Thursday, August 1, 2024, Renee Thomason and Zhouqin Burnikel

  

Punny
Funny Papers 

xkcd

Before we retired, our daily newspaper was delivered to our door printed on cheap, recyclable newsprint.   After retirement we found that we were paying a premium of $50 dollars a month more for home delivery and switching to email delivery seemed like a no brainer.  What I didn't foresee was that the latter was not a very convenient way to read the comics, a habit I'd had since childhood.   While it is possible to have individual webcomics like xkcd shown above, delivered via email, all of the daily and Sunday funny papers are just not as easy to read on a screen as they are in the paper with your feet propped up on the sofa.

To remind us of what we're missing, our very own Corner constructors, Renée Thomason (sumdaze) and Zhouqin Burnikel (C.C.) are taking us back to those days with 5 punny theme clues where the second word of the fill is a classic comic strip ...

16A. Popular comic strip at a deli?: DILL PICKLES.  Pickles is a daily and Sunday comic strip by Brian Crane focusing on a retired couple in their seventies, Earl and Opal Pickles. Pickles has been published since April 2, 1990. 

Pickles by Brian Crane for July 15, 2024

23A. Popular comic strip on an ocean liner?: SALTED PEANUTS.  Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, and still continuing in reruns afterward. Peanuts is among the most popular and influential comics in history.

37A. Popular comic strip at a pub?: TAP SHOE. TAP is Brit slang for a pub and tap shoes are worn for a once popular style of dancing.  Shoe is a comic strip about a motley crew of newspapermen, all of whom happen to be birds. It was written and drawn by its creator, cartoonist Jeff MacNelly, from September 13, 1977, until his death in 2000 but continues due to the efforts of a dedicated team led by Susie MacNelly (Jeff's widow). I thought this one might be timely -- here are editor Shoe, reporter Cosmo and Sen. Batson D. Belfry at a press conference ... 

Wednesday, Jul. 17th, 2024

50A. Popular comic strip at the White House?: JAMES GARFIELD. Garfield is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. It was created in 1976 and gained nationwide syndication beginning in 1978. It chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his dim bulb owner Jon Arbuckle, and his gullible dog Odie ...

July 10, 2024

Side note: We visited the President James Garfield Memorial on our recent visit to Cleveland -- a great man who met a tragic end.

61A. Popular comic strip at a talk show?: CHATTY CATHY.  Cathy is an American gag-a-day comic strip, drawn by Cathy Guisewite from 1976 until 2010. The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life: food, love, family, and work. The strip gently pokes fun at the lives and foibles of modern women (at least those prior to 2011).  It took me a lot of random searches to find this one, but this just could be the moment where the classic Cathy AACK enters crosswordese ,,,

And this one came with a bonus, as CHATTY CATHY is a real doll ... 😀

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Wile E. Coyote's vantage points: MESAS.  These vantage points don't turn out to be much of an advantage in the end ...

For you die hard W.E.C fans, here's a pictorial history of just how far Coyote was willing to go to capture the Road Runner (which he never did), just how short (or far) he fell, how many ACME products he purchased over the years, and just what they might have cost him? 

  6. Cantilever, sometimes: BEAM.  A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilever can be formed as a beam, plate, truss, or slab. 

10. Brooding type?: HEN.

13. Very angry: IRATE.

14. 42-Across lane: AISLE.

15. Store in a wine barrel: AGE.

16. [Theme clue]

18. "The Commitments" loc.: IRE.  A friend of mine turned me on to this film years ago.  The Commitments is a 1991 musical comedy-drama film set in the Northside of Dublin, Ireland.  It tells the story a young music fanatic who assembles a group of working-class youths to form a soul band named "The Commitments".  The film doesn't have an original film score, but the soundtrack features fourteen classic soul songs from that time.  Here's Chain of Fools sung by Aretha Franklin ...

Lyrics

19. Slushy treat: ICEE.

  20. Italian three: TRE.  Today's Italian lesson.

21. Like hardened mud on tires: CAKED.

23. [Theme clue]

27. "That's for sure!": I'LL SAY.

29. Treaty partner: ALLY.

30. Some karaoke performances: DUETS.  These guys sound just like the originals! ... 😀

31. NCR device: ATM.  NCR provides a lot more than just essential crosswordese. 

32. Mint and Snapchat: APPS.  Mint was a personal financial management app before it was acquired by Intuit, Inc. in 2009. 

Snapchat is an app primarily used for creating multimedia messages referred to as "snaps"; snaps can consist of a photo or a short video, and can be edited to include filters and effects, text captions, and drawings.  Photo snaps can be viewed for a user-specified length of time (1 to 10 seconds as determined by the sender) before they become inaccessible.  This feature is intended to frustrate the ability to take screenshots of snaps (should the originals be unseemly 😀)

Snapchat logo

36. Portuguese feminine pronoun: ELA.   Today's Portuguese lesson: SHE.

37. [Theme clue]

41. Garnish on uramaki sushi: ROE.  Inside out sushi rolls.  ROE are the fish eggs used for garnishing them ...

Ungarnished Uramaki sushi

42. No-frills supermarket chain: ALDI.  Aldi stores are noted as examples of so-called no-frills stores that often display a variety of items at discount prices, specializing in staple items, such as food, beverages, toilet paper, sanitary articles, and other inexpensive household items. Many of its products are own brands, with the number of other brands usually limited to a maximum of two for a given item.

Aldi's opposite is a "frills-chain" called Trader Joes, which incidentally is owned by the same holding company.  The latter, often called TJ's, is a favorite of  ours and we shop at our local store about once a week. 

44. Lacuna: GAP.  

The PBS series Magpie Murders is about a lacuna -- the last chapter in a murder mystery is missing -- and the author is dead! ...

45. Figure of speech: TROPE.  A literary trope is the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech.

I've also seen it used to refer to an overused, or trite, plot device is a literary work.

47. "Gangnam Style" style: KPOP.  Korean POP.  Wild stuff ...

49. Future ENT's course: PREMED. Aspiring Ear Nose and Throat doctors must get through PREMED before being accepted into medical school.

50. [Theme clue]

55. Collection: ARRAY.   This seems like a simple relationship, but apparently an ARRAY is only one of many types of collections (don't ask me to explain this -- I can't 😀).

56. Work on an order?: EAT.  If you're working on your food, you're eating too fast!

57. Point in the right direction?: EAST.  EAST as in RIGHT on a map.

60. Grumpy companion: DOC.

                                              GRUMPY                       DOC
61. [Theme clue]

65. Bird that can run faster than Usain Bolt: EMU.  How fast can a human possibly go ...

Usain Bolt
28 MPH

 But this bird can run faster ...

Emu
31 MPH

Notice that the pic of the emu is blurred due to its blazing speed, whereas Bolt's pic is crystal clear.  It just shows to go ya that crosswordese wins everytime! 😀 

66. Day divisions: HOURS.

67. Finish off: USE UP.

68. Gentle touch: DAB.  A little DAB'll do ya' ...!

69. Brand that makes Froot Loops waffles: EGGO.  A nested brand ...
 

Or maybe a contested brand?
There is nary a mention of Froot[sic] Loops in the above link

70. Sauce that originated in Genoa: PESTO.  We make our own --

1. puree some crushed garlic and parmesan cheese in 4 TBSP olive oil in a blender,

2. pack the blender with Basil leaves, and

3. puree to a smooth paste. 

We preserve it by spooning the paste into mini muffin pans, smoothing with a knife, covering with wax paper, and freezing overnight.  Next day we pop the "muffins" out with a warm dinner knife, and put these "pesto patties" in plastic freezer boxes separated by wax paper.  They can then be added to stir fries, soups, and stews as needed.  They seem to keep forever.

Down:

 1. Skirt length: MIDI.  Teri was wearing a tartan wool MIDI when I met her in the doorway of Mr. Saterlie's Modern and Contemporary History class in the 11th Grade.  The rest is history ...

2. "True Blood" vampire Northman: ERIC.  DNK this character. This could also have been clued "Viking ____ the Red".

3. Potential new client: SALES LEAD.

4. If nothing else: AT LEAST.

5. Bi Visibility Day mo.: SEP.  Month is abbreviated, so September is abbreviated.

6. Went by tandem: BIKED. A CSO to sumdaze and her DH?

7. Night school subj.: ESL.  English as a Second Language.

8. Drink made from hops: ALE.

9. Drink made from agave: MESCAL.  There are many types of agave.  Mezcal, sometimes spelled MESCAL, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave.  A related spirit, called Tequila, can be made only from Blue Agave. 

Blue Agave

10. 17-syllable poem: HAIKU.  A CSO to Chairman Moe.

11. Bird that stands on cattle: EGRET.  Unlike other herons and egrets, this species typically feeds in dry fields, often following cattle (or other animals) and waiting for them to flush insects into view.

Cattle Egret on a horse
Worcester Co., Maryland

12. Water and light, for plants: NEEDS.

14. McMansion plot: ACRE.  Here are some McMansions under construction in a new community not far from where we live called The Courts of Hidden Waters.  There was an actual mansion there years ago used for retreats by the faculty and staff of the University of Maryland at Baltimore.  It was hidden by trees and you couldn't see it from the road.  The  old mansion and the trees are all gone now and the  new mansions are clearly visible less than a half a block from the road.  Note the CSO to -T on the sign -- I think it's his East Coast side hustle ... 😀 

The Courts of Hidden Waters
(they don't look like ACRE plots to me)

17. Teensy: ITTY.

22. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy (b. April 16, 1996) was born in Miami and raised in Buenos Aires and London.  Taylor-Joy left school at the age of 16 to pursue an acting career. After a series of small television roles, her breakthrough came with a leading role in the horror film The Witch (2015). In 2020, Taylor-Joy starred as Emma Woodhouse in Autumn de Wilde's directorial debut Emma, an adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 novel of the same name. Reviewing the film, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone deemed Taylor-Joy "incandescent" ...

24. Anchor's position in a relay: LAST.

25. Camino de Santiago element: PATH.  My oldest granddaughter walked  the 500 mile Camino de Santiago ("The Way of Saint James") after graduating from college.  The 2010 film The Way tells the story of a father and his son who walked this PATH together ...

Martin Sheen
Emilio Estevez

 26. Red Muppet: ELMO.  This one ...

27. Notion: IDEA. 

28. Quiet moment: LULL.

31. African viper: ASP.

33. Teens in tuxedos: PROM DATES.

34. Leader of the Holy See: POPE.   The word "see" comes from the Latin word sedes, meaning 'seat', specifically the seat of a bishop. The Holy See refers to the office of the Bishop of Rome, currently held by Pope Francis, who was born in Argentina in 1936 and was elevated to the Papacy in 2013.

Pope Francis

35. Finch food: SEED.

38. Open-mouthed: AGOG.

39. Daddy: PAPA.

40. To be, in Biarritz: ETRE.  Today's French lesson.  Biarritz is a small town in France on the Atlantic coast about 260 mi SW of Bordeaux.  It is rumored to be the home of those notorious aliens the Coneheads. 😀

 

43. Store with Småland play areas: IKEA.  A supervised place to play for the kids, while parents buy lots of DIY Swedish Modern furniture ....

Småland

46. Free: RELEASE.

48. Id, ego, and superego, collectively: PSYCHE.  That's the Freudian interpretation, but in Greek mythology Psyche (Latin Anima) was the goddess of the soul and was often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings.  She was born a mortal woman and was eventually granted immortality, with beauty that rivaled even Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Psyche Abandoned 
by Pietro Tenerani

49. Feel sympathy for: PITY.

50. Tired of it all: JADED.

51. Diffuser output: AROMA.

52. Nickname for Ernie Banks: MR CUB.  A signature clue from C.C. no doubt.  Some memorable moments in Ernie's career ...

53. Like some thrift store finds: RETRO.

54. Saturated __: FATS.  Are all saturated fats unhealthy? 

58. Not open: SHUT.

59. Keyboard goof: TYPO.  This is much less of a problem now that we have auto-defect.  😀

62. Fail to share: HOG.

63. Mo. before 5-Down: AUG.  Month is abbreviated so August is abbreviated.

64. Sippy __: CUP.  Great baby shower gifts ...

tommy tippee sippy cups

Cheers,

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

 
Bonus feature: Peanuts vs. Garfield: Charles Schulz secretly considered Jim Davis his arch-rival

Friday, July 12, 2024, Renee Thomason, Zhouqin Burnikel

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a puzzle co-constructed by a couple of extemely talented folks - and you know them both very well:  CC and Renee (sumdaze).  Brava!

It did not take long for this solver to figure out that something out of the ordinary was going on with the themers because, as they filled in, not a single one of them even began to make sense.  Not only in the way of answers, but in any sense.  Complete gibberish.  Could this puzzle really be that bass-ackwards?  Well, as it turns out, yes.  The reveal at 61 Across helped to sort things out:

61 Across:  Classic film with a time-traveling DeLorean, and an apt description of 17-, 24-, 38-, and 52-Across: BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Ah ha! "On The Horizon", which was used as the clue for every themed-answer (repetition seems to be a recurring motif in this puzzle's clues) was meant to be taken as "in the future".  And the use of the word BACK in the reveal tipped us off that we might want to look at the emerging answers backwards.  With these bits of enlightenment the perps, read right to left, began to reveal the answers.  Eventually, the correct responses all fully emerged.

To wit:

17 Across:  On the horizon: RENROCEHTDNUORA   - - - > AROUND THE CORNER  Pete Seeger and The Weavers give a more literal example.

Early 1950's

 

24 Across:  On the horizon: NOOSYADEMOS   - - - >  SOMEDAY SOON  Judy Collins will illustrate its usage.

Smothers Brothers Show - 1969

38 Across:  On the horizon: EMOCOTTEY  - - - >  YET TO COME  As in "The Best is Yet to Come"

Frank Sinatra

52 Across:  On the horizon: ESRUOCEUDNI   - - - >  IN DUE COURSE  continuing with the "dinosaur" motif . . .

This is how it all looks in the grid:

.... and now for the rest of the story:

Across:

1. Golfer's vehicle: CART.

5. Lingerie purchases: BRAS.  Repetition seems to be a recurring motif in this puzzle's clues.

9. Lingerie purchase: SLIP.     Repetition seems to be a recurring motif in this puzzle's clues.

13. 21-Across in Spain: AGUA. and 

21. 13-Across in France: EAU.

Both AGUA and EAU, in English, mean water.  Clever.  A Spanish clue for a French answer and vice versa.

14. __ Raton, Florida: BOCA.  I have always wondered how a town named Mouse Mouth could be deemed to be a desireable place to reside.

15. Buenos __: AIRES.  A geography reference.  Neither buenos DIAS nor buenos NOCHES was going to fit in any event.

20. Permit: ALLOW.  Used as a verb.  As in Please ALLOW me . . .

the Jagger clip

was too long

22. Zip: NIL.  Nothing.

23. Spy-fi org.: CIA.  Interesting clue in that the CIA exists in the real world and is not merely a staple of spy fiction.  Of course, CIA does often appear in works of fiction.  KAOS or SMERSH, for example, would be Spy-fi (fiction) only organizations.

29. Counter attacker: ANT.  Cute.  Not a counterattack.  Something that attacks food items left on your kitchen counter.

30. Oft-redacted fig.: SSN.  Social Security Number

31. Burrito option: ASADA.  Repetition seems to be a recurring motif in this puzzle's clues.  For those among you who may be unfamiliar with certain aspects of Mexican food, ASADA is grilled, sliced meat.

32. "I've __ better": SEEN.  Close enough:

34. Mouth pieces?: LIPS.  Not as in the colloquial for attorney.  Literally, pieces of mouths.  Labios de boca de raton?

37. Hosp. caregivers: LPNS. 

41. Fish tacos fish, familiarly: MAHI.  A missed opportunity for repetition  😄

43. Foil kin: EPEE.  Not a Reynolds Wrap reference.

44. Wound covering: SCAB.  Today's "let's skip the image" moment.

48. One of five competitive figure skating disciplines: PAIRS.  Men's Singles, Women's Singles, PAIRS, Ice Dancing, Synchronized Skating.

49. Grilled fish in kabayaki: EEL.  I was not familiar with kabayaki beforenI solved this puzzle but the answer easily perp'd.  It turns out that kabayaki is aka EEL sauce and, of course, kabayaki appeared in last Sunday's NYT puzzle.  Learning new stuff is one reason we all enjoy puzzling.

51. In the style of: A LA.  A LA Mode.  A LA carte.  A LA King.
 
56. "Miracle Workers" channel: TBS.

57. Fed. health law: ACA.

58. "I knew it!": HAH.   Something that someone might say.  See?

59. Lessens: EASES.

66. Cookies with a Sour Patch Kids flavor: OREOS.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

67. Mystical glow: AURA.

68. Fielder's need: MITT.  A baseball MITT.

69. Mangyshlak Peninsula's continent: ASIA.  This solver was not familiar with Mangyshlak but it sounded ASIAn and the answer was quickly perep'd.  The Mangyshlak Peninsula is located in western Kazakstan.  All you'd like to know:  Mangyshlak Peninsula

70. More __ meets the eye: THAN.

71. 64-Down, for one: STAT.  STATisitc

Down:

1. Capital city with Bolívar Square: CARACAS.  Venezuela.

2. Botox target: AGE LINE.  WRINKLE had the right number of letters.

3. Go long?: RUN LATE.  Not a football reference.  As in the event ran long (did not finish in it's originally allotted time)

4. Root in the Hawaiian dessert kulolo: TARO.  If it's a root it's very often TARO.

5. Television network created by royal charter: BBC.  No abbreviations in the clue.  The "royal" bit was the tip off.

6. Sushi topper: ROE.

7. Feels sore: ACHES.  Did you hear about the students complaining of aches and fatigue when they did math homework?  They're calling it fibromyalgebra.

8. Thai skewers: SATAY.   What is the best type of food to eat while wearing a suit?  Thai food.

9. Japanese title of respect: SAN.

10. Actor Simu: LIU.  Simu LIU is the first Asian lead in a Marvel movie, a sitcom star, a memoir writer and a Ken doll in "Barbie".

11. Big name in endurance events: IRONMAN.  Triathlon.  Swim, bike, run.

12. Stretches: PERIODS.  Not something you do pre-workout.  PERIODS of time.

16. Burrito option: SALSA.  Repetition seems to be a recurring motif in this puzzle.  You can put the SALSA (sauce) on your carne ASADA.

18. Doesn't rent: OWNS.  My friend OWNS a pen that can write under water.  It can write other words, too.

19. "Radical Optimism" singer __ Lipa: DUA.  A frequent visitor these days.

25. Northern European capital: OSLO.  Frequently visited.

26. In reserve: ON ICE.  As in keeping something ON ICE in case that it is needed in the future.

27. Valley: DALE.  Over hill, over DALE,  as we hit the dusty trail . . .

28. Best Upset and Best Moment: ESPYS.  Sports awards.  All You'd Like To Know

33. Indira Gandhi's father: NEHRU.  Significant figures in the history of India.

35. Soda: POP.

36. Trusty horse: STEED.  We had a government-employed doctor in our area who was half STEED and half man. We called him the centaur for disease control.

39. Japanese soup: MISO. The waitperson at my local soup restaurant recently greeted us with "Chowder you all doing today? MISO sorry for the puns.  What can I get ‎phở you folks today?"

40. Suffix with ump-: TEEN.  IRE was too short.  

41. Lash lengthener: MASCARA.

42. Decorated fighter pilots: AIR ACES.

45. Form-fitting garment: CATSUIT.

46. Columbia Icefield province: ALBERTA.  Canada.

Photo By MM (many moons ago)

47. Angela of "9-1-1": BASSETT.  An actress.  One T is the hound.

48. Soul singer Bryson: PEABO.  An occasional, if not frequent, visitor.

50. "In __ of gifts ... ": LIEU.

53. Comedian Margaret: CHO.

1993

54. Patronize, as a restaurant: EAT AT.  What's a single vowel between friends?

55. Casual agreement: UH HUH. Yup.

60. Devices loaded with cash: ATMS.  Oh, cash!

62. Fish in an ornamental pond: KOI.  Frequent swimmmers

63. LAX safety team: TSA.

64. Young fig.: ERA.  Earned Run Average.  A baseball reference.  The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitcher in each league.

65. Booster: FAN.  This solver is a big FAN of today's puzzle.  YMMV.

____________________________________________________________

Monday, June 17, 2024 ~ Renee Thomason and Zhouqin Burnikel

Day-O!

The Banana Boat Song

A downs theme grid. C.C. taught me about the pinwheel grid and gridded a down theme for me (I'm not sure it was published).
She's the best.

I wondered why I was pushed to Monday for this grid and, upon reading the byline,.. Sumdaze does it again!

We'll start with the unifier:
37. Head honcho, and a hint to the first word of 3-, 8-, 21-, or 24-Down: TOP BANANA.

The TOP word of each themer starts a BANANA phrase.

3. Features of dress slacks: BELT LOOPS. Banana BELT. Temperate swaths on the planet.

8. Disney pair who live in a big oak tree: CHIP AND DALE. Not the strip joint but wholesome cartoon characters. Banana CHIPs are delicious, sweet, potassium.

21. Fight to the finish: SLUG IT OUT. Banana SLUG - mascot of UC Santa Cruz.

24. Blink of an eye: SPLIT SECOND. Banana SPLIT. An over the top dessert to share w/ your honeybunch.
 

Across:
1. Credit's opposite: DEBIT.  Always use credit; debit cards have little protection against fraud. #PSA

6. Like many an irate text: IN CAPS.

12. Marjoram kin: OREGANO.  You'll notice when it's missing in a sauce.

15. Bright flowers native to Mexico: DAHLIAS.

(Army) Bro has these in his yard

17. Came from behind: RALLIED.

18. Do some video game design, say: ANIMATE.

19. On the topic of: AS TO.

20. Quick meeting?: SESH. Session. Kids these days.

22. Freak out: PANIC.

23. In need of a map: LOST.

25. "Copacabana" showgirl: LOLA.

Barry Manilow

27. Southernmost Canadian prov.: ONT. YYZ (Toronto, ONT) is home of RUSH.

28. Couple: DUO.

30. Lima's country: PERU.

32. Geico's business: Abbr.: INS.

34. Gp. that boosts military morale: USO. Paternal Gramps met Grams at a USO dance. She was 6'1" and he was 5'6". They'd giggle telling the story about where his head was when they danced.

35. "Auld __ Syne": LANG.

36. Newspaper bigwig: EDITOR.

40. Coca-Cola alternative: PEPSI.

42. Act immorally: SIN.

44. Aircraft banned in Washington, D.C.: DRONE. Good thing I live in TX. I got my FAA drone license earlier this year. And then, on my first test flight, crashed the damn thing into the side of the garage :-).

45. Like a knockoff purse: ERSATZ. Fun word I learnt at The Corner.

47. "Bye-bye!": TATA.

49. Gp. that boosts school morale: PTA.

50. Agcy. that X-rays bags: TSA.

51. October birthstone: OPAL.

52. Jazz genre: BOP.

53. Detectives like Veronica Mars, for short: PIS. Private Investigators.

56. Light brown shade: ECRU.

58. Land formation on "The Road Runner Show": MESA.

60. Bit of monkey business: ANTIC.

62. "__ girl!": ATTA.

64. Column to the left of a decimal point: ONES.

67. Outerwear that may have anchors on its buttons: PEACOAT.

69. Country band named for its home state: ALABAMA.

71. Group artistically, as flowers: ARRANGE.

72. Backs off: RELENTS.

73. Took care of: TENDED.

74. Rubbish: TRASH.

Down:

1. Bilingual cartoon explorer: DORA.

2. Chapters of history: ERAS.

3. [See: theme]

4. Yeti alternative in the cooler aisle: IGLOO.

5. Mai __: rum drink: TAI.

6. Western state with a panhandle: IDAHO.

7. Grandma, to some: NAN.

8. [See: theme]

9. __ mater: ALMA.

10. Chopin's instrument: PIANO.

11. Glossy fabric: SATIN.

13. AriZona rival: NESTEA.

14. Respectful poem: ODE.

16. Religious splinter group: SECT.

21. [See: theme]

24. [See: theme]

26. Falsehood: LIE.

28. Hoodwink: DUPE.

29. App downloader: USER.

31. Hosp. caretakers: RNS.

33. Knight's title: SIR.

37. [See: Theme]

38. "I'm __ your tricks!": ON TO.

39. Harvest: REAP.

41. Took a chair: SAT.

43. Short sleep: NAP.

46. Efron of "The Greatest Showman": ZAC.

48. Husk-steamed Mexican dish: TAMALE.

53. Bear with a too-big chair: PAPA.

54. Not active: INERT.

55. Look steadily (at): STARE.

57. Gave stars to, say: RATED.

59. Quite serious: SOBER.

61. Volunteer's words: I CAN.

63. Driveway goo: TAR.

65. Life-saving pros: EMTS.

66. Merit badge holder: SASH.

68. Grow older: AGE.

70. PC space bar neighbor: ALT.

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs:  N/A
ESP: DAHLIAS
Fav:LOLA alternative...

The Kinks

That's it from me in IL.
Cheers, -T