Tuesday April 15, 2025 Tax Day!

QOD:  A diamond is just a lump of coal that stuck to its job.  ~  Leonardo da Vinci (Apr. 15, 1452 ~ May 2, 1519), Italian polymath

The company you keep ...  The circles "repeat" an abbreviation for legal business.

15-Across. With some exceptions: IN CERTAIN CASES.  INC. is short for Incorporated.

27-Across. Place to pick up tickets at a theater, perhaps: WILL CALL COUNTER.  LLC is short for a Limited Liability Company.  A Limited Liability Company is a business structure that protects its owners from personal liability. The company combines the tax benefits of a partnership with the liability protection of a corporation.

41-Across. Thin Mint or Trefoil: GIRL SCOUT COOKIE.  CO is short for Company.

And the unifier:

55-Across. Goal of store loyalty programs, and what can be found in 15-, 27-, and 41-Across: REPEAT BUSINESS.

Here's the Grid so you can see the Repeated Businesses:

Across:

1. Spanish "more": MAS.  Today's Spanish Lesson.

4. Table salt, to a chemist: NaCl.  Table salt is an ionic compound composed of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) ions.

8. NBA great O'Neal, to fans: SHAQ.  Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (b. Mar. 6, 1972) played basketball for LSU before going professional.  There is a statue of him on the LSU campus.

12. "__ my words ... ": MARK.

13. French fashion monthly: ELLE.

14. __ Xtra: Dr Pepper rival: PIBB.

18. Queasiness: NAUSEA.

19. High degrees: NTHs.

20. GP's gp.: AMA.  A General Practitioner might be a member of the American Medical Association.

21. Mint-garnished rum cocktail: MOJITO.  Yummers!  This traditional Cuban cocktail is made of The cocktail white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and mint.

24. Will Ferrell holiday film: ELF.  Not a fan of Will Ferrell (né John William Ferrell; b. July 16, 1967).

31. Speaker output: AUDIO.

32. Impulse: URGE.

33. Tofu base: SOYBEAN.

36. Ancestry.com service: DNA TEST.

39. With 51-Down, soothing plant: ALOE.  //  And 51-Down. See 39-Across: VERA.

40. Boxing matches: BOUTS.

48. Fine and dandy: A-OK.

49. Gretel's brother: HANSEL.

50. Online addresses: Abbr.: IPs.  As in an Internet Protocol address.

51. Workshop clamp: VISE.

52. Pouch spun by a spider: EGG SAC.

60. At all: EVER.

61. Country road: LANE.

62. Son of Hera and Zeus: ARES.  It's all Greek to me.

63. TV warrior princess played by Lucy Lawless: XENA.  It's been over 25 years since Lucy Lawless (née Lucille Frances Ryan; b. Mar. 29, 1968) portrayed Xena: Warrior Princess. Lucy Lawless is from Auckland, New Zealand, which is also the country where Xena was filmed.

64. Southernmost Great Lake: ERIE.  Whenever I see Erie in the puzzle, I think of our old friend Abejo.

65. Tied the knot: WED.

Down:

1. Car with a clutch: MANUAL.

2. Circle segments: ARCS.

3. __-Ball: arcade game: SKEE.

4. Pickleball barrier: NET.

5. Pie __ mode: À LA.  Today's French lesson.

6. Medical center: CLINIC.

7. Gave for a while: LENT TO.

8. Mani-pedi spots: SPAs.

9. Casual hellos: HIs!

10. Fiver: ABE.  I never heard the term Abe as referring to a $5 bill, but it makes sense.

11. TD pass throwers, perhaps: QBs.  Think football.

12. Florida metropolitan area with an Art Deco District: MIAMI.  The Art Deco Historic District in Miami Beach is a known for its well-preserved Art Deco architecture, featuring pastel-colored buildings, geometric shapes, and intricate design details, making it a living museum of the 1930s. 

16. Holiday Inn competitor: RAMADA.

17. French pet name that also means "cabbage": CHOU.  Today's French lesson.  Children in France are sometimes called Mon petit chou, or Ma petite chou, which is a term of endearment.  It literally translates, however, to my little cabbage.

18. Casual denial: NAW.

22. Lena of "Chocolat": OLIN.  This Swedish actress used to make frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.  Chocolat is a 2000 film, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Joanne Harris.  The film is about a young women who appears in a French village and opens a small chocolate shop.  Soon, she and her chocolate influence the lives of the townspeople of this repressed French community.  Lena Olin (née Lena Maria Jonna Olin; b. Mar. 22, 1955) was one of those impacted by the chocolate.

23. Former "Idol" judge, to fans: J.LO.

24. Raison d'__: ÊTRE.  More of today's French lesson.  This phrase translates to the "reason for being." 

25. Trio on a stool: LEGS.

26. Guitar ridge: FRET.

28. Tag: LABEL.

29. Billiards stick: CUE.

30. Bananas: NUT-SO.

33. Epic story: SAGA.  The Welsh author Ken Follett (b. June 5, 1949), is known for writing sagas.  He wrote Pillars of the Earth, which follows several families in medieval England.

34. Mixed bag: OLIO.

35. Big name in peppermint patties: YORK.

36. Pour affection (on): DOTE.

37. Cell centers: NUCLEI.

38. From __ Z: A TO.  We saw this phrase recently.

40. Help wait tables: BUS.  Did you ever wonder where the term To Bus Tables originated?  Bus in this sense is a shortened form of Omnibus.  Originally, the term was Omnibus Boy, the person who did many jobs in a restaurant, then it was shortened to Bus boy, and from there the word Bus became a verb.

42. Branch of Islam: SHIA.

43. Stronghold with a keep: CASTLE.  What exactly is a Castle Keep?

44. Sign of weak cellular service: ONE BAR.

45. Smooched: KISSED.

46. "Skip me": I PASS.

47. Keyboard key that exits full-screen mode: ESC.

53. Nibble (at): GNAW.

54. "Sommersby" actor Richard: GERE.  Sommersby was a 1993 film about a man who returned home after fighting in the Civil War.  He seemed very different and this aroused suspicion in his wife and others, but  his tobacco-growing scheme became profitable for the whole town, so everyone was happy. Then he was accused of the murder of a man killed many years before.  Richard Gere (né Richard Tiffany Gere; b. Aug. 31, 1949) portrayed Jack Sommersby.  Jody Foster portrayed his wife.

55. Harrison of "My Fair Lady": REX.  Sir Rex Harrison (né Reginald Carey Harrison; Mar. 5, 1908 ~ June 2, 1990) portrayed Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.

56. New Year's __: EVE.

57. Calligrapher's tool: PEN.

58. Aussie's college: UNI.  Hello to our friend Kazie.  I hope she is doing well.  She used to make reference to her day at Uni.

59. "Catch my drift?": SEE.

Many thanks to Tony who filled in for me last week.

חתולה

Chag Samech and Happy Easter!

April Fool's Day! 2025 Zhouqin Burnikel

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.  The first word of each theme answer (Baloney, Bunk, Crock, Rot) is synonym for nonsense or foolishness.

17-Across. *  Simple lunch box meal: BALONEY SANDWICH.

27-Across. *  Dude ranch quarters: BUNK HOUSE.

32-Down. *  Slow cookers: CROCK POTS.

35-Down. *  Suffer forever: ROT IN HELL.

62. With 68-Across, sprinter's infraction, or what the answer to each starred clue has: FALSE.  //  And 68-Across.  68. See 62-Across: START.  And together these answers give us a False Start.

Today's puzzle was crafted by C.C., our blog host.  A nice puzzle to start off the new month.

Across:

1. Corn or sugarcane: CROP.  There are a lot of sugarcane fields in Louisiana.

5. Best possible: IDEAL.

10. Seethe with anger: FUME.

14. Shout: YELL.

15. Monte __: Monaco resort: CARLO.  Monte Carlo is where the Monte Carlo Casino is located.  Monaco is one of 5 European "micro-States" and Monte-Carlo is a district of Monaco.

16. "Already handling this": ON IT!

20. Newsroom worker: EDITOR.

21. In abundance: GALORE.

22. Manhattan liquor: RYE.  While you are reading this, I am in Manhattan, although probably not drinking one.  A Manhattan is a cocktail traditionally made with rye, sweet vermouth and bitters.

23. "About me" blurb: BIO.  As in Biography.

25. "I'll return in a sec," in texts: BRB.  Textspeak for Be Right Back.

26. Negative link: NOR.  Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep the mail carrier from delivering your mail.  That was then.  Today, my mail carrier never makes it to my house before it's quitting time.

30. Folded street food: TACO.  //  Not to be confused with 41-Across. Art colony near Santa Fe: TAOS.  Although you can probably eat a Taco in Taos.

33. Nabe with some signs in Hangul: K-TOWN.  Short for Koreatown / 코리아타운 .  Hand up if you knew that Hangul is the writing system of the Korean language. 

34. Very dry, as champagne: BRUT.  "Brut" champagne, meaning "dry" in French, is generally considered high-quality style of champagne.

38. Work hard for: EARN.

39. Spicy: HOT.

40. Trickle slowly: OOZE.

42. Unenthusiastic: TEPID.

44. Chiwere speakers: OTOE.  Chiwere is a Siouan language.  The Otoe are a Native American tribe of the Midwestern United States.

45. Board game with hexagonal tiles: CATAN.  I am not familiar with this game.

47. Asian mushroom: ENOKI.  Enoki mushrooms are long, thin, and white mushrooms with a mild,  flavor and a crunchy texture.  I have eaten them in Chinese Hot Pot.

49. More dawdling: POKIER.  The Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorite books when I was a kid.  It is still popular today.

51. "Oh, dang!": AW, SNAP!

54. "How ya doin'?": 'SUP.

55. Argument: DISPUTE.

59. Color gradation: HUE.

60. Tiny bit of matter: ATOM.

63. Big Pharma products: MEDS.

64. __-Brite: LITE.

65. Heads for the hills: FLEES.

66. Dart like a dragonfly: FLIT.

67. Sports jersey material: MESH.

69. Silicon Valley city Palo __: ALTO.

Down:

1. Prefix with crime or security: CYBER.

2. Fully prepared: READY.

3. Snowboarding jump: OLLIE.

4. Scheme: PLOT.

5. Skater's hangout: ICE RINK.

6. Calendar unit: DAY.

7. Hosp. triage spots: ERs.  As in Emergency Rooms.

8. Arroz __ cubana: rice dish with a fried egg: A LA.  Arroz a la Cubana a rice dish made with white rice,  fried egg, and tomato sauce.  Other, non-meat, ingredients may also be added.

9. Extended time period: LONG RUN.

10. Turkeys, e.g.: FOWL.

11. Workers' group: UNION.

12. Prefix meaning "tiny": MICRO-.  The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of over 600 tiny islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

13. Vanish into the __: ETHER.

18. Fusion chain with a signature miso-glazed black cod dish: NOBU.  This restaurant appeared in a recent puzzle.  I ate at the Nobu in Vegas last summer with 4 others.  It's not cheap to eat there.

19. Applies lightly: DABS.

24. "Moving right along ... ": OK, THEN ...

25. Pasta shape made with a pinch: BOW TIE.  //  And 53-Down. Basil-based sauce: PESTO.  You might use Pesto Sauce on Bow Tie Pasta.

27. Art of growing miniature trees: BONSAI.

28. Free throw target: HOOP.

29. Novels read on screens: E-BOOKS.  Although I have some ebooks, I much prefer reading a paper book.

30. Lunar festival in Da Nang: Tết.  Tết is short for Tết Nguyên Đán.  Tết is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The festival celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar and usually falls on January or February in the Gregorian calendar.  The next celebration will be on February 16, 2026.

31. Battery size for some mice: AAA.

36. Aduba of "Mrs. America": UZO.  Mrs. America was a television miniseries about the attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  Uzo Abuba (née Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba; b. Feb. 10, 1981) portrayed Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924 ~ Jan. 1, 2005) in the series.

Uzo Abuba and Shirley Chisholm

37. Casual shirt: TEE.

42. Taxes on imports: TARIFFS.  Tariffs have been in the news in recent days.

43. Procedure that can determine ancestry: DNA TEST.

46. "Chopped" host Allen: TED.  I never watched Chopped, so was unfamiliar with Ted Allen (né Edward Reese Allen; b. May 20, 1965).

48. Be in debt: OWE.

49. Sacred hymn: PSALM.

50. Belly button that protrudes: OUTIE.

52. Financial review: AUDIT.

56. Seasoning in shrimp paste: SALT.  Shrimp paste is a fermented condiment used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. 

57. Earnest request: PLEA.

58. Software customer: USER.

61. "I've seen better": MEH!

63. Drama prof's degree: MFA.  As in a Master of Fine Arts.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה