Saturday, September, 26, 2020 by Craig Stowe

Saturday Themeless by Craig Stowe

Today's constructor is Canadian Craig Stowe who lives in Toronto. Here is what he has said of himself:

As always, thanks to Rich et al. for accepting my work and improving on it. I am always amazed when a puzzle is published. I'm a little puzzled about having 20 crosswords in the LA Times however. My information suggests this is lucky number thirteen but I am notoriously bad at keeping records.  

I've posted a bit about myself before but in case you missed it... I was born and raised in a small town in Newfoundland, Canada (you'll find two Newfoundland references in Craig's puzzle) but have lived in Toronto, Ontario since 2000 (you are all welcome to visit anytime; shout out to all my Canadian neighbours!) I work as a kitchen porter in a rather large hotel, which is even less exciting than it sounds. I solve and construct crosswords in my spare time.  

Cheers!

I do have to call Craig to account for using DERAT on 9/14/20 but otherwise I enjoy his puzzles and this one took some real effort but that is why we do these!

Across:

1. It's often served in a narrow dish: OLEO - Yeah, I thought of a banana split first too

5. 1996 romcom titled after a 1963 hit song: ONE FINE DAY - This got a meh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I'd much prefer to let you listen to the great 1963 song co-wrote by Carole King and sung by the Chiffons

15. Spots: LOCI.

16. Briefly: FOR A MINUTE.

17. River near Rugby: AVON - The Avon River wends its way from Rugby to another city upon the Avon

18. Elemental measurement: ATOMIC MASS - The average weight of the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom

19. Gossips: YENTAS 

21. House VIP: SEN - Hmmm... Isn't a House VIP a REP? A SEN could be called Congressional VIP

22. Thought from Descartes: IDEE - Descartes avait beaucoup de bonnes IDÉES (DESCARTES had many good ideas)

23. Hand-played drum: TOM-TOM.

25. Steps in for: ACTS AS - I'm waiting to sub again for a few weeks 

27. Post-9/11 musical about the diversion of flights to Newfoundland: COME FROM AWAY - A wonderful musical about an event in Craig's home province

30. Comparable (to): AKIN.

31. Joe, commercially: TRADER - This one in Lincoln is frequented by both my daughters 

32. Partner of to: FRO.

35. Linguine sauce: PESTO.

37. Old California fort: ORD - It is now inactive after training thousands of soldiers on Monterrey Bay

38. Small shoot: SPRIG and 56. Shoot: STEM.

40. Fantasy creature from the Old English for "giant": ENT - A familiar crossword creature

41. Turn out to be: WIND UP - Harry Truman often wondered, "How did I WIND UP being president?"

44. Single: LONE.

45. "Blue Sky" Best Actress Oscar winner: JESSICA LANGE.

47. He debuted at La Scala 12/26/1900: CARUSO - One of the first singing voices to be recorded. This one was recorded in 1895. You gotta search to find Enrico's name on the label

50. Puts up: ERECTS.

51. With 52-Across, type of barbecue: OPEN 52. See 51-Across: PIT - This one is the famous Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX just south of Dripping Springs

55. Crackerjacks: ADEPTS - The BBQ above has many ADEPTS working with it

57. Keeping tabs on: MONITORING - Do you remember the movie where we were MONITORING Soviet activities but got fooled by a computer? (*Answer below)

60. Store: MART.

61. Witness to Padmé and Anakin's wedding: AR TOO DE TOO - Can you find him in this picture of the Star Wars nuptials?

62. Fever with chills: AGUE - A vowel-rich malady

63. Intimidates: STARES DOWN - Larry David's main "lie detector" move

64. Swarm: TEEM.

Down:

1. Skin care brand: OLAY - Aveo didn't work out

2. Romantic keepsake: LOVE TOKEN.

3. Janet Yellen, e.g.: ECONOMIST - Here 'ya go

4. Soothing compound: OINTMENT.

5. In certain respects: OF A SORT - I'm a golfer OF A SORT

6. With 59-Down, later: NOT and 59. See 6- Down: NOW.

7. Piccadilly Circus statue: EROS - The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, popularly but incorrectly known as "Eros", is a fountain surmounted by a winged statue of Anteros, located at the southeastern side of Piccadilly Circus (square) in London, England.

8. 1980 teen musical: FAME - My first thought is of Irene Cara singing the fabulous theme

9. "That. Is. Amazing.": I'M IN AWE.

10. Peabody Award-winning Robertson: NIC - Here 'ya go

11. Mutual ill will: ENMITY - A painting by Pitton where 9-year-old Hannibal swears eternal ENMITY for Rome

12. Couples: DUADS - A rare word for a group of two.

13. Discombobulated: AT SEA - I try to remain combobulated and gruntled 

14. Those in favor: YESES.

20. Org. involved in the Waco Siege: ATF - A sad event for everyone

24. Turkeys: MORONS.

26. Lot fillers: CARS.

27. __ Spear, easternmost point in Canada: CAPE - It's a 52-hour drive from my house and includes toll roads and a ferry boat to get to CAPE Spear in Craig's home province of Newfoundland

28. Mercredi preceder: MARDI - MARDI Gras (Fat Tuesday) is followed by Mercredi des Cendres (Ash Wednesday) in French

29. Cite as proof: ADDUCE.

32. Place for big news: FRONT PAGE - 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune FRONT PAGE headline: DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN! Oops.

33. Sounds about right: RINGS TRUE - The Dewey headline probably did RING TRUE but...

34. Arch with a point: OGEE - All those delicious vowels make this a common entree here

36. Needs to remit: OWES - If you OWE many parking fines, you may find a Denver boot on your car like this one in Chicago

39. Menu venue, perhaps: PLACEMAT.

42. Woodlice, e.g.: ISOPODS - From the Greek for ISO (equal) and POD (foot)

43. Best thing since sliced bread, so to speak: PARAGON - A perfect example of something

45. Lower in rank: JUNIOR.

46. Wasn't behind anyone: LED - Can you tell which horse has LED in the race?

47. Medical events in a 1977 thriller: COMAS.

48. Captain's direction: APORT - When the Titanic crew finally saw the iceberg, the order "Hard APORT" was given which meant turn left away from the mammoth iceberg 

49. Last name in fashion?: RENTA - How much would you pay for a fancy label?

53. Hardly happy: IRED.

54. One of the Jacksons: TITO.

58. Big __: TOE - Probably the only hilarious film scene about a BIG TOE

(*We were MONITORING the Soviets in the movie War Games)

Comment below for Craig:

Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Dennis, who successfully fought a major health battle last year.  His attitude through the ordeals is awe-inspiring. He fears nothing. He's relentlessly optimistic.