You can say that again!
20-Across. "That's what we agreed on": A DEAL IS A DEAL.
29-Across. "Can't argue with the truth": FACTS ARE FACTS.
47-Across. "Can't fight City Hall": RULES ARE RULES.
And the unifier:
56-Across. "That's life" ... and a summing-up of 20-, 29- and 47-Across: IT IS WHAT IT IS.
Across:
1. FX for some Marvel characters: CGI. As in
Computer Generated Imagery.
4. '30s veep John __ Garner: NANCE. John Nance Garner, III
(Nov. 22, 1868 ~ Nov. 7, 1967) was a politician from Texas. He was known
as Cactus Jack. He got the nickname when he tried to get the Texas
legislature to name the prickly pear cactus as the State Flower. (The
cactus lost out, however, to the Bluebell.) I imagine he also had a
prickly personality. He served as Vice President during the first 2
terms of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) presidency. Roosevelt and
Garner parted ways after FDR's second term. They had a number of
disagreements, and Garner famously described the Vice Presidency as "not being
worth a bucket of warm p**s."
9. Different: OTHER.
14. __ & Hammer baking soda: ARM.
15. Throw for __: upset: A LOOP.
16. Lumbering critter seen on safaris: RHINO.
17. Make like Drake: RAP. Aubrey Drake Graham (b. Oct. 24,
1986) is a Canadian rapper who goes by his middle name.
18. Hot dog topper: CHILI. This would not be my choice.
19. Gave up formally: CEDED.
23. La., once: TERR. The State of Louisiana is actually only
a tiny portion of the Louisiana Territory.
24. Latin word for "brought back" used in titles: REDUX.
25. Haleakala National Park locale: MAUI.
32. Period of time: SPELL.
34. Bollywood wrap: SARI. The Hollywood of India that is
based in Mumbai.
35. Who, in Paris: QUI. Today's French lesson.
36. Tic-__-toe: TAC.
37. Drink suffix: -ADE. Hi, Lemonade!
40. Inc.'s U.K. cousin: LTD. Both are business entities.
41. Coffee dispenser: URN.
42. Pertinent: APT.
43. Ostracize: SHUN.
45. Barely making, with "out": EKING.
51. One-named "Pillowtalk" singer: ZAYN. I am not familiar
with Zayn (né Zain Javadd Malik; b. Jan. 12, 1993). Apparently before he
went solo, he was in the boy band, One Direction.
52. Pitney __: BOWES. Pitney Bowes is a technology company
that specializes on postage meters and other mailing services.
53. Puerto __: RICO. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated
territory of the United States.
59. Baby Yoda's real name: GROGU. Hand up if you knew this!
62. Workout regimen: TAE BO.
63. Rollover acronym: IRA. As in Individual Retirement Account.
64. Wavy dos: PERMS.
65. HR assessments: EVALS. As in employee Evaluations that the Human Resource maintains.
66. Mork's home planet: ORK. A reference to the late '70s
sit-com, Mork and Mindy. It was too silly for me
67. Tiptoe deviously: SNEAK.
68. "For __ sake!": PETE'S.
69. Long of "Empire": NIA. Nia Talita Long (b. Oct. 30,
1970) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.
Down:
1. Jeweler's measure: CARAT. The Hope Diamond is 45.52 carats.
2. Test score: GRADE.
3. In a flawed way: IMPERFECTLY.
4. Salt formula: NaCl.
5. Trumpet great with a statue in New Orleans: AL HIRT. Al
Hirt (né Alois Maxwell Hirt; Nov. 7, 1922 ~ Apr. 27, 1999) was born and died
in New Orleans, Louisiana.
6. Creaks and shrieks: NOISES.
7. Piña __: rum
drinks: COLADAS. Yummers!
8. Anesthetic injection that eases pain: EPIDURAL. Yet just
the thought of having an epidural gives me the willies.
9. Black-and-white ocean predator: ORCA.
10. Louise's title pal: THELMA. The 1991 movie, Thelma and Louise, which starred Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, was also one of Brad Pitt's
early films.
11. Kept out of sight: HID.
12. L.A.-to-Chicago dir.: ENE. East-NorthEast.
13. Curtain holder: ROD.
21. Devastated sea: ARAL. This sea has drastically been disappearing very rapidly.
22. Use, as influence: EXERT.
26. Corporate expansion tactic: ACQUISITION.
27. Turnpike no-no, usually: U-TURN.
28. "Of Thee __": I SING.
30. Many a Zoom session: CLASS. I am Zoomed out!
31. Castro of Cuba: FIDEL.
32. Cable network that's a homophone for movie headliners: STARZ.
It's logo has changed a few times over the past 20+ years.
33. __ New Guinea: PAPUA. Interesting facts about Papua New Guinea.
38. Abu __: DHABI. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United
Arab Emirates. It is actually located on an island in the Persian Gulf.
The name means "Father (Abu) of the Gazelle (Dhabi)".
39. Tricky basketball footwork named for the continent of its origin: EURO STEP. This is a new one for me.
44. '70s-'80s genre associated with the Knack's "My Sharona": NEW WAVE. My Sharona made The Knacks a One-Hit-Wonder.
46. Actress Russell: KERI. Keri Russell (b. Mar. 23, 1976)
portrayed the female Russian spy in The Americans, a show we
binged on last year.
48. Real puzzle: ENIGMA.
49. Nuke, as leftovers: REHEAT.
50. Of service: USABLE.
54. Clouds that sound like a virtual assistant: CIRRI.
55. Japanese port: OSAKA. Anyone going to the Olympics this
week?
57. Warthog weapon: TUSK. Everything you wanted to know
about Warthogs, but didn't know to ask.
58. Throw easily: TOSS.
59. Navig. technology: GPS. As in the Global Positioning System. The GPS has certainly reduced arguments when traveling on a long
road trip!
60. Stimpy's sidekick: REN. These cartoon creatures make
frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.
61. Iron mine output: ORE. A crossword staple.
Here's the Grid: