Friday, March 9, 2018, Alex Bajcz

Title: Sounds like fun.

Alex B. makes his second 2018 appearance and his first Friday since his debut in 2013. That one also had sound alike fill. Here the premise is simple - one word in a known phrase is replaced with its homonym and clued for maximum comedic effect. Unlike some puzzles depending on pronunciation, there really should not be any regional complaints about the word choices. I enjoyed the choices and the rest of the puzzle.

20A. What Darwin did aboard the Beagle? : WRITE OF PASSAGE (14). RITE of passage,  a French term innovated by the ethnographer Arnold van Gennep in his work Les rites de passage, "The Rites of Passage." The Beagle is particularly notable for carrying the naturalist Charles Darwin on her second voyage. The voyage played a pivotal role in the formation of Darwin's scientific theories on evolution and natural selection. Wiki et al.

25A. London supermarket sections? : BRITISH AISLES (13). British ISLES birthplace of our Steve, Nicecuppa, Truebrit and others at the corner. There are MANY.

48A. Tie shoes professionally? : KNOT FOR PROFIT (13). NOT for profit, the silliest one. I suppose a manservant -valet - might be one who knots for profit.

55A. Lacking a critical watch-making supply? : OUT OF HOUR HANDS (14). Out of OUR hands, the most clever as you need both minute hands and hour hands to make an analog watch.

There is a boatload of sparkly fill, CHAFE AT,  LAFITTE , MODULES,  NOT NICE, AIR LANES, TEST RIDE, GREAT STUFF and ICE SKATING. Let us solve/

Across:

1. In need of mopping: SPILT. My childhood refrain from the sweet boys at school:
Hasten Jason, Get the basin. Oops slop, get the mop. There is more to the song.

6. Apple app mostly replaced by Messages: i CHAT. iChat is a discontinued instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. for use on its Mac OS X operating system

11. Clock std. : GST. Not sure about this one; maybe Greenwich Standard Time?

14. Some plankton: ALGAE. Yummy for a whale tummy.

15. Iconic Vivien Leigh role: O'HARA.

16. 2014 World Cup Final host: RIO. The site of the World Cup and the Olympics.

17. Bungles: GOOFS.

18. Stable moms: MARES. Really fun misdirection.

19. "What is THAT?" : EEK. A mouse. HMM.

23. Far from fresh: TRITE.

24. Reduced to crumbs, perhaps: EATEN.

30. Behaved like a lovestruck heart: RACED.

31. Lakeside temperature gauge? : TOE. Also useful in catching water mocassins.

32. End: STOP.

35. Love interest for WALL-E: EVE.

36. Word that may follow a president's name: ERA.

39. Carrier merged with Delta since 2010: NWA.

41. Game with Reverse cards: UNO. My grandmother loved playing cards, cribbage when I was young, and as she got older she fell in love with UNO.

42. '50s sitcom name: DESI. Arnaz.

44. Something to wrestle with: ARM. You want to WATCH.

46. Figure out: INFER.

52. Walking aid: STAFF. We have so many here with canes or sticks, including yours truly, I use
a collapsible tartan cane.

54. Distributed: DEALT.

60. Hitter's stat: RBI. Runs Batted In.

61. Sometimes plucked instrument: CELLO. Clecho- 8D. Plucked instrument: HARP.

62. Dorothy, to Em: NIECE. Aunty 'Em.

64. Common base: TEN.

65. Impulses: URGES.

66. Showman's talent: ECLAT. This back, can ELAN be far behind?

67. Braz. neighbor: ARGentina.

68. Flirt: TEASE.

69. "Voting Rights Trail" terminus: SELMA. Want to read this STORY.

Down:

1. Sink: SAG. Two weeks in a row.

2. Slam (into) : PLOW.

3. Movie lab helper: IGOR.

4. Battle of New Orleans pirate: LAFITTE.

                                                                          Laffite

5. Short Golf drive? : TEST RIDE. The Volkswagon model.

6. Insect with eyespots on its wings: IO MOTH. I hope John Lampkin stops by with insight.

7. Be irritated by: CHAFE AT.

9. Region: AREA.

10. Academic hanger : TASSEL. Cute clue.

11. "Nice work!" : GREAT STUFF.

12. Onslaught: SIEGE.

13. Symbolic yet insubstantial: TOKEN.

21. München cubes: EIS. Even in German it probably upsets Tin.

22. RSVP holders: SAES.  I know it as SASE. But I guess they are not providing any stamp.

25. Word after well or ill: BRED.

26. Techno club event: RAVE. I never understood the rave; wrong generation.

27. Winter recreation: ICE SKATING. I enjoyed the skating this year at the winter Olympics.

28. Solar wind particle: ION.

29. Use a needle: SEW.

33. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I.

34. Cargo pickup site: PORT.

37. Ubiquitous rodent: RAT. I hope not.

38. Warning sound, perhaps: ARF.

40. Southwest routes: AIRLANES. The Luv airline.

43. Recon target: INFO. I wanted INTEL.

45. Interchangeable components : MODULES.

47. Mean: NOT NICE.

49. Lumber remnant, in Liverpool: OFFCUT. Definition of offcut. chiefly British. : something that is cut off (such as a waste piece of lumber).

50. Ascended again: REROSE. Meh.

51. "Blast it!" : PAH. Definition: an exclamation used to express disgust or contempt.

52. Wavering word: SORTA.

53. Potato or yam: TUBER.

56. "Try this": HERE.

57. Contemporary of Nadia : OLGA. Korbut.

58. Computer giant: DELL.

59. In retrospect, it may have sounded too good to be true: SCAM. If it does it is.

63. SFO posting : ETA. Airport code for San Francisco.

Do not forget to change your clocks Sunday and enjoy the extra sunshine. At least those who live in sunny climes. Thank you Alex and all who read. Lemonade out.

Friday, March 2, 2018, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: Where have all the Ws gone, long time passing...

DAB is back with a letter removal puzzle. His reveal is more complicated as each "W" is part of a phrase that begins with "SW." Hence the reveal. This seems mostly easy for a Friday, but the consistency of the theme and having three grid-spanners makes it a thing of beauty. I enjoyed the long ones, with SINGING BOTH WAYS my favorite. The remaining fill was typical of a puzzle with 66 squares dedicated to theme with OPENHANDED,  SPARE TIRES, AVOIDED and EMBASSY the long ones, BRIBED and BROODS interesting ones.


17A. Ratting to the cops and carrying a tune? : SWINGING BOTH WAYS (15). Both kinds of Singing.

24A. Dupe gatherings? : SWAP MEETS (8). Where the pigeons are plucked.

39A. What rain may do to a bad toupee? : SWEEP UNDER THE RUG (15). Wonderful image of rain water on a bald man.

51A. Place to buy a chair? : SWEAT SHOP (8). Not a PC term.

62A. Cowboy outfit? : SWADDLING CLOTHES (15). A new born changes into a cowboy.

71A. Deli cheese ... or, in three parts, a hint to the five longest across puzzle answers: SWISS (5) you have to parse this as SW-IS-S. S replaces SW.

ACROSS:

1. Leftover bit in a basket: CRUMB. The bread basket.

6. Taken out by Buffy? : SLAIN. She was known as the SLAYER.

11. Farm home: STY. Two weeks in a row.

14. Lash LaRue's "Frontier Revenge,"e.g.: OATER. Since the stars of the movies were horses and they ate oats. Should be easy after Steve's write-up yesterday.


15. Critical circulation aid: AORTA. You know this as the main artery of the body, supplying oxygenated blood to the circulatory system. In humans it passes over the heart from the left ventricle and runs down in front of the backbone.

16. Op lead-in: PRE.

20. Chem. class suffix: IDE.

21. Buddy type: BOSOM.  Who recalls this career launching series?  LINK

22. Scots Gaelic: ERSE. Repeat. Along with 55A. Sounds of hesitation : ERS. No common link. Or maybe 35D. Romain de Tirtoff, famously : ERTE.

23. More than moist: WET.

27. Kept away from: AVOIDED.

31. National Grandparents' Day mo. : SEPT. The first Sunday after Labor Day. HISTORY.

32. Trumpet players? : LIPS. Lips are key to all wind instruments, I believe.

33. Regions : AREAS.

36. RN workplace : ICU. Intensive Care Unit.

43. Hold one's __ : OWN.

44. Cook in the oven : ROAST.

45. Walk unsteadily : REEL.

46. Prince in "Frozen" : HANS. Spoiler alert.

48. Diplomat's headquarters : EMBASSY.

56. Forearm part : ULNA. The outside bone, the radius is on the outside. I fractured my radius two years go.

57. Last European colony in Asia : MACAO. Macau also spelled Macao and officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia. in 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macao was Portuguese territory, ending 330 years of uncertainty. In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.

59. Dallas sch. : SMU. Southern Methodist University.

66. Consumed : ATE.

67. Like many squawkers : AVIAN. Birds.

68. Immerse completely : DOUSE. More water.

69. Nickname for Edward : NED.

70. Cruel sort: MEANY. Seems like a silly word.

Down:

1. "__ fan tutte": COSI.

2. Prohibition surprise : RAID.

3. __ Reader : UTNE.

4. Not much memory, these days : MEG.  I bought a computer for my sons in 1992. A "Portable" computer of the time period, something like a Compaq LTE weighed six pounds, which had a i386 CPU, a 9.5" display (smaller than the size of the iPad's) and VGA graphics (640x480). We are now up to Terrabytes.

5. Greased : BRIBED.

6. Droops : SAGS.

7. University of New Mexico team : LOBOS.

8. Kitchen drawer? : AROMA. A classic hidden heteronym misdirection, that which draws (entices) people to the kitchen.

9. U.S. manufacturer founded as a communications co. in 1920 : ITT.

10. "Don't think so!" : NAH.

11. Trunks often contain them : SPARE TIRES. As do many WalMart customers.

12. Private meeting : TRYST.

13. Approvals : YESES.

18. F-sharp, for one : NOTE. This clu/fill leavce me flat.

19. "Willow __ for Me": jazz standard : WEEP. The two Ws here are fine because they are not attached to an S.

23. Bit of smoke : WISP.

25. H.S. junior's exam : PSAT. Standardized tests for pratice.

26. Net fabric : MESH.

27. Too : ALSO.

28. Condo selling point : VIEW.

29. Generous : OPEN HANDED. Dictionary: 1(of a blow) delivered with the palm of the hand.
"an openhanded slap to the side of the face. " 2. giving freely; generous."openhanded philanthropy"

30. Duchamp genre : DADA. He was a true pioneer. LINK.

34. Legal thing : RES.

37. Parlor sticks : CUES. Billiard parlor.

38. Like some moods : UGLY.

40. Footed vases : URNS.

41. On-the-run bite : NOSH. One of many Yiddish terms incorpoated in our culture.

42. Big periods : ERAS.

47. The teensiest bit : A TAD.

49. Nourishment provider : MEAL.

50. Stews (over) : BROODS. Who does not love a great BROODING HERO.

51. 1940s-'60s top-10 girl's name that ranked 922nd in 2016 : SUSAN. Hi, Hahtoolah.

52. Thrill : ELATE. A favorite word of our fearless leader.

53. __ vincit amor : OMNIA. Love conquers all.

54. Certain polytheist : PAGAN. Pagan definition, (no longer in technical use) one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks.

58. Sch. in Harlem : CCNY. City College of New York.

59. Feng __ : SHUI. 2018 UPDATE.

60. Slob's production : MESS.

61. Versatility list : USES.

63. On the __: hiding : LAM. A CSO to John Lampkin.

64. "__ had it!" : I'VE.

65. Drag behind : TOW.


March has arrived, was a lamb or a lion where you live? Here it was still spring, perhaps a touch to warm, but the 60s are coming back. Thank you David and all who read and/or write. Lemonade out.

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.

Friday, February 16, 2018, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: This is not an easy A class. Try THESE?

I remember certain teachers and professors who seemed to hate giving a student an A on any paper, having had my work DOWNGRADED for penmanship or failing to explain an answer even when the answer was correct. We have our 4th puzzle from David, all on Friday and like his June 2017 PUZZLE, this is a letter substitution. Each of the five themers hs the letter "A" downgraded to a "B." The reveal is simple, and the trick is to have the resulting fill be witty. I think they are good, but YMMV. MEDIA BIBS/MEDIA BIAS seems timely, BLT RIGHT/ALT-RIGHT as well.

We have quite a bit of sparkle, with EPITOME (I will always remember Peter Wiley trying to defend the epi - tome pronunciation in school, he also said Are Kansas), ORATION, SAW TO IT, SHOT PUT, STUN GUN, TARNISH along with two fill longer than some of themers HANDSHAKE and LED ASTRAY. Well, let's solve this.
\
17A. *Protection for a press feeding frenzy? : MEDIA BIBS (9). How could I speak of MEDIA BIAS without getting political?

26A. *Result of nodding off at an auction? : SLEEP BID (8). If you took a SLEEP AID before the auction, and it was really strong like Ambien...I can picture this happening.

27A. *Sandwich-centric extremists? : BLT RIGHT (8). The BLT is fun, the ALT-RIGHT, not os much but it too is politics.

50A. *Where to read all the latest computer port news? : USB TODAY (8). The cutes clue/fill and a CSO to USA Today.

52A. *Female employee of a tech giant? : IBM WOMAN (8). I AM WOMAN was a very big song and could be the anthem of the Me Too generation...oops more politics.

63A. Rating reduction responsible for the answers to starred clues: DOWNGRADE (9). With all the ex-teachers who come to the Corner, this should be very popular.

Okay, let us look at the rest.

Across:

1. Scratch __: woodworking tools: AWLS. A scratch awl is a woodworking layout and point-making tool. It is used to scribe a line to be followed by a hand saw or chisel when making woodworking joints and other operations.

5. Split wide open: GAPE.

9. Green "Sesame Street" character: OSCAR. Don't be grouchy.

14. Scallion relative: LEEK. Onions and garlic belong to the Allium genus. Allium, in fact, is derived from the Greek word for garlic. Shallots, leeks, scallions, and chives are also members of the allium family.

15. Sea predator: ORCA.

16. Asian city translates to "place of the gods": LHASA. Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, lies on the Lhasa River's north bank in a valley of the Himalayas. Rising atop Red Mountain at an altitude of 3,700m, the red-and-white Potala Palace once served as the winter home of the Dalai Lama. The first of the geography.

19. Tight headgear: DO RAG. Neon Deion helped make them famous.

20. Masseur's workplace: SPA.

21. Word with fly or about: GAD. How many of you remember Roscoe GADDIS?

22. Shining example: EPITOME.

24. What a burglar hopes not to be: SEEN. Cute clue.

30. Fort Collins sch. : CSU. Colorado State University.  U. of Colorado is in Boulder.

31. Merits: EARNS.

32. Italian capital: EURO. The old money distraction.

34. Dilute: THIN. It makes sense mixing paints etc.

38. Letters for John Smith? : AKA. Also Known As. Almost everyone has one, based on using or not using middle initials for examples. Banks now make you sign an AKA affidavit when you borrow money.

39. Besmirch: TARNISH. Besmirch is such a great old-fashioned word.

42. Dudley the Dinosaur's org.: ADA. American Dental Association.

43. Books with test answers: KEYS. The teachers' key.

45. Twitter's bird, e.g.: LOGO.

46. One with a title: OWNER. Property.

48. Cry of discovery: AHA.

56. Poems of praise: ODES.

57. Lincoln output: ORATION.

58. "No seats" sign: SRO. Standing Room Only.

59. Egg producer ... and product: HEN.

62. Tuesday dish? : TACOS. According to The Strange History Of Taco Tuesday, the phrase "Taco Tuesday" was coined in 1989 by a Mexican food chain Taco John's. (Quora).

66. Expect: AWAIT.

67. Northern terminus of I-79: ERIE. Another CSO to Abejo and others. Geography.

68. Lute family members: UKES.

69. ATM features: SLOTS. Why this clue?

70. Kind of lily: SEGO. As the Utah state flower.

71. Tendency: BENT.

Down:

1. Help for the poor: ALMS. From the word eleemosynary.

2. Sob: WEEP.

3. Acting on bad advice: LED ASTRAY.

4. __ jump: SKI. Timely; any watching the Winter Olympics.

5. Explode: GO BANG. We had a very sad go bang at a school here in Broward County.

6. Parched: ARID.

7. Chem. pollutant banned in 1979: PCB. Polychlorinated biphenyl is an organic chlorine which was banned by the United States Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.

8. Canvas support: EASEL. Paintings.

9. Elvis hits, e.g.: OLDIES. Interesting choice of artist.

10. Decathlon event: SHOTPUT.

11. Chocolate substitute: CAROB. A slightly healthier ALTERNATIVE.

12. "Me too": AS AM I.

13. Lost it: RAGED.

18. Elder hostile? : AGEIST.

23. River through New Mexico: PECOS. Texas and New Mexico. LINK.

25. Seaside eagle: ERN.

26. Immobilizing law-enforcement tool: STUNGUN.

27. Nose, slangily: BEAK.

28. Camp sight, perhaps: LAKE.

29. Forrest Gump, for one: HERO.

33. Some are tributaries: RIOS. Like the RIO Grande, see above. Geography.

35. Cordial greeting: HANDSHAKE.

36. Notion: IDEA.

37. Not: NARY.

40. Budget competitor: ALAMO.

41. Cylindrical sandwich: HOTDOG. I love this definition.

44. Took care of things: SAW TO IT.

47. Sorrow: WOE.

49. Construction site apparatuses: HOISTS.

51. World's third-largest island: BORNEO. Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. Geography.

52. Tiny bits: IOTAS.

53. Serious fight: BRAWL.

54. Former Portuguese territory in China: MACAO. This amazing PLACE.

55. Aconcagua's range: ANDES. More geography.

58. Way more than a sip: SWIG.

60. Paradise: EDEN. Garden - more geography.

61. Animal home: NEST.

64. Willamette Valley state: Abbr. : OREgon.  WINE anyone? Geography.

65. Obstacle: RUB. Since JW did not give us a Shakespeare last week, here.
"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
that Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub..."


I hope you enjoyed this workout. It was all over the place but the theme was doable and I did not see any really obscure cluing, so I had fun. Thank you, DAB. Hope you had a great Valentine's Day. Those of you who sent wishes for those affected by our local tragedy - thank you. David, it has been a pleasure. Lemonade out.

Here is my Valentine memory.

Friday, February 9, 2018, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Forget the carbs, I am hungry! Call Entenmann's.

For all of you who were wondering where our Friday friend JW has been hiding in 2018, he is back and presents the third visual puzzle that has been constructed for our consternation. We have 13 (!) clues which consist only of a number. Good news though, we get a reveal! Oops, not helpful yet. Must solve and wait for perps. Hmm, three letter fill at 26 and 52 across. 26- nope not there. 52? Ahh- BUN! 41- ROLL! Eureka! Thirteen is a baker's dozen. Ta-dah- bakery items! This was a struggle in places, but I am a big fan of most of the goods here, especially a warm buttery CROISSANT and a moist SCONE. What are your favorites? The rest was in my wheelhouse, with SUK requiring all of the perps. The purists will hate the themers being so short and having non-theme fill longer words, but I enjoyed BELDAME, BOSNIAN, CAT SCAN, DEEPENS, ELOCUTE, QUIETED, BLINDERS, and CITY PLAN as fun but challenging fill. I applaud Jeffrey for finding 13 items that not only fit the theme, but allow him to build a classic grid with complete thematic symmetry. A puzzle that completely depends on perps and the reveal...

I wonder if the grid was inspired by The Cross of Salem, also known as a pontifical cross because it is carried before the Pope. This is  - after all a CROSSword puzzle.

Anyway on to the solve.

1A. #1: MUFFIN (6). RECIPE. opposite 70A. # 10: DANISH (6). RECIPE.

7A. # 2: BRIOCHE (7). RECIPE. opposite 69A. # 9: BISCUIT (7). RECIPE.

24A. # 3: TORTE (5). RECIPE. opposite 53A. # 8: DONUT (5). RECIPE.

26A. #4 : PIE (3). RECIPE. opposite 52A. # 7: BUN (3). RECIPE.

37A. # 5: CAKE (4). RECIPE. opposite 41A. # 6: ROLL (4). RECIPE.

14D. # 11: BAGEL (5). RECIPE. opposite 51D. # 13: SCONE (5). RECIPE.

20D. # 12: CROISSANT (9). RECIPE. the center.

The reveal:
38A. It's a bit more than it sounds, and hints at this puzzle's theme: BAKER'S DOZEN (11). Wal-Mart sells their doughnuts 13 to a box. Let's get cooking with the solve.

Across:

14. Crone: BELDAME.  Finally a clue, but not a gimme fill. This archaic WORD is clearly a Friday Saturday fill. A very hard start.

15. Sarajevo citizen: BOSNIAN. The country is Bosnia and Herzegovina. LINK.

16. Gets to: ATTAINS.

17. Settled down: QUIETED.

18. Merry, in Metz: GAI. Metz is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, the city forms a central place of the European Greater Region. Wiki. 55A. Pique-nique setting : PARC. French.

19. Prog. formally reinstated at Harvard in 2011: ROTC. Reserve Officer Training Corps programs were another casualty of the Vietnam War. LINK.

21. Hotel experience: STAY.

22. Sturdy trees: ELMS. Dutch elm disease as a problem but the TREE is making a return.

29. Future D.A.'s hurdles: LSATS.

31. Future salmon: ROE. Fish eggs.

32. Troubles: ILLS.

33. Belg. locale: EUR.

35. Travel guide listing: INN.

43. MS-__: DOS. Recently popular fill.

44. Party bowlful: DIP.

45. Goddess usually depicted holding an ankh: ISIS. This EGYPTIAN. And the Symbol which is also a CROSS.

46. "M*A*S*H" rank: Abbr. : MAJ. Random, but better than E-______?

48. Some archaeological sites: TOMBS. King Tut was actually named Tutankhamun. Mini-theme?

56. Karate training site: DOJO. Dōjō (道場) is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way." My brother created one in the 60s in our hometown.

59. Lose steam: TIRE.

61. __ Speedwagon: REO. Musical interlude, only 1 hour and 20 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqRpzyWJ5vM

62. Becomes more complex: DEEPENS.

65. High-tech med. procedure: CAT SCAN. What you need to KNOW.

67. Police actions: ARRESTS.

68. Speak well in public: ELOCUTE. Elocution from Latin elocution-, elocutio, from eloqui. Elocute is a back word from elocution.

Down:

1. Most of the periodic table: METALS.

2. __ Thule: distant place in medieval geography: ULTIMA. You want to ARGUE the point?

3. HHS agency: FDA. Health and Human Services.

4. Sunny: FAIR.

5. "You are!"retort: I'M NOT. Are too!

6. Argonaut known for wise counsel: NESTOR. He was a member of Jason's crew before the Trojan War. LINK.

7. Cookout fare, briefly: BBQ.

8. Awaken : ROUSE.

9. "Ya think?" : IS IT? I SIT? Isis' sister?

10. Fit-for-service designation: ONE-A. I have my draft card from the 60's somewhere.

11. Urban design: CITY PLAN. Pompano Beach is working on their PLAN.

12. "Some __ meat and canna eat": start of the Selkirk Grace: HAE. This probably predates Robert Burns. One of my favorite modern detectives is Hamish MacBeth, so I know the word.

13. Conclusion: END.

23. Lifts: STEALS.

25. Have an inclination: TEND.

27. Variety: ILK. I always like this word.

28. Language suffix: ESE.

30. Czech composer Josef, son-in-law of Dvorák: SUK. All perps for this MAN.

32. Frozen treat: ICEPOP. Would you like to read the HISTORY of the Popsicle?

34. Like half of Poland's flag: RED.

36. Silent assent: NOD.

38. Horse racing accessories: BLINDERS. The reason WHY.

39. Ex-quarterback Tony: ROMO. He has done well in his SECOND CAREER.

40. Clearasil target: ZIT.

41. Cookout morsel: RIB. I am not sure a rib is a morsel.

42. Brutus Buckeye is its mascot: Abbr. : OSU. The Ohio State University. Oklahoma State last week, perhaps Oregon State next.

47. Really pumped: JUICED. Not to be confused with juiced by steroids.

49. __ Aurelius, second-century Roman emperor: MARCUS. One of my favorite EMPERORS.

50. What a sprinter might run out of : BREATH.

53. "__ know you?" : DON'T I.

54. Musical nonsense syllables : TRA LA.

57. Intl. energy group: OPEC.

58. Bach's "__, Joy of Man's Desiring" : JESU. I had no idea and it seems counter-intuitive.

60. Hugh Laurie's alma mater: ETON. One of the myriads of foreign-born actors who portray US Americans on television.

62. Unit of hot mustard, for most: DAB. Not for Asians or me.

63. NW Penn. airport: ERI. A CSO to many who comment here.

64. Aircraft in the Smithsonian Inst. collection: SST.

66. Chem., for one : SCI. Abbreviation - abbreviation.

Well JW is back in business. I liked the grid, the theme, and the reveal. A note from C.C. below, which I echo. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy birthday to dear Splynter (Richard), who turns 47 years old today. Splynter was our trusted Saturday guide for a long long time. Hope all's well with your new job and new home, Splynter. Don't forget your friends here at the Corner. Visit us from time to time.

Friday, February 2, 2018, Stu Ockman

Title: Bottom's UP!

We have another visual puzzle, with the theme fill presented updside down, so you need to read from the bottom to the top. All five themers are very popular cocktails, and to add to the degree of difficulty in constructing, Stu uses only mixtures beginning with the letter "M."  Oddly we don't see the inimitable martini. This is a wonderful CSO to Tinbeni and my bartending son who works at Poka Lola Social Club in Denver mixing up amazing yummies like the CLOVER CLUB. 2oz Plymouth Gin, .5oz dry vermouth, .5oz raspberry syrup and .75oz lemon juice. Also timely after we had the SAZERAC last Saturday.

This is our second puzzle from Stu who appeared here in 2014. He does have 10 NYT publications, the last two in 2017. There are as always on Friday, some challenging cluing and some very fun fill like A BIT ODD, BEATS IT, DELIVER, ONE MORE, SARANAC SESAMES, SLIM JIM (my favorite) SOLACES (James Bond)  TOPMOST, TWO PAIR and YES OR NO. He then puts these sparkly fills in the difficult triple stack pattern in each corner.





4D. Tequila, triple sec and lime juice : ATIRAGRAM (9). MARGARITA has become a favorite cocktail. ent

10D. Champagne and orange juice : ASOMIM (6). MIMOSA along with the Bloody Mary are the Brunch drinks here.

21D. Bourbon, water, sugar and garnish : PELUJ TNIM (9). MINT JULEP is the drink of choice at the Kentucky Derby. Anyone here follow the richest race in thorobred racing last Sunday at Gulfstream Park here in So Fla?

36D. Whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters : NATTAHNAM (9). MANHATTAN was the drink of choiceof my brother's f-i-l.

44D. White rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water and garnish : OTIJOM (6). MOJITO has become quite popular in Florida bars.
And the reveal:

59A. Bar exhortation ... and a hint to how to answer five puzzle clues : DRINK UP (7). The drink names are read UP, from bottom to top.

Across:

1. __ Lake, village near Lake Placid : SARANAC. There are advantages to growing in the Northeast with lots of relatives, some of whom went to this  LAKE .

8. Skedaddles : BEATS IT.

15. Somewhat off : A BIT ODD. Fridays usually have many multiple word fill.

16. "Choose!" : YES OR NO. See I told you.

17. Come through : DELIVER.

18. Poker holding : TWO PAIR. A dangerous hand.

19. A or O : ALER. This simple glue fill took longer than I like.

20. Easy pace : LOPE.

22. Clipper trio : MASTS. The ship not the basketball team. Now Blake Griffin is gone, too.

23. "Ninja Scroll" genre : ANIME. I did not know the movie, but my kids watched lots of anime.

25. Domain introduced in 2001 : BIZ.

26. Rod Stewart's "__ May" : MAGGIE.

29. Shuttle site : LOOM. You want to learn to WEAVE? Or play in the dirt? 40A. Fertile soil : LOAM.

31. Affirmative act : NOD.

34. Outlying community : EXURB. From about 1955, a region or settlement that lies outside a city and usually beyond its suburbs and that often is inhabited chiefly by well-to-do families. (MW).

35. Tesla, e.g. : AUTO. This also took way too long to parse.

36. "Not a chance" : NOPE.

37. "Zorba the Greek" Oscar winner Kedrova : LILA. I liked the movie, did not recall the actress.

38. Bottom of a food chain? : MCJOB. A new way to clue.

39. Abruzzi bell town : ATRI. This LINK starts
"At Atri in Abruzzo, a small town
Of ancient Roman date, but scant renown..."

41. Picasso output : ARTE.


42. Mar. honoree : ST PAT. March 17, St. Patrick's Day.

43. "r u kidding?!" : OMG. An exclamation of surprise.

44. Team that pulls for you : OXEN. Attempted sports misdirection.

45. Like an earworm : CATCHY.


46. Peugeot's 208 or 308, e.g. : GTI.

47. Tony winner Menzel of "Wicked" : IDINA. I had the pleasure of watching her perform as Elphaba on Broadway in July of 2005 with my sons. It was awesome. She is becoming very popular with all those vowels.

49. Feature of many a Hawaiian restaurant : LANAI. Defined: porch, veranda. We have many in SoFla.

52. Cast off : EMIT.

53. Olympian queen : HERA.

57. Lock-picking tool : SLIM JIM. It is two words. I am sure the car thieves love the fact that they can buy at Walmart with DIRECTIONS.

61. Highest : TOPMOST. It is one word.

62. Consoles : SOLACES. An encore appearance.

63. Bun seeds : SESAMES. Don't forget the special sauce.

64. Request at a bar : ONE MORE. Bonus alcohol fill.

Down:

1. Actress Thompson : SADA. The mother in the successful TV series Family.

2. Doomed shepherd : ABEL. Also a second 2018 appearance.

3. Irk : RILE.

5. Sweet Potato Awareness Mo. : NOV. Who decided this? Who cares?

6. Emperor relative : ADELIE. Great misdirection- Penguins. LINK.

7. Jewel box item : CD-ROM. Defined: a thin plastic case for a CD or DVD — called also jewel case. I only knew jewel case.

8. Eight bits : BYTE. Not a dollar in the modern world.

9. "Ick!" : EEW. I also prefer the EWW spelling.

11. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ. The Topaz became the State Gem in 1969 (Utah Code). It is a semiprecious gem found in Beaver, Juab and Tooele counties of Utah. But again, who cares.

12. Mmes. across the Pyrenees : SRAS. French to Spanish.

13. Down but not out : IN IT.

14. Rocky hills : TORS.

24. Bird's bill : NIB. and maybe 51D. Bites playfully : NIPS.

25. Bonehead : BOOB. Hmm, is this 31D. Sometimes offensive, briefly : NOT PC.

26. __ Yello : MELLO.

27. Assumed truth : AXIOM. I was actually a math major when I began college.

28. Soviet labor camp : GULAG.

30. Oklahoma tribe : OTOE.

32. Dr. Phil was her frequent guest before getting his own show : OPRAH. Even Oprah makes mistakes.




33. Eros or Eos : DEITY.

35. Real estate parcel : ACRE.

38. Dress style : MAXI.

42. __ Salvador : SAN. San/El what else is there?

45. Pomelo relative : CITRON.  My wife is on a big POMELO kick to help my body recover from last year. The CITRON is an part of Jewish ceremonies for Sukkhot. See below for Oo and the thick pomelo rind.

46. Beta follower : GAMMA. Α α alpha, άλφα; Β β beta, βήτα;
Γ γ gamma, γάμμα

48. Playground comeback : DID SO.

49. Amphibious assault transports, for short : LSTS. Landing Ship, Tank - LINK.

50. Botanical balm : ALOE.

52. 911 response gp. : EMTS.

54. Kitchen gadget brand : EKCO.

55. One with second thoughts : RUER.

56. Abbey area : APSE.

58. British author's conclusion? : ISE. As opposed to IZE.

60. Terre dans la mer : ILE. Frawnche, as Splynter would say.

A tight puzzle with some challenge. February is on the March. Thank you Stu and all of you who read and write. Lemonade out.


As I promised, here is the grid and Oo getting the most out of Pomelo...

I do not know why the "J" in mint julep or the "t" in St. Pat have been bleached out.

Friday, January 26, 2018, David Poole

Title: Let's look under the water

David makes a quick return with a visual theme. There are 4 seas placed above the letters "LAB." It is a cute theme but wreaked havoc on my mind with YELLOW LAB and IRISH LAB running around in my head. Woof, woof.  The rest seemed like a Friday with many 6 and 7 letter fill. ERNESTO, EXACTOR, LOST ART, PANINIS, SWORE TO and WANNABE all interesting fill.

I have written about many of his puzzles, with this EFFORT being my first Friday write-up here at the Corner.

Hopefully, the grid will make you all smile. Grid first I think today:



17A. First U.S. national park: YELLOWSTONE (11). The YELLOW Sea is clued just above the LAB in 20A in LABEL.

35A. Co-star of the 1955 comedy "How to Be Very, Very Popular": SHEREE NORTH (11). The NORTH Sea is clued just above the LAB in SLABS. The MOVIE was unknown to me.

42A. Subject of a 19th-century famine: IRISH POTATO (11). The IRISH Sea is clued just above the LAB in LABREA.

62A. Aquanaut's workplace ... or a hint to what's graphically represented four times in this puzzle: UNDER SEA LAB (11). This LAB is under the CHINA Sea.

Across:

1. Big sister? : ABBESS. This is a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns.

7. Way more than a whimper: BAWL.

11. Pixie: ELF.

14. Circus equipment: STILTS. There often is a clown on stilts.

15. Online marketplace: EBAY.

16. Madhouse: ZOO.

19. Syncopated piece: RAG. Ragtime (rag) also spelled rag-time or rag time – is a musical style that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm.

20. Calvin Klein or Perry Ellis: LABEL.

21. Caution: WARN.

22. Spilled the beans: SANG. Like modern mobsters.

23. Love personified: AMOR. Cupid's alias.

24. Letter writing, some say: LOST ART.

26. Oenophile's concern: YEAR. CSO to the Chairman and his wares.

28. Bear with a purple bow tie: BOO-BOO. Hannah-Barbera says "Boo-Boo Bear is a cartoon character on The Yogi Bear Show. Boo-Boo is an anthropomorphic bear cub wearing a purple bowtie. Most of the pictures I see online look blue, but.....

32. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC.

38. Revolutionary murdered in a tub: MARAT.

 The Death of Marat by Jacques-   Louis  David. 

40. Groom's garb: TUX.

41. Generous slices: SLABS.



45. Menu general: TSO. It must be embarrassing to his family that he is known as a chicken.

46. Tar pits site: LA BREA.

47. "Pretty please?" : CAN I? May I never see this clue/fill again?

49. Che's given name: ERNESTO. Guevera.

52. State-spanning rds. : TPKS.

56. Cross by wading: FORD.

59. Digging: INTO.

61. "The Mikado" band? : OBI. The Japanese sash. Not to be confused with 57D. Village Voice award: OBIE. (OB) No longer technically true, they were originally given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered along with the American Theatre Wing. As the Tony Awards cover Broadway productions, the Obie Awards cover Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions. (various)

64. Dram: NIP. A wee dram at that; right Tin?

65. Thailand, once: SIAM. A nice CSO to my sweet bride.

66. Recess: ALCOVE.

67. Fictional vigilante's mark: ZEE.

68. Ballpark figs. : ESTSimates.

69. Christian of "Mr. Robot": SLATER.

Down:

1. Sanctuaries : ASYLA. Our favorite latin plural.

2. Substitute players: B-TEAM.

3. Frodo inherited his ring: BILBO. The Hobbit.

4. Queen of mystery: ELLERY. Agatha also fits.

5. Small-runway aircraft acronym: STOL. Short Takeoff Or Landing.

6. Spokane-to-Walla Walla dir. : SSW.

7. Software to debug: BETAS. Testing, one two, three.

8. Scrub, at NASA: ABORT.

9. Aspirant: WANNABE.  Geri last week.

10. Drano compound: LYE.

11. Biblical reformer: EZRA. He was BIBLICAL.

12. Library transaction: LOAN. They are known as lending libraries.

13. "Around the World ... " hero: FOGG. Phileas Fogg is the protagonist in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Day (wiki).

18. Affirmed in court: SWORE TO.

22. Happy hour perch: STOOL.

24. __-di-dah: LAH.

25. Lighter brand: RONSON. My mental picture.

27. Bible book read during Purim: ESTHER. More Hebrew bible.

29. Frank's cousin: BRAT. This is one of the wurst clue/fills ever!

30. Gambling parlors, for short: OTBS. Off-track betting shops.

31. Very: OH SO. You all look oh so smart today!





32. Expressionist painter Nolde : EMIL. I did not know Emil Nolde, who was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early 20th century to explore color. (wiki) I like the Matterhorn Smiles.

33. Plantation near Twelve Oaks: TARA. Frankly, I no longer give a damn.

34. Nursery purchase: CRIB. Tree anyone?

36. Rural road feature: RUT.

37. One demanding payment, say: EXACTOR. In law, we often put or/ee at the end of words to make a new word, but this CREATION by David seems imprecise.

39. Comparable to a beet: AS RED.

43. Pressed sandwiches: PANINIS.

44. Confucian ideal: TAO.

48. Cornell's city: ITHACA.

50. Conclude by: END AT.

51. Parts of some flutes: STEMS. My brain went to the instrument b aha moment for the champagne glass.

53. First of a series: PILOT. No Honda this week, but the try out episode of a tv series.

54. __ of Hearts, accused tarts thief: KNAVE. You should know your Alice in Wonderland.
"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!"

55. Cavalry sword: SABER.

56. With "the," TV character who first jumped the shark-- literally: FONZ. Did we really watch this
HORRIBLE TV, On the other hand, I really like Winkler in his new show  BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

58. Harvest-ready: RIPE.

60. Spreadsheet box: CELL.

62. Employ: USE.

63. KLM rival: SAS. The HISTORY of  Scandinavian Airlines System is worth reading.

We have already made it to my last write-up of January. David makes every puzzle different. I enjoyed it and hope you did as well. On to the Super Bowl!!! Lemonade out.

Friday, January 19, 2018, Debbie Ellerin

Title: The vote is in and the eyes have it.

We have another around the perimeter puzzle. Here the words which are theme fill precede "eye." Rather magically Debbie appears after her early week mention to present her third LA times puzzle. Like last week's constructor, she has collaborated with Jeff Chen. You can see the influence on her style in the cluing. This is again a variation on a rebus where the eye part of the fill is left out. We have had a couple of these designs before, but I cannot remember what the reaction was from the Corner. For me, this was a very easy Friday, as the theme jumped out. The placement of KATY PERRY in the fourth row and CHEESE DIP in the symmetrical place seems designed to deceive.

With all the 4 and 5 letter theme fill, we do get some sparklies like AREA MAP, DREYFUS,  NO TURNS, RENEGES, SPHERES, CHEESE DIP and KATY PERRY. So how many of these to spy with your eye?

1A. Type of coordination: HAND (4).  Hand/eye coordination is critical in many sports such as hitting a baseball.

5A. Wolverine rival: BUCK (4).  Buckeye. The Ohio State University nickname and an early member of the Corner.

9A. Hidden 3-D image: MAGIC (5). Magic Eye. Not everyone can see these IMAGES.

71A. Intuition: THIRD (5). Third eye. Mystical. LINK.

72A. Batter's command of the strike zone, in baseball lingo: GOOD (4). Good eye. The best was supposed to be Ted Williams and his extraordinary vision, but does it matter? LINK.

73A. Pacific salmon: SOCK (4). Sockeye. This FISH.

1D. Iowa athlete: HAWK (4). Hawkeye Pierce is also pretty well known.  LINK.

13D. Reflective semiprecious stone: CAT'S (4). Cat's eye is produced by a polishing TECHNIQUE.

26D. Unassisted peeper: NAKED (5). Naked eye.

33D. Physical feature of Peter Falk and Sammy Davis Jr.: GLASS (5). Glass eye. There are many more, Sandy Duncan, Rex Harrison, Dick Vitale etc.

56D. Z's: SHUT (4). Shuteye. Sleep.

64D. Conjunctivitis: PINK (4). Pinkeye.

The reveal:

40A. Scornful glance ... and a hint to completing 12 aptly placed answers: SIDE EYE (7). A sidelong glance expressing disapproval or contempt.

Across:

14. State as fact: AVER. Another popular law-word.

15. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE. Tennis great and another victim of bad blood transfusion.         LINK.

16. Coffeehouse draw: AROMA. I still love the smell of the coffee brewing when I awaken.

17. Sagacious: WISE.

18. Lacking in some way: LEAN.

19. Checkout choice: DEBIT. Payment choice.

20. "Roar" singer : KATY PERRY.

22. Large pipes: MAINS. Seems random, but the main pipe is important in plumbing.

23. Malfoy, to Potter: FOE.

24. Attention getter: AHEM. I like this simple fill.

26. Sign on a highway: NO TURNS.

30. Binging: ON A JAG. Dictionary: a bout of unrestrained activity or emotion, especially drinking, crying, or laughing. "an incredible crying jag;" synonyms: binge, spree, bout, indulgence,

34. Order to a sea dog: AVAST.

35. Genesis victim: ABEL.

38. Quinnipiac University product: POLL. This western Connecticut school was a gimme for this native, but did you know HOW they became a prominent pollster?

39. "Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved" brand: KIX.

43. Soul seller: KIA. With its Japanese competition. 65A. Pilot that can't fly: HONDA.

44. Sooner State city: ENID. Oklahoma if you do not already know.

46. Jodie Foster title role: NELL. Co-starring a young Liam Neeson; a moving film.

47. Slogs: TREKS. Star Slog just did not capture the imagination.

49. Antarctica, for example : DESERT. Deceptive.

51. Domains: SPHERES.

53. Coop cries: COOS. COO_ leading to COO_?

55. Really big stretch: EON.

56. E alternative? : SNAIL. mail.

59. Chip topper: CHEESE DIP. I see this mostly with crackers.

66. Favorable thing to be on: ROLL. Especially a nice bit of pastrami.

67. Halliwell once known as Ginger Spice: GERI. No longer a girl. R-RATED.

68. Rte. that crosses Lake Michigan by ferry: US-TEN. A semi-cheat, as it is always 10.

69. Sighed line: AH ME.

70. Course that may cover a crash: Abbr. : ECONomy.


Down:

2. New Balance competitor: AVIA.

3. Incubator site: NEST. Cute. anyone try for NNCU?

4. Subject of Zola's "J'Accuse...!": DREYFUS. The Dreyfus AFFAIR 120 years ago last Saturday.

5. Whalebone: BALEEN. This is a WORD you needed to know to do late week puzzles in the 70s.

6. Certain surfer: USER. Internet.

7. Arctic trout: CHAR. So many other ways to clue this, but I suspect Rich put this in to toughen the solve. We last had in November clued as blacken or sear.

8. "Out of Africa"setting: KENYA. Redford/Streep MOVIE.

9. Drama set at an advertising agency: MADMEN. A very successful tv series about days most of us remember.

10. Hotel handout: AREA MAP. In those brochures by the front desk/concierge.

11. Silk Road desert: GOBI. Why you ask? Because China silk comprised a large proportion of the trade along this ancient road, in 1877, it was named the 'Silk Road' by Ferdinand von Richthofen, an eminent German geographer.

12. "Let's do it!" : I'M IN.

21. USB and others: PORTS.

25. Toledo opening? : HOLY.

27. Like Lamb Chop: OVINE. Shari Lewis lives on.

28. Prepares to take off: TAXIS. Dudley?

29. One-named Nigerian singer: SADE.  Want to know more? LINK.

31. Batman nemesis, with "the": JOKER. So soon after Cesar Romero.

32. Similar: ALIKE.

36. "The Fresh Prince of __-Air": BEL. Will Smith's breakout show.

37. Charged fish? : EELS. Electric ones.

41. Van Morrison's "__ the Mystic": INTO.

42. Set of values: ETHOS.

45. Bush 43, so he said, with "the": DECIDER.  Do not click the link as it may be political. LINK.

48. Goes back (on): RENEGES.

50. French epic hero: ROLAND. We read the SONG OF ROLAND when I was studying French.

52. Prepared to eat, as a banana: PEELED.

54. Skin-and-bones sort: SCRAG.

57. Nibble: NOSH.

58. Fighting: ANTI.

60. Relative of a Yodel: HOHO. Take your pick

61. Big Bird buddy: ELMO.

62. Chrysler Building style: DECO,

63. __-Z: classic Camaro: IROC.

Well, I am worn out with all the links, hope you choose and enjoy some. Thank you, Debbie and all of you out there. Lemonade out.