Saturday, June 3, 2023, Emma Lawson and Larry Snyder

Themeless Saturday by Emma Lawson and Larry Snyder

As you will tell from the paucity of my comments, I was able to sail through big parts of this puzzle. However, when the wordplay heated up I had some delightful struggles. This is Larry's first published puzzle and Emma's first Saturday themeless but fourth overall for the LA Times. 

Emma is a reasearch librarian at Langara University in Vancouver, British Columbia. Larry is a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and director of the Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems and Computation at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. This is another transcontinental collaboration.

  

     

Across:

1. Age of the information superhighway: DIGITAL ERA - The switch from a slide rule to a calculator marked the beginning for me

  

11. 1980s pop duo: WHAM.

15. Hardest part of making guacamole: AVOCADO PIT.

16. Spooned, maybe: HELD.

17. Tropical mocktail: NADA COLADA.

18. Some Minecraft blocks: ORES - I had no idea but ORES made sense with that game title 😐

19. Sounds from a bull pen: SNORTS - Our friend Nick has heard many of those as he is a professional bullfighter/rodeo clown.

20. Fulfills a take-out order?: ERASES 😀 - No restaurants or mobsters here.

22. Actress Winslet: KATE - Her portrait done for the famous scene from Titanic was actually drawn by the director James Cameron

23. Mathewson who was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame: CHRISTY.

25. Blackthorn berries: SLOES.

27. __ Troopa: Nintendo turtlelike creature: KOOPA.

30. Some viewer-supported broadcasts: PBS SHOWS.

34. "Best sleep on it before deciding": BE SURE - $154,940 for this Cadillac Escalade

35. Big talkers: ORATORS.

36. Richard Williams, to Venus and Serena: DADAGER - Oh, now I get it, it's a portmanteau!

37. "I can __": RELATE.

38. Tiny object that goes around the world?: MINI YOYO - This is Duncan's smallest YOYO and "around the world" is a standard yoyo trick (not shown here)

39. Boob: TWERP - Professor Harold Hill's take on River City's new pocket billiards table:

It takes judgement, brains and maturity to score
In a balkline game, I say that any BOOB
Can take and shove a ball in a pocket
And I call that sloth the first big step on the road
To the depths of deg-ra-day

40. Group that meets regularly to practice spelling?:  COVEN 😀 An "out there" clue made sense when the spelling is about casting spells by a COVEN of witches 

41. Date: PLUS ONE. - Joann is my PLUS ONE when we go to graduation parties

43. Teléfono answer: HOLA.

47. Neptune's largest moon: TRITON - TRITON with Uranus in the background 

48. Up: ARISEN.

50. Cooler at sea: BRIG - 😀 Cooler is slang for jail and a BRIG is a jail abroad a ship 

51. "Facts!": AMEN TO THAT.

54. "That must hurt": OUCH.

55. Rant and rave in public: MAKE A SCENE.

56. Ruby Queen, e.g.: BEET - People seem to either love or hate BEETS. I'm in the former camp.

57. "Little help, please!": I NEED A HAND.

Down:

1. Maker of Købenstyle casseroles: DANSK - Danish cookware 

2. Pomeranian voiced by Emma Stone in Disney's "Suite Life" franchise: IVANA.

3. Focus of actors working as waiters?: GODOT - 😀 The actors in the clue are a profession but the waiters in the clue are, uh, just actors in a play where waiting is in the title. Last week, Tom Pepper and C.C. had 15. Welcome message to a waiter: NEXT PLEASE 

4. "You matter to me": I CARE.

5. Delicacy: TACT.

6. Fusses: ADOS.

7. "U slay me!": LOL.

8. Clean water agcy.: EPA.

9. Backseat drivers, e.g.: RIDERS 😀

10. Video Olympics platform: ATARI.

11. "Maybe, maybe not": WHO'S TO SAY - How 'bout another way to ask it by a 22-yr-old Johnny Mathis on a 1957 Ed Sullivan Show?

12. "As requested": HERE YOU GO.

13. Some steinfuls: ALES.

14. Physical pros: MDS - During my yearly required physical with my MD, he and I mostly talk about space and golf for 20 minutes.

21. Welcomed: ASKED IN.

23. Farm moms: COWS - Ewes and sows get the day off

24. Guys: HES.

25. Decathlon event: SHOTPUT.

26. Legends: LORE - King Arthur and Robin Hood are two legends of England

28. Quarry: PREY.

29. Flight-related prefix: AERO.

30. Tawny __: PORT - Port Defined All ports are made from a blend of grapes grown throughout Portugal's Douro valley. There are two kinds of port: tawny and ruby. Tawny is aged in wooden casks and released ready to drink, while ruby ages more in bottle than in wood and generally requires many years of cellaring. You're welcome!

31. "The __ Crew": Milwaukee nickname: BREW - Very familiar to baseball peeps

32. Attractive figure?: SALE PRICE - SALE_R_C_ led me to SALES RACK for too long of a price

33. "The Boys" superhero who fires destructive beams: STARLIGHT - Neither the comic book nor broadcast has crossed my path. All you want (or don't want) to know

34. Nemesis: BANE.

36. Low bar?: DIVE - This DIVE is The Bottom Road Bar and is just across the Platte River from my golf course. It has great burgers and unbelievably low prices. Grandson and I ate all that for $13.00 total after 18 holes.

               

38. Sun chaser?: MON 😀 Oh, it's a calendar deal!

40. Hustler: CONMAN - Fast Eddie Felson leaps to my mind when I see that word. His drinking was one thing that put a 43. Snag: HITCH in his plans.

42. "Me too": SO AM I.

44. "Cocaine Bear" actor __ Jackson Jr.: OSHEA.

45. Singer Rimes: LEANN.

46. Paid to play: ANTED.

47. "Facts!": TRUE.

48. Not much: A TAD.

49. Parks of Alabama: ROSA 

50. Small float: BOB - 😀 Also called a bobber. It was not my last fill but it was my last, "Oh, now I get it! Fishing gear."

52. Squeak (out): EKE.

53. Once called: NEE - More brides seem to be keeping their birth names.

Friday, June 2, 2023, Joe Deeney

Theme: I am [approximately] clueless

This seems like one of those days where if you spotted me the "C" and the "A", I couldn't spell "CAT"

Puzzling thoughts:

As a blogger for the Crossword Corner for some three years now, I thought I had developed some sort of "sixth sense" that allows me to solve the puzzle, and then come up with a witty review to explain how everything meshed. Perhaps it is fitting, then, that today's puzzle marks my last blog/recap until mid-August. Don't panic. Moe will be back . . . But honestly? I need a break. I had no clue what this puzzle was trying to describe/define/make fun of/etc

Normally in a situation like this, I would accede to one of my other blogger peers and ask for some help. But you know what? I am going to try to figure this out as I ramble along in my blog ... so let's take these five "across" answers - one at a time - and see if I/we can solve this. And if not? I will look forward to hearing from my LAT Crossword Community in the comments section below ... I did manage to fill in the grid with correct letters and no cheats, if that's any consolation ... ;^)

18-across. Middle, approximately?: FUZZY NAVEL. So the word "approximately" shows up in each of the clues for the five longest answers (entries). By definition, "approximately" means: "imprecise but fairly close to correct". Would that imply - in this example - that the word "FUZZY" means imprecise, and NAVEL means in the middle? As in, your NAVEL is about in the middle of your body? IIRC, a drink called a FUZZY NAVEL was pretty popular back in the '60's and '70's ... maybe the next entry won't be quite so FUZZY ...

27-across. Sequence, approximately?: GENERAL ORDER. GENERAL = approximately? As an adjective, I found this word to mean "indefinite". ORDER - yeah, I can see that relating to sequence - as in, putting things in ORDER ... which of course immediately caused my brain to go into full Moe-l'ick (limerick) mode:

I like putting my blog into sequence,
Every two weeks; which is my frequence.
Sometimes I'm prepared;
But I never get scared:
Doing so would just give a false pretense

35-across. Straight, approximately?: BALLPARK FRANK. Hmm ... I may be solving this as I continue ... 'cause, guess what? The word "BALLPARK" means approximate; as in a "ballpark" figure. And the word "FRANK" (again, as an adjective) means: "characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion". [dictionary dot com] Could it be this simple? As an aside, FRANK is also a man's nickname (Francis). Just as Shirley is a woman's name. Which, or course, made Moe think of this classic clip:

I bet you thought I was going to show one of these, instead ...

44-across. Right, approximately?: LOOSE FITTING. LOOSE = approximately (adjective, meaning not officially recognized or controlled); right (adjective, meaning being precisely fitting and right). This prompted a Moe-ku:

Clever tailor gave
An underweight customer
A LOOSE FITTING

57-across. Quarters, approximately?: ROUGHHOUSE. OK, I think I've got it!! ROUGH = approximate - similar to BALLPARK - as in a ROUGH estimate. HOUSE = quarters (a noun) as in "housing" - he found quarters for his family to live in, or something like that. Monetarily, a quarter = "two bits", so "four-bits" would = 50 cents - as in this old Roger Miller classic:

Well damn! All I had to do was talk it out, and voila! The puzzle now makes sense ... Joe Deeney, a frequent contributor to published crossword puzzles, gave us a Friday-worthy puzzle after all. And all of the punned phrases are common language! Which of course led to me thinking of yet another one that may or may not have been in contention: "Tryst, approximately?:" CLOSE ENCOUNTER

Here is the grid, completely, not approximately, filled in:

Across:
1. Shea successor: CITI. As in the ballfield in the Queens, NY; home of the Mets

5. Requirements for some new jobs, briefly: RELO'S. How about another Moe-ku?

When picked-up autos
Are shipped for auction, are these
RELO'S for repo's?

10. Bunch: SLEW. No one ever has said the words, "Don't get your panties in a SLEW!"

14. Soba alternative: UDON. This clue would also work if SOBA was the answer; "UDON alternative: SOBA"

15. Facetious target of a series of guides: IDIOT. Are you calling me an IDIOT??!! Well, maybe as it applied to me with today's puzzle. But this clue is meant for one of two series of guide books, entitled The Complete IDIOT'S Guide ... The other being, ... for Dummies. I wonder if there is a Crossword Puzzles for Dummies book I could purchase ... oh, wait a second, there is!!

16. Film princess who says, "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought": LEIA. As said to Han Solo before escaping to the Millennium Falcon

17. Chap, in British slang: BRUV. I am seeing this word more often; it's a common term of expression in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso

20. Start of an old boast: "I CAME ... ". My "boast" du jour is: "I CAME, I saw, I finally figured it out ..."

22. "That's amazing!": I LOVE IT!.

23. South American barbecue: ASADO. I am still confused about this ... is it asadA or asadO? Maybe Lucina can help explain, because after reading this, I still have questions ...

24. Slushy drinks: ICEES. ICEES, only because Margaritas didn't fit

26. Cartoonist Chast: ROZ. This lady

30. Middle of a valley?: ELS. Not ELS like the golfer, Ernie; ELS like the two letters in the middle of the word, "valley"

31. Abbey area: APSE. A bit of a stretch, maybe? An abbey refers to the entire building "footprint" of a monestery. I usually think of APSE as a recess in a church or chapel ... but regardless, it is crossword-ese, IMO

32. Prefix with male or female: CIS. As in "cis-gender". A “cis” person is a person who was assigned a gender and sex at birth that they feel comfortable with. Typically, cis men are men who were assigned male at birth and feel that the words "man" and "male" accurately describe who they are. I guess that I should add the words "HE/HIM" to my blogger profile ... CIS, boom, bah

40. French chum: AMI. My daughter's name is AMY, but she speaks little, if no, French

41. Heart: CORE. "Coeur" is the French word for heart. If I had to guess, the word "CORE" probably comes from the French language

42. Enthusiasm: VIM.

49. Oakland-to-Palo Alto dir.: SSE. Palo Alto is also the home to Stanford University

52. Fantasy author Canavan: TRUDI.

53. Goes to press?: IRONS. Ha Ha!

54. Place with crude buildings?: OIL TOWN. Interesting play-on-words ... the answer could've been this had it been clued differently

56. Hockey Hall of Famer Cam: NEELY. An old Boston Bruin methinks. Perhaps Wilbur Charles can provide us with a few Cam NEELY stories?

60. Whipped up: MADE. "whipped up" is an expression I use for when I make/MADE drinks (frozen Margaritas, perhaps?)

62. Back talk, in slang: 'TUDE. Note the apostrophe I put into the answer ... short for attiTUDE

63. Land parcels: ACRES. I think that Friday puzzles should have fewer than 8 clues that lead you to a logical and/or easy answer

64. "Inspiration Information" musician Shuggie: OTIS. I guess that OTIS Redding and OTIS the elevator guy are passe ... See 63-across comment ... here is a snapshot of Shuggie OTIS:

65. Salchow kin: AXEL. An ice-skating term for a type of jump/spin

66. Hues: TONES. See 63-across comment

67. Set components: REP'S. As in, how many REPitionS one can do during a workout, perhaps?

Down:
1. Little lion: CUB. I've blogged a puzzle that featured baby animal names ... here are a few of the adult animals who raise cubs: Lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!); plus leopards, jaguars, raccoons, and badgers. Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers!! [with apologies to Mel Brooks and the hombres from Blazing Saddles]

2. Voice of Chief Bogo in "Zootopia": IDRIS ELBA.

3. Colorful cereal mascot: TOUCAN SAM. Quite the parallel partner to 2-down; TOUCAN SAM was featured on the box of Froot Loops. Here is an older pic:

4. Enter aggressively: INVADE. As opposed to "enter approximately, perhaps? (the answer to 34-down: SKINNY DIP)

5. Teeming (with): RIFE. What would a Moe-blog be without a visit from our Thesaurusaurus?

6. End of an academic address: EDU. If there were a school of higher learning called "Eastern Delaware University", might their url be "www.edu.edu"?

7. Truss who was very briefly U.K. prime minister in 2022: LIZ.

8. Like molasses, vis-à-vis water: OOZIER.

9. Straightened, say: STYLED.

10. Pole, e.g.: SLAV.

11. Fixture in some voting booths: LEVER. "More viscous" didn't fit

12. Singalong quintet: EIEIO. "Old MacDonald had a farm, ...."

13. Ballroom dance: WALTZ. Samba, rumba, mambo, and tango also fit

19. Snout: NOSE. Yet, another Moe-ku:

An inquisitive
Aardvark, turned carnivore,
Had a NOSE for gnus

21. Upstanding: MORAL.

23. Spend time in a cellar, perhaps: AGE. Once upon a time, Moe had a 600+ bottle wine cellar. Many of these wines needed a bit or a lot of AGE to improve. Now, Moe doesn't buy green bananas ...

24. "Casablanca" role: ILSA. RICK fit; SAM didn't

25. Put the squeeze on: COERCED. A "softened" clue for a forceful word

28. Google Play purchase: APP. Apple phone purchase would've been an acceptable clue, too

29. LG rival: RCA. For as old as this brand is, RCA seems to find its way into the modern x-word puzzles; a lot

33. Sacrosanct: INVIOLATE. Another Thesaurussaurus visit?

34. Barely get wet?: SKINNY DIP. Cute! And for those who enjoy a good Florida-based mystery novel, try reading this book, by Carl Hiaasen

36. One of the "Rugrats" twins: LIL. Can you tell them apart?

37. U.N. head between Boutros and Ban: KOFI. "KOFI Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize". [wikipedia] Moe's "alter ego" used his entire name in an x-word puzzle entitled "Parking Spaces" - see 19-across

38. Planner abbr.: FRI. MON, TUE, WED, THU, SAT, and SUN also fit

39. Adjust an ascot: RETIE. How to tie an ascot? View below:

43. Booker T.'s band: MGS. My favorite; "Green Onions". Enjoy!

45. Letters before a fresh take: OTOH. Interesting clue for this - "on the other hand" is sometimes said (or texted) when someone wants to offer a "fresh take" on a topic

46. Flip response to an ultimatum: OR WHAT?.

47. Official fuel of NASCAR: SUNOCO. All you need to know about SUNOCO racing fuel

48. Quake aftershock: TREMOR.

49. "Yes and no": SORTA. Another synonym for "approximately", perhaps?

50. Dakota Natives: SIOUX. Moe-ku:

Johnny Cash hit song
For Dakota Natives is
Called: "A Boy Named SIOUX"

51. Get away from: ELUDE. Can you ELUDE C-Moe blogs for a couple of months?

55. Neutrogena shampoo: T-GEL. this

56. Storied loch: NESS. Also the name of the fictional "monster"

58. Inspiration for Keats: URN. "Ode on a Grecian URN"

59. Date: SEE. Are you SEEing anyone? Not I. Margaret and I are past our "dating" period, although we do still enjoy occasional "date" nights

61. Double curve: ESS.

Well, that's it folks ... for awhile anyway ... to whomever is going to pinch-hit for C-Moe, "tag, you're it!!" I know you'll be equally entertained with their recaps. See you in approximately two months ...

Thursday, June 1, 2023, Ed Sessa

 

 *Basta Pasta

Today's constructor is Dr. Ed Sessa.  I had the privilege of reviewing his last outing on December 15, 2022, and this marks his 139th appearance here.  Today he carefully selects six types of Italian pastas and pairs them with the professionals most likely to choose them.  And from the plethora of pasta shapes from which Dr. Ed could have chosen, the absence of this one will delight some ...

Anelli

Plus there are no asterisks (*), obscure P&P, or reveal to spoil your solving fun! So let's dig in ...

Here are the themers with only the PRO TIPS highlighted.   Recipes are no extra charge ...

18A. Dentist's pasta choice?: CAPELLINI.   But before you have a CAP put on you have to see an Endodontist who might prefer CANALONI.  But I'm sure they'll both prefer their pasta Al Dente.  Capellini originated in Northern Italy ...

Capellini

24A. Jeweler's pasta choice?: GEMELLI.  From the southern Italian region of Puglia ...

Gemelli
w/Garlic and Cream

31A. Lawyer's pasta choice?:  TORTELLI.  CSOs to Jason and Susan.  AKA TORTELLINI, this pasta is from Tuscany .

Tuscan Tortellini
w/Spinach and Sausage

..
46A. Trucker's pasta choice?: RIGATONI.  Here's a pasta made for long hauls.  Originally from South/Central Italy, it has a tubular shape without the slanted ends you see in PENNE pasta.

Vodka Rigatoni

51A. Electrician's pasta choice?: FUS[E]ILLI.  The classic spiral shaped pasta.  Here's a simple recipe you're not likely to blow ...

Fusilli
w/butter and sliced veggies

58A. Nail technician's pasta choice?: MANICOTTI.  MANICOTTI pasta are large, tubular shells,  traditionally stuffed with a cheese mixture and baked in a tomato sauce.  They're rumored to be one of Lucina's favorites!

Manicotti
(also one of Teri's favorites)

Add an Insalata Verde with a vinaigrette dressing, a hardy Italian bread and a bottle of Chianti to any of these and you've got dinner!

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Basic bags: SACKS.

6. Place for a marshmallow roast: CAMP.  I think Dr. Ed has thrown in the perfect dessert for your pasta dinner ...

Smores

10. Response to a shock: GASP.

14. Pay for: TREAT.

15. Bow-toting deity: AMOR.  Constructors seem to prefer EROS.  Both have a VTCR of 50% but the latter can also perp plurals.

16. Eclectic assortment: OLIO.  Like the typical crossword puzzle.

17. Main artery: AORTA.

18. [Theme clue]

20. Intel-gathering gp.: NSA.  No comment.

21. Malarkey: ROT.  ROT is defined as "language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense, e.g.  I won't stand here and listen to such rot".  Malarkey comes in as number 11 in this list of synonyms for ROT.

23. Tater: SPUD.

24. [Theme clue]

26. Cheesy bagel choice: ASIAGO.  This would also make a good bread choice with your pasta dinner.

30. Picked out, in a way: IDED.

31. [Theme clue]

33. Advice for the easily distracted: FOCUS.  Doesn't seem to work for me.

35. Smoke, say: CURE.  Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and lapsang souchong tea are often smoked.  It could also be used as an implosive therapy for curing the nicotine habit (i.e. chain smoking until you're sick of it), but nothing works like cold turkey.

36. Kal __ pet food: KAN.  The origin of the brand name KAL KAN seems shrouded in mystery.  They've been around under one owner or another since 1936.  For those with esoteric tastes in pet food names, here's their history.

37. Go on the __: LAM.

38. Devices that coat roads during snowstorms: SALTERS.  It turns out there is more than one way to SALT a road: winter road treatment methods explained.

41. Genesis craft: ARK.  In the Biblical story of Noah in Genesis the ARK is a safe space to save pairs of all of the animal species in the world (and presumably the plants as well!), while riding out the flood that God sends to destroy the Earth  (Gen. 6:9-9:17).  Not only did they survive, but the word ARK itself survived to symbolize a place of refuge or sanctuary.  The ARK of the Covenant sheltered the Torah (the Books of Moses) (Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9),  This ARK in turn was sheltered in the "Tent of Meeting" known as the TABERNACLE (Ex. 25-3l).  The term Tabernacle survives in Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches as the place reserved for the Eucharist (consecrated communion hosts) safe within the Sanctuary.

Interestingly, the exact specifications for building Noah's ARK, the ARK of the Covenant, and the Jewish Tabernacle are all provided in the Bible references above.  The Mennonites have used these plans to produce an exact replica of the Tabernacle in Lancaster, PA, which is worth a visit if you're in the area.  An even more enterprising group has constructed a full scale replica of Noah's Ark in Williamstown, KY. 

Ark Encounter Museum

42. NCAA football powerhouse: OSU.  Ohio State University aka The Buckeyes.

43. Girl: LASS.

44. Folk artist Grandma __: MOSES.  Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma MOSES, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. As the preceding Wiki article said, some of her winter scenes remind me of the great Peter Bruegel the Elder.  Here is a selection of her paintings. 

 

 

Grandma Moses

 

46. [Theme clue]

49. Blue ox of folklore: BABE.  BABE was Paul Bunyan's ox.  This is often referred to as a TALL TALE, but I think it was just because Paul was very tall.  A CSO to C.C. and CanadianEh!

Paul and Babe

50. Maintain: ASSERT.

51. [Theme clue]

54. Target of a new czar in New York City: RATS.  I read somewhere that he's going to insist that all trash be put out in metal trash cans, not plastic bags.  Novel idea.

56. Flue residue: ASH.

57. Point value of "five" in Scrabble: TEN.  Here are the tiles.  You do the math ...

58. [Theme clue]

62. Open, as a computer file: UNZIP.  Not just any computer file, but a ZIP file.

64. Actor Idris: ELBA.  He wouldn't have been Napoleon's favorite actor.  But ELBA got some idea about what Napoleon had experienced on the island of Elba when he portrayed Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and was exiled for life to the prison on the island of Robben off the South Africa coast NW of Cape Town ...

Here are the key steps that led to the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's eventual release.

65. Precious: DEAR.

66. Shard: PIECE.

67. Get well: HEAL.

68. Nashville's Grand Ole __: OPRY.  Here's the Saturday night cast with Will The Circle be Unbroken (background and lyrics)

My Father used to sing that song.

69. Wrap brand: SARAN.

Down:

1. Classic Ford, familiarly: STANG.  TBIRD didn't perp.

2. Came up: AROSE.

3. Coffee drinker's collection, perhaps: CERAMIC MUGS.  The word MUG is thought to derive originally from MUGG, a Scandinavian word for a drinking vessel. In the 18th and 19th centuries, mugs produced in Staffordshire, England were often decorated with caricatures on the face of ceramic jugs (more likely used for drinking ALE). This may have led to the use of "mug" as a synonym for an ugly face and thence to the term "mug shot".  Here is a typical 19th Century MUG, alias a TOBY JUG.  Looks SUSPICIOUS doesn't he?

Here are some MUGS from my studio that have survived daily abuse over the years ...

Ceramic Mugs

4. Actress Dennings: KAT.  Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as KAT Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021).

Kat Dennings

5. Like a cloudy night: STARLESS.

6. Nopales, in Mexican cooking: CACTI.  AKA "Cactus Paddles" and another CSO to Lucina.  Here's a recipe ...
 

Nopales Salad

7. Revealing session on Reddit, for short: AMA. E.g., "Is the abbreviation for Ask Me Anything crosswordese?"

8. Swabbing tools: MOPS.

9. Tax form expert: PREPARER. Whoops, wrong clue! ...

10. Actress Hawn: GOLDIE.  GOLDIE really is just a DUMB BLOND, but here she's working with one the best straight men in the business who makes her look like a SMART BLOND ... 😉😉😉

11. "Aladdin" prince: ALI.

12. Transgression: SIN.  There are seven deadly sins, although they are not all actually mentioned together in the Bible.  Perhaps they're considered deadly because those who commit them might slide into more serious sins such as murder, theft, and adultery. 

13. Hawaiian dish with a yogurtlike consistency: POI.

19. One of the deadly 12-Downs: LUST.  Not all LUST is a SIN, but it can still bring you sorrow ...

22. On in years: OLD.

25. Student's email suffix: EDU.

27. Brand with a "spicy meatball" commercial: ALKA SELTZER.  Here it is, fresh from the Commercial HOF ...

28. Harsh light: GLARE.

29. Pig sounds: OINKS.

31. Rwandan people: TUTSI.  In 1994 just 100 days, government forces, militias and regular citizens carried out a genocide against the Tutsi social and ethnic minority population. An estimated 800,000 to one million Tutsi were killed, and mass sexual violence was committed against Tutsi women and girls by Hutu partisans.  A Hutu hotel manager named Paul Rusesabagina is credited with saving some 1,200 Tutsi people during the  genocide.  The film Hotel Rwanda (2005) starring Don Cheadle tells the story ...

32. Loads in lodes: ORES.

33. Growing things: FLORA.

34. "Champagne Supernova" band: OASIS.  OASIS was an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as the Rain, the group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher, Paul Arthurs, Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll. Liam's older brother Noel later joined as a fifth member, finalising the group's core lineup.  Here's their biggest hit, Wonderwall ...

35. Close-knit group: CLAN.

39. Tons on one's plate: A LOT TO DO.

40. Bad collisions: SMASH UPS.  A horrible SMASH UP occurred in  COLLISION, a British TV mini-series about a major road accident and a group of people who have never met, but who all share one devastating moment. Amid the tangle of twisted metal and emotional turmoil wrought by the tragedy of a crash of a shocking scale, are the stories of the victims, and the impact of the accident on their lives.  The crash opens a number of startling revelations as stories of everything from government cover-ups and smuggling, to embezzlement and murder start to unravel.   The DI is played by Douglas Henshall, who you might recognize as Jimmy Pérez in the Shetland series ...

45. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI.  Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Within the original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinness.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

47. Old reception aid: AERIAL.  In case you've forgotten what they look like, below is an AERIAL for receiving radio signals.  The two AERIAL versions used for TV reception were sometimes called "Rabbit Ears".  My son recently expressed a wish for an FM radio to use by their outdoor fire pit for cookouts.  I found this one, which had been bequeathed to us by Teri's Dad, but hadn't been switched on in years.  I put 3 new batteries in it, switched it on, tuned it to WBJC-FM and bingo, my son can chill to classical music while he's grillin'!

FM Radio

48. __ II razor: TRAC.

49. Freedom Riders transport: BUS.  Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate BUSES into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

51. Wand wielder: FAIRY.  So those folks that frisk you at the airport are really just mythical creatures?

52. German camera: LEICA.  Apparently they haven't been put out of business by cell phones.

53. Hard to erase: IN PEN.  I don't solve crosswords IN PEN because it makes it hard to erase mistakes.

55. Each cha in cha-cha-cha: STEP.  Here are the contestants at a cha-cha-cha competition in Austria showing us some serious STEPS ...

58. Tepid response: MEH.  A MEHTA clue?

59. Strong beer: ALE. 

60. Org. with Cavs and Mavs: NBA.

61. Road gunk: TAR.

63. Long of "The Best Man": NIA.  NIA Talita Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film Boyz n the Hood (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1991–1995).

Nia Long

Cheers,
Bill

As always, thanks to Teri for proof reading, for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

* BASTA is Italian for "enough".  If you're ever in Maryland and have a hankering for pasta and seafood, we recommend Basta Pasta, in Eldersburg, MD.  We always have to take home a doggie bag with the leftovers.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023, Katie Hale

Theme:  Embrace Me

 
17. *Not so great: BELOW PAR.

23. *Roe delicacy: BELUGA CAVIAR. In 2005, the United States made it illegal to import beluga caviar and beluga sturgeon into the country, because of the animal's endangered status. However, caviar from beluga hybrid species are still for sale in the country.

38. *Laboratory vessel: BELL JAR. Also a book by Sylvia Plath. Animated book summary. The protagonist Esther Greenwood describes her depression as a feeling of being trapped under a bell jar, struggling for breath. 

51. *Currency in San Ignacio: BELIZE DOLLAR. Wikipedia: The official value is pegged at BZ$2 = US$1.

61. Tight embraces, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have?: BEAR HUGS. The BE and AR are 'hugging' the letters in between. 

Melissa here. I like how the theme answer BELL JAR is positioned right in the middle of the grid. Also interesting is that each theme phrase (except for the reveal answer) begins with BEL. The only other BE*AR words I can come up with are BEACHWEAR and BEGGAR. No L's.

Across:

1. __ signs: VITAL. Measurements of the body's most basic functions. The four main vital signs routinely monitored by medical professionals and health care providers are: Body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure.

6. Feminine pronoun: SHE.

9. World Cup chant: USA.

12. With money at stake: ON A BET.

14. Guinness of "Doctor Zhivago": ALEC. Guinness played Lieutenant General Yevgraf Zhivago.

15. Task on a suburban summer to-do list: MOW.

16. Woke: CAME TO. Woke vs. Awoke: You can replace "awoke" with "woke." The reason is that they are the past participles of the verbs "awake" and "wake," which have identical meanings.

19. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

20. Put away: STORED.

22. Road trip game: I SPY.

26. Blog entry: POST.

27. Surround: ENVELOP. Like a BEAR HUG.

31. Drag show accessories: BOAS.

34. Q's neighbor: TAB. On a keyboard.

36. Fixes a crossword, say: EDITS.

37. Oblique neighbors: ABS. Abdominal muscles.

41. "__ but a scratch": TIS. In the wonderfully hilarious British cult classic film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur once defeated a guard on his quest for the Holy Grail. In the famous scene, the guard refuses to let Arthur pass and thus the battle begins. Arthur gravely wounds the guard, who continuously claims, “Tis but a scratch.

42. Part of a bath set gift basket: LOOFA.

44. Sea-__ airport: TAC. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

45. Rat's home: NEST.

46. "I'm going before you!": ME FIRST. No, no ... contigo abajo. (A little Spanish humor.)

49. Prepare, as potatoes: MASH.

56. London's __ Park: HYDE. History of Events in Hyde Park. There is also a Hyde Park in Chicago, Hyde Park Village in Florida, the Town of Hyde Park in NY, and a neighborhood in Boston.

59. "Gimme a minute": ONE SEC.

60. Abbreviation with a suggested price: OBO. Or best offer.

63. Beatles hairstyle: MOP TOP. In the early '60s, the Fab Four were wearing mop-top haircuts, a longish style with bangs that resembles a certain household tool. Rock legend has it that the revolutionary Brits were inspired by two young German photographers sporting mop tops who befriended them in Hamburg in 1960. The look was a dramatic departure from the very short, conservative cuts of the 1950s, and it was soon mimicked on both sides of the Atlantic. By the late '60s, the band had abandoned the style in favor of locks that were even longer. 

65. Formula 1 need: CAR. F1 is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

66. Rhyme Syndicate founder: ICE-T. Rhyme Syndicate was an American hip hop collective of artists formed to unite East and West Coast rappers, DJs and record producers.

67. "Hey, bro": YO DUDE.

68. Coffee receptacle: URN.

69. Advanced deg.: PhD. Doctor of Philosophy, is a high-level degree earned after a period of three or more years of graduate-level study, culminating in the creation, submission, presentation and defense of a research dissertation.

70. Uses a surgical beam: LASES.

Down:

1. Lesson that may involve a thesaurus, for short: VOCAB.

2. Silly: INANE.

3. Language in Sri Lanka: TAMIL. Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia.

4. Pres. in a stovepipe hat: ABE.

5. "We're leaving now!": LET'S GO.

6. Oreo cookie packaging: SLEEVE.

7. Bottled up, as emotions: HELD IN.

8. Earth Day prefix: ECO. The prefix eco (often used with a hyphen) refers to ecology or to the environment: Because population is concentrated in urban settings, cities have large eco-footprints (ecological footprints). This product is eco-friendly (safe for the environment).

9. Work-from-home types: UMPS. Nice clue. Home base. Baseball.

10. Irish Spring, e.g.: SOAP.

11. Slightly off: AWRY.

13. Cookbook phrase: TO TASTE.

14. Pokémon species that evolves into Kadabra and Alakazam: ABRA. Kadabra evolves from Abra after accumulating enough experience, and evolves into Alakazam only when traded from one copy of a Pokémon game to another. The original Pokémon is a role-playing game based around building a small team of monsters to battle other monsters in a quest to become the best.

18. Full of energy: WIRED.

21. Eight-related: OCTAL.

24. Company with brown trucks: UPS.

25. State boldly: AVER.

28. Diet branding word: LITE.

29. "Try a Little Tenderness" singer Redding: OTIS.

30. Hushed summons: PSST.

31. Lip Smacker product: BALM.

32. Clarinet kin: OBOE. Oboe vs. Clarinet.

33. Starting from: AS OF.

35. Club alternative: BLT. Sandwich. A signature feature of a club sandwich is using three pieces of bread – with one slice used as a separator in the middle. It is an American classic, often served in delis, country clubs and other restaurants. It is often cut into quarters or halves and held together by cocktail sticks.

38. Unadorned: BARE.

39. Lily of "Downton Abbey": JAMES.

40. Starfleet school: ACADEMY. In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where recruits to Starfleet's officer corps are trained.

43. Bran benefit: FIBER.

45. Org. for Oilers: NHL. Hockey.

47. Abandon good posture: SLOUCH.

48. Lightly shaded: TINGED.

50. "Awesome!": SO COOL.

52. Citrus bits: ZEST. The outermost layer of the peel known as the flavedo. This layer contains loads of natural oils that are full or flavor and not as acidic as the tart juice.

53. Sacred flower: LOTUS.

54. Quarters: ABODE.

55. Lures (in): ROPES.

56. Morehouse, for one: Abbr.: HBCU. “any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary of Education.”

57. 12 months: YEAR.

58. "Fiddlesticks": DARN. Couldn't help but think of this ...

62. In: HIP.

64. "Get a room!" elicitor, for short: PDA. Public Display of Affection.