Thursday, May 9, 2024, Joe Rodini

 

 No Smoking!

I'm going out on a limb here to tell you that today's constructor Joe Rodini, is using his debut on the Corner to present us with an elaborate Public Service Announcement.  He tries three times to light a CIGAR in the following 3 theme clues, but it gets dimmer and dimmer after each attempt... ...

17A. *Opera buffa by Mozart: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.  Some people think that The Marriage of Figaro is the greatest opera ever written, and far be it for me to argue with them.  This opera was revolutionary, not just musically, but in its veiled attack on the aristocracy (it was actually banned in Vienna).  The plot revolves around Count Almaviva's attempt to exercise his Droit du seigneur -- that is his right as a Lord to "break in" any of his servant girls on the night of their wedding.  The servant in this case it is Susanna, Figaro's fiancee (the same Figaro as in Rossini's The Barber of Seville).  The opera ends with an embarrassing moonlight tryst between the Count and his own wife, the Countess Rosina, whom he has been tricked into thinking is Susanna.  Here's how the opera begins ...

29A. *Landscape options in dry climates: ROCK GARDENS.

A Rock Garden in San Diego

39A. *One skilled at manipulating characters: ASCII ARTIST.  The Tsunami was a popular image in the ASCII Age, for those who foresaw the emergence of graphic computer interfaces and the coming Internet ...

 And finally Joe reveals what he's really trying to warn us about ...

54. "Not quite!," and what can be said about a letter string in the answer to each starred clue: CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR.  ... or as this Veggie Tale tells us ...

... if you smoke, it will end up being your Silent Night!

I fear that there may be a whole other layer hidden in the ashes of this theme, and if there is, I'm sure you'll point it out!

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Department concerned with wages: LABOR.

6. "Word": I DIG.

10. Kazakhstan's North __ Sea: ARAL.  Four letter sea?  Could this be an EKTORP?*

14. D-Day beach name: OMAHA.  OMAHA was the code name for one of 5 beaches where Allied Forces came ashore on during D-Day, the June 6th, 1944.  It was the most heavily defended beach by the Germans, everything went wrong on that beach, and it took the heaviest casualties (e.g. compare American losses on Omaha vs Utah).  On a D-Day tour of the beaches some years back our guide told us that the Allied air forces were supposed to carpet bomb the bluffs above Omaha beach with sorties running parallel to it.  He speculated that due to inter-service rivalry they ignored this decision and flew instead in from the sea at right angles to the beach, and many of their bombs landed in the fields beyond the bluffs.  As this scene from Saving Private Ryan shows us, the results were disastrous ...

Anyone not a minor, feel free to click on the
Watch on YouTube link above

15. Sushi wrapper: NORI. 

16. Get a better rate, for short: REFI.  REFInance.
.
17. [Theme clue]

20. "Your point being?": AND?

21. They mean nothing: ZEROS.  Yes they do, but they are also one of the most significant discoveries of early mathematicians.  While there are many claims of "first" to this invention, e.g. this one, it seems likely that it was discovered independently by mathematicians around the world.

22. End zone marker: PYLON.  Sports usage.  But here our friendly Thesaurus.plus shows us only 10 of its 61 synonyms ...

23. Leaves at the altar: JILTS.

24. Tropical trees: PALMS.

25. Vegan milk source: ALMOND.

28. Mountainous region of the Levant: JUDEA.  Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, JUDEA is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name originates from Yehudah, a Hebrew name. Yehudah was a son of Jacob (one of the "Genesis twins" who never seems to make it into crossword fill  😀) who was later given the name "Israel" and whose sons collectively headed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Yehudah's progeny among the Israelites formed the Tribe of Judah, with whom the Kingdom of Judah is associated.

29. [Theme clue]

32. "CSI" evidence: DNA.   Deoxyribonucleic Acid is gathered during a crime scene investigation because each individual's DNA is unique, and like finger prints, it can help identify who was at the scene. It has a half sibling called Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) -- for more on both DNA and RNA see 59A.

35. __ in handy: COME.

36. Missay, say: ERR.  Is there a wrong way to clue this?

37. God of love: EROS.  Specifically the Greek god of love, the Roman god being CUPID or Amor.  Their holiday is celebrated every February 14th. 💕

38. Swanky hotel amenity: SPA.

39A [Theme clue]

43. Memos: NOTES.

45. Crow's-nest cry: LAND HO.

46. Race town near Windsor Castle: ASCOT.  The Ascot Racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711, and has since received the support of a further twelve monarchs. The Ascot summer race meeting officially became a Royal week in 1911 and is always visited by the King and Queen.

The Ascot Races

47. Red carpet brand: PRADA.

49. Pertaining to bees: APIAN.

50. __ Sound Machine: MIAMI.  Miami Sound Machine was an American Latin pop band of Latin-influenced music that featured the vocals of Cuban-born recording artist Gloria Estefan (née Fajardo). Established in 1975 by Emilio Estefan Jr., the band was originally known as the Miami Latin Boys before becoming the Miami Sound Machine in 1977.  Their Rhythm is Gonna Get You ...

51. Explosive letters: TNT.  A preview of coming attractions ...

54. [Theme reveal]

57. "Get your own!": MINE.

58. Free of fizz: FLAT.  Another versatile word ...

59. Protein-building acid: AMINO.  There are two main classes of proteins: 1. structural proteins used to build muscle, tissues, organs, etc; and 2. enzymes (suffixed with ase), which act as catalysts (facilitators) mediating the myriad biological reactions that comprise metabolism.  Proteins are essentially long strings of AMINO acids (a.k.a. "polypeptides") folded into specific 3D shapes suited to their purposes.  The process by which this occurs is called protein synthesis. The order of the amino acids in a protein is defined by the GENES, sequences of  DNA nucleotides (the famous "stair steps" in DNA's helical structure) specific to each protein.  Here's a visual explanation of protein synthesis provided by the Amoeba Sisters ...

Among the most important enzymes is RNA Polymerase, discovered  6 years after the the structure of DNA was discovered in 1953, and which is required in the synthesis of DNA and RNA.  Simply put, DNA is required to make enzymes, but enzymes are required to make DNA.  How did that happen?  Scientists have been working on this "chicken and egg"problem at least since 1959.

60. Online crafts site: ETSY.

61. __ up: tell all: FESS.

62. Lite: LO FAT.

Down:

1. Kirke of "Mozart in the Jungle": LOLA.  Lola Kirke plays oboist Hailey Rutledge in the Amazon Prime TV series based on the 2005 memoir Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, by real life oboist Blair Tindall ...

2. "Preach!": AMEN.

3. Boston or Chicago: BAND.  CITY fits, but doesn't perp.  Boston is an American rock band formed in 1975 by Tom Scholz in Boston, Massachusetts, that experienced significant commercial success during the 1970s and 1980s.  Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1967.  Self-described as a "rock and roll band with horns," their songs often combine elements of classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop music.  Here are Boston and Chicago's greatest hits ...

More Than a Feeling

 Saturday in the Park

4. Cry of discovery: OHO.

5. Poking fun at: RAZZING.

6. Like noble gases: INERT.  Snobs that they are, noble gases' exhibit INERTNESS, a tendency not to react with other chemical substances, which results from their electron configuration: their outer shell of valence electrons is "full", giving them little tendency to participate in chemical reactions.

7. Long-extinct flightless birds: DODOS.  Their name is synonymous with "stupid", but their extinction was not caused by stupidity.

Dodo

8. Eye part: IRIS.

9. Many a moving meme: GIF.  LIFE IS SHORT ...

10. Sock pattern: ARGYLE.  ARGYLE is the handle for D. Scott Nichols, of Argyle, NY, a long time blogger on the Corner, who passed away on May 1, 2018.   He was also known affectionately as our Santa.  Here's C.C. In Memoriam. It's worth reading for what the regular commenters had to say about him.  Some of them have passed on as well.

Argyle

11. La Liga team that plays in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium: REAL MADRID.  Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, commonly referred to as REAL MADRID, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football.

12. Curly hairstyles: AFROS.

13. Wildebeest hunter: LION.

18. Nintendo princess: ZELDA. Princess Zelda is a character in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series.

Princess Zelda

19. Tablets at some checkout counters: IPADS.  5 major benefits of using IPADS in retail.

23. Routine element: JOKE.  While this guy is best known for his standup, he starts this routine kneeling ...

24. Many a 23-Down: PUN. 

25. Circle parts: ARCS.

26. Roller coaster feature: LOOP.

27. Supersize suburban homes: MCMANSIONS.  What's the difference between a McMANSION and just a big house?

Some McMansions under construction near me
(BTW, the flag on the right is a CSO to Anonymous -T)

28. Ryan of "Bosch": JERI.  I couldn't find any clips of her from Bosch, but it turns out that Jeri Ryan can sing.  I believe this performance was on Star Trek Voyager's  holadeck ...

30. Suggestions, informally: RECS.  TIPS would have fit too.

31. Soft & __: DRI.

33. Have a snack: NOSH.

34. Apropos of: AS TO.

37. Sicilian mount: ETNA.  Mount ETNA erupts frequently in crosswords, and this past December it obliged us with an actual eruption ...

39. Back up an apology, say: ATONE.    Sometimes an apology is not enough -- the theme of the book/movie ATONEMENT (highly recommended) ...

40. Gel: SET.

41. Avis rival: ALAMO.
 
42. Far beyond the norm: RADICAL.  Dude!

44. Irish dramatist Seán: O'CASEY.  Seán O'Casey (born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.

Seán O'Casey

46. College-level HS English course: AP LIT.  You might just read one of 44A's plays there.

47. Falafel holders: PITAS.  Here's a recipe.

Falafels

48. Tirades: RANTS.

49. Cartoon maker of Invisible Paint and Instant Road: ACME.

50. Stubborn beast: MULE.

51. "Yay, the weekend's almost here!": TGIF.  The day after Thursday!

52. Grandmother's nickname: NANA.

53. Moderate gait: TROT.

55. Lifelong pal, briefly: BFF.

56. "If u ask me ... ": IMO.  I know u didn't, but I drew the short straw today.

Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley

*EKTORP was defined by Emma Oxford  in a comment to  her April 17th, 2024 puzzle as "a clue whose answer you can get from context without actually knowing it."

 

Notes from C.C.:

Renee (sumdaze) and I made today's USA Today puzzle. Click here to solve. Congrats on your debut, Renee! You're simply amazing.

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

Thursday, April 18, 2024, Hoang-Kim Vu, Jessica Zetzman

 Farmers' Market

Each Spring we can't wait for the Misty Valley truck farm to open, and we usually stop there on Sundays after church.  Their Eastern Shore Silver Queen corn is to die for and their cantaloupes are the sweetest!

And it looks like today's veteran constructors Hoang-Kim Vu and Jessica Zetzman do their shopping for themers at a local farmer's market, ever on the look out for fresh, tasty local puns. And depending on the venue you might hear  these quips [followed by unpunned explanations] ...

17. At the market, farmers often __: SWAP MEATS.  "I'll trade you a pound of this HAM for that T-BONE steak".   [per Merriam-Websters].

28. At the orchard, farmers are often __: WORKING IN PEARS.  "BOSC me no questions ANJOU'll get no lies".  [How small farmers can work together to improve their situation].

48. In the field, farmers often specialize in __: BEET GENERATION.  "If money is the ROOT of all evil -- give me some of the ROOT!".   [There was nothing prosaic about the beat poets].

65. At the state fair, farmers often __: SHOW THYME. "THYME Flies Like an Arrow; Fruit Flies Like a Banana".  Something like this phrase was used by Jazzbumpa in a recent review.  Quote Investigator reveals that its actual origin may have been in [an early experiment in automated language translation] *(see below for another one).

Here's the field after it's been plowed ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Page, in a way: PING.  A versatile word.  The clue implies sending a signal just to see if someone or something is there.  It could be an underwater object ...

... it could be an Internet utility used to see if a network device is reachable.  Of course the duffers on the Corner will know it as a brand of premium golf clubs.

5. Weary response to incessant cries of "Look at me, look at me!": I SAW.

9. Timesheet units: HOURS.  The HOURS have been a metaphor for life throughout the ages.  Here's the finale from the ballet The Dance of the Hours from Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda.

If you want something a little deeper here's the Act II trio from the The Hours based on the Virginia Woolf  novel Mrs. Dalloway.  The performers are Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, and Joyce DiDonato, as Clarissa Vaughan, Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf respectively ...

14. __ list: TO DO.  If you create one, be sure to lay in a supply of these ...

15. Wrestler John who has fulfilled more than 650 Make-A-Wish requests: CENA.   On September 27, 2022 John Cena set a new Guinness World record by granting 650 Make-A-Wish wishes.

John Cena

16. Alt, perhaps: INDIE.  Here are the Traveling Wilburys, an "INDIE" band who escaped fame to ride under the rock radar ...

17. [Theme clue]

19. Hurry along: SCOOT.

20. Broth in Japanese cuisine: DASHI.  UMAMI in a bottle.

21. Place where two sides come together: SEAM.

23. Unwelcome picnic guests: ANTS.

24. Red Muppet: ELMO.

26. Gear for a grip: BOOM.  What's a grip, a best boy grip and a key grip?  What's a BOOM?  They sound like different specialties to me: video and audio respectively.

28. [Theme clue]

34. Turf: SOD.

35. MiLB level: AAA.  Minor League Baseball.  Rookie 2nd Baseman Jackson Holliday recently came up from the Orioles AAA farm team and his first ML hit helped the O's beat the Brewers.

36. Bit at the bottom of a tub: KERNEL.  Not a bathtub.  This kind of tub ...

37. Sends sprawling: TRIPS.

40. Pres. whose library is in Austin, Texas: LBJ. Lyndon Baines Johnson August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973) was the 36th President.  He was John F. Kennedy's Vice President and assumed the Presidency after the latter's assassination on November 22, 1963.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

42. Oyster layer: NACRE.  AKA Mother of Pearl.

43. In dreamland: ASLEEP.

45. "Don't __ me down!": LET.  From a rehearsal for the album Let it Be  ...

47. Ate: HAD.

48. [Theme clue]

52. Epic tale: SAGA.

53. Composer Jerome: KERN.  Here's Fred Astaire playing an old Jerome Kern standard ...

54. "Why not __?": BOTH.

57. U.S. Pacific island: GUAM.  Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States in the North Pacific Ocean, the largest, most populous, and southernmost of the Mariana Islands. It lies about 5,800 miles west of San Francisco and 1,600 miles east of Manila.

59. Southern, for one: OCEAN.  AKA the Antarctic Ocean, it's about 6258 miles South of Guam.

63. Groupthink?: ETHOS.  I just wish there were more than two.  😒

65. [Theme clue]

67. Familiar plot device: TROPE.  This is not the correct clue for TROPE.  Somebody changed the original meaning of the word while we weren't looking (not the fault of the constructors or the editor).  Pay attention, this can get confusing ...!

68. Overhanging part of a roof: EAVE.

69. New York canal: ERIE.  It's EERIE just how often this word shows up in crosswords. 

70. Put up: HOUSE.

71. Still 43-Across: ABED.

72. Acorn, essentially: SEED.  SEEDS are how farmers markets get their start. 

Down:

1. Condition that may be treated with SSRIs: PTSD.  Selective serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a treatment for depression, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

2. State that holds quadrennial caucuses: IOWA.

3. Confidentiality docs: NDAS. Confidential? Not a chance - "Information is like heat -- it always gets out!"

4. Garden tunneler: GOPHER.  We've never had GOPHERS in our garden, but I have had to deal with some pretty pesky GROUND HOGS.  Not a pretty story.

5. Freezer cubes: ICE.

6. Not always available: SEASONAL.  The foods available at farmers' markets are SEASONAL, which is why they taste so fresh.

7. Pre-deal payment: ANTE.

8. Pungent condiment: WASABI. AKA Japanese Dristan.   It's made from a Japanese horseradish and is the perfect excuse to eat sushi.  Most of the stuff you get in the restaurants is made from the dried, ground herb mixed into a paste.  We've only had fresh WASABI once, in the Omiza Restaurant on Main Street in landlocked Doylestown, PA.  It's like a completely different condiment ...

Wasabi japonica

9. Short hellos: HIS.

10. Recorded, say: ON CAMERA.  The editing of this review is ON CAMERA and will soon show up in suggestions by Google for new pages for me to view.

11. Noodle in Japanese cuisine: UDON.  A side dish for your WASABI.

12. Really great comedy act, e.g.: RIOT.  Between sumdaze and Hahtoolah, there's a RIOT on the Corner every Monday and Tuesday.

13. Hardens, in a way: SETS.

18. Cereal partner: MILK.

22. Part of an order, perhaps: MONK.  Clever clue.  There's a whole song cycle devoted to MONKS.  Here's the great Leontyne Price singing The Desire for Hermitage from Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs, accompanied by the composer ...

Lyrics

25. "Mamma __!": MIA.

27. Doing business: OPEN.

28. Inferior: WORSE.

29. "Swan Lake" role for Misty Copeland: ODILE.  Sorry, I couldn't find Misty doing ODILE (the Black Swan), so you'll have to settle for her ODETTE (the White Swan) ...

30. Overhanging part of a roof: GABLE.  What is the difference is between an EAVE and a GABLE end roof of a house?

31. Pepper used in mole sauce: ANCHO.  Some mole recipes.

32. Aired again: RERAN.

33. Iditarod vehicle: SLED.  The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (/aɪˈdɪtərɒd/), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race.

34. Attempt: STAB.

38. Rescue supply spots: PET SHOPS.  A CSO to PAT.

39. Genesis name: SEGA.  Who knew that EVE had triplets?  😀

41. "Really uncool, bro": JERK MOVE.  Not the first thing that entered my mind.

44. Simon of the "Mission: Impossible" film series: PEGG.  Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter.  Pegg is one of the few performers to have achieved what has been called the "Holy Grail of Nerd-dom": playing popular supporting characters in Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars. He currently stars as Benji Dunn in the Mission: Impossible film series (2006–present).

Simon Pegg

46. __ kwon do: TAE.  Tae kwon do is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving punching and kicking techniques. The literal translation "kicking", "punching", and "the art or way of".  It sometimes involves the use of weapons.

Ouch!

49. Queasiness: NAUSEA.

50. Relaxed gait: TROT.

51. Crawls (along): INCHES.

54. "Little Women" woman: BETH.

55. "Al __ lado del río": Oscar-winning song by Jorge Drexler: OTRO.  Al otro lado del río (transl. "On the Other Side of the River") is a song by Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler from the soundtrack album for the film The Motorcycle Diaries (2004).  It received the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards, becoming the first Spanish language song, the second in a foreign language, to receive such an honor, and the first by a Uruguayan artist ...

56. Quaint pronoun: THOU.  Also slang for a GRAND.

58. Literary captain: AHAB.  The protagonist of the great American novel, Hermann Melville's Moby Dick.  You can buy this first edition for only US$ 87,771.81 ...

Moby Dick 1851
Hermann Melville

 60. Literary governess: EYRE.  Jane Eyre is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York. Jane Eyre is a bildungsroman that follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall.  A first edition of this work can set you back as much as US$ 100,000.  But this one is a steal for only US$ 65,000 ...

Jane Eyre 1847
Charlotte Brontë

Our constructors are very literary!

61. Dijon companion: AMIE.  Today's French lesson: Dijon is a city that serves as the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.  As of 2017 the commune had a population of 156,920.

62. "__ a lift?": NEED.

64. Date: SEE.  Before you can 66D you usually have to do this (unless you buy a mail-order spouse!)

66. Make it official, in a way: WED.  ELOPE was too long.

* My favorite automated language translation story goes something like this:  The inventors were showing off their new program to some dignitaries, one of whom suggested "Show us the translation of 'Out of sight, out of mind' into Chinese".  The inventors ran it through their program and out popped some Chinese.  Dignitaries: "But how do we know that it's correct?  Translate it back to English".  The program responded: "Invisible Idiot". 😁

Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley