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Sep 1, 2011

Thursday September 1, 2011 Steve Salitan

Theme: ROUNDS (64A. Clue for this puzzle's four longest answers) - Theme entries are four definitions of ROUNDS.

17A. See 64-Across : AMMUNITION UNITS

24A. See 64-Across : SPARRING PERIODS

42A. See 64-Across : TOURNAMENT PARTS

56A. See 64-Across : TRAYFULS OF BEERS

Boomer here. Good Morning and Happy September Fool's Day to all.

I found this puzzle difficult and also tough to cheat. After all, you cannot Google "See 64 Across" and get any help from the techno know-it-all. We had to rely on the Downers a lot. But once we got it figured out, I am thinking Trayfuls of beer is not correct. Traysful of beer seems better, but if it's truly a round, there better be a Manhattan for me on one of the trays. I don't like beer.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. Why do they call it Labor Day and then give 90 per cent of the population the day off work??

Across:

1. "Close!" : ALMOST

7. Cartoon monkey : ABU - From Disney's "Aladdin"

10. __ bonding : MALE

14. Create trouble : CAUSE A STIR - Highlight of the puzzle.

16. Mount near Olympus : OSSA

19. Marx's "__ Kapital" : DAS

20. Smallish quarrel : SPAT - I had to read the clue twice. I was trying to think of a small squirrel.

21. With attitude : SASSY

22. It may be painted : TOE - Yeah, ladies polish their toe nails, but I could think of a thousand better clues for TOE

23. NASA moon lander : LEM - Acronym for Lunar Excursion Module

33. "Alfred" composer, 1740 : ARNE - Thomas Arne, a British Composer

34. Study fields : AREAS

35. Something golfers often break : TEE - I first wrote in "PAR". I never break a tee. (I never break PAR either.)

36. Martial arts facility : DOJO - This is a Japanese name. In the US it's called a Chuck Norris Movie.

37. Molasses-like : THICK - Okay, but I'd rather have a chocolate malt.

38. LaBeouf of "Transformers" films : SHIA - Shia Saide LaBeouf. You had to know this. I didn't. I suppose it would have helped if I saw the movie.

39. Latin 101 word : AMO - "I Love." I learned this in Brother Albert's Class. Amo, Amas, Amat, I love, you love, he loves - but nobody loved Latin class.

40. Drummer in Goodman's band : KRUPA - Gene Krupa, a very famous percussionist. My Mom listened to Benny Goodman. I was more of a Ringo Starr fan.

41. Crammer's concern : TEST

46. Quite a while : EON

47. Unsafe? : OUT - I had to think awhile to realize this was a baseball reference. I never heard an umpire holler "Unsafe".

48. It's sometimes shaved : SCALP - Again, it didn't hit me right away, even from a Jesse Ventura state.

51. Smith's item : SHOE - Making it tough - they could have maybe said "Blacksmith"

53. Contend : VIE

60. "__Cop": 1987 film : ROBO - Beverly Hills didn't fit

61. Plant-based weight loss regimen : HERBAL DIET - One of many

62. Former cygnet : SWAN - Well known in Hans Christian Anderson's "The Ugly Cygnet"

63. Scale notes : FAS

Down:

1. Riding sch., e.g. : ACAD

2. Dharma teacher : LAMA

3. Rose Parade flowers : MUMS - Mostly roses are featured, but I suppose there are a few mums.

4. Home of the Woody Hayes Athletic Ctr. : OSU - Ohio State - Woody is the only coach I ever knew who actually went on the field during a play and tripped or tackled an opposing player who was running for a touchdown. A colorful and ultra successful coach.

5. Electric eye, e.g. : SENSOR - Speaking of football, a tight end Joe Sensor played a number of years for the Vikings. Now he has a few restaurants in town.

6. Capital SSW of Seoul : TAIPEI - In Taiwan. I think we called it Formosa when I was a kid.

7. Going head to head : AT IT

8. Vita : BIO -Curriculum Vitae?

9. Spigoted vessel : URN - Well a coffee urn has a spigot, but I also know of others that do not.

10. Parisian words of friendship : MON AMI - I had only one year of French, my friend.

11. Sale caveat : AS IS

12. WWII transports : LSTS - LST is an acronym for Landing Ship, Tank

13. Lenient : EASY

15. Short stop? : STA (Short for Station)

18. Windows openers : USERS - this would be for Microsoft Windows. Another window opener could be a rock.

22. Palm in one's palm? : TREO - Some kind of Smart Phone. Please put them away when driving.

23. Reporter's source : LEAK - Deep Throat Mark Felt was the most famous

24. Co-Nobelist with Begin in 1978 : SADAT - Anwar tried for peace in the Middle East, like those before and after.

25. Teaser : PROMO - Way too many on TV these days

26. One variety of it remains green when ripe : ANJOU - I was thinking of a grape. When you pare a pair of pears, it's hard to tell the difference.

27. Book after Micah : NAHUM - One of the twelve prophets

28. Kvetch : GRIPE - I guess I've been kvetching about some of the clues in this puzzle.

29. Hard nut to crack : PECAN - Actually, pecans have an easy to crack thin shell, but hard to harvest the nut in two pieces.

30. Questionnaire catchall : OTHER

31. Certain believer : DEIST - A religious belief. I stay away from religion and politics.

32. Election prizes : SEATS

37. Air__: Southwest subsidiary : TRAN

38. BA or HR : STAT - Baseball leads all sports in stats.

40. Titan of publishing : KNOPF - Alfred Knopf founded his publishing house in 1915, It was acquired by Random House in 1960.

43. Put trust in : RELY ON

44. Where distasteful humor often goes : TOO FAR - But may be okay on September Fool's Day.

45. Hopi home : PUEBLO

48. Violas, cellos, etc.: Abbr. : STRS (Strings)

49. Bad thing to eat : CROW - I wonder if anyone has ever really eaten crow. Does it taste like chicken?? Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Crow.

50. "Rubáiyát" rhyme scheme : AABA. Whatever.

51. Georgia and Latvia, once: Abbr. : SSRS - Once a Soviet Social Republic

52. Fireplace shelf : HOB - I thought the hobs were the side pieces that hold the grate. Shelf seems a bit misleading.

53. Gold source : VEIN

54. Really ticked : IRED

55. Some attendance figs. : ESTS (Estimates)

57. TV dial letters : UHF (Ultra High Frequency). LOAITP - (Lots of acronyms in this puzzle)

58. Herd dining area : LEA

59. Prof's address letters : EDU

Answer grid.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Here is a photo of baby Boomer. I just couldn't remove the right camera light on his left leg. (Added later: Photo fixed. Thanks to Kazie and Fermatprime.)