Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 ~ Jack Maurer

 DIAMETRIC OPPOSITES

 A fresh and enjoyable debut puzzle from Jack Maurer for the LA Times, with four planets ( worlds ) "separated" across the theme answers of  11-, 13- and a 15-letter spanners.  Not quite in planetary order, but a very well constructed crossword.  Yes, we have circles, but thankfully a mere three(ish) names by my count and just 21 TLWs.  4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 rating.  The theme answers, with some musical interpretation:

16. Focus of some nongovernmental organizations: HUMAN RIGHTS - MARS - Interesting that the God of war be found in the phrase; I considered Human League, their song "Human", and Rage Against the Machine, but settled for this one....

Civil War - Guns N' Roses - lyric @ 1:35

22. The five ways romantic partners connect and communicate, per Gary Chapman: 

LOVE LANGUAGES - VENUS - Very cool that this planet/goddess be found in the phrase; I did an internet search for songs titled "Love Language", but I cannot listen to them - Period.  So I will go with the actual topic in the answer, the Love Languages. . . .

I like to receive Time and Touch; I am good at giving Service and Gifts

36. In succession: ONE AFTER ANOTHER - EARTH - there is only ONE home planet, and this song is close enough . . . .

One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx

46. Musician's calling card: SIGNATURE TUNE - SATURN - the God of time, wealth, and liberation - here is my signature "warm-up" karaoke tune; keep your hands off my wealth. . . .

Keep Your Hands to Yourself - The Georgia Satellites

57. Utterly different, and what can be found in four of this puzzle's answers: W O R L D S APART

Separate Ways ( Worlds Apart ) - Journey

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Roti flour: ATTA - AND - 66A. Org.: ASSN - AND - 55D. Memo abbr.: ATTN: see also 51A.

5. "Stop that!": "DON'T!"

9. Papa: DAD - AND - 25D. Nana: GRAN - it was "granny" when I was growing up

12. Hatchling: CHICK

14. Made noise while throwing tomatoes, maybe: BOOed

15. Alter __: EGO

18. Maker of tools for writing and lighting: BIC - AND - 58. Maker of tools for paring and peeling: OXO - a clever way to clue a couple of 3LWs

19. Opposite of WNW: ESE

20. Splitting target: ATOM

21. Build muscles, with "up": BULK

Yeah, I'll get into shape - I am tired of "round" being my shape

27. Pizzeria purchases: SLICES

29. "A simple yes __ will do": OR NO

30. Bit of help: HINT

31. Gold unit: KARAT

33. "__ asked?": WHO - meh.

40. Signs off on: OKs

41. Reluctant (to): LOATH

42. Bring on board: HIRE

43. Sea swallow: TERN  - Crossword staple

44. Thrills: ELATES

51. Plenty: ALOT - I don't care for "ALOT" and "ATON" in crosswords

52. Idyllic spot: EDEN

53. IRS form expert: CPA - had this one yesterday

56. Actress Wasikowska: MIA - Her IMDb

61. __ milk: OAT - this or "SOY" would have worked

62. Pig Latin rejection: IXNAY - Formed when the N of "Nix" moves to the end + "ay"

63. Transfer, as a houseplant: REPOT - Hey, guess what~?  My mother's last remaining house plant is doing well again after a repot almost a year ago.  Phew.

64. Feature of some lower-priced streaming services: ADS - I pay $4/mo. for Pandora - worth every penny to not be interrupted with overly loud advertising while trying to relax with music

65. Overly curious: NOSY


DOWN:

1. Heating pad target: ACHE - I have a beanbag version that I can microwave for those times when my lower back tightens up

2. In this manner: THUS - "À LA" was too short

3. Social media feeds: TIMELINES - I don't Facebook, Instagram, or SnapChat, etc., and I am banned on Pinterest

4. Legislation from the Obama Era, initially: ACA - Affordable Care Act

5. Religious doctrine: DOGMA

6. "Aah" counterpart: "OOH"

7. Court feature in basketball and tennis: NET - Thanks to HuskerG for the shout-out, as I used to "mind" the net in hockey; Tolland Town is building new pickleball courts at Heron Cove park just around the corner from my house

Love the color palette of this image

8. NFL scores: TDs

9. Clean up, as code: DEBUG

10. Limber: AGILE

11. Prepares to disembark, say: DOCKS

13. Scoundrel: KNAVE

14. Life sci.: BIOLogy

17. Numbered hwys.: RTEs - also in yesterday's puzzle

21. Pixar short featuring a dumpling that comes to life: BAO

The Wiki

23. Twice tetra-: OCTA - 2 x four  = eight in prefixes

24. "Come Away With Me" singer Jones: NORAH

26. Golden Rule preposition: UNTO - do UNTO others, as sumdaze did to us Monday

27. "Git!": "SHOO~!"

28. Clickable text: LINK - Like this

31. Reeves of "The Matrix": KEANU - I was never a huge fan of "The Matrix" films, but my brother and I have this ongoing thing of sending the other a text whenever a "John Wick" movie comes on TV

32. National Gallery collection: ART

33. Waves on rough seas: WHITECAPS - found in the stained glass window of the church where the latest pipe organ installation continues

It's getting close to finished

34. "Take this": "HERE."

35. Raw metals: ORES - is it the raw metal, or is this the rock it be found in~?

37. Pet shampoo target: FLEA - I tried ODOR to start . . . 

38. Legal wrong: TORT - learned by doing crosswords

39. Comparison word: THAN

Or this scene from Men in Black

43. Explosive initials: TNT - Not really "initials" IMO, just an abbr.; Everything you ever wanted to know about trinitrotoluene

44. French summers: ETES - Frawnche

45. __ eclipse: LUNAR - Dah~! Not SOLar - I had a 50/50 chance because I start by doing the DOWN clues first(ly) - aaaaand SOLAR was on Monday as well 

46. Girl Scout Cookie with coconut: SAMOA - Cookie #3 in the lineup below

I see they're called Caramel deLites, too 

47. Trojan War epic with a 2023 translation by Emily Wilson: ILIAD - Her Wiki; born in 1971, like me

48. Animals in some yoga classes: GOATS - they really do have goats in the class

And I thought it was just a pose

49. Swim team event: RELAY

50. Whirlpool: EDDY

54. __ and cons: PROS

57. Come out on top: WIN

59. Some ER workers: RNs  Emergency Room : Registered Nurse

The cure for what ails me

60. Pod unit: PEA - also also yesterday

Splynter

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to George (Big Easy), husband of Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer Diane. I'll never forget his call last Christmas when I was walking alone on the trail. Thanks for the care all these years, George!

Big Easy and his wife Diane