Hi All.
Today's offering is a return of Brooke. Last Huckster Gary checked on Brooke (10/22/22), she was in Berlin doing a post-doc in computational chemistry and machine-learning work on molecular kinetics.
Um, I might could help with the latter but the former is beyond me.
Alright then, let's get down to business:
17. "We've all been there": JOIN THE CLUB. JOB - your 9 to 5 work.
29. Element of some holiday traditions: GIFT GIVING. GIG. Could be a job or freelance work.
46. Sentiment celebrated with pink, blue, and white apparel: TRANS PRIDE. TRADE - what you do for your work.
62. Ways to sidestep obstacles, and what are found in this puzzle's circles: WORK AROUNDS. Ah, the circles embrace the phrase (and I made them blue-collars ;-))
Across:
1. Italian city known for its cheese: PARMA.
27. Vacation hrs., e.g.: PTO. Paid (Personal) Time Off.
28. Touch-oriented language: PROTACTILE. Braille was too short.
30. Language of Nima Yooshij's poetry: FARSI.
31. Threesomes: TRIADS.
32. "The $100,000 Pyramid" channel: GSN. Game Show Network.
34. Reunion group: CLASS.
38. Little devil: IMP.
40. __/her pronouns: SHE.
41. OPEC member: UAE.
43. Actress Mireille: ENOS.
45. Hamstring exercise: LEG CURL.
46. Immune response agents: T-CELLS.
47. Alfa __: Italian sports cars: ROMEOS.
My '86 Alfa Spider Veloce - Red Barchetta's [RUSH] kin.
48. Still-life pitcher: EWER. Oh, not baseball players' #1 position before the game-clocks ;-)
52. "Gotta run!": IM OFF.
54. The Nutmeg St.: CONN. Connecticut.
55. Sandusky's lake: ERIE.
56. "I get it, I get it!": OK OK.
58. "The Celts" singer: ENYA.
59. The paradise of "Paradise Lost": EDEN.
60. Cold War gp.: SSRS. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, is Latin alphabet transliteration of Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР) //yeah, I Googled the translation.
62. Triumphed: WON.
63. Santa __ winds: ANA.
The Grid:
The Grid
WOs: KIPPoR, something under PARSNIP, I'M Out.
ESPs: OTHER (as clued), LIA, ENOS, LO FI HIP HOP, HSU, COCUS, NNEKA, and probably many others Fav: Alfa ROMEO
Hope the grid wasn't too much of a 'task' for y'all. And with that, I'll just leave yous with Styx's Blue Collar Man.
Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic
Rafael and Brooke provided us a real Saturday challenge and I have highlighted my one bad cell here. I had no chance at SAZERACS and I felt SIA would not be correct since Singapore was in the clue. Over the past year or so, I have come to know SIA as a singer with distinctive hair styles but Patti did not use her here.
The long fill was very gettable but did take some finaggling to get the letters lined up correctly. As usual, Brooke, et. al's diabolical cluing was fun after it was frustrating. Even the arcane internet fill went quietly, eventually.
Across:
1. Copywriter?: SCRIBE - If you have ever taken the ride through Spaceship Earth, you have seen this sleeping SCRIBE in one of the tableaus
7. New Orleans cocktails: SAZERACS - Sorry, Big Easy, I had no idea. The classic Sazerac recipe expertly balances whiskey with sugar, bitters and absinthe.
15. Browned, maybe: COOKED.
16. "That was great!": I LOVED IT.
17. Compliment-fisher's question: AREN'T I? - "I'm a good person, AREN'T I?"
18. __ dollar: ALMIGHTY - "When in doubt, follow the money"
19. Osso buco accompaniment: RISOTTO.
21. "Watch this space" letters: TBA.
22. Social reformer Dorothea: DIX.
23. Academy near the Culinary Institute in New York: WEST POINT - I kept fighting WEST POINT because it seemed too easy
26. Winter Palace ruler: TSAR.
28. Mouth part: ROOF.
29. Guys: HES.
32. 24-hour extension period?: LEAP YEAR - 😀. It took a little cogitating!
34. Conceive: IDEATE - Crossword learning
37. Happy characters: SMILEYS - Oh, like these 😀😁😃?
38. Easy way to get a six-pack: BEER RUN - Smokey And The Bandit was about a Coors BEER RUN
39. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, maybe: UP LATE.
40. Timely blessings: GODSENDS - I married mine 56 years ago
41. F1 neighbor: ESC.
42. __ Club: SAM'S.
44. Assist, often: PASS - 😀 I loved this clue (eventually)
45. __ college: ELECTORAL.
48. Irrelevant stat for an EV: MPG - Miles Per Kilowatt?
51. Bird in the bush: EMU - The bush country of Australia 😀
52. Finish with a bang?: MIC DROP - That's all there is to say!
4. Remark from someone with the perfect spot in mind: I KNOW A PLACE.
5. "Actually, it might be more fun if ... ": BETTER YET.
6. Exchanges words?: EDITS 😀
7. Singapore Airlines, for short: SIA - Not the singer Patti has had in a quite a few recent puzzles
8. Exceedingly: ALL TOO.
9. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, jocularly: ZOMBIFIED.
10. "Water the way nature intended" water: EVIAN.
11. Short rule?: REG - Short for REGulation
12. "Driven to Distraction" condition: Abbr.: ADHD.
13. Big Four bank name: CITI.
14. River down under?: STYX - The mythical river between Earth and the Underworld
20. "Others," in Spanish: OTRAS - Puedes inviter a OTRAS personas. (You can invite other people).
24. __ ejemplo: POR - ¿Cuál es, POR ejemplo, su solución? (What, for example, is your solution?)
25. Genuine: THE REAL DEAL.
26. Mesa neighbor: TEMPE - TEMPE hosts the Angels in spring training and Mesa hosts the Cubs
27. Goes where the wind blows: SAILS.
30. Brings home: EARNS.
31. Hunks: STUDS.
32. Sch. that's home to the Golden Band from Tigerland: LSU.
33. Texter's "I need to hear the drama!": EYES EMOJI.
35. Reggaeton megahit whose title means "slowly": DESPACITO
36. Nav. rank: ENS.
38. Bust: BOSOM.
40. BBC clock setting: GMT - No matter where the International Space Station is, the astronauts go by Greenwich Mean Time (zero degrees longitude)
43. Legends, e.g.: ACURAS.
46. "So what if they do?": LET 'EM.
47. Chamillionaire song that starts "They see me rollin'": RIDIN'
48. Certain gender presentation, briefly: MASC.
49. Member of a rap trio with Spinderella: PEPA.
50. Family nickname: GRAN.
53. Play thing: ROLE - Al Pacino was offered the ROLE of Han Solo but turned it down
54. Non-opposing remarks?: OUIS - 😀 Non is the French word for NO and so...
55. Fundraising orgs.: PTAS.
57. Play thing: ACT.
58. Texting letters: SMS - The blue message below indicates it is using the Apple iMessage system and the green message indicates the Short Message System
Hi All!
Sorry to tell you folks, you're stuck with me again.
I'm not sure what's on C.C.'s plate, but I'm sure she needs a break regardless.
I knew there was a reason I don't do Sunday puzzles, and now I remember - too many words for this dyslexic.
//I clued a Sunday LAT with C.C. once... Once! [Johnny Dangerously]
The Constructors take in-the-vernacular phrases and flips one word opposite for whimsy. Take a look:
23. Drill sergeant, perhaps?: PRIVATE ENEMY NUMBER ONE. As opposed to Public Enemy Number One - aka the dude on the Wanted poster.
A Drill Sgt's goal is to get the platoon to work as a team. He makes it a point to become the PVTs' common enemy. Ask me how I know. #GoArmy
36. Collective action by society women?: DEBUTANTE STRIKE. As opposed to a Debutante Ball - think baseball's strikes & balls.
49. Farm bird that never topples?: NO FALL CHICKEN. No Spring Chicken - we ain't getting any younger.
66. Amendment proposed by a technophile?: RIGHT TO ONES OWN DEVICES. Left To One's Own Devices - only using what (little) God gave you.
Lawsuits were filed and folks won the right-to-repair. [See: Apple / Deere lawsuits. Interesting story: when Russians stole Ukrainian farm equipment, John Deere remotely disabled all of them.]
78. Like a typical ride on a mechanical bull?: A FEW BUCKS LONG. A Few Bucks Short - not enough money to ride the bull again.
92. Endure within a group of peers?: LAST AMONG EQUALS. First Among Equals - The Crème de la Crème (in your circle) or to last through/put-up with their airs.
109. Death and taxes, per Benjamin Franklin?: UNIVERSAL BASIC OUTCOME. Universal Basic Income - what some in D.C. argue for instead of what out-goes every April 15th (when's Canada's tax due, C,Eh!?).
A very cute and well-executed theme. Debutante STRIKE threw me for a while 'cuz I was thinking, "what's opposite for Deb?"
And now, for the rest of the fill:
Across:
1. Cat's attention-getter, maybe: PAW. Some Cornites report their cats paw them awake them for their (cats') breakfast.
4. Car once advertised as a "well-built Swede": SAAB. A man called Ove cherished his.
8. Endpoint for some boots and skirts: THIGH. Just above the (67d) TIBIA.
13. Like cookies soon after the Cookie Monster spots them: EATEN. Nom, nom, nom.
18. Equine parent: SIRE. The daddy-horse that begat.
20. Anti-censorship org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union. I wanted EFF (fights for right-to-repair) before I saw I needed to ink four squares.
21. Provençal mayo: AIOLI. Garlic and oil mayonnaise.
22. Only just: NEWLY. Minted.
23. [See: Theme]
27. New York, for one: STATE. And a city, and a county.
Ghost Busters - City, County, and, STATE
28. Lubricate: GREASE. For the squeaky-wheel.
29. Return: PROFIT. One's ROI [Return On Investment].
30. Audrey Hopburn letters: IPA. Indian Pale Ale. I assume this is a beer. Note the Hop(s) and not Hep.
31. Distribution parties: ISSUERS. People handing out stuff, not galas with swag.
34. Ellington composition: RAG. Duke.
Soda Fountain Rag
35. Inning's trio?: ENS. Not OUTs - There's three 'N's in iNNiNG. I'd like to speak with management about these types of clues/answers :-)
36. [See: Theme]
41. French bread?: EURO. Bread, dough, money. France was one of the first countries to eschew their currency and adopt the Euro on 1 Jan 1999.
43. Part of an underwater forest: KELP. Dried & spiced, it's Eldest's favorite snack.
44. One-eighty: UIE. U-turn.
45. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. Cute.
47. Pick up: DETECT. Sense. You have five (or six if you're "special").
49. [See: Theme]
55. Wrath: IRE. The IRE of Khan [Star Trek] doesn't have the same ring to it.
Khaaaaan!
56. Honeycomb unit: CELL.
Perfect Little Hexagons
57. Rep. from the Bronx: AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the representative from the City of the New York. //Remember - no politics :-)
58. WWF, e.g.: NGO. World Wildlife Fund is a Non-Governmental Organization.
World Wrestling Federation lost a lawsuit to the NGO inre: WWF moniker so now they're WWE (Entertainment) - that ordeal made a comic Hahtoolah posted a bit back very LOL.
59. Mountain goats' terrain: CRAGS.
62. Temperamental: MOODY.
63. Org. with the largest-circulation magazine in the U.S.: AARP. American Association of Retired Persons. Bzzt - you don't have to be retired for them to start sending you membership forms when you hit 50 :-) //and how do they know?
65. Corner store: MART.
Apu's Quick-E-Mart
66. [See: Theme]
70. Cut and paste, say: EDIT. Editing commands to a computer (CTRL-C & CTRL-V / CMD-C & CMD-V [Apple]) or what folks physically did (with scissors & GLUE (11d)) before going to press.
71. Ibex range: ALPS. CRAGS there, too, I bet.
72. Drops: OMITS. Leaves out.
73. Invite for: ASK TO. A bit gluey fill, no?
74. Gretchen of "Boardwalk Empire": MOL. I've never watched this so ESP (Every. Single. Perpendicular.) #1.
Gretchen Mol
75. La Liga cheer: OLE. LaLiga is Spain's futbal division. Only English speakers add the space between La and Liga. I guessed the fill but thank Google for the expo.
76. Contact __: LENS.
77. Carol contraction: 'TIS the season to be jolly...
78. [See: Theme]
83. Some Japanese TVs: SANYOS.
86. "I don't care!": SO SUE ME. Can't get blood from a turnip.
87. Terr. divided in 1889: DAK. Into North & South DAKotas.
88. Kiwi-shaped: OVAL. The fruit, not the bird nor the people of New Zealand.
90. Color of Montana's flag: BLUE. Hi, Montana!
Montana's State Flag
92. [See: Theme]
97. __ carte: ALA.
98. "Hair Love" voice actress Issa: RAE. ESP #2
100. Strapless bralette: BANDEAU. ESP #3.
101. "__ Lasso": TED. If you have Apple+ TV, I highly recommend the show. Touching & funny at the same time.
Trailer
102. Passing remark?: GO DEEP. Football - for the "Hail Mary" pass.
104. Slides (over): SCOOTS. Skootch was a letter too long (and shows my Midwest upbringing).
107. Hides in plain sight?: TIPIS. ESP #4. I guess this is an alternate spelling of Tepees(?) made of animal hide. If I'm right (I am, I looked it up), this is really cute.
109. [See: Theme]
114. Contributed: ADDED. Y'all will get your chance to contribute / ADD commentary.
115. French 101 verb: AVOIR. Fr. for Have. //another ESP. #5.
116. Ziggurat level: TIER. I got this from "level." A ziggurat is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. [WikiP]
A Ziggurat
117. Shoestring catch?: SNAG. A trippy-moment or SNAG'n' a ball near your feet in the outfield? We should be told.
118. Creates a Maillard reaction on a steak, say: SEARS. Interaction of sugars with amino acids. She'll explain:
119. Gave back, as land: CEDED. Tense, -T, tense. See Gave (past) in the clue? (I didn't at first).
120. Be worthy of: EARN. You earned it.
121. Nestlé's __-Caps: SNO.
Sno-Caps
Down:
1. Nintendo : DS :: Sony : __: PSP. Sony's PlayStation, Portable, 1EA :-) //a joke for the Vets.
2. Measure typically given in knots: AIR SPEED. A nautical mile well above the waters.
3. Like some data disks: WRITABLE. I hope they were at least once writable or there's nothing on them.
4. Chili-based Vietnamese condiment: SATE SAUCE. Looks like very hot salsa.
5. The "A" of LGBTQIA+, for short: ACE. Perps.
6. The "A" of 30-Across: ALE. It's been a while, but remember 30a? It, Audrey Hopburn, was an IPAle.
7. __ cord: BUNGEE.
The Girls loved Veggie Tales (and it was funny)
8. Maximally vanilla: TAMEST. Not fair to vanilla - it's my fav w/ peaches or malted milk (or both!).
9. "Howdy there!": HI YA. HolA fit, didn't it Lucina? My only ink-over.
10. Cyclotron particles: IONS. A Cyclotron is a ring of magnets that speed IONS to near light just to smash 'em into other particles. Subatomic physics. #Fermilabs
11. "I'm rubber, you're __ ... ": GLUE. Your insults bounce off me and stick on you.
12. That guy: HIM. I have a buddy who's "catch-line" was "That guy" as he thumb'd at someone nearby. I was the butt of that bit when we were at .conf in Vegas. He taught me Blackjack, so there's that.
13. Fired up: ENERGETIC.
14. Prefix with Mexico: AERO. Aeromexico is an airline.
15. BOGO deal: TWOFER. Buy-One/Get-One aka a Two-for-One deal. I thank WC talking about his BOGO deals at Publix for knowing this.
16. Weather-affecting Pacific current: EL NINO.
Difference between EL NINO & LA NINA
17. Politburo nos: NYETS. Not numbers but NO! in Russia before 1991.
19. Noblezada of "Easter Sunday": EVA. A&E I didn't know. A three-letter actor/actress with EV_ can only end with an A or E. No?
24. Bumping heads: AT IT. A row, a fight, going AT IT.
25. Drops the ball, say: ERRS. Oy! Boss-man: "Where are we regarding..." Me: "D'Oh!, I dropped the ball."
26. __-free plastic: BPA. BisPhenol A is a synthetic organic compound used in making certain plastics. It's thought to be harmful if ingested; they're probably right.
30. Brief "Beats me!": IDK.
Story: I texted Youngest, "When will you be home?"
She texts back, "idk"
I respond, "What's idk?"
Youngest: "I don't know"
Me: "Then why would you text me idk if you don't know what idk means?"
The penny dropped a microsecond after I hit send. #EggFace #EmojiGigglesEnsued.
Why would you tell me you have a plethora if you don't know what it means to have a plethora?
32. Fit of pique: SNIT. Yet another ado.
33. Great Basin native: UTE.
34. Sends off the soccer pitch: RED CARDS. Did y'all hear about the ref that Red-Carded himself?
37. Far from relaxed: UPTIGHT.
38. Color TV pioneer: RCA. Hi Misty!
39. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life.
40. Kenan's "Good Burger" co-star: KEL.
42. Sch. that competes against Notre Dame for the Jeweled Shillelagh: USC. ESP #6. University of Southern California. Some history of the trophy.
46. [Crossing my fingers!]: I HOPE. Or, if behind your back, you're telling a lie.
48. German "first": ERST.
49. Bright shades: NEONS. Remember the '80's?
The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) Rocked It
50. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE.
51. Eschew a co-pilot: FLY SOLO.
52. Real talent: KNACK. With "The" you get My Sharona
53. Wading bird: EGRET.
54. "Au contraire!": NOT SO. Oui, Oui! More French.
56. Member-owned grocery: CO-OP. A COOPerative.
59. Espresso froth: CREMA. I'm assuming Italian spelling of Crème(?) When DW & I were in Italy, I'd just quit smoking (again) so I loved to end the day with espresso & gelatto before our last bit of wine.
60. Free from: RID OF. Toss it if it doesn't bring joy. Or not: I'm just sure I can use this again ;-)
61. Fleet of foot: AGILE.
62. Chemistry class model: MOLECULE.
Water
63. Filling with wonder: AWING. Gluey IMHO.
64. Children's song marchers: ANTS. The ANTS go marching/One by one/The ANTS go...
65. Text in a long-distance relationship, maybe: MISS YOU. Or, just mid-day texts to Significant Other.
67. Tibia neighbor: TALUS. Dem Bones/Dem Bones...
68. Spilled salt, to some: OMEN. Throw a bit over your left-shoulder and the demon goes away, so they say.
"kill -9 all" makes the daemons go away [*nix joke for the techies]
I wrote "kill -9 all | sort -god out" on a buddy's white-board. He left the company 5 years ago, but the quip is still on the wall.
69. Thinking a song is about oneself, say: VAIN. Cue Carly Simon.
75. Music store supply: OBOE REEDS. We get both OBOE and REED in the same fill!
77. Roll the dice, say: TAKE A TURN. My first thought was TAKE A risk.
79. Pacific Northwest sch.: WSU. Washington State University.
80. Hawaiian for "white": KEA. Ok, now the Hawaiian mountain's names make sense.
81. Texting tech: SMS. Short Messaging Service.
82. "If we must die, O __ us nobly die": McKay: LET.
83. Herb used in some smudging rituals: SAGE. DW's PhD department was so toxic - one night, she and fellow candidates took bunched SAGE, lit it, and smudged every office. You could smell the sweet for a week.
84. Big hands?: OVATIONS. Cute - give Brian & Brooke a big round of applause.
85. Word in an Arthur Miller title: SALESMAN. The Death of a...
87. RPG with a 20-sided die: DND. Dungeons-n-Dragons is a Role Playing Game. An icosahedron (20-sided die, aka a 20d) is used to determine chance of survival from an orc / dragon / random-monster attack. Or, if your character is strong, hit-points against a foe. I oft played a Paladin Ranger, so I'd usually end up w/ a 12d (dodecahedron) for hit-points. //the rules have changed since I played the 2nd edition (D&D is now on v5e) and now I have to keep up with Eldest's knowledge.
89. Acid initials: LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. More trippy-stuff (or so I am told).
90. Strawberry __: BLONDE. This took forever 'cuz I kept thinking margarita, jam, or preserve. Cue BLONDiE.
Call Me
91. Highfalutin: LA-DI-DA. Mr. Fancy Pants.
93. "All __!": ABOARD. Rise (think court-room) was too short so I got on the train.
94. Rolls in yoga class: MATS.
95. In the office: ON SITE. Post-Covid vaccines, a few departments are still 100% remote, but our team is ON-SITE, IRL, three days a week.
96. Word after rage or force: QUIT. Rage quit or force quit.
Rage quit -
Youngest @9p night b/f post explained Rage quit: it's when you're
so mad at something / someone you just stop fiddling / texting.
Force quit -
Stopping (ending) an unresponsive application on your Windows or Apple
device. Ctrl+Alt+Del on Windows devices, and Option-Command-Esc on a Mac.
97. __ frescas: fruit drinks: AGUAS.
99. Passover's month, often: Abbr.: APR. April. I was expecting this fill to be in Hebrew. Not that I speak it but, silly me, waited for perps.
103. Even once: EVER. Have you Ever...
That Dog
104. Back up: SAVE. Your data on Writable data disks or in "The Cloud."
105. Graceless one: CLOD. Some days, yes, that's me. //EVER just turn into a wall instead of the doorway thinking you were one step later?
110. __ fly: SAC. Short for Sacrifice. #Baseball! A SAC fly is when there's a runner at 3rd, fewer that 2 outs, and you hit it deep knowing you'll be out but hoping the out-fielder can't get the ball to home before the runner tags-up and takes off. I suppose, with less that two outs, you could SAC to move the runner to 3rd - but that's a risky bet.
111. Spy-fi org.: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency - USA's spooks. //Back in the day, at hacker conferences, we'd play spot-the-spook to figure out who was .gov. Eventually, they started recruiting us :-)
112. Not 'neath: O'ER. Poetry and more carols... "the river and through the woods..."
113. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. We recently had her in the grid - and I remembered!
Themeless Saturday by Erica Hsiung Wojcik and Brooke Husic
Erica is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Skidmore College. I plan on looking up some of her fascinating research topics such as: How do infants and toddlers learn the sounds, words, and grammar of their native language(s)? How do infants, toddlers and adults use patterns in the world around them to learn about language, objects, and events?
I have reviewed several of Brooke's collaborative puzzles, the one previous was with our friend Mary Lou Guizzo. Brooke received her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2019 from Stanford University and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department Of Mathematics And Computer Science at the Free University Berlin until 2021. Postdoc (2021-): Lewis-Sigler Institute / Center for Theoretical Science / Center for the Physics of Biological Function, Princeton University
On personal note, today marks the end of my 5th year of blogging Saturday puzzles on C.C.'s Crossword Corner. I have learned a lot and interacted with so many very smart and clever bloggers, commenters and constructors. 19. Starting from: SINCE 2017!
Now on we go to my 6th year and 261st Saturday write-up!
Across:
1. Ceremonial champagne opener: SABER.
6. Rich brown shade: MOCHA.
11. Brazen personal ad?: SHAMELESS PLUG - Many talk show guests are there to simply promote their latest project and work it into the conversation.
14. Gains star power: HITS THE BIG TIME - They credit appearing on Johnny Carson's Tonight show to HIT THE BIG TIME
15. Attacks, as a snow fort: PELTS.
16. First name in jumps: EVEL - In some of attempts, the jump was fine but the landing not so much.
17. Hub served by BART: SFO - This Bay Area Rapid Transit map shows you can take the red or yellow line out to The San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
18. Initial request for an answer?: RSVP.
19. "You're killing me, __!": SMALLS - I have this 1993 video of Sandlot but forgot this line. It is now slang for telling someone that they are disappointing you. The origin of the line
21. Something clasped for support: BRA.
23. Legal conclusion?: ESE -LEGALESE - Here they are essentially saying "today": In witness whereof, the parties hereunto have set their hands to these presents as a deed on the day month and year hereinbefore mentioned.
24. Knee-slappers: RIOTS.
25. Workshop device: CLAMP.
27. Mystery-shrouded novelist Elena: FERRANTE - Did anyone else think of the piano duet of Ferrante and Teicher?
29. Fancy affair: SOIREE - SOIR is French for night and so SOIREE is an elegant evening party
30. Restless desire: ITCH.
31. Symbol held aloft in an Emmy statuette: ATOM - One of our favorite people with his Emmy
32. Indigenous Arizona people: APACHE - I'd thought I'd throw in a 1960 classic named for this tribe in Eastern Arizona with great pictures too.
35. Minibar tool: ICE TONGS.
39. Number of World Series wins for each of Chicago's teams: THREE - Cubs 1907, 1908 & 2016. White Sox - 1906, 1917 & 2005
40. Draws (away): SHIES.
41. Continuity problem: GAP - Many students suffered a continuity GAP during the Covid pandemic
42. See 45-Down: MAT and 45. With 42-Across, surface for shavasana: YOGA.
43. Having sex, perhaps: RATED-R - The wonderful movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles would have been easily rated PG-13 but the rental car scene between Steve Martin and the delightful Edie McClurg used the "f-word" eighteen times and thus received an R rating.
45. City in the Sonoran Desert: YUMA - They bill themselves as the hottest city in America.
46. Chest bone: RIB.
48. "Phooey!": DRAT.
49. Entrance hall: FOYER.
50. "Calm down, sport": EASY THERE TIGER - Slow your roll...
53. Triumphant declaration: NOT TODAY SATAN - You're not getting me today, Satan.
54. Animals in Serta ads: SHEEP.
55. A couple: MATES.
Down:
1. Chutzpah: SASS - Don't use "chutzpah" unless. you know how to pronounce it
2. Invoice no.: AMT.
3. Colossus: BEHEMOTH - Two beasts from the book of Job
4. Give a lift: ELEVATE.
5. Defies authority: REBELS - Make sure it's worth it.
