Don't Give Up! Stick With It!
17. Spot for holiday decorations: FRONT YARD.
26. Component of many a 1980s dance performance: MOON WALKING.
53. Fruit-flavored loaf: BANANA BREAD.
62. "Sometimes you feel like a nut" candy: ALMOND JOY.
38. Persevere, or a hint to the ends of the answers to 17-, 26-, 53-, and 62-Across: STICK WITH IT.
This is Juliet's debut crossword at the LA Times!
Across:
1. Outdated marriage vow word: OBEY. A true statement in many cultures.
5. "lol": HE HE. - A restrained laugh. Almost a polite laugh. Ha Ha - Especially when repeated, a more uproarious laugh.
9. Religious divisions: SECTS. Why are there so many branches of various religions? Because they kept having more and more sects.
14. Renown: FAME.
15. Odd's opposite: EVEN.
16. Backless slippers: MULES.
19. Loud, as a crowd: AROAR.
20. As an example: SAY. My wife is always looking out for my best interests and finding new ways to help me out. For instance, one time I mentioned that my sometimes arthritic hands felt a bit relieved when washing the dishes in the hot soapy water. Since then, she has almost always left the dishes for me. What a gal!
21. Tons: OODLES.
23. Pep squad cheer: RAH.
30. Like dark clouds: OMINOUS.
32. Pizza __: pie without tomato sauce: BIANCA. Didn't she marry Mick, and become a Jagger ? Pizza Bianca: J. Kenji López-Alt weighs in.
33. Proofreader's catch, hopefully: TYPO graphical error. As in say, when you intend to compliment your wife by writing to her that she's older and wiser, but you hit the d key instead of the s.
34. Volume of maps: ATLAS.
37. Gooey lump: GOB. Gob is also a slang word for mouth. I learned that from the Everlasting Gobstopper scene in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
42. __ Bath & Beyond: BED. Once thriving. Now struggling to stay afloat.
44. Hang gracefully: DRAPE.
45. Farm tower: SILO.
48. Phrase from Juliet Corless's balcony scene: O ROMEO. "... be but sworn my love"
50. Language arts teacher's concern: GRAMMAR. Say it ain't so! I'm far from a grammar snob, but every time I see someone write "tho", I think "ugh", which happens to be exactly what is missing. I wonder what these people do with all of their free time.
56. Potato growth: EYE.
57. Dot over an "i": TITTLE.
58. Golf peg: TEE.
60. Quartet in many a string orchestra: CELLI.
67. Short-lived: BRIEF.
68. Boyfriend: BEAU.
69. Minecraft or Fortnite: GAME.
70. Run-down: SEEDY.
71. "Now!," in the ICU: STAT. Latin statim - immediately. Right now.
72. Future platypuses: EGGS. No, the plural is not platypi. Interesting about how they find food.
Down:
1. Away from work: OFF. The Offspring. "I wrote her off for the tenth time today"
2. Happy hour locale: BAR. In 80's Houston, Friday "ladies night" at the nightclubs and dance clubs drew the biggest crowds.
3. My Chemical Romance genre: EMO.
4. Strong longings: YENS.
5. "Psst!": HEY YOU.
6. "Girl in Progress" actress Mendes: EVA. Eva and Ryan
7. Long-legged wader: HERON.
8. Fund on an ongoing basis: ENDOW.
9. Sorta tiny: SMALLISH.
10. Shout of discovery: EUREKA. I've heard it in old movies. I know it more as the cities in Missouri and California.
11. Semisonic hit with the lyrics "You don't have to go home / But you can't stay here": CLOSING TIME.
12. Tazo beverage: TEA.
13. 20th century map inits.: SSR. Click to enlarge.
18. __-shanter: Scottish cap: TAM O'. I golfed with and bowled against this guy ('s childhood friend and high school teammate). 😉
22. Blot with a tissue: DAB AT.
23. Biodegrade: ROT.
24. Advice columnist Dickinson: AMY. Don't know, don't care. Not trying to be mean. It's simply that I have no interest in the typical subject matter of advice columnists.
25. Shakira's only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100: HIPS DON'T LIE. Her elementary school choir teacher rejected her, and her classmates said she sang like a goat. Who is laughing now?
27. 2019 and 2021 Australian Open winner Naomi: OSAKA.
28. Staff sgt., e.g.: NCO. An enlisted rank of E-5 in the Air Force. In the Army, a Staff Sergeant is an E-6.
29. Gift of __: GAB.
31. "__ on my watch!": NOT.
35. County div.: TWP. Township.
36. Feudal lord: LIEGE.
39. Call by name: IDENTIFY.
40. Zagreb native: CROAT.
41. Belief system suffix: ISM.
42. Short cut: BOB.
43. Memorable historical period: ERA.
46. Install, as tiles: LAY.
47. Mined metal: ORE.
49. Sent, as a postcard: MAILED. How quaint. Regardless, sending and receiving handwritten mail adds a personal touch that seems to be missing in emails and texts.
51. Snitch on: RAT OUT. Tattles ?
52. Yemen's Gulf of __: ADEN.
54. Says too much: BLABS. Tattles ?
55. Find a new tenant for: RELET.
59. One of 12 on a cube: EDGE.
60. "Blue Bloods" TV network: CBS.
61. Before, in classic poetry: ERE.
63. Goat's bleat: MAA. They thought Shakira sounded like a goat ?
64. High-end British car, for short: JAG. In Pittsburgh and Chicago, the word and its derivatives have a different meaning.
65. "No. Way.": OMG. Did you hear oxygen and magnesium got together? They had a certain chemistry. It's OMg.
66. "That's right": YES.
Yes, that's right. I was asked to sub today. Unbelievable, right ? I thought Dash T was the sub. When will we see him again ?
The Grid:
