Lisa Cummings
Santa Fe, NM
@Rob Richards Your confusion is because the answer to that clue is not "casino," which is not, as you indicate, a portmanteau. The answer is "racino," which is place combining a race track where bets are made and a casino where people gamble. It's "race" combined with "casino" equals "racino."
@K No - A question mark after a clue indicates there's some kind of a trick to the clue. In this case - "singles" refers to tennis - which can be played in a singles or doubles format. So the solution is the type of surface that a tennis match can be played on - hard, grass, or clay. It's a play on the word "(roof) shingles" -which can be various materials - metal, asphalt, clay, etc.
Many people wonder about "kiva" being the answer to 55A (big name in small loans.) kiva is a wonderful program, where people who need small loans for something - such as a woman who wants to start a cleaning business and needs money to but the equipment to so. She estimates she needs $10,000 to do so. It's unlikely she could get a loan from a bank. It is "crowdfunding." She has to pay it back, when she does, you are reimbursed - or you can choose to not to be repaid and the money will be lent to another person. <a href="https://www.kiva.org" target="_blank">https://www.kiva.org</a>/
@Marco Interesting that you found that to be a difficult entry. To me, it was a "gimme," I found it to be a very clever clue. I'm thinking you're too young to know about the infamous 1980 Sugar Ray Leonard/Roberto Durán boxing match. Sugar Ray was really beating up on Durán. Durán quit the match in the eighth round by saying, "No más," which means "no more." That's akin to the English slang word "uncle," meaning "I give up." I immediately knew the answer since I had watched the fight.
@Chet <a href="https://steadybicyclecompany.com/products/rat-rod-bikes-beach-cruiser-bike-black" target="_blank">https://steadybicyclecompany.com/products/rat-rod-bikes-beach-cruiser-bike-black</a>
@Susy Tucker I was delighted to see a word as contemporary as "ciswoman." OMG - I just got the reference to "GWBush." Clever!
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen - I agree. I understand that that some folks are not comfortable with the concept of gender fluidity (I am NOT one of those), but they shouldn't have an issue with a word being in a crossword puzzle. I'm an atheist, but I don't resent clues/answers that require knowledge of a religious text such as the Christian Bible, Islamic Quran, Jewish Torah, Buddist concepts...
@dutchiris - the note with C plus popped up for everyone upon completion of the puzzle - it didn't represent how you personally did.
@CNS The hippocampus is a structure in the brain: <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/hippocampus" target="_blank">https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/hippocampus</a>
@Bryony Just don't crow about it if it doesn't get deleted.
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