Monday April 10, 2023 Jon Pennington

  

Hello Cornerites!

Today's theme is         Three-peat

Jon Pennington is back with another Monday toughie. I reviewed Jon's L.A. Times debut on March 20.  BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):  I was cruising along pretty well until the SE (southeast) corner. I probably should have given it time to process. Instead, TBT (truth be told) I TITT (threw in the towel) and ask Google about Simone Biles' signature move. Perhaps I should watch more gymnastics.

Let's see where I fell off the beam....

not Simone Biles

20 Across. Some virtual get-togethers: ZOOM MEETINGS.

27 Across. Astronomer's setup for outer space transmissions: ANTENNA ARRAY.

This is an overhead picture of the Very Large Array in New Mexico.
Each ANTENNA gathers information which is then combined with the other ANTENNAs' information to create a composite signal that each independent ANTENNA could not create on its own. How Very Large Arrays Work

46 Across. Never: ON NO OCCASION.

55 Across. Signature gymnastics move of Simone Biles, and the kind of repetition found in 20-, 27-, and 46-Across: TRIPLE DOUBLE.

Simone Biles is the first woman in history to land a TRIPLE DOUBLE on her floor routine at the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, MO. (1:57 min.)

Well done, Simone!! You are amazing!!

Today's puzzle has three entries with 3 sets of double letters -- a TRIPLE DOUBLE! The highlighted grid tells the tale.

Hoops fans might say, "Hey, what about a TRIPLE DOUBLE in basketball?" Yep, it's a thing there, too.

Let's vault over to the other clues:

Across:
1. Paddington, for one: BEAR.  

the story of Paddington Bear

5. Amenity in some cafes: WI-FI.  8 tips to stay safe on free WI-FI

9. 51-Across, e.g.: METAL. and 51 Across. Alloy of copper and zinc: BRASS.

Family Handyman article on BRASS doorknobs and the oligodynamic effect

14. Angler's gadget: LURE.  

15. Desktop image: ICON.

16. Mealtime prayer: GRACE.

17. Lacking rainfall: ARID.  California has seen some big changes.

18. Tear apart: REND.  This feels to me like a biblical action so I asked Google how many times REND appears in the Bible. One site came back with 34 instances in 8 translations.

verb

1. tear (something) into two or more pieces.

19. Like a pair of socks: MATED.  Hand up for MATEs before MATED.

23. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE.

24. Sudden: ABRUPT.  

32. Pride parade abbreviation: LGBT.

35. Before now: AGO.

36. Writer Zora __ Hurston: NEALE.  (Jan. 7, 1891 - Jan. 28, 1960)  National Women's History Museum link  "Although, Hurston’s work was not widely known during her life, in death she ranks among the best writers of the 20th century."

37. Informal promise of payment: IOU.  I owe you a better explanation.

38. Wore: SPORTED.  Serena Williams SPORTED a one-legged outfit at the 2021 Australian Open in an homage to Flo-Jo.

41. Broke the tape, perhaps: WON.  Once, just once, I broke the tape. I did a 1/2 Ironman on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) back in 2012. I was the only female competitor so all I had to do was finish!  

See the crown of yellow flowers on the left? That was for me!
I'm so grateful for such an amazing day!

42. Transform (into): MORPH.  

"To become a butterfly, a caterpillar first digests itself."
Scientific American article

44. End of a soldier's email address: MIL.  ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is responsible for internet domains names.

45. Quaint hotels: INNS.

50. Emphasize: STRESS.  Do you feel STRESS when people overly STRESS the importance of something?

59. Alpaca relative: LLAMA.  

62. Norway's capital: OSLO.  The name comes from Ás and lo. The lo part is a field, meadow or pasture. The Ás  part could derive from Old Norse Áss meaning Godhead – derived from the Æsir – to give ‘meadow of the Gods’.  source

63. "See above," in footnotes: IBID.  Did you see -T's use of IBID in his blog yesterday? See 66 Across.

64. Fragrant shrub: LILAC.  This is a well-timed clue since, depending on where you live and the lilac varieties you choose, lilacs can provide color and fragrance from April through June.

This looks like a nice spot to read a book or pet a cat.

65. Like skyscrapers: TALL.  The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world.

MalMan included this pic in his Mar. 31 blog.

66. "Good one!": NICE.

67. Toast-making sound: CLINK.  Was anyone else thinking of this kind of toast?

Instead, it was this kind of toast....

Bridgit Jones's Diary (2001)

So cringe-worthy yet so lovable! 2:10 min.

68. Game recap datum, for short: STAT.  sports STATistics

69. Prophetic one: SEER.

Down:

1. Bright flame: BLAZE.

2. Continental bills: EUROS.  The "bills" are paper money.

3. "You're __!": "You crack me up!": A RIOT.

4. Beef, e.g.: RED MEAT.  Remember when the pork industry tried to distance itself from beef with this campaign in 1987? Was the slogan hogwash? Let's ask the USDA.

5. Electrician's supply: WIRE.

6. Slush Puppie company: ICEE.  "Slush" might be sufficient but it's a fun play on a Southern dish.

7. Helvetica, for one: FONT.

Helvetica movie trailer (2007) 1:30 min.

8. Mumbai resident: INDIAN.  Mumbai's 2023 population is now estimated at 21,296,516. In 1950, the population of Mumbai was 3,088,811. Mumbai has grown by 335,044 in the last year, which represents a 1.6% annual change.  source

9. Vegas casino targeted in "Ocean's Eleven": MGM GRAND.

Ocean's Eleven movie trailer (2001) 2:10 min.

10. Sign of a changed answer: ERASURE.

11. Tit for __: TAT.  Last Monday we had 62 Down. __ for tat: TIT

12. "Helpful hardware folks" retail chain: ACE.  ACE is the place.  ♪♪♪

13. Was in first place: LED.

21. Fellows: MEN.

22. Org. for Jazz quintets?: NBA. Clever misdirection but I am now wise to the Jazz ploy. #SchoolOfHardKnocks

Professional basketball teams have 5 players on the court.

25. Large shrimp: PRAWN.  

26. Raptor's claw: TALON.

28. Activate, as a touchscreen: TAP.

29. Bigheadedness: EGO.

30. Marilyn Monroe's birth name: NORMA.

In 1973 Elton John included Candle in the Wind (Goodbye NORMA Jean)

on his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

He later re-worked the song when Princess Diana died in 1997.

31. Desires: YENS.

32. Wedding day car: LIMO.

33. Hired hooligans: GOONS.  a bit of the word's history

34. __ ends: barbecue delicacy: BURNT.  BURNT ends is a popular barbecue dish that originated in Kansas City. The dish is made by cooking the fatty ends of meat until they are crispy and charred. The BURNT ends are then usually smothered in barbecue sauce and served on a bun, by themselves, or with baked beans.  source

38. Footwear organizer: SHOE RACK.  Hand up for first penciling in SHOE tree.

39. "My country, __ of thee ... ": 'TIS. an abbreviation for iT IS

40. Actor Wallach: ELI.  ELI makes a regular appearance on grids.

43. "Black Swan" Oscar winner Natalie: PORTMAN.  OTOH, Crossword Tracker has only seen this actress' surname 3 times in the past.  

Natalie as Nina Sayers in The Black Swan (2010).

45. Completely demolished: IN RUINS.  My heart goes out to those in the paths of the recent tornados.

47. CBS forensic drama franchise: CSI.

48. $100 bills, informally: C-SPOTS.  run?

C is the Roman numeral for 100. Hand up for first having C-notes.

49. "Flexible on price," in ads: OBO.  Or Best Offer

52. Actress Cornish: ABBIE.  Unknown to me, ABBIE is an Australian actress and rapper. Her rap name is Dusk. ABBIE's IMDb page

53. Pizza piece: SLICE.

54. Passover meal: SEDER.  I hope to be invited to one someday.

56. Future JD's exam: LSAT.  Juris Doctor is abbreviated, so is Law School Admission Test.

57. Scat queen Fitzgerald: ELLA.

58. Fool: DOLT.  

59. Inc. kin: LLC.  Incorporated is abbreviated, so is Limited Liability Company.

60. Short, for short: LI'L.   as in LI'L Abner

61. "Thrilla in Manila" victor: ALI. a.k.a. The Greatest

Now that the bookkeeping is complete, I have just one more pic to add:  

Bendigo, Australia snake catcher Chris Page
Chris sees snakes.

Pretty lame, huh? Props to Jon for finding 3 much better phrases!

That's all for today. Have a great week!

Sunday April 9, 2023 ~ Gary Larson & Amy Ensz

Title: Back Issues

You can get it for $3K

Nothing to do with the sciatica nor reprints of old magazines to see here. Nope. Gary & Amy offer us common phrases where the last (back) word in each phrase is another word for an "issue" with whimsical cluing. Let's roll....

But first - Happy Easter!

22a. Trouble for an orthodox rabbi?: KOSHER PICKLE. The MOTIF (81d) finally broke the NW to get a FIR with 2 only two #Cheats.

27a. Trouble with the sewer line?: MAIN SQUEEZE. I thought the MAINs was the ingress not the egress(?)

65a. Trouble in a candy store?: SWEET SPOT.

100a. Trouble for a barista?: CAFFEINE FIX.

107a. Trouble with an alibi?: STORY PROBLEM.

30d. Trouble with a movie promo?: TRAILER HITCH.

40d. Trouble with a Bronx cheer?: RASPBERRY JAM.

Another? Trouble for an oyster?: Pearl Jam. //Or does that just not make me a Better Man :-)

If you still don't "get the issue," comment below and I'm sure the early-riser Cornerites will set you straight.  

And slow down, relax, take your time reading the blog today.  There might be humour that takes a second. //or, there might not :-)

Across:
1. Contemporary: AGE MATE. Really? Thumper.

8. Place to grab a pint: PUB. And usually a good sandwich or shepherd's pie.

11. Smitten Kitchen blogger Perelman: DEB. ESP. Wait, um, [see: 73a]...

14. Butterfingers: OAF.

17. Quaint desktop item: ROLODEX.
 

Remember These?

18. Not to be trusted: OILY. I was going for wILY.

19. Lyrical: ODIC.

21. AC meas.: BTU. Air Conditioners' capacity is measured in British Thermal Units which is ~1.06 Joules.
C, Eh!, friendlies to the North, do you measure ACs in Joules or BTUs?
//Story?: In EE everything is done in metric. I had to take a MechE Thermodynamics class and it was all in Imperial Units. To do the maths, I'd hafta covert everything to metric, solve the problem, and then convert back. PITA [Pain In The Arse] but I passed.

22. [See: Theme]

24. Place to clean up: WASH ROOM. Kitchen didn't fit; nor did rehab ;-)

26. Appearance: ASPECT.

27. [See: Theme]

29. Fighting: AT IT.

31. "Hallelujah" songwriter Cohen: LEONARD.

33. Unfeeling: NUMB.

I saw them in '95(?) in Dallas - Great Show 

(and contact-high from everything billowing to the mezzanine)

34. Black-footed pet: FERRET. If you FERRET-out something, did you EKE (110d) by?

36. Public relations effort: SPIN.

Popular in the '90s. Where they are now.

37. "Mm-hmm": I SEE.

39. Thermometer type: ORAL. I thought of the other insertion area first but I knew that wouldn't pass the "Breakfast Test." "Meat" also fit.

43. Rideshare predictions, briefly: ETAS. Estimated Time of Arrival(s) for your Uber or Lyft. I took the latter home at 3am after [see: 95d's story]

44. "But to no __": AVAIL. Didn't turn out as hoped.

46. Frosty coat: HOAR.

47. Bingham of "Baywatch": TRACI. "Traci A. Bingham is an American actress, model, and television personality. Beginning her professional career in the early 1990s, Bingham is best known for her role as Jordan Tate on the NBC action drama television series Baywatch." [WikiP]

48. Jewelry retailer Alex and __: ANI. ESP. Anyone actually know of/shop them? [apparently, DW (editor-in-chief) knows of them and has two of their bracelets(?!?)]

49. Makeup pencil target: BROW.

50. Perfume name: COTY. If Gary, Amy, & Patti say so. ESP.

51. Sparkly threads: TINSEL. Mostly perps - I was thinking "threads" as in groovy clothing...

52. Guinness superlative: TALLEST. Superlative -- ink "EST" and wait.

54. Lasting impression: SCAR. I had dent :-(

56. Quran scholar: IMAM.

58. Inflation fig.: PSI. Tires' Pounds/Square-Inch - nothing re: macro-economics.

59. Ragtime legend Blake: EUBIE. Lucky WAG crossing BEBE (49d).

Eubie Blake doing Charleston Rag

60. Port-of-Spain's island: TRINIDAD. Once IDAD perp'd, fill was easy!

62. Playwright's prize: OBIE.

63. Jazz singer Carmen: MCRAE. No idea. I inked RAE hoping for the best.

65. [See: Theme]

67. Sharpens: WHETS. Sharpen a knife on a whet-stone or an appetizer to whet your palette.

68. Interstate H-1 locale: OAHU. H-1, thankfully, gave it away.

69. Zoological kingdom: ANIMALIA.

70. TWA rival: US-AIR. Both defunct.

72. Slugger's stat: RBI. Runs Batted In. Who else is happy Baseball is back?

73. Write online: BLOG. A little meta for me "write" now ;-)

74. Warmhearted: KIND. Nice also fit.

75. Comebacks: RETORTS. Give 'em (109d) LIP.

78. Squeal: TATTLE. "Tell on" also fit.

80. Gathering clouds, say: OMEN.

82. Boxing champion's prize: BELT.
 

Yo, Adrian!

83. Word of support: YEA. Hand up: You filled YES, no?

84. Dried poblano: ANCHO.

85. Part of Q.E.D.: QUOD. Latin: quod erat demonstrandum - Which was to be demonstrated / proved mathematically (well, math class is the only place I've ever used QED).

86. __ parade: PRIDE.

88. Open some: AJAR. When is a door not a door? When it's a jar! //I loved joke-books in the 3rd grade.

89. Cowardly Lion portrayer: LAHR.
 

Resting Lion Face

90. Green shot: PUTT. I was thinking Absinthe.

91. "How've you __?": BEEN. "Life still good, CHUM?"

92. Djibouti language: SOMALI.

94. Calvary inscription: INRI. Written on the Cross He was crucified on before he rose again today ~33AD. //religion - I was thinking The Cavalry that rides in at the last minute. #Dyslexia

96. Tony Stark's alter ego: IRON MAN. Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant as.

Got 17:03? - Note: Stan Lee's cameo @13:44.

99. Tire holders: RIMS. I thought "lugs" first.

100. [See: Theme]

104. World's largest peninsula: ARABIA.

106. Keeps safe: PROTECTS.

107. [See: Theme]

112. Afflict: AIL.

113. "Whoa ... that's food for thought": DEEP.

Edie Brickell - Married to Paul Simon

114. Oddball: KOOK. Love it!

115. Long and slippery: EEL LIKE.

116. Melancholy: SAD.

117. Farm area: STY.

118. UV-blocker rating syst.: SPF. Ultra-Violet (sun) rays can be blocked by Sun Protection Factor lotion/spray. DW & dermatologist wants me to use sun-screen every day. Anyone remember when we all used Coppertone to look "healthy"?
 

119. Like tea leaves: STEEPED.

Down:
1. Deluge refuge: ARK. Ha! Love the alliteration.

2. Failed fudge, maybe: GOO. I thought "F" in home-ec(?)

3. Thrilling pair?: ELS. Two Ls in Thrilling. 'Nuff said.

4. Some expensive sweaters: MOHAIRS. Cashmere fit only if you spell it wrong [guilty].

5. "__ Fideles": ADESTE. SEMPER went in just fine; too bad it was wrong #inkymess in the NW

6. Maryland athlete, for short: TERP.

7. Kick out: EXPEL.

8. Dental care suffix: PIK.

9. "Tracey Takes On ... " comedian: ULLMAN. Tracy's show is funny but not fit for all.  Note: 47a is a different spelling of TRACI.

10. How some musicians play: BY EAR. B-YEAR didn't make any sense ;-)

11. Blue: DOWN. Sad, Melancholy (116a), Mopey

12. Santa portrayer in "Elf": ED ASNER. He also hates Spunk.

13. Lobster soup: BISQUE.

14. Soprano woodwind: OBOE. One tunes to the other; don't make me Google.

15. The whole shebang: A TO Z. Ever notice Amazon's logo? The "smile" points A->Z.

Logo History

16. Stew: FUME. Gets in a huff.

18. Pixar's Pearl and Hank, e.g.: OCTOPI. They can make an inky-mess too!

20. Bud: CHUM. Pal, mate, but not necessarily, a BFF.

23. Winter fishing tool: ICE-SAW.

25. Converted, in a way: REBORN. I assume this has a religious connotation. The clue made me think of things like turning a lawnmower into a go-kart.

28. "It is a tale / Told by an __": Macbeth: IDIOT. Or, an ID-10-T error code a young helpdesk consultant writes on the invoice [guilty].

29. Prudential alternative: AETNA. I inked EATNA. #UNTIE!

30. [See: Theme]

32. Zilch: NIL. Nada.

34. Achievement: FEAT.

35. Anklebones: TARSI.

38. Tie the knot: SAY I DO. Just a Sec (not 51d),.. Here's another HITCH! :-)

40. [See: Theme]

41. Crushes the final: ACES IT. I nailed the Continuous & Discrete Signals final bringing my D up to a B. Took me all semester to learn the math.

42. Monet flowers: LILIES.
 

Pond Lilies - Time to bring in a little class to the expo

45. Says nay: VOTES NO.

46. Meddles: HORNS IN. I wanted "noses IN" but it didn't fit. Nor did any of the Mystery Machine kids. [a Scooby Doo ref.]

47. "The Things They Carried" writer O'Brien: TIM. If you say so.

49. Tony winner Neuwirth: BEBE. ibid.

50. Sanchez who voiced Dora the Explorer: CAITLIN. ibid. I had to Google this but Kathleen Herles kept coming up(???). I kept Googling until CAITLIN matched the clue. #Cheat

51. Just a __: TAD. Who else ink'd "sec"?

53. Island feast: LUAU.

54. Originate (from): STEM.

55. Sounded like a loose floorboard: CREAKED. Squeaked was too long.

57. Got older and wiser, perhaps: MATURED. We may age but nobody said we had to grow up.

61. GarageBand device: IPAD. GarageBand is an app for your iThing to aid in mixing music.  My (CEO) Bro uses it for his Dad Band.

62. Oberlin's state: OHIO. Oberlin is a Uni.

63. __ Kombat: video game franchise: MORTAL. Body-blow, Body-blow! I played this but never had enough quarters to get good AT IT.  //Oh, wait that was Punch-Out!

64. Beach shelter: CABANA. Oh,... Should I tell the story of a helpdesk new-hire that confided in us that he worked as a cabana-boy to help pay for college? And, that every time a MATURE lady had a problem with her computer, we'd tell him to grab the Coppertone and don his Speed-Os?
No, I probably shouldn't embarrass him like that.

66. Lose it: WIG OUT. Really lose your cool.

67. Power measure: WATT. 1 Joule/Second. [Exercise left to the reader: Calculate in BTUs]

69. Drink in a mug: ALE. Joe [coffee] fit :-(

71. Tennis great Monica: SELES. BigE probably didn't need perps.

73. Rain-__ gum: BLO.
 

76. Freshwater ducks: TEALS.
 

77. Dress of draped silk: SARI. They are so colorful/beautiful.
 

79. "__ Shop": Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit: THRIFT. I sussed it w/ a few perps.

81. Theme: MOTIF. The motif of this puzzle is an "issue" ;-)

82. Twofold: BINARY. There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

85. The Dave Clark Five, e.g.: QUINTET. Even if you don't know who The Dave Clark Five is, the answer is(ish) in the clue.
 

Glad All Over

86. Farm area: PEN. Wait, I thought it was a STY [117a]. Nice clecho.

87. Comment: REMARK. Not quite a RETORT.

88. Friendly: AMIABLE. Ok, that's a better definition for "nice" when KIND was asked for.

90. Consumer Reports data: PRICES. Anyone still subscribe? I have the eScription but DW says everything I buy on their recommendation sucks. I'm not sure that's fair -- the DustBuster we purchased sure does. *rimshot*

91. Proof of purchase: BOX TOP. Hand-up: You collected these from Kellogg's'/Post's' boxes to get pencils or whatever for school. They also had us collect Campbell's soup can labels [which was easy-peasy to SNAG [another "issue"] from Maternal Grand's kitchen bin.]

93. Colorful songbird: ORIOLE. Did I mention Baseball is back?

95. Have to have: NEED. Oy!, I found out two weeks ago that you NEED salts.

 
//Story I promised: 

I'd gone to drinking nothing but water (except when commuting T,W,Th - a coffee FIX is NEEDed at 6am!).
To make water fun, I got a SodaStream to give it bubbles and little squirty-flavors (cucumber-lime is my Fav!) to add.
I ended up washing out my salts by drinking too much water(? what a PICKLE!) and landed in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack.  My BP has always been high (~140/99) but 168/112 scared me (a good buddy had a stroke and he's younger than I!)  and I had shortness of breath.
ER gave me a swig of potassium (nasty stuff) and a saline drip.  Within an hour I was right as rain!
Here I was trying to be healthy and... 

Pop has oft said: "All my 'healthy' friends are dead." (I should go back to beer & coffee, eh?)
//End PSA.

97. Hazards: RISKS. I didn't think water would be a Hazard outside of a golf-course.

98. Scruffs: NAPES. Cats pickup kittens by the scruff/nape of their neck.

100. IRS form experts: CPAS. Welcome to April Americans :-). Internal Revenue Service forms require a Certified Public Accountant if/when your taxes get more complicated than just income of simply working a 9-to-5. If nothing else, a CPA gives you peace of mind you didn't mess up/get in a PINCH [issue] with the IRS.
//D-O: What/who certifies you? Is the cert good across state-lines (unlike Law)?

101. Solo often sung in Italian: ARIA. I wish I had a video of Eldest singing Ava Maria to share - brought Pop to tears, she did.

102. Soufflé recipe word: FOLD. Any Cornerite ever make one of these right? I just settle for Frittata [what real-men call quiche 'cuz we don't eat that (see: Sunday 4/2) :-)]

103. Glimpse: ESPY. Not to be confused with the ESPN Award you've eyed for your physical prowess.

105. Cy Young winner Saberhagen: BRET. Pitcher from Chicago Heights who played with the Royals, Mets, Rockies and Bo. Sox.  While with the Royals, Bret won Cy Young (and World Series against St. Louis) in '85 and another Cy Young in '89 with an ERA of 2.16.
 

Bret Saberhagen

108. "That sounds painful": OOF. An onomatopoeia.

109. Guff: LIP. Usage: "Don't give me your guff." Sass, RETORT, LIP.

110. Make (out): EKE. Not smooching/snogging but just getting by.

111. Club __: MED. I was thinking about last Tuesday and, first to mind, Club Fed :-)

The Grid:
 

The Grid

Whew!  That was long winded.  The skinny:
WOs: aplenty in the NW; sec->TAD.
ESPs: names save LAHR; INRI (I really was thinking 1st Cav #Ft.Hood)
Cheats: Google for CAITLIN, dictionary for CAFFEINE's spelling.
Fav: KOOK is just such a fun word. Shakespeare's IDIOT was also a hoot.

I know -- Sunday's grids are a lot of words but I hope y'all had as much fun as I.
//end expo|brain ramble.

Cheers!, -T

Saturday April, 8, 2023, Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic

  Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic

Rafael and Brooke provided us a real Saturday challenge and I have highlighted my one bad cell here. I had no chance at SAZERACS and I felt SIA would not be correct since Singapore was in the clue. Over the past year or so, I have come to know SIA as a singer with distinctive hair styles but Patti did not use her here.

The long fill was very gettable but did take some finaggling to get the letters lined up correctly.  As usual, Brooke, et. al's diabolical cluing was fun after it was frustrating. Even the arcane internet fill went quietly, eventually.

Across:

1. Copywriter?: SCRIBE - If you have ever taken the ride through Spaceship Earth, you have seen this sleeping SCRIBE in one of the tableaus

7. New Orleans cocktails: SAZERACS - Sorry, Big Easy, I had no idea. The classic Sazerac recipe expertly balances whiskey with sugar, bitters and absinthe.

15. Browned, maybe: COOKED.

16. "That was great!": I LOVED IT.

17. Compliment-fisher's question: AREN'T I? - "I'm a good person, AREN'T I?"

18. __ dollar: ALMIGHTY - "When in doubt, follow the money"

19. Osso buco accompaniment: RISOTTO.

21. "Watch this space" letters: TBA.

22. Social reformer Dorothea: DIX.

23. Academy near the Culinary Institute in New York: WEST POINT - I kept fighting WEST POINT because it seemed too easy

26. Winter Palace ruler: TSAR.

28. Mouth part: ROOF.

29. Guys: HES.

32. 24-hour extension period?: LEAP YEAR - 😀. It took a little cogitating! 

34. Conceive: IDEATE - Crossword learning 

37. Happy characters: SMILEYS - Oh, like these 😀😁😃?

38. Easy way to get a six-pack: BEER RUN - Smokey And The Bandit was about a Coors BEER RUN 

39. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, maybe: UP LATE.

40. Timely blessings: GODSENDS - I married mine 56 years ago

41. F1 neighbor: ESC.

42. __ Club: SAM'S.

44. Assist, often: PASS - 😀 I loved this clue (eventually)

45. __ college: ELECTORAL.

48. Irrelevant stat for an EV: MPG - Miles Per Kilowatt?

51. Bird in the bush: EMU - The bush country of Australia 😀

52. Finish with a bang?: MIC DROP - That's all there is to say!

56. Oxygen infusers: AERATORS.

59. Fade away: DIE OUT.

60. Sports comedy whose sequel stars LeBron James: SPACE JAM - 26% on Rotten Tomatoes

61. Livorno locale: ITALIA.

62. Surefire: CAN'T MISS.

63. Surprisingly: NO LESS.

Down:

1. Slash mark: SCAR.

2. Missouri representative Bush: CORI.

3. Small deer: ROES - Sure I put FAWN first

4. Remark from someone with the perfect spot in mind: I KNOW A PLACE.

5. "Actually, it might be more fun if ... ": BETTER YET.

6. Exchanges words?: EDITS 😀

7. Singapore Airlines, for short: SIA - Not the singer Patti has had in a quite a few recent puzzles 

8. Exceedingly: ALL TOO.

9. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, jocularly: ZOMBIFIED.

10. "Water the way nature intended" water: EVIAN.

11. Short rule?: REG - Short for REGulation 

12. "Driven to Distraction" condition: Abbr.: ADHD.

13. Big Four bank name: CITI.

14. River down under?: STYX - The mythical river between Earth and the Underworld    

20. "Others," in Spanish: OTRAS - Puedes inviter a OTRAS personas. (You can invite other people).

24. __ ejemplo: POR - ¿Cuál es, POR ejemplo, su solución? (What, for example, is your solution?)

25. Genuine: THE REAL DEAL.

26. Mesa neighbor: TEMPE - TEMPE hosts the Angels in spring training and Mesa hosts the Cubs

27. Goes where the wind blows: SAILS.

30. Brings home: EARNS.

31. Hunks: STUDS.

32. Sch. that's home to the Golden Band from Tigerland: LSU.

33. Texter's "I need to hear the drama!": EYES EMOJI.

35. Reggaeton megahit whose title means "slowly": DESPACITO

36. Nav. rank: ENS.

38. Bust: BOSOM.

40. BBC clock setting: GMT - No matter where the International Space Station is, the astronauts go by Greenwich Mean Time (zero degrees longitude)

43. Legends, e.g.: ACURAS.

46. "So what if they do?": LET 'EM.

47. Chamillionaire song that starts "They see me rollin'": RIDIN'

48. Certain gender presentation, briefly: MASC.

49. Member of a rap trio with Spinderella: PEPA.

50. Family nickname: GRAN.

53. Play thing: ROLE - Al Pacino  was offered the ROLE of Han Solo but turned it down

54. Non-opposing remarks?: OUIS - 😀 Non is the French word for NO and so...

55. Fundraising orgs.: PTAS.

57. Play thing: ACT.

58. Texting letters: SMS - The blue message below indicates it is using the Apple iMessage system and the green message indicates the Short Message System