17-Across. Keep one's landlord happy : PAY THE RENT. Even better, pay in cash!
23-Across. Box instruction : OPEN OTHER END. And the instruction there? "Open Other End..."
37-Across. Optional learning : HIGHER EDUCATION. For my sisters and me, it wasn't optional!
46-Across. Usually not a good way to get married : ON THE REBOUND. Uh, not even a good way to date.
57-Across. "You listen to me," and an instruction about what to look for in 17-, 23-, 37- and 46-Across : NOW SEE..."HERE."
HaHa!! You got me, Bruce! I had absolutely no clue what the unifier would be, and I chuckled when I finally "saw" it. I believe this is Bruce's LAT debut, although he has several NYT puzzles under his belt. This was a very typical Thursday solve for me. Some gimmes, some question marks and a couple of "Huhs?" Let's see how it goes.
Across
1. Gusto : ZEST. Elan? (Check perps: has to start with "Z.") Zing? (Nah, that doesn't work with EL AL...) Z-E-al? (Nah, the 4-letter vodka has to be SKYY...) Z-E-S-... (Bit of ink? Hmmm...) AHA! TAT!! Z-E-S-T. And so it went...
5. Reynolds Wrap maker : ALCOA. Gimme.
10. Reptile house attractions : BOAS. Asps? (Check perps: Has to start with "B"...)
14. __-Seltzer : ALKA.
15. Luxury hotel with a YouFirst rewards program : LOEWS. Tough one. There are only 20 locations in the US and Canada, so it might not be the first hotel that solvers would think of.
16. Nothing but : ONLY.
19. Cross the threshold : GO IN.
20. Tricky : SLY.
21. Big name in dangerous stunts : EVEL. Knievel, the late motorcycle daredevil. You'd think he would have died in one of those crazy stunts. But no, he died of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 69.
22. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO.
26. Not familiar with : NEW AT.
29. Staff symbols : RESTS.
30. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
31. __ Belt : ORION'S. Were the pyramids purposely situated to align with it?
34. Jan. honoree : MLK. Martin Luther King.
40. Suffix with concert : INO. Hands up for filling "ina" at first?
41. "__ Fideles" : ADESTE.
42. Back in the day : ONCE. upon a time...
43. They may be counted : NOSES.
45. Golden number? : OLDIE. Great clue!
51. Exposed : BARED.
52. Film with talking bugs : ANTZ. It's the only movie with Woody Allen (the voice of "Z") that I ever enjoyed.
53. NFL's Jaguars, for short : JAX. Jacksonville, FL.
56. "The Year of Magical Thinking" author Didion : JOAN. It won the Pulitzer prize for autobiography. It chronicles her grief during the year following her husband's death in 2003. It is a heart-wrenching account, and a must-read for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one. Her only daughter died in 2005, and led to a second book, "Blue Nights."
60. Qatari bigwig : EMIR.
61. Chicago's __ Planetarium : ADLER. America's first planetarium.
62. Roughage source : BRAN.
63. Facetious nickname for a big guy : TINY.
64. Gnocchi topping : PESTO.
65. Kan. neighbor : OKLA.
Down
1. Prepares, as leftovers : ZAPS.
2. Mideast airline : EL AL. It means "To the Skies," which is a great lead-in for the the next answer:
3. Absolut rival : SKYY. Vodka. Cheers, Tin!
4. Bit of ink : TAT.
5. Naproxen brand : ALEVE.
6. "Two Women" Oscar winner : LOREN.
7. "Fool for You" Grammy winner Green : CEE LO. No clue. 4:06
8. Have : OWN.
9. PEI hours : AST. Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Standard Time.
10. "The African Queen" co-star : BOGART. Husker Gary, I know you nailed this one!
11. Under consideration : ON ONE'S MIND.
12. Straighten : ALIGN.
13. Church council : SYNOD.
18. Oct- minus one : HEPT. Huh? Prefixes for eight and seven.
22. "The Gondoliers" girl : TESSA. Gilbert and Sullivan Opera. Nailed it!
23. Four-letter word : OATH. HaHa...not what I had in mind.
24. Rainbow __ : TROUT.
25. As a result : HENCE.
26. Fruity soda : NEHI.
27. Yeats' home : ERIN. Ireland, to natives.
28. Top-rated evening TV show of 1961-62 : WAGON TRAIN. My parents used to love this show. Me, not so much...
31. Turkey on rye, e.g. : ORDER.
32. Actress Witherspoon : REESE. She's such a cutie.
33. Some badges : IDs.
35. Centers of activity : LOCI.
36. Seat for a dummy : KNEE. Dummy, as in Mortimer Snerd.
38. Relaxed : EASED.
39. Ratted (on) : TOLD.
44. Literary award named for a writer : O'HENRY.
45. Dix et un : ONZE. 10 + 1 = 11 in French. (Funny...it adds up to the same thing in English!)
46. __ d'art : OBJET. More French.
47. Wynonna's mom : NAOMI. The Judds.
48. Cries : BAWLS.
49. Commencement : ONSET.
50. In __: unborn : UTERO.
53. Sudden movement : JERK.
54. __ Sea : ARAL.
55. Lawless character : XENA. Lucy Lawless, that is.
57. Go out in the afternoon? : NAP.
58. Keats poem : ODE.
59. "The Leftovers" airer : HBO. No clue. Oh, I see that it just premiered on June 29th, and "The Leftovers" are those people left after the "rapture" took 2% of the world's population.
That's it for this week!
Marti
