Monday May 9, 2022 David Alfred Bywaters

Theme: More to Follow - Last word, a synonym of "follower",  dupes the starting part of the first word. 

17. All-you-can-eat restaurant regular?: BUFFET BUFF.

28. Cemetery connoisseur?: HEADSTONE HEAD.

41. Obsessive Christmas-season ballet attendee?: NUTCRACKER NUT.

54. Trumpet flourish aficionado?: FANFARE FAN.

Boomer here again.  

I admit to being a BUFFET BUFF.  It's my second favorite activity in Las Vegas. (Of course the first would be the craps game).  C. C. and I have not been out there for over two years.  COVID sort of shut down the Graybar retirees reunion.

Across:

 

6. "I double-dog __ you!": DARE.  To be great!

10. Inventor's need: IDEA. Alexander Bell invented a telephone and arrived at the patent office minutes before Elisha Gray. But, I wonder whom he called?

14. Off-the-wall: LOOPY.

15. Ill-fated biblical brother: ABEL.

16. Front page material: NEWS.  I read in the NEWS she buys booze by the vat.  What kind of life is that?

19. Discovery Channel's "Shark __": WEEK.

20. Water and Wall in NYC: STS.  Never thought much about abbreviations in crosswords.

21. Sunset locale: WEST.  Most of America is either west or east of the Mississippi.  C.C. and I are actually south of it.

22. Bit of advice: TIP.  Bit of pocket change.

23. Urge: YEN.  Still thinking of Las Vegas.

24. "I like it!": SUITS ME.

31. Asparagus unit: SPEAR.  Eat your green veggies.

33. IOUs: CHITS.

34. Software-made FX: CGI.

35. Late-night TV pioneer Jack: PAAR.  I never stayed up late enough to watch.

36. Capital city near the Sphinx: CAIRO.

37. __-a-brac: BRIC.

38. Earth Day mo.: APR.  Easter and Spring, normally.

39. Carried: BORNE.

40. Campaign poster imperative: ELECT.  Lots of voting is coming soon to a booth near you.

44. Fill to the brim: SATIATE.  And I have a large coffee cup.

45. The "A" of IPA: ALE.  I prefer Canada Dry.  It's not too sweet.

46. Elev.: HGT.

47. Epic story: SAGA.

49. In the past: AGO.  I can still remember how the music used to make me smile.  American Pie.

52. Greek queen of heaven: HERA.

57. Baking soda target: ODOR.  Orioles second baseman.

58. Deceitful sort: LIAR.  Pants on fire.

59. "Monty Python and the Holy __": GRAIL.

60. Taverns: PUBS.

61. Former constellation named for a mythological ship: ARGO.  Corn starch also.

62. Before the deadline: EARLY. We get up EARLY. Our paper usually arrives around 4:00 AM.  The L.A. Times has the largest circulation west of the Mississippi.  Our Minneapolis Star Tribune comes in second however.

Down:

2. Embarrassing loss: ROUT.  Twins at Baltimore last Wednesday.

3. Punch-in-the-gut reactions: OOFS.

4. Sunscreen letters: SPF.

5. Glasses, monocles, etc.: EYEWEAR.  I only need mine to read.

6. Applies gently: DABS.

7. Be next to: ABUT.  Look behind you.

8. NFL arbiter: REF.

9. Will Ferrell Christmas film: ELF.

10. A crony of: IN WITH. The IN CROWD. 

11. Closely held confidence: DEEP SECRET.

12. Lamb nurser: EWE.

13. "That's a pretty big __": ASK.  And you shall receive.

18. Be inclined (to): TEND.

22. Bolos and ascots: TIES. I never wore either

23. 52 19-Acrosses: YEAR. 52 weeks.  In China, 2022 is the YEAR of the Tiger.  Not Detroit baseball nor Mr. Woods.

24. Evening party: SOIREE.

25. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.  And they might do you back.

26. Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing __ of Tidying Up": MAGIC.

27. Official order: EDICT.

28. Hunk on a magazine cover, e.g.: HEARTTHROB.  I never had one on Sports Illustrated.

29. Hard to find: SCARCE.  An Albert Pujols rookie card.

30. Rack one's brains: THINK.  I am convinced that a brain needs racking to finish a crossword.

31. Extends across: SPANS.  We have walked many times across the Mississippi.  Our northern bridge SPANS about a quarter mile.

32. __ New Guinea: PAPUA.

36. Dredge in flour before cooking, e.g.: COAT.  Chicken drumsticks work well.

37. Cookie Monster's color: BLUE.

39. Ill-behaved child: BRAT.

40. Make bigger: ENLARGE.  Portfolios were not ENLARGED last week.

42. Stogies: CIGARS.  Not bad, as long as you do not light 'em up!

43. Anoushka Shankar's music genre: RAGA.

47. Minor impediment: SNAG.  Bad news while fishing.

48. Frequent hairstyle for Diana Ross and Tracee Ellis Ross: AFRO.  I could never make my hair do this.  Now I don't have much hair left.

49. Off in the distance: AFAR.

50. "Wonder Woman" comic book writer Simone: GAIL.

51. Mere: ONLY.

52. Imitate a bunny: HOP.  House of Pancakes.

53. Academic address ending: EDU.

54. Ga. neighbor: FLA.  Played golf and visited Disney once in the 80s.  Fun vacation.

55. Balloon filler: AIR.

56. Stat for a pitcher: ERA.  Over 4.00 is not too good.

Boomer