Saturday, February 18, 2023, Tom Pepper and C.C. Burnikel

 Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper and C.C. Burnikel 

Our regular bloggers here know that Tom Pepper was a great source of strength for C.C. during her recent trials. All of us should have such a friend when we really need one. 

This wonderful picture shows constructors Andrea Carla Michaels, Tom Pepper and C.C. with kibitzer (and occasional constructor) Boomer.

Today she and Tom collaborate on this very challenging but doable puzzle. I really had to skate around the grid before the fun long fills revealed themselves. C.C. also told me that Tom is a golfer and got to play St. Andrews two years ago and there are two golfing clues today.

My final fill was at ROM_/ZEND_YA where the "A" was the only letter that made sense. I hope Tom and C.C. have another puzzle soon!

Across:

1. Wardrobe of one's dreams?: PAJAMA TOPS - 😀

11. "And then __!": SOME.

15. Honor won seven times by Nikki Giovanni: IMAGE AWARD - American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator who has won the NACCP IMAGE AWARD seven times

16. Makeshift sled from a cafeteria: TRAY.

17. Information for the record: LINER NOTES - The tipoff was "record" in the clue

18. Competent: ABLE.

19. Radio host Shapiro who sings with Pink Martini: ARI.

20. Org. whose website has a "Travelers' Health" page: CDC - Go to their site and fill in any where you are going in the world in the box on the right hand side to get a report.

21. Tarnished: SULLIED.

23. Pique periods: FITS 😀

25. Navigation software once called FreeMap Israel: WAZE - I had no idea but it soon occurred to me that WAZE has been used as fill here.

27. Tweak: ALTER - What we bloggers, well this one anyway, do up to the last minute

28. Full-bodied: STOUT.

30. Flat rates?: RENTS - This flat in London RENTS for ₤1,600 pcm (per calendar month) which is $1,928/month

32. Before: AGO.

33. Field trip?: ERROR - A 65. Field worker?: REF would have to spot the ball where this runner was first touched  

35. Org. with conferences: NCAA.

36. Prune: LOP.

37. Cholesterol-rich burger toppers: FRIED EGGS - 😧

40. Venue with programmes: BBC - London has flats and the British Broadcast Corporation has programmes 

43. Cuarón Oscar winner about a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico: ROMA.

44. Hoodwinks: SNOWS - SCAMS gave way to SNOW jobs

47. 100%: ALL.

48. Best Driver and Best Jockey, e.g.: ESPYS - 2022 ESPY Winners

50. Flounder's best friend, in a Disney film: ARIEL - This cel from the 1989 feature cartoon shows ARIEL, Sebastian and Flounder and sold for $1,100. Ten years later Disney put a lot of animators out of work by using CGI instead of hand-drawn films.

52. Monet's cathedral city: ROUEN - Monet did a series of impressionistic paintings like this one of the cathedral at ROUEN. Here are more.

54. Careful handling: TACT.

56. Danish shoe brand: ECCO - This ECCO MEN'S TRACK 25 MOC GTX SHOE will run you $240

57. Lose it: GO BATTY - Obscure names of obscure people on obscure shows on obscure networks 

59. Homes on the road, briefly: RVS.

61. Fell: HEW - Definitely a step above lopping

62. 25-Across et al.: APPS.

63. "Can you drive me?": I NEED A RIDE.

66. Little more than: MERE - Ralph Kramden, "It's not a lot of money, Alice!"

67. Heart-to-hearts: TETE-A-TETES - TÊTE-A-TÊTES should sometimes be discrete

68. Olympic archer?: EROS.

69. Holds one's ground: STANDS FAST - I can't use Rosa as an example too often!

Down:

1. Rice dishes: PILAFS - I thought the answer would be more exotic than this cwd staple

2. "Ya with me?": AM I RITE - The "ya" in the clue hinted at an informal fill

3. Cleaning agent: JANITOR.

4. Datum requested by winery websites: AGE.

5. Defunct Ford div.: MERC - The car racing Greased Lightning in Grease was a black 1949 MERCury Series 9CM

6. Mug alternative: A AND W - A AND W root beer is way better than Mug Root Beer. Uh, some of those A AND W mugs did not make it back into the store.

7. Garage type: TWO CAR - Every house being built in our neighborhood now has THREE CAR garages

8. __ of This Swirled: Ben & Jerry's flavor with cookie bits: OAT - 😀

9. Charisma: PRESENCE - Ursula  Burns, the CEO of Xerox, has it

10. California sch.: SDSU - South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD would have worked but it's a little further east

11. Buy time: STALL - "Uh, er, yeah, well, ya know..."

12. Revolutionary?: ORBITAL - I had a real V-8 moment when it came to me!

13. One source of toxic behavior: MALE EGO.

14. Systane dose: EYEDROP.

22. One of the oldest types of pasta: LASAGNA - LASAGNA is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, type of pasta, dating back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Romans baked this pasta in a dish called ‘lagana’

24. Crowd __: SURF.

26. Emmy-winning star of "Euphoria": ZENDAYA - ZENDAYA (Maree Stoermer Coleman)

29. Onslaught: TORRENT.

31. Elements added to a photo's metadata: TAGS.

34. Ocho __, Jamaica: RIOS - Even I know Ocho RIOS means eight rivers but I read that there are only four rivers that come to this beautiful city. 

38. Like some hockey goals: EMPTY NET - A team that is trailing may take out its goalie to have six attackers but they risk this happening.

39. Ticked off: SORE - BTW, Patrik Stefan above was SORE because, as you can see, he actually missed the net on this opportunity

40. Darts, e.g.: BAR GAME - I was amazed when I found out that the highest score you can get in a game of Darts is 180 - all three of your darts in the triple 20 ring. Three bulls eyes gets you 150.

41. Goof: BLOOPER.

42. Many a golf instructor: CLUB PRO - Tyler Kingston at my club

45. Kansas setting of "Dennis the Menace": WICHITA  - How Hank Ketcham chose this city

46. Leaves the country, in a way: SECEDES - and so it began

49. Listen to first, say: SCREEN - Caller ID can serve as a SCREEN for incoming phone calls

51. Like a winning golf score: LOWEST - In the 1997 Master's, Tiger was LOWEST by 12 strokes 

53. Lets up: EASES.

55. Jack Pearson or Phil Dunphy: TV DAD - From This Is Us and Modern Family respectively 

58. Small songbirds: TITS - Nope... 

60. Exams no longer considered for admissions decisions at UC: SATS - Here you go

64. Itinerary info: ETA.