Thursday, December 12, 2024, Darryl Gonzalez

 Four clechos on the
fourth planet from the Sun

Darryl Gonzales presents us with a simple theme: 4 entries clued with MARS, each filled with a different meaning for the word.

20. MARS: ROMAN GOD OF WAR.  Here's Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War from his tone poem The Planets.  IMHO the sound tracks of a lot of contemporary SciFi flicks borrow heavily from this piece ...

 

34. MARS: CANDY COMPANY.  Mars Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer most famous for the confectionery items that it manufactures, such as Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way bars, M&Ms, Skittles, Snickers, Twix, and Bounty ...
 

41. MARS: DOES DAMAGE TO.  

56. MARS: MUSICIAN BRUNO.  Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for singing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, disco, and rock. Here's his Today My Life Begins ...

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Places to retire: BEDS.

5. Passage on a floor plan: HALL.

9. "Yellowstone" actor Hauser: COLE.  Thank you perps.  Cole Kenneth Hauser (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor.  He currently stars as Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network western drama series Yellowstone.

Cole Hauser

13. Egress: EXIT.  One of the attractions of P.T. Barnum's American Museum was called "The Egress", a practical joke on his visitors in order to overcome crowding in the museum.  There were signs all over the museum pointing to a door that led to it.  When visitors entered it they found that they had EXITED the museum and had to pay the admission fee again to get back in!

14. Medicinal succulents: ALOES.

16. Grape shape: OVAL.

17. Pietà spot: APSE.  I filled ROME for this at first, as ST. PETER'S is too long.  The statue is in an APSE, the Chapel of the Pietà, one of the first things you see when you enter the Cathedral thru the right doors.

Pietà
Michelangelo Buonarroti
6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564

18. Gloria's "Sunset Boulevard" role: NORMA.  Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American black comedy starring William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen ...

19. Card collection: DECK.

20. [Theme clue].

23. Many prime time offerings: DRAMAS.

24. Recent beginning: NEO.

25. Banana Boat letters: SPF. Sun Protection Factor.  The clue is also a hit song by Harry Belafonte ...

28. Stall kin: STY.

29. Mary Oliver work: POEM.  Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She found inspiration for her work in nature and had a lifelong habit of solitary walks in the wild. Her poetry is characterized by wonderment at the natural environment, vivid imagery, and unadorned language. Here she reads her poem Wild Geese ...

32. Fail suddenly and spectacularly: CRATER.  This was a toughie.

34. [Theme clue].

36. Poker buy-in: ANTE.

39. In the style of: ALA.

40. "Auld Lang __": SYNE.

41. [Theme clue].

46. Gamer's virtual persona: AVATAR.  This word originated in Sanskrit and has several other meanings beside the one in gaming -- but this one is a god who likes to play games ...

Krishna
The Divine Playful Boy

47. Credit report blot: REPO.  A REPO would indicate failure to pay a debt.

48. Merit badge org.: BSA.  Boy Scouts of America.

51. Thanksgiving side: YAM.

52. Part of FWIW: IT'S.  For What IT'S Worth.

54. __ bar: OMELET.  Here's a recipe.

Omelet

56. [Theme clue].

60. Timeline units: ERAS.

62. Corleone brother: SONNY.  Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation.

Sonny Corleone
played by James Caan

63. Caspian Sea country: IRAN.  Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Turkey to the northwest and Iraq to the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south.

64. Suffix for a scandal: GATE.  Originated from the 1972 Watergate scandal, but has long since gone pandemic.

65. Incan carving: TOTEM.  On Peru’s central coast, an ornately carved totem was venerated across centuries of upheaval and conquest.

The Idol of the
Painted Temple

66. Actress Blanchett: CATE.  Catherine Élise Blanchett AC (born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and film producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognized for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. Blanchett has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.  She is perhaps most widely known for her role as Galadriel, the Queen of the Elves in the Peter Jackson film trilogy The Lord of the Rings.  In this extended scene she lets Frodo look into her mirror to see what might happen in the future ...

67. Is in debt: OWES.  In danger of a REPO?

68. Brings along for the ride: TOWS.  Or the result of REPOS.

69. Those in favor: AYES.

Down:

 1. Consequences of lengthening shadows: BEARDS.  Clever!

2. Ship out: EXPORT.

3. Appall: DISMAY.

4. Iron output: STEAM.

5. Doesn't let go: HANGS ON.

6. __ gobi: vegetarian dish: ALOO.  Potatoes, cauliflower, and spices.  Here's a recipe.

Aloo Gobi

7. "Oh __, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?": LORD.  This hit by Janice Joplin is one of the more creative clues for this fill ...

8. Piccata need: LEMON.  Piccata sauce is made using pan drippings; lemon juice and white wine or chicken stock are added and reduced. Chopped parsley and often capers are added; sometimes also shallots or garlic. After reduction, butter is stirred in to finish the sauce. It is often garnished with slices of lemon. Here's a recipe for white fish piccata.

White fish piccata

9. 2021 Marlee Matlin film that won Best Picture: CODA.  Children of Deaf Adults.  Here's the trailer ... 

10. Wear out one's welcome: OVERSTAY.

11. Fond du __, Wisconsin: LAC.  Today's French Lesson: "At the bottom of the lake", so named because of its location at the bottom (south end) of Lake Winnebago.

12. Yellowstone buglers: ELK.  Here's 50 seconds of an Elk brass section (IMHO they sound more like woodwinds😀) ...

   15. Seattle-based insurance giant: SAFECO.  Safeco Insurance is an American insurance company based in Seattle. A subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, Safeco provides auto insurance, homeowners insurance, and liability insurance. The company name is an acronym for Selective Auto and Fire Ensurance Company of America, or SAFECO (i.e., S.A.F.E. Co.)

21. Auto parts chain that's also a NASCAR sponsor: NAPA.  The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), also known as NAPA Auto Parts, founded in 1925, is an American retailers' cooperative distributing automotive replacement parts, accessories, and service items throughout North America.

22. Fish dinner?: WORM.  Eat or be eaten? 😀
 
26. The Quakers of the Ivies: PENN. The University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as PENN) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.  The association with the Quakers derives from the founder of the original colony, the influential Quaker William Penn.

Read Without Vain Manners

27. Leather boot brand: FRYE.  Thank you perps.

30. Answer to the riddle "What cheese is made backward?": EDAM.  A cute meta clue. 😀

31. Shiny balloon material: MYLAR.  MYLAR is one of several trade names for BoPET (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical stability, dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, and electrical insulation.  These balloons go for about a buck a pop on Amazon ...

Mylar Balloons

33. Lhasa __: APSO.  I always used to think that these creatures were just furry lizards with a ganglion.  But it turns out that Lhasa Apsos are a lavishly coated, thousand-year-old breed who served as sentinels at palaces and monasteries isolated high in the Himalayas.  Smart, confident, and complex, Lhasas are family comedians but regally aloof with strangers.  

Lhasa Apso

34. "__ magnifique!": CEST.  Today's French lesson: "It's beautiful!"

35. Pet store enclosure: CAGE.  Also the name of a musician: John Cage.  Here's a performance of his most famous composition 4'33".  Here it's played on the piano, but it can be played on any instrument or combination of instruments.  It is a unique work in a unique genre -- what might be called "non-performance art".  You could call it soundless, but if you listen really carefully you can hear the blood coursing through your brain 😀... 

36. Robert Newton Peck's "__ No Pigs Would Die": A DAY.  A Day No Pigs Would Die is a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert Newton Peck about Rob Peck, a boy coming of age in rural Vermont on an impoverished farm. Originally published in 1972, it is one of the first books to be categorized as young adult fiction, in addition to being Peck's first novel. 

37. __ Scotia: NOVA.

38. Dugout sharer: TEAM MATE.

42. Speaker's platform: DAIS.

43. Top drawer?: ARTIST.  We've been watching the Ken Burns' PBS documentary on Leonardo da Vinci and he is quite simply the TDOAT ("Top Drawer Of All Time).  Don't miss it! ...

44. Watt and Ohm, e.g.: EPONYMS.  An EPONYM is a person, place, or thing that something else is named after.  Watts (symbol: W) are a measure of power -- how fast work is done or energy is given from one thing to another, e.g. the conversion of electricity to light in a light bulb.  Watts are named in honor of James Watt, who developed another unit of energy transfer called horsepower -- 1 HP = 745.7 WATTS. 

James Watt
30 January 1736 – 25 August 1819
 Carl Frederik von Breda

An Ohm is a unit of electrical resistance to current flow, as defined by Ohm's Law.  The unit is named for German physicist Georg Simon Ohm who first defined it.

Georg Simon Ohm
16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854

45. Valley of the Kings find: TOMB. The Valley of the Kings is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and powerful nobles under the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

Panorama of the valley, looking north

48. Video format: BLU-RAY.  Blu-ray is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p).

49. 100-member group: SENATE.  The current membership of the US Senate is defined by the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution, which apportions 2 senators from each state selected by popular vote. 

50. More than apologizes (for): ATONES.  What can you do when ATONEMENT is impossible ...?
 

53. "Get!": SCOOT.

55. Writer Jong: ERICA.  The author of the controversial 1973 novel Fear of Flying.

50th Anniversary Edition

57. Employs: USES.

58. Passionate about: INTO.  A lot of Cornerites are really INTO crosswords.

59. Fresh: ANEW.

60. Sense of self: EGO.  Today's Latin lesson: "I".

61. Like carpaccio: RAW.  The carnivore's sushi.

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

Thursday, December 5, 2024, Amie Walker

 Lido Shuffle

Today's constructor Amie Walker treats us to a sans circles, embedded, scrambled word theme.  We'll start with the reveal ...

58. Boz Scaggs hit with the lyric "One more for the road," and what can be found in 17-, 23-, 37-, and 48-Across?: LIDO SHUFFLE.  The song was co-written by David Paich and was released on Scaggs' 1976 album Silk Degrees ...

 

Scaggs describes the origins of the work: "'Lido Shuffle was a song that I'd been banging around and I took the idea of the shuffle from a song that Fats Domino did called 'The Fat Man' that had a kind of driving shuffle beat that I used to play on the piano, and I just started kind of singing along with it. Then I showed it to David Paich and he helped me fill it out. It ended up being 'Lido Shuffle.'"  Among other things the title is a play on card shuffling or life on the road, but the word Lido has many meanings.

Here are the themers ...

17A. Petroleum giant co-founded by John D. Rockefeller: STANDARD OIL.  Not only was he the founder of Standard Oil, but he was also the founder the crosswordese ESSO, and a CSO to CanadianEh!

John D. Rockefeller
July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937

23A. Ambience setter, often: MOOD LIGHTING.  Back in the 60's we used Lava Lamps for mood lighting.  This clip lasts for 4 hours & 23 minutes ... 

... feel free to shut it off when you're finally in the mood😀

37A. Line for product placement?: NOT SOLD IN STORES.  Here is one of the original Not Sold in Stores products ...

48A. Martini garnish with blue cheese or red pepper: STUFFED OLIVE.  I'm not sure how I feel about blue cheese in my martinis ...

Stuffed Olives

Here's the grid ...
  

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Strongly advised: URGED.

6. Slangy "Just say ... ": SPOSE.  I 'SPOSE that many Cornerites are not big fans of quote clues.

11. Sudden pull: TUG.

14. "Same!": SO DO I.

15. Ergo: HENCE.  Today's Latin lesson: "Therefore"

16. Prefix with tourism: ECO.  There's even a society for ecotourism.  It's okay with me, as long as they take hang gliders to get there. 😀

17. [Theme clue]

19. Noodle: NOB.  At NOB HILL I'm sure you have your choice of crosswordese UDON or SOBA.

20. Marina del __, California: REY.  Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles area. The port is North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor and is home to approximately 5,000 boats. 

Marina del Rey

21. "Here's an __ ... ": IDEA.

22. Actress Kendrick: ANNA.  Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Anna Kendrick

23. [Theme clue]

27. Wood finishes: STAINS.  What's the difference between a wood stain and paint?

30. Puts on ice: COOLS.

31. Rainbow shapes: ARCS.

32. Vinegary marinade: ADOBO.  Adobo is a marinade, sauce, or seasoning composed variously of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, and vinegar to preserve and enhance meats, poultry, and seafoods.  Here's a recipe for Filipino Chicken Adobo.

Filipino Chicken Adobo

34. Kissing in the open, for short: PDA.  Here's a PDA from Dawson's Creek ...
 

37. [Theme clue].

41. Farm pen: STY.

42. Laden deposits: LODES.  ORES was too short.

43. Cold desert in northern China: GOBI.  It's in the Steppes of Central Asia (Alexander Borodin) ...

44. "Killers of the Flower Moon" people: OSAGE.  Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic Western crime drama film co-produced and directed by Martin Scorsese.  Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. It is based on true events as documented in the 2017 book of the same name by David Grann.  It was also the FBI's first big case ...

46. Historic events: FIRSTS.

48. [Theme clue]

52. "My __!": HERO.

53. Sneeze trigger, often: DUST.

54. "Eh, kinda": ISH.

57. Unit on a Taylor Swift tour: ERA.  The Eras Tour is the ongoing sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023, and is set to conclude in Vancouver on December 8, 2024.  Running over 3.5 hours, the set list of the Eras Tour comprises over 40 songs grouped into 10 distinct acts that portray Swift's studio albums conceptually.  The first ERA was Country music, and here is her first big hit, written when she was 15 years old -- a story about her boyfriend, and a paeon to Country music star Tim  McGraw ... 

58. [Theme reveal]

62. Uru. neighbor: ARG.  Argentina is a neighbor to Uruguay. 

63. Like a good watchdog: ALERT.

64. American buffalo: BISON.  The American Bison and the Native Americans of the Western plains had a symbiotic relationship.  When the California gold rush began in 1848, Native American tribes were seen as an obstacle to America's "Manifest Destiny", the inevitable Western expansion of European settlers.  The latter adopted a policy of the genocide of the American Bison as a way to bring Native Americans under control.  This story has a lot in common with the one recounted above in 44A.

65. Slice with caraway seeds: RYE.  RYE bread without caraway seeds doesn't taste like RYE bread.

66. Make holy: BLESS.

67. Four-award achievements, casually: EGOTS.

Down:

 1. USA rival in the space drama "For All Mankind": USSR.  For All Mankind is an American science fiction drama television series created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi. The series dramatizes an alternate history depicting "what would have happened if the global space race had never ended" after the Soviet Union succeeds in the first crewed Moon landing ahead of the United States. The title is inspired by the lunar plaque left on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 11, which reads, in part, "We Came in Peace for All Mankind".

2. Learning by repetition: ROTE.

3. Greeting to an Aussie pal: G'DAY.

4. Long stretch: EON.

5. "The Year of Magical Thinking" memoirist Joan: DIDION.  The Year of Magical Thinking is a memoir by Joan Didion, an account of the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne in 2003. Published by Knopf in October 2005, The Year of Magical Thinking was immediately acclaimed as a classic book about mourning. It won the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. In 2024, The New York Times Book Review ranked it as the 12th best book of the 21st century.

6. Whit: SHRED.  Let's see ...

7. Ride a Peloton: PEDAL.  Actually, as of this past Summer Peloton appeared to be back pedaling.

8. Musician Yoko: ONO.

9. Chem or bio: SCI.

10. Long swimmer: EEL.

11. Ones who may give backhanded compliments?: TENNIS PROS.  Har, har. 😀

12. The Huskies of the NCAA: UCONN.  The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference.

13. Emergency kit: GO BAG.  You can buy one, or build your own with these comprehensive instructions developed by the public service campaign ready.gov.

18. Big fusses: ADOS.  Shakespeare wrote about one of biggest fusses in all of literature ...

22. NL East city: ATL.  The home of the Braves.

23. Fail to see: MISS.

24. Clickable images: ICONS.  Here's the ICON on the Blogger menu that I clicked to insert this image ...

25. Tons: GOBS.

26. "Give a __! Don't pollute!": HOOT.

27. Without: SANS.  Today's French lesson. "SANS = without", as the scrambled word in today's theme is SANS circles.

28. Leisurely gait: TROT.

29. "Be a grown-up about it!": ACT YOUR AGE.  I'm trying!  I'm trying! Sheesh! 😀

32. Chimed in with: ADDED.

33. Game cube: DIE.

Die

35. Money owed: DEBT.

36. Seller's caveat: AS IS.  This review is provided AS IS.

38. "Frozen" snowman: OLAF.  Meet OLAF ...

39. Seating level: LOGE.  A private box or enclosure in a theater -- the front section of the first balcony in a theater, or the boxes to the left or right of the stage.

Loge Box Seats

40. Fantasy monster: OGRE.  Not all OGRES are monsters ...

Shrek

45. NorCal airport: SFO.

46. __ and chips: FISH.  Today's English lesson: "chips" are Brit for French Fries.

47. Hosp. room hookup: IV TUBE.

Traditional intravenous (IV) infusion therapy set:
1-pole/stand,2-IV bottle/bag,3-spike, 4-air valve,
5-drip chamber, 6-piggyback port,
 7-IV tubing, 8-roller clamp, and 9-cannula.

48. Gather wool from: SHEAR.  This is how they do it in New Zealand ...

49. "America's Got Talent" host Crews: TERRY.  Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former football player.  Crews played as a defensive end and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Washington Redskins.   He began hosting America's Got Talent in 2019, following his involvement in the same role for the program's spin-off series America's Got Talent: The Champions.

Terry Crews

50. Lingering scents: ODORS.

51. Yearns (for): LUSTS.  LONGS fit but didn't perp.  IMHO LUSTS is on the infrared side of the YEARNS spectrum.

54. "In that event ... ": IF SO. ERGO fit but didn't perp.

55. Card receiver: SLOT.  Nowadays you can TAP cards, but I still haven't got the hang of that yet ...

Universal Contactless
Payment Symbol

56. Female birds: HENS.

58. 9-Down class setting: LAB.  Science Lab.  I have some stories about adventures in our HS science lab, but I'm not sure the statute of limitations has expired yet. 😯

59. Under the weather: ILL.

60. Actor Billy __ Williams: DEE.  William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor, novelist and painter.  He is best known for portraying Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, but he has appeared in over 100 films and television roles over six decades.

Billy Dee Williams
 GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023

61. Cookie fruit: FIG.  "If you don't care a feather or a FIG, you may grow up to be a PIG!" -- see last Thursday's puzzle -- 49A.

Cheers, 

Bill

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

waseeley

Thursday, November 28, 2024, Brent Sverdloff & Katie Hale

  Music of the Spheres

O vis eternitatis (O force of Eternity)
Hildegard von Bingen

I really liked this puzzle.  Today's constructors, Brent Sverdloff and Katie Hale, remind us that music is literally a universal language, a "force of eternity", recognized and appreciated not only here on Earth, but all over the Universe.  They demonstrate this with three theme clues filled with songs from different genres, each ending with the name of an extra-terrestrial body ... 

16. *Frank Sinatra song: FLY ME TO THE MOON.  A jazz standard written in 1954 by Bart Howard ...

29. *Beatles song: HERE COMES THE SUN.  A classic rock song written by Beatle George Harrison ...

49. *Bing Crosby song: SWINGING ON A STAR.  An American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.

Our constructors bring it all together with their reveal ...

61. Heavenly sounds, and what the answers to the starred clues could be called: CELESTIAL MUSIC.

... this is also a particularly apt description of the music by the Medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen that introduced this review.

Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Bypasses: OMITS.

6. Out of alignment: BENT.

10. Pilot's fig.: ALT.  ALTITUDE.

13. One of 70 on a radiant-cut diamond: FACET.
 

Radiant-cut Diamond

14. Actor Sy of "Lupin": OMAR.  Lupin is a French mystery thriller television series about professional thief Assane Diop, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for himself and his child. Assane's father is framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace by his employer and dies in his prison cell, leaving the fourteen-year-old Assane to fend for himself on the streets of Paris. Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about gentleman thief Arsène Lupin his father had given him on his birthday, Assane sets out to get revenge on the Pellegrini family ...

15. Class before chem, often: BIO.  

16. [Theme clue]

19. Kitten's call: MEW.

Kitten mewing

20. Nursery sch.: PRE K.  PRE Kindergarten.

21. Brickmaker's need: KILN.  I filled CLAY first.  In researching this clue I stumbled upon this interesting short video about the history of brickmaking in Baltimore (interesting to Baltimorons anyway 😀) ... 

22. Many a North African: ARAB.

24. Like a ghost story: EERIE.  Like a really spooky lake?

27. Loaded, in Lima: RICO.  Today's Spanish lesson: RICH.

29. [Theme clue]

32. Paragon: IDEAL.

33. Florence or Sydney: CITY.  Iconic cities ...

The Florence Cathedral

 

The Sydney Opera House

34. "The Penguin" network: HBO.  The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries developed by Lauren LeFranc. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it is a sequel spin-off from The Batman, a 2022 film. The series follows Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld.  Definitely not a family series.  Here's the first season trailer 

35. Nothing: NADA.  More Spanish: NADA = "Nothing".

38. Bath bubbles: SUDS. 

40. Sci-fi invaders: ETS.  They've been in the news since July 8, 1947 (two days after I was born😯) and are still in the news today -- here and here.

43. "Peter Pan" pooch: NANA.  NANA appears in the story's opening scene.  She is the Darling children's nursemaid ... 

45. Do a double take, say: REACT.

49. [Theme clue]

53. Bellagio's lake: COMO.  Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy.  It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth-deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level. One notable characteristic is its distinctive "Y" shape ... 

Lake Como

54. Colander cousin: SIEVE.

55. Supergirl, for one: HERO.  Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman.  Here's a preview of coming attractions for one of the upcoming spinoffs starring Australian actress Milly Alcock.   ... 

56. "Pick one" hand position: FIST.

58. Lumber mill array: SAWS.  Lumber mills do indeed have arrays of SAWS, but in researching this clue I encountered many more arrays of lumber mills.

60. Planner page: DAY.

61. [Theme reveal]

65. Red state: IRE.  The red states are not in a red state these days. 😀

66. Hong __: KONG.  My son, new grandson, and I ate lunch in Hong Kong during a one hour stopover from China to bring my grandson home.

67. "Peter Grimes," for one: OPERA.  Peter Grimes is a tragic opera in 3 acts written by English composer Benjamin Britten in 1945.  It is a dark, brooding story, set in a small fishing village on the East coast of England.  Peter Grimes is a fisherman, a loner, estranged from the villagers and is accused of the deaths of his two young apprentices.  The ending is ambiguous and we never really know if the accusations are true.  In the last scene Grimes rows out to sea and drowns himself by scuttling his boat.  It's not an opera I would recommend to those unacquainted with the genre. 

The overall mood of the work is perhaps best expressed by a haunting, standalone instrumental work which is often performed as a concert piece -- The Four Sea Interludes that separate the acts.  Here Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo leads the orchestra ...

68. Donkey: ASS.

69. No great shakes: SO SO.

70. "We have the __!": Arby's slogan: MEATS.

Down:

1. Put up for sale: OFFERED.

2. Risk of spreading spam: MALWARE.  Malware (a portmanteau of malicious software) is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, deprive access to information, or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy. 

3. Like a hostile greeting: ICY.

4. Office part-timer: TEMP.

5. Start to type?: STEREO.

6. Goodreads suggestion, briefly: BOOK REC.  Helping you decide what to read next ...

7. CPR expert: EMT.  An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is an expert in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).  The first step in helping someone who has had a heart attack and who has no pulse (their heart has stopped) is to call 911.  Leave your phone on for instructions from the dispatcher and begin CPR immediately ...

8. Casual pass: NAH.  "Not interested".

9. Long journey: TREK.

10. Put an end to: ABOLISH.

11. Simba, when lifted up by Rafiki: LION CUB.  Rafiki is a baboon who knows a secret about Simba's father ... 

12. Two thousand pounds: TON.

17. Abound (with): TEEM.

18. Mucky spot: MIRE.

19. Hawaiian catch, on menus: MAHI.  Here's a recipe for pan fried MAHI-MAHI ...

Mahi-Mahi

23. Kidney __: BEAN.

25. Egyptian goddess of healing: ISIS.  Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world.  Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. She was usually portrayed in art as a human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head.

Isis

26. Shakespearean rebuke: ET TU.  Today's Latin lesson: "AND YOU ... (Brutus!)".

28. Artist Yoko: ONO.  Yoko Ono (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.

Yoko and John Lennon
when they married in 1969

30. "The Trolley Song" sound: CLANG.  The Trolley Song is a song written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis ...

31. Many-headed mythical monster: HYDRA.  The Hydra was a serpentine lake monster with 9 heads in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna, reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld.  In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors. 

Heracles battling the Hydra

36. Keynote's spot: DAIS.

37. MMXXIII, MMXXIV, etc.: ANNI.  Today's Latin lesson: "Years".

39. Informal gathering: SESH.

40. Key hit in panic: ESC.

41. Groupon deals, perhaps: TWO FERS.  Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering discounted activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Groupon was launched in November 2008, its name being a portmanteau of "group" and "coupon". Groupon's first deal was a two-pizzas-for-the-price-of-one offer at the Motel Bar, a restaurant on the first floor of the company's building in Chicago.  By the end of March 2015, Groupon served more than 500 cities worldwide, nearly 48.1 million active customers and featured more than 425,000 active deals globally in 48 countries.

42. "Fit as a fiddle" and "free as a bird": SIMILES.  A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things using words such as "like a", "as a".  Similes are often confused with metaphors which are rhetorical comparisons of two things without any connectors.  They may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas.  

44. "It used to be that ... ": AGES AGO.  LONG AGO fit, but didn't perp.

46. Was taken down quite a few notches: ATE DIRT.  An evocative metaphor ...

47. Birthplace of Simón Bolívar: CARACAS.  Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco (his friends just called him Sy 😀) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known colloquially as El Libertador, or the Liberator of America.

Simón Bolívar
24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830

48. Former quarterback Aikman: TROY.  Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.  Aikman was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Troy Aikman

50. Snout: NOSE.

51. Track shape: OVAL.

52. One taking maternity leave: NEW MOM.

57. Disapproving sounds: TSKS.

59. Tenant's contact, briefly: SUPE.  Superintendent.  I've heard "super" before, but never "supe".
.
61. Org. in "Argo": CIA.  Argo is a 2012 American biographical historical drama thriller film based on real events, directed, produced by, and starring Ben Affleck. The screenplay was adapted from the 1999 memoir The Master of Disguise by U.S. C.I.A. operative Tony Mendez and the 2007 Wired article The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran.  Here's a trailer ...

62. Moreover: TOO.

63. Helpful connections: INS.

64. Dog or wolf preceder: SEA.  There were many references for both Sea Dog and Sea Wolf, but here are two I found interesting ...

The Sea Dogs were a group of English privateers and explorers authorized by Queen Elizabeth I to raid England's enemies, whether they were formally at war with them or not. Active from 1560 until Elizabeth's death in 1603, the Sea Dogs primarily attacked Spanish targets both on land and at sea, particularly during the Anglo-Spanish War. Probably the most famous of these was Sir Francis Drake, who lead the British navy in their defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.  The defeat is commemorated in a poem called Drake's Drum by Sir Henry Newbolt and set to music by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.  My favorite recording of Drake's Drum is a  stirring rendition by Sir John Shirley-Quirk, which sadly is no longer available on Youtube. Here is an MP3 file of Sir John singing Drake's Drum, copied from one of my old CD's: 

Lyrics

The Sea-Wolf is a 1941 film starring Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield, based on a 1904 novel by Jack London,   It begins when fiction writer Humphrey Van Weyden and escaped convict Ruth Webster are rescued when a ferry they are traveling on collides with another vessel and sinks. They are rescued from drowning by the Ghost, a seal-hunting ship. The Ghost's captain is Wolf Larsen, who delights in abusing his crew ...

Cheers, and a Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you and your loved ones!

Bill

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

waseeley