Monday February 17, 2020 John R. O'Brien

Theme: JULIUS CAESAR (56. Attributed speaker of the circled words)

20. Deer hunter's dinner, perhaps: VENISON STEAK.

34. Cutting in half, in math class: DIVIDING BY TWO.

42. Nearby: IN THE VICINITY.

Boomer here.  

Interesting - I came, I saw, I conquered. Once again my high school Latin pays off.  Speaking of Julius Caesar's Palace, we drove by it last week on the way to Palace Station and the Fashion Show Mall. I did not conquer Caesar's but I did beat up on a couple of Craps machines.  Not huge, but I did go home with what I brought. It was the Annual meeting of OMEGA (Older More Energetic Graybar Associates), retirees at the Orleans.  I generally give a little of my humor to my "Medicare Miracle" friends. My middle name is Robert and my mother's name was Hope so I give them a little Bob Hope act.  All I needed was Bing Crosby and Raquel Welch.

Across:

1. Weed whackers: HOES.  I use the motorized kind with a nylon string that spins.

5. Annoy: MIFF.  Sometimes the craps dice can make you MIFFED.

9. Macbeth, by birth: SCOT.

13. Saintly glows: AURAS.  Las Vegas lights are something else.

15. Impressionist: APER.

16. Lola's nightclub, in song: COPA.  Home of Desi Arnaz' act. I don't think Bob Hope ever played there.

17. Like an old joke: STALE.  Yeah, I told a few of them at the banquet.

18. Wind that's worth a warning: GALE.  Could be Dorothy GALE from Kansas.

19. Idi of Uganda: AMIN.

23. Holy Ohio city?: TOLEDO.  Home of the Mud Hens.

26. Bridal bio word: NEE.

27. Sault __ Marie: STE.

28. "I think," to a texter: IMO.  In My Opinion.

29. Childlike race in "The Time Machine": ELOI.

32. Learn thoroughly: MASTER.  Coming to Augusta in April.

37. Seine summers: ETES.

38. Lincoln or Ford: CAR.  We rented a Ford Escape. If you are a Medicare Miracle don't even think about it.

39. Love, in Spain: AMOR.

47. Fidel who overthrew Batista: CASTRO.  U.S Presidents last 4 or 8 years.  This guy lasted til my hair started turning white.

49. Aussie birds that don't fly: EMUS.

50. San Francisco's __ Valley: NOE.  Another spelling of the name of the guy who floated a ship in a flood.

51. Diplomatic VIP: AMB. Ambassador.

52. NBA tiebreakers: OTS.  Our Timberwolves are usually 30 points behind so no overtime is necessary.

54. Sports team swaps: TRADES.  Twins made a bunch of trades this winter.  "World Series here they come ???"

60. Medical suffix: OSIS.

61. Sentry's "Stop!": HALT.

62. Swiss peak in an Eastwood film title: EIGER. The Eiger Sanction.

66. Eye part: LENS.  Eye of a camera??

67. Oil cartel letters: OPEC.

68. Iced tea wedge: LEMON.  I like a little lemon in iced tea.  But we don't drink it in the frozen tundra,

69. Icelandic poetic work: EDDA.

70. PC repair person: TECH.  Up here they are called the Geek Squad from Best Buy.

71. Avec's opposite: SANS.

Down:

1. Suffers from: HAS.

2. One of an inning's three: OUT. "And it's ONE, TWO, THREE Strikes you're out at the old ball game"

3. Pitcher's stat: ERA.  This can be raised if someone sets up a camera in center field and signals the guy with the bat to hit the trash can.

4. Soothing cream: SALVE.  I've tried Blue Emu, Arctic Ice and Biofreeze. I am open to suggestions.

5. Carol kings: MAGI.  "We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar."

6. Hoppy brews, for short: IPAS.

7. Serious criminal: FELON.  "When a FELON'S not engaged in his employment, or construing his felonious little plans... His capacity for innocent enjoyment is just as great as any honest man's."

8. Portmanteau for a false ally: FRENEMY.

9. "Beat it, feline!": SCAT.  I'm not done yet!!

10. Is remembered: COMES TO MIND.  February 14 comes to mind.  Belated Happy Valentine's Day.

11. Addictive narcotic: OPIATE. In 2018 I needed to take some of that Oxy stuff for pain. I did not feel addicted, but I only took it for a month or so.

12. Oil cartel ship: TANKER.

14. Started the grass-growing process: SEEDED.  Give me a couple of months.  The snow plow guy that does our driveway created some lawn to plant.

21. __ me tangere: "Don't touch me": NOLI.

22. Place to park it: SEAT.  I heard a cheap one at the Super Bowl ran about $2500.00.

23. Ocean motion: TIDE. We wash our clothes with Purex.

24. Skip over: OMIT.

25. Age-old romantic adage: LOVE IS BLIND.

30. A single time: ONCE.  "ONCE upon a time there were three bears".  You know the rest.

31. "__ it my best": I GAVE.  I GAVE the craps machine my best shot.  I like the machine because the minimum bet is very low, compared to the live tables.

33. Graceful pond swimmer: SWAN.

35. "That __ fair!": ISN'T.  Slot machines do not have slots anymore, just a place to slide in your Twenty.  What ISN'T fair are the bright lights promising jackpots in the thousands.  You can't fool me.  However I did win $17.00 on a .40 cent play once.

36. Fedora feature: BRIM.

40. Great Plains tribe: OTOE.  Once in the Great Lakes area, The OTOE moved south through Iowa and Missouri.  I think they are alive and well in Oklahoma.  I guess they couldn't take our winters.

41. Deli breads: RYES.  St. Patrick's day is coming.  Time for corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut on RYE.

43. Pants, briefly: TROU.

44. Someone who's good, and obviously knows it: HOTSHOT.  You're a poet and you don't know it, but your feet show it, they're Longfellows.

45. Skips, as class: CUTS.

46. Tel Aviv's land: ISRAEL.

47. Sweet-talk: CAJOLE.

48. Got a smile out of: AMUSED.  Here goes my intro. "I want to thank the company president for hosting this fine banquet and especially for letting us know that the people that were hired to replace us are doing a helluva lot better than we ever did."

53. Suffix with land or sea: SCAPE.  Or put an "E" in front of it and you're outta here.

55. Spring zodiac sign: ARIES.  Three days after St. Patrick's day.  Hope you have some corned beef left.

57. "Insecure" Emmy nominee __ Rae: ISSA.

58. Knighted actor Guinness: ALEC.  Obi Wan Kenobi.

59. Draw with acid: ETCH.  If you once owned an Etch-a Sketch you are a Medicare Miracle.

63. ABC show for early risers, briefly: GMA.

64. Long, long time: EON.  "A Long, Long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile."  Don McClean - "American Pie."

65. ICU workers: RNS.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Here is a picture of Boomer in front of The Orleans. It was a long trip. We left home at 2:30am on Sunday and arrived at our hotel room at 6:00pm. Heavy snow plus a few other issues. Boomer's annual Graybar OMEGA gathering went nicely tough. Here is a clip of his old colleagues at the event. The lady at the 1:44 minute mark is the big boss.