Saturday, January 4, 2025, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rafael Muse

This is my third Saturday themeless by Rafael which have all been in early winter ('23, '24 and '25)

I made great time through Rafael's puzzle because the fill was very "gettable" or had sufficient perp help.

Across:

1. Take credit?: OWE.

4. Kevin's "Bull Durham" role: CRASH.

         

9. Up: ASTIR.

14. Autoreply sender: BOT.

15. Prefix with -centric: HELIO - Ptolemy's geocentric (Earth-centered) theory was believed to be right for 1,500 years

16. Pressure: FORCE.

17. Device used in some medical and military training, informally: VR HEADSET.

19. Sooty passages: FLUES.

20. Closing statement?: I'M ALL DONE.

21. Mid day?: IDES 😀 It's the mid day of a month

22. Reptile that dominates Taylor Swift's "Reputation" era imagery: SNAKE - Daughter and granddaughters knew this instantly when I sent the clue to them. I, uh, had to wait for the crossings.

23. Punk, grunge, emo, et al.: ALT ROCK.

25. Camper's protection: TARP - Yeah, I put TENT first too.

27. Important figures of preindustrial Japan: SAMURAI.

29. Oktoberfest order: BIER 

31. Border: ABUT.

33. Highly intelligent songbirds: TITS - When I searched for a picture of this pretty little bird, I got a lot of NSFW images.

34. All of the Barenaked Ladies, actually: MEN - Their frontman Ed Robertson (far right below) wrote the theme song for The Big Bang Theory in the shower in 15 minutes. The band recorded it and made big bucks.

35. Crème de la crème: TOP TIER.

38. Not amazing: MEH.

39. Suggestions, informally: RECS.

41. Confer, as authority: VEST.

42. Busy travel days: EVES.

44. Baby, in Irish slang: SNAPPER.

46. Allay: EASE.

48. People with no class?: TRUANTS.

...and FWIW

Wednesday's Rose Parade had a float with
scenes from moviedom's most famous TRUANT

50. Apple Watch stat: STEPS.

53. Some beachfront dwellings: HUTS.
 
54. "I've heard quite enough": OH SPARE ME 

57. Deceptive move: FEINT - Gotta love this one! (Explanation at bottom if you don't see it)

58. Follows a boat, in a way: WATER SKIS.

59. Bert's bestie: ERNIE.

60. Put up: ERECT.

61. Furniture wood: ELM.

62. Standing __: DESKS.

63. Some jabs: LEFTS 😀

64. "Called it": SEE.

Down:

1. Curt "Clearly": OBVI.

2. Nematodes, e.g.: WORMS.

3. Hunt in action movies: ETHAN.

4. Works outside?: CHALK ART.

5. More ripe, perhaps: REDDER.

6. To boot: ALSO.

7. Tuscan city that hosts the Palio horse races twice a year: SIENA.

8. Rooms together?: HOTEL SUITE 😀 Rooms as noun not a verb

9. Emotionally encourage: AFFIRM.

10. Was wildly popular, say: SOLD OUT.

11. "Serial" genre: TRUE CRIME.

12. Cutting-edge footwear?: ICE SKATES 😀

13. Hi or low follower: RES.

18. Tickle pink: ELATE.

24. Sugar magnate who established a network of British art galleries: TATE.

 

26. Over-the-counter option after an accident?: PAPER TOWEL 😀

28. "Sorta": ISH.

29. "Relatable": BEEN THERE.

30. Many tourist sites in Peru: INCA RUINS.

32. Group formed in Seoul in 2010: BTS.

34. __ Puff: SpongeBob's driving teacher: MRS.

36. Oast, for one: OVEN.

37. Takes it from the top: RESTARTS.

40. First artificial satellite: SPUTNIK - As a NASA guy, I would have had to turn in my Official Space Decoder Ring if I missed this one.

43. Swerves: VEERS.

45. Follows up on copying: PASTES.

47. __ ratio: ASPECT.

49. Portion: SHARE.

51. Some toys, for short: PEKES 😀

52. Upside-down frown: SMILE.

55. Australian actress Dawson: STEF 

56. Bianco of "The Magicians": ESME - Signing autographs at Comic Con

57. Stoked: FED.

Baseball feint explained: There was a runner on first and the hitter hit a ball out to the center fielder. The shortstop pretended he caught the ball on the fly and the runner thought he would be easily doubled off first base, just gave up and returned to the dugout. The center fielder then fired the ball to the shortstop and the runner was tagged out. 😀