Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 34
C.C. here. I think this is Gareth Bain's first LA Times themeless. Congrats!
Gareth anchors his puzzle with a stacked 15 & 14 on top and bottom of his grid:
17A. "West Side Story" duet : ONE HAND, ONE HEART. Tony & Maria's duet.
20A. Ecstatic cry : YES, THERE IS A GOD. This could be the seed entry.
45A. Go from 10 to 8, say : DROP A DRESS SIZE. Nice answer. Crazy SSS in the middle.
50A. Angel's concern : BROADWAY MUSICAL. Angel refers to Broadway financial backer.
How's your solving? Quite a workout for me. Sweated a lot over several geography references. Tough cluing overall.
Across:
1. Edmonton's prov. : ALTA (Alberta)
5. North __ Sea, Syr Darya River outlet : ARAL. Wikipedia says the North Aral Sea is part of the former former Aral Sea that's fed by the Syr Darya River, which is a complete unknown to me.
9. Russian city to host the 2014 Olympics : SOCHI. No idea. It's pronounced like SOH-chee. On the Black Sea. Right side, see it?
14. Sounds of triumph : HAHs
15. Move, in real estate : RELO
16. Some soli : ARIAS. Soli is plural of solo.
21. Loan guarantor : SURETY
22. Whiz : PRO
23. Stir vigorously : BEAT. Egg whites, I suppose.
24. Fish you don't want to be biting : PIRANHAS. Ozzie Guillén (White Sox manager, very funny guy) said Twins are like piranhas.
29. Attached, in a way : GLUED
31. One-footer, e.g. : TAP-IN. Tap-in putt. Golf.
32. Peke output : YIP. Pekingese dog. Yips are of course also golfer's nightmare. No tap-in gimme.
33. They fit in locks : OARS. Nope, no KEYS. Boat locks.
34. Deli suffix : WURST
35. __ Squalor, Count Olaf's girlfriend in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" : ESME. The name is a reference to Salinger's "For Esme – with Love and Squalor", which rings a bell. The clue as it is means nothing to me.
36. Overalls part : BIB
37. Billy Dee's "The Empire Strikes Back" role : LANDO. Lando Calrissian. I just have no desire to watch those "Star Wars" movies.
38. Glove material : LATEX
39. How much radio is broadcast : IN STEREO. Did you get the answer immediately?
41. Pharmacist's datum : DOSE
42. Had a life : WAS
43. Tab competitor : DIET RC. Had trouble parsing DIETRC.
51. Site of a sacred building called the Kaaba : MECCA. Here is Kaaba (literally, "the cube") during Hajj. The most sacred building in Islam. So crowded.
52. Resort NE of Los Alamos : TAOS
53. Swarthy : DARK
54. Far from swarthy : PASTY. Nice "swarthy' clecho (clue echo).
55. Dustin's "The Graduate" co-star : ANNE (Bancroft)
56. Word of consequence : ELSE
Down:
1. Bridge call? : AHOY. Oh, ship bridge. Not the bridge game.
2. Pins may be at the ends of them : LANES. Bowling pins.
3. End-of-day destination for many : THE SUBURBS
4. Hardwood sources : ASH TREES. Used to make baseball bats.
5. CNN Gulf War reporter : ARNETT (Peter)
6. Towel off again : REDRY
7. Shrub with tubular flowers : ALOE
8. Anderson of "WKRP in Cincinnati" : LONI
9. Arid : SAHARAN
10. Ducks' home : OREGON. Ducks: University of Oregon. Beavers: Oregon State.
11. "Bye!" : CIAO
12. Like some copies and courts : HARD
13. Social end : IST. End to the word socialist.
18. Winning : AHEAD
19. Lively wit : ESPRIT
24. 1960s-'70s "Jeopardy!" announcer : PARDO (Don). Have faintly heard of the name.
25. __ jure: by the law itself : IPSO
26. Riotous : HYSTERICAL
27. Parisian lover's word : AIME. Love. Je t'aime.
28. Eyewear, commercially : SPEX
29. Home to many Bactrian camels : GOBI. Do you know the name for these camels?
30. Rested : LAIN
31. Some find it hard to carry : TUNE. Tricky clue.
34. 1955 treaty city : WARSAW. Warsaw Pact.
35. Manhattan's FDR Drive is on it : EAST SIDE. Guessed.
37. Traditionally, when women were allowed to propose marriage : LEAP DAY. Was unaware of this tradition.
38. Windblown soil : LOESS. Learned from doing crossword.
40. With an intermission : TWO ACT
41. Neglect : DISUSE
43. Familiar, perhaps : DEMON. Why? Don't get the clue.
44. Industry overseers : CZARS. Like Drug Czar.
45. "The Sopranos" Emmy winner De Matteo : DREA. Her name escaped me.
46. Elephants' predators, in myth : ROCs
47. It may be described in gigs : DATA. So gigs refer to gigabytes?
48. 2006 N.L. MVP __ Howard : RYAN. First baseman for Dennis' Phillies.
49. Sommer of "The Prize" : ELKE
50. Image file letters : BMP. What does BMP stand for, Al? Bitmap?
C.C.
