Stinko de Mayo

Hello all; a near pangram, or at least I don’t see a V anywhere, and

the THEME: FILL-er up.

18. Mule or burro: PACK ANIMAL . I am sure we all have our own favorites .

26. Where to see racquets: SQUASH COURT , I guess the spelling with the “que” told you it was not TENNIS.

48. Daring diamond device: SQUEEZE BUNT . wonderful alliteration and one of the exciting plays in baseball, where a runner on third comes charging home, expecting the batter to bunt the ball away from the other side, so the runner can score.

63. Impromptu jazz performance: JAM SESSION being not musical, I never knew there were rules? JzB, help me out here.

Each of the four first words refer to stuffing things into other things. Too esoteric for me, so I cheated.

Lemonade here, and I feel like I have failed my third exam, and I am not happy, but the puzzle was fun with many new variations on clues and fill. So sit back and put on your seat belts, cuz here we go.


1. Final Four org.: NCAA . A simple beginning, with a reference to the March Madness of College BasketBall.

5. Bedouin homes: TENTS . How many remember my joke about the Jewish Genie and the Arab lost in the desert?

10. Bed board: SLAT . Okay we are motoring now.

14. The enemy: THEM . The classic US against THEM.

15. Saved on supper, one would hope: ATE IN .

16. Hot spot connection: WI FI . All right, it is coming soon.

17. Bondman: SERF . Okay, a little harder word, it is Wednesday after all.

20. Relief provider: BROMO . Did you ever associate BROMO with ART ?

22. Place with trails and trams: SKI RESORT .

23. B&O et al.: RRS made famous as a Monopoly RAILROAD .

25. Cousin of –trix: ESS . A Latin feminine ending, for example, EXECUTOR, EXECUTRIX: AVIATOR, AVIATRIX, thus the same as, the –ESS ending, like PROPRIETOR, PROPRIETRESS. And, 59. And the following, in a bibliog.: ET SEQ , literally an abbreviation of the Latin words. And 34D. In other words, to Brutus: ID EST , the famous i.e. and the rest of Latin lesson.

32. "Aladdin" prince: ALI avoiding the simple, boxing great clue.

35. Ilsa __, Bergman's "Casablanca" role: LUND , we love knowing complete names; Rick’s was Blaine.
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36. Game ender, at times: HORN I see some hockey fans amongst our group, and they end with a HORN.

37. Put on, as cargo: LADED same stem as Bill of Lading.

39. "Ouch!": YOWIE , okay, we have made it from OWIE to YOWIE.

41. Backstabber: RAT , am I the only one who always hears James Cagney when the word RAT comes up?

42. A-list: ELITE .

43. Use, as a cot LIE ON .

44. Dart through the air: FLIT , does anyone remember the FLIT GUN ?

46. Island rings: LEIS , and, 52. Arthur Godfrey played it: UKE , for our missing Hawaiian group; hope all is well.

47. Financial statement abbr.: YTD , year to date.

51. "Turandot" slave girl: LIU rejecting the easy LUCY clue, we have a reference to PUCCINI’s final Opera . I never saw the clue until I was done, but it is one for the memory banks.

53. Earlier today, say: A WHILE AGO , confusing, a short while?

65. South African Peace Nobelist: TUTU Desmond.

66. "Rent-__": Reynolds/Minnelli film: A COP , very forgettable movie, interesting Song .

67. Parishioner's pledge: TITHE , 10% of what you make.

68. Poet Pound: EZRA .

69. Katharine of "The Graduate" ROSS was such a pretty girl, who also was so wonderful in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid , hard to believe she is 70.

70. Flippant: SASSY , becoming a crossword staple.

71. Bassoon, e.g.: REED .

Yay we made it to the DOWNS:

1. Airline investigative org. NTSB National Transportation Safety Board.

2. "Moonstruck" Oscar winner: CHER .

3. Sleek, for short: AERO , such as AERODYNAMIC.

4. Feature of a new car: AM FM RADIO , well, he did not say what kind of car.

5. Beer source: TAP . loved the misdirection here, as we all know my beer comes from my brew meister boys.

6. Flight data, briefly: ETAS .

7. Post-Thanksgiving soup starter: NECK , eww.

8. "Kon-__": TIKI, Thor Heyerdahl will always be in my memory bank.

9. Trapper: SNARER , well they can’t all be gold.

10. Deli platter cheese: SWISS , I know, there are lot of holes in that answer.

11. One might pick you up at an airport: well after I gave up on fitting in, ATTRACTIVE KRISHNA CHICK, It hit me, LIMO .

12. Way off: AFAR .

13. Lean: TILT , of course I was thinking of Jack Sprat from the other day.

19. Get cozy: back to my Krishna, or maybe, NESTLE .

21. RN workplaces: ORS . Operating Rooms.

24. Reaction to a library volume? : SHH , another nice trick.

26. With cunning: SLYLY .

27. Ring used in a horseshoe like game: Who did not love playing with a QUOIT ?

28. Single: UNWED , very sexist.

29. Greek vacation isle: CORFU , there is both an Island and a city named CORFU in Greece.

30. Papal vestment Down: ORALE , now this was impossible, I had to work to find this link , but it was surrounded by easy fill, so.

31. Set free: UNTIE .

32. "Farewell, mon ami": ADIEU . And, 61. French 101 verb: ETRE , to be, ah well the end of today’s French lesson.

33. Grant entrance to: LET IN .

38. Completely recovered: ALL BETTER , the owie, yowie healed.

40. Store, as fodder: ENSILED fancy way to say put in a silo.

45. Shih __: Tibetan dog: TZU , aww, CUTE .

49. Pursuits: QUESTS .

50. Struggle to make, with "out": EKE .

51. Struggles with sibilants: LISPS , making a come back.

53. When it's __: answer to an old riddle about a door: A JAR.

54. City SSW of Dallas: WACO , home of BAYLOR University.

55. Managed care gps.: HMOs .

56. __ Minor: ASIA .

57. Skedaddles: GITS , only someone who says GITS would skedaddle, I guess.

58. July 4th sounds: OOHS .

60. Financial advisor Orman: SUZE .

62. One of a four in a nursery: : QUAD , well if you can’t have 8 at once, have at least four.

64. Marshal at Waterloo: NEY , NEY was one of 18 Marshals appointed by Napoleon, his name was Michel Ney, and he was one of the main players at the Battle of Waterloo if you have interest in military history and strategy, it is worth reading.