Monday, May 18, 2026, Brian Callahan, Amie Walker

Theme:  Swing for the fences!

A scene from Happy Gilmore starring Adam Sandler, 1996

Brian Callahan and Amie Walker are frequent crossword contributors to the LA Times, solo or teamed up with others, and at least once in the past, together.  How do they make great moves in the grid?  Today's big reveal is:

61-Across. Advice for adding power to a golf swing, or what can be said about 17-, 27-, and 50-Across: IT'S ALL IN THE HIPS.  In the listed entries, the answers are contained within the word HIPS, written in helpful circles at either end of each answer.  Note the progression of the letter breaks from 1:3, to 2:2, to 3:1.  Are the HIPS moving from one side to the other, as in a golf swing?

17-Across. "Let me give you a few pointers ... ": HERE ARE SOME TIPS.

27-Across. Some track-and-field attempts: HIGH JUMPS.

50-Across. VW adorned with decals from the flower power era, e.g.: HIPPIE BUS.

We can expect some groaning in the comments today about circles, but yours truly feels they are needed to see the theme.  Aside from that, I think we can all appreciate the symmetry of the grid and the theme answers, and the fact that two of the themers span the grid.  I did have one little problem with the solve, which I'll share when we get there.  Shake a leg!

Across:

1. Annoying ordeal: HASSLE.

7. Reddit tell-all sesh: AMA.  Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session on Reddit, a news aggregator and social media platform.

10. Veil material: LACE.

14. Fiction influenced by net culture: ALT LIT.  Alternative literature (or alt-lit) is a literary movement influenced by internet culture and online publishing.  It is characterized by autofiction (telling an altered story of one's own life in the third person), self-publication, and a presence on social media networks.

15. Grass roll: SOD.

16. __ hygiene: ORAL.

17. [Theme clue]

20. Pointed (at): AIMED.

21. Galápagos lizard: IGUANA.  The marine iguana is found only on the Galápagos Islands. It forages in the sea for algae, which make up almost all of its diet.  There are land iguanas in the Galápagos as well.

Marine iguana, Isla Española, Galápagos, 2022

22. Small stick in a bird's nest: TWIG.

24. Yoga poses: ASANAS.

27. [Theme clue]

30. First step of a home reno: DEMO.  Home RENOvation shows make DEMOlition look like fun.

33. Beatty/Hoffman film flop: ISHTAR.  Ishtar is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Elaine May, and produced by Warren Beatty, who co-stars with Dustin Hoffman.  The story revolves around a pair of talentless songwriters who travel to a gig in Morocco and stumble into international intrigue.  Shot on location in Morocco and New York City, the production drew media attention for cost overruns on top of a lavish budget.  A change in management at Columbia Pictures also hurt the film's release, which was a notorious failure at the box office.  Initially considered to be one of the worst films ever made, it has since had better reviews.

34. "I'm not sure" sounds: UHS.  UH ... did anyone else put UMS here, and then wonder what kind of heroine at 26-Down could be named ASMA?  I did.  FIW (finished it wrong) by one square.

36. Phoenix NBA team: SUNS.

38. Pickleball barrier: NET.

Pickleball court divided by a net.

39. Overt: BLATANT.

42. Fuel additive brand: STP.  STP is a brand of automotive products, including motor oil, fuel additives, and brake fluids.  The name STP originally stood for "Scientifically Treated Petroleum."

43. Avocado dip, for short: GUAC.  Short for guacamole, a Mexican Spanish word which comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacamōlli meaning "avocado sauce."

45. Oft-protected personal ID: SSN.

46. "Same here": I AM TOO.

48. College Board exam for sophs: PSAT.  The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test has been administered to high school sophomores since Fall 1971.  

50. [Theme clue]

52. Capital of Kansas: TOPEKA.

54. Richard of "Chicago": GERE.  Chicago is a 2002 musical crime film based on the 1975 stage musical, which in turn originated in the 1926 play.  It explores celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age, and stars Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. 

55. These days: LATELY.

58. "Gavel-to-gavel" coverage provider: C-SPAN.  Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network is an American cable and satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service.  C-SPAN provides unfiltered coverage of the U.S. House, Senate, and major congressional hearings from the beginning of each session to the end.

61. [Theme clue]

66. Lion's sound: ROAR.

67. Pop singer Rita: ORA.  Thank you, crossword puzzles, for teaching me this one.

68. Call forth, as memories: ELICIT.

69. Car loan figs.: APRS.  The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the total cost of borrowing to pay for a vehicle over the course of one year.  It serves as a comparison tool between loan offers.  Imagine that Bank A has a low interest rate, but also has a large fixed fee for car loans. The fee will be figured into the APR.  Bank B has a slightly higher interest rate, but lower or no fees.  Bank B's overall APR may be lower than Bank A's, and therefore a better deal.

70. __ and improved: NEW.

71. Show up for: ATTEND.

Down:

1. Laugh syllable: HAH.

2. Tavern beer: ALE.

3. Likely feature of a valedictorian's report card: STRAIGHT A'S.  The highest mark in all school subjects.

4. __ of hand: magician's knack: SLEIGHT.  "Sleight" refers to a deceitful kind of craftiness, or to skill and dexterity.

5. Actor Neeson: LIAM.  Liam Neeson is an actor from Northern Ireland who has garnered many accolades over forty years in films.  He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Liam Neeson

6. To be, in French: ÊTRE.  Oh, to be a French verb ... how wonderful that would be.  Here's a phrase you know using être:  "C'est la vie."  "That is life."

Present tense conjugation of the verb "to be" in French.

7. Donkey: ASS.

8. Dairy sound: MOO.

9. Online moderator, briefly: ADMIN.

10. Pink blooms sacred to Buddhists: LOTUSES.  Rooted in mud but blooming above water, the lotus flower symbolizes the purity of an enlightened mind rising above suffering.  According to legend, everywhere the baby Buddha stepped, a lotus flower bloomed.

Lotus flower

11. Solo for an opera diva: ARIA.

12. Breakfast mascot's rank: CAP'N.  "Cap'n" is a contraction of the word captain, and is used to represent a sailor's pronunciation: "Aye aye, cap'n!"

Can you spot the verb être on this box of Canadian Cap'n Crunch?
It is crunchificent!

13. "Frozen" ice queen: ELSA.  Frozen is a 2013 animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale, "The Snow Queen."

The characters of this film often show up in our puzzles.
It might be helpful to watch it sometime.

18. Dutch cheese: EDAM.

19. "Yikes!": EGAD.

22. Category of noun: THING.  Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. 

23. Get smart: WISE UP.

25. Soviet satellite launched in 1957: SPUTNIK.  Sputnik 1 was the world's first artificial Earth satellite. A 23-inch metal sphere with four antennas, it orbited for three months, emitting a radio signal.

26. "Wish" heroine voiced by Ariana DeBose: ASHA.  Here's the other half of my downfall at 34-Across, where I wrote UMS, not UHS.  Asha is the protagonist of the animated film Wish (2023) produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.  She is voiced by American actress Ariana DeBose.  The idea for the film was hatched during the creation of Frozen II.

Ariana           and           Asha

28. Quick punch: JAB.

29. Web addresses: URLS.

31. "Wish we all had that kind of luck": MUST BE NICE.

32. Moving from gig to gig: ON TOUR.  What the protagonists of Ishtar were hoping to be doing.

35. Scissors sound: SNIP.

37. Slangy "Let's say ... ": SPOSE.  An informal contraction of the word "suppose."  In the sense of "let's say," you can imagine a phrase like, "Spose we pay higher interest to Bank B, but there are no other fees ..."

40. Arthur in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE.

41. __ chi: martial art: TAI.

44. Part of a "Gabby's Dollhouse" costume: CAT EARS.  I have twin grandchildren who are 12 years old, and a grandbaby who is 8 months, so I'm perfectly positioned to know absolutely nothing about Gabby's Dollhouse, a television show for preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years.

Gabby's Dollhouse

47. Smash success: MEGA HIT.  Not Ishtar.

49. Bridge charge: TOLL.

51. Treaty: PACT.

53. Traffic marker: PYLON.  Usually just a good old fashioned orange cone.

55. Money of Italy, once: LIRA.

56. Resting on: ATOP.

57. Former Russian ruler: TSAR.

59. __ butter: skin care ingredient: SHEA.  Shea butter is a fat extracted from nuts of the African shea tree.  It is a popular ingredient in skin care products.

Shea butter

60. Pepper (with): PELT.

62. Furious feeling: IRE.

63. Casual refusal: NAW.

64. Brooch: PIN.

65. Norm: Abbr.: STD.  Another word for norm is standard, abbreviated std.

Here's the grid:

To cap off our theme:

Shakira and friends:  "Hips Don't Lie."

Solvers, was this puzzle a HASSLE for you, with BLATANT obscurities ELICITing groans?

Or do you SPOSE it will be considered a MEGAHIT for its fine qualities?

MUST BE NICE to win them all.  Let's hear from you in the comments.

-- NaomiZ

Monday, March 30, 2026, Michael B. Berg, Brian Callahan

Theme:  C-O-P-Y right. 

Crossword constructors Michael B. Berg and Brian Callahan enjoy a little wordplay.  The big reveal of today's theme occurs at 50-Across:

50-Across. Protection of intellectual property, or a phonetic hint to 16-, 23-, 30-, and 44-Across: COPYRIGHT.  Copyright laws grant exclusive RIGHTs to the originators of creative works, to COPY, distribute, perform, or display the work.  But today, we are looking for something on the RIGHT side of the answers to 16-, 23-, 30-, and 44-Across.  Something to do with phonetics, or speech sounds.

16-Across. Adrift after a storm, perhaps: LOST AT SEA.  The word on the right sounds like C.

23-Across. Jodie Comer's "Killing Eve" co-star: SANDRA OH.  The word on the right sounds like O.

30-Across. Stir-fry vegetable: SUGAR SNAP PEA.  The word on the right sounds like P.

44-Across. "Let me explain ... ": HERE'S WHY.  The word on the right sounds like Y.

Put the phonetic equivalents of the right-side words together, and you have the word COPY.  

Do you copy?  Let's see what other amusements Michael and Brian have prepared for us.

Across:

1. Bird that went extinct in the 1660s: DODO.  The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.  The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598.  In the following years, the bird was hunted by sailors and other invasive species, while its habitat was being destroyed.  The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662.  A few specimens brought to Europe in the early 1600s, and subfossil materials found on Mauritius, prove the dodo existed.  The extinction of the dodo less than a century after its discovery called attention to the problem of human involvement in the disappearance of entire species ... a problem that has accelerated ever since. 

5. Auction site with a "newly listed" sort option: EBAY.  My younger sister, of blessed memory, loved to shop for special occasion clothing on eBay.  She taught me to include "NWT" (New With Tags) in my searches.

9. Carrier on rails: TRAM.  A tram is an electric public transportation vehicle running on street-level rails.

DH and I were impressed by the tram system in Bordeaux.

13. Monumental: EPIC.

14. Herb in poultry stuffing: SAGE.

15. Purifying filter acronym: HEPA.  A HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter removes at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 microns or larger, including dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria.

16. [Theme clue]

18. Happily __ after: EVER.

Psychologists argue that "happily ever after" does not just happen.
Successful relationships require continuing effort.

19. Weighing device: SCALE.

20. Cheddar shredders: GRATERS.

22. Collectively: AS ONE.

23. [Theme clue]

24. Subterfuge: RUSE.

25. Cone alternative at an ice cream shop: CUP.  Americans are evenly divided on the issue of cone versus cup.  Cones are crunchy, add flavor, and can be managed with one hand.  Cups don't drip, don't detract from the pure flavor of the ice cream, and accommodate more toppings.

Where do you stand on this issue dividing the country?

26. Rebound: RALLY.

27. Triage pro: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technicians provide basic emergency care and transport.

28. Detective Spade of "The Maltese Falcon": SAM.  Sam Spade is a fictional character, the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon.

Sam Spade was memorably played by Humphrey Bogart in 1941.

29. Precious stone: GEM.

30. [Theme clue]

35. Band's sound booster: AMP.

36. Special __: some mil. missions: OPS.  The abbreviation of "military" in the clue tells us to expect an abbreviation in the answer:  "ops" for "operations."

37. Word before devil or dog: SLY.

39. Top-notch: PRIMO.

42. NNW opposite: SSE.

43. Maker of jet-powered pogo sticks, in cartoons: ACME.

ACME supplies Wile E. Coyote with tools to catch and eat the Road Runner.

44. [Theme clue]

46. "Hadestown" writer Mitchell: ANAÏS.  Anaïs Mitchell is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright.  Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including Hadestown (2010).  She developed this album into a stage musical, the Broadway production of which won eight Tony Awards in 2019, including Best Musical.

Anaïs Mitchell sporting emo hair.

47. Choppy, layered style with black bangs: EMO HAIR.

Cute!

48. Corp. shake-up: REORG.  A corporate shake-up could be a reorganization.

49. Second to __: NONE.

50. [Theme clue]

53. Easy-Bake __: OVEN.  The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven introduced in 1963, manufactured by Kenner and later by Hasbro.  The old ones used light bulbs; the new ones have real heating elements.  In the home of my youth, if we wanted to bake, we had to use the real oven.  

If it was a popular toy, advertised on TV, Mom and Dad did not buy it.

54. Pilates target: CORE.  The "core" refers to the muscles surrounding the spine, pelvis, and hips, that impact posture and stability.  Pilates is a low-impact exercise method focusing on core strength, stability, flexibility, and proper alignment.

Reminded again of my younger sister, a Pilates instructor who passed away 15 years ago.

55. Short message: NOTE.

56. Pharmacy orders, informally: MEDS.

57. "The Music of Tori and the Muses" singer-songwriter: AMOS.  Tori Amos is an American singer-songwriter and pianist.  A child prodigy, Amos began formal classical piano training at age five, but left the institute at eleven, finding her place as a pianist in Washington, D.C. bars.  Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop-rock group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.

Tori Amos

58. Texter's "So long!": TTYL.  Talk To You Later.

Down:

1. Oscar winner Benicio __ Toro: DEL.  Benicio del Toro is a Puerto Rican actor.  He's appeared in a long list of films, including Steven Soderbergh's crime drama Traffic (2000), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Benicio Del Toro

2. American marsupials known for playing dead: OPOSSUMS.

3. "The Simpsons" character in a rhinestone suit: DISCO STU.  We had Disco Stu in last Monday's puzzle!

4. Gas pump number: OCTANE.

5. East, in Spanish: ESTE.  The four cardinal directions in Spanish are norte (north), sur (south), este (east), and oeste (west). 

6. Some four-year degs.: BAS.  Bachelor of Arts degrees.

7. Generational divide: AGE GAP.

8. Long (for): YEARN.

9. Lady's partner in an animated spaghetti scene: THE TRAMP.

10. Unmask: REVEAL.

11. Italian liqueur in a spritz: APEROL.  I remember sitting at a table in a piazza in Florence, where my daughter was living, and being treated by her to my first Aperol spritz, served after work but before dinner, when Florentines take a break, nibble salty snacks, and drink:  3 parts Prosecco (sparkling wine), 2 parts Aperol (a bitter orange liqueur), and 1 part sparkling water or club soda.  Delizioso!

12. Like wetlands: MARSHY.

17. Brewpub brew: ALE.

21. Pros who know all the hot spots?: AD REPS.  Advertising representatives know all the hot advertisements or "spots."   "Spot" can also refer to the time slot occupied by an ad.

22. "Where the Wild Things __": ARE.  Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  I'll be reading this to the newest grandchild when he stops putting everything in his mouth.  

23. Basic arithmetic homework: SUMS.  "Doing sums" is British English for doing basic arithmetic, or "maths" as Brits might say.  A worksheet of addition problems might be called "sums" in the USA.

25. Goldfish, for one: CARP.

28. Pastry that may be deep-fried in ghee: SAMOSA.  A samosa is a fried Indian pastry with a savory filling, often potatoes, onions, and peas.   Ghee is butter that has been simmered to remove water and milk solids, which gives it a caramelized flavor and a high smoke point, making it ideal for high heat cooking.

Samosas fried in ghee.

29. Stare in amazement: GAPE.

31. Cornish roasts: GAME HENS.  Small chickens, often roasted whole and served as individual portions.  

32. Overly inquisitive: NOSY.

33. Snail commonly cooked in butter: ESCARGOT.  In English, edible land snails are commonly called escargot, from the French word for snail.  They are usually baked in butter with garlic, shallots, and parsley, and served with bread.  I'm pretty sure it's just as good if you dip bread in butter with garlic, shallots, and parsley, and leave the snails out of it.

Escargot.

34. Supremely powerful: ALMIGHTY.

38. "That's correct": YES.

39. Promising youngster: PHENOM.  A "phenom" (short for phenomenon) is a person with extraordinary talent or ability, often a young prodigy or someone of phenomenal promise, particularly in sports.

40. Get rid of: REMOVE.

41. Pressed, as clothes: IRONED.

42. Trippy fungus, informally: SHROOM.  Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, are consumed as recreational drugs, and may induce hallucinations.  It's trendy now to microdose mushrooms to generate positive feelings without major effects.

43. Bless using oil: ANOINT.

45. Neo-pagan religion: WICCA.  Wicca is a modern religious movement that embraces nature, magic, a goddess and a god.  Introduced to the public in 1954 by a retired British civil servant, it has spread mostly in English speaking countries.  Dear daughter was into it as a pre-teen or teenager.  I opened her bedroom door one evening, and I swear, she was sitting cross-legged on her twin bed, eyes closed, with a circle of lighted candles around her, each balancing on the blanket without visible support.  I backed out quickly, not wishing to startle her and burn the house down.

Not my daughter, but some other young woman "casting a circle."

46. Gassy prefix: AER.  The prefix aer comes from the Greek word for air, and usually indicates processes involving gas, air circulation, or airborne substances.  Examples of words with this prefix include aeration, aerial, aerobic, aerodrome, and aerosol.

48. Loaves that may be marbled: RYES.  Marbled rye bread is created by rolling light rye and dark rye doughs together.  Nice to look at, it also has contrasting flavors that are mild and robust.

Marbled rye bread.

51. Con's opposition: PRO.

52. Contact list no.: TEL.  

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did you feel like a DODO when working the puzzle?  Were you LOST AT SEA?

Or did you turn in a PRIMO performance and feel like a crossword PHENOM?

Let us know in the comments!

-- NaomiZ

Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Brian Callahan

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a melodious puzzle constructed by NYT, LAT and USA Today veteran constructor Brian Callahan.  At four places in the grid Brian has inserted the names of singer-song writers with each name consisting of two words.  The first words all begin with the letter P and the second names begin with the letter S.  The theme was inspired by the answer to the unifier which is found at:

59 Across:  Beatles hit on "Please Please Me," which could be dedicated to 16-, 24-, 35-, and 50-Across: PS I LOVE YOU.

Here are the four themed answers none of which require explanation beyond their clues:

16 Across:  "Because the Night" singer-songwriter: PATTI SMITH.

24 Across:  "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" singer-songwriter: PETE SEEGER.

35 Across:  "You Can Call Me Al" singer-songwriter: PAUL SIMON.

50 Across:  "Poetry Man" singer-songwriter: PHOEBE SNOW.

Thank you, Brian, for the opportunity to revisit all of those great songs.  Now, after all of that, if anyone still has the time and energy, here's how it all appears in the grid:

. . . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. Campbell's container: CAN.

Andy Warhol's Take On The Subject

4. Sports complex: ARENA.  From the Latin harena meaning sandy place.

9. Air quality factor: SMOG.  A portmanteau of SMoke and fOG.

13. The Jazz, on scoreboards: UTA.

14. Cuddly pooch: LAP DOG.

15. University of New Mexico athlete: LOBO.

18. Siberian city: OMSK.

19. Twitter: CHIRP.  An avian reference - not a tech reference.

20. Grumpy person: CRAB.  CRABs (the animals) have a reputation for being feisty and unpleasant.

22. Fed. health law: ACA.

23. Dialect in some Black communities, for short: AAVE.  All you might want to know:

African American Vernacular English

27. Tear sheet?: KLEENEX.  Not tear as in to rip a piece of paper.  Tear as in crying.

29. Flair: TALENT.  A cake entered a TALENT contest.  The Judge asked, "What's your talent?"  "Icing", replied the entrant.

30. "Mars Attacks!" creatures, in brief: ETS.  ExtraTerrestrial BeingS

31. Celtic priest of old: DRUID.  Did this one stump you?

34. Son of Zeus: ARES.

 

38. Ralph Lauren brand: POLO

41. Buff: TONED.  Buff, here, was used not as a verb but as an adjective

42. Sked abbr.: TBD.  To Be Determined.  Sometimes it turns out to be TBArranged.

45. Device for smoking shisha: HOOKAH.  Shisha is  is a wet tobacco that is soaked in a combination of glycerin, molasses or honey, and flavoring.

48. On an elite level, informally: GOD TIER.  This expression is new to this solver.

53. Wine category: REDS.  As opposed to, for example, white wines or rose wines.

54. Jungfrau, for one: ALP.  elevation 13,642 feet

55. Balm-yielding succulent: ALOE.  ALOE, there.  Vera nice to meet you!

56. Small but powerful group: CADRE.  CADRE entered this solver's vocabulary during the Mao Tse Tung era.

57. History: PAST.  The PAST, the present, and the future walked into a bar . . . and things got a little tense.

62. Yale students: ELIS.  From the eponymous Mr. Elihu Yale.

63. "Praying" insect: MANTIS.

64. Dawn goddess: EOS.  A frequent visitor.

65. __ and file: RANK.  

66. Short-lived Ford model: EDSEL.  Often taken on road trips in our puzzles.

67. Private chats on soc. media: DMS.  Abbreviated clue . . .  Direct MessageS

Down:

1. Treat baked in a fluted liner: CUPCAKE.

2. No longer moving: AT A HALT.

3. Longtime residents: NATIVES.

4. Some Energizers: AAS.

5. Turntable meas.: RPM.  Abbreviated clue . . .   Revolutions Per Minute   Remember when we'd talk of tone arm counter weight, Sure vs Audio-Technica cartridges, and direct drive vs. belt drive?

6. Order: EDICT.  Not order as in what you do at a restaurant.  Not order as in an array.  Order as in some directive to be obeyed.

7. __-Dame de Paris: NOTRE.

An Unforgettable Moment

8. Shocked: AGHAST.  A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget's Thesaurus crashed losing its entire load.  Witnesses were stunned, startled, AGHAST, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, and perplexed.

9. __-mo replay: SLO.

10. Certain representative for a child actor, casually: MOMAGER.  A portmanteau formed from, MOM and ManAGER.

11. More than indecent: OBSCENE.  We'll skip the graphics on this one.

12. Kids' racers: GO KARTS.

14. Sass: LIP.  See also The Sex Pistols "Don't Give Me No Lip, Child"

17. Cherry or lime: TREE.  Flavor, fruit and pie filling were all too long.  Soda would have fit.

21. Arthur in the Television Hall of Fame: BEA.  Best known for her role as Maude.

24. Lima's country: PERU.  A reference to either the country or to the beans which were grown in PERU even before corn was grown there.

25. Jump for joy: EXULT.  See also Van Halen "Jump"

26. Flair: ELAN.

28. Secret-protecting doc: NDA.  NonDisclosure Agreement

32. Late start?: ISO.  The beginning (start) of ISOlate.

33. Down Under canine: DINGO.

35. Jab: POKE.  Not in the "Lonesome Dove" sense.

36. __ Mix cat food: MEOW.

37. "That's strange": ODD.

38. Element of a basic reading test?: PH PAPER.  PH PAPER can be used to determine, or read, where something falls on the acidic, neutral, alkaline (base) scale.  Nice wordplay.

39. "How swanky!": OOH LA LA.

40. Keeps updated: LOOPS IN.

42. Like much Grateful Dead merch: TIE DYED.  Okay, so there's no TIE DYE in this video but the images are great (no pun intended) and how could we pass on the opportunity?

43. Double space?: BEDROOM.  A place for a double bed.

44. "The Lorax" creator: DR SEUSS.  Written in 1971, "The Lorax" was a relatively early piece of work focusing on environmental issues.

46. Legal org.: ABA.

47. "I could use a hand": HELP ME.  In keeping with today's theme (and I would guess that this was an intentional "move" by Brian).  Of course, we could also have gone with The Beach Boys.

49. Four-time NBA All-Star Young: TRAE.   In 2017–18, TRAE tied the then NCAA Division I single-game assists record with 22 and became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season.

51. "Deeply unfortunate": SO SAD. . . . and the opposite from Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (almost went with Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" but it is SO SAD that I could not bring myself to use it):

52. Düsseldorf denials: NEINS.  Today's German lesson.

56. Walgreens rival: CVS.  A drugstore reference.

58. Disappointed cluck: TSK.  We never know, at first, if it will be TSK or TUT but we can go ahead and fill in the T either way.

60. Cell service letters: LTE.  All you might wish to know:  Long Term Evolution

61. Part of EVOO: OIL.  I always thought that the concept was quantum but what do I know??

Well, that will wrap things up for this musical Wednesday.  Have a Grate(ful) Day, everyone!

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MM Out