Saturday, August 28, 2021, Craig Stowe

 Themeless Saturday by Craig Stowe 

Our Toronto themeless regular is back for more Saturday entertainment after a one month absence! Here is what Craig had to say about this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the email.  I hope you're doing well.

I don't have much to say about this one.  I started with THERE'S THAT and PODCASTER as anchors and wove my way around the grid looking for interesting fill.  I hope people enjoy it!

All the best,

Craig

ACROSS

1. Dangerous Beijing blanket: SMOG - SMOG is now back to the its pre-covid level 

5. Many an online host: PODCASTER - My favorite

14. Unladen weight: TARE - Also called light weight (LT WT) for an empty rail car

15. Ephemeral emporium: POP UP STORE - Here's a unique one that will be gone soon

16. Biblical Rodin work: ADAM - Interesting ties between Rodin's Adam and Michalangelo (even I get the extended right index finger)

17. Phenomenal: SUPERHUMAN - Our healthcare workers and first responders!

18. Business card abbr.: TEL.

19. Honduran hands: MANOS.

20. Filing aids: TABS.

21. May birthstones: EMERALDS.

23. Not as nice: WORSE.

24. Pay equity concern: SEXISM - Teacher pay schedules are the exact the same for men and women 

25. Word with social or media: EVENT.

27. Muse with a lyre: ERATO.

28. Classical theaters: ODEA - Speaking of Greek, here is an ODEUM (pl. ODEA) where those using ERATO as a muse might present their work

29. Brit's nap: KIP - All you'd ever want to know about KIP and nap

32. Georgia neighbor: ARMENIA - ALABAMA was just so "not Saturday" cluing (yeah, I put it in  first anyway)

34. Its capital is St. George's: GRENADA.

37. Lille lily: LYS.

38. Ostrichlike bird: RHEA.

40. Industrial heavyweight: BARON.

41. Deplete: USE UP - The erasers on my crossword pencils (e.g. LIT replacing HOT and others from yesterday)

43. Economic curve: DEMAND - The far right side is for people who bought Beanie Babies many years ago.

44. Brief aides?: ASSTS.

46. Precursor of today's musical theater: OPERETTA - such as:

48. Mackerel type: CHUB 

Chub Mackerel on top
Blue Mackerel on bottom

49. Make short work of the test: ACE IT - Hey, it could happen!

50. Subside: EBB.

51. "Point taken": THERE'S THAT.

53. Woody Guthrie, e.g.: OKIE.

54. Like some feuds: HEREDITARY - "Hey, gramps, can you even remember why we're mad at those Hatfields?"

55. Brief bio: VITA - VITA Curriculum is a crossword staple

56. Ergo: AS A RESULT.

57. River partly on the Poland-Germany border: ODER.

Down:

1. Washington's features George: STATE SEAL.

2. Partied hearty: MADE MERRY.

3. Deterrents to ghostwriting: ORAL EXAMS.

4. Treasure: GEM.

5. Hammer: POUND - We baseball peeps know of Hank "The Hammer" Aaron for how he used to POUND the baseball. Okay, also for the alliteration. 

6. Not in favor: OPPOSED - Being OPPOSED to your party leader's position can have serious consequences for you

7. Some charges: DUES - Three days of subbing last week earned me enough for 40% of my yearly golf club DUES

8. ER technique: CPR.

9. He played Michael in "That '70s Show": ASHTON - I recently saw ASHTON Kutcher starring as Steve Jobs in the movie Jobs

Steve Jobs                                 Ashton Kutcher

10. Mary, Queen of Scots' house: STUART - Mary is five lines down on the STUART side before she was beheaded by her Tudor cousin Elizabeth.

11. Some memorials: TOMBS - Mary's remains were moved to Westminster Abbey and this is her TOMB

12. Wipe out: ERASE.

13. __ Zhengfei, CEO/founder of smartphone giant Huawei: REN.

15. Church reading: PSALM.

19. Cement mixer: MASON - We MASONS called it a mortar mixer

22. Liturgy: RITE.

23. Grate (on): WEAR - Fran Drescher discusses  her "grating" voice

26. Lyra's brightest star: VEGA - This summer when you saw VEGA as a bright star in "The Summer Triangle", that light left VEGA in 1996 and just reached Earth in 2021.

28. Home to most of Hawaii's population: OAHU - This population density chart for Hawaii makes it pretty easy to pick out OAHU

29. Mr. Miyagi's charge, with "The": KARATE KID - "Wax on, wax off"

30. "It's ok, you can trust me": I DON'T BITE.

31. Black-and-white Chinese native: PANDA BEAR - Its range has really shrunk

33. More than displeases: IRES.

35. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic: EBERT.

36. Title: NAME.

39. Earth-shattering: EPOCHAL - Truman, Churchill and Stalin made EPOCHAL decisions at Potsdam in 1945

41. Person of interest?: USURER - Are these people USURERS?

42. "Father of Eng. History": ST BEDE.

43. Exalted one: DEITY.

44. Smarts: ACHES.

45. Superheroine Adora, more commonly: SHE-RA.

47. Rush drummer Neil: PEART.

49. Alaskan island in the Eastern Hemisphere: ATTU - Fun fact: Alaska has the farthest East and West point in the USA

51. Lil Wayne's "__ Block Is Hot": THA - He made a filthy version and a radio version and I guarantee you that kids today know both.

52. Household nickname: SIS.

53. Ab __: from day one: OVO - Latin for "from the beginning, the origin, the egg"