Friday August 29, 2014, Frank Virzi

Theme: When the world gives you lemons, make a puzzle.

There is an old saying that if you had enough monkeys and enough typewriters one would write a great novel just by chance.Today we have a puzzle which is all about my nom de plume, as each of six (!!!!) sets of fill have the letter LEM directly above the letters ADE, presenting a picture of LEM ON (top of) ADE. This is the third of the five LAT puzzles by Mr. Virzi that I have blogged, and it harkens back to the first one I did, for which the visual was HAM ON RYE, with the same  presentation of HAM directly above RYE, but the reveal was just the two words and there were only three sets.  Barry G. scolded Frank for not having a reveal, and here we have something I am not sure I have ever seen, a reveal  (LEMONADE) which is also part of  two of the six sets of clues. The fact that the puzzle runs on Friday, a day blogged by me (lemonade) is either a really odd coincidence (most likely), an example of Rich's awareness and sense of humor, or the most unexpected birthday present ever. This puzzle like Franks' others is nice blend of medium to longish fill with no obscurities that are not filled by the perps. Some fill of note are: BROMINE,  FACED IT,  FERMENT,  NEONATE,  O’CONNOR,  PLUMPER, ADENAUER, A STUDENT,  LEMMINGS NATHANIEL and the very apt NO PROBLEM. The 3 and 4 letter fill are not too overdone, with only IRE even close and it is clued for the country abbreviation, not anger. let's look at our pairs:

8A. Red Cross red cross, e.g. : EMBLEM. (6) First hint at the theme.
16A. Diatribe :                            TIRADE. (6)

20A. Muskrat relatives : LEMMINGS. (8) Did not they were related.
22A. Highly skilled :      ADEPT. (5).


32A. "Consider it done!" : NO PROBLEM. (9).
38A. Green gemstones :                    JADES.(5).

52A. Clay being of Jewish lore :    GOLEM. (5)  Pretty crazy STUFF.
59A. Picnic serving, and when divided properly, a hint to a hidden feature of six pairs of puzzle answers :     LEMONADE. (8)
                                                                      LEMONADE. (8)
63A. West Germany's first chancellor : ADENAUER. (8), Der Alte. Interesting man.


56A. King's "__ Lot" : SALEMS.
62A. Dodges :              EVADES.

Across:

1. Herding dog name : SHEP. This popped right out, though in retrospect, I have never met a dog with that name.

5. Pledge of Allegiance ender : ALL. "...indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


14. Ember, perhaps : COAL.

15. Cattle call : MOO. Not for acting but cow to cow.


17. Valedictorian, typically : A  STUDENT. Typically? I cannot imagine it being anything else.

19. Duplicates : CLONES. The term has been around since 1903!


21. Company with a bull in its logo : ELMER'S.

23. When Juliet asks "wherefore art thou Romeo?" : ACT II.

25. Ici __: French "here and there" : ET LA. Literal French translation.

28. First female Supreme Court justice : O'CONNOR. Sandra Day. LINK.

36. "__ say more?" : NEED I.

37. Yeats' land: Abbr. : IRE. A way to clue with no anger.

40. Get a move on : HIE. Old timey word.

41. Walking aid : STAFF.

44. Currier of Currier & Ives : NATHANIEL. He was from Roxbury, MA

47. Netanyahu, for one : ISRAELI. Simple, but tricky.

49. River to the Elbe : OHRE.  We know so little geography. LINK. and 12D. River of central Germany : EDER.  LINK. Kazie? marti?

50. Boorish : CRASS.


64. Musical Dion : CELINE.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

65. Quarterback Tebow : TIM. A Florida Gator, but unemployed as a QB.

66. 100 C-notes : TEN-G.

67. Big name in lawn care : SCOTT'S. A nice hello to our own Santa baby.

68. 1940s mil. zone : ETO. Eastern Theater of Operations.

69. Language that gave us "clan" : ERSE. This is tough since ERSE can be either Irish or Scottish Gaelic. LINK.

Down:

1. Italy's La __ : SCALA.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2. Bamboozled : HOSED.  Such a versatile WORD.

3. Invitation on a fictional cake : EAT ME. I would never presume to link a cake as long CED does such wonderful work.

4. More roly-poly : PLUMPER.  I wonder where roly poly started?

5. "You're so right!" : AMEN.18D. Word of agreement : DITTO.

6. Extended : LONG. So many choices.

7. "__ luck!" : LOTSA. followed by 8. "Blah, blah, blah," briefly : ETC ETC. and 9. Great number of : MILLION. a mini-theme?

10. Element #35 : BROMINE. I long ago forgot the table.

11. Path in a pool : LANE.


13. Boot camp meal : MESS.

24. Awaken : COME TO.

26. Great Society monogram : LBJ. Lyndon Baines Johnson, born August 27, 1908. Hannibal Hamlin was born August 27, 1808. One VP for Kennedy, the other for Lincoln....

27. Self-titled 1991 debut album : ALANIS. Morisette.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
29. Classic beverage brand : NEHI. Does everyone think of Radar O'Reilly?

30. Cartoon canine : ODIE. Garfield's 'buddie.'

31. Cambodian cash : RIEL. Rial, are these clues for real?

32. Not yet final, legally : NISI. Ooo I know this one, in the old days they issued a Rule Nisi to allow time for someone to show cause why an order should not become final. I believe some states still use this approach.

33. Scraps : ORTS.

34. High-fiber fruit : PEAR. Did not know this.

35. Educator LeShan : EDA. A popular educator in crosswords.

39. "Zip it!" : SHH.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
42. Met the challenge : FACED IT.

43. Agitate : FERMENT. English is such a strange language, so many ways to say one THING.

45. One of the noble gases : ARGON.

46. Nursery arrival : NEONATE. Latin for newborn.

48. Girls : LASSES.

51. Schedule : SLATE.

53. Gumbel's "Today" successor : LAUER. He used to have hair.

54. Idyllic places : EDENS.

55. Sign on an on-ramp : MERGE.

56. Brief moments : SECS.

57. "__ plaisir!" : AVEC. With in French

58. Composer of the opera "Le Roi d'Ys" : LALO. We usually get Schifrin, but instead this: OPERA.

60. Adjust to fit, perhaps : EDIT.

61. One in an office exchange : MEMO. Oddly clued, but not hard.

Well, my fun week continues, great puzzles and lots of fresh squeezed Lemonade (and Key Lime pie!) Thank you for your birthday wishes and for appreciating my sweet Charlotte, have a happy healthy safe holiday week end. Lemonade out.

Friday, August 22, 2014, Tom McCoy

Theme: Cross-referential Olympics; where is FORD LUXURY MODEL (15) when you need it?

I happened to solve Mr. McCoy's debut puzzle last November in the NYT and read his comments   about referential clues, so I was somewhat prepared for this style of cluing where there is a hidden word which is the clue for all of the theme answers. The theme fill are not clued at all until you get 23 down, MERCURY, which also has no independent clue. There are many puzzles being constructed where there is a "meta" solution, a style which is embraced by many especially MATT GAFFNEY. This is not a metapuzzle because the solution is part of the puzzle, but it is conceptually based on the same skills. So the strategy becomes, solve 23 down and then it is a simple definition puzzle. We had a run of Friday puzzles which were variations of the definition puzzle at this time last year (including one from marti, and one similar to today's from Mr. Wechsler) so you all should be ready. Once again we get a Friday with an intricate theme but high word count and many 3/4 letter fill. In the longer fill, PEACOCK,  SKEWING,  WRESTLE, CORAL SEA,  LEBANESE, ANTEROOMS,  ESCAPE KEY stand out. As far as I can tell this is Mr. McCoy's LAT debut (he has 5 solos at NYT since last November) and I hope he likes the environment and appreciates his audience. Knowing this group and its opinion on cross referential puzzles, I expect many Thumper comments, and a few who will appreciate the simplicity of this grid, with all four theme answers being gridspanners which fill in nicely once you crack the code. It is Friday, so let us all put on our long pants and get to work.


17A. See 23-Down : NEIGHBOR OF VENUS (15). A planetary reference for Mercury.
Study: First rock from the Sun. It orbits the sun in 88 days.

27A. See 23-Down : BAROMETER FILLER (15). An elemental reference for Mercury.
Review: 80 on the periodic table. A neighbor from my childhood murdered his wife injecting mercury into her Nissen doughnuts. (Is the factory closed marti?) She was a big eater. He and his child ingested small amounts and he was free until he got drunk and bragged.

45A. See 23-Down : ROCK STAR FREDDIE (15). A pop culture reference for Mercury.
Listen: (2:17)The voice of Queen, he died young, replaced by Adam Lambert who is a...


58A. See 23-Down : DIVINE MESSENGER (15). A pagan mythological reference for Mercury.
Learn: Usually referenced as the 'winged messenger' because of the ankle wings.
and the 'reveal'
 23A. Clue for 17-, 27-, 45- and 58-Across : MERCURY (7). They all work.

Across:

1. Draft order : PINT. Well Tin, we start right off with some Ale, and not an order to report for duty.Nice clue for 1A on a Friday.

5. "__-A-Lympics": '70s Hanna/Barbera spoof : LAFF. Really had to dig deep and use some perp help. I would imagine the cross with AKON might be a Natick for some. LINK.

9. "Wicked!" : SWEET. A really appealing clue/fill combo for our New England contingent. The " marks give it away.

14. It's pressed in a corner : ESCAPE KEY. I really liked the visual here. 54A. PC key : ALT. Once again we have our clue and a fill with the same word used in the same context (computer key).

16. Feature of some stickers : AROMA. Scratch and Sniff anyone?

19. "__ So Fine": Chiffons hit : HE'S.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
20. Turkic flatbread : NAN. A variant spelling from what we are more accustomed to seeing. No Bobbsey twin on a Friday.

21. Conks out : DIES. Cars, engines etc., hopefully not people.

22. Disadvantage : CON. Pro vs. Con, are any of you list makers for decisions?

23. Cohort of Larry and Curly : MOE. Chairman, who did you pay for so much publicity this week?

24. Sound of disapproval : TSK. Back again so soon; I like to see the pair.

33. Hadn't settled yet : OWED. Being a NYT veteran, the cluing style is heavy with the less common definition of words, but we are all familiar with settling our debts.

34. Paul McCartney title : SIR.

35. Sierra __ : LEONE. An interesting country and history, now the center of the EBOLA outbreak with more than 250 deaths. LINK.

36. Watch readout abbr. : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

37. Showy flier : PEACOCK.I have never seen one fly in person though we have many here, and especially at Lion Country Safari.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
40. Anguish : WOE.

41. Tickle : AMUSE. Now where do you keep your fancy?

43. ET carrier, supposedly : UFO.

44. Graybacks : REBS. Not a term i know, but easy to guess since we all know the blue and the gray.

49. Elizabeth Darcy __ Bennet : NEE. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has her own WIKI.

50. Whatever : ANY. Three letters but I needed the perps.

51. Toy power sources : AAS. batteries.

52. Joint high-tech project : WIKI. A vague NYT type clue that is easy only if you have perped the W and the I, the K and the I. Is an online anything considered high-tech?


55. Altar line : I DO. It does alter your life.

63. Downed water, say : DRANK. Tin?

64. Some entryways : ANTEROOMS. All entryways are anterooms, not all anterooms are entryways.

65. Having bite : TANGY. I like horseradish.

66. Sister of Luke : LEIA. Star Wars' misguided twins. Mini-theme 26D. "Star Wars" surname : KENOBI. Obi Wan.

67. Tom, Dick and Harry, e.g. : TRIO. I liked these better.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Down:

1. See 15-Down : PENH. Wow more cross-references. At least there is a clue.15D. With 1-Down, Mekong River capital : PHNOM. Anyone been to Cambodia?

2. "That makes sense to me now" : I SEE said the blind the man.

3. Investigator in the USS Cole attack : NCIS. Not

4. Place for a price : TAG. My grandmother made tags in a factory in Southbridge after her husband died.

5. Some Tripoli natives : LEBANESE. Really interesting. The good news is LIBYANS is too short, but they both start with L.

6. One-named "Lonely" singer : AKON. His real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.  LISTEN.

7. Supportin' : FER. Not agin. More Lil Abner like speaking.

8. Author Dostoyevsky : FYODOR. Of all of his books , Notes from the Underground was my favorite even if Crime and Punishment is more well known.

9. Except : SAVE. Another NYT type clue, where it is quite correct, but not the usual definition of save. For all our resident poets, I would say it is artistic, "All was quiet, save the chirping of a single cricket."

10. Have difficulty dealing (with) : WRESTLE. I wrestled in grammar school, high school and college.

11. Length of a boring class, so it seems : EON. A new (vague) clue for a crossword staple.

12. Green-egg layer : EMU. I was unaware of this fact; now I know where Dr. Seuss got his inspiration. Kazie, did you have green eggs with your ham?

13. Ph.D. students, perhaps : TAS. Teaching Assistants.

18. Feudal land : FIEF. The word is the basis of the legal term Fee Simple, for real property ownership. If you want to read the HISTORY.

22. Whiting cousin : COD.  Another fishy clue. Cod being the base of most fast food fish dishes.

25. Impeded : SLOWED.


27. Claylike : BOLAR. My learning moment of the day, all perps. The word has not appeared in any puzzler since 1987!

28. "Pleeeeease?" : AW C'MON. Are their enough sports fans here to appreciate THIS. (2:49)

29. Turn down : REDUCE. I really don't see this.

30. Don Quixote's aunt : TIA. Just Spanish for aunt.

31. Category : ILK.

32. Rizzuto's Brooklyn counterpart : REESE. Phil and PeeWee, Yankee and Dodger shortstops in the 50's and 60's.

37. Foot, in anatomy : PES. Latin word, root word for pedicure, pedestrian etc. No sugar coated  knowledge dispensed here.

38. Not quite right : OFF. I am feeling a tad off today; maybe it was breathing in all the bug spray?

39. Great Barrier Reef setting : CORAL SEA. Off the NE corner of Australia, hopefully Kazie has some stories to tell.

42. Distorting : SKEWING.  I hope I don't skew this up; from the old French escuier: to shy away from.  "When ESPN does polls the the results are always skewed."

44. Short streets? : RDS. Roads, 'short' meaning abbreviation.

46. Filming unit : TAKE. As in take a picture.

47. Sponge, e.g. : ANIMAL. Living creature.

48. Café customer : EATER. Man, I would rather see this clued Purple People___________.

53. Black : INKY. Another Pac-man shout out?

54. Italian wine region : ASTI. Spumante anyone?

55. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR. Nope not on my radar.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
56. Prefix meaning "half" : DEMI. So she is half dark-skinned.

57. Estimate words : OR SO.

58. "Silent Spring" subj. : DDT. DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE

59. Roth __ : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

60. From, in Dutch names : VAN. When people started having surnames, they were often about what they did, who their father was or where they were from. De, Von and others.

61. Suffix with ethyl : ENE. She lived next door to Lucy.

62. "Kidding!" : NOT. I really loved when this fad was in. NOT!

I never know what Friday will bring, and once I got Mercury in the middle, I found this went quickly, but overall a challenge and different cluing perspective. Welcome Mr. McCoy and be nice, I want to collaborate with him with a puzzle where Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna are theme answers. Lemonade out.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Theme:  Look what the WIZARD of ID did to our puzzle, all the Freudian sex stuff added!

Wow, JW is back again, and this time he has inserted the letters ID into four phrases to change their meaning to a now humorous clue. His reveal is in the dead center of the puzzle,
36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LETS SEE SOME ID. I added my title to the mix since two of the new phrases sound like the Wizard (soft ID) and two sound like what you have to produce to satisfy a big, steroid raging bouncer (hard ID). Except for some difficult clues/fill, this felt more like a mid-week puzzle, with many 3/4 letter words, with a few nice answers like: DEMEANS, BUMS A RIDE,  I’LL BE AWAY,  PEKINGESE, and  ROSE MARIE, though the ID in "bum's a ride" is a little troubling. Let's examine this latest from Jeffrey, the self-proclaimed Rip Van Winkle of construction.

17A. Cause of brittle cigars? : DRY HUMIDOR. A little self assessment here, with his sense of humor becoming a excuse for bad cigars. Does he puff?

29A. Rebuke a revolutionary? : CHIDE GUEVARA. Now here is where it gets eerie; as you recall Robin Stears just had Che as a theme answer where she added "IT" (taking out the H) to her theme answers. ID happens to be the Latin word for IT, which is where Freud got the term, but it is all irrelevant because JW was thinking Identification ID. Oops, Freud wrote about THAT as well.

44A. Tolerate a Midwest capital? : ABIDE LINCOLN. A CSO to HG and his Nebraska buddies, built from Honest Abe.

60D. god of honeymoon truck rentals? : RYDER CUPID. Very timely fill, as the Ryder Cup (US versus Europe) is coming soon. Phil's second place finish at Valhalla cemented his position on the team, while Tiger (wisely) withdrew from consideration. Rory's third win, and second major in a row makes Europe the favorites. (Another clue fill conflict) 62D. Ryder Cup team : USA. JW?

And I remind you of the reveal:
36A. Bouncer's demand, and this puzzle's title : LETS SEE SOME ID.
let's see some action:

Across:
        
1. Classic beginning or ending? : HARD C. This one had me going for a while, until I got 4D (DOH) and 5D (CLUTCH) then the bell in my head rang. Hey Don Gagliardo!

6. __ bag : GRAB.

10. Some NYSE traders : ARBS. Back again.

14. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL. I did not know this man at all, but he seems INTERESTING. Maybe Gareth Bain can provide some insight, enjoyed his puzzle on Thursday.

15. Smart Simpson : LISA.  You all can finally catch up watching every episode, all 207 hours. 4D. "I should have thought of that!" : DOH. The Homer Simpson spelling.

16. Wet course : SOUP. Logical but I am unfamiliar with this term.

19. "This __ Song": Petula Clark hit : IS MY. College years.

20. Intention : AIM. It is our aim to entertain and educate and learn.

21. Bit : TAD.

22. Artistic surroundings? : FRAMES. Cute.

24. Inventor for whom a N.J. township is named : TAE. Those of you who do not know Edison Township, or think it is unfair to get just the initials of Thomas Alva Edison did not see that NJ tells you what is coming.

25. Said "You're on!" to : CUED.

27. Friar __ de Torquemada : TOMÁS. No clue about first name of this man mentioned in the Catholic ENCYCLOPEDIA. No religion, no politics, no comment. One of the Friday clues/fill.

32. NYSE event : IPO. Initial Public Offering.

34. Tortilla dough : MASA. Well this is the Spanish word for dough. Corn tortillas I think are made of masa de maize (help Lucina!). A Friday clue.

35. Manipulate illegally : RIG. Boxing, basketball and the 1919 Black Sox come to mind.

41. Jan. honoree : MLK. Martin Luther King.

42. 7UP's opposite? : COLA. Remember WHEN (1:01)? Clecho- 50A. 7UP, e.g. : SODA.

43. "Pioneer Woman" cookbook writer Drummond : REE. Another CHEF.

49. Red head : LENIN. Cute misdirection.

51. Olympic diver's ideal : TEN.

54. Former vice-presidential family : AGNEWS. Hmm, there are so many...and the plural?

57. "... from __ far country blows": Housman : YON. From A.E. Houseman's 40th poem in A Shropshire Lad, also inspired the title of  of Nevil Shute's The Far Country. (per wiki and other places).
        Into my heart an air that kills
        From yon far country blows:
        What are those blue remembered hills,
        What spires, what farms are those?

        That is the land of lost content,
        I see it shining plain,
        The happy highways where I went
        And cannot come again.

58. Kitchenware giant : OXO.

59. Actor Wilson : OWEN. Luke also has 4 letters. I now find Luke boring.

63. Vintner's quantity : CASE. Cask?

64. Certain tunnelers : ANTS.

65. Virtual transaction : E-SALE. Now we have A words and E words.

66. Batik artist : DYER. I was looking for a famous one, not just the job.

67. Garden headache : PEST.

68. Obliterates : RAZES. Always loved how the homophone RAISES is so opposite, learning English is such fun.

Down:

1. Tackled : HAD AT.

2. Heart chambers : ATRIA.

3. Sound mostly the same : RHYME. A CSO to all of our resident poets.

5. Shifting aid : CLUTCH. More than aid, I think.

6. Moved smoothly : GLIDED. Not when I am driving stick....

7. Free : RID. Finally I am free of those stupid emails.

8. Since : AS OF.

9. Epstein-__ virus : BARR. Completely unrelated to Roseanne.  LINK. One of those from the happy herpes family.

10. Heinlein contemporary : ASIMOV. To me the greatest.

11. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" actress : ROSE MARIE. She was a child actress.

12. Hitches : BUM'S A RIDE. Nice hard Friday fill, but the ID in the fill seems ????

13. Furtive sort : SPY.

18. Wailuku's county : MAUI.

23. Crackerjack group : A-TEAM.

26. Humiliates : DEMEANS.

28. Lose some support : SAG. I am sure Lois has never lost her support from here at the Corner.

29. Camp sight : COT.

30. Natural resource : GAS. When I am around my youngest son, I am not so sure how natural it is.

31. Mil. morale booster : USO.

32. "That's my vacation time" : I'LL BE AWAY.

33. Typically long-haired breed : PEKINGESE. Did you do the NYT where the fill was   PIQUE PEKE PEAKED, or something like that?

37. Dramatic division : SCENE.

38. Sonora sun : SOL. Another Spanish word.

39. Timothy Omundson's role on "Xena" : ELI. No clue.  Watch.

40. Coastal raptor : ERN.

41. Content beginning? : MALcontent. From the French for bad.

45. "What's for __?" : DINNER. Really? Leftovers.

46. Least straightforward : COYEST. Nice clue.

47. Burning sulfur quality : ODOR. Funny, as this is often related to damnation.

48. Cavalry soldier : LANCER.

51. November birthstone : TOPAZ.

52. Napoleon, ultimately : EXILE. Using it as a now was tricky.

53. Meeting places : NODES. CLUBS? No. I love this misdirection, as this botanical and biologic term does define where things meet, or intersect. I would like to intersect with the young lady from Splynter's last blog.

55. Stole, for one : WRAP.

56. January 1 word : SYNE. This clue getting auld?

59. It typically involves repetitive behavior, briefly : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

61. Sot's woe : DTS. Delerium Tremens.11th grade math teacher, first period, his coffee cup shaking and rattling- a memory for all time!

Speaking of memories, I recall it is time to thank JW for another romp in his world, thank you all for reading, thank C.C. for being our Werowance and best wishes for Alan, and the three people who I know who are have their birthday today, and DIL tomorrow. Lemonade out.

Friday, August 8, 2014, David Poole

Theme: Double your fun,  A?

Each of the 5 theme answers has the last letter of the last word in a phrase doubled and an A is added to create a totally different phrase, clued with wit. .With no intention to offend anyone, since I live in a community that is 60% 1st generation Italians, the rhythm of the new word created sounds to me like an Italian speaking English. For me that enhanced the whimsy and enjoyment of the puzzle.






17A. Oversized European import? : JUMBO JETTA (10) We recently had the VW Jetta clued as model since 1979, and we all know Jumbo Jets, pioneered by the 747.

25A. Summer known for kitchen supplies? : TEFLON DONNA (11). He was the TEFLON DON because no charges brought against him would stick.  Like other teflon, it wore out and he died in prison. I wonder if this was the seed answer inspired by GOTTI. The sound change also being reminiscent of an American Italian.

37A. Be nostalgic for old Nordic currency? : MISS THE MARKKA (13).  I know nothing of this FINNISH currency but Finns double vowels often, I hope did not Miss the Mark on this one. .

52A. Poignant game show personality? : MOVING VANNA. (11) Other than a turn as Al's dream girl on Married With Children, I have never seen Vanna White express any emotion, but i love the clue/fill.
.
61A. Expert on Icelandic sagas? : MISTER EDDA (10) We have seen Edda so often and Mister Ed, now they are together...well I am cold just reading about Iceland and Finland, let move on.


Across:

1. Type type : PICA. Once upon a time I knew pica and elite and no more.

5. He was originally called Dippy Dawg : GOOFY.I did not know this but with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck it was not hard to guess that Walt like double letters.

10. Plastic option : VISA. Good Friday clue/fill.

14. Doofus : BOOB. No one commented on my Thong link last week, so I think this is safe....
LINK.

15. Navel observation : INNIE. Loved the simple misdirection.

16. Turow book set at Harvard : ONE-L.

19. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRO. Spanish.

20. Half a sci-fi name : ARTOO. According to WOOKIEPEDIA.

21. Cash in : REDEEM. Reminds me of the old Sperry and Hutchinson green stamps.

23. "Wow!" : MAN. Really vague, but so are our children.

28. ×News __ : ITEM.

30. Christmas purchase : FIR. Tree.

31. Campaign target : VOTER.

32. Tamper with : DOCTOR.

35. In development, as software : BETA.

42. Cath. honorific : MSGR. Monseigneur. From the French. LINK.

43. Running without moving : IDLING. Especially for cars.

45. Pal of Picasso : AMIGO. Spanish.

49. Mannerism : TIC.

51. Classic name in shoes : MCAN.

56. Sunflower St. school : KSU. This is the third different clue for KSU in the last few weeks. Notice the flower on the flag.

57. Lake Victoria country : UGANDA. There are more than one. This is one of Africa's GREAT LAKES.

58. Tapenade ingredient : OLIVE. If you like olives and capers with a hint of anchovy...any recipes out there?

60. Breather : LUNG. This clue is how you make 4 letter fill Friday hard.

66. "A Shot in the Dark" actress Sommer : ELKE. She is back, and the nude scene with Peter Sellers has been linked enough.

67. Lead in the theater? : USHER. Not the star, but the one who takes you to your seat. I did that at the Candlewood Lake Theater.

68. Knee-slapper : RIOT. Funnnnnnnnnnnny.

69. Winter Palace resident : TSAR.

70. Head lock : TRESS. The space eliminates the wrestling hold.

71. Join the game : ANTE. One that requires betting.

Down:

1. Lunchbox staple, casually : PBJ. My first fill. Peanut Butter & Jelly.

2. Marker : IOU. Another Friday repeat.

3. Gymnast with five Olympic golds : COMANECI. The C from pica gave me this 10 all growed up.
.
4. E.g., e.g. : ABBReviation.

5. Boy toy : G I JOE. Did you like the movie?

6. Unrepeated event, in England : ONE OFF. David used this 1/18/2013 in a Friday where marti blogged and linked to the expression.

7. Mich. neighbor : ONTario, Canada.

8. Qualified : FIT.

9. Long : YEARN. I long for the perfect write-up.

10. Gris-gris wearer's practice : VOODOO. Who do the voodoo like you do? A partial clecho:45D. Gris-gris, for one : AMULET. All you need to know about this TALISMAN.

11. Aim : INTENT.

12. Composed : SERENE.

13. Baseball family name : ALOMAR. Sandy Jr., Roberto a Hall of Famer and Sandy Sr.,

18. Giant star : OTT. More baseball.

22. Composer Grieg : EDVARD. A Norwegian.

23. Season opener? : MID-season form.

24. Tiny bit : ATOM.

26. Country settled by freed American slaves : LIBERIA.

27. Home of Utah Valley University : OREM.

29. High pts. : MTS. Mounts, or Mountains. 46D. Downhill challenges : MOGULS. A little early skiing CSO for marti.

33. Performing siblings' surname : OSMOND.

34. ACLU concerns : RTS.

36. __ chi : TAI.

38. "Curb Appeal" network : HGTV. Home & Garden Television.

39. Airline to Amsterdam : KLM.

40. Began to take effect : KICKED IN. Have the drugs kicked in yet?

41. Santa __: West Coast winds : ANAS.

44. Horned grazer : GNU.



47. Fashionista Trump : IVANKA. It is good to be born rich. LINK.

48. Turmeric relative : GINGER.  Want to know ALL?
 
50. Bills featuring Ben : C-NOTES. One Hundred Dollar bills, so nicknamed as Century Notes

53. Full extent : GAMUT. Like Amazon, from A to Z.

54. Cards, e.g. : NLERS, The baseball St. Louis version, not the football Arizona ones.

55. Broadcast : AIR.

59. Designer Wang : VERA.  Some of the Fall Collection.

62. Neighbor of Leb. : ISRael.

63. Dam or madam : SHE.

64. Part of a modern address : DOT. How com you did not know this?

65. Had : ATE. I had grilled salmon, you?

Well I often eat late at night when I am creating the blog, so it is fitting that I leave you for this weak on a food note (sounds like...?) lemonade out.