Laughing Matters
BRAIN GAMES #79
ACROSS
1 Rackets that aren’t for tennis 5 FedEx again
11 Mo. name derived from “eight,” oddly 14 Havana hurrahs 15 It “strikes back” in a Lucas film
16 U.S. gun lobby 17 Measure of a joke’s funniness? 19 It carries a charge 20 Tennis champ Navratilova 21 Offshoot of punk 23 Kerfuffle
24 Hawaiian edible root
26 Ages and ages: Var. 27 Shrill-laughing lady in a Neil Diamond song?
31 Still in the Outbox 34 Rental at Blockbuster
35 Hwy. distances 36 British baby’s bum wrap?
37 “Pick a card,
___ card”
38 Author George born Mary Ann Evans 40 ___favor (Pedro’s “please”)
41 Grain in a
Salinger title
42 Trump who wrote “The
Trump Card” 43 Stagecoach in a comedic rodeo? 47 Ottawa-based spy org.
48 “I’m ___” (no-hoper’s comment)
49 Mont Blanc, e.g. 52 Cat-footedness 55 Does well in business
57 Audio exposé, in media-speak 58 Outburst of laughter?
60 Inuit tool meaning “woman’s knife” 61 From A to Z
62 Travel hither and yon
63 Jagmeet Singh’s grp.
64 Overtake again, as a car
65 “The Good Earth” wife
DOWN
1 Strict doctrine 2 Prequel to the “Odyssey”
3 Amazon tributary meaning “black” 4 Mid-ranking RCMP 5 Dramatize for TV, as a crime
6 Start (on), as a journey
7 “The ___ Who
Loved Me”
8 ___ roadblock (be stymied)
9 Sinéad O’Connor’s country
10 Needle non-stop 11 Typewriter carbon copy paper
12 Toothy swamp menace
13 ___ top (sleeveless T-shirt)
18 Lengthy list
22 Little Milne hopper 25 So yesterday 27 Mushroom also called porcini 28 It creeps around old buildings
29 “Don’t worry about me”
30 “¿Cómo ___ usted?” (Guadalajaran greeting)
31 Like one needing sensitivity training 32 Sodium hydroxide, in chem. class
33 Given a tidier look 37 Yeoman’s “yes” 38 Conjures
39 Office connection acronym
41 Author of the “Goosebumps” books
42 Tunes out
44 Product safety org. 45 Off-___ (out of whack)
46 Ice fishing drillers 49 ___ and his money are ...
50 Fly, before it can fly 51 Promo pros
52 Did a Rumpelstiltskin-y chore
53 All ___ (in total) 54 Letters before :// 56 Houston ball pro, for short
59 ___ Maria