Saturday, February 24, 2018, Neville Fogarty and Doug Peterson

THE NEVILLE AND DOUG SHOW

Husker Gary reporting on today's fun puzzle that comes to us from Neville Fogarty and Doug Peterson. Two triple stacks of tens is always impressive! Two of the long fills ,which are usually so helpful, were unbeknownst to this solver out on the Great Plains. Also, some of the clever cluing left welts from my forehead slaps! "Will run you" led the list!

Here is C.C.'s interview with Neville  where it is revealed he was an 11-year-old Jeopardy! "Back to School Week" (October 3, 2000) contestant with a pet fish named Bob Saget. He also lists Doug as one of his inspirational constructors. 

 In the interest of equal time, here is C.C.'s interview with Doug Peterson where it is revealed "I listen to loud heavy metal music when I’m constructing my puzzles. (Not loud enough to wake the neighbors.) Believe it or not, it helps me concentrate."

Now let's explore the themeless puzzle this talented duo produced for us today. As is my wont, I will start with the long fills. As I mentioned before, two of them were not all that helpful to moi (marked in red)!

1. Arcing "American Ninja Warrior" obstacle : WARPED WALL  2. __ moment : AHA - that's what they are called!

15. "This is news to me" : I HAD NO IDEA - Ya gotta love the cerebral, deadpan humor of Rita Rudner 

17. Noting : TAKING DOWN - Here's how they do it in this venue and 22. "Guilty as charged" : I DID IT - What the stenographer in the OJ trial never had to TAKE DOWN

58. Producer Rhimes' TV production company : SHONDALAND - Shonda Rhimes' company logo and its first hit show and now I've now seen a buncha episodes

63. Sci-fi franchise since 1984 : TERMINATOR - TERMINATOR 2 - 3D was a favorite attraction for my kids 
at Universal Studios Orlando. It is now shut down as these parks must change with the times.

65. Weekend night events, usually : SLEEPOVERS - Been there, hosted those! 😲

Here's the rest of Neville and Doug's fill:

Across

11. Cut on a Jackson 5 album? : AFRO - Oh, hairCUT!

16. Used miles, perhaps : FLEW - If you've got the frequent flyer miles...

18. Romney's 2012 running mate : RYAN - He's now Speaker Of The House

19. Letters of address for Washington and Lee? : EDU -It is https://www.wlu.EDU for Washington and Lee Unversity

20. Great in scope : EPIC

21. Extended narratives : ARCS - Can you see the ARC with the movie Titanic?

25. "Whispers of Immortality" poet : T.S. ELIOT - 32 lines - half about death and half about eroticism (so I read)

27. Norman or Eugene : CITY - Oklahoma U and Oregon U cities were chosen as red herrings for a simple clue

28. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel __ : ALE 

30. Includes in the mix : ADDS

31. Former Radiohead label : EMI - They did okay with these lads

32. Lemons may be among them : USED CARS - There's a 🍋 among our bloggers too 

35. Letter's needs : TENANTS - If you've got apartments to let, you will need TENNANTS

37. Continuous : ONGOING - Congress's many ONGOING investigations of themselves never seem to end

41. Links with : TIES INTO - It turns out the Star Wars TIE IN with this lollipop was not, uh, well thought out. No one seems to want to put their mouth into Jar Jar's mouth. Duh!

43. __ Today: magazine for teachers : NEA - Our state passed a law that to join the local and state education associations and you also HAD to join the NEA whether you liked their politics or not.

44. Start to bat? : ACRO - ACROBAT

46. Once called : NEE 

47. Court suspension : STAY

48. Pacific states? : TRANCES - Nothing to do with WA, OR or CA but a pacified state of mind

51. Onion offering : SATIRE

53. Meany in an Irving title : OWEN

54. Actress Miranda of "24: Legacy" : OTTO - I have never partaken but am sure she's just fine

56. Monk's title : DOM - This bottle of  1964 DOM 49. Will run you : COSTS about $2,000

57. __ swing : MOOD 

62. Brief plea : NOLO - NOLO (I do not wish) Contendre (to contend). I don't admit guilt but will take take the consequences with no chance of being retried. 

64. Footnote notation : IDEM - Ibid didn't cut it

Down

1. Marx asset : WIT - A Marx TOY was always an asset at my house but so was the WIT of the Marx Brothers 

3. Win big : RAKE IT IN - It appears the house is RAKING IT IN here

4. Combs differently? : PDIDDY - Sean Combs -> Puff Daddy -> PDIDDY - 

5. Lassitude : ENNUI - The only popular song with ENNUI in the lyric that I know of. It's at 30 sec but I recommend the whole song

6. Pursue persistently : DOG - Deputy Samuel Gerard did DOG Richard Kimble in The Fugitive

7. Spacious : WIDE

8. Took in : ADOPTED - Nah, you've seen enough pix of our ADOPTED kitty

9. Corps of Discovery Expedition explorer : LEWIS - Sorry CLARK, you're out, LEWIS you're in. 

10. Cavalry weapon : LANCE - A modern Cavalryman and his weapon

11. "Yes, sad to say" : AFRAID SO

12. Casting choice : FLY ROD

13. Jerks, say : REACTS - Hey, he had it coming!

14. Dominates : OWNS - Frank Lary was a pitcher in the 50's/60's for a mediocre Detroit Tiger team but he OWNED the Yankees 

22. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE-T

23. It has a torch and two branches on its back : DIME - Here's the obverse and the reverse side with aforementioned items

24. Hint : TASTE 

26. Key __ : LARGO -  A lovely song by a one-hit-wonder. If you knew his name, you're a better man than I am Charlie Brown!

29. Minus : LESS

32. Pairing : UNION - Last Saturday Joann and I celebrated the 51st anniversary of our UNION. I bought her this cake because it has 1) Dairy Queen Ice Cream, 2) Ghirardelli Chocolate, 3) strawberries and 4) a 51 on top. And, oh yeah,  it  also covered Valentine's Day.

33. Parlor purchase : CONE

34. Payments for hands : ANTES - You have to pay to play

36. Unsystematically : AT RANDOM

38. Hint : INTIMATE - This is the long "a" version of this word

39. __ miss : NEAR - Burchard, Nebraska's Harold Lloyd certainly had one here!

40. "Got to Give It Up" singer : GAYE - I'd love to insert his wonderful version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine but two songs are plenty.

42. Coming up : IN STORE 

44. "Alias Grace" author : ATWOOD

45. Big Easy cuisine : CREOLE

47. Canonized Norw. king : ST OLAV - SLEEPOVERS eliminated ST OLAF

50. Waters with pipes? : ETHEL - She did indeed have a set of pipes! Hardest/cleverest clue of the puzzle for me.

52. Town in a 1945 Pulitzer-winning novel : ADANO - The John Hersey story of an Italian-American soldier replacing a church bell in this town in 1944 Sicily that the Fascists had destroyed

53. Prefix for all : OMNI

55. Big sport's words : ON ME - My cheap friend usually did that after most everyone had left the bar

59. Fall off : DIP

60. Conjunction that reverses to a man's name : NOR - NOR flips to RON.

61. Pepper and others : DRS - The others are many and inferior

Thanks Neville and Doug! Now what say you?

DA GRID

Friday, February 23, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: AS if!

 JW is back again with one of his specialties, the "add letters to known phrases" gimmick.  This time "AS" is added with a nice simple reveal. I am curious if you all are becoming so familiar with Jeffrey's style, that his Fridays do not seem as difficult as they once did.

 As with all of his puzzles, there are tricky clues, sparkly fill like: BRITON, BY AREA,  CITY JAIL, FROTHING,  GUTTURAL and OUTSTRIP. There also some very funny fill like JUMPING JACKASS and ALL BEASTS ARE OFF. The marvel of JW is that as he beats you up making the puzzle a challenge, his cluing and fill make you smile.

No more delay

17A. *Dog that really needs a bath? : GREASY HOUND (11). The base is GREYHOUND which is the outlier. It is only one word, and the basic meaning of hound stays the same.

22A. *Donkey that has mastered the hurdles? : JUMPING JACKASS (14). JUMPING JACKS were such an important part of the early exercise in my life.

32A. *Holiday employment schedule in "Animal Farm"? : ALL BEASTS ARE OFF (15). ALL BETS ARE OFF is a nice phrase similar to:

47A. *Offer to acquire a rising agent? : I'LL GET YOU YEAST (14). I'LL GET YOU YET.

55A. When required ... or a terse hint to solving the starred clues: AS NECESSARY (11). Literally "AS" is necessary to get the fill.

Across:

1. Med. recording: ECG. I fell for EKG first.

4. Type sizes: PICAS. When I began working, I knew pica and elite - that was all.

9. "__, then ... ": IF SO.

13. __ Post: Nassau County, N.Y. school: LIU. This the current incarnation of CW POST COLLEGE, named for the founder of Post Cereals, Postum coffee substitute and eventually General Foods. The family history is interesting and timely as his daughter, Marjorie Merryweather Post had Mar-a-Lago built.

14. Spectacle: ECLAT. Interesting to see in a puzzle along with 1D. Joie de vivre: ELAN.

15. Haunted house sound: WAIL.

16. Letters on a communications corp. logo: ATT. American Telephone and Telegraph.

19. The Gray Lady of the press: Abbr. : NYT. Our friend the New York Times.

20. Exile of 1979: AMIN. The last king of Scotland? He only ruled for 8 years.

21. Els on greens: ERNIE.

26. AB negative, among blood types: RAREST.

27. Cockpit no. : ALT. An abbreviation for Altimeter, or Altitude on a plane, but also for; Altbier, German beer; Alternate character, in online gaming; Alternate route, type of highway designation; Alternating group, mathematical concept; Alternative lifestyle; Alternative rock.

28. Prepared: SET.

29. Big Ben feature: DIAL.

30. Odysseus' faithful dog: ARGOS.  Sad tale; the dog waited 20 years for his master to come home and died when Odysseus returned.

39. Friend of d'Artagnan: ATHOS. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

40. Unsullied: PURE. They can attack.

41. One-fifth of MD: CCC. Roman math- 1500/5= 300.

44. Swindle: CON.

45. Any Beatle, say: BRITON. The name meaning a citizen or native of Great Britain was borrowed from the historic CELTIC BRITONS.

51. Give one final flicker: GO OUT.

52. Greatly reduced sea: ARAL. And its similar sounding: 50D. Range with one end in Kazakhstan: URALS.

53. Old possessive: THY.

58. Where Simone Biles won four golds: RIO.

59. Welsh actor Roger: REES. I knew this ACTOR first from Cheers.

60. Subway entrance: STILE.

61. Lake Mich. state: INDiana.

62. Criteria: Abbr. : STDS. Standards.

63. Thompson of "Creed": TESSA. She has been busy and they are filming CREED II

64. Org. with a tee in its logo: PGA. Not to be confused with the logo og the PGA Tour.

Down:

2. Lockup: CITY JAIL. In Florida, the Jails are mostly run by the County.

3. Throaty: GUTTURAL. What a fun word that came after I saw the G.

4. Hunter's need: PERMIT.

5. Trap during winter: ICE IN. This seemed like a stretch as a clue but variations have been used often. Newsday - Feb. 5, 2018; New York Times - Jan. 13, 2018; LA Times - Nov. 16, 2017; New York Times - July 29, 2017; USA Today - April 20, 2017; WSJ Daily - March 18, 2017; USA Today - March 11, 2017; Newsday - Feb. 12, 2017

6. Sound on some San Francisco streets: CLANG. The wonderful streetcars.

7. Small batteries: AAS. Instinctively put in AAA, but the perps changed my mind.

8. Muddy abode: STY.

9. "__ very hard, and ... play very hard": Maya Angelou: I WORK. She said, "I work very hard, and I play very hard. I'm grateful for life. And I live it - I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it."

10. Regional animal groups : FAUNAS. Flora and fauna.

11. "Forrest Gump" actor : SINISE. Lieutenant Dan.

12. Most stale: OLDEST. News, not just bread.

17. Voids: GAPS.

18. Bully: HECTOR. verb (used with object); definition 4.(lowercase) to treat with insolence; bully; torment: The teacher hectored his students incessantly.

23. __ toast: MELBA. Melba toast is a dry, crisp and thinly sliced toast often served with soup and salad or topped with either melted cheese or pâté. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. The toast was created for her by chef and fan Auguste Escoffier, who also created the Peach Melba dessert for her. The hotel proprietor César Ritz supposedly named it in a conversation with Escoffier

24. Baby food array: JARS.

25. Bit of aquatic life: ALGA. A bit is accurate.

26. Nutritional fig. : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.

30. Cadillac compact: ATS.

31. Hue of many Renaissance drawings: SEPIA. Sepia is a reddish-brown color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Greek σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish (wiki).


33. Long list substitute, briefly: ETC ETC. This was tricky as Et cetera did not fit.

34. "Cat on __ Tin Roof": A HOT. Tennessee Williams.

35. Xperia maker: SONY. My step-son who works selling cell phones has this one.

36. Best: OUTSTRIP. Definition synonyms: go faster than, outrun, outdistance, outpace, leave behind, get (further) ahead of, lose.

37. Causing to foam: FROTHING;

38. Marshy expanse: FEN. Very popular in Great Britain and British mysteries.

41. Pleasures shared by Churchill and Castro: CIGARS.

42. It might be stuffed at home: CLOSET.

43. Like one who is beside oneself? : CLONED. A very fun Friday misdirection clue.

45. How land prices are often calculated: BY AREA.

46. Lean (on): RELY.

48. Stab: GUESS. This was my method.

49. Refreshing spot: OASIS.

54. Small figure wielding much force? : YODA.

56. Del. winter hrs. : EST. Hey Bluehen.

57. Jeanne d'Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE. French for a female saint.

Another Friday done and done. Thank you, JW. Next time, we will be in March. Thank you all.

The above is the picture I was try to link from google albums, yesterday.
 

Note from C.C.:

Happy 79th Birthday to Keith Fowler (Ol' Man Keith), who's been with our blog since 2009. Dear Keith is the longest-living Fowler on record.

  This picture is more recent.

Thursday February 22 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Timber Trickery - as neatly explained by the reveal, but can you see the wood for the trees?

63A. Primitive area, and what's literally found in this puzzle's circles : BACKWOODS

The circled letters, reading backwards, contain the timber:

17A. Longtime PBS news anchor : JIM LEHRER. Elm. Most of the elm trees in the UK were wiped out by an outbreak of Dutch Elm disease brought into the country by a shipment of logs from Canada. It literally changed the face of the country.

23A. Site for a railroad signal : GRADE CROSSING. Cedar. Moths hate cedar, hence the cedar planks in your sock drawer to stop the buggers from chewing holes in them. The term "grade crossing" was new to me when I moved to the US. I knew them as "level crossings".

39A. Statistic including farmers and their neighbors : RURAL POPULATION. Poplar. Here's a fine stand of them on a roadside in France:

51A. Kielbasa : POLISH SAUSAGE. Ash. Most baseball bats are made of ash, although MLB also sanctions maple, hickory and bamboo.

Nice theme and nice crunchy theme entries concealing the wood. This was quite a challenge for me for some reason, I had to stare down the north-west corner for some time before I started to unravel the mystery up there. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Word with rose or road : BED

4. AMA part: Abbr. : ASSOC. American Medical Association.

9. __ Bornes: card game : MILLE. I finally remembered this from a prior crossword. The NE corner gave me a lot of trouble today. It translates from the French as "Thousand Milestones" according to my French colleague, but the French name is used for the English version.

14. Caen comrade : AMI

15. Thick-skinned herbivore : RHINO. Is the "-ceros" redundant now?

16. Big Apple stage honors : OBIES. I simply could not remember this. Off-Broadway awards, hence the name. The Tony awards are for Broadway theater.

19. Open, in a way : UNZIP.

20. Delon of cinéma : ALAIN. Came easily, but I'm not sure I've seen any of his movies.

21. Exactas, e.g. : BETS. Pick the horses to win and place, in exact order (hence exacta). An "exacta box" bet allows the horses to come in any order, which rather blows the "exacta" definition.

30. Part of __ : A SET

31. Hawk or eagle : RAPTOR

32. Tic-toe link : TAC

35. "That was close!" : PHEW!

38. Buckwheat dish : KASHA. Food! Putting "PASTA" here didn't exactly help matters in this section of the puzzle. Kasha can refer to the grain itself, or the porridge-like dish made from it.

43. "25" album maker : ADELE. Very talented artist. She won the "Album of the Year" Grammy for this one.

44. Wedding invitation encl. : SASE.
.
45. Yellowknife is its cap. : NWT. Canada's Northwest Territories.

46. Mournful artwork : PIETAS. Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus in Christian art. The most famous is the Michelangelo sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

48. Abhor : HATE

55. Anorak part : HOOD.

56. Really cool place to live? : IGLOO. Nice clue.

59. Grouchy look : SCOWL

66. Ventricular outlet : AORTA

67. Thar Desert country : INDIA. Never heard of it, so thank you, crosses. It forms part of the natural border between India and Pakistan.

68. JFK Library architect : PEI. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.

69. 180-degree river bend : OXBOW. When a meander breaks through from one side of the loop to the other, the remains is an oxbow lake.

70. __ Heights: Mideast region : GOLAN

71. Serpentine letter : ESS

Down:

1. Mexicali's locale : BAJA. Baja California. The town on the other side of the US/Mexico border is Calexico, fittingly.

2. Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL. More crosses to the rescue.

3. Joltin' Joe : DIMAG. I was all down the caffeine route with this one, and couldn't find anything to fit. It didn't help that I'd never heard the "DiMag" moniker before. Writing this up, I just went to do a Google search, and DiMaggio doesn't show up until half-way down the second page. I think that might be a little obscure for non-Yankees fans.

4. Bull-riding venues : ARENAS

5. Warning to a chatty theatergoer : SHH!

6. Chivalrous title : SIR

7. Year not designated as such until centuries later : ONE BC. ONE and wait for the crosses. It could quite easily be ONE AD.

8. Kitchen gizmo : CORER. I've got a lot of kitchen gizmos, but I don't own one of these things. I'm amused that the soundalike Iron Chef Cat Cora is sitting next to moussaka, one of her go-to dish styles. She has a Greek background.

9. Greek menu staple : MOUSSAKA. Food! Eggplant-layered ground lamb dish.

10. Hebrew : Ben :: Arabic : __ : IBN. I tried BIN first which again messed me up in the North-east.

11. Lemon on "30 Rock" : LIZ. Crosses all the way. I was at a meeting at 30 Rock last week - here's the rather gloomy view out of the window of the conference room.

12. Floral neckwear : LEI

13. Clairvoyant's gift : ESP. Extra-sensory perception.

18. Turkish dough : LIRA. I can never remember LIRA or LIRE. I wait for the cross.

22. Only Canadian MLB team : TOR. The Toronto Blue Jays.

24. "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) actor : DEPP. I didn't see the movie, so solid crosses necessary.

25. Value system : ETHOS

26. Irritated words : SPAT

27. "__ the bag" : IT'S IN

28. "Not gonna happen" : NO HOW. Tried NO WAY, was wrong.

29. Researcher's request : GRANT

32. "The Sound of Music" name : TRAPP. Strictly, the name is actually Von Trapp, but it's pretty obvious what is being asked for here.

33. Sound : AUDIO

34. Fish basket : CREEL. One of these things:

36. #TestforRadon org. : E.P.A. Not heard the hashtag before, but it didn't take a lot of figuring out.

37. Chinese martial arts : WUSHU. Learning moment for me. Looks pretty dangerous!

40. Meter opening? : ALTI-

41. Rule governing intentional walks? : LEASH LAW. Nice one. I enjoyed the punning here.

42. Open fields : LEAS

47. "Ray Donovan" network, briefly : SHO. I had the "O" and was tempted by HBO, but I refrained from jumping in with both feet.

49. Ang Lee's birthplace : TAIWAN

50. Its main product was originally given the portmanteau name "Froffles" : EGGO. French toast and waffles. Who knew?

52. Ferber novel : SO BIG

53. Hersey's "A Bell for __" : ADANO. A crossword staple. Has anyone actually read this book?

54. Skip church? : ELOPE. Nice one. Skip the church wedding.

57. Pindaric verses : ODES. Pindaric: "Relating to or characteristic of the Greek lyric poet Pindar or his works".

"I will not steep my speech 

in lies; the test of any man lies in action."

58. Malady suffix : -OSIS

59. __ Paulo : SÃO

60. Regatta chief : COX. The smallest and lightest person you can find to steer the boat, and, optionally, depending on experience, call the stroke rate.

61. Marble, e.g. : ORB

62. Geneva-based commerce gp. : W.T.O. World Trade Organization.

64. XLV x X : CDL. Simple Roman math. For some reason it always takes me a minute to dig the letter for "500" out of my head.

65. Sedona, for one : KIA. Took me a while to cotton on to this one. Nice misdirection.

That about wraps it up for this week. I've been on terra firma this week which makes a nice change. Back in the air next week though!

And  ... here's the grid ....!

Steve

Wednesday, February 21 2018, Amy Johnson

Theme: COWBOY UP

17. Like a cowboy in denial? : WEARING BLINDERS

26. Like an eager cowboy? : CHAFING AT THE BIT

44. Like a cowboy out of retirement? : BACK IN THE SADDLE

59. Like a cowboy in charge? : HOLDING THE REINS 

Howdy Pardners! Melissa here. Four grid-spanning theme answers. High-falutin' impressive, ain't it? I reckon let's giddy up! 🤠

Across:

1. Your business is her business : YENTA. Fun clue.

6. Tiny cut : SNIP. Not SLIT.

10. Jeans line : SEAM

15. Comes to the rescue of : AIDS

16. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI. From Wiki: In H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. By the year AD 802,701, humanity has evolved into two separate species: the Eloi and the Morlocks, whereof the Eloi live a banal life of ease on the surface of the earth, while the Morlocks live underground, tending machinery and providing food, clothing, and inventory for the Eloi.

20. Emotional wound : SCAR

21. "At __, soldier!" : EASE

22. Quartet in "Whose woods these are I think I know" : IAMBS

23. Fodder for Forbes, initially : IPO

25. Play a part : ACT

35. Riveting icon : ROSIE. Great clue.

36. Overplay a part : EMOTE

 
37. Mission lead-in : ON A

38. Potentially offensive, for short : UNPC

39. Tends to the sauce : STIRS

40. Nerve : GUTS

41. Early 16th-century date : MDI

42. Earthquake : SEISM

43. "Impression, Sunrise" painter : MONET 

 
47. Ky. neighbor : IND

48. Show stoppers : ADS. Love this clue.

49. Limoges product : CHINA. For them there city slickers.

52. Entertainment show VIP : HOST

55. Builder's map : PLAT

62. Area behind an altar : APSE

63. Wonder Woman's friend __ Candy : ETTA 

 
64. Temporary tattoo dye : HENNA 

 
65. Get weepy, with "up" : TEAR

66. State openly : AVOW

67. More curious : ODDER

Down:

1. Trees that sound like sheep : YEWS. Nice clue.

2. Corporate VIP : EXEC

3. Final Four letters : NCAA

4. Marvelous : TERRIFIC

5. "Hidden Figures" actor Mahershala __ : ALI. He plays Taraji P. Henson's love interest.

 
6. Epic tale : SAGA

7. They may be fine points : NIBS

8. Sit in traffic : IDLE

9. Tire gauge no. : PSI. Pounds per square inch.

10. Tranquil : SEDATE

11. Periodic table listing: Abbr. : ELEM(ent).

12. Limited choice : A OR B

13. Fail to see : MISS

18. Vegas illuminator : NEON

19. Nook or cranny : NICHE

24. Peach dessert : PIE

25. Many "Suits" characters: Abbr. : ATTS. Attorneys. Suits is a TV legal drama on USA Network, about a law firm in Manhattan.

26. Busser's target : CRUMB

27. Maker of Clarity alternative fuel cars : HONDA

28. Jelly made from meat stock : ASPIC

29. "Capisce?" : GET IT

30. Anabaptist descendants : AMISH. Meet the Amish.

 
31. Velvet-voiced Mel : TORME

32. Like most books : BOUND

33. Recon goal : INTEL

34. Palate : TASTE

39. FedEx, say : SEND. Verb, not noun. Sneaky.

40. "Safe travels!" : GODSPEED. Happy Trails!

42. Egyptian peninsula : SINAI

43. Satiric magazine since 1952 : MAD

45. Less harsh : KINDER

46. Fill and then some : SATE

49. Converse : CHAT

50. Partner of pray : HOPE

51. Ingrid's "Casablanca" role : ILSA

52. "Tiny House Hunters" cable channel : HGTV

53. Bart and Lisa's bus driver : OTTO

54. Professor Higgins' creator : SHAW 

 

  
56. Swedish soprano Jenny : LIND. Wikipedia.

57. Hathaway of "The Intern" (2015) : ANNE

58. Winter Palace resident : TSAR

60. Org. for teachers : NEA. National Education Association.

61. 17th Greek letter : RHO 

That's it y'all - time to skedaddle.