Themeless Saturday by Stella Zawistowski
Here is what Stella had to say about this puzzle: If you guessed that STRUGGLE BUS was one of my seed entries, you're right. I do hope when people are solving my themelesses that they have to ride the struggle bus just enough for a satisfying solve, and not so much that they decide the grid is better used as a dartboard. My other seed was ORNITHOLOGY, and I'm pleased that Rich left my clue in place tying the word to Charlie Parker. I am not a bird fancier, but I have been getting a midlife education in jazz. I enjoy celebrating these classic but new-to-me albums in puzzles, as I did with my 6/20/20 NYT themeless: https://www.xwordinfo.com/
(What I also love about both ORNITHOLOGY (hg - my grandson was named Parker by his professional musician father in honor of The Bird Man) and SKETCHES OF SPAIN is that they can be clued in ways that allow the solver to go "yep, that's right" after getting the crossings even if she has never heard of the albums.)
I boarded the STRUGGLE BUS (fun learning for me) quite a few times but even the Chinese pianist and the president of Ghana seemed very fair in the end.
Perhaps you'd like to let 52. Self-described "non-musician" Brian: ENO's ambient/airport music play while you read
Across:
1. Epithet: LABEL - An EPITHET is a nickname or descriptive term that's added to someone's name that becomes part of common usage
6. Econ. indicators: GNPS - Gross National ProductS
10. Sp. title: SRTA.
14. Loud item in a closet: ALOHA SHIRT - Decisions, decisions
17. Study buddies, often: CLASSMATES.
18. Natl. law group whose "M" is largely obsolete: RCMP - Women have been serving as members of the Royal Canadian (Mounted) Police for over 40 years
19. Picnic serving: EAR.
20. Prandial pokers: TINES - It would appear an explanation of the clue is in order
22. Café de __: Mexican drink brewed in a pot: OLLA - Mexican ground coffee, cinnamon, and raw dark sugar in our favorite Mexican cwd pot
23. Arduous tasks: SLOGS - What Stella's puzzles are for me but in a good way!
25. Like some premium services: AD FREE - I'm a NETFLIX fan
28. Scrapped: WRANGLED - I WRANGLED WRESTLED out of the way
31. On the offensive, legally: SUING.
32. It's not a side road: TRUNK LINE Railroad TRUNK LINES enter and leave the Bailey Yards in North Platte, NE. Cars can then be put on side tracks
33. Skin lotion brand: KERI - Their ad tagline stays with me
34. Stopping at a KOA, say: RVING - RVING in the Tetons
35. Fall place: EDEN - Some believe that is why God now 36. Doubts: MISTRUSTS us all
38. Some shared rides: UBERS.
39. Excites: ENTHUSES.
40. Fictitious 18th-century autobiographer: CRUSOE - First editions of all three of DeFoe's tales of Robinson Crusoe, who many mistakenly thought was the author, for sale
41. Mighty Dump Truck maker: TONKA - A rare 1960's version
42. Hold-up group?: BRAS - On January 2nd, Toronto constructor Craig Stowe chose less, uh, intimate cluing 27. Hood accessory: BRA
43. Like some milk, alas: SPILT.
45. Watch with a webcam, perhaps: SPY ON - Our webcam caught an image of a backyard visitor at 3am
47. Impromptu speech fillers: UHS.
50. Italy's Lake __: COMO - It is about a 4hr drive from Lake COMO to Lake Constance where my grandfather was born
51. "How many licks does it take ... ?" treat: TOOTSIE POP - The answer, sort of
53. Jackie's designer: OLEG - Cassini. Here Jackie is wearing a Chez Ninon gown at Buckingham Palace in 1961
54. Overwhelms: SNOWS UNDER.
55. Lean and muscular: WIRY.
56. Capital on a fjord: OSLO - On 1/9/21 we learned OSLO has over 325 lakes from the puzzle by two Assistant Attorneys General of Iowa
57. Up one day, down the next: MOODY.
Down:
1. Spike: LACE - Street drugs can be LACED with most anything
2. Ragù __ Bolognese: ALLA - Recipe - Over 20 ingredients!
3. Leaner alternative to pork: BOAR - Leaner than domestic pork. A leaner alternative to beef is bison (NOT BUFFALO!)
4. "What?" utterances: EHS.
5. Anchor's responsibility: LAST LEG.
6. Akufo-Addo's land: GHANA - I wondered if it was a city, a dish or a man. Turns out it is the President of GHANA.
8. Continuous newsroom operations: PRESS RUNS - Lindberg landed!
10. Facetious metaphor for a difficult situation: STRUGGLE BUS - This campus bus driver has a great sense of humor
11. Mountain dangers: ROCK SLIDES.
12. Big volume: TOME.
13. They didn't stop Hannibal: ALPS.
15. Alfred E. Neuman feature: SMILE - A childhood companion
21. Bop on the bean: CONK.
22. Aptly named jazz work co-written by Charlie "Bird" Parker: ORNITHOLOGY.
24. When repeated, acclaimed Chinese pianist: LANG.
25. "I'm here to help": ASK ME.
26. Expected: DUE IN.
27. Inexperienced one: FIRST TIMER.
28. Legal orders: WRITS - Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The privilege of the WRIT of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” The Great Emancipator suspended it in 1861 just weeks after Fort Sumter citing the last part of the text.
29. Two before marzo: ENERO - In Mexico January comes two months before March
30. Fog word: DENSE.
32. Pilots start them: TV SEASONS - In the pilot for M*A*S*H, Hawkeye raffles off a date with a nurse and Fr. Mulcahy wins the rigged drawing
34. Twice-baked bread: RUSK - RUSK is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread 37. Squirt: RUNT.
38. Metal named for a planet: URANIUM - Also Mercury, Plutonium and Neptunium
40. Not pleased: CROSS.
42. In half: BY TWO - Divide BY TWO
43. Shallows craft: SCOW - They don't just haul garbage
44. Social science course, briefly: POLI - POLI Sci
46. Gene __: POOL.
47. Prom style, often: UPDO - Audrey did it as well as anyone. I wonder how Audrey wore her hair to her prom. The picture on the right is of her at 16 yrs old in Belgium
49. Active: SPRY.
51. Ontario-based music gp.: TSO - Appropriate for a member of the Oratorio Society of New York
By the way, if you are wondering why this talented, brilliant woman refers to herself as a "brawny brain", here is a picture of her setting her personal record of 325 pounds in the dead lift.
