This looks like another Friday debut puzzle, and I do not have any info on the constructor. This is the only ETHAN COOPER of whom I have heard. I hope Ethan stops by. We have a consistent placement of the magazine- the first two in the first word, the last two in the second word. And the joy of a grid spanning reveal which is cute if you do not think about how annoying those stupid inserts that keep falling out of the magazines are. I find some real wit in the ROYAL WINCE. Ethan was limited in his magazine choices because they had to be 3 or 4 letters. Life, Jet, Mad and Teen the only others that came to mind. The best part of this debut shows in the glittery fill like AT ISSUE, CARED TO, EURASIA, MEMO PAD, SILENT N, AGE LIMITS and NERD ALERT. Well done. We also continue with Steve's critical chase for diacriticals.
17A. Literary agents who sold "Catch-22"?: HELLER REPS (10). Joseph Heller wrote the book, and Mike Nichols (we had Elaine May last week) wrote the MOVIE. Both were excellent. ELLE magazine is inserted into the phrase HR REPS.
27A. Defective Chatty Cathys?: RASPING DOLLS (11). RAGDOLLS incorporates SPIN into that phrase.
45A. Hanging out by the lockers, etc.?: HALL PASTIMES (11). HALL PASS is needed in many high schools to explain their absence from the classroom. TIME in its 95th year is added.
62A. Uncomfortable look from the queen?: ROYAL WINCE (10). The ROYAL WE = an accepted tradition, and adding INC leads to this bizarre but fun fill.
The reveal:
37A. Perfume samples, maybe ... or what this puzzle's circles are: MAGAZINE INSERTS (15).
on to the rest...
Across:
1. "__ talks!": "Anna Christie" tagline: GARBO.
6. Pond floater: SCUM.
10. Fox Business competitor: CNBC.
14. 2015 boxing film: CREED. The sequel is coming soon.
15. Ditty: TUNE.
16. Total: REAL.
19. Cuyahoga River outlet: ERIE. A CSO to our own.
20. Still unresolved: AT ISSUE. Lawyers and Judges use this all the time.
21. Were so inclined: CARED TO. Interesting definition.
23. Gumshoe: TEC.
24. Dates: SEES.
26. They test the waters: Abbr.: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.
32. "Six Feet Under" creator Ball: ALAN. He also wrote TRUE BLOOD and the movie American Beauty.
35. Like metal concerts: LOUD.
36. ___ de parfum: EAU. A bit of a dupe with 37A.
42. NYC's Lex, e.g.: AVE.
43. Steam producer: IRON.
44. 42-Across et al.: RTES.
50. Note from someone in a hole: IOU.
51. Gerald R. Ford Award org.: NCAA. Last January it went to ROBIN ROBERTS, but not the old Phillies pitcher.
52. Dadaist Jean: ARP.
55. Note taker's need: MEMO PAD.
59. Home to Iberia and Siberia: EURASIA. Eurasia is a combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia. The term is a portmanteau of its constituent continents (Europe and Asia).
61. "Oh, ri-i-ight": AS IF.
64. Casual farewell: TATA. TTFN.
65. Party mix staple: CHEX. Cereal.
66. Sorbonne concepts: IDÉES. French for ideas, idées. And, 2D. Glacial ridge: ARÊTE. A semi-regular Friday word from the French a·rête. 69. Swashbuckler's word: GARDE. When paired with EN, French: on guard.
67. "Can it!": HUSH.
68. "My only love sprung from my only __!": Juliet: HATE. Act 1, Scene V. Our Friday Will S.
My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathèd enemy.
Down:
1. Popular IM service: G-CHAT. Not to be confused with the g-spot.
3. Museum piece: RELIC.
4. Units named for ATT founder: BELS. You are probably more familiar with the decibel. LINK.
5. Ukrainian port: ODESSA.
6. "The Deer Hunter" actress: STREEP. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Cimino, and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken, and marked Meryl Streep's first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress) (imdb).
7. Reminder: CUE.
8. Insensitive, briefly: UN-PC.
9. Erosion formation: MESA.
10. Shudder-inducing sort, slangily: CREEPO. Like
11. "Check out the brain over here!": NERD ALERT. Big Bang has made Nerd popular.
12. Part of a sting: BAIT.
13. 1963 Liz Taylor role: CLEO. Elizabeth/Cleopatra.
18. Is sorry about: RUES.
22. Fruity ale brand: REDDS.
25. Column part that's strictly ornamental?: SILENT N. Really well thought out and structured deceptive clue/fill as there ornamental columns, but it is the letter "N" that has no purpose in the word column.
27. Genetics lab subject: RNA.
28. "__ won't back down": Tom Petty lyric: NO I. Verse 1. May he rest in peace.
Well, I won't back down
No, I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
29. __-shy: GUN.
30. Rushing, perhaps: LATE.
31. Work (out): SUSS. I critically important word for all solvers.
32. Indian nanny: AMAH. Not to be confused with amas or amat.
33. Volcanic flower: LAVA. Too timely with all that is flowing in Hawaii.
34. Features of many kids' menus: AGE LIMITS. Tuesdays kids eat free.
38. Close, as a duffel: ZIP UP.
39. Glass of "This American Life": IRA. He gets paid to talk.
40. Primes, e.g.: Abbr.: NOS. Numbers.
41. Hectic hosp. zones: ERS. Emergency Rooms.
46. Shower tool: LOOFAH. If you use a loofah to get clean, it may be time to rethink your shower routine. That spongy, handheld scrubber meant to exfoliate and lather suds around your naked body is actually the perfect home for bacteria.
47. Mountaineering tool: ICE AXE. Some violence with this image, and the next.
48. Hammering tool: MAUL.
This tool which appeared yesterday in Steve's write up is one with a heavy head and a handle, used for tasks such as ramming, crushing, and driving wedges; a beetle.
49. Crop-eating insect: EARWIG. This EPISODE od Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY is one of the most frightening things ever shown on television.
52. He played a TV newsroom boss: ASNER. A rare double, playing the same character (Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore Show - a comedy, and then on LOU GRANT where he returns to his newspaper roots in a drama.
53. Cut to bits: RICED. This sounds much less dramatic than cut to bits.
54. Country, in Italy: PAESE. Paesan, countryman. Yiddish, landsman, pronounced "londsman" rhyming with bondman. Thank you Barry T.
55. Course where kids check products?: MATH. Nice trickery and CSO to Bill G. and others; in mathematics, a product is a result of multiplying.
56. Old Testament redhead: ESAU. With a substantial beard.
57. Prefix with rival: ARCH.
58. City where Al Jazeera is headquartered: DOHA. We had our own DOHA Doc as a regular for a while. He moved around but apparently has moved on.
60. Verdi princess: AIDA. Aida is actually the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, the king’s daughter. However, she is the daughter of the King of Ethiopia.
63. To this time: YET.
I cannot blog a puzzle with circles without thinking of our longtime early poster, Barry G. who hated them as the Mensa site does not have them. Well, I had them and this was easier than yesterday for me. Welcome Ethan, come to hang out at the Corner. Thank you all. Lemonade out.
