Jesse S

Tough but still fun. As a mechanical engineer and hobbyist welder, I appreciated 5 Down "Connect with a flame," even though most WELDing these days is done with an electric arc. Great clue, though!

Loved the Moe Berg reference because I read the book "The Catcher Was A Spy" many years ago.

I went from the COFFEE CAKES to the COFFEE MAKER to the WAFFLE MAKER. Big breakfast!

FURSONA? I'm getting too old for this.

Thought I had solved it, but one square was amiss. Couldn't find my error after several checks. I had HASNO for "lacks," and ATOA for flour. Finally I realized HASNO could also be HASNT and flour could be ATTA. That did it.

Here in the Boston suburbs we're overrun with wild rabbits eating everyone's flowers, so RABBITSTEW should definitely be on more people's menus.