Theme: How do I get paid here? Wait in the FEE LINE in the corner.
It appears I get another debut puzzle, and a very ambitious one at that. In each of the four corners we have intersecting names of famous fictional felines. They are all part of the family FELIDAE. We get the reveal in middle, which oddly has nothing to do with CATS. To add to the challenge, we have triple stacks of nine in the NW and SE and triple sixes in SW and NE. To get all that into a single grid, there are some compromises and 8 cheater squares, but I still found it one of the hardest of the year. I have not seen that many puzzles where the themers are all proper names.
1A. "The Jungle Book" villain : SHERE KHAN (9) the bad guy is paired with 1D. Half of a cartoon duo : STIMPY (6) the silly one.
10A. Character in the comic "Mutts" : MOOCH (5) who I do not know is paired with 14D. Friend of Calvin : HOBBES (6) a wonderful stuffed animal.
63A. C.S. Lewis hero : ASLAN (5) from the other side of the wardrobe is paired with 41D. Scar's brother from Lion King : MUFASA (6).
64A. "Looney Tunes" lisper : SYLVESTER (9) also silly is paired with 47D. Pooh pal : TIGGER (6) another stuffed tiger.
The reveal: 35A. Diagonally ... or what each of four pairs of puzzle answers form? : KITTY CORNER (11).
Okey dokey, lets see how he befuddled me...
15. Stubborn : TENACIOUS. A musical name? LINK. (4:53).
16. Howe'er : ALTHO. Both silly abbreviations.
17. Mutton dish : IRISH STEW. This RECIPE?
18. Title from the Arabic for "master" : SAHIB.
19. Litter call : MEW.
20. Orchestra sect. : STRings.
21. Electric guitar effect : REVERB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZG2K0J_A3c
22. Christmas __ : PIE. Is this really a thing? Isn't it just mince pie?
23. Mate's affirmative : AYE. Ship mate.
24. 2013 Spike Jonze film : HER. Really weird movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4
25. Arctic coast explorer : RAE. Here we go into the Friday ABYSS. An unsung HERO?
26. "Revolutionary Road" author Richard : YATES. Have you read the BOOK?
28. "... high hope for __ heaven": Shak. : A LOW. Love's Labour Lost, Act I, Scene 1
30. Mil. awards : DSCS. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS.
31. Part of many a date : MOVIE.
33. Cheapen : ABASE.
38. To date : AS YET.
39. Virtuous : MORAL. If you are too moral you may not...
41. Cry of discomfort : MOAN. which looks a lot like...
44. Romantic evening highlight, perhaps : MOON. After which you many moan.
46. Shore up, as an embankment : REVET. last and only time in the LAT June 2010. I did not recall.
48. Mil. branch : USN.
49. Present : NOW.
50. Munch on : EAT.
52. Former Abbey Road Studios owner : EMI. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd.
53. Gradual revelation : FADE IN. In movies?
55. Center : HUB.
56. Record : LOG. Captain's Log....
57. Ice cream thickeners : AGARS. Yes, seaweed is the SECRET.
58. Peggy Lee specialty : TORCH SONG.
61. Alabama River city : SELMA.
62. Chestnut : PLATITUDE.
Down:
2. "Yoo-hoo!" : HERE I AM.
3. 1944 Pacific battle site : ENIWETOK. The BATTLE came not long after the battle for Kwajalein, a Marshall Island an old girlfriend lived on when she was young.
4. Univ. peer leaders : RAS. This bunch. LINK.
5. Command level: Abbr. : ECH. This is common fill in the NYT but meaningless to me.
6. __-face : KISSY.
7. Winter warmer : HOT TEA.
8. Violinist who taught Heifetz : AUER.
9. State north of Victoria: Abbr. : NSW. New South Wales. CSO to Kazie.
10. Electromagnetic wave generator : MASER. I remember when they won the Nobel Prize for this DEVICE.
11. Norse royal name : OLAV.
12. Leftovers : OTHERS. I get it but I do not like it.
13. President before Sarkozy : CHIRAC. He recently turned 83. LINK.
21. Nuke : REWARM.
23. "A chain ... strong __ weakest link" : AS ITS.
24. Rail rider : HOBO.
27. French spa : EVIAN. A watered down clue?
29. Kind of vegetarian : LACTO. They eat milk products like cheese.
30. Caterpillar rival : DEERE.
32. Linguistic root : ETYMON. The root of etymology but not a word I know.
34. Derisive sound : SNORT.
36. "Yikes!" : YEOW.
37. Disentangle : RAVEL OUT. Not unravel, but...
40. Paper with a Société section : LE MONDE. The 'world' in French and an"A" away.
42. Oklahoma natives : OSAGES.
43. Along with the rest : AND ALL.
45. __ network : NEURAL.
49. Seder month : NISAN. Hebrew Calendar.
51. "Modern Family" network : ABC TV. I have been doing lots of networking.
54. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA. The puzzle friendly Ms Bombeck.
55. Blessed : HOLY.
58. Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly : TPS. Do people still toilet paper houses?
59. Skedaddle : HIE.
60. Some routes: Abbr. : STS.
I will say goodbye with an image of domestic cats and hope none of you are allergic to dander. Lemonade out.
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