Friday, November 15, 2024, Mark McClain

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of this Friday's puzzle by the top-flight and prolific constructor Mark McClain.  From Mark: "Fun fact, my very first published puzzle was also an LAT Friday, and it was almost exactly 10 years ago (10-3-14). I think this is #68, but the first in a couple of years, so it's good to be back."

In this puzzle, Mark takes commonly known two-word combinations and, by reversing the meaning of the first word, conjures up amusing answers to the clues.  There is no reveal.  The word play is performed at these four places within the grid:

17 Across:  People less likely to appear in a police lineup?: UNUSUAL SUSPECTS.

Casablanca

I know.  I know.  I could have gone with Keyser Söze.

26 Across:  Institute of weird learning?: ABNORMAL SCHOOL  A NORMAL SCHOOL is an institution that trains teachers by teaching them pedagogy and curriculum.

Young Frankenstein

42 Across:  Salad dressing ingredient that has to be special ordered?: NONSTANDARD OIL.  Oil and Vinegar dressing.

55 Across:  Group of TV episodes shown out of order?: IRREGULAR SEASON.  During the 2024 REGULAR SEASON, the Los Angeles Dodgers won 98 baseball games.  They also won 11 games during the POST SEASON.

The rest of the clues and answers can be found at:

Across:

1. Lots and lots: SCADS.

6. Some bits of harvest festival decor: COBS.  Corn COBS.  Swans, anyone?

10. Ladder part: STEP.  Hand up for first thinking RUNG.

14. Prohibited by social custom: TABOO.

15. Showroom selection: AUTO.  As in AUTOmobiles at a car dealership.

16. Not fancy at all: HATE.  Very clever cluing here and at 33 Across.  Here, the clue is taken in the British English (probably from the 16th century) sense as in "to (not) like" something.  At 33 Across, the clue is taken in the sense of something not being ornate.

20. Trifecta, for one: BET.  The bettor must pick the top three finishers in the correct sequence.

21. Dismissive sound: PFFT.  My sentiments, exactly.

22. Really bug: EAT AT.

23. Four-time winners of the FIFA Women's World Cup, for short: USA.  1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019.

24. Suppressed, with "up": PENT.

33. Not fancy at all: PLAIN.  See also 16 Across.

34. Deliver a stemwinder: ORATE.  From The Grammarist:

A stem-winder or stemwinder is an exciting speech that whips the crowd into a frenzy; a rousing speech that energizes a crowd; a persuasive speech that stirs emotion. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder is derived from a type of watch that came into use after the American Civil War. A stem-winder or stemwinder is a watch with a winding stem attached to it, rather than a key. In Britain, this type of watch was called a keyless watch. The idiom stem-winder or stemwinder to describe a speech came into use near the end of the nineteenth century. Note that the form stem-winder is a hyphenated compound word that is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, and stemwinder is a closed compound word with no hyphen or spaces that is preferred by other dictionaries.

35. The Horned Frogs of the Big 12, familiarly: TCU.  Texas Christian University.

36. Stand the test of time: LAST.  Endure.

37. Clinic pro: NURSE.  What did the nurse say to the man who fainted at the airport?  I think you might have a terminal illness.

38. Tennis match units: SETS.

39. Parisian pal: AMI.  A frequent French lesson.

40. Open-weave fabric: SCRIM.  Often clued with a reference to stage curtains.

41. Media mogul with a book club: OPRAH.

45. Aunts of Andalusia: TIAS.  One of today's Spanish lessons.

46. D.C. summer hrs.: EDT.  Eastern Daylight Time.

47. Reject: SPURN.

50. Stand up to: DEFY.  I once witnessed a magician make the fog over a lake disappear.  It was mist DEFYing.

52. Glass of NPR: IRA.  A frequent visitor often confused, by this solver, with ARI Shapiro.

59. First name in civil rights history: ROSA.  ROSA Parks.  ROSA was her first name.

60. Summoning instrument: GONG.

61. Parcel out: ALLOT.

62. Email annoyance: SPAM.  Named for the canned meat product that many find unappealing.

Monty Python

63. "Les Misérables" author: HUGO.

64. Really stinks: REEKS.  A local man was causing a disturbance in town because he stunk like fish.  He was REEKing haddock on the neighborhood.

Down:

1. Scant Wikipedia article: STUB.  Often clued with a reference to concert, or other types of, tickets.

2. Stroller's accessory: CANE.  Not stroller as in baby carriage.  Stroller as in a person taking a walk.

3. Lie against: ABUT.

4. __ Equis beer: DOS. Literally, Two X's.  

5. "Dinner's ready!": SOUP'S ON.  "Soups on" is an idiom of Anglo-Saxon origin. This idiomatic phrase was originally used to alert others that the Soup was ready and it was time to eat. In a broader context, it is often used to signify that something is ready or about to begin. Whether it is a meal, an event, or a project, the phrase can denote a sense of readiness and urgency. Therefore, the phrase can be used in a variety of situations not limited to food, expanding its versatility in everyday language.

6. Leg part: CALF.

7. Remove from office: OUST.

8. HVAC meas.: BTU.  British Thermal Unit

9. "Mamma Mia!" number: SOS.  ABBA  have sold over 150 million records.  This solver owns none.

10. Blade cover: SHEATH.

11. Sense of appropriateness: TACT.

12. "Call My Name" singer James: ETTA.

13. Annoying sort: PEST.

18. Off in the distance: AFAR.

19. London coppers: PENCE.  Coppers as in coins, not as in police.

23. Military outfit: UNIT.  Not as in what a soldier might wear.   As in a group of soldiers.

24. Obsolete display type: PLASMA.  A PLASMA display is a type of flat-panel display that uses ionized gas to create images. Plasma TVs were the first large flat-panel displays to be released to the public, but they have been superseded by other technologies such as OLED and QLED.

25. Spanish direction: ESTE.  East.  One of today's Spanish lessons.

26. San Antonio landmark: ALAMO.  Frequently visited in our puzzles.

27. Bathroom fixture: BASIN.  It's best to just let this one sink in.

28. Feels sorrowful: MOURNS.

29. Ban rival: ARRID.  A deodorant reference.  Both are brand names.

30. Comic actor Cheri: OTERI.  On the subject of women's history:

Saturday Night Live

31. In base eight: OCTAL.

32. Cosmetics retailer known for vegetarian and vegan products: LUSH.  New to this solver.

33. Strategize: PLAN.

37. Frozen Four org.: NCAA.  The ice hockey version of the Final Four (basketball).  Abbreviated clue .... abbreviated answer.

38. See in a crowd: SPOT.

40. Beekeeping hazard: STING.  Bee puns really sting.  Bee warned.

41. 2023 or 1999: ODD YEAR.  So many from which to choose.

43. Watch a series on Disney+, say: STREAM.

44. NBA game trio: REFS.  REFerees.  A basketball REFerence.

47. House of Lords titles: SIRS.  You need not have a seat in the House of Lords to have the title.

Sir Paul McCartney & Sir Elton John

48. Stagehand concern: PROP.  Someone leaked the prop notes for the movie Thor Ragnarok.  They had to use a lot of low-key lighting.

49. Bear in the night: URSA.

50. "Oh, heck!": DANG.

Roger Miller

51. Consequently: ERGO.

52. Cruise ship stop: ISLE.

53. Chess piece: ROOK.

54. Colony insects: ANTS.

56. "This tastes awful!": UGH.

57. Brock in the Baseball Hall of Fame: LOU.  Renowned for his base stealing.

58. Brewpub option: ALE.  My local bar ran out of ALE.  It was a bitter disappointment.

This solver enjoyed the puzzle.  The gag was not difficult and it was quite amusing.  The two fifteen-letter answers were a nice touch and the relative lack of proper nouns (bucking the recent trend that we have seen of puzzles as trivia contests) was refreshing.  Besides, the constructor has very good initials.  Welcome back, Mark.

. . . and a hearty, although belated, "Thank you!" to NoamiZ for filling in for me a couple of weeks ago.  Your efforts are very much appreciated.

Here is the completed grid:

_________________________________________________

Thursday, November 14, 2024, Lynn Lempel

 

 A SIMPLE THEME

Today veteran Lynn Lempel returns with a simple letter insertion theme.  Each of her 3 themers is clued with a perfectly reasonable question and the resulting 2 word fill is a pun on the clue, prefixed with the letter 

... which when removed results in a new in the language phrase.  This was a helpful theme and if you found the reveal it made the puzzle easier to solve.  Here are Lynn's themers ...

16A. Reason for copyright suits filed by Atari?: APING PONG.  I recall playing Atari's PONG in college back in the 60's at a local eatery in College Park, MD.   It was one of the very first video games.  I'm sure it was often imitated, but I don't know if Atari actually sued anyone for APING it. It was played on a computer controlled CRT mounted in a table top and looked like this ...

24A. Where squirrels stash treats?: ACORN HOLE.  Where else would they stash them?  OTOH Corn Hole is a game -- here's how it's played ... 

34A. Shenanigans in the physics lab?: ATOM FOOLERY.  The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists tell us that these shenanigans are a very dangerous game that the world is playing with itself.  But drop the A and Merriam Websters tells us it's all just playful or foolish behavior.  Let's hope MW is right!

47A. Rueful remark after losing on the Strip?: ALAS VEGAS.  Stop me if I've told you this before ... I don't gamble, but I was on a business trip in VEGAS years ago and decided to play the slots just for the thrill of it.  I cashed in a 5 dollar bill for nickels and played the slots until they were all gone.  After plugging my last nickel into that one armed bandit, I hit the jackpot and got them all back!  The next day I stacked them into neat piles and left them for the maid.  VEGAS has a way of bringing out generosity in people. 😀

Here's Lynn's reveal ...

57A. "Haven't seen that before," and an apt title for this puzzle: IT'S A FIRST.  Need I say more?

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:
1. Hit-the-water sound: PLOP.  Like this ...

5. Falafel bread: PITA.  Here's Dr. Sonali's recipe.

Falafel sandwiches

9. Bio. branch: ECOL.  Ecology (from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos) 'house' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the entire planet. 

Ecologists study many diverse and complex relations
 among species, such as predation and pollination.
The diversity of life is organized into different habits,

from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems.

13. Waiter's place: LINE.  CAFE fit, but didn't perp.

14. Japanese noodle: UDON.  SOBA fit, but didn't perp.  Here is the difference between the two.

15. Wassail spice: CLOVE.  Wassail is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ensure a good harvest the following year.  Here's Lauren's recipe.

Wassail

16. [Theme clue]

18. "The Right Kind of Wrong" singer LeAnn: RIMES.  Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and other musical genres.

19. Prehistoric tools: STONES.  This is a broad area of study and anyone wishing for a deep dive of prehistoric tools around the world might find this Wikipedia article interesting.  Closer to home are the stone tools developed by the Clovis culture, during the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years ago.  These indigenous Americans created spear points, hand axes, and other tools call Clovis points by flaking cryptocrystalline varieties of quart such as flint, chert, jasper, and chalcedony with deer antlers. Clovis points got their name from the high concentration of tools found in Clovis, New Mexico.  The tools were not only very functional, but many were quite beautiful ...

Clovis points explained

20. Pelvic bones: ILIA.  The ilium (pl.: ilia) is the uppermost and largest region of the coxal bone, and appears in most vertebrates including mammals and birds.

22. Dash of flavor?: MRS.  A Dash a day helps keep salt away.

23. "Impression, Sunrise" artist: MONET.  Impression, Sunrise is an 1872 painting by Claude Monet first shown at what would become known as the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in Paris in April, 1874. The painting depicts the port of Le Havre, Monet's hometown and is credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement.

Impression, Sunrise
Claude Monet, 1872

24. [Theme clue]

  26. Vague quantity: ANY.

27. Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail: SAL. Blueberries for Sal is a classic children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey in 1948. The story is set in Maine, following the adventures of a young girl named Sal and a bear cub named Little Bear as they both go blueberry picking with their respective mothers before winter. The book was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1949.

First Edition cover

29. Allen who was the 2017 NFL Comeback Player of the Year: KEENAN.  Keenan Alexander Allen (born April 27, 1992) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears before leaving after his junior year. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft.  Allen won multiple rookie honors after setting Chargers' records for receptions and receiving yards by a rookie. In 2017, he was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Keenan Allen
Rookie year 2013

30. Amble: STROLL.

33. "The Sound of Music" range: ALPS.  Here's the inspiring finale of the movie ...

... in reality their hike in the ALPS was a diversion to keep the Nazis from realizing that they were leaving the country.  At some point in the hike they were able to reach a train station and they left the country by rail.

34. [Theme clue]

37. "12 Monkeys" network: SYFY.  12 Monkeys is a 1995 American science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée. It stars Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer (who BTW also starred in 33A). Set in a post-apocalyptic future devastated by disease, the film follows a convict who is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.  Here's a trailer

39. Aboriginal emblems: TOTEMS.  Reports by European explorers of the totems of the Northwest coast Indigenous peoples date back at least to the 18th century.  They were a highly developed art at that time and the tradition of creating is returning.

40. Liquefies: PUREES.

43. "Gross!": UGH.

44. "1883" actor Elliott: SAM.  1883 is an American Western drama miniseries created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+. 

47. [Theme clue].

50. Scale mark: OUNCE.

52. Retailer with an "Uncommon Path" blog: REI.  New to camping?  There's an app for that.

53. Make at work: EARN.

54. Worth remembering: OF NOTE.

55. Church official: ELDER.  In Christianity, an elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions (e.g., Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism) an elder is an ordained person who serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of word, sacrament and order, filling the preaching and pastoral offices. In other Christian traditions (e.g., Presbyterianism, Churches of Christ, Plymouth Brethren), an elder may be a lay person serving as an administrator in a local congregation, or be ordained and serving in preaching (teaching during church gatherings) or pastoral roles.

57. [Theme reveal]

59. Like a cloud forest: MOSSY.  A cloud forest is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests.  Olympic National Park in Washington State, has a cloud forest called the Hoh Rainforest.  It's the wettest destination in the lower 48 US states, receiving 12–14 feet of rain per year, plus 30 inches of fog and mist. It is blanketed by moss and ferns.  

Hoh Rainforest
Olympic National Park

60. "Now you see it, now you don't!": POOF.

61. Side: TEAM.

62. Versatile celeb's feat: EGOT.  Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony -- here's a list of the winners.

63. Terminal points: ENDS.

64. Irish Gaelic: ERSE.  A Celtic language spoken in Scotland and Ireland.  What is Irish?

Pct. of those who said they could speak Irish
 in the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland censuses of 2011

Down:

1. Resource stored in some banks: PLASMA.  In this case, blood banks.  Blood plasma is a light amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains proteins and other constituents of whole blood in suspension. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume.  

2. Tazo alternative: LIPTON.  Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1890 for which the brand is now best known.  It was the brand preferred by my English Mum whenever she had a spot of tea.

3. Like a classic French soup: ONIONY.  Here's Jenn's classic recipe made with caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and toasty bread topped with melted cheese.

French onion soup

4. Pasta with lisce and rigate versions: PENNE.  DNK these variations.  Lisce (smooth) vs rigate (ridged) PENNE pastas both have ends cut like a quill pen, "penne" being Italian for "quilled".  

Rigate Penne pasta

And since the pasta's ready, here's a recipe for Penne Puttanesca (anchovies optional) to go with the French onion soup.

5. Young seals: PUPS. 

Awwwh!

6. Union agreement?: I DO.  And after 55 years we still do!

7. Fizzy mixer: TONIC.

8. __-Frisian: West Germanic language group: ANGLO.  Thank you perps! The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic (English, Scots, Fingallian, and Yola) and Frisian (North Frisian, East Frisian, and West Frisian) varieties of the West Germanic languages.  Here is the distribution of the modern versions of these languages ...

Perhaps the best way to describe the relationships between these languages is this family tree ...

9. Country quartet __ Young Band: ELI.  Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). Here's their Crazy Girl, the Billboard top country song of 2011 ...

10. As a rule: COMMONLY.

11. Cover some of the same territory: OVERLAP.

12. Diminishes: LESSENS.

15. Marsh bird: CRANE.  One particular species of this marsh bird, the Whooping Crane, was of special interest to Marylanders.   By 1964 only 42 of the birds were left in the wild and their prospects were grim.  In a effort to help the species survive, the Maryland Patuxent Wildlife Research Center established a breeding program using eggs taken from the remaining wild birds (it had been discovered that they usually laid 2 eggs, but only one would survive and removing the 2nd egg didn't harm the wild birds' prospects).  By the time the program ended in 2017 the Center had managed to rear 72 birds in captivity.  While we never got to see any of these magnificent creatures in Maryland, years later we were thrilled to see many in Texas on an aquatic birding trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, where they migrate each Winter.  They are still endangered and the work to save them continues to this day.

Whooping Cranes
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

17. Reaches: GETS TO.

21. Peeve: IRK.  A verb. IRKS could also be a synonym for 17D

24. Up in the air: ALOFT.

25. Learns via the grapevine: HEARS.  That's where Marvin Gaye heard it ...

28. Sleeve tattoo spot: ARM.  If you're not into pain you can buy these a set of 6 of these faux tattoos from Amazon for only $4.99 + taxes and handling ...

Faux sleeve tattoos

30. Eye sores: STYES.

31. Bath bathroom: LOO. LAV fit but didn't perp.  Opinions are divided among Brits over which is preferred.

32. Seated yoga pose: LOTUS.  It's more than just sitting cross legged ...

34. "Sorry, but it's true": AFRAID SO.

35. Part of a right triangle: LEG.

36. Second Gentleman Doug: EMHOFF.  Not for long.  He didn't make it to First Gentleman, so his days as Second Gentleman are numbered.

37. "Stop with all those details!": SPARE ME.  TMI was too short.

38. Cake also called bûche de Noël: YULE LOG.  Here's Sally's recipe.  You've only got 41 days to make yours ...

bûche de Noël
Yule Log

41. Not just some: EVERY.

42. Copious quantity: SEA.

44. Unpopular camper: SNORER. 

45. Fills in for: ACTS AS.  In As You Like It Shakespeare suggests that we're all acting as ourselves.

46. Terse invitation to get together: MEET ME. 

48. Complain: GRIPE.

49. Writer Chekhov: ANTON.  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer. His career as a playwright produced four classic plays: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard.  Chekhov was a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and literature is my mistress."

Anton Chekhov

51. Wed: UNITE.

54. lummoxes: OAFS.  Our dinosaur agrees, finding only one 4 letter synonym for "lummoxes".

56. Inexact fig.: EST.

58. Grass farm output: SOD.

Cheers,

Bill

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

waseeley

Wednesday, Nov 13th, 2024 ~ Jack Maurer

 DIAMETRIC OPPOSITES

 A fresh and enjoyable debut puzzle from Jack Maurer for the LA Times, with four planets ( worlds ) "separated" across the theme answers of  11-, 13- and a 15-letter spanners.  Not quite in planetary order, but a very well constructed crossword.  Yes, we have circles, but thankfully a mere three(ish) names by my count and just 21 TLWs.  4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 rating.  The theme answers, with some musical interpretation:

16. Focus of some nongovernmental organizations: HUMAN RIGHTS - MARS - Interesting that the God of war be found in the phrase; I considered Human League, their song "Human", and Rage Against the Machine, but settled for this one....

Civil War - Guns N' Roses - lyric @ 1:35

22. The five ways romantic partners connect and communicate, per Gary Chapman: 

LOVE LANGUAGES - VENUS - Very cool that this planet/goddess be found in the phrase; I did an internet search for songs titled "Love Language", but I cannot listen to them - Period.  So I will go with the actual topic in the answer, the Love Languages. . . .

I like to receive Time and Touch; I am good at giving Service and Gifts

36. In succession: ONE AFTER ANOTHER - EARTH - there is only ONE home planet, and this song is close enough . . . .

One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx

46. Musician's calling card: SIGNATURE TUNE - SATURN - the God of time, wealth, and liberation - here is my signature "warm-up" karaoke tune; keep your hands off my wealth. . . .

Keep Your Hands to Yourself - The Georgia Satellites

57. Utterly different, and what can be found in four of this puzzle's answers: W O R L D S APART

Separate Ways ( Worlds Apart ) - Journey

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Roti flour: ATTA - AND - 66A. Org.: ASSN - AND - 55D. Memo abbr.: ATTN: see also 51A.

5. "Stop that!": "DON'T!"

9. Papa: DAD - AND - 25D. Nana: GRAN - it was "granny" when I was growing up

12. Hatchling: CHICK

14. Made noise while throwing tomatoes, maybe: BOOed

15. Alter __: EGO

18. Maker of tools for writing and lighting: BIC - AND - 58. Maker of tools for paring and peeling: OXO - a clever way to clue a couple of 3LWs

19. Opposite of WNW: ESE

20. Splitting target: ATOM

21. Build muscles, with "up": BULK

Yeah, I'll get into shape - I am tired of "round" being my shape

27. Pizzeria purchases: SLICES

29. "A simple yes __ will do": OR NO

30. Bit of help: HINT

31. Gold unit: KARAT

33. "__ asked?": WHO - meh.

40. Signs off on: OKs

41. Reluctant (to): LOATH

42. Bring on board: HIRE

43. Sea swallow: TERN  - Crossword staple

44. Thrills: ELATES

51. Plenty: ALOT - I don't care for "ALOT" and "ATON" in crosswords

52. Idyllic spot: EDEN

53. IRS form expert: CPA - had this one yesterday

56. Actress Wasikowska: MIA - Her IMDb

61. __ milk: OAT - this or "SOY" would have worked

62. Pig Latin rejection: IXNAY - Formed when the N of "Nix" moves to the end + "ay"

63. Transfer, as a houseplant: REPOT - Hey, guess what~?  My mother's last remaining house plant is doing well again after a repot almost a year ago.  Phew.

64. Feature of some lower-priced streaming services: ADS - I pay $4/mo. for Pandora - worth every penny to not be interrupted with overly loud advertising while trying to relax with music

65. Overly curious: NOSY


DOWN:

1. Heating pad target: ACHE - I have a beanbag version that I can microwave for those times when my lower back tightens up

2. In this manner: THUS - "À LA" was too short

3. Social media feeds: TIMELINES - I don't Facebook, Instagram, or SnapChat, etc., and I am banned on Pinterest

4. Legislation from the Obama Era, initially: ACA - Affordable Care Act

5. Religious doctrine: DOGMA

6. "Aah" counterpart: "OOH"

7. Court feature in basketball and tennis: NET - Thanks to HuskerG for the shout-out, as I used to "mind" the net in hockey; Tolland Town is building new pickleball courts at Heron Cove park just around the corner from my house

Love the color palette of this image

8. NFL scores: TDs

9. Clean up, as code: DEBUG

10. Limber: AGILE

11. Prepares to disembark, say: DOCKS

13. Scoundrel: KNAVE

14. Life sci.: BIOLogy

17. Numbered hwys.: RTEs - also in yesterday's puzzle

21. Pixar short featuring a dumpling that comes to life: BAO

The Wiki

23. Twice tetra-: OCTA - 2 x four  = eight in prefixes

24. "Come Away With Me" singer Jones: NORAH

26. Golden Rule preposition: UNTO - do UNTO others, as sumdaze did to us Monday

27. "Git!": "SHOO~!"

28. Clickable text: LINK - Like this

31. Reeves of "The Matrix": KEANU - I was never a huge fan of "The Matrix" films, but my brother and I have this ongoing thing of sending the other a text whenever a "John Wick" movie comes on TV

32. National Gallery collection: ART

33. Waves on rough seas: WHITECAPS - found in the stained glass window of the church where the latest pipe organ installation continues

It's getting close to finished

34. "Take this": "HERE."

35. Raw metals: ORES - is it the raw metal, or is this the rock it be found in~?

37. Pet shampoo target: FLEA - I tried ODOR to start . . . 

38. Legal wrong: TORT - learned by doing crosswords

39. Comparison word: THAN

Or this scene from Men in Black

43. Explosive initials: TNT - Not really "initials" IMO, just an abbr.; Everything you ever wanted to know about trinitrotoluene

44. French summers: ETES - Frawnche

45. __ eclipse: LUNAR - Dah~! Not SOLar - I had a 50/50 chance because I start by doing the DOWN clues first(ly) - aaaaand SOLAR was on Monday as well 

46. Girl Scout Cookie with coconut: SAMOA - Cookie #3 in the lineup below

I see they're called Caramel deLites, too 

47. Trojan War epic with a 2023 translation by Emily Wilson: ILIAD - Her Wiki; born in 1971, like me

48. Animals in some yoga classes: GOATS - they really do have goats in the class

And I thought it was just a pose

49. Swim team event: RELAY

50. Whirlpool: EDDY

54. __ and cons: PROS

57. Come out on top: WIN

59. Some ER workers: RNs  Emergency Room : Registered Nurse

The cure for what ails me

60. Pod unit: PEA - also also yesterday

Splynter

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to George (Big Easy), husband of Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer Diane. I'll never forget his call last Christmas when I was walking alone on the trail. Thanks for the care all these years, George!

Big Easy and his wife Diane