Saturday, July 1, 2023, Annemarie Brethauer and Katie Hale

 Saturday Themeless by Annemarie Brethauer and Katie Hale

Annemarie and Patti's assistant editor Katie's offering on this day that marks the eve of the halfway point of the year, was very doable. Modern slang MKAY was unknown to me but solid crossers and repeating it many times made it a "had to be" fill. OKAY would have given me LOOOS so logical LOOMS took its rightful position.

There were several runs of very easy clue/fills which facilitated a fairly easy solve.

Tomorrow

        
Across:

1. Lean: LIST - TILT/TAUT worked at 1 Across and 1 Down (LIST/LANK) until they didn't.

5. Comedian profiled in "Last Man Standing": SAHL - Mort abandoned conventional comedy and took on hard issues of the day. The NYT called him, "Mark Twain with fangs".

                

9. Member-owned shop: COOP - CO-OPs are a big deal in farm communities

13. "Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself" org.: ACLU - Listing their concerns as RTS in yesterday's puzzle was not popular. 

14. Abbr. on an ESPN ticker: NCAA.

15. Home country of Olympian Pita Taufatofua: TONGA - Pita was entered in the tae-kwan-do and cross-country skiing in the 2018 Olympics but is more famous for carrying TONGA's flag shirtless.

16. Low-alcohol brews: NEAR BEERS.

18. Something to gain?: ENTRY 😀

19. Random comments online?: KEYBOARD SMASHES - I just did one, "Oaiw 4jfqo;iawfjen"

21. TV planet on which people age backward: ORK - 22. "Make sense?": YOU SEE with Robin Williams anything seems possible

23. Sydney's st.: NSW.

26. Was more than superficial: DUG - Perter, Paul and Mary sang I Dig Rock And Roll Music and I really DUG them!

28. Red choice: MERLOT.

31. "Sorry, can't make it": I HAVE PLANS - "That sock drawer won't sort itself!"

35. "We'll Meet Again" singer Lynn: VERA - An emotional standard of WWII

36. Feed: CATER.

37. Before, previously: ERE.

38. Burton of "Reading Rainbow": LEVAR.

39. Profess: AVER.

40. Finally learns about: GETS WISE TO.

42. Kind of filler: DERMAL.

44. Maroon 5's "__ Will Be Loved": SHE - Maroon 5's lead guitarist, James Valentine, is a proud product of Lincoln Southeast High School and is a former student of my son-in-law.

45. Service call?: LET - 😀 We had this tennis term a few weeks ago

46. Blue choice: COBALT.

49. Many times o'er: OFT.

51. Unnamed informant: ANONYMOUS SOURCE - A famous one

57. Treats, as a winter road: SALTS.

58. Catering production?: OSCAR BAIT - Movies made for the express purpose of winning an Oscar. Top ten failed OSCAR BAIT movies of 2016.

59. Healing plants: ALOES.

60. "Make sense?": MKAY - Slang for okay heard for "mmm...okay" from Mr. Mackey in South Park 

61. Some leafcutters: ANTS.

62. Catherine who is one of the six in Broadway's "Six": PARR - Catherine PARR was the last of Henry VIII's six wives and kept her head!

63. Fed. IDs: SSNS.

64. Blue-bottled vodka: SKYY.

A 40+ yr-old Ad

Down:

1. Lean: LANK - LANKY Cowboy by Trish Stevenson

2. Brand with Blue Lemonade and Blue Vanilla flavors: ICEE - Our crossword stalwart has many flavors and vowels.

3. "You __ me!": SLAY.

4. Lead-in for jet or prop: TURBO - It turns a prop and provides jet propulsion as well

5. Prepare to scare, with "on": SNEAK UP.

6. Big name in gaming monitors: ACER.

7. "Jude the Obscure" author: HARDY - First edition (1896) with an autographed note on the endpaper. $1,450.

8. Role for Sudeikis: LASSO.

9. Saves: CONSERVES.

10. Bona fide: ON THE LEVEL.

11. Scary figure: OGRE.

12. Picks up a bill, or hands a bill: PAYS.

15. Tantalize: TEASE.

17. Frame: BORDER - In 1906, the Countess of Béran gave this portrait its current frame, a Renaissance-era work consistent with the historical period of when it was painted

20. Some British parents: MUMS.

23. Battery acronym: NICAD - Nickel-Cadmium batteries are usually labelled Ni-Cd

24. Show one's face, maybe: SHAVE 😀

25. Medium also known as aquarelle: WATERCOLOR and 33. 25-Down, e.g.: ART. - Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also aquarelle(French: [akwaʁɛl]; from Italian diminutive of Latin aqua "water"). You're welcome.

27. Jane Lynch series: GLEE - She's the P.E. teacher in this ensemble picture

29. Give a skilled delivery: ORATE.

30. Allegorical cards: TAROT.

32. Ben or Jerry, notably: VERMONTER - The entrance to their facility in St. Alban, VT. It employs 200 people and runs 24 hrs/day producing over 500,000 pints of ice cream per day

34. Wit's end?: NESS and 38. Try to protect, in a way: LIE FOR.

40. T. Rex rock style: GLAM.

41. "Is that so?": WHO SAYS.

43. Vast chasm: ABYSS.

47. Rises into view: LOOMS - A legendary (if unsteady) Earth rising shot by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders on Christmas Eve 1968.

48. Warthog pair: TUSKS 😳

50. Low winds: TUBAS - Dean Hansen's Polka Band from Wahoo, NE is a favorite of my MIL and the TUBA is its heart and soul.

51. Urgent letters: ASAP.

52. Character voiced by Moira Kelly and Beyoncé: NALA.

53. Read quickly: SCAN.

54. Putrid: RANK.

55. Lincoln or Jackson: CITY - The capitals of Nebraska and Mississippi respectively 

56. Crafts site: ETSY.