Thursday, December 18, 2025, Rebecca Goldstein

Theme:  On a wing and a prayer ...

Wright Brothers first flight, December 17, 1903

Was our constructor, Rebecca Goldstein, inspired by yesterday's 122nd anniversary of the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina?  Maybe!  The theme answers in today's puzzle all involve wings.  They are:

17-Across. Many an American employee: FLIGHT ATTENDANT.  The American Airlines flight attendant uniform includes a metal pin in the shape of wings with the company logo at the center. 

25-Across. List of pub grub: BAR MENU.  A bar menu frequently includes chicken wings.

28-Across. Contest that starts with a center-ice faceoff: NHL GAME.  The National Hockey League includes a team called the Detroit Red Wings that is celebrating its 100th anniversary in the 2025/26 season.

42-Across. Residential upgrades: HOME IMPROVEMENT.  Upgrading your home?  You might add a new wing.

55-Across. Red Bull slogan, and what can also be said of 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across: GIVES YOU WIIINGS.  Red Bull is an "energy drink" containing caffeine, taurine, glucuronolactone, B vitamins, and inositol.  It is advertised as a performance enhancer.  In 2013, a class-action lawsuit argued that the slogan "Red Bull gives you wings" and related marketing claims misled consumers into believing the drink provided benefits not found in a cup of coffee.  The suit was settled for $13 million, and the slogan was changed to "Red Bull gives you WIIINGS" as if this is somehow more clearly metaphorical, and less a literal claim.  Both the before and after slogans are news to this blogger.

So, 17-, 25-, 28-, and 42-Across GIVE YOU WINGS.  Sort of, right?  The flight attendant might give you a wings pin.  The bar menu might give you chicken wings.  An NHL game might serve up the Detroit Red Wings.  And home improvements might give you (and your house) new wings.

At this point, we are flying high.  On to the rest of the clues and answers!

Across:

1. "In the headlights" animal: DEER.  Deer have more light sensitive rod cells and greater dilation than we have in our eyes, giving them good night vision. When you shine bright light into their faces at night, they are blinded. Their fear response is to freeze to avoid detection by predators. This response is not well adapted to fast moving cars.

5. Golf tops: POLOS.  Golf courses often have dress codes requiring shirts with collars, so a polo shirt is a comfortable way to meet that standard.

10. Fury: RAGE.

14. Soul, in Spanish: ALMA.

15. "Alas and __!": ALACK.  Alas and alack have the same meaning, and are doubled for effect.

16. Some Sharon Olds poems: ODES.  Sharon Olds is an American poet who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.  Raised by abusive parents in a strict religious environment, her poetry uses raw language to expose domestic and political violence.  Odes is a 2016 collection of poetry in the form of odes addressing taboo subjects.

17. [Theme clue]

20. __ sauce: TARTAR.

21. Called: TERMED.

22. Brand of 5-Across: IZOD.  Remember when this brand of polo shirts was all the 10-Across?  

24. Breakfast bowl berry: ACAI.

25. [Theme clue]

28. [Theme clue]

32. Skin soother: ALOE.

33. HS diploma equivalent: GED.  General Educational Development is a set of exams that provide a certificate equivalent to a high school diploma.

35. "All over that": ON IT.

36. Wellness space: SPA.

37. Fruit also known as guanabana: SOURSOP.  Soursop is the fruit of Annona muricata, a broadleaf evergreen tree.  It is native to the tropical Americas and is widely propagated.  With an aroma similar to pineapple, the flavor has been described as a combination of strawberries and apple with sour citrus notes, and a creamy texture reminiscent of banana.

Soursop fruit on the tree

41. Herbal refreshment: TEA.

42. [Theme clue]

45. Director Lee: ANG.

46. Quick __ wink: AS A.

47. Escapade: LARK.

49. Chess greats, for short: GMS.  Grandmasters.  Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain.

52. Indigenous Canadians: CREE.

55. [Theme clue]

59. Butter Restaurant chef/owner Guarnaschelli: ALEX.  She's a Food Network star and Manhattan restaurateur.

Alex Guarnaschelli

60. March follower: APRIL.

61. Sushi seaweed: NORI.

62. Pops: DADA.

63. Foul call, maybe: PRANK.  A couple of my friends made "foul calls" when we were in middle school.  A call to the corner drug store or liquor store:  "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?  You do?  Well, let him out!"  And a call to any random number:  "Is your refrigerator running?  It is?  Well, you'd better go catch it!"

64. Scratched (out): EKED.

65. Con: SCAM.

66. Shoe bottoms: SOLES.

67. Simchat bat, for one: RITE.  "Simchat bat" is Hebrew for "rejoicing over a daughter."  This ritual welcomes a baby girl into the Jewish people, much as the "brit milah" (or "covenant of circumcision") welcomes a baby boy ... but with no surgery involved.

Down:

1. Absurd: DAFT.  Just plain silly.

2. "First Lady of Song" Fitzgerald: ELLA.

3. Qatari commander: EMIR.

4. "The Entertainer" genre: RAGTIME.  "The Entertainer" is a 1902 ragtime piece for piano written by Scott Joplin.  It was popular as a piano roll for player pianos in the 1910s, and was first recorded by "the Blue Boys" in 1928, on mandolin and guitar.  In 1973, it was the theme music for The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.  Ragtime was big from the 1890s to 1910s; its signature trait is a syncopated or "ragged" rhythm.

5. Source of financial aid: PATRON.

6. Rio greeting: OLA.  "Hello" in Portuguese, the language of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

7. Muscle worked in dumbbell rows: LAT.  Cruciverbalists call those large back muscles "latissimi dorsi," but gym rats call them lats.

8. Halloween mo.: OCT.  An abbreviation in the clue suggests an abbreviation in the answer.

9. Comedy scene: SKETCH.

10. "Good 4 U" singer Olivia: RODRIGO.  Olivia Rodrigo acted in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and then shifted into singing, which has earned her three Grammy awards.  She was recognized as Time's Entertainer of the Year in 2021, Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2022, and ASCAP's Pop Music Songwriter of the Year in 2022 and 2024.  Good 4 U was her second number-one song in 2021.  This blogger is behind the times.  

11. Driver of "Ferrari": ADAM.  Adam Driver played Enzo Ferrari in the 2023 film.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, and as himself.

12. Part of an inheritance: GENE.  Part of a genetic inheritance.

13. Founded, as a co.: ESTD.  "Established" can be abbreviated as EST, ESTD, or EST'D.

18. Skyline obscurer: HAZE.

19. Diane of "Law & Order: SVU": NEAL.  Diane Neal played a New York assistant district attorney on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2003 to 2012.  She had an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2018.

Diane Neal on SVU

23. Excavated: DUG UP.

24. "In conclusion ... ": AND SO ...

25. Fun function: BASH.

26. Chewy brand: ALPO.  Chewy is a pet supplies website.  As far as I can tell, they don't offer the Alpo brand of pet food on their U.S. site, but they do offer it in Canada.  Alpo does make a dog treat called Chew-eez, but again, it appears to be for the Canadian market.  Is our constructor suggesting that Alpo is a particularly chewy brand of pet food?  How would she know?  

27. Wander: ROAM.

29. Price for hand delivery?: ANTE.  The price you pay to be dealt a hand in a card game.

30. Bearing: MIEN.

31. Coup d'__: ÉTAT.  French for "blow to the state," more or less.  An illegal takeover of the government by sudden action.

34. Stumble or fumble: ERR.

37. Vanity pieces: SINKS.  A bathroom vanity combines a sink, countertop, and storage cabinet.

38. "Srsly!?": OMG.  Textspeak:  Seriously?  Oh my god!

39. Roe, e.g.: OVA.

40. "Raging Bull" Oscar nominee: PESCI.  Raging Bull is a 1980 Martin Scorsese film about boxing champion Jake LaMotta.  Joe Pesci plays Jake's brother, Joey LaMotta.

From Raging Bull: Joe Pesci is on the right

43. Sound check?: EAR EXAM.  Your blogger has an audiology appointment tomorrow.

44. Water boy?: MARINER.  A mariner works aboard a boat or ship ... on the water.

47. Olive family shrub: LILAC.  Lilacs and olives are members of the family Oleaceae.  Other family members (of which there are 700!) include jasmine and forsythia.

48. Vegan brand owned by Estée Lauder: AVEDA.

49. Device on a snowboarder's helmet, maybe: GOPRO.  A GoPro is a camera used to capture videos and photos in challenging situations.  It is waterproof and shockproof, can stabilize images, and has versatile mounting options.

50. Wall flowers, perhaps: MURAL.

51. Pigs: SWINE.

53. Miso soup mushroom: ENOKI.

Enoki mushrooms

54. Ibis kin: EGRET.

55. Wanders (about): GADS.

56. Blathers on: YAPS.

57. Varieties: ILKS.

58. "Oh sure, take their __!": SIDE.

Here's the grid:

Solvers:  Did you think Rebecca's puzzle was DAFT?  Did you ERR at some point and react in RAGE?

Or did you think the experience of solving was a LARK and look forward to more puzzles of this ILK?

Let us know in the comments!

-- NaomiZ

Thursday, December 11, 2025, Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis, Erik Agard

Theme:  The beat goes on!

Erik Agard and Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis

Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis is an audio and digital producer on the NPR Music Team, and an avid crossword solver.  This may be her first published crossword puzzle.  If so, congratulations!  In the photo above, Sofie was reporting on a crossword tournament at the University of Chicago in October 2025 for radio station WBEZ Chicago.  For today's puzzle, Sofie teamed up with constructor extraordinaire Erik Agard, former crossword editor at USA Today, currently at Apple News+.  It's wonderful to have these young folks making puzzles.

Today's puzzle features three starred clues, and one that reveals their connection:

28-Down. "Genius of Love" band, or what the answers to the starred clues are members of?: TOM TOM CLUB.  Although I was a fan of the band Talking Heads in the 1980s, I did not know about Tom Tom Club, a side project of two of the members.  Their song "Genius of Love" made it to the US top 40 in 1981.

Now that I've heard the song, I'm going to forget it, along with the band.  Happily this ignorance on my part did not keep me from solving the puzzle.  The reveal even helped me complete the starred clues.  They are:

20-Across. *Jelly Roll Morton jazz composition: BLACK BOTTOM STOMP.  I know about Jelly Roll Morton -- the jazz bandleader who was recording in the 1920s -- because of Van Morrison's lyrics:  

And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me

But I didn't know Black Bottom Stomp:

47-Across. *Pronunciation dichotomy popularized by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: TOMAYTO TOMAHTO.  This difference in pronunciation is highlighted in a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Shall We Dance.  In the movie, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sing it while roller skating.  Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1957.

27-Down. *One minuscule step at a time: ATOM BY ATOM.  Keeping in mind that Sofie is involved with broadcasting music, it's likely that she has a song in mind here, too.  Is she thinking of the British band Satan, with the 2015 album (and song) Atom by Atom?  (There's also a London-based alternative rock group called Atom by Atom.  Listen here:  https://atombyatom.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-bag )

If you've ever wished that NaomiZ would post more links, your wish has now been granted.

Oh, and by the way -- TOM TOMs are drums.  But you knew that.  And -- the word TOM appears twice in each of the starred answers.  But you knew that, too.

Here's the grid, with all those TOMs peeping out:

Now that we've dealt with every TOM, let's see about Dick and Harry, and whoever else.

Across:

1. One-third of a cereal mascot trio: SNAP.  Crackle and Pop wouldn't fit.

5. Start fishing: CAST.  A fisherman casts the line by pulling the rod back and then snapping it forward, releasing the fishing line and launching it forward.

9. Astounds: WOWS.

13. __ d'Ivoire: COTE.  A West African country with a French colonial history.

14. Spa treatment: FACIAL.

16. Pelee Island's lake: ERIE.  The largest island in Lake Erie.

17. Swedish supergroup: ABBA.

18. Mamá's mamá: ABUELA.  Abuela is Spanish for grandmother.  The accent on mamá was your clue for Spanish.

19. Rodgers of the band Chic: NILE.  Co-founder of the band Chic, Nile Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has received six Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement/Special Merit Award.  You may not know his name, but I'll bet you've heard the songs:

20. [Theme clue]

23. "Beloved" protagonist: SETHE.  Beloved is a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison.  This harrowing tale of a runaway slave is based on a true story.  In 1856, U.S. marshals broke into a cabin in the free state of Ohio, where a mother who had escaped brutal slavery in Kentucky was hiding with her children.  The mother attempted to kill her own children to prevent their return to Kentucky under the Fugitive Slave Act.  Imagine how awful her experience in Kentucky must have been, to want to spare her children in this way.

24. Many a YA hero: TEEN.  YA = Young Adult, a category of literature aimed at teenagers.  

25. Yellowfin and albacore: TUNAS.

26. Green vegetable in aloo matar: PEA.  Curry with peas is part of our standard rotation!  We use tofu instead of potatoes.

Aloo Matar

28. 2,000 pounds: TON.

29. The Black List items: SCRIPTS.  The Black List is a platform for writers to share scripts with Hollywood professionals and get high-quality evaluations from vetted readers.  https://blcklst.com/

33. Polite: CORDIAL.

37. "I'm sorry" response: THAT'S OK.

38. Vast: IMMENSE.

39. Chows down: EATS.

40. Instant: MOMENT.  One meaning of instant is a precise moment of time.  At that very moment ... or, at that very instant ... 

43. Dreary routines: RUTS.

44. CT scan kin: MRI.

45. Ford SUV: BRONCO.

46. Govt. org. established by Lincoln: IRS.  President Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862, which created the position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue within the Department of the Treasury, and levied the nation's first progressive income tax.  Income tax was repealed in 1872, reinstated in 1894, ruled unconstitutional in 1895, and reinstated through the 16th amendment in 1913.  The taxing agency was renamed "Internal Revenue Service" in 1953.  You're welcome.

47. [Theme clue]

52. Govt. org. established by Nixon: EPA.  President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency by executive order in 1970 to consolidate federal environmental responsibilities and to respond to growing public concern over pollution and environmental degradation.  

53. Movie tech: CGI.  Computer-Generated Imagery.

54. "Did you start already?": AM I LATE?

58. Type of grill or haircut: FLAT TOP.

        flat top grill                           flat top haircut

62. Spot for the cheapest seats in the house, maybe: LAST ROW.

63. "Beauty and the Beast" candelabra: LUMIÈRE.  French speakers have an advantage, since lumière means light.

Lumière from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"

64. "I've got this": TRUST ME.

65. Partner of "aided": ABETTED.  Aiding others is usually a good thing; abetting is very bad.


Down:

1. Line crossers?: SCABS.  Scabs cross the picket line.

2. Of high morals: NOBLE.

3. Royal appearance?: AT BAT.  Kansas City Royals appear, one at a time, at bat.

4. Fruit parts in some noyaux recipes: PEACH PITS.  Noyaux is a liqueur which infuses the kernels found inside pits of stone fruits into spirits like vodka or rum.  Be sure to roast those kernels to avoid cyanide poisoning!

5. "The Princess Diaries" novelist Meg: CABOT.  The Princess Diaries is a series of young adult novels by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000.  The series follows an American teenager who turns out to be Princess Regent of a small European country.  The 2001 Disney film starred Anne Hathaway in her film debut as the princess, along with Julie Andrews as her grandmother and Queen regnant.

6. Like some angles: ACUTE.

7. This clue's number en español: SIETE.  Spanish for "seven."

8. Hawk's weapon: TALON.  Photographer Mark Smith call talons "murder mittens."

Mark Smith's photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle

9. Sank: WENT UNDER.

10. Night hunter: ORION.  Most visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

11. Activist and social reformer Mankiller: WILMA.  Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) was a Native American activist and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.  One of her projects was the subject of the film The Cherokee Word for Water.

Wilma Mankiller 2022 quarter dollar

12. Oozes: SEEPS.

14. "Gorg!": FAB.  Gorgeous!  Fabulous.

15. On the __: LAM.

21. Holds on to: KEEPS.

22. Rush angrily: STORM.  Picture storming off ...

27. [Theme clue]

28. [Theme reveal]

29. Brain __: STEM.

30. Graph that may resemble a pie: CHART.

31. Embarrass on social media, in a way: RATIO.  Ratio as a verb on Twitter:  to flood a tweet or its author with negative replies such that commenters take control of the message away from the original poster.  This makes sense as it influences the ratio of positive to negative responses.  

32. Field hockey garment: SKORT.

Looks like skorts are strictly for the ladies.

33. Seis menos uno: CINCO.  Spanish again!  Six minus one:  five.

34. Indigenous people of Greenland: INUIT.

35. Houston baseballer: ASTRO.

36. "I couldn't care __": LESS.

41. "Click, Clack, __: Cows That Type": Caldecott Honor book: MOO.  By Doreen Cronin, 2000.

42. Otolaryngologist, for short: ENT.  An otolaryngologist, commonly called an ENT doctor, specializes in conditions of the ear, nose, and throat.

48. Cheesy sammies: MELTS.  A melt is a hot sandwich with melting cheese.  The tuna melt is a classic example.

49. Not together: APART.

50. Finest form: A GAME.

51. "Cue the music!": HIT IT.  Back to Sofie's choice!

54. Flying fig.: ALT.  Altitude.

55. Ruin: MAR.

56. Ames sch.: ISU.  Iowa State University is in Ames, Iowa.

57. Mother in a meadow: EWE.

58. Ga. neighbor: FLA.

59. Vietnamese New Year: TET.

60. One of five resources in Catan: ORE.  Catan is a board game in which players establish settlements on a fictional island while acquiring and trading resources.  The resources include wool, grain, lumber, brick, and ore.

61. One on foot: Abbr.: PED.  Pedestrian.

Solvers, did you think that Erik Agard aided or ABETTED Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis in constructing this puzzle?  Was it the PITS?  Did you STORM off without finishing?

Or did you bring your A GAME and finish in LESS time than usual for a Thursday?

TRUST ME, you'll find like-minded people in the comments.  Join us there!

-- NaomiZ

Thursday, December 4, 2025, Emet Ozar

 Theme:  The Crying Game

Emet Ozar serves up a Thursday challenge.  Best to keep in mind that it's just a game!  The four theme entries are symmetrically placed in rows Across, with two of them spanning the grid, and the other two just one square shy of that.  All four involve a common phrase that is reinterpreted as a cry from a game player.  The theme entries are:

16-Across. Sad cry from a hot potato player?: I DIDN'T CATCH THAT.  If you drop the potato, you're out.  

25-Across. Sad cry from a Bananagrams player?: CAN I GET A WORD IN?  Players race to build crossword grids using letter tiles.  Why haven't I played this?

46-Across. Sad cry from a Battleship player?: I MISSED THE BOAT.

61-Across. Happy cry from a Scrabble player?: I'M DRAWING A BLANK.

All those cries ended on a happy note.  Let's see how we fare with the rest of this game.

Across:

1. All-Star side: EAST.  Sports are games, too, but they seem more like tribal warfare by proxy.  In many sports, the All-Star games pit East versus West.

5. Maori dance: HAKA.  Speaking of sports, the Haka is performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before matches.  

All Blacks Haka dance

9. Building blocks: ABCs.

13. Pepper __: MILL.

14. Drop: OMIT.

15. Biggest city in the Cornhusker State: OMAHA.  Nebraska.

16. [Theme clue]

19. Custom car made from cast-off parts: RAT ROD.  A custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts. 

Rat Rod

20. Knightly honorifics: SIRS.

21. Formal accessory: TIE.

22. Actor Corddry: ROB.  You may remember Rob as a correspondent on The Daily Show.  He has a number of other television and film credits, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and more Ds than seem proper in his surname.

Rob Corddry

24. Rented: LET.

25. [Theme clue]

33. Palm fruit: DATE.

34. Tool that can be made to sound like a theremin: SAW.  The theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer. It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928.  Here is Leon Theremin playing the theremin:

Playing a saw requires touching it with a bow:

https://youtube.com/shorts/3-2wWp1UBiY?si=N6E0SxupPWiXKwVl

Apologies if the videos don't work!  You can look up Theremin on Wikipedia to see the Leon Theremin video.  And of course you can copy and paste the YouTube link into your web browser to see the saw in action.

35. Thin: SPARSE.

36. Ballpark figs.: ERAs.  Not estimates (like ETAs), but figures reported in baseball ballparks:  Earned Run Averages.

37. Verbal shrug: MEH.

39. Valley: DALE.

40. Grinding vessel: MORTAR.  I tried "metate" first. 

43. Orecchiette shape: EAR.  "Orecchiette" means "little ears" in Italian.  It's a pasta shape.

Orecchiette

45. Cyberchatted, for short: IMed.  Instant Messaged.  Also written IM'd.

46. [Theme clue]

49. "SNL" alum Gasteyer: ANA.  She's had continued success on film and stage.

Ana Gasteyer

50. Bother: ADO.

51. "KPop Demon Hunters" voice actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE.  A successful actor on stage, film and TV.

Daniel Dae Kim

54. "99 Luftballons" band: NENA.  The German band Nena recorded "99 Luftballons" in 1983.  The song tells a fictional story about how 99 balloons are mistaken for enemy aircraft and trigger a global nuclear war.

56. Trashes: TOSSES.

61. [Theme clue]

64. Game consoles produced between 1983 and 2001: SEGAS.

65. Escalator part: STEP.

66. No-frills grocery chain: ALDI.

67. Had in mind?: KNEW.

68. Obscure: HIDE.

69. All-Star side: WEST.  The last Across clue echoes the first.  Here in the Corner, we call that a clecho -- a clue echo.

Down:

1. Doha dignitary: EMIR.  Doha is the capital of Qatar.

2. Verdi opera: AIDA.

3. Feature of many a slinky gown: SLIT.  

Just for Splynter.

4. "I lost interest" letters: TLDR.  Too Long, Didn't Read.

5. Relish-topped ballpark bites: HOT DOGS.

6. Theater chain with MacGuffins Bar and Lounge: AMC.  Never heard of this, but AMC is the only theater chain that comes to mind.

7. Some Korean cars: KIAS.

8. __ the Hun: ATTILA.

9. Check no.: AMT.  Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer.  AMT is for "amount."

10. Thai currency: BAHT.

11. Hebrew symbol that translates to "living": CHAI.  Chai is not so much a symbol as it is a word, composed of two Hebrew letters.  It means "life."  Hebrew letters were also used as number symbols, and the letters in chai add up to 18, so that 18 is associated with life and luck.  

12. Fill fully: SATE.

15. "You are just too much!": OH STOP.

17. Edible seaweed: NORI.

18. Hands that handle the deck: CREWS.  The deck of a ship ...

23. Radiate pride: BEAM.

25. Tricky pool shot: CAROM.

26. Maker of the 2600 and 5200 game consoles: ATARI.

27. Tiny homes tucked in branches: NESTS.

28. Chirp: TWEET.  Sounds heard in NESTS.

29. __ wave: RADIO.

30. Broadway genre: DRAMA.

31. Dot on a map: ISLET.

32. Call for: NEED.

33. Prefix with sexual: DEMI.  A demisexual person only develops sexual attraction after forming an emotional bond with another person.  They don't get hot and bothered by slits in gowns, for sure!

38. "Good one": HA HA.

41. Vinyasa sequence: ASANAS.  An asana is a physical pose in yoga.  Vinyasa is a style of yoga that links poses in a fluid sequence.  I've seen my lovely daughters practice this flow.

42. Freshen: RENEW.

44. Bureaucratic hassle: RED TAPE.

47. Like kanelsnegle: DANISH.  Kanelsnegle are Danish cinamon rolls.  I didn't know this, but I'm happy to see these on the crossword menu.  Especially if I only have to spell Danish, and not kanelsnegle!

48. __ tube: BOOB.  Yes, kids, that's what we used to call the TV.  Cathode ray tube device for idiots.  Before we all got sucked in.

51. Floppy or hard medium: DISK.

52. Blessing ender: AMEN.

53. Lip: EDGE.  Like the lip of a cup.

55. Not pro: ANTI.

57. Vegetable side: SLAW.

58. Result of a good pitch: SALE.  A good SALEs pitch results in a SALE.  Not baseball this time!

59. Some football linemen: ENDS.

60. Sketch: SKIT.  Not drawing, but sketch comedy.

62. Like sashimi: RAW.

63. HS equivalency test: GED.  General Educational Development test.

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did you find yourselves DRAWING A BLANK at any point?

Did you at least GET A WORD IN the right place, here and there?

If you KNEW all the answers without the help of perpendicular entries, I'm impressed!

Let us know in the comments.

-- NaomiZ