Monday, Aug 7th, 2023, Laura Dershewitz

 

THEME: The Age of Aquarius, not Superman

17. Tied with a scrunchie, maybe: IN A PONY TAIL - An "UP" hairstyle

30. No longer on deck: AT THE PLATE - "UP" at bat - I saw this happen in a game on TV while down in VA

BACKSWING BAT CATCHES CATCHER

47. Taking time off: ON VACATION - "I am AWAY from my desk..." - Technically, I was on vacation last week, as I was supposed to be in between jobs - needed the time off to sort some legal issues still pending from the sale of the house on Long Island - went down there for two days, and that was enough to remind me why I left....

And the connection -

62. Classic sunshine pop hit single with hot-air-balloon imagery, and what 17-, 30-, and 47-Across literally are: UP UP AND AWAY - Ah, the 60s - this one is from 1967; I was born in 1971, but I heard this "The 5th Dimension" hit on the radio, along with another one of theirs, "Aquarius" - and born in early February, I am an Aquarius

Up, Up, ....

AND AWAY we go~!

ACROSS:

1. Make small adjustments to: TWEAK

6. Palindromic title: MADAM - a palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward - I found this clever palindrome poem

11. "¡Dios __!": "MIO~!" - OMG in text-speak

14. Fictional chocolatier Wonka: WILLY- played by one of my favorite actor/comedians, Gene Wilder

"Pure Imagination"

15. Sports complex: ARENA

16. Series finale, e.g.: END

19. Director DuVernay: AVA - Not much one can do, but IMHO the proper names in crosswords are becoming too much

20. Italian ice cream: GELATO

21. Most coll. applicants: SRs - Twice in a puzzle row now for me

22. Thing: ITEM

23. Food __: lethargy after a big meal: COMA - Thanksgiving is a mere 15-1/2 weeks away; football starts in exactly one month - yay~!

25. Mosaic tile: TESSERA - Learned by doing crosswords, otherwise, a $2 Monday word

27. Stargazer's bear: URSA - My "bear" last week was "MAMA"

32. Election night backdrop for Steve Kornacki: MAP - No idea who we are referring to; filled via perps....no politics, please~!

33. Whispery video genre, for short: ASMR - This is a 21st century crossword fill; not familiar with it, so I went to YouTube, and I actually got that 'tingly' sensation.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

34. "Fiddlesticks!": "DRAT~!"

35. Big gulps: SWIGS

37. Word before salt or snail: SEA

39. "Know what __?": I MEAN

42. Pre-calc math class: TRIGonometry

44. YouTube diary: VLOG video web log; we here are merely a weB LOG

46. Irish actor Stephen: REA - Crossword staple

50. Car sticker amt.: MSRP - Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price - I bought a used Prius C for $12K, using my Amazon credit card - what a rush that was; I paid it off immediately with money from the sale of the LI house

51. [shrug emoji]: BEATS ME - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

52. Turner known as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll": TINA - Died 24 May this year

54. Wheel turner: AXLE

55. Donne couplet?: ENs - do N N e; Donne I believe refers to this guy

57. Forced from power: OUSTED

61. "The Real World" airer: MTV - Shows on this channel seem contradictory - the "golden age" of the music video, the 80s, gave us a lot to see, so what defines a good music video~?  I threw this question at my brother, and got the response below; a little bit of story-telling, some performance, and some 'over-the-top' elements; what would YOU choose~?

ZZTop Gimme All Your Lovin'

64. Gobbled up: ATE

65. Draped silk dresses: SARIs - or sarees

66. Mitt: GLOVE - more gratuitous baseball for C.C. 😁

67. Letters of distress: S.O.S.

68. Utopias: EDENS

69. Made less onerous: EASED

DOWN:

1. Small branch: TWIG and; 26D. Small branch: SPRIG - Rhyme time, too

2. Sonoma County product: WINE

3. Ben Gurion-based airline: EL AL - Crossword staple, Israeli Airline

4. South American kin of a camel: ALPACA

5. Japanese city with many shrines: KYOTO - WAG

6. Star Wars Day month: MAY - the Fourth Be With You

7. Review-heavy newspaper section: ARTS - I had OP-ED, my first incorrect DOWN fill

8. Scarcity: DEARTH - Vader~?

9. Ouzo flavoring: ANISEED

10. "Bad" prefix: MAL - Latin

11. Carnivores: MEAT-EATERS - Reminds me of Jurassic Park - couldn't find a link to the scene I was thinking about

12. Turn upside down: INVERT

13. Whoopi's Oscar-winning role in "Ghost": ODA MAE

18. Spanish phrase equivalent to "¡Basta!": "NO MAS~!"

22. Five Pillars faith: ISLAM

24. Devices called "cashpoints" in the U.K.: ATMs - fresh cluing for a crossword staple; still didn't fool me

 27. Sounds of hesitation: UMs - never can tell if it will be ERs or UMs

28. Uncooked: RAW

29. Trumpet parts that need to be drained: SPIT VALVES - JazzB can fill you in - or maybe that's not the phrase to use in this instance....I play the guitar and drums - usually, no spit involved

31. Fountain near Rome's Spanish Steps: TREVI - It's said that $1.5mil in coins was tossed in during 2016

33. Nike rival: ASICS

36. Storm drain cover: GRATE

38. Oodles: A LOT 

40. __ Lingus: AER - Irish Airlines

41. Rest in a sleep pod: NAP - I figured it was "NAP", but the sleep pod part had me baffled; THIS or THIS~?

43. Xbox controller, for one: GAME PAD - Gaming for me was Atari 2600

Yar's Revenge

45. Awesome Blossom vegetable: ONION - The "bloomin' onion" appetizer from Outback is called the "cactus blossom" at Texas Roadhouse - proprietary, as my brother gets agitated when I use the "wrong" name at the wrong restaurant

47. 2000s first family: OBAMAs

48. Alongside of: NEXT TO

49. Academic job security: TENURE

50. Indian spice mix: MASALA - I did not know this; filled via perps

53. Gentle reminder: NUDGE - "shall I phone you or nudge you~?" - but again, couldn't find a link to this line from a scene in a great, underrated, all-star cast movie called "Sneakers"

 

56. Rotate: SPIN

58. Low poker pair: TWOS - meh.  I went with TREY, since when I play cards, it's DEUCES

59. Roof trim: EAVE

60. Hid one's true colors, perhaps: DYED - har-har

62. "It's just no __!": USE

63. Mule kin: ASS - well, that's what you get when you reach the "bottom", I say....

Splynter