CHECK MARK✔
Theme from the Sting (The Entertainer) on Vibraphone
Hump Day~! Another Rebecca Goldstein puzzle - this time she's partnered with Rafael Musa, whose latest LA Times constructions were themeless Saturdays blogged by HuskerG. A 'normal' 15 x15 grid, and what is becoming a "normal" ( for me ) Wednesday occurrence, circles. Today's circles are in a pattern reminiscent of the way a chess knight moves, but skewed 45°, and all four examples use the letters V, I, B & E - The result; a CHECK mark, and a graphic representation of the theme of the puzzle;
57. "How's everybody feeling?," e.g., and an apt description of this puzzle's circled letters: VIBE CHECK - ✔
I have not heard or used this phrase; I guess I am just "OLD". It does sound Millennial, or GenZ, so I'm not surprised. On the flip side, we did have three other solid, nine-letter fills, so I am going to add those at the top of the write-up here, for Cornerites who care to "cheat" ( I used to 'peek' at the Saturday write-up for a little "assistance ). I did not get my "ta-DA~!" after the puzzle was filled; turns out I had a "U" in the cell where the "I" is, highlighted in the solution above, and it was the theme that helped me see my mistake....
16A. "That's my cue to leave": "I BETTER GO." - reminds me of the closing scene from Pulp Fiction - ✔
Vincent and Jules, dressed in T-shirts and shorts, "think they should be leaving now"
3D. Story connectors: ELEVATORS - Dah~! I got caught up thinking story as in tales, novels, movies, etc.
32D. Smarts: INTELLECT
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Swerve: VEER
5. Person in a toque: CHEF
9. Explicit content warning letters: NSFW - Not Suitable For Work
13. Vogue rival: ELLE
14. Short video on Instagram: REEL - new clue for this answer; I don't Instagram - filled via perps
15. "Cloud Atlas" star Berry: HALLE - never saw this movie - sounds intriguing, so I borrowed the book and started reading it this week - name #1
18. Instruments with bell-shaped bottoms: OBOES
19. Field near a volcano: LAVA BED
20. Race in place: REV
22. Go all in, maybe: BET - meh. It's not really a bet so much as a bluff, or desperation call
23. Help: AID
24. Person who doesn't sugarcoat things: REALIST - I consider myself a realist
26. Envelope abbr.: ATTN - ATTENTION - see 35A.
28. Fed a friend's iguana, say: PET SAT - I found another picture of my iguana Zeus - ✔
30. Cranberry farm: BOG
31. Finale: ENDING
35. Microwave aluminum foil, say: ERR - I actually made this error a week ago - I just wanted to take the chill off a protein bar, never noticing the foil package - but the sparks in the zapper got my ATTENTION - ✔
36. Endearing: LOVABLE
38. Word between last names: NÉE - Frawnche
39. "__ learned!": LESSON - I had to learn how to solder a windline joint last week - we are installing the windlines for the new pipe organ at St. Peter's Harwich, MA, this week. Here's a picture of a reed rank laid out so we can modify its wind chest for the Washington National Cathedral - ✔
41. Apple platform: iOS - I'm a PC
42. __-Alt-Del: CTRL - and this is how you FIX PCs
43. Endorses digitally: eSIGNS - Living in CT, I did a lot of eSigning for documents related to NY accounts - I wonder about the legality sometimes, when you take into consideration hackers
46. Takes a nosedive: CRATERS - There have been numerous episodes of Air Disasters where a mechanical failure led to a plane taking a nosedive, resulting in a crater.
49. Election Day mo.: NOVember, and fast approaching
50. Jockey item with straps?: BRA - Jockey, the brand name
55. Cravalho who voices Moana: AULI'I - name #3, did not see the movie, had no clue; her IMDb
59. Plug protrusion: PRONG
61. Hurt: ACHE
62. Jazz legend James: ETTA - name #5, crossword staple
63. Allows: LETS
64. Stash, as a carry-on: STOW
DOWN:
1. Accessory for some brides: VEIL - I was "today years old" when I saw this video - NOT Weird Al's version....
The Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy
4. Keeps: RETAINS - AND rhyming - 24. Wins back: REGAINS
5. First Nations people: CREE - I WAGed OTOE. Bzzzt~!
6. Bison bunch: HERD
8. Cauliflower cut: FLORET - ah. I missed this on the first pass - broccoli would have clued me in
10. Mess-makers: SLOBS
11. Group of ships: FLEET - ARMADA didn't fit
12. "__ Coast best coast": WEST - WAG for the rhyme
15. Freeway section marked with diamonds: HOV LANE
17. "More info soon": TBD
21. Studio supports: EASELS - Artist's studios, that is
25. "__ be amazing if ... ": IT'D - meh, but necessary
26. Cain's brother: ABEL - name #7
27. Ripped: TORE
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - ✔
33. Make less powerful, in gamer slang: NERF - filled via perps, but it sorta makes sense
34. Coins in a game of dreidel: GELT
36. Got blown out: LOST BIG - especially if you went 'All In'
37. Code for the busiest airport in Massachusetts: BOS - Boston Airport didn't sound right, until I recalled that it's called "Logan" Airport
42. Does a fast-paced Latin dance: CHA-CHAs
44. Colorful stones at the bottom of an aquarium: GRAVEL - uh, well, I guess it is gravel; I had more than one aquarium as a kid - I am thinking about doing another - I can be on the road without worrying about my fish.
46. Pickleball venue: COURT
47. Airstream stopover, for short: RV LOT - meh. RV Park is a more common 'phrase', and based on a website during my search, an RV LOT is a permanent (so to speak) rental spot to park your RV - not really a "stopover"
48. Cul-de-__: SAC - Frawnche
49. Back of the neck: NAPE
51. Notice in passing?: OBITuary
52. Suggestions, for short: RECS - meh. I am guessing "recommendations", but this is something I do not typically use, or hear, in my daily travels
53. Reverberation: ECHO
54. Distort: SKEW - Dah~! Not WARP
56. Cookbook writer Garten: INA - Dah~! I filled in UTA - the "other" three-letter name I always get wrong; Uta is the German actress who frequently appears in crossword puzzles, too
58. Intense anger: IRE
Splynter - ✔
