Saturday Themeless by Ricky Sirois
Wow! What an amazing grid with only 27 blocks and 102 open squares.
The grid is filled with triple rows of 10's and triple stacks of 9's. All this was complemented by the usual Saturday wordplay and red herrings.
I hope none of you JUMPED SHIP.
Across:
1. Bailed: JUMPED SHIP
11. Brand at the pet store: ALPO.
15. Call after a knock, perhaps: ANYONE HOME.
16. Nu-metal pioneers: KORN - What is Nu-metal music?
17. Please and thank you, e.g.: MAGIC WORDS.
18. Steve of "Peacemaker": AGEE - The Mets outfielder (Tommy) and screenwriter for The African Queen (James) didn't make the Saturday cut.
19. Big heads: EGOS.
20. "But you just got here!": SO SOON - The year 2022?
22. Scamp: IMP.
23. Faces: SIDES - This die has 20 faces or SIDES (an icosahedron)
27. Proclamation: DECREE.
30. Astringent cosmetic: TONER
35. Zimbabwe's most populous city: HARARE - This capital city in Southern Africa has six KFC's (red dots on the map)
36. State fruit of California: AVOCADO.
38. Underground dwellers of urban myth: MOLE MEN - Superman and The Mole Men in a very low budget TV show.
39. Samurai sword: KATANA - Hilarious John Belushi uses his in The Samurai Delicatessen
40. Image in Magritte's "The Treachery of Images": PIPE - The French below the image says, "This is not a pipe". Magritte said it is only an image of a pipe.
41. Contractor's no.: EST - In 1979, our school chose the lowest ESTIMATE. They wanted to build an new junior high in the worst way and, by golly, that's just what they did.
42. Terse postgame recap: I LOST.
43. Together: DATING.
45. Place to order 2-Down: SUSHI BAR and 2. Eel, on a menu: UNAGI.
47. Giveaways: TELLS - In this M*A*S*H poker game, Winchester whistled when he was bluffing. He got cleaned out.
51. Use a touchscreen: TAP.
52. Crenshaw kin: CASABA.
55. Bound: LEAP - He could also LEAP over MOLE MEN
56. "... two fives for __?": A TEN - How 'bout two tens for a five by these two masters?
58. Classic film based on the play "Everybody Comes to Rick's": CASABLANCA.
60. Govt. weather agency: NOAA.
61. Be aware enough not to do something foolish: KNOW BETTER.
62. Gets to: IRKS.
63. "Oh, you!": SILLY GOOSE.
Down:
1. Lily of "Pam & Tommy": JAMES - I remember her as Lady Rose in Downton Abbey. It took four hours everyday to convert her into Pamela Anderson using prosthetics for the Hulu series.
3. [Gasp]: MY GOD.
4. Ready and waiting: POISED.
5. Abbr. on a business letter: ENC.
6. Code Reds, e.g.: DEWS.
8. Stable creatures, colloquially: HORSIES or HORSEYS
9. "Stick a fork in me": I'M DONE.
10. Capital of Cuba: PESOS.
11. Sobriquet letters: AKA and 12. Useful sobriquet: LOGIN NAME.
21. Scout's terse assessment: NO TALENT - This has made Simon Cowell a millionaire many times over by being a frank 32. Judgmental sort: EVALUATOR.
24. Like some differences: SEMANTIC.
26. Greater: MORE.
28. Oscar winner about a teenager who is the only hearing member of her family: CODA.
31. Many an Urdu speaker: PAKISTANI - Go to this site to see today's date in Urdu print and if you hit the speaker button you can hear it pronounced
33. In a way: SO TO SPEAK.
35. Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Arizona: HOPI - ha'u - If you'd like to know an easy Hopi word, "ha'u" (sounds a little like hah-uh) means "hello" in Hopi.
37. Exchanged notes?: CASH - Over 1,600 banks issued their own notes by 1861. Then the U.S. government started issuing notes to help finance the Civil War
38. Sch. that hosts an annual Mystery Hunt: MIT - Everything you want to know
40. Shade provider: PARASOL.
43. Aquafina rival: DASANI
46. Sticks up for: BACKS.
48. Slowly, in music: LENTO - I used Schubert's Ave Maria as an example recently
49. Corset securers: LACES - Anna laces up Lady Mary on Downton Abbey
50. Leftover: SPARE.
53. Go through a lot of tissues: BAWL.
54. Soccer star Wambach: ABBY.
57. Rapper who narrates Netflix's "The Get Down": NAS - We see his name here often but will never see his lyrics
59. Support under the table?: LEG.
