themeless for aaron

 

Across:

1. 2015-'20 TV hip-hop musical drama: EMPIRE.

7. Toyota sedans: AVALONS.

14. Outer organ layer: CORTEX.

15. Email staple: EMOTICON.

16. Pooh-pooh, with "at": SNEEZE.

17. Michelangelo's "David," for one: MALE NUDE.

18. Do something to hide?: TAN.

19. Devoted: ARDENT.

21. Name on the 1949 "Death of a Salesman" playbill: ELIA.

22. Bad news word: ALAS.

24. Thrice, in prescriptions: TER.

25. Nosh: SNACK.

26. Proportional gift: TITHE.

28. Extreme distress: AGONY.

31. "Curious George" co-author Margret: REY.

32. Start of a "Huh?" response: ISAID.

33. Fix up, as an old pool: RELINE.

35. Comics characters in "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat": CALVIN AND HOBBES.

40. Duck soup: ACINCH.

41. Exmoor heroine: DOONE.

42. Part of the 56-Across: SIB.

45. Tucker of country: TANYA.

46. Warblers' warbles: SONGS.

47. Law school beginners: ONELS.

49. High-__: upscale: END.

51. __ Sea: Arctic Ocean arm: KARA.

52. Cut with light: LASE.

53. It was delayed three months in 2020: TAXDAY.

56. See 42-Across: FAM.

57. Apple Pencil go-with: iPAD MINI.

59. "Honest!": NO JIVE.

61. Try-before-you-buy item: DEMO UNIT.

62. Ace of Base, e.g.: SWEDES.

63. "The Mets have shown me more ways to lose than I even knew existed" speaker: STENGEL.

64. First arrival: ELDEST.

Down:

1. Stoked: ECSTATIC.

2. 16th-century masterpiece: MONA LISA.

3. Like most OB visits: PRENATAL.

4. Mineral ending: ITE.

5. Exiled Shah Mohammad __ Pahlavi: REZA.

6. Bring into play: EXERT.

7. Start of many bar jokes: AMAN.

8. Electric Chevy: VOLT.

9. Put away: ATE.

10. Bedding: LINEN.

11. Concerned with pupils?: OCULAR.

12. "Fat chance": NO DICE.

13. Disingenuous: SNEAKY.

15. Way away from danger: EMERGENCY EXIT.

20. Start of a request for advice: DEAR ANN.

23. Hindu deity: SHIVA.

25. Clerical assemblies: SYNODS.

27. Royal commands: EDICTS.

29. Warhorse: OLD HAND.

30. Org. studying epidemics: NIH.

34. Digital read: E-BOOK.

36. Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding": NIA.

37. Real: BONAFIDE.

38. Cuts in lines: ENGRAVES.

39. Fictional NYC thoroughfare: SESAME ST.

42. Big favors, in slang: SOLIDS.

43. Ticked: IN A PET.

44. "__ Mucho": 1944 #1 song: BESAME.

48. Conned: LED ON.

50. "__ avec les stars": DANSE.

53. Pointed part: TINE.

54. Indigo dye: ANIL.

55. Wail: YOWL.

58. Travel __: MUG.

60. Clampett patriarch: JED.

August Miller

 Title: Take a left and go north

I get to introduce another first time LAT constructor. I also could not find any other publications for this August August, so welcome. The theme has a visual curveball, so let us get right to it. 

I would have been stumped but for my problem with milk. When 20 A took me to the doorstep of Lactose Intolerant but had no room for the "ant," I had two thoughts. 1. There was going to be a picnic theme with"ants" missing from all of the themers. 2. It was visual and the "ant" was going to crawl up the puzzle. Neither was correct, but I did grok that the end of the fill just went up. The circles made that choice obvious. A fun idea that created much room for sparkly fill. 

MINOR IN, SUMMONS, GOES BOOM, OPERA HAT,  ABECEDARY, IN THE AREA, IRS AGENTS  and SKATEPUNK

Across:

1. Key __: remote-start devices: FOBS.

5. Not straight, in a way: GAY.

8. Haggard of country: MERLE.

13. "Yeah, yeah, I get it": OKOK.

14. People: ONES.

16. Lock up the victory: ICEIT.

17. They have taxing jobs: IRSAGENTS.

19. "Interstellar" co-writer/director Christopher: NOLAN.

20. Deficient in a certain enzyme: LACTOSEINTOLERA.

22. Recede: EBB.

23. Court orders: WRITS.

24. Brit's "Don't get upset, now": KEEPYOURHAI.

30. Org. fighting for refugees: ACLU.

31. Columbus' home: OHIO.

32. Some traffic monitors: NARCS.

37. Word after greater or lesser: THAN.

38. Very many, informally: MUCHO.

40. Situation, metaphorically: BOAT.

41. Passes (out): ZONKS.

43. Take another tour: REUP.

44. "Enchanted" girl in a 2004 film: ELLA.

45. Hand-to-hand battle: UNARMEDCOMB.

48. Streaks: ZOOMS.

51. Dwell on, maybe: RUE.

52. Lone survivor ... and a hint to the puzzle's circles?: LAST MAN STANDING.

59. State with a panhandle: IDAHO.

60. Nearby: IN THE AREA.

61. Compare: LIKEN.

62. Georgetown cager: HOYA.

63. __ Malek, Best Actor winner for "Bohemian Rhapsody": RAMI.

64. Neptune's are about 165 times longer than ours: YEARS.

65. Sandwich with a bit of crunch: BLT.

66. 2010 Ringo Starr album: YNOT.

Down:

1. The creature, to Dr. Frankenstein: FOIL.

2. Cajun food staple: OKRA.

3. Pear variety: BOSC.

4. Rock subgenre whose music is featured in "Tony Hawk's" games: SKATE PUNK.

5. Blows up: GOESBOOM.

6. Actress Hathaway: ANNE.

7. Himalayan with a thick coat: YETI.

8. Study on the side: MINORIN.

9. Food recall reason: ECOLI.

10. Subleased: RELET.

11. Yarn weavers: LIARS.

12. It's south of Vesuvius: ETNA.

15. Fig. on a return: SSN.

18. Pass: GOBY.

21. Defunct airline: TWA.

24. Apt surname for a vet: KATZ.

25. __ chamber: ECHO.

26. Panache: ELAN.

27. "Star Trek" linguistics expert: UHURA.

28. Kitchen gadget: RICER.

29. Just meh: HOHUM.

33. School primer: ABECEDARY.

34. Candy with a gooey center: ROLO.

35. Still, as a day: CALM.

36. Whack: STAB.

39. Collapsible headwear: OPERAHAT.

42. It's usually bad to be served with one: SUMMONS.

46. Hush-hush org.: NSA.

47. Sci-fi classic set on an arid world: DUNE.

48. "White Teeth" novelist Smith: ZADIE.

49. Japan's second-largest city: OSAKA.

50. Catch-all survey option: OTHER.

52. __ of the valley: LILY.

53. Medical research agcy.: NIH.

54. Stuck-up sort: SNOB.

55. Texter's sign-off: TTYL.

56. Caspian Sea land: IRAN.

57. Film fish to find: NEMO.

58. Way of walking: GAIT.

Kevin Christian

 Title: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE.

Today's trek will require you to jog your memories to recall various "nouns of multitude" for animal groups. If that term is not a familiar one then you might want to follow this LINK and listen and learn. This is a play on word puzzle with five theme fill. Kevin has been entertaining us for more than 10 years with the late dear Santa blogging his first here in April 2010. Remarkably, I do not believe I have ever written up one of his efforts -until now. This theme is a bit subtle, taking an animal group pairing that with a word that gives a different meaning to the now paired word. As with most featured Fridays, this has much to like in the fill...ARE WE OK,  HASSLES,  HOTDOGS,  HYDRANT,  RISOTTO THE BOMB, PANCETTA and USA TODAY, I highlight the new fill by using red. 

For a theme, we have...

17A. Lions in the city?: CIVIC PRIDE (10). Civic being the city part...

25A. Fish with experience?: OLD SCHOOL (9). We reverse the clue, not the fill.

36A. Bees behind bars?: PENAL COLONY (11). This was hard because we think of bees in a hive. My thought was "where do chlamydia live?" I'll see if Tom censors me.

47A. Whales on the run?: ESCAPE POD (9). By now you should know this one. Whales can be very tight when they group, swimming in close proximity to each other on occasion. To the first ceteologists, they resembled seeds in a pod-like that of a legume.

58A. Wolves with a clean lair?: VACUUM PACK (10). Picturing a bunch of surly wolves vacuuming makes this a big stretch.

Across:

1. Persepolis ruins locale: IRAN. In the old Persia, where so much HISTORY lies.

5. Prickly plants: CACTI. Much better than prickly pants.

10. Former Supreme Court first name: RUTH. Ms. Bader Ginsberg, a remarkable woman.

14. iPod model: NANO. 

15. Garden nuisance: APHID. But needed by Peonies, remember?

16. Protection org. since 1970: OSHA. Occupational Safety Health Administration.

19. Slangy sweeties: BAES. I.m already bored with this word. 

20. Pulitzer-winning author Lurie: ALISON. I cannot read the way I used to, but I would have missed her anyway. LINK.

21. Spring: LEAP. Forward.

23. Conan's network: TBS. One of Ted Turner's baes.

24. Willamette River capital: SALEM. The OREGON one. 

27. UFO fliers, presumably: ETS. Meh.

28. __ bath: MUD. People actually pay for these. Or...


30. Luke and Leia's mother: PADME. I just had the yummy Natalie Portman.

31. Show-offs: HOTDOGS. None more so than JOEY.

35. Pats gently: DABS. A little one will do you. 

38. Inland Asian sea: ARAL. Having a COMEBACK?

40. Fixture in some no-parking zones: HYDRANT. Very random.

41. Starr man: RINGO. A gimme from the spelling. 

43. One kept on a child at the pool: EYE.

44. Hole goal: PAR.

51. GE rival: AMANA. Appliance makers. 

53. "Alas!" prompter: WOE. Alack, 

54. Seafarers: TARS.

55. USC athlete: TROJAN.

56. Novel ending?: ETTE.

60. Miranda __ of "Homeland": OTTO. Miranda Otto is an Australian actress who portrayed Allison Carr on Homeland. She is best known for playing Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

61. Dutch cheeses: EDAMS.

62. Czech track legend Zátopek: EMIL.

63. Zen riddle: KOAN. A characteristic example of the style is the well-known koan “When both hands have clapped a sound is produced; listen to the sound of one hand clapping.”

64. "Building a Mystery" singer McLachlan: SARAH.

65. Cook of comedy: DANE. Rather a passe star I think, but I never enjoyed his comedy.

.

Down:

1. If: IN CASE. In Alabama, they say, for case. 

2. Scold harshly: RAIL AT.

3. Wile E. Coyote weapons: ANVILS. He is back again!

4. White __: NOISE. We use a fan.

5. Bo's'n boss: CAPN. Match the abbreviations.

6. Loan fig.: APR. Annual Percentage Rate.

7. Put on ice: CHILL.

8. Helped through a tough time, with "over": TIDED.  Stimulus anyone?

9. Brainstorming session output: IDEAS.

10. Director Reiner: ROB. He also is back after his recent appearance as the director of When Harry Met Sally.

11. Paper with Money and Life sections: USA TODAY. Where you get lots of C.C. puzzles these days.

12. Awesome, slangily: THE BOMB.

13. Bothers: HASSLES.

18. Public town park: COMMON.

22. Narc's find: PCP.

25. "Funny thing is ... ": ODDLY.

26. "I __ thought of that": HADN'T.

29. Home to the Ogden Raptors of MiLB: UTAH. Minor League Baseball.

31. Hägar the Horrible's wife: HELGA.

32. Med. condition with repetitive behavior: OCD. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  

33. Hurt in a ring: GORED. A bunch of bull.

34. Take out, as a vampire: SLAY. Hey Peg, how are you? 

36. Italian bacon: PANCETTA. Maybe with some 39D. Dish with arborio rice: RISOTTO.

37. Like difficult push-ups: ONE ARM. Who can forget?

38. "Do you and I need to clear the air?": ARE WE OK.

42. Withdraw, with "out": OPT.

44. __ party: PAJAMA.

45. Aleve rival: ANACIN.

46. Really get to: RANKLE.

48. Wasp nest sites: EAVES.

49. Red-carpet brand: PRADA. 

50. NBA great Robertson nicknamed "The Big O": OSCAR.

52. Minibike kin: MOPED. We had one while we were kids.

55. Derriere: TUSH. I do appreciate a well-formed one.

57. Long time to wait, facetiously: EON.

59. Thurman in films: UMA. We finish with the now ubiquitous Uma.