Peg Slay is our own C6D6 Peg, who has been quietly posting on this blog since May, 2014.
Today's DROPPER is Peg's third puzzle for the LA Times. Her first puzzle was published on May 30, 2013. Click here, you'll see that she loves wordplay and all her puzzles have a distinctive style.
Steve (Peg's husband) & Peg
I loved the reveal! How did this theme come to you and what were the other theme answers you also considered but discarded?
I
like to either add or drop something in a phrase to make a fun theme
answer. When DROPPER came to mind, the first theme answer was
ONECENTMILK. I use an on-line dictionary to find other answers that
start or end with PER to come up with the others. I originally had
HERMESFUMES (Son of Zeus loses his cool) and BUMMAGNET (One who attracts
loafers), but Rich didn’t think enough people were familiar with Hermes
Perfumes or Bumper Magnets. I really wanted two entries to drop the
PER at the beginning and two at the end, but finally settled with
JALAPENOPOP, which was Rich’s favorite.
I imagined
you tried DROPPER at the very right edge intersecting JALAPENO POP or
the central 8th row, then you settled down at the current 39-Down spot.
Or did you have this current theme entry arrangement from the very
start?
Yes, I had wanted DROPPER at the
very right edge, but when trying to complete the fill, had to rearrange
the theme answers and grid so I didn’t have fill that started and ended
with vowels or unusual consonants.
What problems did you encounter in the filling process?
It’s
really hard for me to come up with 3-letter fill that’s interesting and
not the usual crosswordese. This fill was pretty easy, the hardest
being 15D (Starts with an S and ends with an I).
Tell us a bit about yourself. What's your background? And how did you get into crossword construction?
I’ve
been retired 4 years after 35 years in the business field. Originally,
I’m from Milwaukee, but now live south of Houston. I’ve been solving
crossword puzzles for as long as I can remember. My husband and I have
been doing the LA Times for over 13 years. After retirement, I was
looking for a hobby to fill some time, and my husband suggested I create
a crossword from an old program we had. The first couple of puzzles
were mostly done by hand. I really like Crossword Compiler, and try to
use as much of the help it will give.
What kind of theme & fill fascinate you and what kind do you try to avoid in your grids?
I love the play on words theme most, although I really enjoy Saturday’s
themeless. I like a puzzle that will really make me think. I really
try to avoid the crosswordese fill and look for some new words for
solvers to learn.
Which part do you enjoy the most in the construction process: theme development, filling or cluing?
Best
part of the process is coming up with the theme development and then
the fill. I think it gives the solver some clue into your personality
and mindset. However, it takes me a long time to come up with a theme
that I feel is clever enough, or one that I can develop into at least
4-5 theme answers.
What kind of reference tools do you use for crossword construction & cluing?
As
I said, Crossword Compiler is great, but I also use a lot of on-line
dictionaries, Word Search (More Words), Google and other sites. I also
have two books on Phrases and Idioms that I use occasionally.
Besides crosswords, what else do you do for fun?
My
husband and I do a lot of volunteer work. We love watching movies. I
also play handbells (thus the name C6D6Peg). We like to go camping in
spring and fall and love the time away.
The reveal is hidden at 39-Down. Medicine dispenser, and, in another way, a hint to the answers to starred clues : DROPPER. (DROP "PER")
17-Across. *Bargain dairy product? : ONE CENT MILK. One percent milk. Anyone who was alive during the Great Depression will remember milk selling for a penny a quart.
32-Across. *Nickname for a roller coaster highlight? : THE BIG DIP. The Big Dipper. Much better than "The Big Loo"...
37-Across. *Security workers asleep on the job? : BUM GUARDS. Bumper guards.
52-Across. *Really hot cold drink? : JALAPENO POP. Jalapeno popper. This was my favorite entry.
Just missing the Q for a pangram. Nicely done C6D6 Peg! Let's look at the nuts and bolts in the rest.
Across
1. Roam : GAD. Usually with "about."
4. Got ready for company, perhaps : SWEPT.
9. Norse shape-shifter : LOKI. Also, the evil villain in the 2012 movie "The Avengers."
13. Word often following "further" : ADO.
14. One adopting a puppy, say : NAMER. I might have considered putting NAMEs crossing TsE in this spot.
15. The Tempter : SATAN.
16. Trivial amount : SOU.
19. Go out : EBB. I toyed with "die" (like a fire).
20. Dedicated lines : ODES.
21. Eliminates completely : ERASES.
22. Bar supply : SELTZER.
24. Farm cries : BAAS. In Boston, BAAs are where we mix drinks with seltzer.
25. Vessel with a spout : EWER.
26. Database command : SORT.
27. Spots : ADS. I was on the "vision" line of thinking, so it took way too long to come up with this short name for advertisements.
30. __ of roses : ATTAR. Immediately started filling in "a bed," but ran out of letters before squares.
34. Reclined : LAIN.
35. Easily provoked : FIERY.
36. Soap containing ground pumice : LAVA.
39. Only Dwarf without a beard : DOPEY.
40. Had : ATE.
41. Goes after : SUES.
42. Oath for toondom's Dick Dastardly : DRAT.
43. Provide money for : FUND.
44. It's named for a trapeze artist : LEOTARD. When Leo Tard's accountant asked him what was his net worth, he answered "Every penny!"
47. Turkish tabby : ANGORA.
50. Deaden, as a piano string : DAMP.
51. Reason for an extra period : TIE.
54. Violin ending : IST.
55. Cuckoopints, e.g. : ARUMS. We used to call these flowers "Jack in the Pulpit."
56. Merge : UNITE.
57. "Well now!" : OHO.
58. Bar offerings : RYES.
59. It's a stunner : TASER.
60. Reject : NIX.
Down
1. They may be noble : GASES.
2. __ Reader : ADOBE.
3. Holiday rate, perhaps : DOUBLE TIME.
4. Loser-to-be? : SNOOZER. "You snooze, you lose!"
5. Stray : WANDER. I was on the "Tom cat" track.
6. Arab potentate : EMEER. Var. of "emir."
7. Muscle mag display : PECS.
8. Green Day drummer __ Cool : TRE. This was probably one of his best performances. 0:21
9. Lorenzo of "Renegade" : LAMAS. I remember him from "Falcon Crest."
10. Man with rising aspirations? : OTIS. Haha. The elevator guy.
11. Iron-rich cabbage : KALE. I love sautéed KALE.
12. Signs : INKS.
15. Layered clouds : STRATI.
18. Neighboring : NEARBY.
23. Bluegrass characteristic : TWANG.
24. Transvaal settlers : BOERS.
26. Shakes off : SHEDS. My cats are getting rid of their winter coats. I could make another cat from what they have SHED.
27. 2002 Cage/Streep film : ADAPTATION. I missed that one, but I did see "Being John Malkovich," which is part of the plot.
28. Honky-tonk : DIVE.
29. Fix, in a way : SPAY.
30. Goya's "The Duchess of __" : ALBA. He was supposedly romantically involved with her.
31. Stretched : TAUT.
32. Overused : TIRED.
33. Unsportsmanlike look : GLOAT.
35. Regional animal life : FAUNAE. I don't think I have ever seen this plural outside of scientific journals.
38. Seizes unlawfully : USURPS.
42. Bump at the office, maybe : DEMOTE.
43. Bar heads : FOAMS.
44. Blue gem, briefly : LAPIS.
45. Hindu sage : RISHI.
46. Withdrawal process : DETOX.
47. Open a touch : AJAR.
48. Not : NARY...a clue.
49. Kindergarten staple : GLUE.
50. Spanish lady : DONA.
53. Hardware item : NUT. Sometimes you feel like a hardware item...sometimes you don't.
Another treat for me as marti and I have switched so I can blog her Thursday effort. It seems particularly timely as I have recently returned from visiting my son who lives in Denver. Denver has now added a new dimension to its nickname of mile high city. As a child of the sixties, it is very strange to walk around and see the marijuana shops. Anyway, on to the puzzle. It involves hiding a word (DOPE) which spans two-word fill. In the first three the break is D OPE, with the last DO PE. Not an expert on Thursday word length, but we do have a less than 5 letter average. Aside from theme answers, the longest fill is 6 letters, featuring DROWSE, ENGULF, HOODOO, NOVELS, OBJECT, OWED ON, SEVERE, SPIRAL, SPONGE, TAIPAN, TENONS and ZEALOT. She was nice enough to include a J. So let us dance....
18A. Genre that often includes a ballet : GRAND OPERA. am familiar with the TERM generally but I am not as high brow as miss m.
23A. TV teaser before the first commercial : COLD OPENING. Another TERM I do not know, but it was easily inferred.
37A. James Bond and others : FIELD OPERATIVES. Wiki prefers the TERM Field Agents.
52A. "Great" 1975 Redford role : WALDO PEPPER. I actually was glancing through the various clues when I saw this one, immediately put in the answer and saw the Theme and went back to fill the rest. This MOVIE character may have been based on a real pilot who died flying in a movie.
And the reveal:
58A. Skinny, so to speak, or what's hidden in 18-, 23-, 37- and 52-Across : INSIDE DOPE (10) A perfect reveal, as the DOPE is on the inside of the theme answers. An interesting slang word, the SKINNY on skinny.
Now for the skinny on the rest....
Across:
1. "That's terrible!" : OH NO.
5. Like some stockings : MESH. Oh my, Splynter?
Easy for them to say
9. Guck : SLIME. It reminds me of this scene from a slime MOVIE.
14. Windfall : BOON.
15. "The Salt-N-__ Show" : PEPA. The answer was easily inferable as I know the group but never heard of the SHOW.
16. Trojan War figure : PARIS. Now a name for the ladies, but this was a ladies man who stole away Helen from her Greek husband leading to war and the great measure of female beauty- the millihelen.
17. Roman god of the sky : JOVE. By Jove, I knew it was not Jupiter.
20. Utopias : EDENS.
22. Excited, with "up" : WOUND. Picture children with too much candy in them .
26. Côte d'Azur sight : MER. The sea in French. Not to be confused with 12D. Orbiter for 15 years : MIR. It seemed that it lasted longer. LINK.
29. Lean-__ : TOS.
30. Nasser's confed. : UAR. United Arab Republics. marti likes her initialisms.(#1).
31. Harsh : SEVERE. Winter 2014-5 in NE?
33. Swamp : ENGULF. I was thinking like the Everglades, not being swamped.
36. Bone-dry : ARID. I like the clue.
42. Open org. : USGA. United States Golf Association. (#2) See, I told you.
43. Second book in Clavell's "Asian Saga" : TAI-PAN. Not be confused with 61D. One might keep you from seeing the show : PAN. Of the SERIES of Books, I think SHOGUN is the most famous.
44. Fanatic : ZEALOT.Another interesting WORD which is appropriate for the season.
47. One-up : TOP.
48. Time zone word: Abbr. : STD. Standard as opposed to daylight.
51. Buddhist branch : ZEN.
56. Free-for-all : MELEE.A fun word
57. Savanna heavyweight : RHINO.
63. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW.
64. Movers' challenge : PIANO.
65. Degree holder : GRADuate.
66. Without : SANS.
67. Choose to join : OPT IN.
68. Ages and ages : EONS.
69. Choice word : ELSE.
Down:
1. Protest : OBJECT.
2. Jinx : HOODOO. Again? Who cursed me?
3. King output : NOVELS. Probably she means Stephen, not Don or Martin Luther nor Elvis.
4. Upright : ON END.
5. EPA sticker stat : MPG. Miles Per Gallon (#3).
6. Adverb in odes : E'ER.
7. Produce : SPAWN.
8. Capital NE of Vientiane : HANOI.
9. Quick learner : SPONGE.
10. "Dragnet" force, briefly : LAPD. Los Angeles Police Department (#4).
11. Rage : IRE.
13. Spanish "that" : ESA.
19. Pressures for payment : DUNS.
21. Ting or ping : SOUND. Ting?
24. When doubled, a South Pacific capital : PAGO. The capital of American Samoa, PAGO PAGO has nothing to with a volcano in Papua, New Guinea named Pago, which may or may not...
25. Blow : ERUPT.
26. First name in game shows : MERV. Griffin, responsible for both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.
27. Iroquoian people : ERIE. Do we have any Native Americans reading this?
28. Cabs and syrahs : REDS. No Cincinnati to commemorate the baseball season? Oops, marti does not like baseball.
32. "You're So ___": 1973 #1 hit : VAIN
33a. Carrier that doesn't fly on the Sabbath : EL AL.
34. Where to hear maas and baas : LEA. Paa!
35. Popular chip : FRITO. Corn chips which led to nacho chips.
37. __ bass : FUZZ. A musical interlude; the effect can be from the amp or a pedal.
xxxx
38. Words of understanding : I SEE.
39. Eddie __, detective involved in the actual "French Connection" : EGAN.His OBITUARY.
40. Each : A POP.
41. Slender candle : TAPER. Finally, the TAPER from BG's April Fool's Day post.
45. Was in debt regarding : OWED ON.
46. Yarn : TALE. You may spin one but it will not make a scarf.
48. Fusilli shape : SPIRAL. A fun pasta.
Twist and shout
49. Mortise partners : TENONS. We have had this debate before.
Well Lemonade thanking marti for the chance to explain her work, and now I'm on my way to create a new recipe to prepare food with matzoh, though the fusilli and Cecile both look yummy.
Theme - THE WEARIN' O' THE GREEN. Nope - nothing to do with St. Pat - that was last month. In fact, this puzzle, for reasons that will soon become clear, is much more timely than that. The theme refers to the iconic item of apparel given to the winner of a sporting event which will be identified shortly.
17 A. Hold banned in amateur wrestling : FULL NELSON. This hold is more easily pictured than described.
Byron NELSON was the winner of the subject event in 1937 and 1942, the latter in a playoff with Ben Hogan - before my time.
24 A. Premier League athlete : SOCCER PLAYER. The English Premier League is where professionals play a sport known as "football" most everyplace except here in the U.S. Gary PLAYER, from South Africa was the winner in 1961, 1974 and 1978.
40 A. Innocents : BABES IN THE WOODS. This is the title of a gruesome traditional children's tale, first published in 1595, then passed into every-day speech to indicate any inexperienced or unwary persons thrust into hazardous situations. Tiger WOODS is perhaps more famous now for his adventurous personal life that his sporting feats; but he once dominated his sport, and won the subject event in 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2005. Looks like he will participate this year.
52. Influential teams : POWERCOUPLES. From the Urban Dictionary: "A couple who seems to have a fairy tale romance. Also, both parties involved in the power couple have tremendous influence over people around them because of their devastating good looks* and seemingly perfect relationship with their significant other.
*the most common type of power couple is between a male athlete and an actress and/or singer."
Fred COUPLES, the only one-time winner in the puzzle, took the prize in 1992.
It should be obvious by now that the the sport is golf, and the unifier gives us the event. 65A. April golf tournament, four of whose winners appear in 17-, 24-, 40- and 52-Across : THE MASTERS tournament, an event held every April at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA. It is the first of golf's four major championships held in 2015. Each year the winner is awarded the iconic green blazer.
This year's MASTERS starts tomorrow, so the puzzle is right on time. And did you notice the constructors? Our own fearless leader and prolific puzzle maven C.C. along with Monday-Tuesday blogging stalwart, Santa Baby. More feathers in the corner cap. Yay team!
Let's see if our friends have given us a rough time or treated us in a fair way.
Across
1. Victorian : PRIM. As in prim and proper - what the Victorians would have you believe about their behavior. I have my doubts.
5. Like much 67-Down : ON TAP. [patience, we'll get there.]
10. Bay of Bengal setting : ASIA. Broadly speaking.
14. Extinct pigeon relative : DODO. Flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius, last seen in 1662. It was destroyed by sailors, their pets, and invasive species.
15. First name in puppetry : SHARI. Last name LEWIS. Real name Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz (January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998)
16. __ jar: lab glass : BELL. Wikipedia says it is an approximately BELL-shaped vessel used to contain vacuum. There's something oddly oxymoronic about that concept. Also, a semi-biographical novel by Sylvia Plath.
19. Take one's leave : EXIT. Don't let the door hit you.
20. Make sure of : SEE TO.
21. Stretched to the max : TAUT. Not necessarily to the max, but without slack.
23. Reggae cousin : SKA.
A sampler
28. Apply gently : DAB. What does Miss Piggy DAB onto her sunburn? Oinkment.
47. Important stretches : ERAS. Of time, not yoga. Or so I've been TAUT.
50. Beef cut : RIB. Roast. More tasty than algae, I'm guessing.
51. Maple syrup source : SAP. You have to boil it down.
57. Louisville Slugger wood : ASH. Not exclusively anymore. The emerald borer has severely damaged the ash population. You can still find ash bats, but oak, birch and maple are also being used.
59. Jewish scholar : RABBI. I will leave the explanation to those who understand it better.
63. Swindle : SCAM.
68. Movie plantation : TARA. Abode of the O'Haras from Gone With the Wind.
69. Sea-born jewelry material : CORAL.
70. "Right now!" : ASAP. As Soon As Possible.
71. Song and dance : ARTS. Along with painting, sculpture, architcture and literature.
Probably not Elrond
72. Urgency : HASTE.
73. Snoopy : NOSY. Down
1. Sharable digital docs : PDFs. Portable Document Format files can be shared across platforms.
2. Libertine : ROUE. From 19th century French, literally "broken on a wheel" referring to the instrument of torture torture that this one's behavior deserved. Usage of the word peaked around 1850
3. Onetime Palin collaborator : IDLE. Eric IDLE and Michael Palin of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Surely, you weren't mislead?
4. Feathers one's nest, in a way : MOLTS. Birds of a feather losing their plumage at home.
5. Full of: Suff. : -OSE. Examples: grandiose - full of affected grandeur; verbose - full of verbs.
6. Gp. with Sharks and Penguins : NHL. San Jose and Pittsburgh teams in the National Hockey League.
7. Decorator's asset : TASTE. More so than for a chef?
8. Cheering like crazy : AROAR. Was the crowd AROAR at your favorite team's opener? It was for my Tigers.
9. Hangers in lockers? : PINUPS. Pictures of models pinned up in lockers and various other places. The practice started in WW II. Twentieth Century Fox provided over 5 million copies of this iconic picture of Betty Grable - the No. 1 pin up girl of her [and possibly any] era.
10. Justice Fortas : ABE. A Johnson appointee who served on the court form 1965 to 1969.
11. Figures in 9-Down : SEX SYMBOLS. No explanation needed.
12. "Very nice!" : I LIKE. Vide supra.
13. A proposal may ultimately lead to one : ALTAR. Wedding venue, and a clever clue.
18. Lasso loops : NOOSES. For someone on a wanted poster, no noose was good news.
22. Dr. Mom's forte : TLC. Tender Loving Care.
25. Spiced tea brewed in milk : CHAI.
26. Toe woes : CORNS. Painful areas of thickened skin resulting from pressure or abrasion.
27. Mustang, for one : AUTO. Did anybody else enter FORD and then get perplexed by the perps?
28. Chapter 11 factor : DEBT. Bankruptcy law.
29. Berry in faddish supplements : ACAI. About which there is actually nothing special.
30. Star of a classic sitcom set at a Vermont inn : BOB NEWHART. Aired from 1982 to 1990, the program was simply called Newhart.
35. Imprecise degree : NTH. But generally considered to be a very high degree.
36. Like provolone piccante : SHARP. Piccante means strong or spicy.
38. 1998 Sarah McLachlan ballad : ADIA. I had this recently and still couldn't remember it.
39. Initial request for an answer? : RSVP. The initial letters of Répondez S'il Vous Plaît - or, Please Respond - typical request to an invitee. I have no idea why we do this in French.
41. Brontë heroine : EYRE. Jane, the governess of Thornfield Hall, and eponym of the Charlotte Brontë novel which describes her life and times.
42. German actor Jannings : EMIL. A little bit of a mini-theme here with 53 D, since Jannings (23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) received the first one ever awarded in 1929, as best actor in The Way of All Flesh and The LastCommand. He later went on to appear in a number of Nazi propaganda films.
62. Car trip game : I SPY. A game in which players attempt to guess what the spy is spying on. The spy starts by giving a hint such as the color of the object or the letter it starts with.
64. Some advanced degs. : M.A.'s. Masters of Arts.
66. Floor pad : MAT.
67. Part of IPA : ALE. India Pale ALE is brewed with an abundance of hops, because that stabilized the product for the long sea voyage from England to India. The thing ON TAP in 5a. And it provides a fitting ending, because after a hot game of golf, a nice cold beer is just the thing.
That completes this round. Right on par for a Wednesday, I'd say, with nothing to be teed off about, and not a bogey on the course. Cool regards! JzB
Note from C.C.: As Jazzbumpa mentioned, D. Scott Nichols is Argyle, our dear Santa, who came up with this lovely idea. Here are two recent pictures of our sweet Santa, the real Master.
Theme: SAT prep - There isn't a unifier so my take is that the last word could describe getting a student ready to take something like the SAT's. You're welcome to post a different slant; please do.
17A. Older name for a passenger bus : MOTOR COACH
24A. Wedding gown follower : BRIDAL TRAIN
34A. Like one resisting innovation : OLD SCHOOL
50A. Pirate Blackbeard's real name : EDWARD TEACH
58A. Hole-making tool : POWER DRILL
Argyle here. Looking over past puzzles from David I see he often doesn't give a unifier. The grid is notable for the strong corners,(we like corners). COACH, TRAIN, SCHOOL, TEACH and DRILL answers are all consistently used as nouns in the theme entries at a different context.
Across:
1. Peru's __ Picchu : MACHU
6. Angle iron : L-BAR
10. Highest point : ACME
14. Kindle download : eBOOK
15. SeaWorld performer : ORCA
16. Ellington's "Take __ Train" : THE 'A'
19. Glass darkener : TINT
20. Responded in court : PLED
21. Cape NNW of Cod : ANN
22. Saguaros, e.g. : CACTI
23. Covered up : HID
27. Place in quarantine : ISOLATE
29. Legal thing : RES
30. Came down with : GOT
31. Kate, before Petruchio's "taming" : SHREW. Shakespeare, "Taming of the Shrew".
32. Bit of legislation : ACT
33. U2 lead singer : BONO
38. Die dots : PIPS
41. Thumbs-up : YES
42. Best man's offering : TOAST
46. Santa __ winds : ANA
47. Fellows : MEN
48. Stir-fry vegetable : SNOW PEA
53. Rank below cpl. : PVT.
54. Believer in the Great Pumpkin : LINUS. from "Peanuts".
55. NYC airport : LGA. LaGuardia Airport (code LGA) in New York City.
56. Narrow opening : SLIT
57. Installed, as carpet : LAID
61. Years, to Nero : ANNI
62. Wows, and how : AWEs
63. Stone marker : STELE
64. Droops over time : SAGS
65. Peel in a cocktail : ZEST
66. Filled with cargo : LADED
Down:
1. Tennessee home of the NBA's Grizzlies : MEMPHIS
2. Do away with : ABOLISH
3. French department that translates to "golden slope" : CÔTE-D'OR
4. Robin __ : HOOD
5. Kiev is its cap. : UKR. (Ukraine)
6. Canadian coin nicknamed for the bird on it : LOONIE
7. Lego or Eggo, for example : BRAND
8. Duke Univ. conference : ACC. (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Theme: Combination of the Two - The first part of the unifier is placed behind the first part of the starred entries to form an unrelated combination.
56A. Process for selecting theatrical performers, and a hint to the first word of the answers to starred clues : CASTING CALL
20A. *Manhattan site of Strawberry Fields : CENTRAL PARK. Central Casting, where all the movie extras come from.
39A. *Prepare for printing : TYPESET. Typecasting, what some actors suffer.
11D. *Untrustworthy, as a business : FLY-BY-NIGHT. Fly Casting, a type of fishing. Clip
29D. *Word processor error finder : SPELL CHECK. Spell Casting, just one of the classes at Hogwarts.
Argyle here. Every letter but the 'J'. Putting the uni-word in the middle of the answer makes it harder to spot. I felt the level of fill was slightly uneven but doable. Some room for cornerites to add their own spin. Have at it.
Across:
1. Halloween costume part : MASK
5. 640 acres: Abbr. : SQ MI. (square mile)
9. Longtime employee : LIFER
14. Death Valley's is the lowest in North Amer. : ELEV. 282 feet below sea level.
15. Mammoth feature : TUSK. Woolly mammoth.
16. China's Zhou __ : ENLAI
17. "Dirty Jobs" host Mike : ROWE. ...but somebody has to do it.
18. County Kerry's isle : EIRE
19. Deep chasm : ABYSS
23. "So long" : "BYE"
24. Young horse : COLT
25. One from Nairobi : KENYAN
27. Ultimate conclusion : UPSHOT. 1530's; originally, the final shot in an archery match, hence the figurative sense of "result, issue, conclusion". ~ Online Etymology Dictionary
30. Made of oak, e.g. : WOODEN
32. Small swallow : SIP
33. Pumps or clogs : SHOES
35. Thin piece of change : DIME
38. __ out a living : EKE
42. Guy's partner : GAL
43. Bank (on) : RELY
45. Glue in a hobbyist's kit : EPOXY
46. "Let me think ... " : "HMM..."
47. Utter madness : LUNACY
50. Michelangelo masterpieces : PIETAs
52. Tallied, with "up" : RACKED
54. Group after boomers : GEN X
55. "How relaxing!" : "AAH!"
62. Bit of luck : BREAK
64. Place for koi : POND
65. Prefix with distant : EQUI
66. Italian ball game : BOCCE
67. Woodworking tool : ADZE
68. Put on a pouty face : SULK
69. Filled (in), as a comic strip : INKED
70. Frog's kiddie-lit friend : TOAD
71. Yard event : SALE
Down:
1. Bygone Ford division, for short : MERC. A 71-year run ended in 2010.
2. Sunburn soother : ALOE
3. Stitched up : SEWN
4. Complain : KVETCH
5. Furtive : STEALTHY
6. Comforter to get comfy in : QUILT
7. Car sticker abbr. : MSRP. (manufacturer's suggested retail price)