What, me worry? The profession in each theme clue has a major worry, which is explained in the answer.
19-Across. Worry for a campaign manager?: PRIMARY CONCERN. Thank goodness the election is over and we don't have to worry about the next primaries for another year or so.
25-Across. Worry for a stunt performer?: DOUBLE TROUBLE.
43-Across. Worry for a winemaker?: PRESSING ISSUE.
52-Across. Worry for a dry cleaner?: DELICATE MATTER.
Here's the Grid:
What other concerns can be found in today's puzzle?
Across:
1. Largest of the Three Bears: PAPA.
5. Golf ball prop: TEE.
8. Moon's path: ORBIT.
13. Last (and next) U.S. state to host the Winter Olympics: UTAH. The Winter Olympics were last held in Utah in 2002. The games will return to Utah in 2034. I'll probably be too old by then to compete in the down hill racing. At least, that's my excuse.
14. Drive-__ window: THRU.
15. "Still Alice" Oscar winner Julianne: MOORE. Julianne Moore (née Julie Anne Smith; b. Dec. 3, 1960) is a talented actress. She made many independent films in the 1990s. Still Alice was a 2914 film about a professor, played by Julianne Moore, who developed Alzheimer's disease.
16. Lacking color: PALE.
17. Name in a will: HEIR. Technically speaking, one is not an heir while the donor is still alive. An heir is specifically a person legally entitled to inherit from someone after they have died
18. Physicist Newton: ISAAC. That's Sir Isaac Newton (Jan. 4, 1643 ~ Mar. 31, 1727) to you.
22. __ and yang: YIN.
23. Day on Mars: SOL. For a detailed explanation of what this means, check out this site.
24. "Your Song" singer Rita: ORA. Rita Ora (née Rita Sahatçiu Ora; b. Nov. 26, 1990) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. She is a British singer. She was born in Pristina, Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo), but her family moved to England when she was just an infant.
32. Quibbles: CARPS.
34. Gradually withdraw: WEAN.
35. AirPod holder: EAR.
36. Universal modes of transport?: UFOs.
37. Trojan War epic by Homer: ILIAD. Hand up if you have read The Iliad in the original Greek.
39. Tex-Mex snack: TACO. Yummers!
40. Froot Loops mascot Toucan __: SAM.
41. Actor Alda: ALAN. Alan Alda (né Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; b. Jan. 28, 1936) is probably best remembered for portraying Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running sit-com M*A*S*H.
42. Roof overhangs: EAVES. At the place to hang the icicles.
47. Federal org. employing ecologists: EPA. As in the Environmental Protection Agency.
48. Feline: CAT. As if I needed an excuse to post a cat cartoon ...
49. "Notorious" SCOTUS justice: RBG. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (née Joan Ruth Bader; b. Mar. 15, 1933 ~ Sept. 18, 2020) became known as Notorious RGB due to her many scathing dissenting opinions.
57. Taylor Swift album with the hit "Cruel Summer": LOVER.
58. Grumpy sort: CRAB.
59. Source of misery: BANE.
60. Pie serving: SLICE.
61. Enormous: MEGA.
62. Web developer's creation: SITE.
63. Shoulder muscles, briefly: DELTS. Short for Deltoid muscles.
64. PC file suffix: EXE.
65. Walk heavily: PLOD.
Down:
1. Young dog: PUPPY.
2. Video game pioneer: ATARI. Atari has been around since the early 1970's. The name Atari comes from a term in the board game Go.
3. Eve, but not Adam: PALINDROME. However, Madam, I am Adam is a palindrome.
4. "Beg pardon": AHEM.
5. "__ Never Catch Us": Jessica Goodman bestseller: THEY'LL. They'll Never Catch Us is a young adult thriller.
6. Actor Stoltz: ERIC. Eric Cameron Stoltz (b. Sept. 30, 1961) has been in many films since the 1980s.
7. French money: EURO. One side of the Euro coin is the "national" side and has a symbol of its country of origin.
8. Letter between xi and pi: OMICRON. // And 39-Down. Letter between sigma and upsilon: TAU.
9. Capital of Dominica: ROSEAU. Dominica is an island in the Caribbean.
10. Wild hog with tusks: BOAR.
11. Tehran's country: IRAN. I strongly recommend the book The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali. A novel that follows events in Iran, from the 1953 coup, through the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and after.
12. Sleuth, in old slang: TEC.
14. Pulsate: THROB.
20. Tech giant based in Taiwan: ASUS. I am not familiar with this company.
21. Santa-tracking org.: NORAD.
26. Photo __: some PR events: OPS.
27. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick: EWING. Although Patrick Aloysius Ewing (b. Aug. 5, 1962) was born in Jamaica, his family moved to Boston when he was a young child. He was a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin where he learned to play basketball. He never played for the Boston Celtics, however.
28. Lipton product: TEA.
29. Canadian treat that resembles a certain animal part: BEAVERTAIL. Hi, CanadianEh!
30. Lingerie trim: LACE. Followed by 31-Down. Greek Cupid: EROS.
32. Turning point: CUSP.
33. Miles off: AFAR.
37. Hipbone-related: ILIAC. Not to be confused with 37-Across.
38. PC-to-PC hookup: LAN. As in Local Area Network.
41. Has high hopes: ASPIRES.
42. "¿Cómo está usted?": ESTA. Today's Spanish lesson. I am doing very well, thank you.
44. Exclusive: SELECT.
45. Stretch of glacial growth: ICE AGE.
46. Brazilian dance: SAMBA.
50. Japanese box lunch: BENTO.
51. Avarice: GREED.
52. Mete (out): DOLE.
53. Like Doctor Doom: EVIL. A reference to one of the supervillains in Marvel Comics history.
54. Pinnacle: ACME.
55. Sue at Chicago's Field Museum, e.g.: T-REX. Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex is at the Field Museum in Chicago. The dino skeleton was found in South Dakota by Susan Hendrickson in 1990.
56. Baking amt.: TBSP. As in a Tablespoon.
57. 1960s hallucinogen, for short: LSD.
חתולה
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 80th birthday to Husker Gary's wife Joann and her twin sister Joyce! Here's a lovely picture of them with their mom Martha, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 100.
Gary and Joann had to say goodbye to their beloved cat Lily on Sunday. Such a sad time for them. Hope all the happy memories of Lily bring them some comfort.
