" prop: SKULL. Our very brief Will S. reference this week for Friday after yesterday's double dip.

30. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty: O'DOUL.  Hewas so much MORE than just a very successful baseball player and manager.

31. One standing at the end of a lane: PIN. More sports, and a CSO for Boomer.

32. A, in Acapulco: UNO.

33. Acquire: GET.

35. Brothers' keeper?: ABBOT. Cute clue, as the head of the monks.

37. Zodiac critter: RAM.

38. Toon storekeeper: APU. The Simpsons, not a favorite here. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is an Indian Immigrant settled in Springfield.

39. Antiquity, in antiquity: ELD.

41. Perfectly correct: INERRANT. This has a religious meaning, basically infallible but also has a meaning from astronomy : 1650s, in reference to "fixed" stars (as opposed to "wandering" planets), from Latin inerrantem (nominative inerrans) "not wandering, fixed (of stars)," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + errans, present participle of errare "to wander, stray, roam, rove" (see err). Meaning "unerring, free from error" is from 1785.

45. One-legged camera support: MONOPOD. Tripod- three. Mono- one.

47. Netflix installment: EPISODE. They are going after the world of entertainment since streaming began working and you did not have to wait for a disc in the mail.

48. 252 wine gallons: TUN. That is about what my friend drinks annually.

50. Divining rod: DOWSER.

52. Grew fond of: TOOK TO.

53. Deep dish: TUREEN. Generally to serve soup. LINK.

54. Like a cloudless night: STARRY.

57. NRC forerunner: AEC. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Atomic Energy Commission.

58. Food sticker: TINE. Generally more than one on your fork.

59. "Your turn": OVER.

60. Bakery selections: RYES. It is so hard to find a good rye bread in the south.

62. See __ an omen: IT AS.

66. Prefix with pressure: ACU. Not to be confused with APU.

67. Hack: CAB.  You wonder why? Hack short for "hackney cab," which referred to a carriage for hire drawn by a hackney, or an ordinary horse -- leading to the use of "hack" to mean "writer for hire," and the word "hackneyed," which means cliche-ridden. The use of "hacker" to refer to a computer user dates back to the mid-1970s.

Wow, that was work and fun; so much to say, so little time. Thank you, Paul our own PC constructor, and you the readers and writers. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:
 

Happy birthday to Jaelyn's beautiful grandma Melissa, creator of Adopt an Inmate project and our faithful Wednesday Sherpa. Melissa's compassion, tenacity and and adventurous spirits continue to inspire me. She is also a deeply spiritual person, always so calm and cool. Have a beautiful day, dear Melissa!

Thursday, August 2nd 2018 Ed Sessa

Theme: Book 'em, Steve-o! Miscreants to be tracked down and dealt with.

20A. The blacksmith was busted for __: FORGING CHECKS. Have you seen the "Forged in Fire" show on the History Channel? They create some badass weapons each week. The producer came up with the idea after being "forced" to watch cooking shows like "Chopped" by his 14-yo daughter.

26A. The miner was busted for __: PICKING POCKETS

42A. The marathoner was busted for __: RUNNING NUMBERS

50A. The barber was busted for __: SHAVING POINTS

and a "bonus" unifier:

53D. Blacksmith, miner, marathoner or barber, in this puzzle: PERP

Morning! I tend to associate puzzles like this with the late Merl Reagle - he was extremely fond of the punning theme. Ed's done a nice job with the theme entries, nothing is forced, and there's also a couple of non-theme 10's in the across entries for good measure. The theme entries tie together well, and there's that "bonus" PERP cropping up late in the downs.

When you create a puzzle with a lot of theme squares, you can leave yourself a problem with the rest of the fill. Ed's done a pretty good job for the most part, but there are some clunkers which I didn't love.

Let's see what pops:

Across:

1. Lacks options: HAS TO

6. Passion: FIRE

10. Asian holidays: TETS

14. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are last seen in "Hamlet": ACT IV. They died at the hands of pirates, according to Hamlet.

15. Super-large film format: IMAX

16. Tons: A LOT

17. Give some space: LEAVE ALONE

19. Filmmaker Wertmüller: LINA. Who? She was the first woman nominated for "Best Director" Oscar back in 1975.

22. Chow line?: ARF. Woof. A "line" a chow (hound) might use.

24. Clamor: DIN

25. Pistons great Thomas: ISIAH

31. Pattern for some school uniforms: PLAID

32. French peak: ALPE. The Alpe d'Huez is a famous, grueling climb which makes a frequent appearance in the Tour de France stage race, including this year's route. The crowds of spectators can be more of a challenge than the hill itself.

33. Toxin fighters: SERA

34. Dogpatch name: ABNER. Looks a little racy for the time:

36. Some: A FEW

40. Desertlike: ARID

41. Jane Curtin title role: ALLIE. Kate's mutual support cohort in the 80's sitcom.

47. Confuse with booze: BESOT. One of those verbs you rarely see, if ever. The adjective is more common, but nothing to do with booze: "I was besotted by ..."

48. Vein find: ORE. I think I've seen ORE in every Thursday puzzle for the last couple of months.

49. Word with bar or suit: WET

55. "I hate the Moor" speaker: IAGO. Shakespeare's "Othello".

56. Creates opportunities: OPENS DOORS

59. Piano piece for four hands: DUET

60. "Love Song" singer Bareilles: SARA. Who? Oh - this song!

61. China's Zhou __: EN LAI

62. Alternatively: ELSE

63. Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl airer: ESPN. Now that's a proud moment for the players! Rose Bowl? Pah! Set your clocks for December 18th this year. Where would you rather be, let's face it!

64. Real cards: RIOTS

Down:

1. "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that" speaker: HAL. "2001: A Space Odyssey" The mischievous computer, the primary antagonist. HAL 9000 for completeness. If you tick up one letter of the alphabet, HAL becomes IBM. Coincidence?

2. Big heart?: ACE

3. Military wheels: STAFF CAR

4. Watch-when-you-want gadget: TIVO. Is Tivo a thing any more? I thought cable boxes come with DVR built in.

5. Went too far with: OVERDID

6. Taxpayer's chore: FILING

7. "That's my cue!": I'M ON

8. Gave a buzz: RANG

9. Office VIP: EXEC

10. "The Voyeur's Motel" writer Gay: TALESE.

11. Evoke: ELICIT

12. Some small trucks: TONKAS. "Small" is relative. They're big toys to little kids!

13. Secret store: STASH

18. Not fer: AGIN. There's more, further down.

21. Walk in the woods: HIKE. Ignore the movie (usually good advice) - try the book.

22. iPhone downloads: APPS

23. Agitate: RILE

27. Soul supplier: KIA.

28. Pampers maker, for short: P AND G. Procter and Gamble. Not the easiest letter progression to parse.

29. World Cup cheer: OLÉ! I think it might be time to retire this one. I watched almost every minute of the 2018 World Cup and my recollection count of "olés" is nil.

30. EMT's skill: CPR

34. MSNBC journalist Melber: ARI. Thank you, crosses.

35. Compost holder: BIN

36. Clerical vestment: ALB. Three letters. Fill it in and move on.

37. Had no co-pilot: FLEW SOLO

38. Joyce's land: ÉIRE. Not really. Joyce left Ireland in 1912, never to return. Éire wasn't adopted as the official name of the free state until 1937 under Éamon de Valera. Confused?

39. Old place?: WEST

40. Not for: ANTI. Brother of AGIN in 18D

41. One changing a bill: AMENDER. Yeah. No. Clunk.

42. Move again, as lumber: RE-HAUL. Yeah, No. Clunk. One-two punch of "really?" for me here.

43. Linguist's concerns: USAGES

44. Dissenting ballot: "NO" VOTE. I say Nay Nay! Enough!

45. Presidential speechwriter Peggy: NOONAN. She wrote some remarkable speeches for Reagan and Bush 41. She was inspired in one case by John Gillespie Magee Jr's poem "High Flight" which he wrote while he was a fighter pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in WWII. He completed the verses a few weeks before his death in 1941:

 "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

46. "Mila 18" novelist: URIS

47. Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" was one: B-SIDE. Beloved of karaoke bars everywhere.

51. Odor detector: NOSE

52. Students' stats: GPA'S

54. "Beloved" author Morrison: TONI

57. Squeal: RAT

58. Part of the fam: SIS. Could be BRO or SIB, so wait for the crosses.

Pip, Pip!

Steve

Wednesday, August 1st 2018 by Victor Barocas

Theme: It's Obvious

Today's offering is from a another prominent member of the Minnesota crossword contingent, making his second LAT appearance this week.  (I thought only C.C. did that.) Did you notice the WHITE RABBIT? Do you suppose Victor knew this one was destined to appear on the first of the month, or was that just serendipity? I like it, in either case.

The theme on this one was so obvious it jumped off the page. Impossible to miss. So I sent up an S-O-S to C.C. to let her know that I didn't get the theme, even with the reveal. Tabloid pairs make up another of the many black holes in my universe of useless information. Turns out I didn't need to know about Brangelina, TomKat or Kimye. I was over-thinking things. "IT" appears twice in every theme answer. As I said, so simple that IT's impossible to miss. D'oh!

 

17A. Liveliness: VITALITY.

23A. Jefferson Airplane song with the words "Go ask Alice": WHITE RABBIT. Pretty slick, Grace.

36A. "To boldly go," e.g.: SPLIT INFINITIVE. Star Trek's gift to the English language.

49A. Cat owner's purchase: KITTY LITTER. There's something wrong with buying kitty litter from a company named Chewy.com.

and the reveal:

59A. Tabloid pair found in 17-, 23-, 36- and 49-Across: IT COUPLE.

I am chagrined, but at least I was VICTORious in my solving efforts.

Across:

1. Light-ly armed fighter?: JEDI. That hyphen made it a dead giveaway.

5. "Better Call Saul" network: AMC.

8. Takes by force: SEIZES. WRESTS would also have worked. Wite-Out, please.

14. Nerve impulse carrier: AXON.

15. Bit of texting mirth: LOL. Laughing Out Loud, like Bernadette.

16. ThinkPad maker: LENOVO. It was the IBM ThinkPad until 2005.

19. "Grumpy" film guys: OLD MEN. Matthau and Lemmon, not dwarfs.

20. Really enjoyed, with "up": ATE.

21. Got 100 on: ACED.

22. Iberian river: EBRO. Fortunately, in cws it's always the same river.

 

27. To the degree that: AS FAR AS. Tried SO FAR AS, Wite-Out.

30. "It's __!": A DATE. It wasn't A WRAP. More W-O for d-o.

31. Like the Piper: PIED. Because of his multi-colored clothing, not his dessert preference. Could the legend be based on fact?

32. Wrapped up: OVER. Guarantees that 30a wasn't A WRAP.

33. Piece of land: LOT. Why do you suppose it's called a lot rather than a little?

41. Boston winter hrs.: EST.

42. Words before a start date: AS OF.

43. Swedish retail giant: IKEA. I'd never heard of 'em until they opened a store in Houston. King of the flat pack retailers.

44. Color from the French for "mole": TAUPE. We had this recently.

46. Multiplex theater count: SCREENS.

51. Deeply engrossed: RAPT.

52. Nest-building flier: WASP. Practically all flying creatures build nests. Used to be a label for a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Probably un-PC today.

53. Wordsmith's ref.: O.E.D.. Oxford English Dictionary

56. Verdict challenge: APPEAL.

61. Throwing money around, in slang: SPENDY. I've seen it, but don't believe I've ever heard it.

62. __ urchin: SEA. SEA, because STREET was too long. I was a street urchin in my ute.

63. Central: MAIN.

64. Chinese bamboo eaters: PANDAS.

65. TV shopper's option: HSN. Home Shopping Network.

66. Tom Stoppard creation: PLAY. Krigo probably recognizes the name. I had to look him up. He co-wrote Shakespeare In Love.

Down:

1. Indonesian island: JAVA. The J was already there. Otherwise I'm sure I would've inked in BALI.

2. __ interview: EXIT. I've mentioned my exit interview from the Navy: 

You don't want to ship-over, do you? 

Nope. 

All right, then. [Navy heaves huge sigh of relief.]

3. Spoil, with "on": DOTE.

4. Ship __ bottle: IN A. Gluey.

5. Keys of music: ALICIA. Didn't fool me. I immediately inked in ALISHA. Wite-out.

6. Church songs: MOTETS. Learning moment. I'd have guessed they were small motels. Here's a sample. I'd rank it right up there with opera.

7. Half a notorious crime duo: CLYDE. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. This is archival footage taken just 5 minutes after the famous 1934 ambush in Louisiana. Their driver, of course, was Clyde's brother Wheel Barrow.

8. __-mo replay: SLO. I call our black cat whose name is Moe, SLO-MO. DW doesn't like it. I also call our one-eyed cat, One-Eye. DW doesn't like that, either. There's a plethora of things DW doesn't like.

9. Slender aquarium swimmer: EEL. Do folks really keep eels in their aquaria? Do they name 'em Morey?

10. Like many a college graduate: IN DEBT. College was so much cheaper back in the day.

11. Resembling the walking dead: ZOMBIE-LIKE. Imhotep!

12. Tennis legend Chris: EVERT. She's 63 now, retired almost 30 years ago.

13. Prefix with gram: SONO. Don't WAG at this type of clue. It could be aerogram akhagram ambigram antigram aptagram ashigram attogram autogram babygram barogram bishgram bologram calogram cenogram datagram debagram decagram decigram dekagram dygogram echogram ectogram ergogram ethogram fluigram fourgram genogram gigagram goalgram hemogram hexagram hologram ideogram idiogram ionogram jhargram kaligram kanagram ketugram khargram kilogram kinegram kotigram kurigram kymogram lauegram lexigram lipogram logogram mailgram majigram mamogram marigram masagram megagram messgram metagram miligram mixogram monogram nabagram nanogram nayagram nitigram nomogram nonogram octagram ondogram optogram paragram petagram phrogram picogram piragram polygram renogram saligram sciagram semagram sevagram sewagram shalgram shongram sinogram skiagram skiogram sonagram sonogram specgram taligram taxogram tazagram telegram teragram tinygram tomogram tonogram trangram ursigram vasogram venogram wolfgram xerogram zymogram. Best to wait for a perp or two. I should have learned this back at 30a.

18. Cowardly Lion portrayer: LAHR. Bert.

23. Desert riverbed: WADI. Usually dry.

24. Sitar master Shankar: RAVI. He introduced the Beatles to the sitar. Norah Jones is his daughter.

25. Yemen's main port: ADEN. Hello, old cw friend.

26. City on the Adriatic: BARI. Not sure why I knew this one. It's the ninth largest city in Italy with a tad over 325,000 residents.

 

27. Semicircular church area: APSE. This knave only knows this word from cws.

28. Doesn't guzzle: SIPS. Name the song with these lines: "I can drink my liquor faster than a flicker. I can do it quicker and get even sicker."

29. Sharpie, e.g.: FELT TIP PEN. I keep one next to my year-at-a-glance wall calendar.

32. On vacation: OFF. Could'a been OUT. Wite-out.

34. "Cupcake Wars" appliance: OVEN.

35. Drinks with scones: TEAS. Seldom drink tea, have never had a scone.

37. Opposite of slack: TAUT. Sometimes confused with TAUNT, right Owen?

38. Game played with one's "little eye": I SPY. Also an old-timey TV show starring Robert Culp and he-who-shall-not-be-named.

39. Dramatist Coward: NOEL. I would've clued it as "First name of Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary"

40. Level: TIER.

45. Go to: ATTEND.

46. Declares: STATES. For a change it's not AVERS, he opined.

47. Diagnostic pic: CT SCAN. I won't say CAT SCAN, the Anon's brain might explode.

48. Loan default risk: REPO.

49. Iota follower: KAPPA. I finally put the Greek alphabet under the glass at my computer table. Makes it lots easier to "remember."

50. "If only": I WISH.

51. Rough file: RASP. Anybody think of this guy? 

53. Iridescent gem: OPAL. A synonym for "iridescent" is "opalescent." Go figure.

54. "East of Eden" director Kazan: ELIA. Those three vowels are just irresistible to crossword constructors.

55. Say no to: DENY.

57. MouthHealthy.org initials: ADA. American Dental Association.

58. Lille lily: LYS. Now we can revive that fleur-de-lis/lys discussion.

60. Diamond authority: UMP. Gratuitous baseball clue/answer.

With C.C.'s gracious help, here's the grid. Now it's your turn. Desper-otto over and out.