Sunday April 23, 2017 Craig Stowe

Theme: "Labor Disputes" - Each theme entry is punnily re-imagined as what the union group did during contract talks.

23A. During contract talks, a marching band __ : STEPPED OUT OF LINE. Craig could put the 17-letter or 13-letter theme entry in this slot also, but we would have had more 3-letter entries to deal with.

33A. During contract talks, a cruise ship's crew __ : MISSED THE BOAT

47A. During contract talks, a postal union __ : PUSHED THE ENVELOPE. The actions are all related to the clue occupations of course.

64A. During contract talks, a veterinarians' association __ : FOUGHT LIKE CATS AND DOGS. Sparkly grid-spanner.

78A. During contract talks, a divers' group __ : WENT OFF THE DEEP END

94A. During contract talks, an opera company __ : FACED THE MUSIC

107A. During contract talks, a fighters' club __ : TOOK THE GLOVES OFF

I think this is Craig's first Sunday puzzle. Congratulations! Are you this Craig?

What a fun theme. Very John Lampkin-like. Heavy themage too. Total 113 theme squares and only 140 words.

Across:

1. "Yowza!" : JEEZ.  "Yowza!"= Lucina. "Woohoo!" = Misty.

5. Virtuous : CHASTE

11. Numéro avant six : CINQ. French for five. Also 103. Avril follower : MAI. April/May.

15. __ speak : SO TO

19. "Amarantine" Grammy winner : ENYA

20. Stopped : HALTED

21. Diamond family name : ALOU. Vowel-rich.

22. Nile menace : CROC. No ASP/ASPS today.

26. All ears : RAPT

27. __ story : SOB

28. One awarding stars, perhaps : RATER

29. Peter Fonda title role : ULEE. Ulee's Gold.  Quite a moving movie.

30. Nimble : LITHE. Not AGILE.

31. Thomas associate : ALITO. Clarence Thomas.

37. Woody and others : ALLENs

39. Caribou, e.g. : DEER. We also have 109. Disney doe : ENA

40. Ducks : AVERTS

41. Fragrant shrub : LILAC. Spring has finally arrived in MN. The two trails we explored this week are greening up.

42. Panache : STYLE

45. Shuts up, with "down" : PIPES

51. Beach letters : SPF

54. Bouncing babies? : JOEYS. Cute clue.

55. Plot twist : IRONY

56. Part of BC: Abbr. : COLL. Boston College. I thought BC was referring to British Columbia. 

57. Yogurt topping : GRANOLA

61. Dental problem : DECAY. My hygienist told me to use these proxy brushes from inside out, as she found pockets on the inner side of my teeth. I found it impossible to follow her instructions.

63. Unlucky gambler's wishful words : I'M DUE. Keep dreaming.

69. Get ready to surf : LOG ON

70. Not just happen once : RECUR

71. Crude : BOORISH

72. City north of Des Moines : AMES

73. Mythical hunter : DIANA. Thought of ORION first.

75. "Canst thou not minister to __ diseased": Macbeth : A MIND

77. One-handed Norse god : TYR. Tuesday god.

85. Paris divider : SEINE

86. Wash off : RINSE

87. Spelunkers' haunts : CAVES

88. Drops off : ABATES

91. Pierre's st. : S DAK.  The abbr. told you the answer won't be ETAT.

93. Most artful : SLIEST

98. Winner of the first two Super Bowl MVPs : STARR (Bart). Here he is with Brett Favre in 2015.

99. Runs through a sieve : RICES

100. Instrument with a flared bell : OBOE. New clue angle.

101. Part of a cast : ACTOR

106. On : ATOP

111. Jazzman Saunders : MERL. Unknown to me.

112. Clog or pump : SHOE

113. Common soccer score : ONE ONE. Or ONE NIL.

114. Memorable times : ERAS

115. Vortex : EDDY

116. Oenophile's adjective : OAKY

117. Fritters away : WASTES

118. Squat : ZERO. Also  68. Squat : NONE

Down:

1. Zooey's role in "New Girl" : JESS. Easy crosses.

2. Prefix with dermal : ENTO

3. Gives the once-over : EYEBALLS

4. Nuke : ZAP

5. Breaks the rules : CHEATS. You have to know the rules to break them.

6. Didn't get a say : HAD TO

7. Lotion additive : ALOE

8. __ und Drang : STURM

9. Annual Vietnamese celebration : TET. Same date as Chinese New Year.

10. Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO. Lots of Japanese movies we watched in the late 1980's were set in the Edo Period.

11. Square dance figure : CALLER

12. Admission of deceit : I LIED

13. Large chamber group : NONET. We also have 18. Large chamber groups : OCTETS

14. N.Y. neighbor : QUE (Quebec)

15. Copyists of yore : SCRIBES

16. Webster, notably : ORATOR

17. One of the original Monopoly tokens still in use : TOP HAT. Got via crosses.

24. Robin Hood foe : PRINCE JOHN. Fresh fill!

25. __ box : FUSE. Fill-in-the-blank clue can be hard. Too many choices.

30. Bank insurance? : LEVEE. Great clue.

32. Jacob's first wife : LEAH. Our Chickie's real name.

34. Inactive : IDLE

35. Spotted : SEEN

36. __ hour : HAPPY

37. Peak seen from Grindelwald : ALP

38. Greater N.Y. school : LIU (Long Island University)

42. Lift : STEAL

43. Your of yore : THY

44. Last word of Joyce's "Ulysses" : YES. Below is the last line. Lots of YESes there, Misty!

"I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another… then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

45. Ruses : PLOYS

46. Physics particle : ION

48. Numbskull : DOLT

49. Anglican priest : VICAR

50. Latin 101 word : ERAT. E in QED.

51. "Me too!" : SO DO I. Not SO AM I.

52. Power connections : PLUGS

53. Blood relative? : FLESH.  Oh, flesh and blood. 

56. Starfleet VIP : CMDR (Commander). Spitzboov's rank when he retired. Commander Al. Very cool.

57. Key above F : G FLAT

58. Spacious : ROOMY

59. Boring bit :AUGER

60. Private nonprofits: Abbr. : NGOS. NGO= Non-Governmental Organization. Common abbr. in news media.

61. After-dinner drink : DECAF

62. Old French coin : ECU

63. "Isn't that something!" : I DO DECLARE. Great fill.

65. Steamed : IRATE

66. Number-picker's game : KENO. Every casino has it.

67. Stomach : ABIDE

73. Jefferson, theologically : DEIST

74. B&B, e.g. : INN

75. Philip of "Kung Fu" : AHN.  I mentioned a while ago that AHN (Korean) = ANG (As in Ang Lee)

76. Enero, por ejemplo : MES. Month.

78. Lawn invaders : WEEDS

79. Monastic titles : FRAS

80. "Kon-__" : TIKI

81. Good "pocket" holding in Hold 'em : PAIR

82. Eternally : EVERMORE

83. Video game letters : NES

84. Summer hrs. : DST

85. In a precipitous fashion : STEEPLY. I finally received the 25% subsidy on my health insurance. It's retroactive of Jan 2017, so I did not need to pay anything this month. Yay! What a big relief.

88. Many a chalet : A-FRAME

89. Set, as a trap : BAITED

90. Pact : ACCORD

91. Bandit chaser of film : SMOKEY. Police.

92. 1983-'84 #1 hit "Say Say Say," say : DUET

93. Potbellies : STOVES

95. Ruckus : HOO-HA

96. Modern read : E-BOOK.  What are you reading now, D-Otto?

97. Zoo sights : CAGES

98. __ Age : STONE

102. Coagulate : CLOT

104. Miles away : AFAR

105. "That being the case ... " : IF SO

107. General of culinary fame : TSO

108. Reporter's query : HOW.  Watch this clip. NBC News did a short piece on Will Shortz two days ago. Wouldn't be refreshing to see a piece on Rich Norris?

110. "__ who?" : SEZ

Saturday, Apr 22nd, 2017, Debbie Ellerin

Theme: None

Words 72 (missing J,Q,W,Z)

Blocks: 33

A friendly looking grid today from Ms Ellerin, which was how I described her last Saturday offering as well.  Lots of my first Across guesses were so wrong they worked out just right for the Down crossings, strangely, and the rest of my answers turned out to be spot-on correct.  Alas, I did not get my "ta-DA~!" because I guessed at the end of the second longest Across fill, and "BAILed" to correct it - and so I had a sloppy Down answer with an 'I don't know for sure' Across perpendicular.  Oh well.  Red-letters it is.  Two 8's, two 10's, and two 12-letter spanners;

22. Rotten Tomatoes caution : SPOILER ALERT 

 Or this one~?

9. Stud venue : CARD ROOM - because of the horse race clue, I was thinking about that kind of stud.  Our weekly card game is held in a friend's dining room - I need to bring some felt to cover the table top tonight

27. Oktoberfest setting : BEER GARDEN - aw, I waited, since I got "BIER" wrong last week

45. 2008 financial crisis mantra : TOO BIG TO FAIL - even UPS tried to get in on the "free" money

36. Problem addressed by counters : INSOMNIA - ah, the sheep count-ers.  Here's Megadeth's take on the disorder

 

3. One who shuns shaking : GERMOPHOBE - I still did not get this until I was writing the blog - HAND shaking, oh....

ACROSS:

1. Some conversion targets : PAGANS - my first read was conversATion, so I waited

7. Time to "Run for the Roses" : RACE DAY - we're at the start of the Triple Crown season

14. Blissful : EDENIC - ah, not ELATED

15. Bar talk? : LEGALESE - Nailed it

16. Shout from Speedy : ARRIBA - not ÁNDALE

17. Devils' playgrounds? : ICE RINKS - Well, I was in the NHL New Jersey Devils frame of mind, but this did not jump out at me

18. "Losing My Religion" group : REM

19. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" star Sonia : BRAGA

21. ... : DOTS - I thought maybe we had some sort of theme going on today, but this just turned out to be exactly what you see....dots

25. Teen introduction? : PRE - ugh.  I tried SIX

26. Canonized pope who persuaded Attila not to attack Rome : St. LEO

27. Accessory for Miss Piggy : BOA

30. Half a luau serving? : MAHI - the other half tastes better

32. Usher's creator : POE - filled via perps

33. Revolted : ROSE UP - the revolution type of revolt, not the "I'm offended" one

35. Thatcher or Blair, e.g. : OXONIAN - tried ETonian.  This is one from Oxford, or relating to

37. Smirks : SIMPERS - I thought this meant to weep, not smile

38. Capital since 1797 : ALBANY - bam, nailed it - but maybe it doesn't count because I lived there, so it might have been a subconscious remnant of those days

39. Expected : DUE

40. Ballpark phrase : OR SO - ah, the ballpark estimate, not the baseball park

41. Provider of a small raise : TEE - clever

42. "It Don't Come Easy" singer : STARR - Ringo, in his solo career

44. "Star Trek" record : LOG - totally missed this one, so when I had L-G, it took the V-8 can to get it.  I've been keeping a journal of my daily events for the last 12 years, and that includes my punch times for UPS; when I went in to dispute my hours this week, my boss to a dig at me and told me to "check my diary".

"It's a log, dude."

49. Dixie elision : MA'AM - dah~!  I went with Y'ALL, and I am sure so did everyone else

51. Plain to see : OVERT

52. Cellular messenger : RNA - ah, the genetic, not phone-callian type of cellular

53. Soaking solution : MARINADE - got stuck on "DYE", so it took a while for this to appear

55. Feuding (with) : AT ODDS

57. Fashion item used for protection in ancient Egypt : EYELINER - learning moment; CODPIECE fit, but I was sure the garment was not called that. In fact, the 'kilt' is called a shendyt, but the long belt I was thinking about is just called a belt.  More here; there's a mention of eyeliner under cosmetics

58. "I'm a fan" : LOVE IT

59. Leafs, e.g. : NISSANS - again, I was in hockey mode, so I was thinking of the Toronto Maple LEAFs, or some sort of Canadian reference

60. Yoga class regimen : ASANAS

DOWN:

1. Still-life subjects : PEARS - which worked with my first two Across fills, but when the rest didn't, out it came

Nice pear....

2. "Mad Men" extra : AD REP

4. "The Phantom Menace" boy : ANI - short for Anakin, the Skywalker who gave us Luke and Leia

5. Angler's hope : NIBBLE

6. Close one : SCARE

7. Automaker's bane : RECALL

8. Preceder of beauty? : AGE - AGE before Beauty

10. Prufrock's creator : ELIOT - filled via perps

11. Bump souvenir : DENT - I figured this was one on the head, so I went with WELT - that's 50% correct - and 100% at that, right D-O~?

12. Requires : ASKS

13. "Roundabout" rock group : YES - I was never able to appreciate their progressive rock style, but half the original members formed ASIA, and their debut album is still one of my favorites of all time - more on ASIA here
 

15. Tie up in surgery : LIGATE

20. Bad lighting? : ARSON - took half a beat for me to remember this clever cluing for that kind of lighting

23. Youngest of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA - filled via perps

24. Like many 32-Across works : EERIE - not PROSE, not VERSE - which was 100% 60% correct~!

28. Shared between us : OURS - the literal definition

29. Lhasa __ : APSO

30. Safety feature for zoo visitors : MOAT - there's a moat around my dream home

31. Drive shaft component : AXLE

32. Check phrase : PAY TO

34. Make fun of : SPOOF - my crossings gave me SMOOB, so I was going to check and see if maybe it was a word....it is; check the 'Urban' Dictionary

37. Power concern : SURGE - I had -U--E, which led me to ponder JUICE

39. Club at a club : DRIVER - more golfing

43. They may be humble : ABODES - I prefer to refer to my humble abode as the awesome man-cave - my whole studio apartment, not just the entertainment room

44. Powerball and others : LOTTOS

45. Word in pregame instructions : TAILS - or you could choose HEADS

46. Refrain part : TRA-LA

47. Setting for "Slumdog Millionaire" : INDIA - filled via perps; did not see the movie

48. Has legs, so to speak : LASTS - yes - and she has legs, too

49. "Allow me" : "MAY I~?"

50. Father of Phobos and Deimos : ARES

53. Valets, e.g. : MEN - meh

54. Rockport's cape : ANN - not sure where Rockport is, so take your three-letter pick; COD, MAY, or ANN - two of them in Massachusetts

56. Eggs : OVA

Splynter 

Friday, April, 21, 2017, Paul Coulter

Title: CONDENSATION

Husker Gary in today for Lemon who is on the Disabled List, hopefully on a temporary basis! Paul has chosen six two-word phrases where the last letters of the first word are also the first letters of the second word as you can see in the grid below. Then he clues the resulting silly phrase with overlapping letters as an economy of letters in making his ENGAGINGENIOUS theme. 

Let's investigate the PLEASANTICS of Paul's in his six, count 'em,  six, theme answers

17. Compressed "Blue Suede Shoes" as sung by Elvis? : COVERSION - One of Elvis' first big hits was a COVER VERSION of a song originally done by Carl Perkins

28. Compressed piece of hardware? : COMPUTERMINAL -Alan Turig's "Bombe" built to decipher German Enigma codes was a forerunner of the modern COMPUTER TERMINAL

21. Compressed syntax topic? : WORDER - WORD ORDER can be slightly different in Spanish. 

44. Compressed Homeland Security role? : COUNTERRORISM - Both sides of any conflict have COUNTER TERRORISM strategies

52. Compressed carnivore? : MEATER - A MEAT EATER who lives with a vegetarian

57. Compressed gastric complaints? : STOMACHES - Astronauts can get STOMACH ACHES in 0g. They can just swallow this water bubble and its fizzy contents

Now for the rest of Paul's cluing in this FUNBELIEVABLE puzzle

Across

1. African currency : RAND - Who gets the fries in this R99 Durban, South Africa deal?

5. Tater __ : TOTS

9. U.K. equivalent of an Oscar : BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Fine Arts

14. Burnt toast indicator : ODOR - A man next to me at a Denny's once ordered burnt toast

15. Heroic poetry : EPOS - A word I learned and forgot in this venue

16. Noble objective : IDEAL 

19. Make happen : CAUSE

20. Imply : GET AT - Speaking of ODOR - "What is she trying to GET AT?"

22. Ecol., e.g. : SCI

25. Traitor : RAT 

26. Canal locale : EAR - The only thing you should put in your ear is your elbow

27. Emerson's "jealous mistress" : ART - "It makes a bad husband and poor provider"

32. Nordic counterpart : ALPINE - Today's puzzle theme inspired me to choose this TV overlapping gimmick composed of two competing ALPINE skiers 

33. Heat source : OIL

34. Judgment concern : BIAS

37. Nothing, in Nice : RIEN

38. On the other hand : BUT

39. Salinger title character with professional singing aspirations : ESME - How do I clue thee? Let me count the ways.

40. Creative singing style : SCAT - Did you forget the words, Ella? :-) 

41. Home sick, say : OUT - Did you ever call in sick and try to sound as sick as you can on the phone? Uh, me either. 

42. Perfumery compound : ACETAL - I never cared for organic chemistry 

47. "That's awful!" : UGH

49. Lush : SOT

50. Tiebreakers, briefly : OT'S - A t-shirt celebrating an Orangemen sextuple OT win 

51. Old anti-Union gp. : CSA  and 57. The CSA's eleven : STS - What if they had won?

54. Manuscript marks : STETS

56. Austrian composer Berg : ALBAN - If Paul says so...

61. Author known for teddy bear stories : MILNE

62. Amos at the piano : TORI

63. The last Mrs. Chaplin : OONA - OONA's celebrated dad, playwright Eugene O'Neill, ended their relationship when she married Charlie who was 36 years her senior. 

64. Latin clarifier : ID EST - ID EST, "That is" we know more familiarly as "i.e."

65. Smart answer, sometimes : SASS  but not 60. KLM competitor : SAS - A follow-up on Wednesday's sassy discussion here

66. Terrible time : TWO'S

Down

1. Elephant predator of myth : ROC - From Arabic   رخ (rukk), an enormous legendary bird of  prey

2. Brouhaha : ADO - Brouhaha seems pretentious to my ear

3. Scorpio mo. : NOV

4. Remnant : DREG - In It Was A Very Good Year, Old Blue Eyes sang, "And now I think of my life as vintage wine, From fine old kegs, From the brim to the DREGS" 

5. Willed? : TESTATE - The lower example

6. Sleep inducer : OPIATE - Not a good long term solution

7. Binge : TOOT

8. Identity thief's target: Abbr. : SSN - He stopped running this ad after his identity was stolen 13 times

9. Crescent-shaped : BICORN - A UNICORN variance

10. Purim month : ADAR

11. Like a Middle Ages social system : FEUDALISTIC 

12. It's a stunner : TASER - These will cover the waterfront

13. It may be red : ALERT

18. "Friends" episode, now : RERUN - How did they have no minority Friends in NYC?

21. Knock 'em dead at the jazz club : WAIL

22. Lasting marks : SCARS - Mine is in a place you will never see

23. Infant illness : COLIC - Col. Potter's horse Sophie had COLIC in a M*A*S*H episode

24. Like high-level treason : IMPEACHABLE

26. Put out : EMIT

29. It's spotted in Westerns : PINTO - Tonto on his PINTO, Scout

30. Way to go : ROUTE

31. "Drink __": 2014 Luke Bryan #1 country hit : A BEER - "So I'm gonna sit right here, On the edge of this pier, Watch the sunset disappear and Drink A BEER". Eat yer out Shakespeare!

35. Gather : AMASS

36. 1965 march site : SELMA - I wonder per cent of people that claim to have been at SELMA or Woodstock actually were

38. Target : BUTT - Of a joke

41. __ about : ON OR

42. Diana's Greek counterpart : ARTEMIS

43. Spanish seashore : COSTA

45. Early online forum : USENET

46. Chopper parts : ROTORS

47. Savory taste : UMAMI 

48. Very cold : GELID - "Eventually boots and socks had to be removed and ankles submitted to the GELID waters" Sunday Times (2013)

53. Beige cousins : TANS

54. Portico for Pericles : STOA

55. Conan Doyle, for one : SCOT

58. The sixth W? : HOW

59. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" artist : ENO - This would be "TAN music" at ORD

Now it's time for your condensed or unabridged comments. Perhaps you can come up with some variations on Paul's THEMETHOD.

Thursday April 20 2017 Mike Peluso

Theme: Clecho Cluster - two closely-related pairs of clues.

17A. Breakdown : CATEGORIZED LIST. Like my monthly spending report from BofA. I won't tell you how each category breaks down, but I'm sure you can guess that "Food!" is a significant slice of the pie chart.

25A. Breakdown : ENGINE FAILURE. In all the flying I've done I've thankfully only experienced one engine failure - on a 737 climbing out of Las Vegas. There was a "pop" sound and the plane seemed to slide backwards for a second. Caused a few raised eyebrows, but no-one was heard to ...

42A. Break down : WEEP IN ANGUISH.

55A. Break down : CHEMICALLY DECAY. Aluminum 26 has a half-life of 720,000 years, whereas the isotope Aluminum 29 has a half-life of 6.6 minutes. I have absolutely no idea why.

Fun offering from Mike today. The theme is nicely done; the grid has eight "cheater squares" (Rich calls them "helper" squares) but four of them are the result of the two 13-letter entries so you can't do anything about those. There's some lively fill, two or three new words for me and some canny cluing to keep us on our toes. Throw in a smattering of French, Spanish and Portuguese and it all adds up to a good Thursday challenge. Let's see what jumps out.

Across:

1. Prepare for a car trip : GAS UP

6. Sack : BAG

9. Swedish autos : SAABS. The company went out of business in 2012.

14. Nearly half of New England : MAINE. With GAS UP atop MAINE I was looking askance at some odd letter progressions for the downs but it all came good in the end.

15. In the fashion of : A LA.  For example, the cajun dish Blackened Catfish a la Mer. Food!

16. St. __ Fire : ELMOS

20. Orlando-to-Miami dir. : S.S.E.

21. Hosp. staffer : L.P.N. Licensed Practical Nurse.

22. Ebbs : ABATES

23. Ready : SET

24. Corrida cry : OLÉ!

32. Island near Java : BALI

34. 1945 conference city : YALTA. Where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill carved up post-war Europe.

35. Snitch : RAT

36. Leche, across the Pyrenees : LAIT. Your café con leche in Spain turns into café au lait in France.

37. "The Fall" novelist : CAMUS

38. Italian beach resort : LIDO. This was my last fill. I couldn't remember RADO and I wasn't sure of the actor URICH so I had to stare this one down. We had an open-air swimming pool in the town where I grew up called The Lido, so something jogged my memory regarding the source of the name.

39. Chicago destination, on airline tickets : ORD. O'Hare was originally named Orchard Field, hence ORD.

40. Higgs particle : BOSON. A Higgs Boson walks into a bar and asks everyone to join in an act of penitence. "What are you doing?" asks the barman. "Giving mass."

41. Object of devotion : ICON

46. Balderdash : ROT

47. Angel dust, initially : PCP. Phencyclidine. I knew this! From the movie "Trading Places", just to be quite clear.

48. Round drill : TREPAN. I think this was new to me - it looks vaguely familiar so perhaps I've seen it before. I find it's a pretty scary-looking piece of surgical equipment.

51. Purpose : USE

52. Clothing dept. letters : SML Small, Medium, Large sizes.

58. It may cause a financial crisis : PANIC

59. Coral __ : SEA. Site of a pivotal naval battle in the Pacific War in 1942.

60. Fast Bolt : USAIN. The world's fastest man holds the world records for both the 100m and 200m sprint.

61. Long range : ANDES. Nice clue! The range is 4,350 miles long from Venezuela in the north to Chile in the south.

62. Half a score : TEN

63. Ltr. holder : P.O. BOX

Down:

1. Acadia and Terrain : GMCS. SUV's.

2. Remote inserts : AAAS. Batteries for your remote control.

3. Location : SITE

4. Article in Arles : UNE

5. Pirate stereotype : PEG LEG. Avast, me hearties!

6. Amish project : BARN

7. Louisville slugger? : ALI. Another nice clue. Muhammad Ali hailed from Louisville.

8. Mediterranean strip : GAZA

9. Missouri State Fair city : SEDALIA. I confidently entered ST. LOUIS when I had the "S" and was singing "Meet me in St. Louis, meet me at the fair" to myself. Then I discovered I was wrong.

10. 2009 Verizon acquisition : ALLTEL. I don't recall these folks. They were headquartered in Little Rock so that might have something to do with it.

11. Lyon gal pal : AMIE. Funny coincidence with Arles also appearing in a clue today - I got a flyer for a Lyon to Arles wine-tasting river cruise with my wine shipment yesterday.

12. Company leader : BOSS

13. Erstwhile flier : SST

18. __-Free: contact lens solution brand : OPTI. Thank you, crosses.

19. WWII torpedo launchers : E-BOATS

23. Foul mood : SNIT

25. Neglect to say : ELIDE. Another nice clue.

26. Tanzanian border lake : NYASA. I went windsurfing on this lake when I visited Malawi years ago. There are both hippos and crocodiles in the water, so you need to focus on not falling in!

27. Irish statesman de Valera : EAMON. His career had mixed reviews.

28. Heaved : FLUNG

29. "Vega$" actor Robert : URICH

30. Rolex competitor : RADO. Must try and remember this name.

31. 007's alma mater : ETON. 007's creator, Ian Fleming went to Eton. His housemaster disapproved of many things, including "his attitude, his hair oil, his ownership of a car and his relations with women." Not bad for someone yet to turn 18.

32. Lose a big lead in : BLOW

33. Bern's river : AARE

37. Cold + Flu maker : CONTAC

38. Speech therapy subject : LISP. I had speech therapy as a kid to try to correct a stammer that I developed when I was six. It didn't help at all. I finally began to get it under control in my twenties.

40. "Ali" and "Milk," e.g. : BIOPICS

43. Early arrival : PREMIE

44. Daisy preceder : UPSY

45. Got slick after sleet : ICED UP

48. "More __ a Feeling": Boston hit : THAN. Classic ballad. Little late in the blog for a music link but it's too good to miss.

49. Tear : REND

50. Tweed lampooner : NAST. Boss Tweed of the Tammany Ring as portrayed by Nast in 1871.

51. __ Bator : ULAN. One of my school friends was recruited into the British Secret Service. She found it "quite fun" until they wanted to post her to Ulan Bator. Mongolia wasn't quite what she had in mind so she quit.

52. Wound protection : SCAB

53. Spring month in Porto : MAIO. Our Portuguese lesson for the day.

54. Forest feline : LYNX

55. Tax pro : CPA. I hope we all met the tax day deadline this week.

56. Loser to Meade at Gettysburg : LEE

57. That, in Barcelona : ESO. Home of the amazing Sagrada Familia Church. "Que *** es eso?" It's still not finished.

Just time to post the grid, and I think I'm done!

Steve