Tuesday 9 November 2010 Tuesday October 27 2009 Fred Jackson Iii

Theme: How Many Ways Can You Say "Buy" Without Spending Money? - The first words/syllable of the four theme answers are homophones.20A. Furthermore: BY THE SAME TOKEN33A. 1961 Tony-winning musical inspired by Elvis being drafted: BYE BYE BIRDIE43A. 7/4/1976 celebration: BICENTENNIAL59A. Retail store financing come-on: BUY NOW, PAY LATERHello all, Boomer here. I wish I could buy now and pay later with tokens.I never saw "Bye, Bye, Birdie", but I do remember the Bicentennial very well. The US issued special quarters that year and I got ten rolls at the bank and put them away as an investment. They are now worth 25 cents each, but you can't get as much for a quarter as you could in 1976. I remember spending the day at a Minnesota Twins double header, outdoors at Metropolitan Stadium. Outdoor MLB is returning to the land of 10,000 lakes next spring.I am not the best puzzle solver. I got about 80% of this one before I needed help. But I didn't need help with bowling last night. 665 is a good score for an old guy, and today I looked at my driver's license and Damn! I'm a year older! I'm the same age as Hillary Clinton, not as famous but my cheeks aren't as chubby. Have fun with today's puzzle.Across:1. One-person boat: SKIFF. My first error. I wanted to put Kayak.6. College athlete: JOCK. The Gophers could use a few more.10. Mouse catcher: TRAP. Build a better one and the world will make a path to your door, but who wants the world at their door anyway?14. China's "EN LAI. C.C. knows him better than I; Alternate answer would be QIN. C.C.'s Mandarin name is Zhouqin, but it doesn't have enough letters.15. Clickable symbol: ICON 16. Compete in a meet: RACE. We are all in this rat race together, some day we may meet.17. Ghostly noises: MOANS. Halloween is coming. I prefer BOOS. For the Yankees of course.18. "Let It": Everly Brothers hit: BE ME. " I blessed the day I found you, I want to stay around you, now and forever..."19. Peruvian empire builder: INCA. The Empire Builder was a train. The Incas didn't build it. It came later.23. Barbary ape's cont.: AFR24. Necklace clasp resting place: NAPE. If you don't get it fastened correctly, it could rest on the floor.25. Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. Home of the Fighting Tigers. Shaq's alma mater by the way.29. Coastal inlet: RIA. Crossword river inlet.31. Take to the clink: ARREST. Clink is slang for "jail". It's never fun. Think before you drink.37. Rig on the road: SEMI. To me, semi always meant half or partial. Why they call the big trucks semis, I'll never know.38. John, to Ringo?: LOO - I can't figure this out. Is LOO an English word for bathroom?39. Trivial, as chatter: IDLE - If it's your brain, it's the devil's playground, trouble in River City.48. Debonair: RAKISH. Never heard of this word. I thought it's what you do to your leavish on the lawnish in the fallish.51. Dr.'s group, maybe: HMO. Maybe History Moves Over if the health care bill passes.52. Adobe file format: PDF. Yeah I've heard of it, but I don't know what PDF stands for.53. Cockney's main Web page?. 'OME (Home). Never heard of this. (From C.C.: Cockney is in the East End of London where the letter H is dropped in local dialect.)54. Bears or Cubs: TEAM. And not very good ones recently.57. Suffix with Israel: ITE. Israelite.64. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA. Funny how some old movies are Classics.65. Mayberry moppet: OPIE. Ronnie Howard, now aged director Ron Howard. Famous as Opie and Richie Cunningham of "Happy Days." But do you remember him waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon in "The Music Man"?66. Con game: BUNCO. "Dragnet" Sergeant Friday frequently worked the Bunco Squad out of Los Angeles.68. Nuremberg no: NEIN. Their "yes" is JA.69. Elbow-joint bone: ULNA. When you get old, a little Cryogel on the ulna helps your bowling.70. Embodiment of perfection: IDEAL. They make wonderful Toys. Also quality electrical products. Fish tapes, wire-nuts, and Yellow 77 elephant snot.72. Ball-bearing gadgets?: TEES. Golf ball. Use only wooden tees. Plastic mars your driver.73. Short-winded: TERSEDown:1. Divinity sch.: SEM. Short for Seminary. Best one I've seen is in Clyde, MO.2. Drawer projection: KNOB. I might have said door handle.3. "me down...": I LAY4. Classic orange soda: FANTA. I had CRUSH in there first.5. Seafood cookout: FISH FRY. The best fish fries are Sunfish, Crappies, Walleye, and Northern Pike from Minnesota lakes. But they are lake food, not seafood.6. Triangular sails: JIBS7. Blue part of a map: OCEAN. Unless you spill a bottle of ink on your atlas.8. Cause for a pause: COMMA. Well, I suppose, this, could be true, maybe. Rhyming sounds good.9. Patella protector: KNEE PAD - Got me again. I put kneecap - then I realized your kneecap is a patella.10. The Dixie Chicks, e.g.: TRIO - One of George W's favorite groups, or not.11. Fester in one's mind: RANKLE. Sometimes crosswords rankle me.12. Way to get in: ACCESS. Unless you're going to weight watchers. Then you have to weigh to get in.13. Planters logo Mr. "PEANUT. A marketing Icon. More famous than a Gecko.21. Buffalo-to-Albany canal: ERIE. I don't think I've seen a puzzle yet that doesn't have ERIE in it somewhere.22. Actress Garr: TERI. Another common puzzle staple.26. Air rifle ammo: BBS. Most are plastic now. Like everything else.27. Needle feature: EYE. Keep your eyes peeled for needles in the haystack.32. Coachman's control: REIN. Okay, but aren't they usually called reins?34. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly: BIBI. Benjamin Netanyahu's nickname. "Uber-hawk.35. Particle with a charge: ION. There are eons of crossword puzzles with ION.36. Philip who wrote the Zuckerman novels: ROTH. Does he have an IRA?40. Chip go-with: DIP. Don't let the dip slip off the chip and onto your lip. Chips are not that healthy. The only chips I have now are short golf shots.44. Analogy words: IS TO45. Give a tongue-lashing: CHEW OUT. See above clues. This is also how a mouse will sometimes gain ACCESS out of a TRAP.46. Runner Z'atopek: EMIL. Emil was a common name 100 years ago. I don't know of any now.47. Cooperative response to "Do you mind?": NOT A BIT. Maybe it's cooperative, but if Sister Mary Margaret asks you to mind, better not say "no" or you'll be standing in the corner until lunch.48. Spring chirpers: ROBINS. Robins are the first sign of Spring. The second sign is when there's less than four inches of snow on your lawn.49. Lucky charm: AMULET. Whatever happened to four leaf clovers and rabbits' feet.50. Enters, as data: KEYS IN55. William Tell's target: APPLE. Was it a Honeycrisp? Granny Smith? Fuji?56. Largest New England state: MAINE58. Piano exercise: ETUDE. I've never heard of this. I remember EGBDF. Which were the keys you had to put your fingers on.60. Indian breads: NANS. Served in the Cleveland clubhouse after a game?61. Supporting votes: YEAS. Also World Series cheers for the Phillies.62. Cabinet dept. with a lightning bolt on its seal: ENER. Maybe they could change it to a wind turbine.63. Some HDTVs: RCAS. Okay, but what was the name of the dog listening to the megaphone speaker on the Victrola again?67. Corrida shout: OLE. Are they cheering for the matador, the bull, or are they really saying Oh Lays, and shouting for more chips for their dip?Answer grid.BoomerNote from C.C.: Happy Birthday, Boomer!