Thursday, May 2, 2024, Zhouqin Burnikel

 

  Root, Root for the Home Team!

Today's constructor is veteran Zhouqin Burnikel, alias C.C., baseball aficionado and blog maestra extraordinaire.  She invites us to do some ROOTING, not just for the home team but also to burrow through the DOWN clues looking for some delicious, healthy ROOT vegetables, and see what turns UP.  Here's her reveal ...

25D. Digs out, or what can be found in four long Down answers?: ROOTS UP.

 If you didn't spot them while solving (CSO to D-O), here they are ...

3D. Spiritual path of action: KARMA YOGA.  YAM.  Well I've always thought that a YAM was just another name for a SWEET POTATO -- but they are not the same vegetable.

10D. Event for minor leaguers?: TEE BALL GAME.  BEET. These are not particularly difficult to grow, but we like the tender greens in salads and tend to side pick them stealing the strength from the root.  But whichever way you eat them they are good for you.

Detroit Dark Red  Beets

24D. Sport with pit stops, in Britain: MOTOR RACING. CARROT.  CARROTS are slow germinating, slow growing, and very sweet when they're fresh.  One of my favorite drinks is fresh carrot juice.   They also have many health benefits.

Carrots

35D. Lab animal with white fur: ALBINO RAT. TARO.  TARO is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures (similar to yams). Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.   We've never cooked with it, but I think it may be available in our local supermarket. I found these for sale at the H.E.B. in Victoria, TX -- they look a little rough, but they sound delicious.

Taro Roots

And of course, adhering to good crossword etiquette,  C.C has embedded each vegetable so that it spans 2 words. Here's how they look underground ...

... and the rest of today's garden ...

Across:

1. Tools with teeth: RAKES.  And C.C. starts us off with RAKES, essential tools for planting ROOT CROPS, which like fine, well raked soil.  Teri and I use a modified version of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening method, planting the seeds to a depth of 2-3" in drills filled with potting soil.  We've had good luck with BEETS, RADISHES, CARROTS, and TURNIPS.  We usually plant our YAMS (sweet potatoes) with plants in shallow trenches.  I've not seen TARO seeds or plants in our gardening catalogues.

6. Geocaching device: GPS.  You use the Global  Positioning System in your phone to zero in on containers called geocaches, at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world.  Here's a one minute explanation ...

Here are more details

9. Did a face-plant: ATE IT.  Ouch!

14. "This really matters to me": I CARE A LOT.   When you really CARE A LOT ...

16. First name in country: MERLE.  Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.  He was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launched a successful country music career.  Here's his Working Man Blues ...

17. Keep on keeping on: PERSEVERE.

18. Like a misty pond after dark: EERIE.  It's not a good idea to go there alone. 😨

19. Genre that includes dubstep: EDM.  Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with bass lines that contain prominent sub-bass frequencies. The style emerged as an offshoot of UK garage, drawing on a lineage of related styles such as 2-step, dub reggae, jungle, broken beat, and grime. In the United Kingdom, the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.  Here's a dubstep number by Lindsey Stirling called Crystallize that I thought was kind of cool ...

20. Dudes: MEN.  All the ones I know use HE/HIM/HIS pronouns.

21. Vegetable in a yellow pod: WAX BEAN.  The original version of this particular bean grew in the tropical climate of Central and South America. “Wax” has become a common term and refers to any yellow bean whether it is waxy or not. True wax bean types actually do have a waxy texture and feel.

Wax Beans
Atchison Farmers Market

23. "So true!": AMEN.

25. Color of rambutan skin: RED.  What the heck is Rambutan and how do you eat it?   They look like "the aliens have landed", but they don't bite you, you bite them ...

You  eat the white part

26. Contributes: ADDS.

27. Deli jarful: MAYO.  Also a clinic in Minnesota that C.C. is probably familiar with.  I have a niece who is a resident in psychiatry there.

29. "The Chimpanzees I Love" author Jane: GOODALL.  Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years' studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. Goodall first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe its chimpanzees in 1960.  She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues.

Jane Goodall and friends

32. Showbiz "grand slam": EGOT.  Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.  Nineteen people have achieved competitive EGOT status and six others have done so with honorary or special awards. In 2018, Robert Lopez became the only double EGOT winner.

33. "Xanadu" band: ELO.  The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. Here's the title song from the 1980 fantasy film Xanadu starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelley ...

34. Classic Chevy: BEL AIR.  The car I learned to drive in.  Teri, who already had her license, would drive over to our house in her Rambler, and she would sit in the passenger seat of our 56 Chevy and tutor me on the finer points of driving.

1956 Chevrolet Bel Air

If I recall correctly, it was a Chevy not much older than this that Don McLean drove to the levy the day that music died.

38. Gas in some lasers: ARGON.  Argon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble (inert) gas. Argon is the third most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere after Nitrogen and Oxygen.  Argon lasers have a wide variety of uses including eye surgery. and the treatment of various skin disorders.

40. List-ending abbr.: ETC.

42. Shelter made of compressed snow: IGLOO.

43. Pacific Palisades location: LA AREA.  Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the West-side region of Los Angeles, California, situated about 20 miles (32 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles.

View south from Will Rogers State Beach,
of Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica
I think Renee lives around here somewhere

45. Take legal action: SUE. Also the name of a sleepy head ...

47. Lie adjacent to: ABUT.

48. Shelter dogs: RESCUES.  CSO to Pat.

50. Fail to see: MISS.  But we hope we see our Irish MISS on the Corner every day.

51. Branch of Islam: SHIA.  Shia Islam (/ˈʃiːə/) is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656 – 661 CE) as his successor and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as leader of the Muslims by some of Muhammad's other companions. This view contrasts with Sunnī Islam, which asserts that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and considers Abū Bakr, who was appointed caliph by a group of senior Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful caliph after Muhammad (632–634 CE).

54. Short flight: HOP.

55. Subsequently: THEN.

57. Keep under wraps: CONCEAL.

59. Kung __ tofu: PAO.  Kung Pao Tofu is a vegan stir-fry dish made from tofu (soy cheese) with dried red chilies, pepper, peanuts all tossed together in a flavorful sauce.  Here's a recipe ...

Kung Pao Tofu

60. "Lookee here!": OHO.

63. Reversed: UNDID.

64. Tipping point: LAST STRAW.  The proverbial STRAW that broke the camel's back.

67. For the time __: BEING.

68. Bankrupt company's transaction: ASSET SALE.

69. Opposites attract, e.g.: ADAGE.  Also a law of physics.

70. Tedious routine: RUT.

71. Squelched: SAT ON.

Down:

1. Like a yellow papaya: RIPE.

2. Scored on a serve: ACED.

3. [Theme clue].

4. Hectic hosp. areas: ERS.  They're not hectic until they're hectic ...

5. Note with a low grade, perhaps: SEE ME.

6. Narrow valley: GLEN.  E.g. Glen Canyon, a natural canyon carved by a 169.6-mile (272.9 km) length of the Colorado River, mostly in southeastern and south-central Utah, in the United States.

Glen Canyon

7. "__ favor": POR.  Today's Spanish lesson: PLEASE!

8. Slow-boiled: STEWED.

9. "Don't live life without it" card co.: AMEX.

10. [Theme clue].

11. Blundered: ERRED.

12. Poem that inspired Pat Barker's "The Women of Troy": ILIAD.  The Trojan War is over and the Greeks are ready to return home as victors.  But their fleet is becalmed and they must camp by the city they destroyed waiting for a fair wind, kept company by the women they stole it from.

13. Freezing temps: TEENS.

15. Get payback for: AVENGE.

22. Very little: A DAB.  "Brylcreem - a little DAB'll do ya".  Just make sure you don't use two!

34. [Theme clue]

25. [Theme reveal].

27. Dim sum, e.g.: MEAL.  Chinese TAPAS.

Dim sum

28. City southeast of New Delhi: AGRA.  The site of an architectural OREO.

30. Fútbol cheer: OLE. 

31. Necklace shipped with ice packs: LEI.  You can by them from Cindy.

35. [Theme clue]

36. Markers: IOUS.  The first time I've seen this clue for IOUS.

37. Becomes inedible: ROTS.  E.g. when your PAPAYA turns BROWN.

39. Maiden name indicator: NEE.

41. Billiards stick: CUE.

44. "The Prisoner's Wife" author Bandele: ASHA.  As a favor for a friend, a bright and talented young woman volunteered to read her poetry to a group of prisoners during a Black History Month program. It was an encounter that would alter her life forever, because it was there, in the prison, that she would meet Rashid, the man who was to become her friend, her confidant, her husband, her lover, her soul mate.

46. Sprawling property: ESTATE.

49. Shirt feature: COLLAR.

51. Reef explorer's gear: SCUBA.  An acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

SCUBA diver

52. Made sharper: HONED.

53. 28-Down's country: INDIA.

56. Podcast moderators: HOSTS.

58. Slight lead: EDGE.  Also a singer in a rock and roll band ...

The Edge

59. Soft "Look over here!": PSST.

61. Divine circle: HALO.

62. Clive of "Monsieur Spade": OWEN.  To really understand Monsieur Spade we have to go back twenty years to the Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart as San Francisco private detective Sam Spade ...

"Monsieur Spade", played by British actor Clive Owen, is  now comfortably retired in the South of France but he finds that his karma has followed him there ...

The first is a great film and the second a great series, although the plot of the latter is quite complicated and the ending is a little enigmatic.

65. Sun Devils sch.: ASU.  Arizona State University.
 

66. Airport org. that approves some locks: TSA.  What are TSA-approved locks?


Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley

Monday April 22, 2024 Agnes Davidson and Zhouqin Burnikel

  

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

sumdaze here with a puzzle by two of our favorite people on The Corner -- Irish Miss and C.C.! What a lovely surprise to open up the puzzle and see both of their names! 

Theme:                

We will begin with the reveal:

64. Newspaper's attention-getters, and what both words in 17-, 25-, 38- and 54-Across can do: HEADLINES.

The answer to each starred clue is a two-word phrase where both the first word and the second word can be placed at the front (HEAD) of the word LINE.  

I liked how the clues for the themers did not stand out from the regular fill. The lack of stars (*) added to my surprise at the reveal.

Since the clues for the themers also define them, I will focus on their +LINE meanings. (Note:  Some of these have additional meanings not identified here.)

17 Across. Improper etiquette at a social gathering: PARTY FOUL.

• PARTY LINE:  either a policy adopted by a political party or an old-school telephone system
• FOUL LINE:  in sports, a linear demarcation that, if crossed, incurs a penalty

25 Across. Aristocrat: BLUE BLOOD.

• BLUE LINE:  the offside boundary in hockey
• BLOOD LINE:  the pedigree of an animal

38 Across. Romantic outing: DATE NIGHT.

• DATELINE:  a TV newsmagazine show that premiered in 1992
• NIGHT LINE:  an evening, in-depth TV news show that first aired in 1980

54 Across. Biography: LIFE STORY.

• LIFE LINE:  a hand crease identified in palmistry
• STORY LINE:  the plot of a story, drama, or game

I enjoyed seeing both parts of the themers used for the reveal. I suppose we should not be surprised that our dynamic duo gave us a  double-the-fun theme. I am duly (dually?) impressed!  

Here is a double the pleasure celebration ditty.

Across:
1. "Antiques Roadshow" network: PBS.  What would you take to a filming?  

Junk in the Trunk  ~  2:50 min.

4. Sudden burst of activity: RUSH.  also, as -T would be quick to point out, a Canadian rock band... 

Rush released Tom Sawyer in 1981.

8. Seeks an answer: ASKS.

12. People who are not prone to infatuations, informally: AROS.  Merriam-Webster says this word was first used in 2014 as an abbreviated version of aromantic. Parse it as the prefix "a-" (meaning not or without) with the word "romantic". An ARO person may never develop a crush on a person or envision themselves entering into a romantic relationship.

14. In the past: ONCE.  upon a time...

15. Mown path: SWATH.  Have you seen any of the SB Mowing videos on YouTube? This guy goes around cleaning up the  worst eye-sore yard in the neighborhood for free. He is in Wichita, KS. It is sort of mesmerizing to watch him work because he speeds up the video as he cuts a SWATH in the lawn. This video is 30 min. but you can skip easily skip ahead. He gets out his mower at 18:23. There is a before/after part at the end. The world could use more people like Spencer!

19. Company newbie: HIREE.     and     66 Across. Job seeker's success: OFFER.

20. Customary routine: RITUAL.  I like the play on the word "custom".

21. Pot cover: LID.

23. Fat in tamale dough: LARD.  

¡Delicioso!

24. Confident way to solve newspaper puzzles: IN INK.

27. Actor Jeong: KEN.  Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong is an American doctor, stand-up comedian and actor born in Detroit, MI in 1969. His popularity soared after playing Mr. Leslie Chow in The Hangover. Here he talks about his NBC sitcom, Dr. Ken (2015-2017).  

28. Biol. or geol.: SCI.  Biology and Geology are SCIences.

30. __ de mer: MAL.  seasickness

31. Korean automaker: KIA.

32. Jason's ship, in Greek mythology: ARGO.

34. Sport-__: versatile vehicle: UTE.  utility

CSO to D-Otto who likes the expression, "In my UTE ...." 😀

36. Zipped: RACED.

41. Image problem, for short: BAD PR.  Public Relations

43. General on a Chinese menu: TSO.  

...and now you know.

44. Ocean predator that sleeps with one eye open: ORCA.  Scientists think this is so they can rest one half of their brain at a time.

48. Chum: PAL.

49. Faux __: PAS.  

2020...what a year!

51. Sports drink suffix: -ADE.  

53. Shade tree: ELM.

57. Take, as advice: ACT ON.

59. Actor Alda: ALAN.

60. Meadow mama: EWE.  

My dog's name is Meadow.
Q:  Does that make me a meadow mama?
A:  Yes, EWE are.

61. Pique, as interest: AROUSE.

62. Accent on "señor": TILDE.  The ~ symbol has a number of uses. I notice Splynter uses it in his blogs.

On a PC, you can hold down the Alt key while typing 164 on the number pad then let go to get ñ. To type a capital Ñ, change that to 165. I do not know if this works on a Mac.

67. Home to billions of people: ASIA.  Comparatively, Australia is home to about 26 million people.

68. Celebratory suffix: -FEST.  Think "OctoberFEST", perhaps.

69. Fleeting trends: FADS.  

no comment

70. Time period: TERM.

71. Farm enclosure: STY.     and     9 Down. Gloppy fare: SWILL.

SWILL is kitchen refuse and scraps of waste food mixed with water for feeding to pigs.  

Down:

👉In the Across clues we had four themers plus a reveal. In the Down clues, we will encounter 12 seven-letter fills. Well done C.C. and Irish Miss!

Here is the first of the twelve:

1. Dusting on deviled eggs: PAPRIKA.  I figure McCormick seasoning company is an excellent source on this topic. They say, "PAPRIKA is made from the dried, ground, ripened fruit pods of less pungent varieties of the Capsicum annum species. It is mildly flavored and prized for its brilliant red color. It is closely related to red pepper which also derives from the Capsicum annum species."

2. No-__: easy decision: BRAINER.  

3. Doing some laundry prep: SORTING.  Notice how the clue and answer verb tenses match.

4. "ur hilarious!": ROFL.  "ur" is a hint the answer will be in textspeak. Rolling On the Floor Laughing  

5. Mattel game with 108 cards: UNO.

6. Light boat in a regatta: SCULL.  Boats with scullers (athletes with two oars each) in them are referred to as sculls.  SCULL as a verb means to propel a boat with sculls.  An empty SkULL with a "k" can be a 2-Down.

We will see single, 2-person, and 4-person events at the Paris Olympics.

7. Balloon gas: HELIUM.     and     65-Down. Yoga ball filler: AIR.

8. Fire pit residue: ASH.

10. Singalong activity at a bar: KARAOKE.  This one is for the BBT fans (1 min.)  

11. Drug type banned by most pro sports: STEROID.

13. Leave speechless: STUN.

16. Ibsen's "__ Gabler": HEDDA.  Hedda Gabler is a play written by Norwegian Henrik Johan Ibsen. It was first staged in 1891 in Munich, Germany. Hedda is the main character. She is newly married but already bored with her marriage and life.

18. Himalayan bovines: YAKS.  

That's pretty specific....

22. Prayer opening: DEAR GOD.  We often see the prayer closing "amen" in grids.

25. Small taste: BITE.

26. Yawn-inducing: BLAH.  "Dull" and "bore" also fit ... for a bit.

29. Bargain-basement: CUT-RATE.

33. Like 2025, but not 2024: ODD.  

35. Doc who treats sinusitis: ENT.  Ear Nose Throat

37. Exec concerned with data security: CTO.  Chief Technology Officer

39. Tablet downloads: APPS.

40. "If you ask me ... ": I SAY.

41. Courtroom figure who says "All rise!": BAILIFF.  

42. Cloverlike crop: ALFALFA.

45. Optimizes, as an engine: RETUNES.  Def.:  to tune something again or differently.

46. Most near: CLOSEST.

47. Political pardon: AMNESTY.

48. Student of Socrates: PLATO.  

50. "You think I care?": SO WHAT.

52. Noble title: EARL.

55. Phased out: ENDED.

56. Elle portrayer in "Legally Blonde": REESE.  Thanks to IM and C.C. for an opportunity to include a Legally Blonde clip!  (2:25 min.)  

58. Pageboy, for one: COIF.  A pageboy is a hairstyle. The length may vary but most variations have the ends curled under in a loose roll.  

61. Genesis man: ADAM.  Genesis is also an English rock band. Members came and went over the years but notably included Tony Banks (keyboard), Mike Rutherford (bassist/guitar), and Phil Collins (drums/vocals). Here are those Genesis men performing Turn It On Again (1980).  

63. Busy hosp. areas: ERS.  Hospital Emergency RoomS

Our conventional timeline is to insert the grid next:

Well, that was today's lineup. I'd say they hit it out of the park. What do you think?

Sunday, April 14, 2024 ~ Tom Pepper & Zhouqin Burnikel

"Rock 'n' Roll"

Good morning! Today we are treated to a puzzle by two veteran constructors - one of which started our little haven on the internet.  Let's crank-up the tunes and see what Tom & C.C. really mean by the puzzle's title.

22. Place for a rock: SOLITAIRE RING. ROCKs and ice are slang for diamonds.

Solitaire Diamond

27. Place for a roll: CRAPS TABLE. ROLL the dice on craps.

Craps Table

34. Place for a rock: CURLING MATCH. Curling is a Winter Olympics sport where you push a stone, aka the ROCK (don't confuse that with Dwayne Johnson), to the goal.

Maybe someone can explain what he's doing

58. Place for a roll: SUSHI PLATTER.

Yummers!

84. Place for a rock: ROSHAMBO GAME. Aka ROCK, paper, scissors.

105. Place for a roll: BOWLING ALLEY. I doubt there's anything coincidental about this Shout-Out to Boomer. In bowling you ROLL a ball towards the pins.

112. Place for a Rock: COMEDY CLUB. Chris ROCK is a standup comedian. He's also had starring ROLes in Movies.

Chris Rock

123. Place for a roll: TAPE DISPENSER. A ROLL of Tape.

Across:
1. Bugs: NAGS AT.

Let's keep with the Theme

7. Flat-topped hills: MESAS.

12. Faux wood in a fireplace: GAS LOG.

18. Pass by: ELAPSE.

19. Harding biopic: I TONYA.

21. Chihuahua coin: CENTAVO. 1/100th of a currency.

One Centavo

22. [See: Theme]

24. 1984 Jeff Bridges film that begins with a UFO crash: STARMAN.

   
                                          David Bowie's 1972 Starman

25. Shorthand system: STENO.

26. Just: MERE.

27. [See: Theme]

29. Geometry calculation: AREA.

31. U.S. intel org.: NSA. National Security Agency.

33. "Trainwreck" director Judd: APATOW.

Judd Apatow IMDb

34. [See: Theme]

39. Carbon compound: ENOL.

40. Short evening wear?: PJS.  Pajamas.

43. Driver's assignment: Abbr.: RTE. Route.

44. Microsoft Office default typeface until 2007: ARIAL.
 

Arial Font

45. Ore-Ida side, familiarly: TOTS.

Napoleon Dynamite

47. Tech company with an exclamation point: YAHOO.

Yep, it's got an exclamation mark.

49. Envelope abbr.: ATTN. Attention.

51. Burden: ONUS.

52. Take a break: PAUSE.

55. Hulu alternative: ROKU.

56. Left high and dry: MAROONED.

58. [See: Theme]

61. __ as punch: PROUD. I'm aware of pleased as punch but not proud as punch.  I've heard of PROUD as a peacock and love PROUD Mary (I know this is CCR's song but...

Tina's version really ROCKS!)

62. Bring home: EARN.

64. Shopping cart count: ITEMS.

65. Choice words?: ORS.

66. Fit together, as some dolls: NEST.

Matryoshka HUMOR

69. Brobdingnagian: GIANT.

71. Barbecue fuel: COAL.

73. Kung __ chicken: PAO.

Recipe

76. Booze: SAUCE. Slang for alcohol.

78. Bit attachment: REIN.

80. Dave Barry genre: HUMOR.

From 2010

84. [See: Theme]

87. Natural ability: APTITUDE.

90. Mammal with more gray matter than a human: ORCA. I'm assuming brain cells and not gray hair.

91. Caesar __: SALAD.

92. Nabe in lower Manhattan: SOHO. South of HOuston [St.] is a neighborhood. There's also a Soho [South of Horton] in London which I learned from The Who.
 

Lyrics
I woke up in a SOHO doorway / A policeman knew my name
He said, "You can go sleep at home tonight / If you can get up and walk away"

93. Miami Heat coach Spoelstra: ERIK.

Eric Spoelstra

94. Buy time: STALL.

Panic! At the Disco - STALL Me.

96. Australia's national gemstone: OPAL.

98. In the midst of: AMONG.

100. Pub pintful: ALE.

101. Orecchiette shape: EAR.

102. Asgard god: ODIN.

105. [See: Theme]

108. Actress Jennifer in Capital One commercials: GARNER.

Jennifer Garner

110. Letters after nus: XIS. Greek to me.

111. "Othello" villain: IAGO.

112. [See: Theme]

116. Matching: SAME.

118. Put in more chips, say: RAISE.

122. Stretch with no landmarks: OPEN SEA.

123. [See: Theme]

126. Firsthand accounts: MEMOIRS. Here's one I recently read.

Number One is Walking

127. Fast and furious: HECTIC.

128. Sharp kitchen tool: PEELER.

129. Tons: OCEANS.

130. Knobs on a pipe organ: STOPS.

131. Respected ones: ELDERS. Pop taught us to respect our elders. Now I am (usually) one.

Down:
1. Loch in hoax photos: NESS.

2. Tons: ALOT.

3. Strong wind: GALE.

4. Word with column or cord: SPINAL.
 

Given the theme, this fill just screams for the Trailer.

5. Oregon's oldest city: ASTORIA.

6. Cha, chai, or matcha: TEA.

7. Bog down: MIRE.

8. 2021 Marvel movie directed by Chlo Zhao: ETERNALS.

9. Most tender: SOREST.

10. "32 Flavors" singer DiFranco: ANI.

From NPR's Tiny Desk Concert

11. Bring into alignment: SYNC.

12. Arrives at: GETSTO.

13. Chess legend Karpov: ANATOLY.

World Chess HoF Inductee

14. Milkshake insert: STRAW.

15. Meat common in Greek cuisine: LAMB.

16. Shape of sesame seeds: OVAL.

17. No longer there: GONE.

20. Indian city with a mausoleum: AGRA.

21. House channel: CSPAN.

23. "Just think ... ": IMAGINE.

John Lennon

28. Hairy Halloween costume: APE SUIT. I kept wanting to fill Itt.

Wednesday and Itt

30. Disgraced energy company: ENRON. I know many folks that lost their job in the tower next to One Allen. Chevron owns ENRON's old building now.

The "Crooked E" should have been a clue.

32. Make a scene?: ACT.

34. Swimmer's woe: CRAMP.

35. __ Pradesh: Indian state: UTTAR.

There it is!

36. Fashionably dated: RETRO.

Groovy, eh?

37. "All in the Family" spinoff: MAUDE. Spin-off in the '70's starring Bea Arthur.

10:32 of fun.

38. Short trips: HOPS.

40. Part of a magazine spread: PHOTO.
 

Def Leppard - PHOTOgraph

41. Class clown: JOKER.

42. Some whiskey drinks: SOURS.

46. Largest island in French Polynesia: TAHITI.

There it is!

48. Wall flowers, perhaps: ART.

50. Wall or flower: NOUN. Cute.

53. Architect's detail, briefly: SPEC. Specification on a blueprint.

54. Muppet who never says "I": ELMO. He always refers to himself by Elmo.

57. Port city south of Kyiv: ODESA. Two 'S' ODESSA is an oil-town in West Texas.

58. __ Lankan rupee: SRI.

59. Take heat from?: UNARM. Cute.
 

Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm

60. Japan's largest beermaker: ASAHI.

63. Factor in sibling rivalry, often: AGE GAP.

67. Costco rival, familiarly: SAMS.

68. Bulky brass instrument: TUBA.
 

Bohemian Rhapsody on Euphonium, TUBA, Piano & Drums

70. Bridal bio word: NEE.

72. Instrument for a troubadour: LUTE.

73. Counterpart of poetry: PROSE.

74. Place for a stent: AORTA.

75. Prized statuette: OSCAR.

77. Sanders, for one: COLONEL.

79. "No Logo" author Klein: NAOMI.  A Canadian author. I didn't know of this book but I know of her The Shock Doctrine.

Naomi Klein

81. Big picture?: MURAL.

82. Black swan of ballet: ODILE. Odile is the black swan maiden and the secondary antagonist in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

83. Type in again: REKEY. Reenter the data.

85. Rogue computer of sci-fi: HAL. It did tell Dave it was sorry.

2001 A Space Odyssey's HAL.

86. Small amount: A DAB.

88. Hypocritical sorts: PHONIES.

89. Polynesian kingdom with more than 170 islands: TONGA.

There it is!

92. Tortilla chip topper: SALSA DIP.

95. Adds, as paper to a copier: LOADS IN. 500 sheets (a ream) at a time.

97. Fish in some omelets: LOX.

99. Series of bad takes: GAG REEL. The bloopers.

103. Appliances with drums: DRYERS.

Anatomy of a Dryer

104. Ancient Cuzco dwellers: INCAS.

106. Not tricked by: WISE TO.

107. Gave for a short time: LOANED.

108. Italian city known for salami: GENOA.

109. Oldest of the Pointer Sisters: RUTH.

The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited

112. Lombardy lake: COMO.

113. Cartel founded in Baghdad: OPEC. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

114. Widely shared post: MEME.

A Maude Callback

115. Sweeties: BAES. #TeenSpeak

117. Karaoke gear: MICS. The first Karaoke machine was the Sparko Box invented by Shigeichi Negishi in 1967. Negishi passed last January at the age of 100. Here's CNN's report.

119. Castaway's home: ISLE. You could be MARRONed there.

120. One who's forward-looking: SEER.

121. Makes a misstep: ERRS.

124. Interest rate fig.: PCT. The percentage rate for your LOAN.

125. Safety gear for ER workers: PPE. Personal Protective Equipment.

Covid PPE

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: Gust->GALE, here->GONE, apr->PCT
ESPs: COMO, ROSHAMBO, GARNER, ERIK
Fav: UNARM as clued.

I hope y'all found at least one song to ROCK out to.  And, if not, at least enjoyed the rest of the expo.

Cheers, -T