Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, Emma Oxford

IN BLOOM

Nirvana - In Bloom

April showers bring....hey, wait, we're too early for the flowers~!  This is my second blog of an Emma Oxford puzzle this year ( see 67A.).  Four 11-letter and one 13-letter spanners for the theme - scrambled, or "wild" - flower names.  No circles, but "in my opinion" ( see 59D. ) it might have helped, as the first two themers are two-word scrambles, but then the second two are just the first four letters.  Your Experience May Be/Might've Been Different - in fact, I'm coining a new term, "YEMBD" - pronounced "yem-beady".  Very few names, plenty of foreign (read) French words, but a longer than usual solve time for me, as I did not get the "ta-DA~!" at the end due to my "LIKE to serve" mistake, which took a while to find.

18. *Be extremely helpful: LIVE TO SERVE - VIOLET - the original Willy Wonka

There's a valid argument for why she should have "won" the Chocolate Factory

29. *Staged a fireworks show: LIT UP THE SKY - TULIP - ah, there's an organ joke in there....

I do not have this record...

36. *Start of an instruction to an automated assistant: SIRI SET A TIMER - IRIS

The 'Monet' version; perhaps you're a Van Gogh type~?

44. *Sensitive area: SORE SUBJECT - ROSE - and the 'start' of the joke ....

Axl "ROSE is" on the piano - and, er, Slash is on piano, too....

58. Colorful elements of a meadow, and what can be found at the starts of the answers to the starred clues?: WILDFLOWERS

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Gasteyer of "Mean Girls": ANA

4. Stand-up individual?: COMIC

9. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner: MEALS

14. Place for a pint: PUB - Bzzzt~! Not BAR - AND - 20A. Some pints: ALES

15. Miso soup mushroom: ENOKI - perps, but then again, a crossword staple lately

16. Data processor's need: INPUT

17. Lenovo products: PCs - Lenovo is a Windows-based computer maker

22. Crying harder: TEARIER - meh.

23. Tempo similar to largo: LENTO

25. Prepares, as a sleeping bag: UNROLLS

33. Part of EVOO: OIL - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

34. Used DoorDash, say: ATE IN - had food delivered, that is; I made my own version of General Tso's chicken the other day~!

35. Auction site: eBAY

41. Very: MOST - as in "she is most attractive"

"Très OUI" - Frawnche #1

42. Rene of "Tin Cup": RUSSO

43. Death on the Nile cause, perhaps: ASP - "Very dangerous...you go first"

50. Frightening vision: DAYMARE - as opposed to NIGHTmare - a new word for me; more here

52. Part of TNT: NITRO - Everything you ever wanted to know about trinitrotoluene

53. Do over and over: ITERATE - so to REiterate is to do over and over AND OVER~?

57. "Begone!": SHOO

62. Convent figure: NUN

63. Adult stage in insects: IMAGO

64. Provide an address: ORATE - ooh, clever misdirection

65. Here, in France: ICI - Frawnche #2

66. Airport structure: TOWER

"We have no tower - just a bridge, Sir"

67. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" host Aisha: TYLER - strangely, this is the second time with this clue/answer for me in an Emma Oxford puzzle blog

68. "Evita" role: CHE


DOWN:

1. Revolt: APPALL - the "ick" revolt, not the political one

2. Atomic cores: NUCLEI - I read somewhere that our constructor Emma has atomic knowledge

3. Playing hooky, perhaps: ABSENT

4. Cartoon still: CEL

5. "Roger that, boss!": "ON IT~!"

6. Make emotional: MOVE - MOKE seemed like a possibility 😜

7. Maker of Ektorp sofas: IKEA - I have learned to default to "IKEA" when it's an oddly-named furniture clue....

8. Fruit type that tends to be in season in winter: CITRUS - I did not know this; read more here from "The CIA"

9. Kathy Bates film based on a Stephen King novel: MISERY - I am not a fan of this genre

10. Month after diciembre: ENERO - the Spanish spelling of January

11. Mo. after Mar.: APRil - the current "mid-spring" month - I have daffodils in my front yard

It would appear that I need to wash my siding

12. Hon: LUV - Thank God it was not the "other" three-letter cringe word

13. Sault __ Marie: STE - Frawnche #3

19. Sty sound: OINK

21. Queen Anne's house: STUART - I have had this type of misdirection before; not the actual house as in structure/style, but the "political" one - see the Wiki highlighted

A "local" example, the James Alldis house in Torrington, CT

24. __-Free: contact lens solution: OPTI

26. Piercing spot: LOBE

27. "Not true!": LIAR - I had "LIES~!" to start

28. Devious: SLY

30. Your, in Tours: TES - Frawnche #4

31. Dash, quaintly: HIE

32. __ nous: ENTRE - fifth and finale Frawnche

35. Characters in some texts: EMOJIS - 😀😎😜

36. Slugger Sammy: SOSA - an easy baseball reference, tho I am not a fan like our blog host C.C. - I did like the link to the two guys trying to hit 100mph fastballs, Chairman~!

37. Guessing game: I SPY

38. Ger. neighbor: AUStria

39. Nashville sch.: TSU - I WAGed this, figured it was something like "Tennessee State University"

40. ID on a Barnes & Noble buy: ISBN - ID is abbr., so too the International Standard Book Number

41. Outraged: MAD

44. Took, as an exam: SAT FOR

45. Baseball analyst Hershiser: OREL - does this mean he offers "Orel" exams~? ba-dum-tiss

46. Transplant: REROOT - I re-potted my houseplant a month ago, and it's still in shock; I don't want to lose it, because it was my mother's plant and I kept it when we sold the LI house after she passed

47. Pertaining to a certain culture: ETHNIC

48. Catcher's stance: CROUCH - ah; much better than "SQUAT", which was my first thought

49. Nickname for the Canadian $2 coin: TOONIE - I filled in LOONEY, as I have seen this before in Crosswords, but obviously had the wrong $ value, and spelling - but 50% correct~!

51. Small fly: MIDGE

54. Out of whack: AWRY

55. Blue-green shade: TEAL

56. Art Deco icon: ERTÉ - I happen to "MOKE" (😁) the Art Deco style - his Wiki

58. Cleverness: WIT

59. Brief "I would say ... ": IMO - In My Opinion

60. Order's partner: LAW - for those who are interested, the LAW & ORDER tab for the TV show theme from Ultimate Guitar; you'll have to create a log-in to see it if you don't already have one

61. Msg. from a pulpit: SERmon


Splynter

Friday, January 12, 2024, Emma Oxford

Thanks, again, Lisa for your help a couple of weeks ago.

This week, however, you may be missing the mark.

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here from the land of frozen (and decidedly not warm) waters to bring you today's recap.  Our puzzle setter is Emma Oxford and, at four places within the grid, she has provided us with amusing takes on familiar two-letter abbreviations.  Let's take a look:

18 ACROSS:  Big bash honoring detectives?: PI DAY CELEBRATION.  PI DAY comes on March 14th of each year because 3 can stand for March the value of Pi (the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter) is roughly 3.14.  In this case, however, P.I. is referring to Private Investigator.  PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR DAY CELEBRATION.

27 ACROSS:  Take steps to prevent patients leaving mid-appendectomy?: FIGHT OR FLIGHT.  We are all, of course, familiar with the FIGHT OR FLIGHT response but, in the puzzle, O.R. is used as the abbreviation for Operating Room.  FIGHT OPERATING ROOM FLIGHT.

47 ACROSS:  Certain facial recognition pro?: THE WIZARD OF ID.  The WIZARD OF ID is a cartoon strip by Parker and Hart.  In this answer, though, the reference is to identification as in (e.g.) I.D. Card.   THE WIZARD OF IDENTIFICATION.

The Wizard of ID

63 ACROSS:  Really annoy the computer help desk?: TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT.  A familiar expression recast as TAKE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO THE LIMIT.

This is how it appears in the grid:

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

Across:

1. Chasm: ABYSS.

6. Every which way: AMOK.  A little bit of a stretch definition-wise.

10. Worry about: SWEAT.  Both FRET and STEW were too short.

15. "Better in Time" singer Lewis: LEONA.   This could have been clued with a reference to the Queen Of Mean - LEONA Hemsley.

16. Placemat, in some restaurants: MENU.  Serving double duty.

17. Shelf: LEDGE.

21. Running wild: ON A TEAR.

22. Try and fail to walk on ice: SLIP.  Thanks for the reminder to put on those cleats.

23. __-Magnon: CRO.  What did CRO-Magnons call Rock, Paper, Scissors?  Rock.

24. Rock gp. sometimes joined by Young: CSN.  More abbreviations.

25. Signifies: MEANS.  MEAN sure does have a lot of meanings.

26. Besmirch: TAR.  As in to TAR one's reputation.

32. Kid-friendly card game: UNO.

33. Laze: LOAF.

34. "__-daisy!": OOPSY.  All about OOPSY-daisy

38. Certain English collegian: ETONIAN.

41. Oregon port named for a fur merchant: ASTORIA.  In addition to the fur trade, John Jacob ASTOR was involved with smuggling opium into China.

43. Grayish green shade: LODEN.  A deep olive green with shorter wavelengths.

44. Fictional terrier from Kansas: TOTO.  Clever.  A puzzle with references to both the Wizard of Id and the Wizard of Oz.

46. Bobby of the Bruins: ORR.  Not a UCLA reference.

52. Sleeve: ARM.

55. Matter basics: ATOMS.  I got arrested for having one sodium ATOM and one chlorine ATOM.  They said I committed a salt.

56. Pub bill: TAB.  As is to run a tab.

57. Actress Seydoux: LEA.  Unkown to this solver but easily perped.

58. Pool division: LANE.

59. Uneasy feeling, with "the": WILLIES.  Where Did This Expression Originate

66. Neptune's realm: OCEAN.

67. Home of the Blue Devils: DUKE.  DUKE University.

68. "Into the Woods" song sung by two princes: AGONY.  Last week, I went from AGONY to ecstasy in a span of a few days.  At this rate, I’ll finish reading the dictionary in a month or so.

69. [I have no idea]: SHRUG.

70. Missouri River Native: OTOE.  Frequent visitors.

71. Pick up: SENSE.  

Down:

1. Pet food brand: ALPO.

2. Form of nonviolent protest: BE IN.  The first Human Be-In (get it?) was held in Golden Gate Park in 1967.

3. Jedi voiced by Tom Kane on "The Clone Wars": YODA.

4. Seize: SNATCH.  I will not seize the moment, but, rather, let this moment pass.

5. "What __ thou?": SAYEST.   SAYEST is an archaic second person singular of say.

6. Pt. of USA: AMER.  United States of AMERica

7. First name of two Spice Girls: MEL.  MELanie Brown went by the stage name of Scary Spice and MELanie Chisholm went by the name of Sporty Spice.

8. Reflexive pronoun: ONESELF.

9. __ Khan: KUBLAI.  Mongol general and grandson of Genghis.

10. Paul Newman hockey film: SLAP SHOT.

11. Sopping: WET.

12. Decree: EDICT.

13. Ancient Greek marketplace: AGORA.

14. Hero in operas, typically: TENOR.  See also 52 Down.

19. __ oil: CANOLA.  RAPESEED (from which CANOLA oil is made) was more a more difficult name to merchandise.

May the Schwartz Be With You

20. Key spot: RING.  Not a reference to something important. Not a reference to a small island.

25. Juilliard deg.: MFA.  Master of Fine Arts

27. Gasohol, e.g.: FUEL.  A mixture of gasoline and alcohol.

28. Division word: INTO.

29. Yummy: GOOD.  Some things do not get better with age:

30. "Sons of Anarchy" actor Perlman: RON.

31. Furthermore: TOO.  AND would have fit the allotted space.  ALSO would not.

35. Univ. lecturer: PROF.  PROFessor

36. iPad speaker: SIRI.  "She" speaks out loud.  Not the audio speaker built into your iPad.

37. Gridiron unit: YARD.   I recently found a round, black piece of plastic with a hole in the middle and grooves on both sides. I picked it up and threw it. It flew for more than 300 yards.  I'm sure that must have been a record.

39. Wind up with: NET.  If you ever wonder "What's my NET worth?" it's probably less than you paid for it.

40. Getting some air: INHALING.  Not out for a walk.

41. "One __ time!": AT A.

42. Foray: SORTIE.

44. Call from a coach: TIMEOUT.

45. Wt. units: OZS.  OZ, as the abbreviation for ounce, came from the Italian onza meaning ounce.

48. Coup d'__: ETAT.  One of  Today's French lessons although thoroughly incorporated into English usage.  French for "stroke of state".   A coup d'ETAT is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership.

49. Is unacceptable: WON'T DO.

50. Mavericks city: DALLAS.  A basketball reference.

51. Do a favor for: OBLIGE.  They are then OBLIGatEd to you.

52. Unlikely heroines in operas, typically: ALTOS.  See also 14 Down.

53. Get to: REACH.  I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him fifty bucks that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf.  He declined the bet saying, "No, the steaks are too high."

54. Creative sort: MAKER.  Earlier in the week this might have been clued as Coffee ______ .

59. Cry of delight: WHEE.

60. "That's my cue!": I"M ON.  What are you on, dude?

61. __, zwei, drei: EINS.  Today's German lesson. 1, 2, 3.

62. Eye affliction: STYE.  A frequent affliction in our puzzles.

64. Mer contents: EAU.  Another of today's French lesson.  Mer = Sea and EAU = water.

65. Fight-ending letters: TKO.  A boxing reference.  Technical KnockOut

______________________________________________________________

Wednesday, January 3, 2024, Emma Oxford

PLAGIARISM

Happy Hump Day~!  Today's puzzle was relatively easy, but loaded with names; I find too many to be somewhat icky, and with two unknowns crossing, even more so.  And then there was the reveal - maybe I was digging too deep, but I just did not see the connection until "CLONE" popped out, and when I reviewed the other theme answers, I finally saw the 'hidden' synonyms for COPY, both verb and noun, at the RIGHT end.  Phew~! 

18. *Bureaucratic obstacle to environmental projects: GREEN TAPE (vb) - a playful take on the classic "red" tape of governmental hassles

24. *Extreme winter-weather event: BOMB CYCLONE (vb) - never heard of this phenomenon

40. *Nickname for a Mozart work in C major: JUPITER SYMPHONY (n) - name #1/2

49. *Writer of the 2023 legal thriller "The Exchange": JOHN GRISHAM (n) - name #1

61. Protection of intellectual property, and what the answer to each

      starred clue literally has: COPYRIGHT - parsed accordingly, COPY, RIGHT

EXIT, Stage LEFT

And Away We Go~!


ACROSS:

1. Mediterranean isle for which a style of pants is named: CAPRI

6. Periodic table's Pb: LEAD - from the Latin Plumbum, frequently used, in combination with other elements, to make organ pipes; due to its density and malleability, over the years, some pipes will actually 'sag'

Note how the pipe 'curves' towards the bottom

10. Female lobsters: HENS - I knew this, but it filled via perps - and - 16A. Lobster catcher: TRAP

14. Butcher's garment: APRON

15. Killer whale: ORCA - oddly, my 'spellcheck' doesn't like this word....

17. Takes hold: ROOTS - verb

20. Portuguese greeting: OLA

21. "Call Me by Your Name" name: ELIO - Even after I looked this one up, I don't recall anything about this movie; name #2, and a Natick

23. Declined, with "out": OPTED

28. Before, in verse: ERE

29. Dolly Parton hit: JOLENE - You'll excuse me if I don't provide a link to this one....name #3

33. Nonpoetic writing: PROSE

36. Phobia: FEAR - Gephyrophobia - do you know this one~?  ( Answer below * )

38. Daffy or Bugs: 'TOON

43. Pit: SEED - ah, that kind of pit

44. Tons: LOTS

45. Lather, __, repeat: RINSE

46. Aspirations: DREAMS

48. PC alternative: MAC

55. Tyler of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?": AISHA - I have seen the show, but I had no clue of the host's name, filled via perps - name #4

59. Cereal grain: OATS

60. Prefix with tourism: ECO

64. Boise's state: IDAHO - name~?

66. Couple of magazines?: ITEM - the juicy details of a romance between stars

67. Mayberry boy: OPIE - hey, I knew this one....name #5

68. When the sun rises in the west: NEVER - that'll be a cold day in hell....

69. Dishwashing brand used to clean animals after oil spills: DAWN - name~?

70. D.C. MLB team: NATionalS - name~?

71. Honking birds: GEESE


DOWN:

1. Chocolate substitute: CAROB - Dah~!  I entered COCOA to start

2. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO - knew from doing crosswords - name #6

3. Many a charity tournament: PRO/AM - professional / amateur

4. Go bad: ROT

5. Behind closed doors: IN SECRET - I tried SECRETLY first

6. Puzzle solver's skill: LOGIC - and sussing

7. Former "CNN Newsroom" anchor Barnett: ERROL - my last WAG, and disappointing for me, two proper names crossing - #7

8. Blackjack card: ACE

- and a gratuitous Daniel Craig to boot~!

9. Actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE - I did know name #8 - he appeared in "Lost", and the "Hawaii Five-O" remake; truly dismayed by the number of "remake" shows on TV - now I see "Frazier" is back  :7P

10. URL intro: HTTP

11. Q.E.D. part: ERAT - I just read "Death of a Doxy" ( see 54D. ) - one of the characters uses the alias "Thales" but that did not fool Nero Wolfe - and it made me look the man up on Wiki, and then further to his mathematical proof - and there in the middle of the page, Q.E.D.

12. Travel pillow spot: NAPE - I had NECK to start

13. Raced: SPED

19. Fielding of "The Great British Bake Off": NOEL - name #9

22. Caustic chemical: LYE  - and -  55D. Caustic chemical: ACID - pure clecho

25. Next to: BESIDE - not "B side"

26. "Love Train" group, with "The": O'JAYS - name #10

27. Convention: NORM - a collection of entries by "Norm" from "Cheers"

30. Law school course: ETHICS

31. Midday: NOON

32. Geological spans: EONS

33. Comfy attire that's rarely worn out?: PJs - I have 'worn out' my PJs, when I go to check the mailbox sometimes....

34. Regretted: RUED

35. Abbr. on old phones: OPERator

36. Future soph: FROSH - Sophomore, Freshman

37. Contractor's fig.: ESTimate

39. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE - name #11

41. Red "Sesame Street" resident: ELMO - name #12

42. Lauding: PRAISING

47. Somewhat open: AJAR

48. "Rocky III" actor with a mohawk: MR. T - I pity the fool~!  - name #13

50. Like three Justin Verlander games: NO HIT - no clue, but it sounded baseball - name #14

51. Stadium entries: GATES - or, say, airports....

52. Throw: HEAVE

53. __ and pains: ACHES

54. Boxing legend Archie: MOORE - not familiar with the boxer, but I am currently reading Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" series, narrated by "Archie Goodwin" - I even bought 43 books from eBay to proudly display on my future office shelves - and name #15

56. Little bit: IOTA

57. Gush: SPEW

58. Church song: HYMN - not quite a "hymn", but it made me think of this

 

Monty Python's Holy Grail

62. Charged particle: ION

63. Transcript fig.: GPA

65. Dead end?: DEE - DeaD, correct on two counts~!

Splynter

* Fear of Bridges and Tunnels

Friday, November 25, 2022, Emma Oxford

 

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's state-of-the-puzzle recap.  That is, I am here for those of you who have come out of any food-induced stupors that may have been caused by yesterday's feasting.  If you have not yet recovered then you have probably yet to solve the puzzle and are probably also not reading this so . . . never mind.

Today's puzzle setter is Emma Oxford.  I have previously recapped Emma's puzzles and they are always a pleasure.  The clues are often very clever.  Her themes are always creative and today's is no exception.  To grasp what she has accomplished today it helps if you, first of all, know the nicknames for various (in this case six) constituent states of these United States.  Second, it helped to know the postal abbreviations for those states.  Third, you need to like to play with words - in this case by breaking them apart at out-of-the ordinary places.  Here are the six themed clues and answers:

16 Across:  Flower of the Hoosier State?: IN CARNATION.  The Hoosier State is the nickname for Indiana and its postal abbreviation is IN.  INCARNATION becomes Indiana Carnation.

24 Across:  Basement access in the Palmetto State?: SC AREA WAY.  The Palmetto State is the nickname for South Carolina and its postal abbreviation is SC.  SCARE AWAY becomes South Carolina Area Way.

30 Across:  Clothing in the Sunshine State?: FL ATTIRE.  The Sunshine State is the nickname for Florida and its postal abbreviation is FL.  FLAT TIRE becomes Florida Attire.

44 Across:  Girls from the Show-Me State?: MO LASSES.  The Show Me State is the nickname for Missouri and its postal abbreviation is MO.  MOLASSES becomes Missouri Lasses.

50 Across:   Psychedelics from the Evergreen State?: WA SHROOMS.  The Evergreen State is the nickname for Washington and its postal abbreviation is WA.  WASHROOMS becomes Washington Shrooms (slang for mushrooms of the psychoactive type).

62 Across:  Fortified wines from the Ocean State?: RI VERMOUTHS.  The Ocean State is the nickname for Rhode Island and its postal abbreviation is RI.  RIVER MOUTHS becomes Rhode Island Vermouths.

Here is how this looks in the grid:

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

Across:

1. Spanish home: CASA.  La lección de español de hoy

5. Yelped about?: RATED.  Clever.  Nothing to do with a dog complaining.  Having used the food review app, Yelp.

10. Fix: JAM.  Hand up for thinking this had something to do with repair work.  Then thinking it might be pet related.  Nope, Fix is used, here, as in to be in a fix or predicament.  That's probably better than being in a pickle.

13. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  A web search reveals that she has both a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.  I wouldn't know her from Eve.

14. Take from commercial to residential, maybe: REZONE.

15. PC core: CPU.  Central Processing Unit

18. Some triage pros: RNS. and 65. Some triage pros: DRS.  Professionals is abbreviated to PROS in both clues.  Registered NurseS and DoctoRS.  See also 59 Down.

19. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.

20. Stand for a presentation: EASEL.  Again, it is not as if we are at a performance of Handel's "Messiah" and getting out of our seats in a show of respect.  Literally, a stand on which you might place your presentation.

21. Clog fillers: FEET.  Not the hairs in your sink.  The shoes.

22. Boot: EXPEL.  Not the shoe.  Used, here, as a verb.  Oust.

27. Three-line verse: HAIKU.

        Our own Chairman Moe

        Often writes HAIKU verses

        For our enjoyment

29. Screen __: TEST.  Hand up for first writing in SHOT (well, the second T worked).

33. Rise to the occasion: STEP UP.

37. Refrigerator drawer: BIN.

38. Word before toast or after peach: MELBA.  Created as a surname by opera diva Nellie Melba (born Helen Mitchell) after her hometown of Melbourne Australia.  Such was her fame that several food dishes were named after her.

40. Comm. system in the film "CODA": ASL.  Comm as in communications.

41. Entirely: IN TOTO.  Also, where a dog treat might be located in Kansas.

47. Without: SANS.  From the Old French via Middle English.

49. Sore spots: WELTS.  When Gandhi was on his first hunger strike people would routinely bring him locally-made bread in an attempt to get him to eat.  What people don't understand, though, is that Gandhi was actually a very temperamental man and, prone to anger, he would hurl the bread at his friends sometimes leaving bruises and WELTS.  He justified this behavior by saying that it was all part of his philosophy of naan-violence.

54. Banks known as "Mr. Cub": ERNIE.

57. Think piece?: IDEA.  The result of cogitating, perhaps.

58. Social outcast, metaphorically: LEPER.

60. Portuguese greeting: OLA.  Lição de hoje de Portougese.

61. __ sequitur: NON.

66. Clinches the deal: ICES IT.  Idiomatic.  Sometimes we get SEWS UP.

67. Veal or venison: MEAT.

68. "Happy now?": SEE.  Ah, the things people say in crossword puzzles.

69. Bathroom fixture: BIDET.  More French.  Today's let's-skip-the-visual-aid moment.

70. IDs on tax forms: SSNS.  Social Security NumberS

Down:

1. Michael who plays Alfred in "The Dark Knight" trilogy: CAINE.  See also 30 Down.  Michael CAINE was in that movie too.

2. Building addition: ANNEX.  Putin is griping about all of the land he is trying so hard to ANNEX.  Oh, Crimea river, Vladimir.

3. Lackey: SYCOPHANT.

4. Level just below the majors: AAA.  A baseball reference.  The Triple A teams are comprised (with a few exceptions) of the best players in the minor leagues.  Below AAA is AA, A, and other tiers.  Altogether there are 209 minor league teams in 19 leagues spread across 44 states and 4 provinces.

5. Instill confidence in: REASSURE.  People keep telling me that alcohol isn't a solution but I've asked my chemist friends and they all REASSURE me that it is.

6. Xipe Totec worshipper: AZTEC.  Hand up for no idea what Xipe Totec was except that it sounded Mesoamerican.  The Z from REZONE was the hint that led quickly to AZTEC.

7. Labor over: TOIL AT.

8. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO.  Among other accomplishments, frequent visitor Brian ENO is known as the creator of "ambient" music.

9. Lair: DEN.

10. Banana Republic alternative: J CREW.  Hand up for first thinking of types of governments.

11. Sleep clinic study: APNEA.

12. Dank and damp: MUSTY.

14. Messenger __: RNA.  Pigeon would not fit.

17. On again: RELIT.  Like a light bulb or a candle.

21. Destiny: FATE.  "Man does not control his own fate.  The women in his life do that for him."    - Groucho Marx

23. Nosh on: EAT.  From the Yiddish nashn.

25. Flea market transaction: RESALE.

26. Educated guess, basically: Abbr.: EST.  ESTimate

28. Traditional garment for Japan's Coming of Age Day: KIMONO.  Despite not being familiar with Coming of Age Day this one filled quickly.

30. Org. in "Miss Congeniality": FBI.   A 2000 film featuring Sandra Bullock as an undercover FBI agent.

31. Three-time Tony winner __-Manuel Miranda: LIN.

32. West __: upscale furniture store: ELM.

34. Misbehave in class, in a way: PASS NOTES.

35. Purpose: USE.

36. "Thx" counterpart: PLS.  PLeaSe and Thanks.

39. Spar above a ship's figurehead: BOWSPRIT.

42. Job safety org.: OSHA.

43. Pitch: TAR.  Neither a baseball reference nor a sales spiel reference.  Pitch is the black viscous substance obtained as a residue through the distillation of organic substances.

45. Last new Olds: ALERO.  Oldsmobile.  A new olds.  Cute.

46. Orch. section: STR. and 50. Orchestra section: WINDS.  In the first of these two, almost identical, clues ORCHestra is abbreviated so STRings is also.

48. Cracked, as a mystery: SOLVED.

51. Love to bits: ADORE.

52. First word in a Jane Austen title: SENSE.

53. Attorney general under Reagan: MEESE.  Edwin MEESE.  A polarizing figure in his day.

55. Minnesota representative Omar: ILHAN.  A well-publicized figure due the the fact that she has also been seen as polarizing.

56. Bridge positions: EASTS.  We need one of the first two letters to see if it will be EASTS or WESTS.

59. Triage pro: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician.  See also 18 and 65 Across.  Is the use of the same clue three separate times a new record?

62. Saguaro segment: RIB.  Saguaro is a ribbed cactus that looks like this:

63. Here, on Métro maps: ICI.  C'est francais n'est ce pas?  ICI is the French equivalent of here.

64. Verbal hesitations: UMS.  Hmm, a bit of a punt to wrap up a very, very entertaining puzzle.

Thanks for the wonderful grid, Emma.   Please feel free to stop by The Crossword Corner and share anything you'd like about the puzzle.

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