Today's puzzle is very similar to the one I guest blogged last Tuesday - the first word of the theme answers 'rephrased' as a noun and not an adjective, creating a punny money theme. Two 15-letter spanners and three more themers, generating a fair number of three-letter words as a consequence. A good challenge for a Tuesday, a few unknown proper names, and I did have to cheat to figure out why I did not get my "ta-DA~!"; see below. The theme answers;
16. The landscaping startup was financed via ...: HEDGE FUND - maybe money does grow on trees
21. The extreme tourism startup was financed via ...: VENTURE CAPITAL
31. The shrink-ray startup was financed via ...: MICROLOANS - according the spell-check, this is not a two-word phrase, making it the outlier in the group
41. The religious iconography startup was financed via ...: ANGEL INVESTORS
49. The agriculture startup was financed via ...: SEED MONEY
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Like a final exam in a language class, typically: ORAL
5. Religious offshoot: SECT
9. Nile reptile: ASP - No more Indiana Jones clip; every time I guest-blog....so I PASS on the "ASP"
12. Michael who plays Allan in "Barbie": CERA - filled via perps
13. Physics and chemistry Nobelist Marie: CURIE - and - 19A. Gas observed by 13-Across: RADON
14. __ date: deadline: DUE
15. Direct-hire alternative: TEMP
18. Boxer Muhammad: ALI
20. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" memoirist Alan: ALDA - educated WAG
24. "You're important to me": "I CARE"
25. Conditional programming word: ELSE
26. Gillette brand: ATRA
27. Clicking sound?: SHORT i - C-L-i-C-K; I know there are some here at the
corner that are not too fond of this type of clue, but I find them
a clever challenge to suss out
34. Wasn't straight: LEANED - Here's the architectural countermeasures taken to save the most famous "LEAN"
35. Desert in northern China: GOBI
38. Social satirist Mort: SAHL - DAH! I typed SAUL; if you look at my grid image, this is the one "cell" I had wrong
40. "The West Wing" creator Sorkin: AARON - Ooops, not AlleN
46. "Buona __": Italian "Good evening": SERA
47. West Yorkshire home of Kirkstall Abbey: LEEDS - I thought maybe this was a fictional reference, such as one from a popular TV series....but it's a spectacular set of ruins
1. "Parable of the Talents" author Butler: OCTAVIA - another WAG
2. Word on an incumbent's campaign poster: RE-ELECT
RE-ELECT MAYOR GOLDIE WILSON - "I like the sound of that";
He gets my vote for best fictional mayor
3. Joined at the elbows: ARM-IN-ARM
4. Spot for a needy pet: LAP
5. Soft glove material: SUEDE
6. Hosp. trauma pro: ER DOC
7. Health insurance giant: CIGNA
8. Football kicker's aid: TEE
9. Accomplishes mundane tasks, facetiously: ADULTS - My friend
Mark introduced me to this "21st century" term; we were discussing
something like home-ownership responsibility, and he said he was
stressed about all this "adulting" - I thought it was hysterical, and still do
10. Dessert with toppings: SUNDAE
11. Graduate from a balance bike: PEDAL - Never heard of a balance bike; in my day, you fell off, got hurt, and got back on again....
13. Blacken: CHAR
17. Unable to be successful with: FAILING AT
19. Bemoan: RUE - Bzzzt~! I had CRY to start
22. Spot to begin a hike: TRAILHEAD - I knew it was trail something
23. Org. with a white rabbit in its logo: PETA
27. Mme., across the Pyrenees: SRA
28. Dearie: HON
29. La Liga chant: OLÉ
30. Word after hot or lightning: ROD - my CT home has several
lightning rods - the LI house, not a one
32. Spreadsheet unit: CELL - I have a spreadsheet at work that
calculates the ƒ(n) for determining organ pipe dimensions - something like the logarithm something of its wavelength, but it goes down the PETA hole quickly....
33. Part of campus Greek life: SORORITY
36. Nothing-to-do feeling: BOREDOM - Thought I had mono....
Wayne's World
37. Shoe parts: INSTEPS - I had shoe LAST last week
38. Sinister smiles: SNEERS
39. Gives a thumbs up: AGREES
40. Burro: ASS - followed by....
41. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - so the next answer should be ASS AM / FM ~?
42. "Guess you beat me": I LOSE - Nope. I guess I lose....
43. Babies, in Spanish: NENES - I thought it was a Hawaiian bird....
A
clever, double-depth theme of not just words, but 'concluding'
adjectives rephrased as nouns into a 'punny' answer; I missed the 'resulting' part until I
went to use the word 'final' in one of my comments, and thought "I'd
rather use 'last' here", and the "A-ha~!" moment occurred: see below.
I'm impressed, so I had to find an appropriate theme title, and I think I
succeeded - the answer, if you haven't guessed, is below. Several
answers brought music to my mind, and I will now share those thoughts
with you. Two ten-letter and two fourteen-letter theme answers;
odd-numbered answers always seem to be more difficult to get into a
grid, at least in my constructing experience. Here they are;
17. Spa for out-of-shape shoe forms?: LAST RESORT
33. Marking off the hours left to cram before the big exam?: FINAL COUNTDOWN - the first musical interlude
Europe - Ear-worm~!
41. Home-buyer's day-of-sale demand for a single window dressing?: CLOSING CURTAIN - I asked for nothing when I closed on my home here in CT 60. Effects of months of glute workouts?: END RESULTS - oh, so easy for me to add a raunchy photo here, but I will refrain.... And Away We Go~! ACROSS:
1. Sitcom pioneer Lucille: BALL
5. Taken __: startled: ABACK - can you be taken "A-forward~?"
10. Arthur __ Stadium: world's largest tennis venue: ASHE - crossword staple
14. "Titans" actor Morales: ESAI - crossword staple
15. __ Lama: DALAI
16. Great Basin people: UTES
19. Coffee brewing choice: DRIP - my preferred method, but I do
have a one-cup K-cup coffee maker, and since I am hosting Christmas this year, I
will suggest to my brother to bring his choice of coffee K-cups, just
to be considerate.
20. French farewell: ADIEU
"Indiana Jones, Adieu" - @ 1:18
21. __ decorator: INTERIOR
- I used to put in my dating app profile that I was looking for an
interior decorator, but now that I am the sole owner of my home, it's a
total man-cave...
23. Himalayan bovine: YAK - an oldie, 1958, before my time....
Yakety -Yak, The Coasters
24. Word with stone or marker: MILE
26. "Right now," in texts: ATM - Hey~! A new clue for a crossword cliche - "at the moment"
27. Sit-up muscles: ABS - yesterday's theme
28. Ceiling metal: TIN - as interior decorating goes, I like the look, with the right tiles; might do this in my home - I plan on a pool table in the basement, and I like At Deco
30. Identity statement, briefly: BIO
38. Clenched hand: FIST
39. Major artery: AORTA
40. Writer Wiesel: ELIE - crossword staple
44. Animation frame: CEL
45. Commercials: ADs
46. Boat blade: OAR
47. Uru. neighbor: ARGentina
49. Spielberg film featuring a shark: JAWS
I SAID JAWS~!
51. Answer to an addition problem: SUM
54. Wore red at a wedding, say: STOOD OUT - if it ever happens
for me again, I am totally hip to a red wedding dress ( my first
marriage was a "medieval" one - in more ways than one.... )
57. Fluffy-eared marsupial: KOALA
59. Cancel, as a check: VOID
62. __ vera: ALOE - ah, just for Hahtoolah....
63. Inbox message: EMAIL
64. Binary digit: ZERO - and - 32D. Binary digit: ONE
65. Running with scissors, e.g.: NO-NO
66. Southwestern plateaus: MESAS - another Spielberg movie
It's not a MESA, but it's a "BUTTE"
67. Muscat's country: OMAN
DOWN:
1. Secure, as a ship's line: BELAY - as I've said in the past, I start with the DOWN clues, and I didn't know this answer, so not a good start
2. Carne __: steak dish: ASADA - but I knew this one, and we were on our way~!
3. Sharper image innovation?: LASIK - and then we weren't
4. Lo-cal: LITE - and I dropped in DIET here....sigh
5. Fruit drink suffix: ADE
6. Pesto herb: BASIL
7. Independently: ALONE
8. E-commerce icon: CART
9. Toy with a string and a tail: KITE
10. Sit in on, as a class: AUDIT
11. Calzone cousin: STROMBOLI
12. Beneficiary: HEIR
13. Telepathic letters: ESP
18. Afro-Cuban dance: RUMBA
22. Tirade: RANT
25. Manhattan, e.g.: ISLAND - cocktail wouldn't fit
27. CGI creatures in a superhero film series starring Paul Rudd: ANTS
28. Tulle skirt: TU-TU
29. Lined up: IN A ROW
31. Victorious cry: "I WIN~!"
33. Nail salon tool: FILE
34. Quarantine: ISOLATION
35. Gear teeth: COGS
36. Tolkien monster: ORC
37. Beloved: DEAR
38. Media-monitoring org.: FCC - I would link Eminem here for a
musical interlude, since "the FCC" is mentioned in his rap "Without Me",
but Google for yourself....
42. Shakespearean betrayer: IAGO
43. Assignments: TASKS
48. "This isn't my first __": RODEO
49. Biblical betrayer: JUDAS - another musical interlude, this time, JUDAS Priest
Judas Priest, Invincible Shield, 2024
50. Naturally lit courtyards: ATRIA
51. Capital of Oregon: SALEM
52. Extreme: ULTRA
53. Lawyer Perry of classic TV: MASON - another musical interlude:
Ozzy~! Perry Mason
54. Without help: SOLO
55. Judge to be: DEEM
56. "Lunch is __": "I'm buying": ON ME
58. Anise-flavored Greek liquor: OUZO - the "penultimate" musical interlude...
"I'd Like to See You in Black" - Blue Öyster Cult - ouzo @ 2:39
59. Vehicle with sliding side doors: VAN - I have a Dodge CaraVAN, and here's my LAST musical interlude, VAN Halen~!
....of
the world - quaintly contained in the continental United States; care to carry on~? I
know of at least two others - Berlin, CT, which we drive through on our
way south via I-91, and Rome, New York - my buddy Matt D. from high school got his
first 'gig' as a TV weatherman in that city - he is now the 'main man' in
Richmond, VA....Anyway, this may be Catherine's debut, at least for the LA Times, and a fairly smooth solve for yours truly, with a
bit of a slow-down around say, Oregon. Two Across theme answers, and two
Down theme answers - messed up my 'solve the downs first' method. I
also count five proper names in the grid, and a mini-theme of automotive
references, too....
3. Texter's "I'm no expert, but ... ": IMHO - In My Humble Opinion....
4. Formerly named: NÉE
5. Big headache: HASSLE
6. Have no reception?: ELOPE - har-har
7. Satisfied sighs: AAHs - the dreaded two "A"s or two "H"s conundrum
8. "OMG, stop sharing!": TMI - Too Much Information
9. Cager: HOOPSTER - B-Baller was too short; it's all basketball slang
11. One inundated with fan mail: IDOL
12. Partly: SEMI
13. Green card co.: AMEX - oh, THAT green card....
Mr. Frost needs to cancel this card ASAP
18. None too worldly: NAÏVE - umlaut~!
23. Adopt: USE
25. Seeps: OOZES
27. Subpar car: LEMON - auto theme #4
28. Subpar car: CRATE - auto theme #5
29. "Fork it over!": PAY UP~! - see 51D.
30. Two-door vehicle: COUPE - auto theme #6
31. Alpine song: YODEL
33. Flavor of much children's medicine: GRAPE
35. Spruce (up): TIDY
37. Group of orcas, e.g.: WHALE POD
41. Superlatively bad: WORST
43. Means-tested govt. assistance program: SSI - this stumped me; never heard of this; Supplemental Security Income
46. Museum employee: GUIDE
48. Interview-style exam: ORAL
49. "__ we forget": LEST
50. One who may keep a spare tyre in a boot: BRIT - both my parents were born and raised in England
and auto theme #7
51. Parking garage sign: EXIT - we worked on a pipe organ at the Riverside Church
in NYC last week; here's a pic I took of the scale model in the
elevator lobby, and one of the ornate bench carvings; our hotel was in Times
Square, and we parked in a garage there, too - $73 overnight
52. Golf date ruiner: RAIN - it's not the rain, it's the lightning....
53. Bhutan's continent: ASIA
56. Splitting tool: AXE - I now own the 29A version....
57. Morn's opposite: EVE - and to all, a good night~!
This
one had me stumped at first; I simply could not see a connection
between the answers - and then I realized the answers had nothing in
common - other than starting and ending with the same
three letters. ah-HA~! The "clue" was not much help for me, TBH. A
very quick solve for me, felt like a Monday level puzzle - but it took
two extra minutes for me to find out why I did not get the ta-DA~! at
the end; 46d crossing 69a, Latin vs. Spanish, so I was a little
disappointed. And no Frawnche, either. Here are the theme answers, as
indicated with the "*" and referred to as the "starred" clues:
17. *Synthetic pump: ARTIFICIAL HEART - ART to ART 26. *Cheap shot: LOW BLOW - LOW to LOW
50. *Regional collective pronoun: ALL Y'ALL - ALL to ALL - quite popular this week 61. *"There really is a wolf now!": "I MEAN IT THIS TIME~!" - IME to IME And the central reveal.... 33. With 43-Across, "When one door closes, another door opens," and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: THE END IS JUST
43. See 33-Across: THE BEGINNING
And Around We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Formula One event: RACE
5. Prep, as onions: CHOP - I took Husker G up on his "offer" Saturday, and made a tater tots casserole
Yummy~!
9. __ bean: PINTO
14. Machine that helps with 51-Down: CPAP= Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, which I'd heard of, but never knew what it stood for; and; 51d. Sleeper's problem: APNEA
15. [Snicker]: HE-HE
16. Trapshooting: SKEET
20. General on American Chinese menus: TSO - my 'go-to' dish when I order
45. Bangers partner: MASH - not "head" Bangers - the old MTV metal hours late on Saturday nights, but the British dish
48. Foreign policy org. chaired by the president: NSC - National Safety Council
- we had OSHA in the grid earlier this week, and I am required to finish their
30-hr course in order to work at the Washington National Cathedral - I
am about 20 hours in
49. "Grand slam" awards acronym: EGOT - when I stopped blogging Saturdays five years ago, this was not a crossword fill at all; Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony awards; more here.
54. Decade following Y2K: AUGHTS - 00's
56. Regret: RUE - OR - a Frawnche Canadien street~!
57. Marshmallowy Easter treats: PEEPS - I am not a fan - sorry; my thing is the Cadbury eggs
60. Mouse site: PAD - cute.
66. Painful turning point?: ANKLE
- clever, but my "ETA" at 62d messed me up - I do the DOWNS to start, so
that the theme answers ( usually in the across ) are half-filled by the
time I get to them
67. Primary: MAIN
68. Necessary __: EVIL
69. "__ mañana": HASTA - Spanish for "see you tomorrow" (?)
70. "SportsCenter" network: ESPN - I have Hulu with Disney and
ESPN, and the price goes up in one week - and I am thinking it's time to
ditch Disney - I have seen all the 4d I think I care to see - and I am a
HUGE fan
71. Swabbing spot: DECK - Aye, matey
DOWN:
1. TV pioneer: RCA
2. Fourth mo.: APRil
3. Towers that may have scratching posts: CAT TREES - I knew what
we were looking for, but didn't know they were called "TREES"; my
brother has a cat named Ashes - guess what color....
4. "Star Wars" installment: EPISODE - Episode IV, A New Hope
changed my life - I was six years old, and decided right then that I was
going to make movies....didn't quite work out the way I had planned
5. Greek X: CHI - I WAGed this, and was correct
6. "What the __!?": HECK - The "censored" answer
7. Home state of the Reds and the Browns: OHIO - and the Bengals,
I might add - but then again, their record in relation to their QB, the
highest paid player in the history of the NFL....
8. Gem from a mollusk: PEARL
9. "Balderdash!": "PSHAW~!"
10. Barinholtz of "The Mindy Project": IKE - no idea; filled via perps
11. In a tidy way: NEATLY
12. Paralyzing fear: TERROR - I tried PHOBIA first
13. Home of Canada's Parliament Hill: OTTAWA - nailed it; hockey starts soon~!
18. __ Fighters: Dave Grohl's band: FOO - I liked Nirvana - Dave's first band; the Foo, not so much
19. Astrological cat: LEO
23. Nick at __: NITE - Nickelodeon TV channel after 9pm
24. Dos y seis: OCHO - more Spanish, two and six = eight
25. Spanish parent: MADRE - and yet more Spanish
27. Classic sammie: BLT - sammie being an abbreviation of sandwich ( my word is "sa'mich" ), we get the Bacon Lettuce & Tomato short answer
30. Support for a tire swing: LIMB
31. Colorado ski town: ASPEN
34. Casual rejection: NAH....
35. Joyful dances: JIGS
36. Erie Canal city: UTICA - I could not answer this one; it just means I have moved that much further away from New York, and I am not looking back.
37. Tax ID: SSN
40. Compete in a dramatic event at the World Aquatics Championships: HIGH DIVE
41. Playing to break a tie, briefly: IN OT
42. Some NCOs: SGTs
43. Quaker pronoun: THY
44. Canceled out: NEGATED
45. Singer Carey: MARIAH
46. College grad: ALUMNA - I had ALUMNI, which is the plural form
47. Makes glossy, as hair: SLEEKS
52. Floral wreath: LEI
53. "I can do that": "LET ME"
55. FedEx rival: UPS - ah, me, back in the day....
58. School gps.: PTAs
59. Use 55-Down, say: SHIP
62. Flying fig.: ALTitude - not "ETA"
63. Quaint lodging: INN
64. Need for playing Rock Band, for short: MIC - Rock Band is the "expanded" version of Guitar Hero, adding in drums and vocals
65. Great Plains grazer: ELK - Giraffe didn't fit - har har har har . . . .
The GOOD, The BAD, and the UGLY, er, potato (19d.)~?
Today's
puzzle theme clues are opposing statements with the same
catch-phrase/idiom answer....two 15-letter spanners, and two awkward
14-letter spanners; a reasonable challenge for a Wednesday-level
puzzle, with only a few proper names to "42A." the solve. Splynter
here, filling in for melissa....
17. Good advice for an angry person / Bad advice for a novice dairy farmer: DON'T HAVE A COW MAN
28. Good advice for a complainer / Bad advice for someone blowing out birthday candles: SAVE YOUR BREATH
48. Good advice for a nervous public speaker / Bad advice for an impersonator: JUST BE YOURSELF
63. Good advice for an impatient person / Bad advice for a Chippendales dancer: KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON - I filled this in with "PANTS", but it didn't jibe with the DOWN clues
43. Off topic: AFIELD - I am in the FIELD for the month of September - first on the west side of CT, and then back to Lynchburg, VA for pipe organ work
45. Repurposed tee, maybe: RAG
47. Directed: LED
52. Price-slashing event: SALE
53. Back muscles, for short: LATS - latissimus dorsi
54. Brief chances?: OPS - OPportunitieS
57. T'ai __ ch'uan: CHI - looked vague at first; more here
59. Newsstand stack: PAPERS
67. In vogue again: RETRO
68. Lunes or martes: DIA - Spanish for days Monday / Tuesday
69. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role: NITTI - no clue; filled via perps
70. Far-out type?: ALIEN - and: 56. 70-Across-hunting org.: SETI - the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence - and a musical interlude from Blue Öyster Cult
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser never makes any Top100 guitarists lists
71. Belief suffix: -ISM
72. Prepare, as an infusion: STEEP
DOWN:
1. Rx orders: MEDs
2. Cooking staple, initially: EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil; learned by doing crosswords
3. Ireland's __ Féin: SINN - SIEN, SEIN~? can never remember how to spell this
4. GPS technology, for short: SAT-NAV - the guys on Wheeler Dealers still call it as such
5. "We can share this hiding place!": "IN HERE~!"
6. Gun: REV
7. Miner concerns: ORES - cute; Miner/minor; see 34D.
8. More watered down: WEAKER
9. Comedian Margaret: CHO
10. Cut down: HEW - oddly followed by....
11. Colonnade trees: ELMS
12. High-five sound: SLAP
13. Broadway award: TONY
18. Legal dept. staffers: ATTYs
19. Potato nutrients, for short: CARBS - carbohydrates
32. "The Book __": Markus Zusak novel: THIEF - filled via perps
33. Grasped: HELD
34. Key with one sharp, briefly: G maj - "E min" would have
worked, too, as I knew it's the same as G major from playing the guitar;
A LOT of Metal music is in this key....I started taking piano
lessons~! My goal, which might take me decades, is to play Bach's
Dorian Toccata - this piece - right now I can play the part of "page turner" @ 3:17
Washington National Cathedral organ, NE facade
38. Grasps: GETS
39. Idris of "Cats": ELBA - seems to becoming a crossword staple as popular as "ERA"
41. Ancient France: GAUL - Hey~! My first chance to say this one is "Frawnche"
44. Car battery pioneer: DELCO - The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. - the Wiki
46. Result of some plotting: GRAPH - I toyed with "CABAL", but it's the 'other' type of plotting, e.g. geometry and AutoCAD
49. Violinist Menuhin: YEHUDI - No clue; filled via perps and WAGs
50. Sullies: STAINS - Not THIS
Sully - I am fascinated with the Smithsonian Channel's "Air Disasters",
not because I am morbid, but for the intriguing investigations - and
how a very small part can bring down an airliner.
51. Global fashion brand founded in San Francisco in 1968: ESPRIT - again, no clue
54. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA
55. Spa treatment: PEEL - Dah~! I tried MANI first
58. Pupil's place: IRIS - I briefly considered "DESK"
60. Kitchen addition?: ETTE - KitchenETTE - I bought my new
kitchen cabinets a year ago, but I need to upgrade my home electrical
service to 200amps, and even tho I can do it myself, I am waiting on the
electrician
61. Learning method: ROTE
62. Salon sound: SNIP
64. Not post-: PRE
65. "Round __ Virgin, Mother and Child ... ": YON - Silent Night
66. Actor Waterston: SAM - you know him best as John "Jack" McCoy, the Executive Assistant DA from Law & Order
This
is my first time blogging a Sunday, and thank you to C.C. for the
opportunity. A clever puzzle idea, not that we haven't seen this
"bending" part of the answer before, though I don't recall circles.
Circles on a Sunday, no less. I got the theme quick because I do the
DOWN fill first, and noticed TONS (97D.) of MIC fill. The MIC part
"drops" down from the Across fill. I like the fact that the theme
answers spread the M, I, and C in various ways. The only one I see
missing is "M [space] IC". Overall I enjoyed the challenge, but there
were just too many names ( I stopped counting at 20 ), and some
clue/answers that I *questioned*....
24. *Deep-fried burrito: CHIM - - HANGA - chiMIChanga 46. *Woman who was the first Black model to appear on the cover of Time: NAOM - - AMPBELL - naoMI Campbell 59. *"Why won't anyone notice me!?": "WHAT AM - - HOPPED LIVER~?" what aM I Choppped liver
79. *Paper birds in the Japanese tradition of senbazuru: ORIGAM - - RANES - origaMI Cranes
102. *Pedicure tool: PUM - - ESTONE - puMICe stone ( I used pumice to clean the soot off my fireplace stone - worked like magic )
104. Dramatically ends a performance, and what the answer to each starred clue does?: DROPS THE MIC
Physics is fun~!
And DOWN We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. 2026 Winter Olympics range: ALPS - The next Olympics is in Milano-Cortina of Italy
5. "Love your work!": I'M A FAN
11. Currency featuring activist Viola Desmond on one of its notes: Abbr.: CAD - CAnadian Dollar. The puzzle doesn't really have any "weak" fill, but it felt like too many clues-to-answers were a bit much of a stretch, like this one - I will refer to them as *cringe*
14. Peddle: SELL - One CAD = .74 US$
18. Average: MEAN
19. Widen, as a pupil: DILATE
20. "Total lies!": "SO NOT TRUE~!"
25. Tower topper: SPIRE
26. Prudent ending?: IAL - PrudentIAL
27. With 81-Across, fruity liqueur: SLOE - and; 81. See 27-Across: GIN
29. Van Gogh vaseful: IRISES
30. Comedian Wyatt: CENAC - name. Never heard of him - more here
34. Javier of "The Little Mermaid": BARDEM - name. also the "bad guy" in "Skyfall", which I believe may be the best Bond film; tied with "88 Across" Royale
36. Kelly Ripa, e.g.: TV HOST
38. Partisanship: BIAS
39. Fuel efficiency mode: ECO - My Prius C has three modes; normal, ECO, and "EV" - which shuts down at 25MPH
40. Treatment that may include a mask: FACIAL
42. Embrace: HOLD
43. Fuel efficiency stat: MPG - and even when I drive like a pig, I still get 40+ MPG in my Prius
49. Double Dutch implement: ROPE - Shouldn't it be ropeS~?
50. Get closer: NEAR
51. Hesitant: TIMID
52. Big Board initials: NYSE - New York Stock Exchange
53. Soup aisle stacks: CANS
54. Adorable one: CUTIE
55. Saskatchewan people: CREE
57. "For all I __ ... ": CARE
58. Nowadays: LATELY - now this one is the opposite of *cringe*
64. Doesn't sink: FLOATS
66. Smidgen: IOTA
67. Villainous: EVIL
68. New Orleans structure: LEVEE - A musical interlude
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
69. Pre-TiVo devices: VCRs - I still have one, and it still works
70. Actor Kinnear: GREG - name.
73. Classic skirt silhouette: A-LINE
77. Figure skating feat: AXEL
78. Actress Sorvino: MIRA - name.
82. Paul of "The Fabelmans": DANO - Ugh. name. Crossing a 'foreign' word, too
83. Coastal city in Italia: NAPOLI - the opposite of the ALPS
84. Message in a bottle, maybe: S.O.S.
85. Scary St. Bernard of fiction: CUJO - Read the book, did not see the movie; see below
86. Sound effects: NOISES - *cringe*
88. Monaco attraction: CASINO - Gratuitous Daniel Craig for C.C.
91. Give a fright: SCARE
93. Golf shirts: POLOS
94. Like an angry dog's teeth: BARED
Might be a little too gratuitous for a St. Bernard
95. Common allergens: SPORES
96. Genesis locale: EDEN
97. Air marshal's org.: TSA
99. "Barbie" director Gerwig: GRETA - name.
107. Gaps: OMISSIONS - Saturday clue/answer
108. Inherent: INNATE - *cringe* - I don't like to see an IN- clue for an IN- answer
109. Kid-lit boy detective __ the Great: NATE - name. The Wiki
110. Noir sleuths: TECS - I am just plowing my way through Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" detective books, they're so good - I love the Archie character
111. "Evita" narrator: CHE - narrator~? *cringe* and name.
112. Preserved in a scrapbook, say: PASTED
113. Mireille of "Hanna": ENOS - name.
DOWN:
1. Cranks (up): AMPS - "These go to eleven."
2. Big jump: LEAP
3. 2002 Jodie Foster film about a robbery: PANIC ROOM - Good movie - saw it when it came out
12. Young Skywalker's nickname: ANI - Short for Anakin, pre-Darth Vader. and name.
13. Home: DOMICILE - the MIC part of 24A
14. Flight segments: STAIRS
15. Dadaist Max: ERNST - name. if the clue were Blofeld, we'd be at James Bond again.
16. Olympic sleds: LUGES - see you in Italy
17. Grassy meadows: LEAS
20. "Move over!": "SCOOT~!"
21. Series of related emails: THREAD - *cringe* - a series of texts, maybe
23. Actress Russo: RENE - name.
28. The "L" of UCLA: LOS - University (of) California - - - Angeles
31. Radio letters: AM/FM
32. Layered rock: SHALE
34. Warped: BENT - like my mind
35. Berry from the Amazon: ACAI
36. Froyo franchise: TCBY - The Country's Best Yogurt; uh, well, the closest one to me is in Yonkers, in a different state - I guess you have to travel the country....
37. Competes (for): VIES
38. Great songs, slangily: BOPS - *cringe*
42. Fine-tuned: HONED - like my blogging skills....mic drop
43. Water usage measurer: METER
44. Sand bucket: PAIL
45. __ Goose vodka: GREY
47. NBA great Jordan: MICHAEL - the MIC part of 46A. and name.
48. Commercial figure?: AD RATE
49. Chophouse specification: RARE
50. Chocolate-hazelnut spread: NUTELLA - oh so good
53. Spending limit: CAP - a perpetual problem for the NY Rangers
54. Cowboy __: bean salad: CAVIAR - never heard this
56. Non-earthlings, for short: ETs
57. Licensed tax pro: CPA
58. "The Leftovers" actress Tyler: LIV - name.
59. Like fruit of the loom?: WOVEN
60. Prefix with climate or greens: MICRO - the MIC part of 59A
61. Dance set to klezmer music: HORA - Ah, Hebrew; looked German to me
62. Extra NHL periods: OTs - oh, we are so close to the start of the hockey season
63. Paper size: LEGAL
64. Mark for attention: FLAG
65. LPGA golfer Thompson: LEXI - name.
69. Trattoria menu heading: VINO - The "N" was my last fill, a Natick crossing; BTW, I now live closer to the place we get the term from....
70. Sod: GRASS - Meh. almost *cringe*
71. Like yellow bananas: RIPE
72. Targets of some trash talk: EGOS
74. 2006 Jodie Foster film about a robbery: INSIDE MAN - now this movie, I did not see
75. Sign gas: NEON
76. "Put a tiger in your tank" brand: ESSO - gas sign
78. Regal: MAJESTIC
79. Party bowlful: ONION DIP
80. Layered rock: MICA - the MIC part of 79A
82. Undue pressure: DURESS - Bzzzt; I had STRESS
85. Tender touch: CARESS
86. Points of connection: NODES
87. Flamenco shout: OLE
89. "So frustrating!": "ARGH~!"
90. At peace: SERENE - I like the Serenity Prayer
91. Ocean foam: SPUME - I had SPRAY
92. "Nancy" or "Cathy": COMIC - Strip, actually - and the MIC part of 102A
93. Pasta choice: PENNE
94. Butter up, in a way: BASTE - now this is clever clue misdirection
95. Leopard's mark: SPOT
97. Loads (of): TONS - I can never tell if it's going to be TONS or ALOT
98. Minor dispute: SPAT
100. Mambo legend Puente: TITO - name.
101. Solitaire foundation cards: ACES
103. "How lovely!": "OOH~!"
105. Genetic messenger: RNA
106. Keanu title role: TED - Dah~! I had NEO - but once I read the clue, I see it says "title".
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