Wednesday, March 1 2021, Ed Sessa

Theme: PENULTIMATE

 

17A. Once-common childhood ailment: CHICKEN POX.

 27A. Reporting live: IN PERSON.

45A. Hereditary information for a species: GENE POOL.

11D. Blended family relative: STEP-NIECE.

35D. Somewhat revealing T-shirt option: SCOOP NECK.

59. Five-pointed stars ... or, in two words, what the sets of circles represent?: PEN TANGLES.

 

That is some clever wordplay. While the clue says "two words," PENTANGLE is a word - apparently another word for pentagram. See what Ed did here? PEN is tangled up in five answers, and each crosses two words. I also dig the placement of 67A: TADA.

 

 Across:

1. Aussie birds with drumbeat-like mating calls: EMUS.

5. Get in a row: ALIGN.

10. Regarding: AS TO.

14. Lucy Lawless title role: XENA. Warrior Princess.

15. "Take a look": GO SEE.

16. Hit the brakes: STOP.

19. Nomadic quarters: TENT. Has anyone seen the movie Nomadland with Frances McDormand? Getting great reviews.

20. Giant whose #4 was retired: OTT. Melvin Ott. Played for the NY Giants from 1926 through 1947. Batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

 21. Rock's Pop: IGGY.

22. Figures of speech: TROPES.

24. Saffron-flavored Spanish dish: PAELLA.

26. Embellish: ADORN.

30. The eastern half of a frozen food brand: IDA. Ore-Ida. From Wikipedia: The company's name is a syllabic abbreviation of the first few letters of Oregon and Idaho and the original logo consisted of the outlines of Oregon and Idaho with Ore-Ida superimposed in italicized letters. 

 

33. Writers' workplaces: DESKS.

36. Move, in realty ads: RELO.

37. Anjou, e.g.: PEAR.

38. 24-Across ingredient: RICE.

39. Garson of "Mrs. Miniver": GREER. Wikipedia.

40. Summit: ACME. Also Wile E. Coyote's favorite company.

41. A lot of time, in Spain: ANOS. Spanish for years.

42. Wild party: RAVE. Are these still a thing?

43. Speculate: GUESS.

44. Corporate VIP: CEO. Chief Executive Officer.

47. Having glass sections: PANED.

 49. Incan wool sources: LLAMAS.

53. Race with no real losers: FUN RUN. Usually run for charity, rather than competition.

55. Cruising the Arctic, say: ASEA.

57. Fish served in poke: AHI. Yellowfin tuna.

58. Butter substitute: OLEO.

62. Family nicknames: UNCS. Short for uncles.

63. Tribal leader: ELDER.

64. Maine, to Macron: ETAT. Etat is French for state. Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is the president of France.

 65. The Dead Sea, actually: LAKE. Seven intriguing things you didn't know about the Dead Sea.

66. Cordial dealings: AMITY. Don't usually see/hear this word in noun form.

67. "I did it!": TADA. Outstanding.

Down:

1. Many a bodyguard: EX-COP.

2. Maestro Zubin: MEHTA. Indian conductor.

3. Make one out of many: UNITE.

4. __ fly: RBI producer: SAC. Sacrifice fly.

5. What separates the men from the boys?: AGE GAP. Not the only thing.

6. Like the mind's "i": LONG.

7. Guessing game: I SPY. I spy, with my little eye ...

8. Former Prizm maker: GEO. Automobile.

9. Living very close by: NEXT DOOR.

10. Big name in furs: ASTOR. American Fur Company, founded by John Jacob Astor.

12. Vocal quality: TONE.

13. Gets involved, with "in": OPTS.

18. Potters' needs: KILNS.

23. Oscar-winning director Howard: RON. Actor, director, producer, and writer.

25. YouTube clicks: LIKES.

26. Like Van Winkle, for 20 years: ASLEEP. Short story.

28. Trip to the market, say: ERRAND. Hardly a day goes by that I don't run this errand.

29. "Still Me" memoirist: REEVE. Christopher.

31. Water containers?: DAMS.

32. Greek war god: ARES.

33. Storied bloodsucker, for short: DRAC. Dracula. Never seen it shortened like that.

34. Mozart's "__ Kleine Nachtmusik": EINE.

37. Journalist Zahn: PAULA.

39. Pot pie veggie: GREEN PEA.

43. __ Heights: Mideast region: GOLAN. Interesting. The Golan Heights are a rocky plateau in Western Asia that was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community recognizes the Golan Heights to be official Syrian territory and widely rejects Israeli military occupation. In addition to its strategic military importance, the Golan Heights is an important water resource, especially at the higher elevations, which are snow-covered in the winter and help sustain baseflow for rivers and springs during the dry season.

 45. Wildebeest: GNU.

46. Cate with a falsely accused cow: O'LEARY. The myth.

48. Sprang up: AROSE.

50. Island near Sicily: MALTA. Following 150 years as a British colony, Malta gained state independency in 1964, became a republic in 1974 and later part of the European Union in 2004. 

51. Winning: AHEAD.

52. Slangy sibling: SISTA.

53. Ump's call: FOUL.

54. Forearm bone: ULNA.

55. The Beatles' "__ Love Her": AND I.

56. Editor's "Let it be": STET.

60. Title tree in six horror films: ELM. Nightmare on Elm Street.

61. Understand: GET.