While "hat trick" is not used, basketball has other milestones based on the number three or achieving three feats:
The Triple-Double: Getting double-digit numbers in three out of five categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals) in a single game.
Three-Peat: Winning three championship titles in a row.
Three-Pointer: Scoring a field goal from beyond the three-point arc.
The Reveal:
53 Across. Distance shot in basketball, or what 16-, 26-, and 39-Across are altogether?: LOGO THREE.
A logo 3 in basketball is a three-pointer shot taken from extreme range, specifically at or near the mid-court center circle where the teams floor logo is painted.
How is this represented in the 3 themers you ask? Why, it's simple! The first word of each begins with LO, and the last word begins with GO. Coming up with a new and fresh theme after more than 100 years of crossword puzzles is a long shot, I just didn't expect Erik to do it literally!
16 Across. "I like it!": LOOKS GOOD. (Like a long shot that goes "swish.")
26 Across. Bucket list item, perhaps: LONG TIME GOAL. (Long air time that is...)
39 Across. Not rigid: LOOSEY-GOOSEY. (Absolutely necessary to make those long shots....)
Let's see if there is anything in the fill that could block our shot at this theme...
Across: 1. Succeed in a class: PASS. (Or succeed in basketball, don't hog the ball...)
5. With 47-Down, tropical shade providers: PALM.
9. Content warning letters: NSFW. Not Suitable For Work.
13. Two-tone apex predator: ORCA.
Pass me the ball!
14. Inventor's jumping-off point: IDEA.
15. Underwater detector: SONAR.
16. [Theme]
18. Location: PLACE.
19. Out like a light: ASLEEP.
20. Vintner's harvest: GRAPES.
21. Top stripe of a pride flag: RED.
Hmm, not always red...
22. Lousy grade: DEE. (I always wait, could be C or F...)
24. "Gosh!": GEE.
25. Channel with music videos and "Reba" reruns: CMT. Country Music Television.
26. [Theme]
29. Statistical average: MEAN.
There ya go, now it's about s clear as mud...
31. Jokes: GAGS. (I never joke about statistical averages...)
32. Cunning plan: RUSE.
Not really a ruse, but I couldn't resist..
33. "A Change Is __ Come": GONNA. The sad history behind this song can be found here.
34. Victor Wembanyama's org.: NBA. (Is this a Clecho?)
43. Some undergrad degs.: BAS. Bachelor of Arts degrees.
44. Fleeting snooze: NAP.
45. Pvt. trainer: SGT.
48. Chicken __ bleu: CORDON. If you ever get tired of making chicken salad from your leftover chicken:
TRY THIS!
50. Throw trash away, but not in a trash can: LITTER. (Please dont...)
52. An additional time: AGAIN.
53. [Theme Reveal.]
56. Sport with scrums: RUGBY. This may be difficult for Americans unfamiliar with the game to comprehend, but it is a way to restart play fairly after a minor infraction.
Can you predict what side will regain control of the ball?
Down: 1. Big name in seltzer water: POLAR. Tough one, as not really seen in my area. And now with the hard seltzer market, Polar gets lost in the crowd.
Clue: First Lesson in "How to Create a Crossword Puzzle"?
Answer: GET YOUR POINT ACROSS
Puzzling thoughts:
Chairman Moe here - fulfilling my monthlycommitment to my fellow
Crossword "Corner-ites" with a recap of today's collaborative puzzle from
Avery (Gee) Katz and Aaron Gee
A Google search for Avery provided this snippet from The New York
Times: “Avery Gee Katz, of Santa Clara, Calif., is a user
experience designer at a software company. She comes from a puzzle-loving
family — the first crossword she ever made was a Father’s Day present for her
dad ..."
A Google search for Aaron resulted in a related comment from The New York
Times indicating that he is Avery's brother. They collaborated on a
puzzle there in November of 2024. My guess is that this is their first
appearance @ LAT - if so, congrat's on your debut. Please stop by to say
hello and comment if you like
Today's puzzle - while seemingly straight-forward - uses a bit of wordplay to
provide an alternate clue for a common phrase/expression. For example:
18 across. First lesson in "How To DJ"?:
START FROM SCRATCH. Right off the bat, Avery and Aaron use an
idiomatic phrase meaning "to begin" and tie it to how one might become a disc
jockey (DJ)
For those of us who recall DJ's such as Casey Kasem or Wolfman Jack, who
"spun" records on a turntable for radio air play, many of today's DJ's use the
record on a turntable to create a background sound effect. They do this
by "scratching" the record surface - see video below
26 across. First lesson in "Plumbing: A Beginner's Guide"?:
TAKE THE PLUNGE. The idiomatic phrase "take the plunge" is
associated with being "all in", and making a bold decision to do something
with an uncertain outcome. The playful clue description might be a
lesson for all would-be plumbers in how to unclog a toilet, perhaps?
47 across. First lesson in "Sport Climbing and You"?:
LEARN THE ROPES. Once again Avery and Aaron become "Ms. and Mr.
Obvious" by suggesting that learning how to use ropes when climbing up the
face of a mountain is a necessary, first lesson. Or in this case, how to
engage in Sport Skateboarding!
61 across. First lesson in "A Handbook of Competitive Eating"?:
STEP UP TO THE PLATE. The idiomatic phrase refers - literally - to a
baseball player taking his stance in the batter's box and facing the
pitcher. It suggests that by doing so, you've committed to the task at
hand. The "plate" in this case is home plate. Avery and Aaron find
another "plate" to provide the wordplay: a pie plate, perhaps
In this episode of "The Big Bang Theory", Penny and Amy take on Leonard and
Sheldon in a series of competitive contests, including this one:
The grid size today is 15x16 to accommodate the two spanners (18 and 61
across). I'm guessing that Avery and Aaron didn't consider my
clue/answer in their choices as the answer contained 18 letters! 😉
Let's move on to the rest of the answers/fill as we admire, first, the solved
grid:
Across:
1. Mess up: BOTCH. I almost messed up the puzzle from the get go
when I tried the word ERROR
6. Beer foam: HEAD. Another mess up when I tried SUDS
10. Golden Arches sandwich: MC RIB. This was filled in correctly
as the McRib, oddly enough, was my erstwhile favorite McDonald's
sandwich. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been to a
McDonald's in the past year and have fingers left over
15. Sneeze sound: ACHOO. "Gesundheit!"
16. Upfront stake: ANTE. I hope no one was thinking that the
stake in question was associated with camping
17. Family, in Hawaiian: OHANA. Totally solved with perps as I
knew not of this word. Perhaps if I had seen the Disney movie
"Lilo and Stitch" I'd have known of it [according to Reddit]
[Hawaii-Guide dot com] "Ohana is a Hawaiian word that means family, community, and deep connection. It goes beyond blood relatives to include chosen friends and neighbors,
meaning that nobody gets left behind or forgotten"
[theme entry]
21. Summer shirts: TANK TOPS. Question: is it objectifying to
show a picture of a woman sporting a tank top? How about a
guy? How about both, together? Let's go with the latter and see if
anyone comments ...
And here, you thought I was going to be objectifying! 🤣
22. "Let me say it again ... ": I REPEAT. Moe-ku:
The Who's Townshend helped
Me fertilize the garden.
Pete, and I, re-peat
23. Antlered grazer: ELK.
24. Trauma ctrs.: E.R.S. I last visited one of these when I was
on holiday in Portugal. The tour I was on insisted that I get seen by a
doctor as I had symptoms of a head cold. Went there on a Saturday around
5:30 pm. Got seen at 9:00. Yup, it was a head cold. No
"trauma" other than the 3-1/2 hour wait to be seen
25. Vocalized: ORAL. And its semi-clecho: (35 across. Uttered):
SAID.
[theme entry]
32. Rights org.: ACLU. Somewhat of an oxymoron;
the American Civil Liberties Union
is indeed a "rights" organization, but its adherents are generally
"left"-leaning
36. Mexican state on the Gulf of California: SONORA. CSO to all
of our Crossword Cornerites with Mexican
heritage. Sonora borders my state (Arizona) though I
have yet to visit it. One of its many attractions is a place called
Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point); a highly popular beach resort town just south of the Arizona border,
famous for its beaches, water sports, and nightlife. It's located on
the Sea of Cortez
37. Leap happily: BOUND. As in, "leaps and bounds"
39. Some jeans: LEES. A brand name, of course. Another clue
for lees is "dead yeast cells used in the fermentation of
wine". Lees are what gives some white wines a bit of a
creamy texture/mouth feel, and they add complexity to the finished "product"
41. Lute in Hindi cinema: SITAR. Moe-ku: (there's a lot to
unravel in this one!)
Actor Harrison,
Not George, played the SITAR
In some
"Indy" films
42. Hosts: EMCEES. A look back in time when Dean Martin hosted a
roast
44. 2022 Super Bowl winners: RAMS. One of their stars was a
former DT for my alma mater - and will undoubtedly be a Hall of Fame inductee
- though there is a rumor that he might end his retirement and come back to
play this year or next
Another Aaron
46. Forecast no.: TEMP. As I typed this recap, our forecast # for
today, in the Greater Phoenix area, was 109. Yesterday (July 24)
the temp set a record for the date: 117!!
[theme
entry]
50. Like Death Valley: ARID. Also, like Sonora; also, like
Phoenix. Our rainfall (year-to-date) is less than 3"; total
51. Coconut __: OIL. Couldn't figure out where this one was
going. I do a fair amount of cooking but do not use
coconut oil - but then I realized that coconut oil is used
primarily in skin moisturizers; as is this: (64 across. Ingredient in a
cooling lotion:) ALOE.
52. Poke bowl protein: AHI. Given the usage of a few
Hawaiian-related clues and answers in today's puzzle, I wonder if the Gee
siblings are from the 50th state?
55. Home exercise bike brand: PELOTON. This answer was my first
guess
59. Natural disaster, legally: ACT OF GOD. I can't recall ever
seeing this phrase used in a crossword puzzle before. The clue is quite
accurate as many insurance carriers will not cover items that were destroyed
or damaged from a natural disaster. [from Wikipedia] "Yes, "act of God" is a recognized legal term
used in contract law, tort law, and insurance. It describes an overwhelming,
unpreventable natural event—such as an earthquake, hurricane, or flood—caused
exclusively by natural forces without human intervention"
[theme
entry]
63. More frigid: ICIER. The synonym for this used to be
"frigider" until a certain appliance mfr said that it sounded too much like
its brand name ...
65. Locations for Christmas lights: EAVES. If you look closely,
Clark Griswold actually put some of his 25,000 Christmas lights under
the eaves
66. Welcome relief on a hot day: SHADE. Well, I can say that I am one
(here in AZ) who looks for a spot of shade in a parking lot,
but that barely helps when it's 117 degrees out
67. Scottish lids: TAMS. "Lids", as in the slang term for hats
68. High-protein grain: SPELT. Moe-ku:
Kellogg's proofreader
Skipped right past the word "ote". They
Thought, that's how it's spelt
Down:
1. Slather with butter, perhaps: BASTE. Watch most any French
cooking video and you'll see how frequently they baste - but
that doesn't mean you HAVE to be French to baste
2. In base eight: OCTAL. A tutorial for those who are unfamiliar
with base eight:
Not sure that I still totally understand it, but as a retiree I doubt I
will ever have to consider its use
3. "You'll __ me someday": THANK. For the tutorial above, perhaps??
😜
4. Winery keepsake: CORK. As your resident sommelier, I can attest
to keeping corks. One of these days I will endeavor to use
them for trivets, perhaps. When we were in Portugal we saw the source
of cork - it's harvested from the bark of a certain oak tree
that grows in the Alentejo region of Portugal. As this image shows, a portion of
the bark has been stripped from the tree. This is where the cork comes
from. The number (6) indicates the year in which it was harvested (2026).
The tree will regrow its bark and be ready for another harvest in 2035 (9 years)
5. Throat-soothing brew: HOT TEA. Another clip from
"TBBT". For Sheldon, offering a hot beverage was not
optional to someone who was feeling down-in-the-dumps. We can only
imagine that it was also throat-soothing
6. Ice dweller off the coast of Greenland: HARP SEAL. As opposed to
a monsoon dweller off the coast of India known as the Sitar Seal ... 😀
Happy Harp Seal
7. Actress Mireille: ENOS. Complete unknown, as clued. Oh,
how we have evolved in crossword clues! Back in the day this would have
been clued as "Baseball slugger Slaughter"
8. Self-serve bank device: ATM. At least today's description of
it was not what was clued back on July 24 when it (the ATM) was consigned to a
7-11 store
9. "You are my fire / The one __": "I Want It That Way" opening lyrics:
DESIRE. A "Backstreet Boys" classic
10. Cherries atop Black Forest cake: MORELLOS. I prefer
my Morello cherries in a Manhattan Cocktail. [from AI] "A
Manhattan pairs rye whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters, garnished
with rich, tart Morello or Amarena cocktail cherries"
11. Crack, as lips: CHAP. [Merriam-Webster] Defined 5 ways: (1)
noun: a crack in or a sore roughening of the skin caused
by exposure to wind or cold; (2) intransitive verb: to open in cracks, slits, or chinks; (3) noun: the fleshy covering of a jaw; (4) noun: {mostly
British} fellow; (5) abbreviation: chapter
But my definition involves something different which is captured in this
Moe-ku:
Cowboy dismounted.
Walked
in brush to pee. Later,
He
found a chaps tick
12. Assign stars to: RATE. Over the course of my blogging I have
used many different RATE-ing scales to "grade" the puzzles.
My "Moes" [sic] Hardness Scale" is perhaps my favorite, but the current 5 star
system of grading has become the standard. Today's puzzle gets a solid,
⭐⭐⭐⭐s. Unlike this celestial body (Moe-l'ick):
At Lover's Lane there were parked many cars, With nighttime view of the planets, like
Mars. When her date, Roosevelt, Showed her Orion's Belt,
She uttered, "meh, I'll just rate it 3
Stars."
13. Cuzco civilization: INCA.
14. Thai currency whose symbol was once used to represent Bitcoin:
BAHT. Read this article
19. Tined flatware: FORKS. And this clecho-like clue/answer: (55
down. Trident-shaped letters:) PSIS. The image of the
letter Psi kinda looks like a fork
20. Dice game: CRAPS. I am on a "The Big Bang Theory" kick
today ... CRAPS mentioned @ 0:58
25. "Heavens!": OH DEAR.
26. Guitar peg, e.g.: TUNER.
27. Like the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras: TIERED.
This is actually in Vietnam
28. Bushels and pecks: UNITS. Or, for those here old enough to
remember, some song lyrics:
29. Scribbled reminder: NOTE. I am still pretty much "old school"
when it comes to note taking. I have lots
of note paper close at hand. Only time I use my
"Notes" app on my phone is when I am not close by my pen and paper
30. Family nickname: GRAM. My grandson calls me "GRAMPS"
31. Wyatt of Tombstone: EARP. Another CSO to we Arizonans.
Tombstone is ESE of Tucson and provides the tourists with several period
places to see what life was like in the 1800's. The top things to do
there include:
O.K. Corral:Watch daily live reenactments of the famous 1881 gunfight involving Wyatt
Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton gang.
Bird Cage Theatre:
Tour the preserved 1880s saloon and gambling hall featuring original
fixtures and over 100 bullet holes.
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park:
View Victorian-era exhibits, courtrooms, and the authentic outdoor gallows
from 1882.
Boothill Graveyard:
Walk through the historic pioneer cemetery where early outlaws and
townspeople are buried
32. Biblical brother: ABEL. Younger brother of Cain and the first
person murdered, according to The Bible
33. "Follow me": COME. "Psst! Follow me!!"
34. Pixar film about a young sea monster: LUCA. Here is the trailer:
38. Unfold, as a protein: DENATURE. [Merriam-Webster] "To denature
means
to change or ruin the natural qualities or shape of something. In science, it most often means changing proteins, DNA, or alcohol using
heat, acids, or chemicals." I seem to remember the term "denatured
alcohol" which loosely translated means, "don't drink it"!
40. Makes out: SMOOCHES. Symbolized by the letter "X" or the emoji
"😘"
43. Sharpen on a leather belt: STROP. My first memory of going to
the barbershop with my dad was watching a man getting a shave - the barber made
the razor sharp by using a leather strop
45. Ill will: SPITE. As opposed to "ill swill": SPRITE
48. Suggest: HINT AT. I tend to be pretty straight-forward - no
beating around the bush for this guy. Although some of my blog comments
may belie that
49. Gets married by Elvis, perhaps: ELOPES. Know anyone who's
been married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas?
52. Tequila plant: AGAVE. [from AI] "Blue agave (Agave tequilana) is special because it is the only plant legally permitted to produce
authentic tequila. Its massive, starchy core (the piña) is rich in complex
carbohydrates and fructose, making it uniquely suited for fermentation and the
creation of a deeply complex, terroir-driven spirit". Moe enjoys
drinking tequila "neat"; Miss Margaret enjoys hers in a Margarita (go
figure!!)
53. Guest spot?: HOTEL. Not the guest spot on a TV talk
show
54. Namely: ID EST. Commonly seen as its abbreviation: i.e., - as
in, "Wyatt Earp is best known as a lawman from the wild west, i.e., one
of the ones who fought at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone". It's commonly
confused with its cousin, e.g., which means "for example" and comes from the
Latin "exempli gratia"
56. __ A Sketch: ETCH.
57. Skywalker raised on Alderaan: LEIA. Process of
elimination? Had to be either LEIA or Luke
58. Pointed column: OP ED. Speaking of getting your point across
...
59. Chemistry class model: ATOM. Is a molecule close enough? My
final "The Big Bang Theory" video, promise!
60. Try to fly: FLAP. Cute clue. Cute cartoon:
62. Lisbon greeting: OLA. First off, in Portugal they call it
Lisboa; and most use the greeting "Bom Dia" especially in the hours between
dawn and early afternoon. I found that if you said "Obrigado" a lot it
was well-received by the Portuguese people
OK, that wraps up another blog from the Chairman. I'll see y'all in
early September. Between now and then I am having surgery on both hands
(Carpal Tunnel) so hopefully I will be able to type up my blog before
September 2
[a postscript] - on Monday Aug 2 there was an entry in the puzzle: "B
SIDE". In the comments that day, both Husker Gary and
Jinx in Norfolk referenced 45 RPM records. I recalled that in
addition to 45 RPM "singles", a few magazines experimented with enclosing a
cardboard record (about the size of a 45) in their publications. One
that apparently made me laugh (I was a young teenager at the time) was in Mad
Magazine. The "record's" title was "It's a Gas!" The video below
confirms that you can find most anything on YouTube!
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle by Sala Wanetick and Dena R. Verkuil. This is two-in-a-row for me recapping a puzzle by Sara and Dena and three-in-a-row for me blogging a puzzle by Sara. Sara and Dena, we really have to stop meeting like this. Or maybe not. It's been a whole lot of fun. Perhaps we'll do it again.
In today's puzzle, Sala and Dena riff on common activities during which we use our eyes to search, or LOOK, for things. The straight-forward unifier comes at:
61 Across: "Gotcha!," and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues: MADE YOU LOOK.
The gimmick is employed at these four places:
18 Across: *Book series with a character in red-and-white stripes: WHERE'S WALDO. In the books, readers LOOK for Waldo. Can you find him on this ski hill?
26 Across: *"Olly olly oxen free" game: HIDE AND SEEK. Children LOOK for one of their own who is hiding. "Olly olly oxen free" is a catchphrase used in children's games such as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game.
37 Across: *Presentation tool that doubles as a cat toy: LASER POINTER. The cat clearly LOOKs at the dot or, closer to the mark, in its intended use, the LASER tool points to things that we need to LOOK at.
52 Across:. *Document in some pirate stories: TREASURE MAP. The MAP shows you where to LOOK for the TREASURE.
This is how it all looks in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and responses. Please note that a reference to an answer as "often seen in our puzzles" (or similar) is not intended as a criticism. In fact, without these "usual suspects" a Wednesday puzzle would likely solve more as if it were a Saturday offering:
Across:
1. Daytona 500 org.: NASCAR. An automobile racing reference. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Perhaps it should be NASCARL.
7. Poetic measure: IAMB. IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of one short syllable followed by one long syllable or of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
11. Hushed "Hey!": PSST. Frequently whispered in our puzzles.
15. Musical interval: OCTAVE. Imagine a piano. On it, the keys on the left are lower than the keys on the right. If you are pressing the white keys, starting from C, from left to right, the sequence will follow: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. From C to C is one OCTAVE.
16. Enunciate poorly: SLUR.
17. Stratford-__-Avon: UPON. Because it is the birthplace and burial place of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Stratford UPON-Avon is a popular tourist destination
20. Café or thé lightener: LAIT. Leçon de français d'aujourd'hui. Cafe = coffee, thé = tea and LAIT = milk. On first glance, this solver was wondering what the heck was the lightener.
21. "When pigs fly!": NEVER. A colloquial expression.
22. Gender-specific pronoun: HIM.
23. Florence of Florence and the Machine: WELCH.
25. Stage award: OBIE. TONY would have fit. OBIE derives from Off-Broadway.
29. More spent: WEARIER. Spent as in "I'm spent" meaning out of energy.
31. R&R provider for GIs: USO. United Service Organizations
32. Steamed bun: BAO. A treat often consumed in our puzzles.
33. Play-__: Fun Factory maker: DOH. DOH is often clued with reference to Homer Simpson.
34. Tally: ADD. Tally, used here, as a verb. As in the classic Harry Belafonte song:
36. Garment worn with a choli: SARI. A choli is an upper body garment (blouse or bodice). A SARI is a draped garment frequently donned in our puzzles.
41. Nautical call: AHOY. AHOY is derived from the Middle English cry, 'Hoy!'.The word fell out of use at one time, but was revived when sailing became a popular sport. AHOY can be used as a greeting, a warning, or a farewell
43. Decide (to): OPT. A choice frequently made in our puzzles.
48. "Spoon River Anthology" poet Edgar Lee __: MASTERS. No, not a Henry Mancini reference.
56. Radar image: BLIP.
57. Proprietor: OWNER.
58. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. A frequent visitor.
59. Orchestral pace: TEMPO.
60. Kristen of "Bridesmaids": WIIG.
64. Cozy quarters: INNS. Quarters, in the clue's context, could have been either single or plural making this one a bit more challenging.
65. Japanese noodle: UDON.
66. "That's a lie!": UNTRUE. That's a fact.
67. Put through the paces: TEST.
68. Petty quarrels: ROWS. The word ROW has several meanings (polysemy). Among them: Things in a line. To propel a boat with an oar. A succession without a gap. . . . and, here, a SPAT (no, not the kind you wear with a shoe).
69. Goes back to zero: RESETS.
Down:
1. "There, there": NOW NOW. Nice repetition in clue and answer.
2. "Things Fall Apart" novelist Chinua: ACHEBE. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
4. Opportunity for students to consider their futures: CAREER DAY.
5. State definitively: AVER. This solver often pauses over whether it will be AVER or Avow.
6. Hi-__ monitor: RES. HIgh RESolution
7. "To repeat ... ": I SAID. Do we really need to go over this again?
8. "I'll take complete credit, thanks": ALL ME. Time to pass on the obvious.
9. Mess around a sty: MUD. Mess in a sty?
10. Cleveland team: BROWNS. A football reference. Named after the original coach and co-owner, Paul Brown.
11. Drawer handles: PULLS. KNOBS would have fit.
12. Long key: SPACE BAR. . . . on a keyboard (typewriter or computer, not a piano keyboard)
13. "That's the word on the street": SO I HEAR.
14. Demolition letters: TNT. What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with TNT? Dino-mite
19. Sound like a fan: WHIR. See also 38 Down (clever).
24. Tokyo, long ago: EDO. A place visited frequently in our puzzles. EDO was renamed in 1868.
26. "lol": HE HE. Laughter
27. A5 and Q5 automaker: AUDI. As the clue says, an automotive reference.
28. Colorful carp: KOI. When I returned from a trip to Japan about a year ago my son asked if I had seen any KOI fish. I said no, the fish there were actually pretty sociable.
30. Safari platform: IOS. An Apple Computer reference.
37. LGBTQ+ rights slogan: LOVE WINS. Also the title of a song by Carrie Underwood.
38. Sound like fans: ROAR. See also 19 Down (clever).
39. Quarter-moon tide: NEAP. NEAP tides occur in puzzles far more often than do SPRING tides.
40. Covers with sheets?: TPS. Not bed sheets.
41. __ deco: ART. Shouldn't deco have been capitalized? From Wkikpedia: "Art Deco, short for the French Arts décoratifs, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished internationally during the 1920s to early 1930s, through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including clothing, fashion, and jewelry. Art Deco has influenced buildings from skyscrapers to cinemas, bridges, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects, including radios and vacuum cleaners."
42. Princess Leia, e.g.: HEROINE. A Star Wars reference. Why didn't Princess Leia have a boyfriend? She kept looking for love in Alderaan places.
46. Word before "force" or "the Force": USE. The second part of this clue is also a Star Wars reference.
47. Cooing sound: MURMUR.
48. Quite a few: MANY.
49. Blues guitarist __ James: ELMORE. For many of us, the reference by George Harrison on the Beatles recording of "For You Blue" might have been the first we had heard of ELMORE. For others, the Grateful Dead cover of It Hurts Me Too may have provided the introduction. The blues aficionados among us, of course, have known all along.
50. Remove, as knitted stitches: RIP OUT.
51. Rods in bike wheels: SPOKES. Radii, as a clue, would have made it even easier.
53. High anxiety: ANGST. MOVIE would have fit the allotted space....but anxiety would have to have been capitalized in the clue.
54. Supply funding for: ENDOW.
55. Attitudes: MIENS. I before E except after C (note that this comment was written before C.C.'s puzzle ran last last Sunday. Small world).
59. Song: TUNE. "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", for one:
60. Wisdom partner: WIT. As in the many book titles that begin The WIT and Wisdom of ...
62. Fuss: ADO. A common commotion in our puzzles.
63. Possessive word: OUR. OUR time, this morning, is now drawing to a close.
Whatever it is that you are looking for today I hope that you find it.
