Saturday Themeless by Tony Caruso & C.C. Burnikel
Across:1. Gives a bit: SAGS
5. Violently eject: SPEW - Mauna Loa is reminding Hawaiians that those islands were built by volcanoes
9. Literary heroine who had "very little to distress or vex her": EMMA - We have come to know Anya Taylor-Joy from The Queen's Gambit but she recently did a turn as EMMA in a 2020 movie
16. Largest plot on a block, typically: CORNER LOT - If you like to mow and blow snow (for those of us who do)
17. __ Hall: MONTY.
18. Grift: SCAM.
19. Quaker's parent: PEPSICO - One of hundreds of products in that fold
21. One-named singer who co-wrote Rihanna's "Diamonds": SIA - SIA used her hair covering her face as a gimmick at one time
24. Look over: EYEBALL - "Don't be EYEBALLIN' me boy!"
27. Qualifying term: UNLESS.
29. In real time: LIVE.
30. Sea-__: TAC - We took off from there last week in Taylor Johnson's puzzle
32. Cycle starter?: UNI.
33. __ Burger: BOCA.
34. Rough landings?: ETAS - The Estimated Time of Arrival is a rough guess.
35. Stimulates, in a way: WHETS.
37. Azadi Tower country: IRAN.
38. Surge: RISE.
39. Spa sound: AAH.
40. Bills: BEAKS - This conjured up an old joke
41. Ox with soft wool: YAK.
42. Magnitude: SIZE.
43. Rice porridge often topped with slices of century egg: CONGEE - Much learning for me. Was this submitted by Tony or C.C.? 🤔
44. Velshi of MSNBC: ALI - Here ya go
45. One-to-one odds: EVEN BET - Heads or tails
47. Compass dir.: ESE.
48. Remote access?: CHANNEL - 😀 We now use our Allo to remotely access a new CHANNEL
52. "Jesus Christ Superstar" king: HEROD - In HEROD's Song, he taunts Jesus with, "Prove to me that you're no fool, Walk across my swimming pool."
53. Tell all: NAME NAMES - In the 1952 HUAC hearings, our crossword acquaintance Elia Kazan NAMED NAMES of people he knew to have joined the Communist Party in the past. Hollywood reacted with great hatred and condemnation of Mr. Kazan.
60. Bering Sea barker: SEAL.
61. Works on the road: TARS - Last Saturday, we were tarring roofs. I'm betting a lot of you know the movie that had this great scene tarring a road activity (*answer at bottom)
Down:
1. NCAA division: SEC - The Southeast Conference has won 13 of the 22 NCAA FB championships since 2000
2. Not prone to crushes, for short: ARO - This filled itself in but ARO is short for AROMANTIC as in not romantic, i.e. develop little or no romantic attractions. 5 things you should know about aromantic people
3. Sound of frustration: GRR.
4. "Daughters and __": intergenerational tale by Ivy Compton-Burnett: SONS - Daughters and Sons is an acidic comedy of cold deceptions, mistaken identities and family struggles for dominance.
5. Turns the hose on: SPRAYS.
6. __ d'Or: PALME - The award for best film at the Cannes Film Festival. I had to go back to 1994's Pulp Fiction to find a film on this list of past winners that I've seen
7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO - Talk about yer Saturday cluing. Her IMDB
8. Sign of tackiness?: WET PAINT - 😀
9. God who took a bow: EROS - Oh, that kind of bow. An ARO person could still be in for these activities.
10. Rental for a renter with too much stuff: MINI STORAGE.
11. Green tea treats: MATCHA CAKES - Tony says this is a familiar term for him because Houston has a sizable Asian population.
14. Break: RECESS - A lot of memories are made here in grade school. Some of those memories keep people from coming back for reunions
15. More than enough: AMPLE.
20. Tupelo-born singer: ELVIS - We toured Elvis' shotgun birth house in Tupelo. The name stems from the fact that you can see straight through the house from the front door to the back door like the barrel of a shotgun.
23. Winter destination in the Wasatch Mountains: ALTA SKI AREA - 40 minutes SE of Salt Lake City
25. Delaware's state bird: BLUE HEN - This bird from Kent County England is one of three American State birds that is not native to the country. It is also the name of a commenter that I wish visited us more often.
28. Lighten: EASE.
33. "Très __": BIEN - Ce puzzle est très BIEN
35. Sign away: WAIVE.
36. Coffee flavor: HAZEL NUT.
40. Green field?: BOTANY.
42. Ships off: SENDS.
43. Glitterati: CELEBS.
46. "Doom Patrol" actor Matt: BOMER - He plays the character called Negative Man in this TV series. You're welcome. 🤷
49. Sydelle of Netflix's "GLOW": NOEL - She plays Cherry "Junk Chain" Bang in the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling 🤷
51. Passing fancies: FADS.
54. Actor Butterfield: ASA - His IMDB
55. Astronaut Jemison who was the first Black woman in space: MAE - Finally, a person with whom I am familiar in this closing flurry of names.
56. "... need I go on?" abbr.: ETC.
57. Play area: SET - The simple steel swing K-Mart SET we had for our girls in 1975 would look pretty lame today.