Saturday April, 8, 2023, Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic

  Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic

Rafael and Brooke provided us a real Saturday challenge and I have highlighted my one bad cell here. I had no chance at SAZERACS and I felt SIA would not be correct since Singapore was in the clue. Over the past year or so, I have come to know SIA as a singer with distinctive hair styles but Patti did not use her here.

The long fill was very gettable but did take some finaggling to get the letters lined up correctly.  As usual, Brooke, et. al's diabolical cluing was fun after it was frustrating. Even the arcane internet fill went quietly, eventually.

Across:

1. Copywriter?: SCRIBE - If you have ever taken the ride through Spaceship Earth, you have seen this sleeping SCRIBE in one of the tableaus

7. New Orleans cocktails: SAZERACS - Sorry, Big Easy, I had no idea. The classic Sazerac recipe expertly balances whiskey with sugar, bitters and absinthe.

15. Browned, maybe: COOKED.

16. "That was great!": I LOVED IT.

17. Compliment-fisher's question: AREN'T I? - "I'm a good person, AREN'T I?"

18. __ dollar: ALMIGHTY - "When in doubt, follow the money"

19. Osso buco accompaniment: RISOTTO.

21. "Watch this space" letters: TBA.

22. Social reformer Dorothea: DIX.

23. Academy near the Culinary Institute in New York: WEST POINT - I kept fighting WEST POINT because it seemed too easy

26. Winter Palace ruler: TSAR.

28. Mouth part: ROOF.

29. Guys: HES.

32. 24-hour extension period?: LEAP YEAR - 😀. It took a little cogitating! 

34. Conceive: IDEATE - Crossword learning 

37. Happy characters: SMILEYS - Oh, like these 😀😁😃?

38. Easy way to get a six-pack: BEER RUN - Smokey And The Bandit was about a Coors BEER RUN 

39. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, maybe: UP LATE.

40. Timely blessings: GODSENDS - I married mine 56 years ago

41. F1 neighbor: ESC.

42. __ Club: SAM'S.

44. Assist, often: PASS - 😀 I loved this clue (eventually)

45. __ college: ELECTORAL.

48. Irrelevant stat for an EV: MPG - Miles Per Kilowatt?

51. Bird in the bush: EMU - The bush country of Australia 😀

52. Finish with a bang?: MIC DROP - That's all there is to say!

56. Oxygen infusers: AERATORS.

59. Fade away: DIE OUT.

60. Sports comedy whose sequel stars LeBron James: SPACE JAM - 26% on Rotten Tomatoes

61. Livorno locale: ITALIA.

62. Surefire: CAN'T MISS.

63. Surprisingly: NO LESS.

Down:

1. Slash mark: SCAR.

2. Missouri representative Bush: CORI.

3. Small deer: ROES - Sure I put FAWN first

4. Remark from someone with the perfect spot in mind: I KNOW A PLACE.

5. "Actually, it might be more fun if ... ": BETTER YET.

6. Exchanges words?: EDITS 😀

7. Singapore Airlines, for short: SIA - Not the singer Patti has had in a quite a few recent puzzles 

8. Exceedingly: ALL TOO.

9. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, jocularly: ZOMBIFIED.

10. "Water the way nature intended" water: EVIAN.

11. Short rule?: REG - Short for REGulation 

12. "Driven to Distraction" condition: Abbr.: ADHD.

13. Big Four bank name: CITI.

14. River down under?: STYX - The mythical river between Earth and the Underworld    

20. "Others," in Spanish: OTRAS - Puedes inviter a OTRAS personas. (You can invite other people).

24. __ ejemplo: POR - ¿Cuál es, POR ejemplo, su solución? (What, for example, is your solution?)

25. Genuine: THE REAL DEAL.

26. Mesa neighbor: TEMPE - TEMPE hosts the Angels in spring training and Mesa hosts the Cubs

27. Goes where the wind blows: SAILS.

30. Brings home: EARNS.

31. Hunks: STUDS.

32. Sch. that's home to the Golden Band from Tigerland: LSU.

33. Texter's "I need to hear the drama!": EYES EMOJI.

35. Reggaeton megahit whose title means "slowly": DESPACITO

36. Nav. rank: ENS.

38. Bust: BOSOM.

40. BBC clock setting: GMT - No matter where the International Space Station is, the astronauts go by Greenwich Mean Time (zero degrees longitude)

43. Legends, e.g.: ACURAS.

46. "So what if they do?": LET 'EM.

47. Chamillionaire song that starts "They see me rollin'": RIDIN'

48. Certain gender presentation, briefly: MASC.

49. Member of a rap trio with Spinderella: PEPA.

50. Family nickname: GRAN.

53. Play thing: ROLE - Al Pacino  was offered the ROLE of Han Solo but turned it down

54. Non-opposing remarks?: OUIS - 😀 Non is the French word for NO and so...

55. Fundraising orgs.: PTAS.

57. Play thing: ACT.

58. Texting letters: SMS - The blue message below indicates it is using the Apple iMessage system and the green message indicates the Short Message System