Friday, August 30, 2024, Ella Dershowitz

 Theme:  Sing it!

Constructor Ella Dershowitz gives us seven theme clues, each naming songs that are related by themes in the lyrics.  The punny theme answers are symmetically placed in the grid horizontally, and the first and last theme answers span the grid.  

Here are the theme clues and answers:

17. "Call Me Maybe" or "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"?: TELEPHONE NUMBER. 

"Call Me Maybe" is a 2012 song by Carly Rae Jepsen.  "Operator" is a 1972 song by Jim Croce  Each song (or NUMBER) relates to using the phone, which makes it a TELEPHONE NUMBER.

27. "Popular" or "Fashion!"?: IN TUNE.  

"Popular" is a 1996 song by Nada Surf, and "Fashion" is a 1980 song by David Bowie.  Each song (or TUNE) relates to what's "in," which makes each song an "IN" TUNE, a phrase that usually means being at the correct musical pitch.

28. "Sound of da Police" or "The Artist in the Ambulance"?: SIREN SONG.

"Sound of da Police" is a 1993 song by KRS-One.  "The Artist in the Ambulance" is a 2003 song by the band Thrice.  Each song (yes, SONG!) mentions sirens, which makes each song a SIREN SONG.  A siren song is an alluring utterance, especially one that is seductive or deceptive.  In Greek mythology,  sirens were dangerous creatures who lured sailors with their music and voices to wreck their ships.

38. "Midnight Train to Georgia" or "Chattanooga Choo Choo"?: RAILROAD TRACK.

"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a song most famously performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1973.  "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1941.  Each song (or TRACK) mentions the railroad, which makes each of them a RAILROAD TRACK, usually meaning the structure on which a train's wheels roll.

48. "Sittin' in the Sun (Countin' My Money)" or "Can't Buy Me Love"?: BUDGET CUT.

"Sittin' in the Sun (Countin' My Money)" is a 1953 song by Louis Armstrong.  "Can't Buy Me Love" is a 1964 song by The Beatles.  Each song (CUT) mentions money, which relates to budget, which makes each of these songs a BUDGET CUT, usually meaning a planned reduction in expenditures.

50. "I'm Too Sexy" or "Summer in the City"?: HOT AIR.

"I'm Too Sexy" is a 1991 song by Right Said Fred.  "Summer in the City" is a 1966 song by The Lovin' Spoonful.  Each song (AIR) deals with being hot, although in the first case, the singer is sexy/hot, and in the second, he's just plain hot.  So there you have it:  HOT AIR, which usually means empty or boastful speech.

61. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" or "Talkin' Baseball"?: LINE DRIVE SINGLE.

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is a 1908 song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, often sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game.  "Talkin' Baseball" is a 1981 song by Terry Cashman. Each song (SINGLE) is about America's favorite pastime, making each a LINE DRIVE SINGLE.  It's risky for me to explain baseball lingo, but it seems to mean a batted ball that goes in a straight line, resulting in the batter getting to advance a single base.  You are welcome to improve on that explanation!

Here come the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. Unflattering press for a celeb: BAD PR.  Celeb is short for celebrity; PR is short for Public Relations.

6. Fries, e.g.: SIDE.  Fries are a side dish.

10. Owned: HAD.

13. On a cruise: AT SEA.

14. Ridicule: TAUNT.

16. 2019 March Madness champs: UVA.  University of Virginia.  March Madness is an annual NCAA college basketball tournament.

17. [Theme clue]

20. BTS genre: K-POP.  BTS is a South Korean boy band, an example of Korean popular music, known as K-Pop.

21. Done deal: SURE BET.

22. Tony winner Hagen: UTA.  Uta Hagen (1919-2004) was a German-American actress and acting teacher.  

Uta Hagen

25. NFL three-pointers, for short: FGS.  Field GoalS in American football.

27. [Theme clue]

28. [Theme clue]

32. Figure, briefly: BOD.  A brief way to refer to the human figure, or body.

33. Lebanese capital: BEIRUT. 

34. Art stand: EASEL.

38. [Theme clue]

42. Griswold of the "National Lampoon's Vacation" films: CLARK.  Clark Griswold is the paterfamilias character played by Chevy Chase in the movies.  I could not have retrieved this from any part of my brain.  Perpendicular clues (perps) to the rescue!

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold

43. Adidas addition: INSOLE.

45. Undecided initials: TBA.  To Be Arranged:  a nifty calendar abbreviation.

48. [Theme clue]

50. [Theme clue]

54. Antioxidant juice brand: POM.  I used to drink a lot of this!

"Wonderful" brand 100% Pomegranate juice

55. Some mantras: OMS.  According to the Times of India, "OM ... is a sacred symbol, sound and mantra of the universe. In many ancient scriptures, OM is described as the first sound of the universe, the vibration of which brought everything into existence."

56. Puzzles: ENIGMAS.

58. "Success!": TA-DA!  Mock fanfare.

61. [Theme clue]

66. Actress Ryan: MEG.  Meg Ryan is an American actress known for her quirky roles in romantic comedies.

Meg Ryan, famously faking an orgasm in "When Harry Met Sally"

67. Watch rim: BEZEL.  A bezel is a narrow rim that secures the clear cover on a watch, or that holds a gemstone in place (instead of prongs).  I kept thinking "bevel" because of the angled edge on some watch crystals.  The V wasn't helping me with 57 Down, coffee specification.  Changing the V to Z was my last move on this puzzle.

68. Wood finish: STAIN.

69. Equal: ARE.  Two and two ARE four.

70. Actor's compilation: REEL.  It makes sense that actors today compile video reels showcasing their acting skills.

71. Explored a national park, perhaps: HIKED.  John Muir was quoted as saying, "People ought to saunter in the mountains – not 'hike'!"  I'm happy to say that we are saunterers.

DH and I sauntering with my Mom earlier this month in the White Mountains.

Down:

1. Item used at home: BAT.  Oh, home plate!  Baseball bat.  

2. Used (up): ATE.

3. Fiber alternative: DSL.  Internet connection types:  while DSL uses copper phone lines to transmit data, fiber uses ultra-thin glass strands that carry light instead of electricity.

4. Cheat at cards, say: PEEK.

5. Reneé of the "Mean Girls" musical: RAPP.  Reneé Rapp is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition for starring as Regina George in the Broadway musical "Mean Girls."  I Did Not Know (DNK) this one -- thanks, perps!

Reneé Rapp

6. Like bumper-to-bumper traffic: STOP GO.  Usually called stop-and-go traffic.  We have lots of that in Los Angeles.

7. "Amsterdam" novelist McEwan: IAN.  "Amsterdam" is a 1998 novel by British writer Ian McEwan, for which he was awarded the 1998 Booker Prize.

First edition, first printing, available from AbeBooks.com

8. Union __: DUES.

9. The blahs: ENNUI.  Word adopted from French for a feeling of tiredness and boredom.

10. Commotion: HUBBUB.  Noise made by a lot of people all talking or shouting at the same time.

11. Maker of Healthy Start Newborn skin products: AVEENO.  Didn't know, but not surprised.

Aveeno Daily Moisture Healthy Start Newborn Balm

12. Moved unpredictably: DARTED.

15. Spoil: TURN.   On our recent trip with Mom, DH told a restaurant staff member that the wine had TURNed.  The response:  Oh, how funny, another customer said the same thing about the same bottle yesterday!  Quickly followed by:  Let's open a new bottle!

18. Long Island university that has hosted several presidential debates: HOFSTRA.

19. Ran into: MET.

22. Common port type: USB.  USB, or universal serial bus, is a mechanism used to connect peripheral devices to computers.

23. Cake part: TIER.

24. Opera solo: ARIA.

26. Arrive quietly: SNEAK UP.

29. Actor Stoltz: ERIC.  Eric Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer.  DNK.

John Travolta and Eric Stoltz in "Pulp Fiction"

30. Void's partner: NULL.

31. Roam (about): GAD.

35. Bad marks: STIGMAS.

36. Sea eagle: ERNE.  A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae.

I took this photo of an African Fish-Eagle -- eating a fish! -- in Botswana.

37. Not followed: LAST.  The last in a series is not followed by anyone or anything.

39. Crystal ball, e.g.: ORB.

40. Pixar film set on the Day of the Dead: COCO.  Lovely animated film highlighting Mexican culture.

41. Longtime "Project Runway" host Heidi: KLUM.  Beautiful and clever.

It would just be mean not to include a photo of Heidi Klum.

44. GRE org.: ETS.  The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools. The GRE is owned and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS).

45. Title role for Geena Davis: THELMA.  From the 1991 movic, "Thelma & Louise."

46. Tougher to fillet, perhaps: BONIER.

47. Not much, colorwise: A TINGE.  I've seen a lot of interior decorating catalogs lately featuring just A TINGE of beige in the paint and furnishings.

49. "Spill!": DO TELL.

51. Period: AGE.  As in the Age of Dinosaurs, or the Viking Age.

52. Film trivia site: IMDB.  IMDb (an acronym for Internet Movie Database) is an online resource for information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online.

53. More red: RARER.  This took me a while.  Oh, meat!  We're vegetarian.

57. Coffee specification: SIZE.  I needed DH to help me here.  I had SIvE, because I was stuck on BEvEL instead of BEZEL for 67 Across.  DH said SIZE immediately, and I realized that BEZEL is a thing.

59. "Spill!": DISH.  Do tell.

60. Averse to: ANTI.

62. Neckline shape: VEE.

63. Nickelodeon slime: GAK.  DNK.  My grandchildren concoct their own slime!

64. Fabrication: LIE.

65. Sew up: END.  A fitting way to END a puzzle.

The grid:

Did you hum along through this musical challenge?  

Or was it a STOP-and-GO experience rife with ENIGMAS?

NaomiZ

Thursday, August 29, 2024, Micah Sommersmith

 "May I cut in?"

Today veteran constructor Micah Sommersmith treats us to a letter insertion theme.  For the punny version of the theme clues the answer to the above question is YES.  For the in-the-language version the answer is NO ...

17A. Accumulation on neglected steps?: STAIR DUST.  Joni Mitchell sings the words "... we are STAR DUST, we are golden, we are 10 billion year old carbon ..." in her classic song Woodstock ...

24A. Institute for invective?: TIRADE SCHOOL.  With the high cost of college these days, increasing numbers of high school graduates are going to TRADE SCHOOLS.  They generally cost less than college and enable students to enter the work force more quickly.  Here are some programs offered at Maryland trade schools. 

51A. Shop selling more groanworthy gag gifts?: CORNIER STORE.  One CORNER STORE is an establishment created by Zhouqin Burnikel where everyday you find crossword puzzles, clever reviews, and divergent opinions about them posted by a community of devoted solvers.  And some of their comments are even groanworthy!  E.g. CSO to Ray - O. 😀

And the reveal ...

64D. Question on the dance floor, or an apt title for this puzzle: MAY I CUT IN.

... the inserted letter of course being I.

Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. Carrie-Anne of "The Matrix": MOSS.  Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in The Matrix series (1999–present). Her parents named her for an old Holley's song. 😀

Carrie-Anne Moss

5. "An octopus has three hearts," e.g.: FACT.  A FACT I didn't know, but I'm sure my 10 year old grandson does. 😀

9. Satirical bit: SKIT.  These guys invented the genre ... 

13. Unit of length: INCH.

14. Superfood berry: ACAI.

15. Midmorning hr.: TEN AM.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Disentangle: UNTIE.  A CSO to Jinx.

20. Netflix's "__ Kai": COBRA.  Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen.  Here's the Season 6 trailer ...

 

21. Thing of the past: RELIC.  One of the most fascinating relics is the Greek Antikythera mechanism developed in the late 2nd century BC and discovered by divers from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in 1901.  Upon close examination it was discovered to be an analogue computer that could be used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance ...

23. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA.  An mRNA vaccine works by triggering your immune system to create antibodies. Antibodies are proteins in the body. They fight bacteria and viruses that cause disease.  The preceding link contains a great video on how they work and  is definitely worth watching.

24. [Theme clue]

27. Actress/activist Milano: ALYSSA.  Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, producer, activist, and former singer. She has played Samantha Micelli in Who's the Boss?, Jennifer Mancini in Melrose Place, Phoebe Halliwell in Charmed, and many other roles in TV and films.  As an activist, Milano is known for her role in the MeToo movement in October 2017.

Alyssa Milano

30. Barrel of laughs: RIOT.  

31. Feline sign: LEO.

32. Experts who may recommend rebooting a PC: IT PROS.  We used to call that "Getting out of the car and getting back in again".  Don't get me started on how the boys in Redmond get away with this kind of stuff. 😡

35. Lab rodents: MICE.

39. "Pale Blue Dot" author Carl: SAGAN. Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator. His best known scientific contributions are his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and the assembly of the  first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them.   Here is his iconic monologue from The Pale Blue Dot ...

Every time I  hear this I am reminded of  Dr. Lewis Thomas, who writing in his book The Lives of the Cell, suggested an alternative to Sagan's plaque and record --"I'd send Bach.  All of it.  It would be bragging of course ...". 😀

41. Georgia airport code: ATL.

42. Elided address: MLORD.  An elision commonly heard upstairs at Downtown Abbey.

43. Color-changing gem: OPAL. The value of these gems has dropped significantly in recent years due to their frequent appearance in crossword puzzles -- e.g. last Thursday. 

44. Reaction to bright light, for some: SNEEZE.   Among other more technical terms this has been called the ACHOO syndrome!

46. Carried the day: WON.

47. Paintballs, e.g.: AMMO.

49. National Gallery of Canada locale: OTTAWA.  The museum is particularly known for its Indigenous art, e.g. a recent exhibition by Mohawk artist Shelley Niro.  I was particularly taken by this brilliant "sound sculpture" by artist Janet Cardiff called Forty-Part Motet, a reworking of Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis' Spem in alium (Latin for "Hope in any other").  Here is Janet's description of it ... 

Here's the work it was based on ... 

51. [Theme clue]

56. Verse opener?: UNI.  Also Britspeak for University.

57. Percolate: LEACH.  Also the surname of the great Bernard Leach, the father of British Studio pottery in the mid 20th Century.  Village craft pottery had been all but destroyed by the industrial revolution in the previous century and Leach revived it by elevating it to high art.

Stoneware bottles, thrown and paddled
Bernard Leach, circa 1950

58. Prefix with gram: INSTA.

62. Dismally dull: BANAL.  Or a description for the commonness of evil, as described in the book by philosopher Hannah Arendt ...

64. [Theme reveal].

66. Flight path?: AISLE. "Please fasten your seat belts and prepare yourself for landing". 😀

67. Word with "open" or "up in": ARMS.  We seem to see a lot more of the latter than the former in the world these days. 

68. Number for a letter?: RENT.  I.e. the cost for letting an apartment ...

69. Tail section: REAR.  Among other ...

70. Appear: SEEM.

71. Star of Life wearers: Abbr.: EMTS.  Worn by Emergency Medical Technicians ...
 

Down:

 1. Catchall category, briefly: MISC.

2. Glom __: ONTO.

3. Wound covering: SCAB.

4. Tops: SHIRTS.

5. Short-lived trend: FAD.   "Fashion is merely a form of ugliness so absolutely unbearable that we have to alter it every six months!" -- Oscar Wilde, 1883.

6. Luxury car brand: ACURA.  Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America.

2024 Acura TLX
Premium Sports Sedan
starting at $45,000

7. Scoped out: CASED.

8. Cagney or Lacey: TITLE ROLE.  Cagney & Lacey is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very different lives: Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless) is a career-minded single woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) is a married working mother.  The classic trope of the mismatched detective duo.

9. Rough finish: STUCCO.  A rough clue too -- Crossword Tracker has never seen this clue before.  Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture.

Baroque stucco on the ceiling
 of the Rotonde de Mars
Louvre Palace, Paris
Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy, 1658

10. "The Masked Singer" panelist Jeong: KEN.  The Masked Singer is an American reality singing competition television series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. Celebrities sing songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the program employs panelists who guess the celebrities' identities by interpreting clues provided to them throughout each season. Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke appear in each episode and vote alongside an audience for their favorite singer after all performances have concluded. The least popular is eliminated, taking off their mask to reveal their identity.

11. 101-level course: INTRO.

12. Indigenous Caribbean language: TAINO.  The Taíno were historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities.  The Taíno language was a dialect of the Arawakan language group.  At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the northern Lesser Antilles.

The Lucayan branch of the Taíno were the first New World peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus, in the Bahama Archipelago on October 12, 1492.  Here is stone statue in Puerto Rico dedicated to Agüeybaná II, a Taíno hero remembered for his bravery in fighting the Spanish invaders during Taino rebellion of 1511 ...  

Agüeybaná El Bravo

16. __ prep: MEAL.

18. Trail mix bit: RAISIN.

22. Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS.  Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 – c. 2181 BCE) as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris, and produces and protects his heir, Horus.  In Roman times, Egyptians across the country celebrated her birthday by carrying the local cult statue of Isis through their fields, probably celebrating her powers of fertility.

Isis nursing Horus
Ptolemaic Period
332–30 B.C.

25. Lab rodent: RAT.

26. Code with tags: HTML.  Hypertext Markup Language is standard language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content.  It is the underlying language in which our reviews are written and this paragraph looks like this in HTML. 
 

The tags are the symbols <> and </> -- e.g. <b> ... </b> mean start/stop boldface.  But this a simple example -- HTML has a complex syntax and it can be quite unwieldy to hand code (except for wizards like -T 😀), so we use an application called Blogger that generates the HTML for us.  Blogger is an example of a WYSIWYG editor ("What You See Is What You Get") and is much easier to use. 

27. To boot: ALSO.

28. __ of faith: LEAP.

29. Meditative discipline: YOGA.

33. Long shots?: PANORAMAS.  Odds are they can be created with most cell phones. 😀

34. GPS suggestion: RTE.

36. "The Music Man" setting: IOWA.  It has a reputation for being a stubborn state ...

37. Brag: CROW.

38. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay: EDNA.  Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond.  She won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her poem "Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"; she was the first woman and second person to win the award. In 1943, Millay was the sixth person and the second woman to be awarded the Frost Medal for her lifetime contribution to American poetry.  Here's her "The white bark writhed and sputtered like a fish".

Edna St. Vincent Millay
1922

40. Disney composer Menken: ALAN.  Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation. Menken's music includes the soundtracks for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995).  His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman (who has 9 Oscars), a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of nineteen people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony ("an EGOT").  Here's the song The Enemy Within from the musical King David, with lyrics by Tim Rice ...

42. Like grams: METRIC.  It's a shame that the metric system never caught on in the US.  Formulating and compounding ceramic glazes using English units would be a nightmare.

44. "Peter Pan" pirate: SMEE.  The villain HOOK didn't perp, but SMEE seems like a likeable pirate ...

Smee

45. San Diego tourist attraction:  ZOO.  The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, located in Balboa Park. The zoo houses over 12,000 animals of more than 680 species and subspecies. It is the most visited zoo in the United States. Travelers have cited it as one of the best zoos in the world. The zoo was a pioneer in the concept of open-air, cage-less exhibits that recreate natural animal habitats. It sits on 100 acres (40 ha) of land leased from the City of San Diego.  Here are some of their attractions.  This is the entrance (don't worry -- he doesn't bite. 😀) ...
 

Rex's Roar

48. Sienna of "Horizon: An American Saga": MILLER.  Horizon: An American Saga is a film series that consists of four planned American epic westerns directed, co-written, and produced by, as well as starring Kevin Costner, from a script he co-wrote with Jon Baird and based on an original story co-authored by Costner, Baird, and Mark Kasdan. The plot centers on fictional characters and takes place in pre- and post-Civil War America, and details the exploration of the American West. Depicting a twelve-year span, the movies feature an ensemble cast portraying various characters and their experiences pioneering into new territory.  Sienna Miller plays Frances Kittredge a main character in the series.

50. Length of service: TENURE.

51. Home of Buena Vista Social Club: CUBA.  The Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996 and "discovered" by  American guitarist Ry Cooder.  The group's eponymous studio album was recorded in March 1996 and released in September 1997, quickly becoming an international success.   This prompted the ensemble to perform with a full line-up in Amsterdam and New York in 1998.  We were fortunate to see them perform at the Lyric Theater in Baltimore some time after that.  Here's Chan Chan, one of their hits from the documentary film by Wim Wenders ...

52. Broadcasting: ON AIR.

53. Washer cycle: RINSE.

54. Close call: SCARE.

55. Oregano kin: THYME.  MARJORAM wouldn't fit.

59. Woody part of 55-Down: STEM.  My big gripe about THYME -- separating all those tiny leaves from all those the woody stems ...

Thyme

60. Shade: TINT.

61. Terro trap targets: ANTS.  

63. In the style of: A LA.

65. Belief system: ISM.  For example DARWINISM -- the name of a scientist + ISM.  Believe it or not I still haven't found another example of this.

Cheers,

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

Wednesday, Aug 28th, 2024, Rebecca Goldstein & Rafael Musa

 CHECK MARK✔

Theme from the Sting (The Entertainer) on Vibraphone

Hump Day~! Another Rebecca Goldstein puzzle - this time she's partnered with Rafael Musa, whose latest LA Times constructions were themeless Saturdays blogged by HuskerG.  A 'normal' 15 x15 grid, and what is becoming a "normal" ( for me ) Wednesday occurrence, circles.  Today's circles are in a pattern reminiscent of the way a chess knight moves, but skewed 45°, and all four examples use the letters V, I, B & E - The result; a CHECK mark, and a graphic representation of the theme of the puzzle;

57. "How's everybody feeling?," e.g., and an apt description of this puzzle's circled letters: VIBE CHECK - ✔

I have not heard or used this phrase; I guess I am just "OLD".  It does sound Millennial, or GenZ, so I'm not surprised.  On the flip side, we did have three other solid, nine-letter fills, so I am going to add those at the top of the write-up here, for Cornerites who care to "cheat" ( I used to 'peek' at the Saturday write-up for a little "assistance ).  I did not get my "ta-DA~!" after the puzzle was filled; turns out I had a "U" in the cell where the "I" is, highlighted in the solution above, and it was the theme that helped me see my mistake....

16A. "That's my cue to leave": "I BETTER GO." - reminds me of the closing scene from Pulp Fiction - ✔

 Vincent and Jules, dressed in T-shirts and shorts, "think they should be leaving now"

3D. Story connectors: ELEVATORS - Dah~!  I got caught up thinking story as in tales, novels, movies, etc.

32D. Smarts: INTELLECT

 And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Swerve: VEER

5. Person in a toque: CHEF

9. Explicit content warning letters: NSFW - Not Suitable For Work

13. Vogue rival: ELLE

14. Short video on Instagram: REEL - new clue for this answer; I don't Instagram - filled via perps

15. "Cloud Atlas" star Berry: HALLE - never saw this movie - sounds intriguing, so I borrowed the book and started reading it this week - name #1

18. Instruments with bell-shaped bottoms: OBOES

19. Field near a volcano: LAVA BED

National Park, California

20. Race in place: REV

22. Go all in, maybe: BET - meh.  It's not really a bet so much as a bluff, or desperation call

23. Help: AID

24. Person who doesn't sugarcoat things: REALIST - I consider myself a realist

26. Envelope abbr.: ATTN - ATTENTION - see 35A.

28. Fed a friend's iguana, say: PET SAT - I found another picture of my iguana Zeus - ✔

29. Heckles a performance: BOOS

30. Cranberry farm: BOG

31. Finale: ENDING

35. Microwave aluminum foil, say: ERR - I actually made this error a week ago - I just wanted to take the chill off a protein bar, never noticing the foil package - but the sparks in the zapper got my ATTENTION - ✔

36. Endearing: LOVABLE

38. Word between last names: NÉE - Frawnche

39. "__ learned!": LESSON - I had to learn how to solder a windline joint last week - we are installing the windlines for the new pipe organ at St. Peter's Harwich, MA, this week.  Here's a picture of a reed rank laid out so we can modify its wind chest for the Washington National Cathedral - ✔

16' Fagotto (Bassoon) - YouTube

41. Apple platform: iOS - I'm a PC

42. __-Alt-Del: CTRL - and this is how you FIX PCs

43. Endorses digitally: eSIGNS - Living in CT, I did a lot of eSigning for documents related to NY accounts - I wonder about the legality sometimes, when you take into consideration hackers

45. Weight: HEFT

46. Takes a nosedive: CRATERS - There have been numerous episodes of Air Disasters where a mechanical failure led to a plane taking a nosedive, resulting in a crater. 

48. Khan Academy founder Khan: SAL - name #2, no clue, filled via perps - his Wiki

49. Election Day mo.: NOVember, and fast approaching 

50. Jockey item with straps?: BRA - Jockey, the brand name

51. Prophets: ORACLES

55. Cravalho who voices Moana: AULI'I - name #3, did not see the movie, had no clue; her IMDb

59. Plug protrusion: PRONG

The orange snake from hell

60. Actor Bana: ERIC - name #4

61. Hurt: ACHE

62. Jazz legend James: ETTA - name #5, crossword staple

63. Allows: LETS

64. Stash, as a carry-on: STOW


DOWN:

1. Accessory for some brides: VEIL - I was "today years old" when I saw this video - NOT Weird Al's version....

The Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy

2. Brazilian singer-songwriter Ramalho: ELBA - name #6, no clue, filled via perps

4. Keeps: RETAINS - AND rhyming - 24. Wins back: REGAINS

5. First Nations people: CREE - I WAGed OTOE.  Bzzzt~!

6. Bison bunch: HERD

7. Neuro letters: EEG - abbr. for neurology, etc., ergo abbr for ElectroEncephaloGram

8. Cauliflower cut: FLORET - ah.  I missed this on the first pass - broccoli would have clued me in

Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Florets - looks quite tasty

9. Catch in the act: NAB

10. Mess-makers: SLOBS

11. Group of ships: FLEET - ARMADA didn't fit

12. "__ Coast best coast": WEST - WAG for the rhyme

15. Freeway section marked with diamonds: HOV LANE 

Not effective, in my experience on Long Island - a Zipper lane would be the way to go

17. "More info soon": TBD

21. Studio supports: EASELS - Artist's studios, that is

25. "__ be amazing if ... ": IT'D - meh, but necessary

26. Cain's brother: ABEL - name #7

27. Ripped: TORE

A tragedy - ✔

28. Perspective, for short: POV - Point of View - there's a GUN for that; doesn't work on women

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - ✔

30. Less meaty: BONIER - like most fashion models

33. Make less powerful, in gamer slang: NERF - filled via perps, but it sorta makes sense

34. Coins in a game of dreidel: GELT

36. Got blown out: LOST BIG - especially if you went 'All In'

37. Code for the busiest airport in Massachusetts: BOS - Boston Airport didn't sound right, until I recalled that it's called "Logan" Airport

Looks confusing

40. Black __: SEA - I threw in "TIE"

42. Does a fast-paced Latin dance: CHA-CHAs

44. Colorful stones at the bottom of an aquarium: GRAVEL - uh, well, I guess it is gravel; I had more than one aquarium as a kid - I am thinking about doing another - I can be on the road without worrying about my fish.

46. Pickleball venue: COURT

47. Airstream stopover, for short: RV LOT - meh. RV Park is a more common 'phrase', and based on a website during my search, an RV LOT is a permanent (so to speak) rental spot to park your RV - not really a "stopover"

48. Cul-de-__: SAC - Frawnche

49. Back of the neck: NAPE

51. Notice in passing?: OBITuary

52. Suggestions, for short: RECS - meh.  I am guessing "recommendations", but this is something I do not typically use, or hear, in my daily travels

53. Reverberation: ECHO

54. Distort: SKEW - Dah~! Not WARP

56. Cookbook writer Garten: INA - Dah~!  I filled in UTA - the "other" three-letter name I always get wrong; Uta is the German actress who frequently appears in crossword puzzles, too

58. Intense anger: IRE

Splynter - ✔