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

Friday, April 7, 2023, Ella Dershowitz

Theme:

Ooo, baby baby

Puzzling thoughts:

Take a moment to listen to this great oldie from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles ... in the second and third stanza, the lyrics read:

Mistakes, I know I've made a few
But I'm only human
You've made mistakes too, I'm crying . . .
Ooo, baby baby
Ooo, baby baby
I'm just about at the end of my rope
But I can't stop trying, I can't give up hope

That was kind of how today's puzzle hit me. Mistakes? I made MORE than a few ... but yes, I am only human ... did you make mistakes, too??

Crying? There's no crying @ the Crossword Corner!

I WAS just about at the end of my rope ... but I never stopped trying, nor gave up hope ...

"So when did you get the 'AHA' Moe-ment on this puzzle, Chairman?" [you might ask]

After I looked more closely at the circles ... ARRGGHH. Circles. But without the circles, would YOU have figured out the reveal?

55-across. Tiny units of progress depicted four times in this puzzle?: BABY STEPS.

Let's examine the grid first, and then crawl around in the 15x15 square "play pen" of words and circles ...

One BABY STEP at a time will solve this ...

Step #1: 23-across. Fritterlike side with fried catfish: HUSH PUPPY

But, but, but Moe, the entry for 23-across is only five letters? HUSH P is all that I see. Well, if you have circles in your grid, take a couple of BABY STEPS above and to the right, and the PUPPY crawls onto your lap

Step #2: 27. "La La Land" Oscar nominee: RYAN GOSLING. Again, follow the circled letters which take BABY STEPS up and to the right of RYAN G, and the GOSLING waddles into view

Step #3: 45-across. Blue Apron offering: MEAL KIT. The smallest of BABY STEPS belongs to the KIT, as it takes just two circled squares to complete its birth (that foxy lady)

Step #4: 54-across. Roomba target: DUST BUNNY. Easter Sunday is just a couple days away, so what better BABY to greet us than the BUNNY, which hops along four circled squares on its trail

Four "BABIES" (a PUPPY, a GOSLING, a KIT, and a BUNNY), all taking little STEPS to form their names. Out-effin-standing, Ms. Dershowitz!

Across:
1. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. A CSO to our Saturday blogger, Husker Gary

6. Many Chrome runners: PCS. [according to Microsoft dot com] "... Microsoft Edge is more secure than Google Chrome for your business on Windows. It has powerful, built-in defenses against phishing and malware and natively supports hardware isolation on Windows—there's no additional software required to achieve this secure baseline"
[according to Google] "With Google apps like Gmail, Google Pay, and Google Assistant, Chrome can help you stay productive and get more out of your browser"

9. Dog breed of Tokyo's Hachiko statues: AKITA. [wikipedia dot com says]: "A statue of the AKITA dog Hachikō, remembered for his unwavering loyalty to his deceased owner, is installed outside Tokyo's Shibuya Station, in Japan"

14. Cars sold at auction: REPOS. And the guys who bring them there, perhaps? 1984 original trailer

15. Barrel wood: OAK. Ella must love this word; she used it recently, in 62-down with a different clue - which I explained in depth to Wilbur Charles

16. Western Wyoming county: TETON. Grand TETON National Park is on my bucket list of National Parks to visit

17. Giddy: SLAP HAPPY. Moe-ku:

Snow White felt depressed;
But can get giddy when she
Starts to SLAP HAPPY

19. Urban Dictionary content: SLANG. This. They always have a SLANG du jour on their website

20. "Big __" Delaney: "Sons of Anarchy" character: OTTO. Learing MOE-ment: [fandom dot com] "“Big Otto” Delaney was a member of SAMCRO of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy. Played by American actor and show creator Kurt Sutter, Otto makes his debut on the episode "Giving Back" in the series' first season"

21. Common toothbrush holder: CUP. I hang mine on the wall on its recharging base ... I use a Braun (now known as Oral B) electric toothbrush

22. Pop music's __ Vanilli: MILLI. This could also be clued: "Start for 'meter' or 'second'"

25. Emblems: LOGOS. The one that I saw on my business card for 2-1/2 decades

26. "Ditto": ME, TOO. Last Friday's puzzle had ME, FOUR

28. __ milk: OAT. SOY also fits

29. Recruit with arm-twisting: ROPE IN.

31. Butter used in saag paneer: GHEE. Do I need to clarify this for you?

35. Haggler's concern: PRICE. "Never pay retail"

37. Cupcake: HON. Not sure how this one got by Patti ... perhaps because Ella identifies as a she/her? HON seems a bit non-PC ... too bad this wasn't a four-letter entry ... could've used BABE for this puzzle, no??!! ;^)

38. Past potentates: TSARS. EMIRS fits, too

39. Qdoba snack: TACO. Qdoba serves these on days other than Tuesday

40. Con artist?: FORGER. The world's most famous FORGER??

42. On: LIT. Interesting clue ... "on" as in something that is LIT up?

43. In the running: VYING.

47. Indiana state flower: PEONY.

48. "Stayin' Alive" genre: DISCO. Bee Gees song

49. Any "Gilmore Girls" episode, now: RERUN.

50. Cartoon still: CEL.

51. Silly fool: TWIT.

57. Mid-pirouette, say: ON TOE. Ballerina position

58. Blue-__: pain relief brand: EMU. Johnny Bench was the spokesman

59. Fine-tune: TWEAK. Something I usually do to this blog several days before it goes live

60. Origin of the street food koshary: EGYPT. Another learning MOE-ment

61. Freelancer's job: GIG. Musician's term, usually

62. Swimming holes: PONDS. I wonder how many kids of the current generation actually go swimming in a POND?

Down:
2. Cheesy diner fare: MELT. A Friday clue, for sure; as in, a cheese MELT

3. Not engaged: APATHETIC. Not "SINGLE" [the word I was looking for]

4. "We're here!": HOP OUT. A BUNNY term?

5. Cigar end: ASH. I know all about this as I always enjoy a cigar with a bit of Scotch, Bourbon, Rum, Gin, Wine, or _____. Many times, a portion of the ASH will fall off unexpectedly ... haven't burned anything yet, but have come close

6. __ shop: POP UP. Many of these appear in October, in advance of (32-down. Time for a costume from a boo-tique?:) HALLOWEEN

7. Photographer Kristin: CAPP. I can relate to this CAPP, but not the other

8. Pie in the __: SKY.

9. Part of an online tag: AT SIGN. As in, @ChairmanMoe, for example (not my Twitter name)

10. Breakfast brand: KELLOGG'S. A 1960's jingle: "K-E Double L! O Double Good! Kellogg's Best to YOU!!!"

11. Emphatic letters, for short: ITALS. A CSO to Ray-O-Sunshine!

12. Singer Braxton: TONI.

13. Filmmaker Lee: ANG. Crossword-ese

18. Allergy season sound: ACHOO. "God bless you!"

22. Complain: MOAN. CARP also fits

24. Feeling yesterday's yoga class, perhaps: SORE. ACHY also fits

25. Full of beans: LYING. And its clecho: (30-down. Full of beans:) PHONY. Good ones

26. Name before Wilson or after Rooney: MARA. Lots of proper names in today's puzzle; go figure ...

27. Corp. shake-up: REORG. 3M never went through a REORG that I can recall ...

28. Go (for): OPT.

33. "Black Panther" villain Killmonger: ERIK. A "Marvel"-ous clue

34. Contractor's fig.: EST. With another clecho (of sorts): (1-down. Guesstimate phrase:) OR SO.

36. Spy mission: COVERT OP. Would another clue for this be: "The highest surface of a blanket?" Think about it for a second or two ... BTW, this is a first time use of this word entry in the major crossword publications ... either as COVERT OP or COVER TOP

38. Cinco menos dos: TRES. And yet, another Friday CSO to Lucinda!!

40. Wolfhard of "Stranger Things": FINN. I don't know this guy. Am I your huckleberry today?!

41. "Revenge" star VanCamp: EMILY. Would ___ Dickinson be too easy?? (44-down. "No doubt about it!":) YOU BET.

46. What many modern plays lack: ACT TWO.

47. Annoying: PESTY. Moe-ku 2:

A basil-laced sauce
That rubs you the wrong way, is
A PESTY pesto

48. Correct coding errors, say: DEBUG. I'll leave this quip for Ray-O-Sunshine! ;^)

49. Ladder part: RUNG. STEP also fits

50. Tank: CAMI. Moe-ku 3:

Military brat
Wore an appropriate top:
A camo CAMI

52. Streaming device: IPAD. KINDLE didn't fit

53. Judgy syllables: TSKS. I hope that none of you used a TSK TSK whilst reading my blog ;^)

54. Generic surname: DOE. John or Jane are their first names

55. "I __ to differ": BEG.

56. Indy brand: STP.

And there you have it! Another successful puzzle and blog! Please add your comments below ...