PineNeed ler By Mar t Dickerson

February PineNeedler

(Februar y is “National Feed the Birds” month!)

By M a rt Dick er son

ACROSS

1. Mature 5. “___ as it is...” 9. Breakfast sizzler 14. Like garage sale buys 15. Eye 16. Accustom 17. All there, mentally 18. Apple spray 19. Acclaim 20. World’s smallest republic 22. Brings down, as a tree 23. Arctic, Atlantic, or

Pacific 24. No-see-ums 26. Oolong, for one 29. Stop working 33. Colorful bird 38. Colorful bird 39. On the safe side, at sea 40. Durable beige fabric 42. Chorus member 43. Italian money 45. Alongside 47. Stashed 48. Automatic tournament advance 49. Bundle, as arrows or corn 52. Corpulent 57. Broke the silence 60. Outcome of a doctor’s exam 63. Papal court 64. Ancient Andean 65. “___ It Romantic?” 66. “ You ___ kidding!” 67. Wood sorrels 68. Dressing ingredient 69. “Ick!” 70. Send by FedEx or UPS 71. One rating the merchandise

DOWN

1. ___-Japanese War 2. Inventor Newton 3. Pasta choice 4. Swelling 5. Fly high 6. ___ fruit, Jamaican tangelo 7. Bell sound 8. Colorful bird 9. Protein-rich broth (2 wds) 10. Of one’s lineage 11. Collect or gather 12. Spoken exam 13. Brings home 21. Against prefix 25. Arsenal storage 27. Make information secret 28. Spa sound 30. “___ be a cold day in hell ...” 31. Baptism, for one 32. Carbon compound 33. Bounders 34. Came down 35. Nevada gambling mecca 36. Indian hides and pelts 37. Rim 41. Apprehend 44. Cooks, as leftovers 46. Long, long time 50. Mexican send-off 51. Colorful bird 53. Idaho town 54. English written exam 55. Burn 56. Banana oil, e.g. 57. Heroin, slangily 58. Cat sound 59. Sandwich cookie 61. Healthy berr y 62. Astonished reaction

P uzzle answers on page 122

Mar t Dickerson lives in Southern Pines and welcomes suggestions from her fellow puzzle masters. She can be reached at mar taroonie@gmail.com.

Sudok u:

Fi l l in t he g r id so ever y row, ever y c olu m n a nd ever y 3x 3 box c ont a in t he nu mbers 1-9.