Saturday, November 3, 2018, Brian E. Paquin

Themeless Saturday By Brian E. Paquin

What better holiday to observe after last week's National Beer Day than today's National Sandwich Day? November 3 is that holiday and we can celebrate with culinary concoctions that are easily washed down with suds or other beverages.

My favorites sandwiches would include BLT's, Clubs and French Dips and I know we all would like to know what your favorite(s) is/are.

Today's constructor is Brian E. Paquin. I have previously blogged two of his Saturday themeless puzzles this year.



Now let's see what ingredients Brian has used today to make our Saturday literary nosh:

Across:

1. "No problem": I CAN DO THAT.

11. You can only get one if you're near home, briefly: RBI - This batter is briefly near home when he hits the ball but is not going to get an RBI until the runner from second scores and the batter will probably then be on second or third

14. "What are you asking?": NAME A PRICE - Mike and Frank find "rares" on American Pickers and tell the owner to NAME A PRICE

15. Salon inventory: GELS - those salons probably don't carry Brylcreem 

That all you got?

16. Taunts on the field: TRASH TALKS 

17. Doing business: OPEN.

18. Fast period: LENT  - I have given up giving up anything for LENT. 

19. Loiter: MILL ABOUT.

21. Showing a 'tude: SASSY.

24. Emotional: TEARY.

25. Confused conditions: HAZES - Several HAZES here at a "legalize pot" rally

27. Social media movement since 2017: ME TOO - Long overdue

31. Bat coating: PINE TAR - George Brett was incensed when he had a home run taken away from him for using a bat with too much PINE TAR on it. That infamous bat is now enshrined the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, NY

36. Like Dorothy's slippers: RUBY RED - Speaking of famous items on display in institutions 

34. D12 comedy hip-hop song produced by Eminem: MY BAND - Google the lyrics if you have an appetite for misogyny and obscenity

35. One of two raised when rearing: FORELEG - I flipped a mental coin to choose between Silver and Trigger. Cue the William Tell Overture 

37. Tough situations: TRIALS - One of my favorite PP&M songs

38. Oprah, at times: ACTRESS.

39. Linguine sauce: PESTO - Ingredients for zucchini basil PESTO

40. Non __: GRATA - Substitute teachers are persona non GRATA (person not appreciated) in a teacher's lounge

41. Largest USA steel producer: NUCOR - NUCOR plants in America 

43. Subway gate: STILE - Do STILE jumpers ever get caught?

47. Foxglove: DIGITALIS  - All parts of this beautiful plant are poisonous as they contain digitalis glycosides that can affect the heart. Ironically, parts  of foxglove can be processed into a medicine to combat congestive heart failure

51. Part of rock's CSNY: NASH - Graham Nash was with The Hollies before he joined Crosby and Stills who later added Young (clarification)

53. Corner piece: ROOK - These castles prowl the ranks and files of the chess board

54. Causes second thoughts: GIVES PAUSE.

57. Off-rd. transports: ATVS - This beautiful young girl and champion swimmer at the school where I sub lost her arm in an ATV accident two summers ago but has maintained a great attitude

58. Fair: EVEN-HANDED  - This cultural philistine interprets this line from Macbeth to say "what goes around comes around"

59. Friend of Wyatt: BAT - Masterson probably with liquor but sans PINE TAR

60. Relaxed: RESTED EASY.


Down:

1. JFK __ Airport: INTL - How 'bout this INTERNATIONAL route from JFK to Hong Kong

2. Worries: CARES.

3. Big brand in appliances: AMANA  - Amana refrigerators are still made in the historic Amana Colonies in central Iowa. BTW, this in NOT an Amish enclave as they are always asked. That is in Kalona, Iowa 32 miles south of there

4. Anthills and beehives, e.g.: NESTS.

5. Morse character: DAH - The "long" sound below

6. Go (for): OPT - I don't care who you OPT for Tuesday, just make these 44. Nonsensical: INANE. ads stop!!

7. Airport transport: TRAM - We use Uber to and from the terminal and never need the TRAM

8. Attention-getting marker: HI LITER - They can really be effective

9. "Supernatural" co-star Jensen __: ACKLES - Okay

10. Electric car maker: TESLA - Add $5,ooo for the extension cord

11. Former security, for short: REPO - Your Tesla is no longer security for you if you miss payments and the REPO man secures it from you

12. French flag couleur: BLEU - Rouge, Blanc et BLEU

13. "__ that special?": ISN'T.

15. Depart, in totspeak: GO BYE BYE

20. Base kid: ARMY BRAT  - e.g. Faye Dunaway, Newt Gingrich, Martin Lawrence, Shaquille O'Neal, Tiger Woods, Reese Witherspoon, et al

22. Spend, often begrudgingly: SHELL OUT - Some are SHELLING OUT more and more for college

23. Eastwood's "Rawhide" role: YATES - Clint played Rowdy YATES on the TV series

26. Half an upwind sailing route: ZAG.

28. Sailors: TARS - Our resident sailors didn't say anything about being called TARS but definitely did not care for being called swabs

29. People: ONES.

30. Roulette choice: ODD - Betting on an ODD number has a 48.6% chance of winning on a European roulette wheel (single zero) and 47.4% on an American roulette wheel (zero and double zero slots) not 50/50

31. Sweater outlet?: PORE - If I sweat, it's coming out of one of my PORES. Fun clue!

32. Eye part: IRIS - This kitty's IRISES (or IRIDES) are two different colors 

33. They're constantly picking up: NEATNIKS - I live with one. My wife does not.

34. Their ancestry is often uncertain: MUTTS - Are MUTTS healthier than pure bred dogs?

35. Data transfer initials: FTP - File Transfer Protocol. That's enough for me to know

36. Co. that introduced the 45-rpm record: RCA  - Here's their first commercially produced 45 RPM

38. Makes it: ARRIVES.

40. Cut to a field reporter: GO LIVE - Here's one faking wind issues

42. One eying a basket: CAGER - Old name for basketball players. See below:

45. Three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion Niki __: LAUDA - Okay

46. Sassafras foursome: ESSES - SASSAFRAS

47. Uninspiring: DRAB - How you look when you don't have an 48. Very small bit: IOTA of style

49. Type of agcy.: GOVT.

50. Shipped: SENT.

52. Lamarr of early Hollywood: HEDY - Beautiful and brilliant HEDY collaborated with her Hollywood neighbor to design a "frequency hopping" device to keep torpedoes from being jammed. It is said she drew up the plans on a napkin

55. Anonymous seashore vendor?: SHE.

56. Bachelor __: PAD.

Friday, November 2, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: It's November, and that means time to fall back.

A wonderful and timely puzzle from Dr. Sessa, as a reminder to set your clocks back one hour this Sunday, November 4, 2018.  In another Friday 16 x 15 supersized puzzle,  each of the three themers describes a time an hour earlier than the common expression. Dr. Ed works in 2 four-letter bonus fill as well as two 16 space grid-spanners. He also references so many things that are fun for me, if not for everyone. Hey, I am happy. It is nice to have Dr. Sessa back with clues like Make the cut and Off the plate and some sparkly fill HARPOON, PH SCALE, SCISSOR, and SNOOPER.  Well enjoy- time to get to work.

18A. Commonly bristly covering: FOUR O'CLOCK SHADOW (16). Five O'clock Shadow has a great HISTORY.

29A. Christmas celebration: ELEVEN PM MASS (12). Midnight Mass is a little more of a stretch. 

36A. With 37-Across, an apt reminder: FALL (4).

37A. See 36-Across: BACK (4).

51A. Last-minute deadline: THE TENTH HOUR (12). The Eleventh Hour is a phrase meaning at the last moment, taken from a passage in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the King James Bible, didja know? 

And the reveal-

61A. "Things are different now" ... and an apt hint to three other answers: TIMES HAVE CHANGED (16). They haven't yet, but they are about to. 

Across:

1. Service calls: AMENS. Another fun clue/fill- not tennis.

6. Emotionally bother: GET TO.

11. Sonic the Hedgehog maker: SEGA. SErvice GAmes of Japan has had a troubled HISTORY.

15. Miller's salesman: LOMAN. Arthur, not the beer maker. I think Lee J. Cobb was the best.
ACT I 

16. Audibly awed: AGASP. A word.

17. Dirt handful: CLOD. It is the earth equivalent of a clot; "lump of earth or clay," Old English clod- (in clodhamer "the fieldfare," a kind of thrush), from Proto-Germanic *kludda-, from PIE *gleu- (see clay). Also, the pejorative from 1590s; that of "blockhead, dolt, stupid fellow" is from c. 1600 (compare clodpate, clodpoll, etc. in the same sense). And no you know.

21. "Settle down!": COOL IT.

22. Watch name: OMEGA. Bond, James Bond.

23. Black shade: JET. The clecho- 60D. Black shade: ONYX.

26. Positive aspects: PROS. This list- pros/cons.

27. Make the cut?: SCISSOR. Scissor as a verb (why is that "c" there?) transitive verb: to cut, cut up, or cut off with scissors or shears.

32. Sock part: TOE.

33. Innate abilities: FLAIRS.

34. Ginsburg colleague: ALITO. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader and Samuel.

39. Pile: HEAP.

43. Off the plate: EATEN. Literally true.

46. Mooch: SPONGE.

48. SHO sister channel: TMC. The Movie Channel, which costs money; not Turner Classic Movies.

54. Whaling weapon: HARPOON. Think Moby Dick.

56. Narrow inlets: RIAS.

57. Friend of Frodo: SAM. Samwise "Sam" Gamgee is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the main characters of The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypal role as the sidekick of the primary protagonist, Frodo Baggins.

58. Red flag: ALARM.

59. World Heritage Site org.: UNESCO. LINK.

67. Long-billed wader: IBIS. Oddly the mascot of the Miami Hurricanes. Down here we have many Egrets which look very much like them.



68. Like Stout's Wolfe: OBESE. Nero is back. My favorite character and sidekick- Archie Goodwin.

69. Former National Endowment for the Humanities chair Cheney: LYNNE. This WOMAN is the wife of former VP Dick Cheney.

70. Great balls of fire: SUNS. You must listen to one of my all-time favorites who came to play at the Great Southern Music Hall when I lived in Gainesville.

71. Herd butters: GOATS. A little head-butting humor.

72. Radiate: EXUDE.

Down:

1. 1980s TV ET: ALF. Alternate Life Form.

2. Call from Mrs. O'Leary's barn: MOO.
The cow that burned down thew town.

3. Dingo prey: EMU.

4. Cop making a traffic stop?: NARC.
Drug traffic- well-done
misdirection.



5. Nosy sort: SNOOPER. Love Gladys.

6. Mustang's rate of speed, at times: GALLOP. The horse, not the car.

7. Selfishness: EGOISM. Often is in conflict with...

8. Delicacy: TACT. Which causes people to express...

9. Sound of disapproval: TSK. Seldom just one.

10. Special __: OPS.

11. Ponzi schemes, e.g.: SCAMS.

12. Firstborn: ELDEST. And some famous ones. 40D. Genesis grandson: ENOS. Talk about literary license; Enos, son of Seth, grandson of Adam,  was ninety when he begat Cainan, his eldest. After Cainan, Enos had other sons and daughters and lived for another eight hundred and fifteen years. The Bible Timeline charts his birth at 3769 BC and death at 2864 BC.

13. Like lovestruck eyes: GOO GOO. I am told the phrase has something to do with the old comics (1919) character Barney Google, who had protruding eyes (I know, hardly a flattering version) called Googley eyes.

14. Pop-up source: ADWARE.

19. Reasons to take painful steps?: CORNS. What exactly are corns on the foot? Corns generally occur at pressure points, typically the bottom of the feet and the sides of toes. They can be painful. A hard corn is a small patch of thickened, dead skin with a central core. A soft corn has a much thinner surface and usually occurs between the 4th and 5th toes. WebMD.

20. Verb in the song "Sloop John B": HOIST. The chorus...
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I want to go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up
I want to go home

23. Mutt's companion: JEFF. More old-time comic characters. 1907.

24. "First Lady of Song": ELLA. Hard to believe she has been gone more than 20 years. LINK.

25. Colorful duck: TEAL. Yes, but they taste terrible.

27. Polio vaccine pioneer: SALK. I have told my polio vaccine story too often, but it was a special time for my brothers and me.

28. TV forensic series: CSI. Crime Scene Investigation.

30. Nasty: VILE.

31. Cheese go-with: MAC.

35. "Trouble ahead!": OH OH.

37. "It's __ fun": BEEN.

38. Farm crawler: ANT.

41. Water en un lago: AGUA. Water in the Spanish lake.

42. Salon offering: PERManent. Those with straight hair want curls; those with curls want straight.

44. Scintillas: ATOMS.

45. Short still?: THO. Yet or again, short tells you it is not a full word.

46. Squirrel away: STASH.

47. Range on which 7 denotes neutrality: PH SCALE. Acidic and basic are two extremes that describe a chemical property chemical. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out or neutralize their extreme effects. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Elmhurst Colleg.

48. Strictly speaking: THAT IS.

49. "Two and a Half Men" beach setting: MALIBU.

50. Pack without an inch to spare: CRAM IN.

52. First name of a literary "Papa": ERNEST.

53. Family reunion attendees: NIECES. The 29th was my first grandchild, Charlotte's birthday, and the day my newest grand-niece (by way of Oo) was born.

55. Persist, with "on": PRESS.

59. Pigmented eye area: UVEA. Did you know uveal pigment
Melanin in the choroid layer of the eye, the ciliary processes, and the posterior surface of the iris. Uveal pigment absorbs light within the eyeball to prevent glare.

62. "Sooey!" responder: HOG.

63. Blood classification letters: ABO. The HISTORY.

64. Beast that rhymes with zoo: GNU. Who knew?

65. Word with living or dead: END. The living dead are not the living end.

66. When doubled, a Ramone: DEE. Dee Dee and Joey Ramone TALK.


Golly gee, we have reached November and the end of another write-up of a Dr. Ed Sessa puzzle. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.

Thursday, November 1st 2018 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Monthly Planner - as the reveal nicely explains:

38A. Today, e.g. ... or what is found in 12 puzzle answers: FIRST OF THE MONTH

It's that time of the year when I usually buy a new planner, and those JAN, FEB, MAR tabs down the pages are pristine and speak to a new year of possibilities. Jeffrey comes up with a great way to represent all twelve of those with each entry's "first" letters being the month abbreviation, and in calendar order to boot. So, here they are, one after the other:

1A. Keys sound: JANGLE

7A. Running a temperature: FEBRILE

16A. Coldplay lead singer Chris __: MARTIN. He seems to be a polarizing character, I've had quite a few people tell me that they like Coldplay, but don't like Chris. I'm not sure why, I've looked through the interwebs for pictures of him being mean to puppies or stories of him buying an island and evicting all the residents, but I came up blank. Anyway, great music and here's an example. Maybe a tad over-produced, but I don't think that's his fault.

21A. Home Depot employee garb: APRON

25A. Yucatán native: MAYAN

28A. Deep-sixes: JUNKS. I tried SINKS before I saw the theme.

45A. Minty cocktail: JULEP. The Derby, "My Old Kentucky Home", hats and juleps.

47A. Drilling tool: AUGER

51A. Calyx part: SEPAL

61A. Rating at a pump: OCTANE

66A. Catholic devotions: NOVENAS. Decades, Novenas, Forty Days, it always seems a long, long process being a Catholic. How long was Moses wandering around the desert?

67A. Irregular paper edge: DECKLE. I know a different DECKLE, and this is my favorite - it's the point cut of the brisket - the piece that you don't get if you buy brisket in the market, you get the flat cut. There's a reason why you don't get the deckle - it's the tastiest, fattiest cut and it goes to the deli. Solution? Buy the entire brisket and brine/corn/pastrami it yourself. If you want to get technical with your butcher, you want the IMPS cut "119", not the "120". I'm not sure how I know that.

Wow, that was a lot of theme! Congratulations to Jeffrey for a great construction job on this. I always avoid the theme reveal if I glance down and see where it is, and this one I had no clue that I was filling in month abbreviations from top to bottom. Well concealed, and a happy moment when the grid-spanner had me looking.

Let's see what else (what else is left?!!).

Across:

14. Become too old to qualify: AGE OUT

15. Howled: ULULATED. Awesome word. Usually funeral-related, as in howling in grief.

17. Lamp fuel: KEROSENE

18. Dude: BRO

19. Quarter: AREA

22. Italian thing: COSA. Many people know it from the Mafia-related "cosa nostra", literally "our thing/"

24. Farm enclosure: STY

31. "Wayward Pines" actress Melissa __: LEO. Lovely crosses, thank you. I'd no clue - I've never seen the show, I had no idea about the actress. My favorite LEO works works in production at CBS. Here's to you, Victoria Leo.

34. Cooler in an apt. window: A/C UNIT

36. Bridal bio word: NÉE

37. Suggestion: HINT

41. Having a fancy for: INTO

42. On the __ vive: QUI. "Who lives?" or "Who goes there?" To be on the alert.

43. Just this far: TO HERE

44. Govt. prosecutors: AG'S. Attorneys General, don't get the "S" in the wrong place or I'll be coming for you to give you a lesson in pluralization.

48. Usher family's creator: POE. The Ushers of the collapsing house. I once wondered why they didn't get some engineers in to shore up the foundations, then realized that underpinning wouldn't solve the family problems.

49. Long-dist. weapon: I.C.B.M. Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, if I recall correctly.

54. Lyft rival: UBER. I'd call this one the other way around, but point taken.

56. Mix with a horse: TOM

59. Vex: IRRITATE

64. Suffered greatly, in Sussex: AGONISED. Take out a Z, slip in an S unnoticed, and suddenly you're 6,000 miles and a common language apart. Now, there are the counties of Sussex and Essex, there's a historical county of Wessex, mostly now Hampshire and Dorset, and there is Middlesex, which may or may not be a county any more, although it still has a cricket team. But nowhere is there a Northsex, or a Norsex, or anything relating to being north and a county. There's south - Sussex - West - Wessex - East - Essex - in the middle - Middlesex - but the atlas is silent on anything north of London. "Here be demons" - or William Wallace, although he was 300 miles further north.

65. Hard-to-take complainer: WHINER. We all know one.

Down:

1. Doorway side: JAMB. We had a whole discussion about stairway parts a while ago. What's the top of the doorframe called? I forget.

2. Bio lab gel: AGAR

3. Archie's boss, in detective fiction: NERO. Archie Goodwin, the narrator in the Nero Wolfe stories by Rex Stout. I sound awfully clued up about these people. 15 seconds on Wikipedia makes anyone an expert. Thank you, crosses.

4. Understood: GOT

5. That guy, to Guy: LUI. Guy Maupassant springs to mind. "Him" in French.

6. Old lab burners: ETNAS. We called 'em Bunsen burners back in the old country. Much the same thing, I'm sure.

7. Bug with bounce: FLEA

8. U.K. locale: EUR. Some Brexiters will disagree, but geography doesn't lie.

9. Swells up: BLOATS

10. Hoarse: RASPY

11. Ancient Roman road: ITER. Ancient or not, they're still in use. One of the scariest rides I've taken was from Rome to Fiumicino Airport in a taxi when I made the mistake of telling the driver I was running late for a flight home. He channeled his Formula 1 Driver alter ego. This was in a Fiat about the size of my suitcase.

12. Car-collecting comedian: LENO. He's a common sight around here. Most notably driving his Stanley Steamer - you don't see many of those.

13. Early venue for nudists?: EDEN

15. Luau strings: UKE

20. British rule in India: RAJ

22. Childish response to a dare: CAN SO!

23. "Will do!": ON IT!

24. Sport invented by hunters: SKEET

25. Criminal group: MAFIA. See "cosa nostra" earlier.

26. Delivering excellent service to?: ACING. Tennis, the perfect serve. "THWOK!". Pause. "Fifteen Love".

27. Asian tents: YURTS

29. Loosen, as a bow: UNTIE

30. O.T. book: NEH. Handy things, those bilbical abbreviations.

31. Where to claim miscellaneous credits on a W-4 form: LINE G. Ach - I'd have turned somersaults to avoid this one - yes, it's a thing, yes, it's accurate, but where, ever is this used in common parlance? "Did you file in time?

"Yes, but that LINE G was troublesome

"On your W-4? You should have called me

"I will, next year, thanks".

Said no-one, ever.

32. __ nous: ENTRE

33. Survey choice: OTHER

35. Culinary topper: TOQUE. I think these are quietly going the way of cream sauces on everything and cheese on lobster.

37. Hardly stimulating: HO HUM. "Meh." I do love how the language continues to evolve. I love "meh.

39. Ending with hand or fist: -FUL

40. Utah city with a Biblical name: MOAB

45. Baseball's __ Joe: JOLTIN' Congratulations to the Red Sox for a very well-deserved World Series win. One day, Dodger Stadium will be the venue when the home team clinches. Joe DiMaggio, of course, was the clue/answer.

46. Dessert slice: PIE

48. "These are the times that try men's souls" writer: PAINE

"The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

Those of you who can, please go out and vote on Tuesday.

50. Lots of people: CROWD

51. Phillips of "I, Claudius": SIAN

52. Logician's word: ERGO. "Therefore". There is a logical fallacy, "Post hoc ergo propter hoc", or "after that, then this happened" which is a handy way to cloud causation with correlation. I refer you to my comment on 48A.

53. B.C. or P.E.I.: PROV. Oh Canada! The provinces of British Columbia and Prince Edward Island.

54. Sport-__: vehicles: UTES

55. Garden area: BED

56. Propane container: TANK

57. Turow memoir: ONE L. Harvard Law.

58. Just: MERE

60. Simile words: AS A

62. Guerrilla Guevara: CHE. Let's have the iconic portrait, just for fun:

I did dig a little deeper - this was the original photograph taken by Alberto Korda in Havana in 1960 - I'm not sure I've ever seen the original:

63. Little jerk: TIC

Ok, muchachos, I think that's me done for the week. Here's the grid! I hope you survived tricks, treats and candy overload.

Steve

Halloween, Wednesday, October 31, 2018, Bruce Haight

A  Spooktacular  Halloween! Bruce Haight has given us a Frightening puzzle for this Halloween.

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

 ~ Scottish Poem

17. Actor who's anxious to get the Halloween party startled?: BOO BRIDGES.  Long lost brother of Beau Bridges (né Lloyd Vernet Bridges, III; b. Dec. 9, 1941).

24. Sci-fi character trying to creep it real?: MISTER SPOOK.   Mr. Spock's evil twin.

35. Comedian who says no body's perfect?: RED SKELETON.  As in Red Skelton (né Richard Skelton; July 18, 1913 ~ Sept. 17, 1997).  He had lots of amusing characters in his repertoire.  When I was a kid, I thought his surname really was Skeleton.

49. Pop group whose music is in en-crypted files?: SPICE GHOULS.  Kin to the Beastie Boys.  Very appropriate since one of the members was known as Scary Spice.

58. Actor who frights for every part?: SCARY GRANT.  As in Cary Grant (né Archibald Alec Leach; Jan. 18, 1904 ~ Nov. 29, 1986).

And the unifier:

42. Like this puzzle's theme?: HAUNTED.

What other scary things appeared in today's puzzle?

Across:

1. Story with many chapters: SAGA.  I can really get lost in a good Saga.

5. Hoops gp. since 1996: WNBA.  As in the Women's National Basketball Association.

9. Colorado tribe: UTEs.

13. Curved fastener: U-BOLT.  Not to be confused with Usain Bolt.

15. Remote batteries: AAAs.

16. Former Persian ruler: SHAH.  The last Shah was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Oct. 26, 1919 ~ July 27, 1980).  He was shah from September 1941 until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in February 1979.

19. Only: MERE.  I initially tried Sole.

20. Man __: trendy hairstyle: BUN.

21. Neighborhood: AREA.

22. Sonnet line fivesome: IAMBI.

23. Communications co. with a blue-and-white globe logo: ATT.

27. Bends to retie laces, say: STOOPS.  Or a place to sit.

29. Velvet-voiced Tormé: MEL.  As in the singer Mel Tormé (Sept. 13, 1925 ~ June 5, 1999).  I remember him from being the hero of the Honorable Judge Harry T. Stone from the sit-com, Night Court.

30. Air rifle ammo: BBs.

31. One might put stock in it: SOUP.  How to make a Soup Stock.

32. Small keyboard: SPINET.  It doesn't look so small to me.

39. Zero: NOT ONE.  The perps gave me this answer, which I initially parsed as NO TONE.

40. Composer who was a CBS reporter: TESH.  As in John TESH (né John Frank Tesh; b. July 9, 1952).  I think he was more of an entertainment reporter, not a news reporter.

43. Medium ability: ESP.  As in ExtraSensory Perception.

46. __ de deux: PAS.  A ballet dance for two people, generally a man and a woman and a Red Sox player.

47. Everycity, USA: PEORIA.  But does it play in Peoria?

53. __ shot: FLU.  I got my Flu shot.  Did you get yours?

54. Pear centers: CORES.

55. __ B'rith: B'NAI.  B'nai B'rith is a Hebrew phrase that means "Children of the Covenant".  Founded in 1843, B'nai B'rith is the oldest Jewish service organization the world.

56. Former Fed chair Bernanke: BEN.  As in Ben Bernanke (né Ben Shalom Bernanke; b. Dec. 13, 1953).  He served as the 14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve from February 2006 through January 2014.

57. Just barely: A TAD.

61. Show impatience, in a way: PACE.

62. Opposite of away: HOME.

63. Actor Nick: NOLTE.  As in Nick Nolte (né Nicholas King Nolte; b. Feb. 8, 1941).

64. Ice cream brand: EDY'S.  This brand of ice cream makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.

65. Messy stack: HEAP.

66. Ran, as dye: BLED.

Down:

1. Speaker for low sounds: SUB-BASS.

2. Momentarily will, after "is": ABOUT TO.  As in the sentence:  Dinner is About To be served.

3. Travel with the band: GO ON TOUR.  Thank you, perps.  This is another one I tried to parse incorrectly.  I initially looked at it as Goon Tour.  Well, that fits with today's scary theme!

4. Greece neighbor: Abbr.: ALB.  As in Albania, the country to the west of Greece.

5. Gets one's feet wet: WADES.

6. Bedevil: NAG AT.

7. Sweetie, in slang: BAE.  We've had discussions of this puzzle word in the recent past.

8. Donkey: ASS.

9. 50states.com graphic, for short: US MAP.  As in a Map of the United States.  If you had a map of the US without the States identified, could you place all the States in their correct location?

10. Crime film group: THE MOB.

11. Dangling jewelry: EARBOB.  I think of this as being an old-fashioned word.  I remember reading about Earbobs in Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.

12. Mideast chieftains: SHEIKS.

14. Pooch who shared spaghetti with Lady: TRAMP.  A reference to the Disney animated movie Lady and the Tramp.

18. Crocus kin: IRIS.

22. Florida key, e.g.: ISLET.

25. Novelist Zola: ÉMILE.  Émile Zola (Apr. 2, 1940 ~ Sept. 29, 1902) is best known for his role in the Dreyfus Affair, in which Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was wrongfully accused of revealing military secrets solely because he was Jewish.  Zola wrote a letter that was published in the Paris newspaper accusing high ranking army officials of anti-Semitism.  Dreyfus was ultimately exonerated.  Dreyfus Affair.

26. Russo who plays Frigga in "Thor" films: RENE.  As in actress Rene Russo (née Rene Marie Russo; b. Feb. 17, 1954).  She began her career as a fashion model.

28. Uncork, say: OPEN.

32. Smidge: SKOSH.  A fun word.

33. Fenced-in area: PEN.

34. "Africa" band: TOTO.  You know you've heard this song.

36. Chowderheads: DOPES.

37. Dudes-only: STAG.

38. Spongy toy: NERF BALL.  You can get one for all sorts of sports.

41. Matte finish?: SILENT E.  Not keen on this type of cluing.

43. Way out: ESCAPE.  Another appropriate word for Halloween.  This reminded me of Harry Houdini (né Erik Weiss; Mar. 24, 1874 ~ Oct. 31, 1926), the great ESCAPE artist.  Sadly, he died on Halloween.

44. Brief TV plug: SPOT AD.

45. Kidd stuff: PIRACY.  Think of Captain Kidd, the pirate, not the USS Kidd, which is now housed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

47. Remote button: PLAY.

48. Complete, as a PDF contract: E-SIGN.

50. Gives over (to): CEDES.

51. Michelle Robinson's married name: OBAMA.  As in the former First Lady, Michelle Obama (b. Jan. 17, 1964).

52. Gen. Assembly member: UN REP.  As in a Representative in the United Nations.

58. "Lower your voice!": SHH!  Don't awaken all the Ghouls tonight!

59. Country singer David Allan __: COE.  I am not up in my country music, so was not familiar with David Allan Coe (b. Sept. 6, 1939).

60. Steal from: ROB. This puzzle was a real Treat.

Here's the Grid:

Tuesday, Oct 30, 2018 C.C. Burnikel

"Keep in Touch"

17. *Easy-to-read character: BLOCK LETTER.

24. *Cruise stop: PORT OF CALL.

40. *Microsoft Outlook service: EMAIL.

43. *FaceTime alternative: SKYPE.

52. *Emphatic typeface: ITALIC TEXT.

65. Parting words suggested by all or part of the answers to starred clues: KEEP IN TOUCH.

Five ways to stay in contact were hidden in the theme answers.  Did you see them before you got to the reveal ? 

Across:

1. Beauty queen's topper: TIARA. 

6. Standoffish: ALOOF.

11. Irish folk dance: JIG. 

14. Naysayers: ANTIS.

15. "Z: The Beginning of Everything" star Christina: RICCI.  She starred as Zelda Fitzgerald in the short-lived 2017 television series.

16. Santa __ winds: ANA.

19. "Real World" channel: MTV.  This reality TV program aired for 21 seasons from 1992 to 2013, and is being rebooted on Facebook.  Pick seven or eight late teens to mid twenties types, put them in a house, and film non-stop. 

20. Triangular Indian pastry: SAMOSA. "The samosa is made with all-purpose flour locally known as maida shell stuffed with some filling, generally a mixture of mashed boiled potato, onions, green peas, lentils, spices and green chili, or fruits. The entire pastry is then deep-fried in vegetable oil or rarely ghee to a golden brown color." - Wikipedia

21. Skinny fish: EEL.

22. Buzzing insect: BEE.

23. Luxury bag monogram: YSL.  As shown on this "Women's Large Monogram Matelasse Leather Chain Shoulder Bag - Black", available at Sak's Fifth Avenue.

28. Like much Scotch: AGED.  Tinbeni likes Scotch.  He said the other day, in reference to the MIXED DRINKS puzzle, that he likes his Scotch mixed with Scotch. 

30. Purchase at Lowe's: TOOL. 

31. July 4th nonstarter: DUD.  A firework, such as a firecracker or aerial display, that doesn't explode properly.   

34. Kagan of the Court: ELENA.

37. "Grr!," say: SNARL.  And 68A. "Grr!": I'M MAD. 

42. Freight weight: TON.

44. 1988 film farce fish: WANDA.  93% at Rotten Tomatoes:   A Fish Called Wanda

45. Asian part of Egypt: SINAI.  Transcontinental Countries – Is Egypt in Africa or Asia?

47. Assist: AID.

48. Goes to seed: ROTS.

50. "Enchanted" fantasy film girl: ELLA.

56. Patriots' org.: NFL. The New England Patriots of the National Football League.  They played the Buffalo Bills last night on Monday Night Football.

59. Stool pigeon: RAT.   A police informer in this clue, in bad guy lingo.    BTW, James Cagney was misquoted.  He actually said, "... you dirty yellow-bellied rat" to the guy that killed his brother. 

60. Put a spell on: HEX.  You can read about the "Andretti curse" at Wikipedia.  In short, in 1970 the wife of co-owner Clint Brawner put a hex on them, promising that no Andretti would ever win the Indy 500 again.  Mario never won it again,  nor did his two sons, his nephew, and his grandson in 54 Andretti family attempts.

61. Decline to participate: OPT OUT.

64. Cigar refuse: ASH.

67. Peg for a round: TEE. 

69. "Tomorrow" musical: ANNIE. The comic strip Little Orphan Annie made it to radio, stage and film.  Here's the song from the 1982 film:


70. Slip up: ERR.

71. Cozy spots: NESTS.

72. Rent-a-car choice: SEDAN.

Down:

1. File folder projections: TABS.

2. Mosaic technique: INLAY.

3. Molecule parts: ATOMS.

4. Cough drop name sung in ads: RICOLA.


5. Seeks answers: ASKS.

6. "__ you listening?": ARE.

7. Soda bottle size: LITER.  I still want to spell it litre. 

8. Four pairs: OCTET.

9. Spotted wildcat: OCELOT.  Here kitty, kitty.

  Basic Facts About the Ocelot

10. Evergreen tree: FIR.  A conifer.  You can identify the tree as a fir because the cones stand upright versus hanging down as they do in spruce and other pines.

11. One-pot New Orleans dish: JAMBALAYA.   I saw the following reader comment on a Food Wishes video for a Jambalaya recipe:

The best food in America comes from the south.

The best food in the south comes from Louisiana.

The best food in Louisiana comes from New Orleans.

And the best food in New Orleans is Jambalaya.

12. Major chip maker: INTEL.   Lemonade had the clue "Gathering of spies" for this answer last Friday in Joe Kidd's puzzle.

13. Chairperson's order keeper: GAVEL.

18. Place for a campaign button: LAPEL.

25. "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS.  Clifford.  A play about a group of taxicab drivers  planning a labor strike.  Lefty was their elected chairman.  This was in the '30s, before Uber and Lyft. 

26. Archaeologist's find: FOSSIL.

27. Fail suddenly, with "out": CONK.  Or, go to sleep.

29. Desserts in Little Italy: GELATI.  Little Italy is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, once known for its large population of Italian Americans.  Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream.

31. Morning drops: DEW.

32. Actress Thurman: UMA.

33. Longtime "CBS Evening News" anchor: DAN RATHER.   24 years.  Took the helm when Walter Cronkite retired in 1981.

35. "There's __ in team": NO I.

36. Building add-on: ANNEX.

38. Hudson Riv. tech school: RPI.  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  The esteemed engineering school.  Founded 1824.  Troy, N.Y.   RPI overlooks the Hudson River.    Hi Spitzboov !  Hi Irish Miss !

39. Went first: LED.

41. Worshiped star: IDOL.

46. "Iron Chef Gauntlet" host Brown: ALTON.   We tuned into his FoodTV show "Good Eats", but were never fans of the original Iron Chef program or its spinoffs.

49. Devious plan: SCHEME.

51. San __: Texas city, familiarly: ANTONE.  Do you recall the song from these lyrics ?
Rain, dripping off the brim of my hat.
It sure is cold today.
And here I am'a walking down sixty-six.
Wish she hadn't done me that way.

52. Steaming mad: IRATE.  I rate this an accurate clue for the answer.

53. Law enforcement shocker: TASER.

 

How Stuff Works - Tasers 

54. Overflows (with): TEEMS.

55. Yank in Yemen, for short: EXPAT.  Short for expatriate.  One who lives outside their native country.

57. No longer lost: FOUND.

58. Saint __: Caribbean island: LUCIA.

62. School bake sale orgs.: PTAs.

63. In that case: THEN.

65. They're related: KIN.

66. Cards checked at the gate, briefly: IDs.