Here we are five days prior to Valentine's Day and we celebrate my wife's favorite food group - Chocolate. Therefore I got a jump on St. Valentine and combined my lovely wife's favorite confection with a sentiment I have maintained through 52 years of marriage.
Our constructor, Greg Johnson may have had some premonition about this as he had this clue today:
9. Flavor that pairs well with chocolate: MINT - I remember when these wonderful treats were 2 cents at the pay station in a restaurant or were free in an upscale eatery.
Greg Johnson |
Across:
1. In honor of: AFTER - The VFW in my hometown is now named AFTER my friend who died in Vietnam and not the heroic WWI man who no one could remember
6. Site with a Pill Identification Tool: WEB MD - I wonder what this thing is...
11. Tried hard: STROVE.
12. More substantial: MEATIER.
14. Sea of Azov peninsula: CRIMEA - A war described as "notoriously incompetent international butchery"
15. When many photos are taken: AT SUNSET
17. Some therapeutic applications: OILS - A graphic Web Md warning
18. Didn't get in the way of: LET BE
20. Brand with an orange-and-yellow bull's-eye trademark: TIDE
21. Conversation on the go: WALK AND TALK - One of many TV and movie 51. Metaphors, e.g.: TROPES - commonly used TV/movie devices
24. X or Z preceder: GEN.
25. Stella Artois product: LAGER - Their Super Bowl ad got good reviews. Sara Jessica Parker pronounced it "Stella Artwah" and Jeff Bridges said "Stella Artoes"
26. Waiters stand in them: LINES - We waited in line for Ubers not taxis
28. Product of sugar and heat: CARAMEL - People sometimes disregard the middle A like the middle T in dentist
31. Real go-getter: DYNAMO - The motor below is really a electricity generating DYNAMO and could keep my laptop 36. Energized: AMPED up in a storm
32. Retrieved at an airport carousel: CLAIMED - I put a big pink strap around my black bag
33. Pet holdable in one hand: HAMSTER.
34. Critical sounds: HISSES - Appropriate melodrama response when villain appears
35. Took turns: ROTATED - Super Bowl sites are rotated among NFL cities. Next: Miami, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles
37. Cleanser compound: BORAX - Here's a pre-presidential pitchman
38. Saint, in Brazil: SAO.
39. What you'd better have if you miss work: A GOOD EXCUSE
45. Highest Italian peak south of the Alps: ETNA - This map shows it as a lone white dot on Sicily
47. Like yummy desserts, sooner or later: EATEN.
48. Fit to serve: ONE-A - I don't know if the Babe was ever ONE-A but he did register in 1917
49. Separate: DISCRETE
53. Homicide official: CORONER - 85-yr-old David McCallum still plays the CORONER on NCIS
54. Event associated with a blue moon: RARITY.
55. Concrete-reinforcing rod: REBAR - REROD works too
56. Kind of question: YES/NO - Yeah, I sent one as a 13-yr-old. She marked Yes!!
Down:
1. Heart chambers: ATRIA - The educated peeps here can find them below
2. Nonessential decoration: FRILL - Lipstick on a pig?
3. Siberian industrial center: TOMSK.
4. Big event lead-in: EVE
5. What John Wayne and Cary Grant weren't: REAL NAMES - Birthplace of Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa
6. Dinner party amenity: WET BAR - I'd prefer a taco BAR
7. Painter's aid: EASEL.
8. A/C letters: BTU - Our old HVAC cwd friend
10. Appoint: DESIGNATE - C.C. has DESIGNATED some great daily bloggers and me
11. Harbor hauler: SCOW - A garbage SCOW in NYC Harbor
12. Brand on Barbie boxes: MATTEL.
13. Cashed in: REDEEMED - Like Green Stamps
16. Stretching muscle: TENSOR - The TENSOR of the fascia lata in red
19. Trimmed, in a way: EDGED.
22. Bay Area city: ALAMEDA - The San Francisco Warriors play in the Oracle or Oakland/ALAMEDA Arena which is the oldest NBA venue.
23. Female R&B group with the '80s hit "I Miss You": KLYMAXX.
27. MIT part: Abbr.: INST- Hmmm... MASS or INST or TECH
28. Of concern to the Weather Channel: CLIMATIC - Our recent departure from CLIMATIC norms has been dramatic
29. Twelve-step helper: AA SPONSOR.
30. Start the day: RISE.
31. Requirement for statistical analysis: DATA ENTRY - Not my dream job
32. Tried to catch: CHASED - She was CHASED but remained chaste
33. Massive group: HORDE.
35. Fan: ROOTER - This fan must have felt horrible when Bama got routed in the National Championship Game this year
37. Flat-topped straw hat: BOATER - Nobody wore one better than this guy
40. Davis with a recurring role on "Grey's Anatomy": GEENA - She was really hard-nosed in that role but GEENA and baseball, gotta love it!
41. Denver's __ Field: COORS - Playing at an elevation of 5,280 ft. can have it issues
42. Remove from the bulletin board: UNPIN
43. Take care of: SEE TO
46. A football field is about 32% larger than one: ACRE.
50. Not take well: ROB - An oft-seen fun fill for larceny
52. Female name that's a body part backwards: RAE - Here's both in this picture
Now put down that Snickers and comment away: