Monday September 18, 2023 Dan Caprera

  

Hello Cornerites!

Constructor Dan Caprera is back with his 5th L.A. Times puzzle. He is known for fun and clever ideas. Let's see what he has dealt out for us today.

Theme:        Cut It Out  

There are four starred clues. Each has circles that draw attention to the first and last letters of the answers.

16 Across. *LGBT+ organization founded in 1990: QUEER NATION.  QUEEN

Queer Nation NY History page

24 Across. *"Chin up!": KEEP SMILING.  KING

36 Across. *Musical film about a convict who learns to play the guitar in prison: JAILHOUSE ROCK.  JACK  

Of course it was Elvis who played that convict in 1957. This was his third movie.

49 Across. *Completely unapproachable: AS COLD AS ICE.  ACE  

Foreigner sang about this in 1977 on their debut album.

Dan shows his hand with the unifier at

59 Across. Prepare a deck before dealing, and what the answers to the starred clues literally do: CUT THE CARDS.

The names of four playing cards (QUEEN, KING, JACK, and ACE) have been "cut" into two parts.

As they say, "Trust everybody but cut the cards." If you are not a card player, you might want to go here to learn about the how & why of cutting cards.

With that, we'll CUT to the chase and look at the other 73 clues....

Across:
1. Cheese __: Wisconsin snack: CURDS.  I tried these once when I visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Oregon. Did you know they squeak in your mouth? You can learn why they squeak and much, much more here.

6. October birthstone: OPAL.  

I looked at a few charts. There is some disagreement. Apparently this is not as standardized as I thought.
I suggest you buy the one you like best.

10. Solemn oath: VOW.  

13. Turner of "Game of Thrones": SOPHIE.  

This is SOPHIE and SOPHIE's GoT character, Sansa Stark.

14. Lymph __: immune system part: NODE.  You have lymph NODES throughout your body, including your neck, armpits, and groin. From the Mayo Clinic website:  They function as filters, trapping viruses, bacteria, and other causes of illness before they can infect other parts of your body.

15. Amazement: AWE.

18. Bumped into: MET.  "MET" can mean a first-time meeting or it can refer to an encounter with an established friend (both past-tense). Context is the key.

19. Bone parallel to the radius: ULNA.

20. __-mo replay: SLO.  

A Harlem Globetrotter gives a fan a SLO-mo high five. (47 sec.)

21. Open, as a keg: TAP.  and  17 Down. Keg filler: ALE.

23. Use an abacus, perhaps: ADD.  One year I taught a summer school elective course on using an abacus. My students and I became surprisingly proficient. It was fun plus it reinforced basic math concepts in a way that felt "new" so the students were not saying, "This again. Ugh."

29. Sample size?: TASTE.  Cute clue! Think 'Costco'.

31. The North Star: POLARIS.  Great fill, Dan!

NASA website's POLARIS page

32. Hi-__ graphics: RES.

34. Doja Cat genre: RAP.  

Doja Cat doing some gardening chores.

35. Mineral that adds shimmer to cosmetics: MICA.  According to the internet, there is controversy over this ingredient.

40. Glass unit: PANE.  Think windows, not martinis.

41. Name on a 1950s campaign button: IKE.  Since there are no abbreviations in the clue, we were not looking for initials.  

His made the list of Time Magazine's Top 10 Campaign Ads.

42. In a funk: SAD.  If you are in a funk, listening to this song might cheer you up!  

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry (1976)

43. Part of a bedroom set: DRESSER.  furniture

45. Kidney-related: RENAL.  "RENAL" is an adjective whereas "kidney" is a noun.

news about pig kidney transplant

53. Egg cells: OVA.  "Cells" is plural so we needed the plural of "ovum".

You probably know that the largest ovum today would be an ostrich's egg, but did you know that they are the smallest eggs relative to the size of the adult bird?

54. MyHeritage sample: DNA.  I have not done this. Have you?

55. Bonfire residue: ASH.  

Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) Marshall goes for a walk (1 min.)

featuring Tom Hanks & Kim Cattrall

56. Sink annoyance: DRIP.

57. Sci-fi vehicle: UFO.  "Science Fiction" is abbreviated, so is Unidentified Flying Object.  

63. Clever remark: MOT.  as in "bon MOT"

64. Reflex hammer's target: KNEE.

65. Literary comparison: SIMILE.  See 49A.

66. Body spray with a Dark Temptation scent: AXE.  a FAV among constructors and teenage boys

67. Transgressions: SINS.

68. Fresh: SASSY.  

Down:
1. Might've: COULDA.  Coulda Shoulda Woulda

2. Radically changes: UPENDS.

3. Actress Perlman: RHEA.  She might best be known for her role on the TV show Cheers.

1 minute of some of Carla's best burns

4. N, NE, or NNE: DIR.  DIRection

5. __ of humor: SENSE.

6. Leading the pack: ON TOP.  

The Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las (1964)

7. Finger food at luaus: POI.  dig in

8. "Much __ About Nothing": ADO.  Shakespeare

9. Soup legume: LENTIL.  I eat a lot of LENTILs. Here's why:  

10. Like some "What We Do in the Shadows" characters: VAMPIRIC.  I am unfamiliar with the show but "shadows" and a couple of perps hinted that the answer would have something to do with vampires.

11. Have an open tab, say: OWE.  not an iPAD TABlet

12. Not just damp: WET.  

13. Crouch down: SQUAT.

22. Très chic: À LA MODE.  Def:  (adjective)  1. Fashionable, stylish. 2. topped with ice cream 

a fashionable amphibian

 24. Topple (over): KEEL.  To KEEL over is to turn or upset so as to bring the wrong side or part uppermost. I am picturing a boat with the KEEL facing upwards. I had not thought of it that way before. In Hawaii, the word for overturning an outrigger canoe is to "huli". Also, chicken cooked on a rotisserie is called "huli huli chicken". It's a fun connection.

Another definition is to fall as in a faint.

25. Hot springs: SPAS.   They rhyme with "ahs". Coincidence?

26. Sulks: MOPES.

27. "The Last of Us" actor Offerman: NICK.  You might remember him as Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. Or maybe you've read his book.  

NICK is unlikely to huli his canoe.

28. Agcy. managing federal real estate assets: GSA.  General Services Administration  gsa.gov
I think they are usually closed on Mondays.

30. Tests for fit: TRIES ON.  

33. __ away from: SHIED.

34. Actress McClanahan: RUE.

36. Pickle containers: JARS.  I like gherkins.

37. Often-amusing story: ANECDOTE.  

Sometimes this word is confused with "antidote".

38. Gumbo thickener: OKRA.

39. Hard to come by: RARE.   12 of the RAREst things on Earth (fixed) I have seen #3 at the Honolulu Zoo and I have grown #7 in my garden.

40. Tech replaced by smartphones: PDA.  Personal Digital Assistant

The Golden Age of PDAs was roughly 1992 to 2007.

44. Trousers: SLACKS.

46. Former "All Things Considered" host Michele: NORRIS.  ATC website

I recently read current host Mary Louise Kelly's book, It. Goes. So. Fast. It is mostly about work/life balance but she does tell a few stories about hosting this NPR program.

47. With zeal: AVIDLY.  a good thing

48. Run out, as insurance: LAPSE.  not a good thing

50. Fills fully: SATES.

51. "Kinda": -ISH.

52. Game with grandmasters: CHESS.  

56. River blockers: DAMS.  Here is a 2:30 min. video showing beavers building dams. So cute!!

57. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Here's UMA's dance scene with John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994). IMHO, few are in John Travolta's league when it comes to movie dance scenes...Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Urban Cowboy, Pulp Fiction, plus plus.

58. Crafty one: FOX.

60. Mono- kin: UNI-.  Both are prefixes indicating "one".

61. X, at times: TEN.  Roman numeral

The cost of joining the Roman Numeral Society is exactly $499. They wouldn't let me in because I did not have ID.

62. Spy-fi org.: CIA.  

This is the completed grid. I liked that there was a little 'meat' in the SE today.

Now it's time for me to cut out and let you do the talking!

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

I made today's Atlas Obscura "Get So Emotional" puzzle. Click here to solve.

It's edited by Samir Patel, the editor-in-chief of Atlas Obscura.

 

Monday April 3, 2023 Dan Caprera

  

Hello Cornerites! Welcome to the first Monday in April!

Mama Mia! Today's constructor Dan Caprera has given us a Wicked fun puzzle enjoyed by solvers from Oklahoma! to Chicago to the South Pacific to Hamilton, Ontario. Yes, The Sound of Music from A Chorus Line was ringing in my ears as The King and I, along with the other Guys and Dolls, worked our way through the clues. We plan to thank The Producers by sending them a case of Spamalot and perhaps a pair of Kinky Boots.

You guessed it! Our theme today is        Broadway Shows

James Cagney performing Give My Regards To Broadway

from the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

Let's take an intermission and look at the 4 themed entries:

16 Across. *Vigorous effort: ELBOW GREASE.

noun

INFORMAL

1. hard physical work, especially vigorous polishing or cleaning.

   "you should be able to get the rust off with a wire brush and elbow grease"

23 Across. *"Last Week Tonight" host: JOHN OLIVER.  

Comedian, actor, and writer JOHN OLIVER hosts this HBO show.
It airs at 11 p.m. on Sunday nights. Oof!

38 Across. *Winter transports with treads: SNOCATS. "SNOCAT" is a portmanteau of "snow" and "Caterpillar", as in the tractor company. The name originated from a 1946 trademark by Tucker Sno-Cat corporation. They can be used for plowing; grooming mountains and trails; creating snow terrain parks and obstacle courses; and transporting passengers across snow-covered areas.  

49 Across. *Come out on top, but just barely: WIN BY A HAIR. This idiom and "win by a nose" mean to defeat one's opponent by a very narrow margin.

Why would these seemingly disparate things be in the same puzzle? Let's look at the reveal:

61 Across. Dazzling theater performance, and what the answer to each starred clue literally has: SHOWSTOPPER.  The Broadway shows GREASE, OLIVER, CATS, and HAIR are all dazzling theater performances. Furthermore, the titles are at the end of the starred clues so each starred clue actually STOPs with a show.

Well done, Dan!

Across:

1. Abrasion a tot may call an "owie": SCRAPE.  A Hello Kitty band-aid will make it feel better.

7. __-mo: instant replay technique: SLO.

10. Cauldron: VAT.  a large tank or tub used to hold liquid, especially in industry.

Batman (1989)

Michael Keaton (Batman) and Jack Nicholson (The Joker)

have it out over a VAT of industrial goop at Axis Chemicals (1:41 min.)

13. Wobble: TEETER.  Does anyone remember these toys?

Weebles Wobble but they don't fall down. ♪♪♪

14. Stretch across: SPAN. and 7 Down. Barcelona's country: SPAIN.

The Camino de Santiago SPANs a good portion of northern SPAIN.

Has anyone read I'll Push You ?

15. Wedding promise: I DO.  I heard recently that people are using ChatGPT to write their "personal" wedding vows.  😂

18. Dairy farm animal: COW.  

Check out their tally board!

19. Future prunes, perhaps: PLUMS.  I used to have a neighbor who had a prune orchard. That is how I learned that prunes are their own fruit -- not just dried plums. I ate fresh prunes off the tree and made prune jam. This link explains the difference between a plum and a prune. Good job, Dan, for including the "perhaps" qualifier!

20. R&B singer Redding: OTIS.  Oh, yeah.... 

(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

The song was recorded shortly before Otis died in a plane crash.

It was the first posthumous single to top the charts in the U.S.

My cat used to always perk up during the whistling part.

21. "And __ off!": WE'RE.  I usually add, "...like a heard of turtles." My Aussie friend Mick usually adds, "...like a bucket of shrimp left in the sun." His version is funnier.

22. Spanish "Yes, yes!": SÍ SÍ

25. Treble __: music symbol: CLEF.  

27. Exceedingly dry: SERE.  (adjective)  being dried and withered.

28. Fan's "I want my money back!": BOO.

Snoopy BOOs Charlie Brown

in A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) (31 sec.)

31. Use Grubhub, say: EAT IN. When I had the "E", I was trying to make some sort of E-food or E-tail thing work. Turns out, it wasn't that complicated.

34. Curt: TERSE.

37. Gallop: RUN.

40. "__ it ain't so!": SAY.

Weezer released SAY It Ain't So in 1994.

41. Mermaid whose father is King Triton: ARIEL. (See 55 Down.)

43. Soda brand in blue cans: PEPSI.

44. Chopping tool: AXE.

45. Do as one's asked: OBEY.

47. Philosopher Immanuel: KANT.  (1972-1894) life and works and more

53. Carmine and ruby: REDS.  wines

Was it constructor Dan's plan to distract us with thoughts of
this Carmine from Laverne & Shirley?

57. Comes to a close: ENDS.

58. Piggy bank addition: COIN.  

59. Confusion: MIX-UP.  I am sure you have heard stories of travel destination MIX-UPs. This one happened just last February when a man traveling to Sydney, Australia ended up in Sydney, MT .

60. Hullabaloo: ADO.  

63. Cup edge: RIM.

64. James of jazz: ETTA.

65. "Gotta hurry!": I'M LATE.  "Gotta" in the clue makes the contraction in the answer work.

66. Observe: SEE. and 36 Down. Observe: EYE.

67. Donkey: ASS.

68. Dangerous African fly: TSETSE.  When an infected TSETSE fly bites people, it can transmit a parasite that causes the disease African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness. Symptoms include fatigue, high fever, headaches, and muscle aches. If the disease is not treated, it can cause death.

Down:
1. Units tracked by fitness trackers: STEPS.

2. Large stringed instruments in an orchestra: CELLI.  Hand up for first having CELLo. It turns out that CELLI or cellos is the plural of "cello" (full name:  violincello).

3. Picture puzzle: REBUS.  Here are 9. You can find the answers at the end of this write-up.

4. Decidedly tiny: ATOMIC.  A human hair is about 1 million carbon atoms wide.

5. Church benches: PEWS.  Wisdom from my grandfather:  He who passes gas in church sits in his own PEW.

6. Indoor rower, for short: ERG.  We've had this one before. An ERG (commonly known as a rower) stands for "ergometer", a device that measures the amount of work performed. It is designed to mimic the rowing motion that a person creates when in a watercraft but operates on land. Embrace the ERG!

8. Rodeo ropes: LASSOS.

Will Rogers in The Roping Fool (1922).

Watch him rope a mouse!

This is a 4:22 min. excerpt. Here is a link to the full 19:22 min. version.

9. Dollar: ONE.

10. The other way around: VICE VERSA.  Fun fill!

adverb

1. with the main items in the preceding statement the other way around

Here is the trailer for the 1988 movie VICE VERSA starring Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage.

It's one of those parent-kid-switch-bodies movies -- always a good set-up for some silliness.

11. Love to pieces: ADORE.

12. Pisa landmark: TOWER. Construction of the Leaning TOWER of Pisa began in 1173 as the third and final structure of the city of Pisa's cathedral complex. In particular, it was built to serve as the complex's bell TOWER.

14. "Jokes __ Can't Tell": late-night segment: SETH.  The "late-night" part, along with a perp or two, helped me guess "SETH Meyers". I found this article on the segments.

17. Locale of many a swanky bar: ROOFTOP.

21. Cable: WIRE.

23. The Fugees rapper Wyclef __: JEAN.  Wyclef Jean, born on October 17, 1969, is an American-Haitian rapper and songwriter best known for his chart-topping album “The Score.” He began his musical career singing in church choirs, having been raised by a preacher father.

24. Admits: LETS IN.

A policeman at 10 Downing St. LETS IN Larry the cat. (56 sec.)

I love that Larry uses the policeman as his personal doorman.

Notice the giant yawn.

26. TV journalist Stahl: LESLEY.  Ms. Stahl began her 31st season on 60 Minutes in September 2022, having joined the broadcast as a correspondent in March 1991.

28. Wardrobe item with a clasp: BRA.

29. Belonging to us: OUR.

30. Russian Orthodox church feature: ONION DOME.  

why Russian churches have ONION-shaped DOMEs

32. Rink surface: ICE.

33. Some lap coverers: NAPKINS.

35. Kenny G's horn: SAX.

Kenny G. plays Silhouette (1988).

39. Old Russian ruler: TSAR.

42. Subsides: EBBS.

46. Luxury vessels: YACHTS.

48. __ sec: orange-flavored liqueur: TRIPLE.  

You might find it in these drinks:
Long Island Ice Tea, Cosmo, Kamikaze, and Side car.

49. Puts on: WEARS.  

50. Many a low-budget flick: INDIE.  

We are not talking about INDIana Jones.
This refers to an INDEpendently made movie; that is, one made outside of a major studio.

51. Owl sounds: HOOTS.

52. Audio brand: AIWA.  I found this timeline on the company's website:

1951    Founded & independent

1982    Acquired by Sony Corporation

2006    Brand Discontinued

2017    Re-launch of AIWA (independent again)

2020    Kick-start AIWA Global Business Network Formation

54. American living abroad, for short: EXPAT.  An EXPATriate is a someone who lives outside their native country.  the difference between an EXPAT and an immigrant

55. Tunes two croon: DUETS.  Here are two toons crooning tunes:

Sweet Child from The Little Mermaid (1989)

56. Shopping binge: SPREE.  According to Good Job, Brain! Episode #107, Mary Todd Lincoln was a notorious compulsive shopper. She liked to go to New York on shopping SPREEs where the merchants were happy to extend credit to the president's wife. Her shopping debts created problems in her life.

59. May honorees: MOMS.  This year, Mother's Day is Sunday, May 14.

61. Salty expanse: SEA.

62. __ for tat: TIT.  actions done intentionally to punish other people in retaliation for something they have done to you.

And for the grand finale, we have the grid!  

3 Down. REBUS puzzle answers:

1.) misunderstood, 2.) a walk in the park, 3.) one in a million, 4.) looking back, 5.) you're under arrest, 6.) stand by me, 7.) walking on thin ice, 8.) I see you understand, 9.) B flat

That's all for today. Please save me a seat for next week!

Thursday, February 23 2023, Dan Caprera

 

Constructor and (funny) comedian Dan Caprera is visiting us for the third time, the last  on November 21, 2022, reviewed by our beloved friend Boomer not long before he departed Minnesota for a sunnier clime.  Dan has also created three puzzles for that other newspaper, this one edited by Jeff Chen.  Today Dan has gotten himself into a bit of a sticky situation presenting us with a visual theme, consisting of 3 pairs of juxtaposed, stacked fill.  To make the theme easier the see, the top of each stack is equipped with "goggles", which I'm sure will raise the eyebrows of at least one solver.  The question is, without the reveal

CAN YOU SEE THEM NOW?

First themer pair:

16A. Rides in the sand: DUNE BUGGIES.   A dune buggy is a recreational motor vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes, beaches, off road or desert recreation.  Oh and incidentally DUNE is also the title of a SCI-FI novel by Frank Herbert, which was recently made into an amazing film, starring Timothée Chalamet and the mononymic actress Zendaya, who visited the Corner just this past Saturday ...

19A. Lagavulin, for one: SCOTCH.   This clue sounded at first like an injectable antibiotic of some sort, but I guess the fill could be used for medicinal purposes.  The Lagavulin distillery is a malt whisky distillery in the village of Lagavulin on the south of the island of Islay, Scotland.  It distills spirits that will become Islay single malt Scotch whisky.

                       Lagavulin

Second themer pair:

28A. Hypothetical regions of space-time: WHITE HOLES.   Here physicist Ethan Siegel [Geek Alert!] explains how this might be possible [End Geek Alert].   Oh, and it just so happens that HOLES is also the title of a 1998 young adult novel written by Louis Sachar. The book centers on Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional boot camp in a desert in Texas, after being falsely accused of theft.

White hole
artist's conception

33A. Crawl on a news program: TICKER.  Ticker tape was the earliest, dedicated electrical financial communications medium, transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines and was in use from around 1870 through 1970.  Prior to the use of punched cards ticker tape [aka paper tape] was also used for outputting, saving, and inputting computer data.  The fancy name for a news program crawl these days is a CHYRON.

Watching the ticker tape, 1918

Third themer pair:

44A. "Little Women" star: EMMA WATSON.  Little Women, is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott.  And [is there a pattern here?] EMMA is also the name of the inimitable matchmaker in the eponymous Jane Austen story. 

50A. Air line: DUCT.  RED Green calls it the "handyman's secret weapon".  Here's the trailer from the Possum Lodge's production of the suspense film Duct Tape Forever ...

Come to think of it RED might qualify as the bottom half a themer too.

If you haven't SEEN the relationship between the themer pairs yet, maybe you can HEAR them in Dan's reveal:

58A. Audible.com predecessor, and three literal occurrences in this puzzle: BOOKS ON TAPE.
 
The grid should help untangle all that tape:

Now that we've got that all tied up ...

Across:
1. Green producers?: ATMS.  The cluing for this is going bankrupt.  It won't be long before we'll be seeing "Eco producers?:" (see 15A).

5. Sun screen?: CLOUD.

10. "I Think You Should Leave" star Robinson: TIM.  I Think You Should Leave is an American sketch comedy series created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, with Robinson also starring in most of the sketches. The first season premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2019, while the second season was released on July 6, 2021. I didn't find any of the sketches very funny and many had a hint of school boy vulgarity, but YMMV.  You can find them on YouTube.

13. "Aw, crud": DRAT.

14. Sounding rough: HOARSE.

15. __ hotel: sustainable lodging: ECO.  An ECO hotel, or a green hotel, is an environmentally sustainable hotel or accommodation that has made important environmental improvements to its structure in order to minimize its impact on the natural environment. The basic definition of an eco-friendly hotel is an environmentally responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living.  But beware of green washing.

16. [Theme clue]

18. Mountain __: DEW.  Before it was a soft drink it was distilled in hidden mountain valleys:

19. [Theme clue]

20. Formal orders: EDICTS.

22. Succinct: TERSE.  I'm working on this, but it's a struggle.

23. "A League of Their __": OWN.  A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, and Bill Pullman.

25. 2021 U.S. Open champ Jon: RAHM.  Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994)[2] is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first achieving that rank after winning the Memorial Tournament in July 2020.  In June 2021, Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open.

Jon Rahm

27. __ buco: OSSO.  Ossobuco or osso buco translates in Italian as “bone with a hole” (osso=bone, buco=hole), a reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank.  Here's a recipe.

Osso buco

28. [Theme clue]

31. Some tandoori breads: NAANS.  The bread of crosswords.  They're not Italian, but I think they might go well with Osso buco.

[Theme clue]

34. Show stoppers?: ADS.

37. Progressive agent played by Stephanie Courtney: FLO.  When comedienne Stephanie Courtney landed the part of FLO, she had no expectations that the Progressive Insurance commercial in 2008 would amount to anything long-lasting ... [long pause].  But as a cord cutter who never watches commercial television I've never actually seen one of her ads (see preceding clue).  I have to admit though that she's a lot better looking [damning with faint praise] than that lizard who hawks that other insurance company:

Stephanie Courtney

That said, we buy our insurance from that other company.  They have better rates.

38. Feminine pronoun: SHE.  We're having a special this month on feminine pronouns.  This one is simply first person singular. 

39. Fuel additive brand: STP.

40. Sneaky sort: WEASEL.  A species indigenous to the city of Washington, D.C.

42. Paté holder: TOAST. 

44. [Theme clue]
 
46. Insect that dates to the Jurassic era: WASP.  I hate to be a gnat picker, but this clue should read Jurassic period (the 2nd in the Mesozoic Era) , and  more importantly the WASP discovered by Dr. George Poinar, Jr. in 2016 is only Jurassic by association:  Professor Emeritus of entomology at Oregon State University, Dr Poinar is famous for having consulted to author/film maker Michael Crichton on the Jurassic Park film series.  As the Jurassic Period ended circa 140 mya, whereas the fossil Dr. Poinar discovered was approximately 100 million years old, thus dating it squarely in the middle of the Cretaceous period (the 3rd in the Mesozoic era):

Cretaceous Period Wasp

50. [Theme clue]

51. __ flour: OAT.

52. Roughly: CIRCA.

53. Prayer beads: ROSARY.  The ROSARY is usually associated with Catholicism, but prayer beads are used by many other religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.  When praying the Rosary they are used for counting rote prayers (the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be), while meditating on 20 key events in the life of Christ, his Mother, and his followers.  These events are collectively called Mysteries and are divided into the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries, recited on different days of the week.  The Rosary has a long history and has often been represented in Christian art*, and even in music.  Here is a musical meditation on the mystery of the Resurrection (the first of the 5 Glorious Mysteries) in Baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Mystery Sonatas (6:25 min):

*The Luminous Mysteries were added to Rosary prayers by Pope John Paul II in 2002 and do not appear in art prior to this time.

56. Benny the Bull, for one: MASCOT.  The MASCOT for the NBA Chicago Bulls:

Benny the Bull

57. "My man!": BRO.

58. [Theme reveal]

61. "Big spider! Big spider!": EEK.

62. Think the world of: ESTEEM.

63. Biblical garden: EDEN.

64. Part of some sports drink names: ADE.

65. Dispensed, as cards: DEALT.

66. Pause in music: REST.  Rests are intervals of silence in pieces of music, marked by symbols indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol and name corresponds with a particular note value, indicating how long the silence should last, generally as a multiplier of a measure or whole note:

Down:

1. Expands upon: ADDS TO.

2. Armistices: TRUCES.  Hope and pray for a permanent one in Ukraine.

3. Estate homes: MANORS.  We all know this one:

Highclere Castle

4. Hatmaker since 1865: STETSON.  The John B. Stetson Company, founded by John B. Stetson in 1865, was the maker of the Stetson cowboy hats, but ceased manufacturing in 1970. Stetson hats are now being manufactured in Garland, Texas, by Hatco, Inc., who also produce Resistol and Charlie 1 Horse hats.

Stetson hat

5. Bit player: COG.  A computer programmer?

6. Gaming annoyance: LAG.

7. Turn (toward): ORIENT.  I've always been AWED by phototropism, the ability of plants to ORIENT themselves toward light.  Be sure to click on the picture of the tomato seedlings in this link to see a brief time lapse video of phototropism in action.

8. Exploited: USED.

9. Member of the South Asian diaspora: DESI.  DESI is a word used to describe the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá), meaning "land, country". Deshi traces its origin specifically to the people of the countries India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

10. Internet addresses?: TED TALKS. Clever clue.  A TED talk is a recorded public-speaking presentation that was originally given at the main TED (technology, entertainment and design) annual event or one of its many satellite events around the world.  Here are the 25 most viewed TED Talks of all time.

11. Much of Greenland: ICE SHEET.

12. Cut the lawn: MOW.

14. "What the?": HUH.

17. Letters in early dates: BCE.  BC and AD, BCE and CE: What’s the Difference?

21. Gator kin: CROC. 

23. Words of disbelief: OH NO.

24. State whose motto is "Forward": Abbr.: WIS.  Reflecting Wisconsin's continuous drive to be a national leader, the state adopted "Forward" as the official state motto in 1851.  Here are some of the state's other symbols.

26. Car sticker abbr.: MSRP.  Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.  If you can get it that low these days, consider yourself lucky.

28. Half a Northwest city: WALLA.  Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two suburbs, the town of College Place and unincorporated Walla Walla East, is about 45,000.

Walla Walla, Washington

29. __ Allen furniture: ETHAN.  The history of Ethan Allen furniture.

30. Zooms, quaintly: HIES.  There was a whole lotta HIEING going on during the pandemic.

32. Several: A FEW.

34. Wonder-struck: AWED.

35. Showed reluctance: DEMURRED.

36. "A Change Is Gonna Come" singer: SAM COOKE.  You can count on it.

38. Flue buildup: SOOT.

41. Exams for college-bound srs.: SATS.

42. PreCheck org.: TSA.  Transportation Safety Administration, the agency with wands.

43. Party game that can get awkward: TWISTER.  Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Milton Bradley Company and Winning Moves Games USA. It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of six large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, green and blue. A spinner tells players where they have to place their hand or foot. The game promotes itself as "the game that ties you up in knots".   Here's the original 1966 version.  I bet that a set in mint condition would go for a pretty penny on eBay:

45. Camry, for one: TOYOTA.  We're on our fourth TOYOTA and third Camry.

47. Place to play: ARCADE.  Not just a place to play.  When we were kids sometimes we'd take the No. 19 bus to downtown Hamilton in Baltimore to see movies at the Arcade Theatre. 

The Arcade Theatre, circa 1980.

48. Cases, with "out": SCOPES.  Or the SCOPES “monkey trial” a moniker that journalist H. L. Mencken (the "Bard of Baltimore") applied to the 1925 prosecution of a criminal action brought by the state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. Scopes for violating the state’s Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools.

49. Unmistakable: PATENT.  I used to work in one half of this agency, headquartered in Alexandria, VA.
 

US Patent and Trade Office HQ
(the architect needed a special PATENT in order
to construct this building on a hill! 😀)

52. Many a pop-top: CAN.  This is for all of you Parrotheads ...

54. Reading while propped up by pillows, say: ABED.  It's at the top of this list of ways that constructors can change nouns into adjectives.

55. Stood up: ROSE.  Or a flower:

56. Tat that can be misread as WOW: MOM. 

57. "Maude" star Arthur: BEA.  My MOM's twin brother was named ARTHUR and his wife was my Aunt BEA.

59. "Kenan & __": late-'90s Nickelodeon show: KEL.  And now for something completely different ...

60. Congeal, as glue: SET.  Well, I think we're all SET!

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.  

 

waseeley