Wednesday, February 22, 2023 Alexander Liebeskind and Yu-Chen Huang

Theme: once again I have to defer to the unifier.

36 A. Functions perfectly, and what can be said about the starts of 17-, 23-, 46-, and 57-Across: WORKS LIKE A CHARM.   I'm uncertain if this is referring to charms in the mystical-spiritual sense, or as a jewelry item that can be found on a charm bracelet.  Let's check it out.

17 A. Pride symbol: RAINBOW FLAG.  A rainbow is a meteorological and optical phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the Sun.  The rainbow flag represents the intersectional diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2-S) communities. A rainbow charm symbolizes optimism and silver linings.

An arc of colors

23 A. Arachnid relative that resembles a crustacean: HORSESHOE CRAB.   Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura.Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachnids such as spiders, ticks, and scorpions.  I did not know this.   The horseshoe represents luck, prosperity, and protection on your travels.   Many styles and colors of charms are available.

46 A. Minty frozen treat at McDonald's every March: SHAMROCK SHAKE.  A mint flavored confection.

Only 730 calories

 A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name shamrock comes from Irish seamróg ([ˈʃamˠɾˠoːɡ]), which is the diminutive of the Irish word seamair and simply means "young clover".

As a charm it symbolizes good luck, and traditionally was believed to ward off evil.

57 A. Nutty-tasting winter vegetable: ACORN SQUASH.  Acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata), also called pepper squash or Des Moines squash, is a winter squash with distinctive longitudinal ridges on its exterior and sweet, yellow-orange flesh inside. Although considered a winter squash, acorn squash belongs to the same species (Cucurbita pepo) as all summer squashes (including zucchini and crookneck squash).

We had one for dinner a few nights ago.

The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera Quercus and Lithocarpus, in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns are 1–6 cm (1⁄2–2+1⁄2 in) long and 0.8–4 cm (3⁄8–1+5⁄8 in) on the fat side.   As a charm it represents wealth, strength, happiness in marriage,

Hi, Gang.  JazzBumpa here; charmed to be your host today.  Looks like this might be Yu-Chen Huang's maiden voyage in the L.A.T. Crosswords.  Congrats, and welcome!

Across:

1. Hint of color: TINCT.  As defined.

6. Biblical tower site: BABEL.   The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל‎, Mīgdal Bāḇel) narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth and parable meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.  According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar (שִׁנְעָר‎). There they agree to build a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Yahweh, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.

11. Inquire: ASK.  pose a question

14. Play area?: ARENA.  A level area surrounded by seats for spectators, in which sports, entertainments, and other public events are held.

15. Greek salad fruit: OLIVE.   A small oval fruit with a hard pit and bitter flesh, green when unripe and brownish black when ripe, used as food and as a source of oil.

16. Sushi topper: ROE.  The mass of eggs contained in the ovaries of a female fish or shellfish, typically including the ovaries themselves, especially when ripe and used as food.  I had shad roe once.  Once.

19. Texter's "Hang on a sec": BRB.  Be Right Back.

20. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" director Lee: ANG.

21. No-frills font: ARIAL. A sans serif font. It looks like this.

22. Wee bit: IOTA.  The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ι, ι ), transliterated as ‘i.’.   The words iota and jot share a lot more than just a common meaning—both ultimately derive from the same word. When Latin scholars transcribed the Greek name of the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, they spelled it as either iota or jota (the letters i and j were simply variants of each other), and these spellings eventually passed into English as iota and jot. Since the Greek letter iota is the smallest letter of its alphabet, both words eventually came to be used in reference to very small things.

27. Sex therapy subject: LIBIDO.  A concept originated by Sigmund Freud to signify the instinctual physiological or psychic energy associated with sexual urges and, in his later writings, with all constructive human activity.

29. Helpful supporter: ALLY.   A person, group, or nation that is associated with another or others for some common cause or purpose:

30. Loads: A TON.  Figuratively, any large amount.  Imagine, if you will, a ton of iotas.

31. Give in a little: BUDGE.   To move slightly; begin to move.  Hence, to change one's opinion or stated position; yield.

33. Irritate: VEX.  Annoy. 

40. Brief alarm?: SOS.  Brief in the sense that it consists of only three letters; not that whatever causes the alarm is of short duration.   These are the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (· · · – – – · · ·) used, especially by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.

41. Fake: POSER.  One portraying himself as something he is not.

42. Singer India.__: ARIE.   India Arie Simpson [b 1975], also known as India Arie, is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.

Not a poser

43. Gargantuan: HUGE.   Enormous.  Derived from Gargantua, the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel. 

44. "The Country Girls" novelist Edna: O'BRIEN.   The Country Girls is a trilogy by Irish author Edna O'Brien [b. 1930]. It consists of three novels: The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl, and Girls in Their Married Bliss. 

51. School year division: TERM.   A fixed or limited period for which something  lasts or is intended to last.

52. Swarms (with): TEEMS.   As defined.

53. Noble __: GAS.   The noble gases make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity. The six naturally occurring noble gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and the radioactive radon.

56. With 11-Down, Michigan college town: ANN.    Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the fifth-largest city in Michigan. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Washtenaw County. 

Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan. The university significantly shapes Ann Arbor's economy as it employs about 30,000 workers, including about 12,000 in the medical center. The city's economy is also centered on high technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the university's research and development infrastructure.

Ann Arbor was founded in 1824, named after the wives of the village's founders, both named Ann, and the stands of bur oak trees.

60. TNT part: TRI. Trinitrotoluene, more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as an explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard comparative convention of bombs and asteroid impacts. 

61. Sounds from happy cats: PURRS.   Cats will purr when they are in a relaxed environment, sending out waves of calmness. This may also occur when you stroke them, and if this is the case, your feline friend is feeling happy or sociable.

62. Loosen, as a knot: UNTIE.  

63. Storm center: EYE.   A region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30–65 kilometers in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds occur.

64. Borden spokescow: ELSIE.   Elsie the Cow is a cartoon cow developed as a mascot for the Borden Dairy Company in 1936 to symbolize the "perfect dairy product". Since the demise of Borden in the mid-1990s, the character has continued to be used in the same capacity for the company's partial successors, Eagle Family Foods and Borden Dairy.

65. Utopias: EDENS.   An imaginary location, community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members.

Down:

1. Actress Reid: TARA.   Tara Donna Reid  [b. 1975] is an American actress. She played Vicky in the films American Pie, American Pie 2, and American Reunion, and Bunny Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. In 2013, she starred as April Wexler in the television film Sharknado, and went on to reprise the role in five sequels.

2. Setting of the graphic novel "Persepolis": IRAN.

3. People next door: NEIGHBORS.

4. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel: CNN.

5. Knight's tunic: TABARD.    A type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces.

6. "Ziggy Stardust" singer David: BOWIE.  David Robert Jones [1947-2016], known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s.

7. Some Italian sports cars, for short: ALFAS.  Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. It was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy as A.L.F.A., an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The brand is known for sport-oriented vehicles and has been involved in car racing since 1911.

8. Star of HBO's "Barry": BILL HADER.   William Thomas Hader Jr. (b. 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Hader first gained widespread attention for his eight-year stint as a cast member on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2013, for which he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Peabody Award. He became known for his impressions and especially for his work on the Weekend Update segments, in which he played Stefon Meyers, a flamboyant New York tour guide who recommends unusual nightclubs and parties with bizarre characters with unusual tastes.

9. Actress Longoria: EVA.  Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón [b. 1975] is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, on which she starred from 2001 to 2003.

10. Part of a race: LEG.   In track and field, leg is a term used to describe one of four equal parts of a relay race. Each leg is run by a different runner, who must pass a baton to the next runner in order to complete the race.

11. See 56-Across: ARBOR.  Michigan City.

12. Kinda: SORTA.  Approximately.

13. Shish __: KEBAB.  Shish kebab is a popular meal of skewered and grilled cubes of meat. It can be found in Mediterranean cuisine and is similar to or synonymous with dishes called shashlik and khorovats, found in the Caucasus region. It is one of the many types of kebab, a range of meat dishes originating in the Middle East.

18. Approximately: OR SO.  Kinda, sorta.

22. Slippery, as a road: ICY.   Glazed with frozen water.

24. Barnyard sound: OINK.   Piggish vocalization.

25. Actress Kurylenko: OLGA.   Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko [b. 1975] is a Ukrainian–French actress and model. She started her acting career in 2005, and first found success as an actress for her role as Nika Boronina in the film adaptation of the video game Hitman. 

26. Utility abbr.: ELEC.   Electric.

27. Newton trio: LAWS.  Newton's laws of motion are three basic laws of classical mechanics that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws can be paraphrased as follows:  A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by a force. When a body is acted upon by a force, the time rate of change of its momentum equals the force. If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same magnitude but opposite directions.

28. "Am __ early?": I TOO.  It's so hard to be just early enough.

31. Dividing lines: BISECTORS.  Straight lines that divide lines, angles or shapes into two equal parts.

32. Luau strings, briefly: UKE.  

33. Diversify, in a way: VARIEGATE.   Alter in appearance, especially by adding different colors.

34. Ohio border lake: ERIE.   South of Canada.

35. Marvel mutants who battle Magneto: X-MEN.   In the Marvel Universe, mutants are humans who are born with a genetic trait called the X-gene which grants them natural superhuman abilities. Due to their differences from the majority of humanity, mutants are subject to prejudice and discrimination and many X-Men stories feature social commentary on bigotry and justice. The X-Men have fought against a variety of enemies, including villainous mutants, human bigots, supervillains, mystical threats, extraterrestrials, and malevolent artificial intelligences. 

37. Egg (on): SPUR.    Goad or urge someone else to do something,

38. Macy's red star, for one: LOGO.   A symbol or other design adopted by an organization to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, etc.

39. Literary "Listen!": HARK.   To listen closely or give attention to something: 

43. "I wonder ... ": HMM.   Indication of pondering.

44. Units of resistance: OHMS.  Electrical resistance.

45. Language from northern Spain: BASQUE.   The language of the Basques: people sho are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country — a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.

46. Utter: STATE.   Give audible expression to; speak or pronounce.

47. "Atlanta" actor Brian Tyree __: HENRY.   Brian Tyree Henry [b.1982] is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

48. Golfer Palmer, to fans: ARNIE.  Arnold Daniel Palmer [1929-2016] was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions.

49. Beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist __ Walsh Jennings: KERRI.   Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings [b 1978] is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.

50. Pick up: SENSE.   Become aware of or realize something, although it is not very obvious.

54. Spelling clarification phrase: AS IN.  Frex, G as in Gila monster.

55. Wally Lamb's "__ Come Undone": SHE'S.   the 1992 debut novel by Wally Lamb. The novel was selected as the fourth book for Oprah's Book Club in December 1996. Lamb's novel was named a finalist for the 1992 Los Angeles Book Awards' Art Seidenbaum Prize for first fiction. She's Come Undone has been translated into eighteen languages.

57. Imitate: APE.

58. __-de-sac: CUL.  A street or passage that is closed at one end.

59. German conjunction: UND.  Meaning "and."

And so it ends.  Were you charmed?

Cool regards!

JzB