Saturday, Nov 7th, 2015, Ed Sessa

Theme - What cracker~?

Words: 70 (missing Q)

Blocks: 27

UGH~! - I was so pleased with myself for getting 80% of this beast solved without any cheating - no Google, no red-letter, despite some very clever cluing that did NOT get past me.  I was plugging away, one cell at a time, and making my way from the bottom up - but the NW corner was just not giving in, and once I caved and checked my 1a. answer, I realized it was never going to work out.  Oh well.  Big chunky 9x6 corners, and triple 8's in the down;

1. Four Corners collectible : NAVAJO RUG - *%$&^#@~!  I was so, so pleased I came up with NEVADA FLAG, as the Four Corners consist of the four US States that meet at a single point; however, NEVADA is not among Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado - duh.

57. Strips at a party : STREAMERS - oh, uh, the um, noun, not the verb. Right.  Maybe the anons are right about me....

13. 1964 World's Fair giant tire Ferris wheel creator : UNIROYAL - a major flub as far as I am concerned - at the fair  in Queens, NY, the one with the Unisphere, the wheel was U.S. Royal; maybe all the same company, but it doesn't jibe with me

32. Colorful fall tree : RED MAPLE

ON
WA
RD!

ACROSS:

10. Edit, as a soundtrack : RE-DUB

15. "Be right there" : ONE MINUTE - I considered this, but because I had FLAG, I put in FAIR for "Just" @ 6d.

16. Dior style : A-LINE - dress style; at least Mr. Sessa was on my "fashion wavelength" today

17. Window-adjusting tool : SCROLL BAR - the doohickey on the side of your screen;

18. Sheep or goat : BOVID - Someone correct me - this is totally wrong; I thought this category of animals was O-vine; BO-vine is cattle; cows, bison, buffalo, etc.

19. Two after love? : THIRTY - I knew this was going to be tennis scoring;  0-30 or 30-0 is two points scored after the opening of a game

20. Aria from "Carmen" : HABANERA - perps and a WAG

22. Some drills : ROTES - meh.  period.

23. Champagne toast : SALUT - I had saluD; close enough, and 80% correct

24. English lit pseudonym : BOZ - perps - learning moment for me; the Wiki

25. Father of Phobos : ARES

26. Bounty maker, briefly : P AND G - think "P&G" - Proctor and Gamble, the makers of the paper towel

27. R&B's __ II Men : BOYZ - they were popular when I was in school - but not with me

28. Murky milieus : FENS - Ugh.  SEAS was my thought

29. __ cracker : ANIMAL - # 1

31. Facing dauntlessly : BRAVING

35. Like sparkling wine : ABUBBLE - crossed with another "A-" clue

36. Real estate pioneer with a Long Island town named for him : LEVITT - Nailed it - but that's not saying much - I live on Long Island

37. Clan member : SCOT - dah~!  Not CELT

38. Ruler of Asgard : ODIN

39. American Leaguer since 2013 : ASTRO - I thought this was wrong, too - but then I remembered that they were once a National League team

41. Ray : BEAM

45. 1975 ABC debut, for short : GMA - Good Morning America

46. Like music to one's ears? : ON KEY

47. Skater Harding : TONYA

48. Best ever : CAT'S MEOW - the Bee's Knees

50. Evil : ROTTEN

51. Splatter catcher : APRON - catcher~? deflector or collector maybe

52. will.i.am, for one : RAP ARTIST - from the Black-eyed Peas.  Sorry, but I think their stuff is at best amateur

54. Baggage carousel feeder : SLIDE - we have lots of slides at UPS - here's a pic of my "office"

55. Eatery serving 47-Downs : TRATTORIA - this  week is "restaurant week", and the Italian one I work at, aMano, was jimm-jamming on the frim-fram last night

56. State with a red, white and blue flag : TEXAS

DOWN:

1. Pisan possessive : NOSTRA - I WAGed from my understanding of "Cosa Nostra"

2. It's dropped on purpose : ANCHOR

3. Cinema __ : VERITE - dredged up from somewhere deep in my brain; "truth in cinema", or documentary style - I found a great list on IMDb - some titles you have heard

4. Ovid work : AMORES - written in 16BC; love stories are eternal

5. Dumps : JILTS - with my "NEVADA", DIVES worked here.  Talk about a cluster***k

6. Just : ONLY - not FAIR, nor EVEN; this is the "I was just going to eat one piece of candy"

7. Prepare for a grilling : RUB - BBQ related

8. Jazz followers : UTAHANS - gave myself a big pat on the back for NOT confusing this basketball team Jazz with musical jazz

9. Memorable '70s Ford : GERALD - ha HA~! - not TORINO; in fact not even a car....

10. Capital SSW of Tangier : RABAT

11. Tar Heel State campus : ELON - half perps; a little misdirection here, as the Tar Heels of UNC are sports foes of the college at Elon

12. Attack from above : DIVE BOMB

14. Enchant : BEDAZZLE

21. Cause of worry : BUGABOO - think "boogeyman"; there's also a stroller of the same name - sort of paradoxical, if you think about it

23. Blabbed : SANG

26. Compound with five carbon atoms : PENTANE - formula C₅H₁₂ ; C₅H₁₀ is pentEne

27. Crab house accessory : BIB

28. In good shape : FIT

30. Fruit served with a cracker? : NUT - # 2

31. Online clip : BLOGCAST - I filled in BLOG----, the rest was perps; is this post a blogcast, or just a blog~?

33. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, but not Charles : AVIATRIX - clever; only women can be the -TRIXes

34. Café quaff : VIN

35. "__ in the Dark": 1988 Neill/Streep film : A CRY

37. Noah's predecessor : STEWART - not a clue; turns out, Trevor Noah replaced Jon Steward on the Daily Show

40. Hybrid apparel : SKORTS - I love them; the looks of a skirt, the fit of shorts - and followed up with 41d.~?  Mr. Sessa, you're the man~!

41. Rear end : BOTTOM

42. Complete : ENTIRE

43. Bos'n's response : AYE, SIR - sailing term; a boatswain is a crewman

44. Large rays : MANTAS - this time, MANTA was correct

46. Exeunt __: all go out : OMNES - straight Latin

47. 55-Across dessert : TORTA

49. __ cracker : SODA - # 3

50. Assign value to : RATE

53. Four on Augusta's fifth : PAR - the golf course, and it's 'Magnolia' hole

Splynter - # 4, former "cracker" from Jacksonville, FL

Friday, November 6, 2015, Victor Barocas

Theme: Letter rip.

For those of you who do not like creative and difficult puzzles, this effort from University of Minnesota Professor Victor B. will not be pleasant. When you have clues such as AAEGIMRR, there are those who will pull out Thumper and move on. You have to assume the reveal is also the seed entry as the grid is a 16x15 presentation.  Basically you are doing a big JUMBLE where you have to unscramble the clue and fit it with a word meaning to unscramble. Or looking at from the reveal, you take a word and or phrase and list the letters alphabetically. The challenge was  to create four interesting 16 letter theme fill. Some will grouse because two answers are two words and one only a single word, but I had fun as this took me longer than most Fridays to suss. With 16 columns you have room for lots of sparkly fill. I loved EVANDER, INHALER, DAY TRIPPER,  STAY ON HOLD and the three Bs BANISHED, BEEFCAKE and BEREAVED. We also had the challenging GALENA and SHARIA. Okay, let's hop on the solving train.

18A. AAEGIMRR : ARRANGED MARRIAGE (16). The word marriage is taken apart and re-imagined with its letters presented alphabetically.

28A. AACDEINNV : ORDERED IN ADVANCE (16).

47A. ADEHLNRTUY : SORTED THE LAUNDRY (16).

and the reveal:

62A. ILST ... and each of three other puzzle clues : ALPHABETIZED LIST (16).

Across

1. They're bought and soled : SHOES. Victor has had some very fun pun puzzles in the NYT. Those of us who also toiled away at the puns and anagram puzzles were prepared for today.

6. Educational foundation : ABCS.

10. Lowest part : BASSO.

15. Make like a tree, facetiously : LEAVE. More silliness.

16. "Uh-huh" : YEAH.

17. Butyl acetate, e.g. : ESTER. He is after all a professor in Biomedical engineering.

21. Balkan region : BOSNIA. We Americans are so weak in Geography, as seen nightly on Jeopardy.

22. Wild period : SPREE.

23. Edible tuber : YAM. Gotta love a good tuber. Can you name an inedible tuber?

24. __ Plantation, site of the world's largest maze : DOLE. A Pineapple Garden Maze in Hawaii.

26. Sun Valley locale : IDAHO. More potatoes.

35. Sea sound : ROAR.

36. One of Suetonius' "Twelve Caesars" : NERO. I do love this HISTORY.

37. Actor Hawke : ETHAN.

38. Youngest March sister : AMY. Little Women.

39. Sent away : BANISHED.

42. Make a selection : OPT.

43. "I've got this one" : LET ME.

45. Wax on an envelope, say : SEAL.

46. Robert of "The Sopranos" : ILER. The misunderstood SON.

51. Structural opening? : INFRA. Infrastructural.

52. Angler's prize : FISH. We had a discussion of the word angler recently.

53. Lack of continuity : GAP.

55. Old painting sites : CAVES. Nice clue.

58. More pinlike? : NEATER. Neater than a pin; does it mean orderly or shiny?

65. Not hold one's peace : SPEAK. Nearby the opposite 67A. Of few words : TERSE.

66. Domain : RULE.

68. Game that may involve complicated shots : HORSE.

69. Mediterranean feeder : NILE.

70. Three-layer treats : OREOS. Clue 900 for this cookie.

Down

1. Thick mass : SLAB. Of meat?

2. Rescuer, often : HERO.

3. Marine propulsion aids : OARS. Nice visual.

4. Heavyweight champ between Buster and Riddick : EVANDER. Holyfield in between Douglas and Bowe.  he had his ear then.

5. __ citizen : SENIOR. We had a luncheon at the office to meet a new lawyer joining the firm and of the 30 people there I was clearly the oldest.

6. Mate's affirmative : AYE. Aye, Aye.

7. Garden spots : BEDS. Cute.

8. Like-minded group : CAMP. Tricky, I am in the puzzle lover camp.

9. Islamic law : SHARIA. Do want to know MORE?

10. Mourning : BEREAVED.

11. "Take me __ am" : AS I.

12. Wait for help, perhaps too long : STAY ON HOLD. I really like this fill and hate staying on hold.

13. Genesis creator : SEGA. Video games.

14. Home of Utah Valley University : OREM.

19. Lead ore : GALENA. Time to LEARN.

20. Comedian Foxx : REDD. Do you want to LISTEN? Not PG rated.

25. First place? : EDEN. Really nice misdirection.

27. Porkpie, for one : HAT.

28. Advanced tests : ORALS.

29. "What light through yonder window breaks?" speaker : ROMEO.Tis Juliet and our Friday William S.

30. Other side of "We Can Work It Out" : DAY TRIPPER.

31. Like Jameson whiskey : IRISH. The favorite of Father Blackie Ryan.

32. Long time ending? : NO SEE. Or as some say, "It's been donkey years."

33. Heist, say : CAPER.

34. Contest form : ENTRY. PCH has gotten my wife hooked.

39. "Magic Mike" feature : BEEFCAKE. The TRAILER. (2:29)

40. " ... on the sand, / __ sunk, a shattered visage lies": "Ozymandias" : HALF. Inspired by the discovery of a huge remnant of a statute to Ramses II, Shelley wrote this poem which begins:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown...

41. Paige of British musical theatre : ELAINE. I am unfamiliar with this STAR.

44. Map feature with an elev. : MTN. Mountain, the elev. tells you it is an abbreviation.

46. Asthma sufferer's relief : INHALER.

48. Boring : DRAB.

49. Ale seller : TAVERN. Will Tin is happy.

50. No longer bothered by : USED TO.

53. Severe wound : GASH.

54. Dinner for Spot : ALPO.

56. Little case : ETUI.

57. Window frame part : SILL. Or sash.

59. Weary : TIRE. Verb not adjective.


60. Canadian gas brand : ESSO. Part of the Exxon Mobil family and the brand I grew up with.

61. GPS info : RTES.

63. Is down with : HAS.

64. Zipper opening? : ZEE. Well Z is an appropriate place to end a puzzle.

A shorter version, but my remaining brother is in the hospital so you all get to fill in the rest of the blanks I never got to say. Thanks Victor. Lemonade out.

Thursday, November 5th 2015 Gerry Wildenberg

Theme: Instrumentals - three four-letter music-makers hidden in the theme entries

17A. What a party crasher may get : CHILLY RECEPTION. You get frozen out of conversations and given the cold shoulder.

27A. 19th-/20th-century South African conflicts : ANGLO-BOER WARS. I knew the Boer Wars, I didn't realize the official name included the Anglo bit.

49A. Horror movie characters : LAB ASSISTANTS. Drinking green fuming solutions or stitching together stolen body parts. Cheerful characters, generally.

65A. Film score component, and a hint to words hidden in 17-, 27- and 49-Across : INCIDENTAL MUSIC. Horror movie lab assistants often get a healthy dose of this.

Cue music "Dah dah DAH!"

Morning! Simple enough theme (and a bit of a horror movie mini-theme) today. I'm not sure if I missed something terribly subtle and clever with this puzzle; if I did it went way over my head. A couple of grid spanners, two 13's and a lot of shorter stuff gives us this 78-worder. Let's see what else pops out.

Across:

1. Luxurious : POSH. Hmm. Not sure about this definition of posh. Dressy, upper-class, hoity-toity social circles say "posh" to me.

5. Decorative bedroom item : SHAM. Do Hormel make throws? Spam shams?

9. As such : PER SE. When Thomas Keller, chef and owner of The French Laundry in the Napa Valley was opening his new restaurant in New York, he didn't have a name for it until he realized he kept saying that "it wasn't going to be like The French Laundy, per se". So he called it Per Se.

14. Morales of "Jericho" : ESAI

15. Improbable : TALL. Like a tale or a story.

16. Without stopping : ON END

20. French room : SALLE. I tried SALON first which needed correcting later on.

21. Signifies : MEANS

22. Nuggets' org. : N.B.A. Denver's pro basketball team.

23. Air traveler's concern, briefly : E.T.A. Usually at least half-an-hour later than scheduled in my experience.

25. Mil. group that "teaches you to lead" : R.O.T.C.

33. "Stupid me!" : DOH! Homer Simpson's favorite exclamation.

34. Unlikely prom king : NERD

35. Chocolate-covered caramel treats : ROLOS

38. Starting from : AS OF

40. Event with arguments : TRIAL

43. Habit : WONT

44. NFL's winningest coach : SHULA. Don Shula had 347 victories, 71 with the Baltimore Colts and the remainder with the Miami Dolphins. He also coached the Dolphins to the NFL's only perfect season in 1972 with a 17-0-0 record.

"This isn't one of our plays. In fact I've no idea what it means, either"

46. In the way indicated : THUS

48. Support : AID

53. Jog : TROT

54. Petty with hits : TOM. His band, the Heartbreakers, helped a little too.

55. Shindigs : DOS

58. Occupied : IN USE

61. Shows of crowd approval : ROARS

68. "Sweeney __ the Nightingales": Eliot poem : AMONG. Crosses for me. A happy tale of murder and deceit, apparently.

Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees

Letting his arms hang down to laugh,

The zebra stripes along his jaw

Swelling to maculate giraffe.

69. Newbie : TYRO

70. Italian meat sauce : RAGÙ. Food! Ragù alla bolognese is a well-known variety.

Mmmmm - Spam-free

71. Do not disturb : LET BE

72. Promote : SELL

73. Inbox clogger : SPAM. Food? Named for the Monty Python sketch where a diner featured Spam, usually unwanted, in every dish.

Down:

1. Lats relatives : PECS. Your back muscles, the latissimus dorsi, and your chest muscles, the pectoralis major. Anatomy class dismissed.

2. Workplace welfare agcy. : O.S.H.A. I've stopped thinking of this an an abbreviation. Occupational Health and Safety Administration to give it it's official name.

3. Caravel mover : SAIL. Does the sail move the ship or does the wind do it? Discuss.

4. Jewish campus organization : HILLEL. No clue, but the Beth Hillel Temple is just down the street from me which gave me a hint as to what this might be.

5. Mess of a place : STY

6. Hurt : HARM

7. Out of the wind : ALEE. See what good your sails do you when you're out of the wind.

8. Celtics coach before Rick Pitino : M.L. CARR. Complete unknown for me. Boston's NBA coach from 1995-1997. He made a bit of a hash of the last year, leading the Celtics to their all-time worst season record of 15-67. Oops.

9. Lady Gaga, for one : POP STAR. And quite the diva. I love her music and theatrics. She's a great talent.

10. Tolkien forest creature : ENT. The good three-letter Lord of the Rings thing. The bad LOTR three-letter thing is an orc.

11. Trigger guide : REIN. Fun clue. Trigger was stuffed and used to be on display at a museum in Missouri. When the museum closed, Trigger fetched over $250,000 at auction.

"Don't worry, I'm eating my bedding. Makes me cheaper to stuff when the time comes"

12. Uppity type : SNOB

13. "Giant" author Ferber : EDNA

18. Give away : LET ON

19. Sufficient, to Shakespeare : ENOW

"If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men the greater share of honour." 
-  King Henry V. 

24. Provide the bank layout to, say : ABET

26. Brag : CROW

27. Court figs. : A.D.A.S Assistant District Attorney(s)

28. Snack : NOSH

29. Horror movie character : GHOUL. More incidental music fodder. Wooo eeee oooo ooooooo ...

30. Hockey legend : ORR

31. Polishes in publishing : EDITS

32. Memorial __ Kettering: NYC hospital : SLOAN

36. Sleep __ : ON IT

37. EPA issuances : STDS. The Environmental Protection Agency publishes standards for clean air, water and what-not.

39. Uninspired : FLAT

41. Tuna type : AHI

42. Unbridled desire : LUST. Or what happens to Trigger when you take his reins off?

45. Shorten : ABRIDGE

47. Assault : STORM. No horror movie is complete without villagers, pitchforks, torches and a good old-fashioned evil house-storming.

"Let us in! We want to see Igor!"

50. First-rate : A-ONE

51. Double exposures? : STUNTS

52. Affairs of the heart : AMOURS

55. Dashboard feature : DIAL

56. "I'll pay" : ON ME

57. 2013 Wimbledon champ Andy Murray, e.g. : SCOT. Aye. Rumor has it he keeps his balls in a sporran.

59. Eye problem : STYE

60. Title outranking viscount : EARL. Outranked in turn by a Marquess. Someone's always one-upping you in the peerage stakes unless you happen to be King.

62. Memo letters : ASAP. Everyone's always in a hurry.

63. Capital west of Moscow : RIGA. Capital of Latvia on the Baltic Sea. Nice looking place. Google Maps tells me it's 573 miles from Moscow and it takes about 11 hours to drive.

That's one lovely railway station.

64. Bathtub buildup : SCUM. Eww.


66. Bach's "Mass __ Minor" : IN B. He wrote a bunch of masses in all sorts of keys (F major, A major, G major, G minor) but they were short masses. The B Minor mass was the only full-length one.

67. Texter's "What a riot!" : LOL. Laughing Out Loud.

Have a great Thursday. Happy Guy Fawkes' Day to Nice Cuppa and any other Brits on the blog - "Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot".

Steve

Oh, and here's the grid:

Wedneday, November 4, 2015 Kurt Krauss

Theme:  DUPES.  The first word of each theme answer is a synonym for some kind of easily targeted victim.  

16 A. *Sneaky blow : SUCKER PUNCH.  A SUCKER is a gullible or easily deceived person.  The related PUNCH is a cowardly hit, often from behind, delivered to an unsuspecting opponent.  

55 A. *Peanuts : CHUMP CHANGE.  A CHUMP is a foolish or easily deceived person.  CHUMP CHANGE, aka peanuts, is an insignificant amount of money.  But, insignificant to whom?  YMMV.

10 D. *Place for brooding : PIGEON COOP.  Nice word play.  Brooding is the hatching of birds' eggs, and, in another context, thinking deeply about some troublesome matter.  A PIGEON is someone easily swindled, or the victim of a con man.  Cf Bernie Madoff.

26 D. *"Walkin' After Midnight" singer : PATSY CLINE. Ms Cline provides our theme song.  

A PATSY is someone taken advantage of, either by cheating or taking the blame for something. Again, YMMV, but for my money this is the only theme answer that really closely corresponds to the unifier fill.

35 A. Easy mark ... and a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues : FALL GUY.   A scapegoat.   I don't really see a FALL GUY as an easy mark for a swindle - though all the other theme entries do fit that description.  So the whole thing seems a bit askew to me.  Or am I being too persnickety?

Hi Gang - JzB here, taking the FALL on another Wednesday.   My nits aside, this is a nicely constructed puzzle, with a pinwheel theme arrangement and the unifier in the middle.   Let's take a spin and see what else we can uncover.

Across

1. See-through kitchen supply : SARAN. Polyvinylidene chloride [PVDC] was discovered accidentally in 1933.  It makes a great kitchen wrap because of it's low permeability, even in a thin layer.  So it preserves freshness by keeping flavor in and moisture and oxygen out

6. Mythical king of the Huns : ATLI.  This guy, also known as Atilla, was a very real leader of the Huns in the mid-5th century.  He does appear as ATLI in Norse mythology hundreds of years later.

10. Kitchen spray : PAM.   Comes in 8 varieties.

Non-stick stuff

13. Flared dress : A-LINE.

Shaped like an A

14. Ancient Greek theater : ODEUM.  I thought it was ODEON.  Needed perp help.

15. Land in l'océan : ILE.  A French island.

18. Some kitchen appliances : GEs.  General Electric products.

19. Did a slow burn : SMOLDERED.

20. Passengers in flight, often : USERS.  I haven't flown in many years.  Can you use your electronic devices in the air?

22. Cyberspace marketplace : EBAY.

23. Snobbish : SNOOTY.   Said of those who look down their noses.

24. Chopper : COPTER.   

Lift and thrust supplied by rotors

27. Mount Hood's state : OREGON.

Things to do there

29. Prominent periods : ERAs.  History.

30. Keep the censor busy : SWEAR.  Use bleepable language.

31. The NBA's Kevin Love, e.g. : CAV.  I recognize the name, but not being up on NBA players didn't know if he was a CAValier or a MAVerick.

34. Alternative to dis? : DAT.  For this and THAT.  Pretty lame entry.

37. Dressing ingredient : OIL.  From olives, vegetables or seeds.

38. High rails : ELs.  ELevated trains, as in Chicago.

39. Bassoon cousins : OBOES.   Both are double reed instruments.

40. Vending machine buy : SODA.  

41. "Absolutely!" : YOU BET.   For sure!

43. Kicked off the flight : BUMPED.   So your seat can be given to someone more important.  Another reason not to fly.

45. Well-protected : SECURE.

47. Sweater outlet? : PORE.  Not a discount clothing store.  The opening in your skin from which perspiration exudes. 

48. Island nation near Sicily : MALTA.   Not YALTA, on the mainland of Crimea.

49. Get in the game : SEE ACTION.  Players who are not starters often get to SEE ACTION at some point in the game.

54. Form 1040 calc. : AGI.  Adjusted Gross Income.

57. Nickelodeon pooch : REN.  Along with Stimpy, who is alleged to be a cat.

REN is on the left

58. Spine-tingling : EERIE.  We should be safe now that we're past Halloween.

59. Hawaii or Alaska, on many a map : INSET.

60. Number before quattro : TRE.  French? Italian?  Why is "number" in English?

61. Editor's "Let it stand" : STET.   Ignore any correction or alteration.

62. Hoopster Archibald and rapper Dogg : NATES.  I'll admit I don't know these guys.  I had NATE Silver last Wednesday and resisted the urge to link to the song I composed and arranged for my grandson of the same name.  This time I'm FALLing for it.

Schoolcraft Jazz Band Chicago Tour - Spring, 2011

Down

1. Back talk : SASS. Rude and impudent.

2. Homecoming guest : ALUM.   One who graduated from the place of interest.

3. Affluent, in Andalusia : RICO.    Rich in Spanish.

4. Low socks : ANKLETS.

Low down high fashion

5. (If) required : NEED BE.

6. Together, musically : A DUE.  Literally, for two, from the Italian.  Taken to mean all the players with a given part, such as the first violins.  They often sit two to a stand, but that might just be a coincidence.

7. Watch over : TEND.   As livestock, children or a bar.

8. Director Jean-__ Godard : LUC.  Of whom I know nothing.  With the mythic ATLI, the cross became my natick.  Misspelling ODEON didn't help, either.  

9. "Can't wait to eat!" : I’M HUNGRY.

11. Watchful : ALERT.

12. Embarrassing, as a situation : MESSY.  

14. Nashville attraction : OPRY.   It's grand.  And old.

17. Bring up : REAR.   As children.

21. Great Lakes' __ Canals : SOO.  Located along the St. Mary's river between the upper peninsula of Michigan and Ontario, Canada, the canals connect Lakes Superior and Huron.

Bypasses a 21 foot drop

23. 10-time All-Pro linebacker Junior : SEAU.

24. Hand over : CEDE. As territory, to a superior force.

25. Taken by mouth : ORAL.  As medication.

27. Young hooter : OWLET.   An owl hatchling.  What were you thinking?

28. Rules, briefly : REGS.   Regulations.

30. __ gin fizz : SLOE.   The SLOE is the drupe of the blackthorn bush.   SLOE gin is made by soaking the drupe either in actual gin or cheaper grain neutral spirits.  Sugar is added to aid in the extraction, or corn syrup to get really cheap [and vile.]  The fizz is a drink made with this concoction,  plus lemon juice and carbonated water.  

32. Trusted underling : AIDE.   A good one might make you a nice cocktail.

33. Prince who inspired Dracula : VLAD.  Posthumously named "The Impaler."

35. Loser only to a straight flush : FOUR ACES.   Poker hands.

Or these guys

36. Calais cleric : ABBE.   French abbot

40. "The Bartered Bride" composer : SMETANA.

42. Away : OUT.  As in OUT of the office, or OUT of town.

43. Former U.K. carrier : BOAC.   British Overseas Airways Corporation, formed in 1940 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Limited.  In 1974 it was combined with British European Airways to form British Airways.

44. Mischievous boy : URCHIN.   Or girl.

45. Snazzy-looking : SMART.  Sharply dressed.

46. Ready and willing : EAGER.  Let's go!

47. Love-crazy Le Pew : PEPE.  Possibly the most DF cartoon character.

Both a skunk and a wolf

49. "Absolutely!" : SURE.

50. Give out : EMIT.  As the sun's rays or a skunk's odor.

51. Scientific acad. : INST.  Academy and Institute.

52. Architectural S-curve : OGEE.   Commonly an S curve, but more generally, any profile with a reverse bend.

Gothic

53. Fishing gear : NETS.  Rods, reel, bait, pole, hook, lure  .  .  .

56. Riled (up) : HET.   Past tense of heat, in dialect.  First known use was in 1909.

Well, that wraps it up.  I had a nit or two, but overall, a pretty good outing.

I learned while doing the Boston Globe puzzle on Sunday that the British term for a sucker is a LOLLY.  So - would someone who silences a dupe in London be a LOLLY GAGGER?   No - wait - that's the other kind of sucker - hard candy on a stick.  So, never mind.

I'll just show myself the door.

Cool regards!
JzB