Happy Monday, everyone! Can you believe it is the last day of September? If you are like me, any melancholy over that realization disappeared when you saw that Zhouqin Burnikel was today's constructor. As is her style, she gave us a clever theme with fair clues.
Theme: Ophiology
Let's begin with the themed clues & answers:
16 Across. Netflix true crime series about big cats: TIGER KING. This TV show ran on Netflix during the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home, looking for entertainment. I gave up my Netflix account in 2013 so I never saw it.
24 Across. Evergreen that grows well in coastal soil: SAND PINE. The SAND PINE is endemic to the Southeastern U.S. Its Latin name is Pinus clausa and its common names are "Florida spruce pine" and "scrub pine".
Side note: This is what we mean when we say Zhouqin's puzzles are fair and it is why she is a favorite on The Corner. If you are not familiar with this answer, you can still suss it out with a few perps and by connecting coastal to SAND and evergreen to PINE.
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| "Pinus clausa" sounds like it should be native to the North Pole. |
37 Across. Backyard hideout: TREE HOUSE. 
53 Across. Great Barrier Reef locale: CORAL SEA. I first tried "Australia" but ran out of boxes. more about the Coral Sea
And the reveal:
63 Across. Predatory fish capable of crawling on land, or what each part of 16-, 24-, 37- and 53-Across can be: SNAKEHEAD. This is an air-breathing freshwater fish that is not native to North America. The USGS answers your questions.
To be ssssuccinct, every word in the themed answers can come before (at the HEAD of) the word SNAKE.
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| Top row l to r: Tiger Snake, California King Snake, Sand Snake, Louisiana Pine Snake Bottom row l to r: Brown Tree Snake, Brown House Snake, Coral Snake, Sea Snake |
To be honest, I really wish this puzzle had not fallen on a Monday. SNAKEs are not my thing. It took a lot of dedication to gather these photos. I am not exaggerating when I say that I will have a nightmare about a snake tonight. If you would like more information on any of these animals, please open another TAB on your browser (See 1-Across below.) and search to your heart's content.
Slithering on....
1. Things opened in bars and browsers: TABS. This was a fun 1-Across! One can open a TAB (bill) at a bar or a TAB (interface) within your computer's browser.
5. Surfer's ride: WAVE. Did you watch the men's surfing final from the 2024 Olympics? (3:40 min.)
9. Pollution in the sky: SMOG.
13. French friend: AMIE.
14. Done: OVER.
15. Spread the wealth: SHARE.
18. Big: LARGE.
19. "Still pending" letters: TBD. To Be Determined
20. Jacob's twin: ESAU.
21. Parent company of Simmons: SERTA. Both are brand names of mattresses.
22. Jumps like a frog: LEAPS. I searched for a .gif of a frog LEAPing but instead chose this adorable kitten playing leap frog with its littermates.
27. "Finish every last bite on your plate!": EAT IT UP. Yes, that is the literal interpretation. "EAT IT UP" is also an idiom that can mean "to believe unquestioningly that something is true" or "to thoroughly enjoy something".
30. Marshy wetland: BOG. I learned from this video that acidic water is an important characteristic of a BOG. What is a Bog? (1:41 min.)
31. Minor criticism: NIT. Last week TTP gave us a new-to-me definition of NIT: a unit of measurement used to quantify the brightness of electronic displays, particularly those with emissive technologies like LEDs, OLEDs, and microLEDs.
32. Beige kin: TAN. Both are colors.
33. The Matterhorn's range: ALPS. This Matterhorn is in Southern California (hence the palm trees). It has its own resident Yeti.
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| Disneyland, Anaheim, CA |
35. Actress Durance: ERICA. She is a Canadian actress born in 1978. She looks familiar. Maybe I have seen her in a Hallmark Christmas movie??? her IMDb page
40. "Same here!": ME, TOO. My oldest brother did all the talking. My next brother would then say, "Me, too." For a while my parents made that his nickname. BTW, my oldest brother still does all the talking...he became a lawyer.
43. On-campus residence: DORM.
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| That device on the table is one of those baby monitor things. |
44. Co. such as Verizon Fios: ISP. "Company" is abbreviated, so is "Internet Service Provider".
47. 15, for a quinceañera era: AGE. If you read NaomiZ's blog about Zhouqin's Sept. 22 puzzle, then you know that this is a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday.
48. Drag with effort: LUG.
50. Energetic songs, in slang: BANGERS. I hear this term a lot on NPR's All Songs Considered podcast.
56. In the lead: ON TOP.
57. Powwow host: TRIBE.
58. Brightly colored: NEON. Just the one song today. It's not a BANGER, but it's a good one.
John Mayer ~ Neon ~ 2001
61. CFO's degree: MBA. Chief Financial Officer" is abbreviated, so is "Master of Business Administration".
62. Serious genre: DRAMA.
65. More friendly: NICER.
66. Coiled garden tool: HOSE.
67. Poker stake: ANTE.
68. Mimicked: APED.
69. Watched closely: EYED.
70. Union payments: DUES. In one of the school districts where I worked, if someone did not want to join the union they still had to pay DUES but it went to a scholarship fund. Fair enough.
Down:
62. Serious genre: DRAMA.
65. More friendly: NICER.
66. Coiled garden tool: HOSE.
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| Continuing with the SNAKE theme.... |
67. Poker stake: ANTE.
69. Watched closely: EYED.
70. Union payments: DUES. In one of the school districts where I worked, if someone did not want to join the union they still had to pay DUES but it went to a scholarship fund. Fair enough.
Down:
1. Spill the beans: TATTLE.
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| Another snake comic.... (I did not plan this.) |
2. "Sheesh, what a day!": AM I BEAT!. BEAT can mean "tired".
3. Input analyzed by a supercomputer: BIG DATA. (See 26-Down.)
4. "I told you so!": SEE. everyone's favorite thing to hear
5. Pans for making beef chow fun: WOKS.
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| dry fried flat rice noodles with marinated flank steak and green onions Winnie's recipe |
6. Sneakers brand: AVIA.
7. Second rock from the sun: VENUS. This clue reminded me of the 1996 TV show Third Rock from the Sun with John Lithgow and a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was about four ETs who came to Earth to observe human behavior. They took on human forms that did not necessarily match their alien personalities. (4:24 min.)
7. Second rock from the sun: VENUS. This clue reminded me of the 1996 TV show Third Rock from the Sun with John Lithgow and a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was about four ETs who came to Earth to observe human behavior. They took on human forms that did not necessarily match their alien personalities. (4:24 min.)
8. Energy unit: ERG. Def. (noun) a centimeter-gram-second unit of work equal to the work done by a force of one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter and equivalent to 10−7 joule.
9. Like some cheddar: SHARP. This was a clever cluing angle for SHARP!
9. Like some cheddar: SHARP. This was a clever cluing angle for SHARP!
As it turns out, the other day I learned about orange vs. white cheddar on the Good Job, Brain! podcast. It goes back to the 17th century. The cheese produced near the town of Cheddar, Somerset, England was made with milk that was rich in beta-carotene (especially in the Springtime), producing an orange pigment in the cheese. After the color became associated with high-quality cheddar, cheesemakers began adding orange dye to the cheese to create a consistent color. The practice persists today because people expect their cheddar to be orange. Most orange cheddar is now made with annatto, the seed from the achiote tree of Central and South America. (I will add that annatto seems like a Saturday-level word.) source
10. Shaken or stirred drink: MARTINI.
11. Like some pricey produce: ORGANIC. Trader Joe's bananas cost 29¢ each for organic and 23¢ each for non-organic. If you buy 5 banana a week for one year, the cost difference is $15.60.
12. "Gosh!": GEE.
15. Heavy hammers: SLEDGES. I threw down SLEDGES because I could not think of anything else. I did not expect it to stick.
17. Take a breather: REST.
21. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO-.
23. Bean in refried beans: PINTO.
25. Soak up: ABSORB.
26. GPS approx. affected by traffic: ETA. Here is a video about how WAZE and Google Maps calculate your Estimated Time of Arrival (3:41 min.). Spoiler alert: They use a lot of 3-Down.
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| Whether orange or white, its SHARPness increases with age. |
10. Shaken or stirred drink: MARTINI.
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| answer below* |
11. Like some pricey produce: ORGANIC. Trader Joe's bananas cost 29¢ each for organic and 23¢ each for non-organic. If you buy 5 banana a week for one year, the cost difference is $15.60.
12. "Gosh!": GEE.
15. Heavy hammers: SLEDGES. I threw down SLEDGES because I could not think of anything else. I did not expect it to stick.
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| Apparently you have to have a lot of muscles to wield this tool. |
17. Take a breather: REST.
21. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO-.
23. Bean in refried beans: PINTO.
25. Soak up: ABSORB.
26. GPS approx. affected by traffic: ETA. Here is a video about how WAZE and Google Maps calculate your Estimated Time of Arrival (3:41 min.). Spoiler alert: They use a lot of 3-Down.
Someone must have told her that more hand gestures are better.
28. Dubai's fed.: UAE. "Federation" is abbreviated, so is "United Arab Emirates".
29. Solemn promise: PLEDGE. "I PLEDGE to tell the truth," said Reg while working on the edge of the hedge along the ledge with his SLEDGE and his wedge. "I most certainly did dredge my straightedge through the sedge."
29. Solemn promise: PLEDGE. "I PLEDGE to tell the truth," said Reg while working on the edge of the hedge along the ledge with his SLEDGE and his wedge. "I most certainly did dredge my straightedge through the sedge."
34. Noodle soup with a Saigon style: PHO.
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| I'm a fan of PHO! |
38. Race car safety feature: ROLL BAR. IIRC, ROLL BARs with KC lights were big in the 1980s.
39. Actress Thurman: UMA.
40. PC alternative: MAC.
41. Self-indulgent episode: EGO TRIP.
42. Rooftop lounging spot: TERRACE.
45. Prix fixe offering: SET MENU. Prix fixe is a French term used to describe a complete meal offered at a fixed price. LOTS more on this
46. Process of validating a will: PROBATE. Investopedia explains
49. Put to work: USE.
51. __ of the above: NONE.
52. Digging tools: SPADES.
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| Do you agree with this? It is confusing because this spade ♠ has a pointy tip. |
54. Prepared to throw a dart: AIMED. Will drinking beer improve your darts game?
Note: Consider the source of the above link.
55. Drive up a wall: ANNOY.
59. Make simpler: EASE.
60. Gave approval to: OK-ED.
62. Ancestry test material: DNA. This story about a family reunited after a DNA test was in last week's news.
63. Third-person pronoun: SHE.
64. "You __ to be there": HAD. I don't get this one. It must be an inside joke. 😜
55. Drive up a wall: ANNOY.
59. Make simpler: EASE.
60. Gave approval to: OK-ED.
62. Ancestry test material: DNA. This story about a family reunited after a DNA test was in last week's news.
63. Third-person pronoun: SHE.
64. "You __ to be there": HAD. I don't get this one. It must be an inside joke. 😜
Here's the grid: 
*The martini on the right is shaken (ala James Bond), not stirred.
That'ssss all for today. I look forward to reading your commentssss!
