Wednesday June 2, 2021 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Rhyming Time- The first word is a country, the second word rhymes with the first word.

16. Quito apron-like dress?: ECUADOR PINAFORE. 

25. Sana'a citrus fruit?: YEMEN LEMON.

37. Suva car wash implement?: FIJI SQUEEGEE.

52. Bamako dog?: MALI COLLIE.

61. Yerevan flower?: ARMENIA GARDENIA.

Boomer here again, filling in another blogging gap. Today's constructor Jeffrey came to Minnesota in 2016 & 2017 for our local crossword tournament. Here's a picture. A brilliant wordsmith. 

Left to right: George Barany, Jeffrey Wechsler, Victor Barocas, David Hanson, C.C., Andrew J. Ries, Chris Adams, Tom Pepper &  David Liben-Nowell.

This tournament was an incredible success as money was raised for charity.  I could hardly believe how quickly the contestants solved the puzzles and I believe everyone in the above picture as well as others provided donated the puzzles to the hosts every year. I normally accompanied C.C. to the tournament in a historic and interesting old post office building in St. Paul. A great day was spent in Minnesota. 

Across:

1. Many veggie dishes: SALADS. We are looking forward to buffet life after Covid to put together some of those green veggies.

7. No: LACK OF.

13. Go places: TRAVEL.  Also looking forward to the Graybar retirees get-together in Las Vegas next February.  They have lots of buffets there.

14. Type of eyeglass spray: ANTI-FOG.  I have several pairs of glasses for reading and such but I have never needed the spray.

19. Alt. spelling: VAR. Variation.

20. ORD postings: ETAS.  I think this is Estimated Time of Arrival.  Pretty sure it is not EXACT. 

21. "Off with her head!" head owner: ALICE.  Shame on the Queen of hearts.  Very Mean.

23. Fed. power dept.: ENER.  Energy.  I have not heard too much lately about the troubles that Texas had a few months ago.  Our gas company here in Minnesota said they were going to add a surcharge to our bills in the fall.

29. Tubular hangers in delis: SALAMIS.

32. "Either thou, __ ... must go with him": Romeo: OR I.

33. Spanish Surrealist: DALI. Followed by 36. Legendary Spanish knight El __: CID.

34. Yoga surface: MAT.  Lots of High School wrestling also.  I always had to compete with someone my own size.

35. Grand in scale: EPIC.

41. When doubled, amply covered New Orleans classic: IKO.

43. Chowder, e.g.: SOUP.  "Today is Wednesday!  Wednesday SOUP! Is everybody Happy. All you Hungry children, come on eat up."

44. Set on fire: LIT.  My sisters all live in California.  No one seems to know where all the fires came from.

45. Bjorn with five Wimbledon wins: BORG.

47. "Bird Set Free" singer: SIA.

48. Live wires: DYNAMOS.

55. Rob of "9-1-1: Lone Star": LOWE.

56. Move about, as water in a pan: SLOSH.  Move about in Minnesota in March and sometimes later.

57. Campus sports org.: NCAA.  This year Baylor clipped Gonzaga.  I hope you filled out your bracket and pocketed a little money.  We always had these going at work.  I never won.

60. "What's more ... ": AND.

66. Big name in electric shavers: NORELCO.  When I first started at Graybar (1970) we sold Norelco shavers to department stores.  But we gave it up.  I guess it was not terribly profitable or the small electrics went around us.

67. Gift of the gifted: TALENT.

68. Pulls a chair up to, as a table: SITS AT.

69. Slight amount: SMIDGE.

Down:

1. Rick who tours Europe on PBS: STEVES.

 

2. Little-known information: ARCANA.  There is something in a Tarot pack of cards called an ARCANA.  Don't ask me what, I have never played Tarot.

3. Winner's wreath: LAUREL.  Ollie's buddy Stan.

4. Actress Gardner: AVA.  She had 20 husbands, three of them hers, What kind of life is that?

5. __ Gardner, co-producer of "Moonlight" and "Selma," among others: DEDE.

6. Vending machine feature: SLOT.  I know of other kinds of machines that have that feature.

7. Go unrenewed: LAPSE.

8. What the names of three contiguous U.S. states begin with: AN I.  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa.

9. USPS delivery: CTN.

10. Source of Souls: KIA.  Brand similar to Hyundai. And easier to spell.

11. Butcher's waste: OFFAL.

12. Pulled a switcheroo on, say: FOOLED.  The clue of 8-Down FOOLED me.

15. Pained expression: GRIMACE.  Golf is not so bad, but I have GRIMACED with the 15 pound bowling balls.

17. 2020 World Series team: RAYS.  Tampa Bay lost to the Dodgers but it never seemed to be like a real World Series to me.

18. Food safety concern: E COLI.

22. City west of Tulsa: ENID.  Tulsa was in the news this week for its history in 1921.  I had never heard about it before.

24. Malek of "Mr. Robot": RAMI.

26. Attend to a spill: MOP UP.  Our Twins have not had to MOP UP any of those "winning by 10 runs" games this year, but sometimes their opponents do. 

27. One of a "Great" five: ERIE.  I have only ever seen Superior and Michigan, but I am awed by the great lakes.

28. "__ done!": NICELY.

30. Rank above capt.: MAJ.  I worked in a clinic with a MAJOR.  I also read CATCH-22 where I think there was a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR.  They get an oak leaf. 

31. "I'm telling the truth!": IT IS SO.  I played golf on Monday and missed every par putt I had.

35. Part of ERA: EQUAL.

37. Down in the dumps: FORLORN.  This is the maiden all FORLORN That milked the cow with the crumpled horn that lived in the house that Jack built.

38. Garden base: SOIL.  I call it Dirt.

39. Singapore Sling liquor: GIN.  Never had a Sling.  Sometimes I mixed it with Tonic.

40. End-of-list abbr.: ET AL.

41. PCs, originally: IBMS.  International Business Machines made the big computers for companies.  I don't remember that they were in the PC business.

42. Critter in old Qantas ads: KOALA.

46. Gadgets: GISMOS.

48. Ten: Pref.: DECA.  So why is December our 12th month?

49. Complained: MOANED.

50. Renting alternative: OWNING.  I was a renter until 1997.  It was not too bad.  Then I became an owner.  Bigger living and taxes to pay, but it's an improvement. 

51. Tranquil: SEDATE.

53. "SNL" alum Oteri: CHERI.

54. Pricey bar: INGOT.  I invested in some silver coins but never owned an INGOT.

58. Muses may represent them: ARTS. Carney and Garfunkel?

59. Genesis guy: ADAM.  Yesterday we visited A DAM that crosses the Mississippi here in Minnesota.

Boomer, 6/1/2021

62. Word with profit or weight: NET.

63. They, in French: ILS.

64. Obamacare, for short: ACA.

65. Quarterback Manning: ELI.  I wonder why we have not seen him in Medicare commercials yet.

Boomer