20. "No one told me!": HOW WAS I TO KNOW?
26. Had a new proprietor: CHANGED OWNERSHIP.
46. Run errands during a bad storm, say: BRAVE THE ELEMENTS.
52. Heart of an operation, and a hidden feature of 20-, 26-, and 46-Across: COMMAND CENTER.
These seemingly unrelated phrases contain a hidden canine command in the center. Such a tight theme that each hidden word is exactly in the middle of the phrase - same number of letters on either side. Too perfect to be a coincidence.
20 - (5) SIT (5) 26 - (6) DOWN (6) 46 - (6) HEEL (6)
Melissa here, good morning everyone. I confess it took some time to reason this one out. I knew we were looking for something in the center, but with no clue as to how they were related and no circles ... the aha moment came slowly.
Across:
1. Galaxy body: STAR. A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity.
5. Fellow: CHAP. Chum. Bloke. Mate.
9. Mezcal base: AGAVE. Wikipedia: Mezcal, sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli, which means "oven-cooked agave," from metl and ixcalli.
14. Sharpen: HONE.
15. Chicago airport: O'HARE.
16. Mortal danger: PERIL. What song from recently-departed folk singer included lyrics: "The captain wired in he had water comin' in, and the good ship and crew was in peril?"
17. Like Scotch: AGED.
18. Flat-bottomed ship: BARGE.
19. Third-stringers: C TEAM. Makes sense but not sure I've ever heard the term. Is it common?
23. "Monsters, __": INC. Disney movie.
24. Like most of Nunavut's population: INUIT.
34. Solitary: LONE.
35. Ill-advised action: NONO.
36. Terse summons: SEE ME. Sounds ominous.
37. Climbing greenery: IVY.
38. Economist and social reformer Webb who coined the term "collective bargaining": BEATRICE. Glad to learn about her.
41. Sushi spheres: ROE.
42. Bronze, e.g.: MEDAL. Don't normally see bronze used as a noun.
44. European capital west of Helsinki: OSLO.
45. Rain buckets: POUR. Verb, not noun.
50. "Ouch!": YOWIE.
51. "Arrested Development" narrator Howard: RON.
59. Take the top off: UNCAP. Flash?
62. Coast: SHORE.
63. Bryant of "Human Resources": AIDY. About 1:30 she talks about the show, with a clip.
64. Garden tool: SPADE.
65. Tiny bits: IOTAS.
66. Grand opening?: MEGA. Help me out here. If it means 'Mega grand,' is that a phrase? I know Mega Millions, as in the lottery. There's a Grand Mega resort (but wouldn't that be Mega opening?) Or am I over-thinking it?
67. Follow, as a hunch: ACT ON.
68. Russian "no": NYET.
69. Utopia: EDEN.
Down:
1. Persian word for "king": SHAH.
2. Like takeout orders: TO GO.
3. From the top: ANEW.
4. Pinot noir or merlot: RED WINE.
5. Masala __: milky spiced tea: CHAI. What is chai and how to make it.
6. Male deer: HART.
7. Golden Fleece ship: ARGO. Argonaut, in Greek legend, any of a band of 50 heroes who went with Jason in the ship Argo to fetch the Golden Fleece.
8. Glance through an open door, say: PEEK IN.
9. Way for a high schooler to build credit?: AP COURSE. Advanced Placement.
10. Catch on (to): GET WISE.
11. "We __ the Champions": ARE. Queen! 'We Are The Champions' by Queen: The making of the ultimate stadium anthem.
12. By way of: VIA.
13. Stately tree: ELM.
15. Lewd: OBSCENE.
21. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" director Lee: ANG. The Melancholy of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ Feels More Potent Today.
22. St. Louis-to-Chicago dir.: NNE.
25. Charlize of "Mad Max: Fury Road": THERON.
26. Scale: CLIMB. Verb.
27. Be overattentive, as a waiter: HOVER. Don't remember what store had a solution to that. Different color shopping carts or bags - one for 'I'm open to receiving help,' and another for 'Leave me alone.'
28. Sometime soon: ANY DAY. Looking at it that way, it's saying any is the same as soon, but it isn't really. Any day could literally be any day, even a year from now. Maybe I'm overthinking again ;).
29. Classic film noir about a man investigating his own murder: DOA.
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30. Pirouetting, say: ON TOE.
31. In sorrier shape: WORSE.
32. "Catch you later": I'M OUT.
33. Social equals: PEERS.
38. Used dynamite on, as a safe: BLEW OPEN.
39. Unwell: ILL.
40. Strong-arms: COERCES.
43. Green topper for toast: AVOCADO.
45. Writer's alias: PEN NAME.
47. Three-time NBA Finals MVP Duncan: TIM.
48. Confines: HEMS IN.
49. Tavern owner on "The Simpsons": MOE. Did you know that behind the idea for Moe’s voice is an A-list celebrity?
53. Greeting on deck: AHOY.
54. Staff member?: NOTE. Nice clue. Musical notes. Wikipedia: In Western musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch or in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments.
55. "Dagnabbit!": DRAT.
56. Like a game headed to overtime: TIED.
57. Rim: EDGE. Both words can be verb or noun.
58. Actor Gosling: RYAN.
59. Mex. neighbor: USA.
60. Video game figure not controlled by a human: Abbr.: NPC. A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player.
61. Calico or tuxedo: CAT. Cat identification.
