Wednesday, Mar 12th, 2025 ~ Rebecca Goldstein

 THE HOLY GALE

Pope Francis, 2018 - Daily Mail

Another Wednesday RG puzzle, another 15 x 16 grid, and another crossword with those sinister circles - but really not so bad this week - a handful of foreign words/phrases, and nary a name in sight~! Wow~!  ( OK, two. ) Right to the theme reveal;

59. "This may come as a shock," or an apt title for this puzzle: HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT - each theme answer "holds" ( within  the circles ) a type of hat 

17. Gym shorts, yoga pants, tank tops, and the like: ATHLETIC APPAREL - a CAP is a piece of athletic apparel, too

28. "Adiós, amigo": HASTA MAÑANA - the Scottish TAM

Why it's called the "Tam O Shanter"

35. Raise doubts: CALL INTO QUESTION - a chef's TOQUE

45. Concept in modern morality: CYBER ETHICS - Le Frawnche Beret

Oui~!

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Work Extra?: CHEW - clever start; Extra, the chewing gum

5. "Surely, you __!": JEST

9. Coral habitats: REEFS

14. Greek vowel: IOTA

15. Duel tool: EPEE

16. Heart chambers: ATRIA - my only goof; I had ETAS, but changed this to AORTA - yet I was already correct.  I went down to Long Island this past weekend to see my younger brother, who just had a scare - he was lying down with chest pains last week, and thank God he has a concerned fiancée - she insisted it was more than just a "pulled muscle" and it turned out to be cardiomyopathy - but I also discovered he takes a LOT of medications, and that's scary. . . .

I did get to see my buddy Cooper - no luck yet on finding my own four-legged friend, Irish Miss

20. Spotted wildcat: OCELOT

21. Butter squares: PATS

22. Distress signal: SOS

24. Mineral and metal mixtures: ORES - I like this alliterative alternative clue - I had to think about it

25. Alley-__: OOP

26. "Cut that out!": "STOP~!"

27. Served right?: ACED - an unreturnable serve is an ACE

32. Feathered neckwear: BOA - ah, the BOA shows itself this week - AND - 62D. Word of agreement: YES - Oh, so this week, it's yeS and not yeA

33. Unpleasant person: PILL - my mom was good for using this 'slang'

34. Name that means "my God": ELI - clued differently this past Monday

42. Neuro scan: EEG - ElectroEncephaloGram

43. __ snuff: UP TO

44. Mexican Mrs.: SRA

50. James of "Misery": CAAN

51. Accomplishes: DOES

52. Humble abode: HUT

Marching to the Jabba the Hutt hut

53. Fine feathered friends: FOWL

54. Tofu protein: SOY

55. Hieroglyphic bird: IBIS

57. Successful in a critical situation: CLUTCH - typically describing people in "athletic apparel"

63. Vegetable that may be white, yellow, green, or purple: ONION

64. Told tales: LIED

65. Fruity pastry: TART

66. In a weird way: ODDLY

67. "What __ is new?": ELSE

68. Put one's foot down: STEP

DOWN:

1. "Adiós": CIAO

2. Mugful with marshmallows, maybe: HOT COCOA

3. Exquisitely delicate: ETHEREAL

4. Like some ancient cities: WALLED

Do you recognize this WALLED city~?  Answer below

5. The Godmother of Punk Joan: JETT 

6. Prefix with pen or gram: EPI - EPIpen, EPIgram

7. Triple __ liqueur: SEC - I'm all too familiar with the "Kamikaze" shot

BONZAI~!

8. Service center?: TEAPOT - clever; the "central" element in a teas service set

9. Spellbound: RAPT

10. Airline stats: ETAs

11. Slip up: ERR

12. __ Bowl: annual game in Arizona sponsored by Vrbo: FIESTA

13. Watering hole with swinging doors: SALOON

18. Goddess of the dawn: EOS

19. Potato, in Spanish: PAPA

23. Place for a massage: SPA

25. Norway's capital: OSLO - OK, another name, but this one's a crossword staple

26. Hissy fit: SNIT

27. Block letters: A B C

28. Door opener: HINGE - my only nit; the knob/handle/lockset opens, the hinge "hangs" the door

29. Ctrl-__-Del: ALT

30. Track competitions: MEETS

31. Too: ALSO

33. Spot for a long walk on the beach?: PIER - funnier would have been to clue this "A SHORT spot for a long walk" . . . .

36. Wine bottle sediment: LEES

37. Throw in the towel: QUIT

38. Inventory tracking aid, briefly: UPC - Universal Product Code - and the 21st century QR code

39. "Nothing gets past me": "I SAW THAT."

40. Dental hygiene: ORAL CARE

41. Granny, to some: NAN

45. Music format stored in wallets: CDs

46. "Hello there!": "YOO-HOO~!"

47. Out of reach of: BEYOND - some Don McMillan comedy

"Beyond " @ 1:15

48. Slim: THIN

49. Shake a leg: HUSTLE

50. Legal arenas: COURTS

53. Bug often observed in winter: FLU - Ah, that kind of "bug"

55. Adored one: IDOL

56. All elbows: BONY

57. Key for a smart lock: CODE - I have this Schlage smart lockset on my sunroom door

58. URL opening: HTTP

60. Pot topper: LID

61. Liquid in the story of Hanukkah: OIL - burned for more nights than expected; the Wiki

A "theme" oriented repeat from Monday, too

Splynter

ANSWER:

Firenze - Florence, Italy