Friday, September 13, 2024, Joe Deeney

 Theme:  TEasing TEsty TErriers

Veteran constructor Joe Deeney gives us five symmetrically placed theme entries, with one spanning the grid, and a reveal at the very end.  In each answer, the letter combination TE is repeated thrice.

Theme entries:

17 Across. *Asked for trouble: TEMPTED FATE.

24 Across. *Nickname for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio where Bugs Bunny was developed: TERMITE TERRACE.  

"Termite Terrace was the original Warner Brothers animation studio for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Unlike most other animation studios, which used much larger buildings, Termite Terrace was a very small building made of clapboard, and very infested with insects, especially termites." (https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Termite_Terrace)  Did Not Know (DNK), but filled it with the help of perpendicular entries ("perps").

34 Across. *Van Gogh painting also known as "Sorrowing Old Man": AT ETERNITY'S GATE.

47 Across. *GPS offering, maybe: ALTERNATE ROUTE.

56 Across. *One who might leave bite marks?: TASTE TESTER.

65 Across. Banal, or a three-part hint for the answers to the starred clues: TRI T E.  TRITE means unoriginal, banal, clichéd, commonplace, hackneyed, stale, stereotyped, threadbare, or tired.  However, in THIS case, broken into three parts, it means TRI T E, or three T E combinations in each theme answer.

Let's go on to the other clues and answers.

Across:

1. Ferret out: DIG UP.  I never really stopped to consider the origin of this expression before.

6. Universal donor's type, briefly: O NEG.  Type O negative blood is considered the universal blood type because it can be safely transfused to people with any blood type. "Briefly" in the clue allows for the abbreviation "NEG" in the answer.

10. __ generis: SUI.  Sui generis is a Latin phrase that means "of its own kind" or "in a class by itself."   While the phrase is used in biology, the arts, and law, I remember it from my college philosophy courses, where it meant an idea or entity that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept.

13. "Spirited Away" genre: ANIME.  DNK.  Solved with perps and a reasonable guess. It's a 2001 Japanese animated film about a girl who accidentally enters the world of spirits.

14. First State capital: DOVER.  Delaware was the first colony to ratify the U.S. Constitution, and by doing so, became the first state. Its capital city is Dover.

16. Sculptor Gillen: ANN.  DNK.  All perps.  She has created a lot of public art in NYC.

Flying Red by Ann Gillen, 1987

17. [Theme clue]

19. Routing word: VIA.

20. Shot spot: ARM.

21. Game cube: DIE.  Singular form of the plural word "dice."

22. Handy reference for a crossword constructor: ROGET'S.  Roget's Thesaurus, first published in 1852.

24. [Theme clue]

28. Like granola: OATY.  The plant-based "milk" we use at breakfast is also "oaty."

29. Continues with intensity: RAGES ON.

30. Urban haze: SMOG.  Of course, we've never seen that in Los Angeles. 😉

32. Fishing pole: ROD.

33. Start at the beginning?: ESS.  The beginning of the word START is the letter ESS.  Meta!  (Or, self-referential.  The clue is about the clue.)

34. [Theme clue]

39. Little bit: TAD.

40. Intention: AIM.

41. Ballpark figure: OUTS.  Not a person, but a statistic.  A figure can be a shape, a diagram, or a number.

42. Connecting: TYING IN.

45. Paint brand at Home Depot: BEHR. 

47. [Theme clue]

51. Having a veneer: COATED.

52. "You for Me" singer Rita: ORA.  Singer/songwriter who is popular in the UK and in crossword puzzles.

53. Purple yam in some desserts: UBE.  DNK!  A sweet yam that originated in Southeast Asia and has been cultivated in the Philippines for centuries.  My limited experience with Philippine desserts is that they do not match my expectation for sweetness.

55. On a streak: HOT.

56. [Theme clue]

60. New Orleans-to-Tampa dir.: ESE.  East-South-East.

61. Bothered: ATE AT.

62. __-Grain cereal bars: NUTRI.  A brand name.

63. __ Moines, Iowa: DES.

64. Slithery swimmers: EELS.

65. [Theme reveal]

Down:

1. Mined stuff: DATA.  Couldn't be ORE, so it had to be the more modern DATA mining.

2. Like helium: INERT.

3. Easy score: GIMME.

4. Ballpark figure: UMP.

5. Family member who might be microchipped: PET.  Did you write in DOG or CAT at first?

6. Curious thing: ODDITY.

7. Pro bono: NO FEE.

8. Green of "Casino Royale": EVA.  DNK.  Eva Green is a French actress.  Of her many films, I have only seen Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016).  

Eva Green with Daniel Craig (as James Bond) in Casino Royale

9. Warm up: GET READY.

10. Put one's jacket down, say: SAVE A SEAT.  Good strategy at a large gathering.

11. Prices per piece: UNIT COSTS.

12. "Sorta": IN A SENSE.

15. Office shake-up, briefly: REORG.  Again, "briefly" in the clue signals an abbreviation in the answer, in this case, the abbreviation for reorganization.

18. Improve, hopefully: EDIT.

23. Hurdle for Ph.D. hopefuls: GRE.  I took the Graduate Record Examination decades ago when applying for the Master of Library Science program at UCLA.  DH likes to brag about my perfect score on the verbal section.  

25. __ cellar: ROOT.  Before refrigeration, an underground root cellar was an essential way to store carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables.

26. World of Warcraft charmer: MAGE.  World of Warcraft is a multiplayer, online video game.  A mage is a magician or wizard who can cast spells (or charms).  

World of Warcraft mage

27. Brisk gait: TROT.

30. "Relax!": STAY LOOSE.

31. Does one's om work?: MEDITATES.  In Hinduism, Om is a sacred sound that can be chanted during meditation.  

32. Basket part: RIM.  Admittedly, I wasn't thinking about basketball and envisioned a different kind of basket.  But I think this is what the constructor had in mind:

34. Unable to let go: ATTACHED.

35. Plan B time: RAIN DATE.  An alternative date for an event in case of inclement weather.

36. "Little Girl Blue" singer Simone: NINA.  Nina Simone (1933-2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, and civil rights activist.  

37. Neighborhood near Tribeca: SOHO.  A 16 minute walk between these NYC neighborhoods.

38. Ashram adviser: GURU.  Bet he does his om work.

43. Basket part: NET.  Well, here's the other part of that basket!

44. "Lady Bird" Oscar nominee Gerwig: GRETA.  Greta Gerwig directed this 2017 coming-of-age film, as well as the more recent Barbie movie and others.  She has also acted in films and on television.

45. Tête toppers: BERETS.  Tête is French for head, so you would put French hats on top.

46. Basic Latin verb: ERAT.  Past imperfect form of third person singular "to be."  

48. Absolute: TOTAL.

49. __-frutti: TUTTI.

50. "At the Movies" co-host: EBERT.  Roger Ebert (1942-2013) was an American film critic widely known for the televison show "At the Movies With Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert" which appeared under varying names on several networks over the years.

54. Pennsylvania port: ERIE.  Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and is the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania,  Like other Great Lakes port cities, Erie is accessible to the oceans via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River network in Canada.

57. "Get the picture?": SEE.

58. Tolkien's Treebeard, for one: ENT.  In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings, ents are sentient beings who resemble trees.  Their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest.

59. South, south of the border: SUR.  Spanish for South, as heard south of the US-Mexico border.

Here's the grid:

What did you think of today's tripartite effort?  Was it a TAD difficult?  Or were the answers all GIMMEs?  

NaomiZ

Thursday, September 12, 2024, Jeanne D. Breen

  

EGO LOSS

(English Version
Objective Case)

Today's constructor, veteran Jeanne D. Breen presents us with a letter omission theme.  If you made the right guess on quote clue 60A, all the themers would have immediately made sense.  OTOH, if you'd solved the punny first clue, you would have probably sussed what she's dropping too ...

18A. Fuel for Greek gods?: OLYMPIC GAS.  OLYMPIC GAMES.  Very timely.

24A. Dirty sheets?: OFFENSIVE LINEN.  OFFENSIVE LINEMEN.  If your team is going up against the Baltimore Ravens, you might find their OLs to be pretty offensive ... 

37A. Really obnoxious infants?: BABY BOORS.  BABY BOOMERS  I resemble that remark -- on both counts! 😀

54A. Commit to eating leafy greens exclusively?: LEAD A CHARD LIFE.  LEAD A CHARMED LIFE.  While we don't eat greens exclusively, we have greens and a salad at every meal. Here's some Swiss Chard Teri is growing in our garden ...

Rainbow Swiss Chard

... and the reveal ...

60. "I'm absolutely not interested," and an apt title for this puzzle: COUNT ME OUT.

Here's the grid (sans MEs) ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. News magazine whose cover has a red border: TIME.  You'll never guess Time's Person of the Year for 2024 -- apparently it's Taylor Swift time #4 ...

 5. Last year's frosh: SOPH.

9. Make merry: ELATE.

14. Grows older: AGES.  The alternative may be better 😀 or worse. 😟

15. German woman: FRAU. -- a grown up FRÄULEIN.  Today's German lesson.

16. Kansas governor Kelly: LAURA.  Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 48th governor of Kansas. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2019. Kelly was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach. She was reelected in 2022, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Derek Schmidt.

Governor Laura Kelly

17. Gumdrops brand in a yellow box: DOTS.

18. [Theme clue].

20. Present, as an idea: POSIT.

22. "I've heard enough, thx": TMI.  Too Much Information.  MOI? 😀

23. Mystery Hunt sch.: MIT. The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzlehunt competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest and most complex puzzlehunts in the world and attracts roughly 120 teams and 3,000 contestants (with about 2,000 on campus) annually in teams of 5 to 150 people.  The mystery hunt employs a wide range of puzzles including crosswords, cryptic crosswords, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, anagrams, connect-the-dots, ciphers, riddles, paint by numbers, sudokus, and word searches. Solutions to these classic puzzles are further complicated by employing arcane or esoteric topics like quantum computing, stereoisomers, ancient Greek, Klingon, Bach cantatas, coinage of Africa, and Barbie dolls. Puzzles might also employ pictures, audio files, video games, physical objects, and/or locations within MIT or the Boston area. The hunt also assumes extensive familiarity with MIT's campus, culture, and lore.  A big CSO to Picard! 

Many teams hunt in rooms with chalkboards,
projectors, computers, and food.

24. [Theme clue]

29. Meadow: LEA.

30. 1990s girl group: TLC.  TLC is an American girl group formed in 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. The group's best-known line-up was composed of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The group enjoyed success during the 1990s, with nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with four number-one singles including Waterfalls, a sad song with a message ...

31. Fillet: DEBONE.

32. "The Little Red Chairs" novelist O'Brien: EDNA.  The Little Red Chairs is a 2015 novel by Irish author Edna O'Brien, who was 85 at the time of publication. The novel is O'Brien's 23rd fictional publication.  The novel follows an imaginary Balkan war criminal, Dr. Vlad, as he interacts with women in an Irish village. The past actions of the main character closely resemble the war crimes of the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić. The title of the novel refers to a European theatre company's performance art which commemorated his 11,541 victims with 11,541 red chairs.

34. Wanted poster letters: AKA.

36. Commedia dell'__: ARTE.  Commedia dell'arte  was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. Characterized by masked "types", commedia was comprised of improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios.  Another characteristic of commedia is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin.  The performances were often accompanied by music.  Here is a recreation of the theme for Harlequin, by modern composer Michele Biki Panitti  

37. [Theme clue].

41. Fruit tree in a Christmas carol: PEAR ...

43. Upper limb: ARM.

44. Ireland, to a native speaker: EIRE.  Today's Gaelic lesson.

48. U-shaped river bends: OXBOWS.  What's an Oxbow?

51. Security aid, briefly: CAM.  A rating of the 5 of the best mini security cameras for 2024.

53. First name of two Spice Girls: MEL.  The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell-Horner ("Ginger Spice"); and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling girl group of all time.  Here's their Wannabe ...

54. [Theme clue].

57. Pt. of ABV: ALC.  ALCohol By Volume.

58. Letter after pi: RHO.

59. Fast-food chain with retro flair: SONIC.  Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In,  is an American drive-in fast-food chain owned by Inspire Brands.  Sonic is known for its use of carhops on roller skates, and hosts an annual competition (in most locations) to determine the top skating carhop in the company.

60. [Theme reveal].

65. Lack: WANT.

66. When "The Room Where It Happens" happens: ACT II.   Having never seen Hamilton I got this answer via ESP but didn't understand what it meant ...

Discovering its origin was a little tricky since The Room Where it Happens is also the name of Season 13, Episode 8 of Grey's Anatomy (apparently most episodes are named for songs) and Google hit that definition first.  

67. Desert plateau: MESA.  The abode of one Wiley Coyote ...

68. Decorative pitcher: EWER.  Here's one decorated with the glazes Branman's Blue and I of Toad ... 

Ewer

69. Some big-box stores: IKEAS. 4 letter big-box store plural?  EKTORP.

70. Seeing things: EYES.

71. Start over: REDO.

Down:

 1. Pond youngster: TAD POLE.  A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in adult amphibians such as a lateral line, gills and swimming tails. As they undergo metamorphosis, they start to develop functional lungs for breathing air, and the diet of tadpoles changes drastically. 

Common frog tadpole
(Rana temporaria)

2. "Oops, my bad!": I GOOFED. 

3. Many a baseball enthusiast in Queens: METS FAN.  We caught a couple of them enthusiastically smooching just a few weeks back 😀

4. OPI rival: ESSIE.  Also the name of Australian actress Essie Davis, who starred in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries ... 

5. Bay Area hub, for short: SFO.

6. Fla. NBA team: ORL.  The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, and Dwight Howard have played for the club throughout its history. As of 2024, the franchise has played in the NBA playoffs 17 times in 35 seasons, and twice went to the NBA Finals, in 1995 and 2009, losing to the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. 

7. Fee-based service: PAY TV.

8. Ran smoothly: HUMMED.

9. Yalie: ELI.  Named for Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721), a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. 

Elihu Yale

10. French body of water: LAC.  LAKE, today's French lesson.

11. Enhance: AUGMENT.

12. Many a new hire: TRAINEE.

13. Vane point: EAST.  All you needed for this was one perp.

19. Accumulate, with "up": PILE.  Or a noun measuring carpet depth.

21. Demo letters: TNT.  Demo as in "demolition" -- TNT is available by mail order from the Acme Corporation ...

25. Generous slice of cake: SLAB.  We feted one of our granddaughters on her 16th birthday last week, and I think I had one too many SLABS of her Ultimate Chocolate Cake.

Happy Birthday to You!

26. Gross: ICKY.

27. Flanged girder: I BAR.  They use capital I's for I BARS.  The lower case versions (i's) don't work very well ... 😀

I BARS

28. Viking tongue: NORSE.  The differences between the Norse language of the Vikings and the modern Norwegian language.

33. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA.  Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia in East Africa. In the 2007 census, the city's population was estimated to be 2,739,551 inhabitants.  Addis Ababa is a modern, highly developed and important cultural, artistic, financial and administrative center of Ethiopia.  However there is some controversy about recent urban renewal efforts.

Addis Ababa skyline

35. Judicial org.: ABA. The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students; it is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession.  A CSO to Jason and Susan.

38. Nickname of the slugger who was the youngest player to hit 600 home runs: AROD.  Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), is an American former professional baseball player and businessman, who played as shortstop and third baseman. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1994–2000), Texas Rangers (2001–2003), and New York Yankees (2004–2013, 2015–2016). 

Rodriguez began his professional baseball career as one of the sport's most highly touted prospects, and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.  With a career .295 batting average, Rodriguez amassed over 600 home runs (696), over 2,000 runs batted in (RBI), over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and over 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB history to achieve all of those feats.

Alexander Rodriguez

39. Killer whale: ORCA.  The OREO of marine mammals.

40. Actor Epps: OMAR.  Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Epps's film roles include Juice, Higher Learning, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love & Basketball. His television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the medical drama series ER, J. Martin Bellamy in Resurrection, Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House from 2004 to 2012, and Isaac Johnson in the TV series Shooter from 2016 to 2018. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.  He has been married to Keisha Epps since 2006 and they have 3 children.  

Omar Epps

41. Painter nicknamed "Jack the Dripper": POLLOCK.  American Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noted for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was called all-over painting and action painting, since he covered the entire canvas and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style.  This painting, called Convergence, is considered his masterpiece ... 

Convergence
1952

 In 1964, puzzle producing company, Springbok Editions, released Convergence the jigsaw puzzle (Inspired by Pollock's painting). It was a 340-piece puzzle that they promoted as "the world's most difficult puzzle". The impact of Pollock's Convergence was evident in 1965 when hundreds of thousands of Americans purchased the jigsaw puzzle.

42. Carry out: EXECUTE.

45. "Mind. Blown.": I'M IN AWE.  In a perpable kind of way. 😀

46. Like some sugar: REFINED.  The manufacturers remove the vitamins from the raw sugar and sell them back to us in little bottles. 😞

47. High-voltage enemy of Spider-Man: ELECTRO.  Shocking!

Electro

49. Heartfelt: WARM.

50. Hatch a plot: SCHEME.

52. Rx writers: MDS.  A CSO to Nina and Raphael.

55. Bunk: HOOEY.

56. Farther down: LOWER.

57. Smoothie berry: ACAI.

61. Actress/director Vardalos: NIA.  Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (Greek: Αντωνία Ευγενία Βαρντάλος, romanized: Antonía Evyenía Vardálos; born September 24, 1962) got her start in this movie ...

... and it's a big fat CSO to CanadianEh!.

62. "__ better to have loved and lost ... ": TIS.  This line is from the elegy In Memoriam A. H. H. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) dedicated to his dear friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died at the age of 22 of a cerebral hemorrhage. 

The poem consists of 133 sections and details Tennyson's three-year emotional journey of processing grief. In its context, this line is situated in the first year of the speaker’s grieving process.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

While Tennyson experienced loss from which he believed he would never recover, the elegy indicates that on the other side of a seventeen-year grieving journey, he found hope in the notion that love itself is a miracle. And it’s worth every moment of pain-filled loss.  This poem is also known to have brought solace to Queen Victoria at the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert. 

63. Put to work: USE.

64. Some grad students, for short: TAS.  Teaching Assistants are the ones who do the real work -- e.g. administering   tests, grading them, and grading papers.  The profs just show up once a week and pontificate (apologies to the Corner's former and current professors 😀) 

Cheers,

Bill

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

waseeley

Postscript:

I tried posting this in the Comments section, but for some reason (or unreason), Blogger didn't like it, so I'm posting it here ...

Here's the bi-weekly DAB puzzle

Here's what David has to say about it ...

My last crossword exemplified art’s ability to lift us out of the finite worldly sphere and into the eternal; today’s exemplifies art’s complementary responsibility to represent the truth of that worldly sphere with uncompromising fidelity, however vile, however filthy, however offensive it may be. In doing so it confronts the shibboleths and pieties of our society, forcing us to reckon with the evil that lurks around and within us all. 

Wednesday, September 11th, 2024, Taylor Johnson

 FOOT PRINT

It is 7D. "fitting" that I be the blogger for September 11th - I was in Long Island, a mere 65 miles from the Word Trade Center during the attacks in 2001.  Taylor Johnson, last seen here at the corner with two Saturday themeless grids, has given us a grid with left-right "mirror" symmetry only, and I wonder if it was intentional that there are two "towers" of  10-letter Down fills on each side of the theme reveal.  No circles, more four-letter words than TLWs, and a lot of proper names, again.  Careful when you put your FOOT down on the themers;

19. *Withings product: BATHROOM SCALE -  I did not know what "Withings" was, but the theme reveal helped with the fill - and one item you may NOT care to acknowledge when you "step on it"

Sadly, this is me

22. *Construction toy piece: LEGO BLOCK - I had plenty of Lego growing up - the other item you may NOT care to feel when you "step on it"

YEEEOW~!

25. *Entryway rug: WELCOME MAT - I want this one for my front door 

Dare you 'step on it' ~?

28. *One of three under a baby grand: PIANO PEDAL - What the three pedals effect when played

she can walk all over me

37. "Go, go, go!," or an instruction one *may or may not* want to follow for

    the answers to the starred clues: STEP ON IT


And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Swear words: OATH  - my favorite is "d#f^j*k$@l&pf%ht"

5. Post-WWII alliance: OAS - Organization of American States - their website

8. Q-tip, e.g.: SWAB

12. Spanish : señora :: German : __: FRAU - When "Frau" appears in a puzzle, I must add this link

Blucher~!

13. Fold animals: SHEEP - not origami-related, had the "P" already, so a WAG on the animal "group"

more animal group names found here

15. Ponytail place: NAPE

16. Small amounts: TADS

17. Concur: AGREE

18. "Who __?": "ELSE~?"

23. Beach bag item: TOWEL - Douglas Adam's explanation on Towels

I have this towel

26. Susan of "The Partridge Family": DEY - name #1

27. Fatty acid, e.g.: LIPID

31. Made to resemble soft leather: SUEDED - check out my latest leather furniture addition

I now own a rocking/swivel/heat & massage RECLINER - It's official: I am "old"

33. "Make kind choices": "BE NICE."

34. Southern city where Cartoon Network has its HQ: ATLanta - name(ish)

35. Go from site to site, say: NET-SURF  - web browsing

39. Small batteries: AAs

40. Arena concert genre: ROCK - see 53A.

42. The first "M" of MGM: METRO - Goldwyn - Mayer; name(ish)

43. Latin years: ANNI - plural of anno

44. Fencing blade: FOIL - not ÉPÉE this time

46. Hoops stat: REBound

47. Scent: ODOR

48. "Hand it over!": "GIMME~!"

49. Tavern initials: IPA

50. Construction __: PAPER - used for origami~?

52. Keats piece: ODE - name(ish)

53. Musket attachment: BAYONET - Iron Maiden, arena rockers still going at 50yrs

The Trooper - You'll fire your musket / but I'll run you through

56. Quarterback Manning: ELI - name #2

57. Missing clownfish in a Pixar film: NEMO - name #3

59. Charged toward: RAN AT - see 53A.

60. Some handheld organizers, briefly: PDAs - Public Display of Assistant~?

Bell and WATSON~!

61. Bread served with saag paneer: NAAN

62. "Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon" director Kurosawa: AKIRA - George Lucas drew inspiration for Star Wars from him; his Wiki; name #4

63. Give five stars, say: RATE

64. Referencing: AS TO

65. Fly catchers?: MITTS - baseball reference, fly balls and gloves

66. Fútbol cheers: OLÉs


DOWN:

1. Much more than ne'er: OFT - more often than never

2. Many a Yemeni: ARAB - name(ish)

3. "Voilà!": "ta-DA~!"

4. Picked up the pace: HUSTLED

5. "What a relief!": "OH GOOD~!"

6. Oxygen-dependent organism: AEROBE - ah. a generic organism; good fill

7. Fitting: SEEMLY

8. Attend a movie without a ticket, say: SNEAK IN

9. Fenway's Green Monster, for one: WALL - I drove past the Green Monster last week on my way to doing field work; had to cut a new hatch into a chamber floor for a new set of pipes - here's the organ façade, seen from below

Trinity Church, Boston

10. Basilica area: APSE - speaking of churches....

11. Drone, e.g.: BEE - think "rank"

13. Puppeteer Tony: SARG - Never heard of him, name #5 - his Wiki

14. Mexican money: PESO

20. Hunt of "Twister": HELEN - name #6; I liked her in Mad About You and Cast Away, too

21. Symbol seen on viola sheet music: C CLEF

23. Old Russian leader: TSAR

24. Lacking inspiration: OUT OF IDEAS

29. "Same for me": "I CAN RELATE."

30. From South Asia, perhaps: DESI - I had to look this up - a new definition for me

32. Many a blue state sen.: DEMocrat

33. "Dude!": BRO~!

36. Glaze made with soy sauce and mirin: TERIYAKI -soy I know, and I have bought rice wine to make my General Tso's, did not know it was called "mirin"

38. Murals, park statues, etc.: URBAN ART - I tried ARTWORKS first

41. First name of bassists Gordon and Deal: KIM - Cool clue; Gordon from Sonic Youth, and Deal from the Pixies/Breeder; two other female bass players - Tal Wilkenfeld and Sean Yseult - name(s) #7

43. Poet laureate Limón: ADA - name #8

45. Syr. neighbor: LEBanon - name(ish)

47. Choose: OPT

48. Plannin' to: GONNA

51. Elevates: RISES - meh.  rAises sounds better

54. Composer Khachaturian: ARAM - no clue - more here; name #8

55. Car service predictions, for short: ETAs

58. Singer Yoko: ONO - name #9

60. For: PRO

Splynter

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to dear Husker Gary, our creative Saturday guide, and my caring and generous friend. I look at this picture often. It was taken in August 2014 when Gary and his wife Joann visited Minneapolis for a wedding. I'll never forget the first time I heard his voice.

Left to Right: Boomer, Gary, C.C. & Joann