Thursday, September 11, 2025, Dylan Schiff

Theme:  How shall I post thee?  Let me count the ways.

Dylan Shiff is a middle school science teacher and puzzle enthusiast who loves the quirks of the English language.  Today's puzzle plays with various meanings of the word POST.

The theme clues and answers are:

18-Across. *Online diary: PERSONAL BLOG.  When you self-publish on a website for others to read, you "post" an entry or article to the site, and the entry or article is itself a "post."

25-Across. *Means of sending legal documents: CERTIFIED MAIL.  "Post" can be a verb meaning to send a letter or package.

37-Across. *Item pinned to a bulletin board: PROMOTIONAL FLYER.  Anything tacked onto a bulletin board is said to be "posted" there.

49-Across. *Professional who stands watch: SECURITY GUARD.  A security guard is assigned to a specific location for a defined period; this assignment is his "post."

59-Across. "I want to stay informed!," or what might be said by the answers to the starred clues?: KEEP ME POSTED.  This is the big reveal, without which I would never have discerned the connection between the starred clues.  A personal blog wants to be kept posted.  So does certified mail, a promotional flyer, and a security guard.  Wonderful wordplay.

I asked ChatGPT to create an image of a security guard at his post who is writing a personal blog, sending a letter, and tacking a flyer to a bulletin board.  The result is the image at the top of this post.  AI technology is amazing and terrifying!

How did Dylan fill in the rest of the puzzle?  Let's take a look.

Across:

1. Chocolaty coffees: MOCHAS.  Yum.

7. Unearthed: DUG UP.

12. Silk formation: WEB.  Hummingbirds use spider silk to bind their tiny nests together.

15. Punctual: ON TIME.

16. Yoga pose: ASANA.

17. Top card in hearts: ACE.

18. [Theme clue]

20. "Neither fish __ fowl": NOR.

21. Class with pronunciation practice, briefly: ESL.  English as a Second Language.

22. Tomato used in tomato paste: ROMA.  Roma tomatoes have low water content and few seeds, which makes it easy to reduce them to a thick paste.

23. "It's peculiar ... ": ODDLY.

25. [Theme clue]

29. River mouth formations: DELTAS.

31. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS.  "How are you?" spoken informally, as to a friend or family member.  We discovered that in Spain, people leap right into informal address, whereas in Mexico, you can know someone for many years and always use the formal ¿Cómo está usted? depending on the relationship.

32. Jeweler's unit: CARAT.

33. WNBA great Leslie: LISA.  Lisa Leslie was a professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2009. She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medalist.  She's a local So Cal gal, but alas, my sports allergy prevented my knowing of her accomplishments.

Lisa Leslie

34. Took charge: LED.

37. [Theme clue]

42. Tags in a Google Doc: ATS.  I don't use Google Docs, but I read that typing the "at" symbol -- @ -- opens a menu to quickly insert links and other items.  It's a shortcut to the insert menu.

43. Border on: ABUT.

44. Ahead of schedule: EARLY.

45. Puts a spell on: HEXES.

47. Extra tires: SPARES.

49. [Theme clue]

53. Bowler's hangout: ALLEY.

54. Limbs symbolic of power in Hinduism: ARMS.  

55. "__ making myself clear?": AM I.

58. Moreover: TOO.  Also, besides, furthermore, and additionally wouldn't have fit.

59. [Theme clue]

64. PIN point: ATM.  One uses a Personal Identification Number at an Automated Teller Machine.

65. Reach a consensus: AGREE.

66. Dutch beer: AMSTEL.  The brewery was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam, taken over by Heineken in 1968, and closed in 1982, with production moving to the main Heineken plant at Zoeterwoude.

67. "Def!": YEP.  Definitely.

68. Stockpile: HOARD.

69. 100-seat chamber: SENATE.  The U.S. Senate has 100 members, with two senators representing each of the 50 states.

Down:

1. Brood: MOPE.

2. Single notes: ONES.  "Notes" can mean paper money.  Americans usually say "bills."

3. Corner PC key: CTRL.

4. The "H" of HMS: HIS.  His Majesty's Ship.  It used to be Her Majesty's Ship when His mama was queen.

5. Cherub in Italian art: AMORETTO.  I never heard this term!

6. Spanish title: SENORA.

7. __ Lama: DALAI.

8. __ port: USB.  Oh, that kind of port.

9. Gadot of "Wonder Woman": GAL.  I know this Gal.  Not personally!  I know of her.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

10. "Last card!": UNO.  Uno is a card game developed in 1971, and produced since 1992 by Mattel.  A player who plays their next-to-last card must call "Uno" as a warning to the other players that they only have one card left.

11. East Asian temple: PAGODA.  A pagoda is a multi-story structure with overhanging roofs.  They often serve as Buddhist or Hindu temples or memorials.

12. Title fish in a 1988 heist comedy: WANDA.

13. Produce recall cause, often: E. COLI.  E. coli is a group of bacteria that can cause infections in your gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, and other parts of your body.

14. Mineral group for emerald and aquamarine: BERYL.  Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate, which forms hexagonal crystals.  Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities.

Aquamarine beryl gets its color from iron.

19. Ozs. and lbs.: AMTS.  Ounces and pounds are amounts.

24. Private online convos: DMS.  Direct Messages.

25. Chowder protein: CLAM.

26. Distracting move: FEINT.

27. Rae who played the president of Barbieland: ISSA.  Issa Rae plays a number of roles in Crossword Land.

28. Bibliography abbr.: ET AL.

29. Projectile aimed at a bull's-eye: DART.  This kind of bull's eye.  It is not wise to throw darts at real bulls' eyes.

30. God of love: EROS.

32. IRS worker: CPA.

33. Crummy: LOUSY.

34. Harp kin: LYRE.

35. Morays or congers: EELS.

36. Like kindling, ideally: DRY.

38. "Cash Cab" car: TAXI.  Cash Cab is a game show that premiered U.S. and British versions in 2005.  A taxi picks up a customer, the host announces that they are on Cash Cab, and they are given the option to play or get out.  If they choose to play, they have to stay in the cab until they reach their destination or get three strkes when answering questions.  They earn cash for correct answers.  I've never heard of this.  Anyone here watch it?  What kinds of questions do they answer?  Do they have to know what an amoretto is?  

39. [Eye roll]: I BET.

40. Inspiring chills: FEARSOME.

41. Frying medium: LARD.

45. Shade: HUE.

46. "On & On" singer Badu: ERYKAH.  Erykah Badu is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.  "On & On" was a Grammy winning single from her first album, Baduizm, released in 1997.  We saw her in Chandi Deitmer's puzzle on Sunday 9/7/2025, and in many, many puzzles before that.  Time to remember this “Queen of Neo Soul.”

Erykah Badu

47. "Why not!": SURE.

48. Argentinian grasslands: PAMPAS.

49. Skewered dish with peanut sauce: SATAY.  Yum.

Thai tofu satay with peanut sauce.  Your skewered protein may vary.

50. Mexican corn dish: ELOTE.  Elote returns to our crossword menu!  Corn on the cob, charred on a grill, and then slathered with spicy mayonnaise, crumbled cheese, chili powder and a squeeze of lime.  We had this dish in Patti Varol's puzzle on Friday 9/5/2025 and in C.C.'s puzzle on 8/24/2024. Yum.

51. Walk noisily: CLOMP.

52. Played Elden Ring, say: GAMED.  Elden Ring is a 2022 role-playing game for PlayStation, Windows, and Xbox.  

55. Roti base: ATTA.  Roti is an Indian flatbread made of atta flour and water.  It is frequently on our crossword menu.  DH and I are usually offered naan in Indian restaurants.  I'm sure roti is also yummy.

56. Come across: MEET.  Hmm.  This comes across as odd to me.  

57. Running in place: IDLE.

60. Barrier to teamwork: EGO.

61. Important chapter of history: ERA.

62. A pop: PER.  

63. Digits often hidden by x's: SSN.  In online forms and databases, SSNs are often replaced by x's so that bad folks can't look over your shoulder and steal your numbers.

Here's the grid:

Well, solvers, did you finish this puzzle ON TIME?  Did you DART from one clue to the next?

Or did you find it FEARSOME?

KEEP ME POSTED in the comments below!

-- NaomiZ 

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to dear Husker Gary, our caring and creative Saturday Sherpa. I remember you once shared that you spent a birthday apple-picking with your grandchildren some years back. Such a sweet image. Do you still keep up that tradition?

Wishing you a beautiful day filled with family, joy, and maybe even a crisp apple or two!

Left to Right: Boomer, Gary, C.C. & Joann (August 2014)

 

Thursday, September 4, 2025, Beth Rubin, Owen Bergstein

Theme:  Someone knocking at the door ...

Beth Rubin and Owen Bergstein last teamed up in these pages in January 2025.  Today they announce their return by making a racket at the door.  Let's examine the theme, starting with the reveal:

60-Across. "Let's hope so!," or what is found in this puzzle's circled letters: KNOCK ON WOOD.  Some ancient traditions call on tree spirits for luck, often by hitting or touching wood.  In today's puzzle, a knocking sound is literally placed ON a tree or wood name, indicated by circles.  Bless the circles!  How else would we find these hidden features?

17-Across. Consciousness-raising discussions: RAP SESSIONS.  You dig?

20-Across. West __: Williams-Sonoma subsidiary: ELM.  West Elm is a furniture store.

The knocking sound, RAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ELM.

32-Across. Checkmate symbol: POUND SIGN.  Anyone here familiar with chess notation?

35-Across. Volcanic depression: CALDERA.

The knocking sound, POUND, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ALDER.

45-Across. Member of the Syncopated Ladies, e.g.: TAP DANCER.  Syncopated Ladies is a tap dance group from Los Angeles.  Obvs I don't know the half of what goes on in this great city.

49-Across. Tennis icon Arthur: ASHE.

The knocking sound, TAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ASH.

Need a break from the racket?  Let's see what the rest of the clues and answers have to offer.

Across:

1. Moves like a rabbit: HOPS.  This clue and answer make a very cute corner with 1-Down.

5. First film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize: EBERT.  DNK exactly, but name a celebrated movie critic!

10. Serving water in a dribble cup, e.g.: GAG.  What a clever prank, to serve your guest a beverage in a glass with slits in the side!  At least the suggestion is for water, not red wine.

13. Keep away from: AVOID.

15. Squabble: ARGUE.

16. "Sorry, but it's __ from me": A NO.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Pt. of USNA: NAV.  A part of United States Naval Academy is Nav. for Naval.  Would that be U.S. Nav. Acad.?  I did not find this particular abbreviation in a quick Google search.

20. [Theme clue]

21. Wags: WITS.  A cleverly humorous person may be called a wag or a wit.

22. Edge along: SIDLE.

24. Library patron: USER.  In my former career as a librarian, we did indeed refer to folks using the library as either patrons or users.

26. Start of a cycle?: TRI.

29. God whose chariot is pulled by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr: THOR.  Not only do the goats pull Thor's chariot, but Thor cooks and eats the goats every night, and then resurrects them using his hammer and their skins every morning, so that the goats provide daily transportation and a meal!  

Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr pull Thor's chariot

30. Always trying to get one's way: PUSHY.

32. [Theme clue]

34. Mideast leader: EMIR.

35. [Theme clue]

36. Entered quickly: RACED IN.

38. Brought (up) from the past: DREDGED.

42. Tamagotchi, e.g.: DIGIPET.   Tamagotchi is an example of a virtual or digital pet.

44. Penne __ vodka: ALLA.

45. [Theme clue]

48. Squirrel away: STASH.

49. [Theme clue]

50. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL.  Gallaudet University is a private university in Washington, D.C., for education of the deaf and hard of hearing.  They use American Sign Language.  Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer.

51. Musical note part: STEM.

52. The first "M" of MGM: METRO.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is a film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Culver City, California

54. Spot in the agua: ISLA.  Agua is Spanish for water; isla is Spanish for island.

56. Genetic letters: RNA.  One had to solve 39-Down to know whether this would be DNA or RNA.  "Genetic messenger" would have been a more helpful clue.  But that's Thursday for you!

59. "__ Maria": AVE.  "Ave Maria" is Latin for "Hail Mary."  It is the first line of a Catholic prayer, and also the title of various musical compositions based on that prayer. 

60. [Theme clue -- the big reveal]

64. Hi-__ image: RES.  High-resolution images have greater detail and clarity than others.

65. Maui neighbor: LANAI.

The Hawaiian islands

66. Bones at the bases of spines: SACRA.  The sacrum (plural sacra) is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1–S5) between ages 18 and 30.

Note the sacrum in red at the base of the spine.

67. Works at a studio: ART.

68. "Get Smart" role: AGENT.  Get Smart was a television series parodying the secret agent genre that was popular in the early 1960s. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and had five seasons from 1965-1970.

Agent 86 and Agent 99

69. Take from the top: SKIM.  One meaning of skim is to quickly and lightly remove something from the surface, like a cook who skims fat from the top of a stew, or a bird that skims the surface of water for food.

Down:

1. Critter that moves like a rabbit: HARE.

2. Like some hand mirrors: OVAL.

3. Chappell Roan genre: POP MUSIC.  Chappell Roan is the stage name of American singer-songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known for her drag queen-inspired aesthetic. Her lyrics often address relationships and lesbian identity.  I often want to use Husker Gary's emoticon:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Chappell Roan

4. Certain sib: SIS.  A sibling is a brother or sister -- and more choices, these days.

5. The right way to go on a map?: EAST.  East is usually to the right on a map.

6. City near Bath: BRISTOL.

7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO.  Ego Nwodim has been a cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2018.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ego Nwodim

8. Become messy, as mascara: RUN.

9. Model Holliday: TESS.  Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is a plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles.  Oh, come on!   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tess Holliday on the cover of Cosmopolitan

10. Leader who was nominated for but never won a Nobel Peace Prize: GANDHI.  

Surely he's earned a photo on this page.

11. Like grandfather clocks: ANALOG.  Usually.

If you can have digipets,
you can have digigrandfather clocks.

12. Rule: GOVERN.

14. __ decimal system: DEWEY.  My career in librarianship started with shelving books in my elementary and middle school libraries using the Dewey decimal system.

18. Polite address: SIR.

23. "We're on!": IT'S A DATE.

25. Surfer who rips: SHREDDER.  Shredding or ripping is when a surfer makes a lot of spray with big turns that shred or rip the water on the wave using their surfboard.  Shredding displays impressive control of the board.

27. Steering option: RUDDER.

28. Like neon: INERT.

30. Pay-__-click: PER.  Pay-per-click is an online advertising model whereby advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.  It is commonly used on Google Search and social media networks.

31. Thurman of "Red, White & Royal Blue": UMA.  Uma Thurman plays a supporting role in this 2023 romantic comedy about a love affair between the son of the president of the United States and a British prince.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   Happily, Uma is the only Thurman I know.

32. Loses it: PANICS.

33. "Black-ish" father: DRE.  Black-ish was a sitcom that aired on ABC for eight seasons from 2014 to 2022.  It followed the family of Andre "Dre" Johnson, a successful advertising executive, and his wife Rainbow "Bow" Johnson, an anaesthesiologist.  DH and I enjoyed the show, which tackled issues of race and identity along with the normal drama of family life.

35. Aetna rival: CIGNA.  Health insurance companies.

37. __ de los Muertos: DIA.  Dia de los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that pays homage to loved ones who have died.

39. Campy genre: GLAM ROCK.  Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians. 

40. Aboveground trains: ELS.

41. Morse mark: DAH.  Morse code is a telecommunications method which encodes text characters as sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs.

43. Image on Louisiana license plates: PELICAN.  The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.

45. Tunie of "Beyond the Gates": TAMARA.  Tamara Tunie is a film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   Not to diminish her career achievements, but I just can't with all the entertainers today!  

Tamara Tunie

46. "Sincerely" alternative: AS EVER.

47. Acidity check: PH TEST.

48. Huge supporters, in slang: STANS.  Learned in crossword puzzles.

51. __-mo: SLO.

53. Ark. neighbor: OKLA.

55. Short routine: SKIT.

57. Makimono layer: NORI.  Makimono can be a Japanese scroll, or a type of sushi.  The latter would be sushi rice and other ingredients wrapped in nori (thin sheets of seaweed) and sliced.  DH and I gobble up the vegan versions at Planta Cocina.  

Makimono

58. Scott of "Severance": ADAM.  Severance is an intriguing TV series about employees at a large corporation who have had a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and have no recollection of their jobs once they leave.  Adam Scott is excellent in the lead role.  You can watch Severance on Apple TV+.

Adam Scott as Mark S in Severance

61. Really bug: NAG.

62. "I, for __ ... ": ONE.

63. Had the job of: WAS.  She was a singer, songwriter, actress ...

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did all that KNOCKing ON WOOD bring you luck?

Or were you at your WITS' end with all the celebrities?

Let us know in the comments.

And BTW, apologies/thanks to Husker Gary.  I stole your adorable shrugging emoticon today!

-- NaomiZ

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Jayce sent me this loving picture of him and his wife Christina. The picture was taken in 1997. 

 

 

Thursday, August 28, 2025, Sala Wanetick, Emily Biegas

 Theme:  Holy (rock and) rollers.

Hank Hill's thoughts on Christian Rock

I count seven puzzles in these pages co-constructed by Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas.  Is today's puzzle divinely inspired?  The theme entries are:

20-Across. *Depeche Mode song with the lyric "Reach out and touch faith": PERSONAL JESUS.  Released in 1989, this song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley.  It is surely no accident that Elvis and Priscilla show up in the clue at 3-Down!  The song is about how a lover becomes one's source of hope and tender loving care -- a god-like role that people fulfill for one another.

25-Across. *Bon Jovi song with the lyric "Take my hand and we'll make it, I swear": LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.  Recorded in 1986 and regarded as Bon Jovi's signature song, this song is about a working class couple struggling to make ends meet.  I'll bet many of you can hum a few bars.

44-Across. *Hozier song with the lyric "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies": TAKE ME TO CHURCH.  Irish singer-songwriter Hozier's debut single in 2013.  Kind of an anti-religious song, in which a lover offers the only true redemption.

52-Across. Bible camp genre, or what the answers to the starred clues could be mistaken for?: CHRISTIAN ROCK.

The only one of these songs that I knew was LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.  Now that I've looked at the lyrics of all three, I realize that our constructors selected songs that are anything *but* traditionally devotional.  They have suggested as much with the reveal at 52-Across.

Let's see what other revelations appear in the rest of the puzzle.

Across:

1. Included digitally: CC'ED.  "Carbon copied" on an email.  Some of us are old enough to have used carbon paper between sheets of regular paper on a typewriter to create copies.

5. Ryder Cup org.: PGA.  The Ryder Cup is played in odd-numbered years between teams from the United States and Europe.  On our side of the pond, it is organized by the Professional Golfers' Association of America.

8. Not quite: ALMOST.

14. Prefix with port: HELI.  A heliport is a landing place for helicopters that provides a range of services like maintenance and fueling.  A helipad is just a designated place where a helicopter can land safely.

15. "Toy Story" dinosaur: REX.  If you could picture this fellow in memory, you could guess his name.

Rex is the green fellow.

16. Snicker sound: TEEHEE.  Finally!  Someone has spelled this correctly in a puzzle!

17. Totalitarian control: IRON RULE.

19. Heartless fellow in Oz?: TIN MAN.

20. [Theme clue]

22. Down: SAD.

23. Power drill insert: BIT.

24. Bird with large green eggs: EMU.

25. [Theme clue]

32. Subj. with a lot of reading: ENG.  A subject that involves a lot of reading is English.

33. "Home on the Range" animal: ANTELOPE.  "Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play ...."

34. Arab leader: EMIR.

37. "The Marvelous __ Maisel": MRS.  Great show, appeared on Amazon Prime Video over five seasons from 2017 to 2023.

38. Phil or Lil of "Rugrats," e.g.: TWIN.

Phil and Lil

39. Vinegar that may be drizzled over caprese salad: BALSAMIC.  'Tis the season to enjoy ripe tomatoes with fresh basil and mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

42. Undeclared: Abbr.: TBA.  To Be Announced.

44. [Theme clue]

48. Afore: ERE.

49. Gender-specific pronoun: HER.

50. In medias __: RES.  Latin for "in the middle of things."  In fiction, it is the technique of dropping the reader into the midst of the action without preamble.

52. [Theme clue]

56. Narrow waterway: STRAIT.

58. Erodes bit by bit: EATS INTO.

59. Persuade forcefully: COERCE.

60. Toronto-to-Quebec dir.: ENE.

61. Filmmaker Buñuel: LUIS.

62. [Skull emoji]: I'M DEAD.

63. Team ldr.: MGR.  Team leader could be a manager.

64. Mark for good: ETCH.


Down:

1. Nail polish nicks: CHIPS.

2. Lucky Charms, e.g.: CEREAL.

3. Jacob who played Elvis in "Priscilla": ELORDI.  Jacob Elordi is an Australian actor who portrayed Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s biographical drama Priscilla in 2023.  Did Not Know.

Jacob Elordi

4. Loud noises: DINS.

5. Trimming: PRUNING.

6. Tartufo ingredient: GELATO.  Tartufo is Italian for truffle, a fabulous edible fungus, but is also the name of an Italian frozen dessert that looks sort of like the fungus.  The dessert is a gelato ball with a filling, coated in cocoa powder, a hard chocolate shell, or ground nuts.

Tartufo

7. Olympic jump: AXEL.

8. Shot: ATTEMPT.

From Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

9. Duty-free time: LEISURE.

10. Word with beer or wine: MENU.

11. Units of resistance: OHMS.

12. __ urchin: SEA.

13. Perfect score in some rating systems: TEN.

18. Bird with small blue eggs: ROBIN.

21. Mom __: JEANS.  Denim pants with a high waist, relaxed hip and thigh areas, and tapered legs were popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Later, they were ridiculed by younger folks as a style only their moms continued to wear.  And then these whippersnappers imitated them in the mid-2010s to the present.  Now they are actually marketed as "mom jeans."

Mom jeans

26. Sonnets, odes, et al.: VERSE.

27. Drug bust figure: NARCO.  "Narco" refers to someone who traffics illegal drugs, deriving from the word "narcotic."

28. Vow locale: ALTAR.

29. Cry of pain: YOW.

30. Prefix with center: EPI.

31. "__ Faire": 2024 HBO docuseries: REN.  Ren Faire is a three-part HBO documentary series that explores a succession crisis at the Texas Renaissance Festival.  I didn't know this, but I've been to a Renaissance Faire once or twice.  I know some folks who still love to dress up for these things.

Ren Faire costumes are all about the bodice.

34. SNAP system: EBT.  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budgets.  Electronic Benefit Transfer allows state welfare departments to issue benefits via a magnetically encoded payment card.

35. Barnyard bleat: MAA.  A bleat is the sound of a lamb, kid, or calf calling for its mother.  Lambs (baby sheep) are usually represented as saying "baa," kids (baby goats) as saying "maa," and calves (baby cattle) as saying "moo."  

36. Kind: ILK.

37. Tick relatives: MITES.

40. Ferrera of "Barbie": AMERICA.  America Ferrera played a Mattel employee in the 2023 Barbie movie directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie.  She delivered a monologue that resonated with many people.  

An excerpt from the monologue:

"It is literally impossible to be a woman. ... Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.  You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. ... You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. ... You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault."

41. Warranted: MERITED.

42. Broadway building: THEATER.

43. Ruins by overcooking: BURNS.

45. __ Mai: city in northern Thailand: CHIANG.  Chiang Mai is a major city in northern Thailand, known for its ancient temples, bustling markets, and vibrant cafe scene, all nestled within a backdrop of mountains and natural beauty.

Chiang Mai

46. Hybrid pastry since 2013: CRONUT.  A Cronut is a trademarked, croissant-doughnut hybrid pastry invented by French pastry chef Dominique Ansel in 2013, featuring a delicate, flaky interior with a caramelized, crispy exterior.

Cronut

47. Frenzied: HECTIC.

51. Ambiguous recipe amount: SKOSH.

52. Street __: CRED.

53. Aesop racer: HARE.

54. Swarm (with): TEEM.

55. Peeve: RILE.  I'm familiar with the noun, as in "pet peeve" or annoyance, but the first meaning seems to be a verb, to annoy, which matches up with rile, which means to make angry or to upset.

56. Ecol. or geol.: SCI.  Ecology and geology are sciences.

57. Colicchio of "Top Chef": TOM.  Tom Colicchio co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as co-owner and executive chef. He is the founder of Crafted Hospitality, which includes Craft (NYC and Los Angeles), Temple Court (NYC), Craftsteak (MGM Grand Las Vegas) and Small Batch (Long Island) restaurants. Colicchio is the recipient of five James Beard Foundation Awards and has been the head judge on every season of Bravo reality TV show Top Chef, as well as Best New Restaurant which he executive produces.  Sorry to say I DNK any of that, Tom!

Tom Colicchio

Here's the grid:

OK, solvers, I have to ask:

Did the puzzle TEEM with unknowns for you, so that it RILEd you up?

Or was it a pleasant LEISURE activity that MERITED praise for the constructors?

Let us know in the comments.

-- NaomiZ