Friday April 26, 2024, Winston Emmons

 Theme: Mumbo Jumbo Idiom Jumble

Puzzling thoughts:

Today's idiomatic/anagram puzzle is presented by none other than Winston Emmons, no stranger to the LA Times crossword puzzles.  Winston uses 5 "theme" entries.  Each answer to these entries is an unscrambled word/phrase that comes as a result of answering the second part of the clue (as well as the first part)

Wait just a darn second, Moe.  That doesn't make any sense!  Well, you're right; it doesn't.  But if you carefully rearrange the letters in the theme answers, you can achieve both halves of the clue's meaning

Please look again at the cartoon above.  The carolers are singing "Listen Thing", which is an anagram for "Silent Night" (re-arrange the letters).  And while there is no clue associated with the cartoon, all we need to do is use that bit of logic to understand what's going on in each clue and answer:

15-across. Cleanliness is next to ... a minimalist approach?: DOING LESS.  

The obvious answer to the first part of the clue is "GODLINESS".  It was so obvious to me that I typed it into the white squares.  The phrase: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is a proverb that implies that practicing cleanliness is akin to worshipping or performing religious obligations

The obvious answer to the second part of the clue, "a minimalist approach", is DOING LESS.  I never thought of "doing less" as being a form of "Godliness", but when you rearrange the letters in doing less you can spell the word Godliness, and now we have answered both parts of the clue correctly

19-across. Going to hell in a ... damaged armored vehicle?: BASHED TANK.  

The phrase "Going to hell in a "HAND BASKET" is well-known idiomatic phrase that means "to be rapidly deteriorating - on course for disaster;" 

a BASHED TANK is indeed a damaged armored vehicle, but the phrase "bashed tank" is not one we often use ... but rearranging bashed tank also gives us handbasket

34-across. Don't throw the baby out with the ... decorative Halloween ring?: BAT WREATH.  

"Don't throw the baby out with the "BATHWATER" is an idiomatic expression for an avoidable error in which something good or of value is eliminated when trying to get rid of something unwanted. A slightly different explanation suggests this flexible catchphrase has to do with discarding the essential while retaining the superfluous because of excessive zeal."[wikipedia] 

Not this, I hope ...

 

 A BAT WREATH is not the most popular Halloween "ring", but I did find an image:

And as you might suspect by now, a quick rearrangement of bat wreath = bath water

50-across. The only thing we have to fear is ... feeling better quickly?: FAST RELIEF.  

The first half of the clue cites FDR's speech (featured below) with the iconic idiomatic phrase: "The only thing we have to fear is FEAR ITSELF."  

The second half of the clue (feeling better quickly) yields FAST RELIEF.  And if you really want "fast relief" you might want to take Brioschi 

Once again, the rearranging of fast relief = fear itself

And last, but not least, we have: 56-across. Famous ... weapon that would dissolve in water?: SALT SWORD.  

Unscramble SALT SWORD and you get (famous ...) "LAST WORDS".  

This is the only thing I could find for Salt Sword.  I am guessing it is a reference to Salt and Sanctuary (unfamiliar, to me), but I suppose that, literally, a salt sword could dissolve in water.  But it's a stretch, and of course, YMMV

Certainly, this was a very interesting puzzle and theme.  As always, your comments below will let us know how you liked or disliked this puzzle.  I floundered with it for over 20 minutes, but once I "got it" it made sense

BTW, this is a puzzle that is **admiral toe** for those who enjoy solving the daily Jumble™.  If only Old Man Keith was still alive he would have been smiling **area rote** 😁, as he was extremely fond of finding the diagonal anagrams of the daily puzzle

Here is the grid, and then "To depart ... or what might come with a bundle of shingles? **ROOF FACT SHEET** (let's see how many of you get this - as well as the other two anagrams I used in the intro!!)

 

Across:
1. Ointment amount: DAB. How many of you recall this old jingle?

4. PIN point: ATM.  Sometimes clues can get too cutesy.  But I get it ... an ATM is a "point" for where a PIN is entered ... meh

7. Prone to micromanage, perhaps: BOSSY.  Don't have a "cow" over this one!

 

12. Napping racer of fable: HARE.  The tortoise and the HARE

13. "Vive le __!": ROI.  "Long live the king!" [Frawnche]

14. Gas brand with a torch logo: AMOCO.  Shouldn't the clue have been: "Erstwhile gas brand with a torch logo?"  Didn't BP take over AMOCO?

17. More vast: WIDER.  A little contemporary music to soothe and relax the soul ... 

18. Muppet who had a meltdown over a rock named Rocco: ELMO.  

Elmo vs Rocco

21. Nabisco wafer cookies: NILLA'S.  Good old Vanilla Wafer cookies ... 

Here is a recipe for NILLA's in banana pudding

23. Like some receptions: ICY.

Speaking of an ICY reception ...

24. Architect who designed air traffic control towers for the FAA in the 1960s: PEI.  The only three-letter architect that I know of

25. Squalid: SEEDY.  

Might you call this, squalid squash?

26. As much as: UP TO.  

What Merrium-Webster says

28. Angry: SORE.

29. Make a typo, say: ERR.

30. Genesis twin: ESAU.

32. Like an old mattress, maybe: LUMPY.  Or maybe like this character from Leave it to Beaver:

36. Bart in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: STARR. 

38. Mongolian desert: GOBI.  [Brittanica dot com]:

• The Gobi Desert is a great desert and semidesert region of Central Asia that stretches across large parts of Mongolia and China.
• Much of the Gobi is not sandy desert but bare rock.
• The Gobi is the 5th largest desert in the world, covering over half a million square miles.
• The Gobi’s fauna is varied and includes camels, kulan, and dzeren.
• The Gobi’s Yol Valley houses an ice field, even during summer.
• Ancient tales in Mongolia speak of lost cities buried beneath Gobi’s sands.
• The Gobi’s Taklamakan area is often called the “Place of No Return” due to its harsh conditions.
• The Gobi is surrounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands of Mongolia.
• The Himalayas block weather and starves the desert of rainfall from the South.

39. Altar constellation: ARA.  I know of the erstwhile Notre Dame football coach (ARA Parseghian) but not the constellation.  And further down the grid we had a similar sounding clue with a much different meaning (59-across. Alter __): EGO.

42. Arts and crafts bit: BEAD.  

Was Manhattan really sold for $24 worth of BEADs and trinkets?

43. Not covered: OPEN.  

Covered vs "OPEN"

45. Solitary sort: LONER.

47. Urgent care ctrs.: ERS.

48. MIT's domain: EDU.  [Oxford English Dictionary 3rd definition of domain]: 

• computing
  a distinct subset of the internet with addresses sharing a common suffix or under the control of a particular organization or individual

49. Grammatical gender: NEUTER.  As someone who studied German in HS and briefly in college, I became all to familiar with the grammatical "genders" ... In der deutschen Grammatik ist das Wort für Neutrum "das"

54. Pad __: THAI. Moe-ku:

Bangkok's Apple Stores
Pair street food with Tablets. Serve
Pad THAI with i-Pads

55. Monteverdi work: OPERA. [Britannica dot com lists these] "Notable Works: “L’Arianna”, “La favola d’Orfeo”, “Licoris Who Feigned Madness”, “Madrigals of War and Love”, “Movete al mio bel suon”, and “The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda”

58. Some Redfin transactions: RELO'S.  

Find your RELO for sale here:

60. Ont. neighbor: MINN.  Four-letter state abbreviations went by the wayside when the USPS decided to further abbreviate them to two-letter ones ... MINN became MN because MICH laid claim to MI

61. L'Oréal polish brand: ESSIE.  Thank you, perps.  Maybe our resident mani-pediites can chime in on this not-so-famous-to-me brand ...

62. Icarus, to Daedalus: SON.  

63. Muddy pen: STY.

Down:
1. German auto pioneer: DAIMLER. 

DAIMLER story

2. "Baked the Right Way" bread brand: ARNOLD.  Also, the name of the pig on "Green Acres":

3. Beseech: BEG.  Applying this loftier clue word to an old phrase I came to know all too well:

"Tis better to beseech for forgiveness than to ask for permission ..."

4. Turf: AREA.  

Slang definition for "turf"

5. Throw: TOSS.  There is a certain skill involved in this relatively new game:

6. Out-of-bounds golf shot, e.g.: MISHIT.  TTP, HG, and any other golfers ... care to share one of your MISHITs that might have turned out to be positive?  

7. Ribald: BAWDY. Moe-ku #2:

A spotted horse was
Quite BAWDY with the fillies.
A ribald piebald??

8. Skip over: OMIT.

9. Diner drink: SODA POP. ICE CREAM SODA wouldn't fit; nor COFFEE.  ICED TEA did.  Anyone try that first?

10. Tourist's diversion: SCENERY. Perhaps Picard can provide us with some SCENERY that caused a diversion for him?

11. Long-haired terrier, familiarly: YORKIE.  My first thought - after viewing a few images of a YORKIE - was, "is Toto (the dog from Wizard of Oz) a Yorkshire Terrier??  [hepper dot com says]

"Toto’s breed is never mentioned in the books, and many scholars insist that he was supposed to be a mutt. He’s described as having long, silky hair — just like a Yorkie. One other thing worth noting is the fact that the book’s illustrator, W.W. Denslow, was the proud owner of a Yorkshire Terrier"

So now you know

12. More sacred: HOLIER.

15. Thick: DENSE.

16. Birth announcement abbr.: LBS.  Is there any proof that babies who are born weighing 7 lbs 11 ozs turn out to be great craps players??

20. Clean water company: ECOLAB.  

ECOLAB

22. Per annum: A YEAR.  This word seemed a bit "forced" to me - nitpick 

26. Detroit labor org.: UAW.  

Tennessee VW plant's workers join UAW

27. Rid (of): PURGE.  Something I do every time I move (which happened over 7 times the last 14 years), and yet I still have a lot of "stuff".  And another similar clue: (48-down. Get rid of): ERASE.

28. Texter's "How disappointing": SMH. 🤦

31. Went boldly: STRODE.  

33. Practical: UTILE. Or, the clue could've been "Scrabble™ square worth 1 point": U-TILE

34. Base: BAD. It is better to show an antonym for "base" to know how this adjective can mean "BAD":

35. Proterozoic, e.g.: EON.  [Britannica dot com says]: "Proterozoic eon, the younger of the two divisions of precambrian time, the older being the archean eon. The proterozoic eon extended from 2.5 billion to 541 million years ago"

36. Colorful shawls: SERAPES.  As seen on ETSY:

37. Mortarboard attachments: TASSELS.  I somehow recall that a TASSEL on a mortarboard is in one position before graduation and another position afterward 

39. Ramos of "In the Heights": ANTHONY.  

He is just a kid ...

40. Gain again: RE-EARN.  As in someone's confidence, perhaps

41. Secret alternative: ARRID.  does TRYST also fit??! 😉 In this clue's case, it was referring to a woman's deodorant/anti-perspirant brand called "Secret".  But if you didn't get this one, don't sweat it ...

42. One side of a comparison ad: BEFORE.  Clever; the old before and after comparison ... the image below is of one that always seemed to be on the back cover of comic book magazines, back in the day:

My inspiration for getting a set of barbells

44. Signs of life: PULSES.  I just checked mine ... yep, still alive ... 69 bpm @ resting rate

46. Dupe: OUTWIT.  

One of the three basic strategies in this "game"


49. Asset on a blockchain, for short: NFT.  

It helps to know what a "blockchain" is

51. Starship Enterprise counselor: TROI.  Once again, I will defer to Picard to elaborate on Deanna TROI

52. Othello advisor: IAGO.  Another crossword staple proper name/fictional character.  Three vowels and one consonant 

53. Entrepreneur Musk: ELON. Another crossword staple proper name/actual person

57. Texting letters: SMS.  Short Message/Messaging Service abbreviation 

And we have come to the conclusion of today's blog.  Please add your thoughts below.  See you next month ... 

**For those who were unable to unscramble the words in my intro:**

admiral toe = tailor made

area rote = ear to ear

ROOF FACT SHEET = OFF TO THE RACES

Notes from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the 90th birthday of Parsan, who lives in the same area as Agnes. Happy birthday, Parsan!

Friday, April 19, 2024, Rebecca Goldstein

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE ?

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  It is Friday and it is time for yours truly, Malodorus Manatee, to present a recap of today's puzzle by veteran (and that's an understatement) constructor Rebecca Goldstein.

Today's solve was no walk in the proverbial park as there were several elements in this eclectic mixture that challenged this solver and, perhaps, you, too.

Depending on what one wishes to include, there are roughly fifteen proper nouns in this puzzle.  Proper nouns are great if you know the answer but they can be trouble if you don't.  There are several foreign-language answers in the grid and several answers that, again depending on what one wishes to include, consist of more than one word (e.g. does I-beam count?).  Toss in a couple of references of the wurst kind, two (or three) Greek alphabet references, and some obligatory oblique (Friday) cluing and the head scratching becomes inevitable. . . and that's before we deal with the clever theme.

Upon completing the puzzle, and for some time thereafter, this solver was not able to identify a theme.  A unifying clue/answer would have helped - but there was none.  I saw the "international" two-word clues, each punctuated with a question mark, but failed to put the pieces together.  Perhaps I was a bit word weary from the solve itself or maybe I just could not see the forest for the trees.  In any event, I reached out to the Crossword Corner blog staff and, with their assistance, the fog lifted.  Each themed clue is a common expression in English which includes a country name.  Each themed answer fits the clue but requires that we re-imagine the expression as being defined in terms of  something other than its common meaning.  The theme is not in the answers.  It is to be found in the clues themselves.

Here are the themed clues and their answers:

17 Across:  American cheese?: POTUS.  Not as in what you might have used last Friday on National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.  As in the idiom the "Big Cheese".  The President Of The United States is a "Big Cheese".

19 Across:  Irish cream?: EUROS.  Not Baileys.  Cream can be used, apparently, as a slang term for money.  Irish money.  See #27 in  100 Slang Words For Money

36 Across:  Spanish inquisition?: COMO ESTAS.  In this case not THE Spanish Inquisition.  As in to inquire, in Spanish, "How are you?"  Well, I guess the answer to that depends:

7 Down:  Australian open?: G'DAY MATE.  Not a tennis tournament reference.  Open as in an opening comment/greeting, I suppose.  

41 Down:  French press?: LE MONDE.  Not a coffee brewing reference.  The French newspaper (press).

43 Down:  English channel?: THE BEEB.  Not as in what we just now crossed to get to Great Britain from 41 Down (the English Channel).  A television channel.  Slang for the BBC.  British Broadcasting Corporation

49 Down: German mark?: UMLAUT.  Not the former German currency that was replaced by the Euro.  A punctuation mark used in the German language.

Let' take a look at the completed grid.  Its symmetry is elegant even without the placement of the themed answers.  With the placement of those answers it is even more impressive:

Here are the rest of the clues and answers:

Across:

1. AMC car known as "The Flying Fishbowl": PACER.  If you knew your American Motor Corporation models then this one was fairly easy.  If not, you had to wait for the perps which is a tough way to start a puzzle especially, in this instance, where the crossing with 1 Down might have formed a Natick.

6. "Saltburn" studio: MGM. As a further sign of the "updating" of our puzzles, a 2023 film was chosen to clue this instead of one of hundreds of classic MGM flicks.

9. Office characters: STAFF.  Because of the obligatory leading "cap", the clue might have been thought to refer to the cast of the TV show.  The answer did not require that degree of specificity.

14. Meaty flavor: UMAMI.  One of the five so-called basic tastes (together with Salty, Bitter, Sweet and Sour), UMAMI has been defined as "savory - characteristic of broths and cooked meats".

15. Nev. neighbor: IDA.  IDAho  What did Ida Ho?  She hoed her Mary Land while wearing her brand New Jersey.

16. Undefeated Ali: LAILA.  A frequent visitor.

18. Goldin of "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed": NAN.  A reference to the subject of a 2022 documentary about the activist named in the clue (and who's first name is the answer).

20. Uncertain syllables: UMS.  The topic of the inclusion of these sounds-people-might-make answers has previously, and extensively, been debated on The Corner.

21. Long-horned grasshopper: KATYDID.  A funny word and a funny-looking insect.

24. Captcha capture: BOT.

25. Slip through the cracks: SEEP.  The clue might have been taken as the idiom but that would have thrown one off the scent.

27. Ramblin' man, maybe: NOMAD.  Well, Rebecca and Patti did tee it up:

Allman Brothers Band - 1972

28. Root vegetable with purple-flecked flesh: TARO.  A starchy vegetable frequently served up in our puzzles.

29. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  Although a winner of both a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe, this actress' name was unknown to this solver.  Perps to the rescue.

30. Spoken exams: ORALS.  My son recently took a battery of ORAL exams in hopes of qualifying to become a pirate.  His grades were okay, but not great.  He got high C's.

31. Washington University's business school: OLIN.

32. Arterial insert: STENT.  Today's let's-pass-on-the-graphic moment.

34. Fig. texted from traffic: ETA.  Or, a Greek alphabet reference.

35. Actor Nick: NOLTE.  This actor's name was known to this solver.

39. Some charcuterie slices: SALAMI.  One of the wurst clues.

 

42. Polling place sticker: I VOTED.  They now include the sticker with our mail-in ballots.

46. Walk through knee-deep snow, say: TREK.  A bit misleading (hey, it's Friday) because the answer is not snow-dependent.  

47. Unrefined: CRUDE.  I recently heard a dirty joke about oil drilling.  It was really CRUDE.

51. "Goodness": OH MY.

52. Pinnacle: ACME.  Sometimes it turns out to be APEX.

53. Alfa __: ROMEO.  Wherefore art thou?  Nah.  An automobile reference.

1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint

54. "Ja" opposite: NEIN.  Today's German lesson.

55. Letter before sigma: RHO.  One of today's Greek (alphabet) lessons.

56. Spicy sausage: HOT LINK.  The other wurst clue.

58. Lingerie buy: BRA.  There are many possibilities here but the three-letter requirement cuts things down to size (number and letter) pretty (lace, different colors) quickly.

59. Packed tightly: DENSE.

61. Tiny powerhouses?: AAS.  This one was not another of those sounds-people-might-make answers.

62. Part of building bridges: I BEAM.  Named for its shape when viewed in cross section.

64. Boss (around): ORDER.

65. "For shame!": TUT.  This is yet another one of those sounds-people-might-make answers.  It might have been clued as yet another proper noun.

66. Sell a bill of goods: LIE TO.   Everything You Want to Know About the "Sell A Bill Of Goods" Idiom

67. Daisy known as the "Rosa Parks of the North": MYERS.  The Myers Family Story

68. UFO beings: ETS.  Extra TerrestrialS  Unidentified Flying Objects are now called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena or UAPs

69. Neuroscience segments: LOBES.

Down:

1. Food with a national holiday in El Salvador: PUPUSAS.  If you started the puzzle at 1 Down then it might have been a rough start.  Oddly, while working on this recap I asked Valerie what I might snack on.  She served up a PUPUSA that she had recently purchased at that temple of Salvadoran cuisine - Costco.  It was delicious.

2. Terse request to chat: A MOMENT.  The only way this one seems to make sense to this solver is as a request to talk to someone and not as a request to chat electronically.  As in "Have you got A MOMENT?"

3. Reflective effect in some gemstones: CATS EYE.

         CATS EYE Gemstones                           Looking For Their Royalty Checks

4. Bird in a eucalyptus forest: EMU.  Eucalyptus tells us to conjure up something Australian.

5. Chance: RISK.  Noun or verb?  It didn't matter this time.

6. Cookie with green creme: MINT OREO.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

8. Geometric designs that represent spiritual journeys: MANDALAS.

9. Toy in the final "Calvin and Hobbes" panel: SLED.  Here it is.  Bill Watterson walked away at the top of his game after declining to monetize his characters by, among other things, turning them into plush toys. 

10. Letter after sigma: TAU.  Another one of today's Greek (alphabet) lesson.

11. Big whiff: AIR BALL.  A basketball reference.

12. "Go! Go! Go!": FLOOR IT.  As we move into the electrified automobile future, FLOOR IT might survive whereas "Step On The Gas!" probably will not.  She's real fine my 400 NM?

13. Trick: FAST ONE.  As in to Pull a FAST ONE.

22. "I'll take that as __": A NO.  Yes

23. Face cards?: IDS.  Not IDS as compared to EGOS.  I.D. as in an identification card with, in this case, a head shot photo on it.

26. Blowout patch, at a diner: PANCAKE.  New jargon for this solver.  Usually, it is a sheet rock (drywall) reference.

28. "That may never be funny": TOO SOON.  Often posed as a question:  "Is it TOO SOON?"

33. "Top Chef" judge Colicchio: TOM.  Thanks, again, perps.  Often clued with a turkey reference.

35. Pt. of Loran: NAV.  Long Range NAVigation.

37. Prefix with economics or biology: MICRO.

38. Attach: TIE ON.  As opposed to a Liger?  (well, it was close)

39. Fame and fortune: STARDOM.  I always thought that I was destined for STARDOM but then I realized that my mass was below 0.08 solar masses.

40. Shooting sport: ARCHERY.  Hand up for first trying to make something firearm-related work out.

44. Kuwait or Qatar: EMIRATE.  People in Qatar don't like "The Flintstones" but people in AbuDhabi do.

45. Real powerhouses: DYNAMOS.

48. Turn: ROTATE.  A clue to be taken literally.  Not as in, for example, a baseball game at bat or a time to spin/roll the dice when playing a board game.

50. Many of the founding fathers, religiously: DEISTS. Deism is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. 

56. Women's health brand: HERS.  Lots of possible ways to clue this.  This way was fitting for a Friday challenge.

57. Decide not to run: KILL.  A press (run) reference as in to KILL a story.

60. Honorific in "Game of Thrones": SER.  I might be the only person around who has never watched an epidsdoe of "Game of Thrones" so thanks, perps.

63. Book jacket blurb: BIO.  Short for BIOgraphy and also a short biography.

That includes our international tour for this Friday.  Have a great weekend, everyone.  If you go  exploring, please travel safely!

______________________________________________________________

Friday April 12, 2024, Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes

Theme: "It had to be "U"

 

Puzzling thoughts:  

After solving this relatively easy collaborative puzzle (Amie Walker and Wendy L. Brandes) I did a quick head scratch:  what in the heck is the theme of this?  So, I looked at the reveal: 

40-across. "It was even funnier at the time," or a hint to making the starred clues match their answers: YOU HAD TO BE THERE

Was the word "YOU" (or the word "THERE") somehow connected to all of the three entries?  Let's examine them and see:

18-across. *Big moth: CHATTER BOX.  No, neither "YOU" nor "THERE" seemed to fit into this entry

24-across. *Theater debt: OPENING NIGHT. Nope, not here either, although "HAVING TO BE THERE" on OPENING NIGHT sort of makes sense

52-across. *Frozen state: ICE SCULPTURE.  Who, other than folks who live in the north and love the cold weather, would want to be "THERE" for an ICE SCULPTURE?  (well, maybe this guy - see video)

 

62-across. *Title bot: PRIZE FIGHT.  Maybe this one?  Uh, uh.  Nope

So what gives?  Well, look back at each of the four entry clUes:

*Big moth:  If the letter U is added to "moth" it becomes "mouth".  And a CHATTER BOX is indeed a "big mouth"

*Theater debt: If the letter U is added to "debt" it becomes "debut".  And an OPENING NIGHT is indeed a "theater debut"

*Frozen state: If the letter U is added to "state" it becomes "statue".  And an ICE SCULPTURE is indeed a "frozen statue"

*Title bot: If the letter U is added to "bot" it becomes "bout".   And a PRIZE FIGHT is indeed a "title bout"

And that, my friends, is how Amie and Wendy managed today's "add a letter"-themed puzzle! Adding the letter "U" allowed each of the clues to match their answers.  Well done, ladies!  

Here is the grid, and then we can tackle the rest of the "fill" ... 

 

Note from today's blogger:  If you would like to solve another puzzle today, please open the link below for one that's called "That's Heavy!"

 
Chris Gross Universal Puzzle

Across:

1. __ test: ACID.  BETA fits this, too, but I waited until I checked the other perps

5. Oft-poached pear: BOSC.  Strange clue but it works

9. With 9-Down, Thanksgiving dessert: PECAN (9-down. See 9-Across:) PIE.  PECAN PIE may not be the most popular Thanksgiving dessert (unless you're from the south) but it sure is tasty!

14. Arm bone: ULNA.  Moe-ku:

Some think the ULNA
Is the "funny bone". But that's
Not so humurus

15. Bar mixer: COLA. While the constructors did not choose to use a "clecho", it fits with (68-across. Fountain drinks:) SODAS.  Did anyone else flip these answers?  SODA and COLAS?

16. Fuming: IRATE.

17. Some baby shower honorees: DADS.  This must be a more "modern" answer; I had two kids and was not "honored" at either of their baby showers

20. "Da 5 Bloods" actor Whitlock Jr.: ISIAH.  This filled with perps and a WAG as I was not familiar with "Da 5 Bloods" movie - the trailer:

22. Cookbook writer Garten: INA.  She is fast becoming a part of crosswordese

23. Choose: OPT.

29. "Makes sense": I SEE.  What I may have uttered when I figured out today's theme

30. False front?: PSEUDO.  For some reason I initially spelled this "PSUEDO".  Across Lite (the puzzle software I use to solve these puzzles) does not have spellchecker installed

33. ETA provider: GPS.  Back in the day, GPS might have been clued: "Family doc's"

36. Parker products: PENS.  Moe-ku 2:

Spider-Man gave to
His groomsmen (as wedding gifts)
Peter Parker PENS

38. Made in Taiwan, say: ASIAN.

44. Cantaloupe, e.g.: MELON.

45. Close in anger: SLAM.

46. August hrs.: DST.

47. Beach city where Barbie's Dreamhouse is available for short-term rentals: MALIBU. This MALIBU resident had his fair share of "Barbie's".  For a show that was more than mildly misogynistic, it ran for multiple seasons on a major network ... this clip is from the Ashton Kucher years as being the star, and features MALIBU

50. Historic times: ERAS.

57. Toward the stern: AFT.

60. Spacewalk initials: EVA.  Not one of the Gabor sisters??  No, EVA stands for: ExtraVehicular Activity ... this, maybe (long):

61. Title with a tilde: SENOR. The tilde (~) is placed above the "N" in Se·ñor. It is an accent (~) placed over Spanish n when pronounced ny (as in señor) or Portuguese a or o when nasalized (as in São Paulo), or over a vowel in phonetic transcription, indicating nasalization

67. Falafel bread: PITA. Are falafel and hummus the same? [foodstruct dot com] says: "What are the main differences between Falafel and Hummus? Falafel is richer in Iron, Potassium, Vitamin B2, and Monounsaturated Fat, while Hummus is higher in Copper, and Vitamin B6. Hummus's daily need coverage for Copper is 30% higher. Hummus has 3 times less Vitamin B2 than Falafel. Falafel has 0.166mg of Vitamin B2, while Hummus has 0.064mg"

69. Char on a grill: SEAR. All you wanted to know about SEAR when grilling

70. "For real?": IT IS.

71. Setting for much of "The Mummy" franchise: EGYPT.  I may need to binge-watch this series.  "The Mummy" The movie "franchise" spans 8 decades 

72. Like a chimney sweep's clothes, maybe: ASHY.  Moe-ku 3:

Santa's ASHY coat
Caused sniffles. Was it 'cause he
Came down with the flue?

73. Wall St. index: NYSE.  NASDAC and S & P 500 did not fit into the four squares

Down:

1. Component of self-guided museum tours: AUDIO.  Who sells this?

2. Necklace fastener: CLASP.  I used to shudder when my ex asked me to help her put on or take off her necklace; I was never very good with THAT type of CLASP ... 

3. Nonstudio flick: INDIE.  As in, an "INDiEpendent" studio.  Last year's top Oscar-winner "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" was produced by INDIE studio A24

4. Fiji competitor: DASANI.  Not as in the island of Fiji (or a sports competition) but the bottled water.  But (off the top of my head; I did not research this) I believe that Fiji water actually comes from a source.  DASANI is bottled after reverse osmosis if I understand correctly

5. Secretly include, in a way: BCC.  Moe-ku 4:

When Johnny Hart sends
An e-mail, he will always
BCC BC

6. "I'm impressed!": OOH.  Your reaction to today's puzzle and/or blog??!!

7. Done in, as a dragon: SLAIN.  Here is the opposite (from a dragon's point-of-view)

8. Opposite of dogbane?: CATNIP.  Dogbane CATNIP

10. Add salt instead of sugar, say: ERR. As a kid, my older sister played an April Fool's "joke" on me by substituting salt into the sugar bowl.  Of course, unknowingly. I put a couple spoonfuls of this into my bowl of Cheerios ... 

11. Baja resort, familiarly: CABO.  CABO on Baja - things to do

12. Perched on: ATOP.  

13. "What else ya got?": NEXT.

19. Price points?: TAGS.  This reminded me of the 15 or so years I spent living in New England.  The term for offering things from your residence for sale differs in many parts of the country.  I had heard of "YARD SALE" and "GARAGE SALE", but when I lived in MA and CT, they called it a "TAG" SALE.  TAGS were required on each item to clearly mark at what price you were offering this

21. __ Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15: HISPANIC.  Why is it honored between two months? And those specific days?  Ides don't know ... can someone else help me?? 

25. Require: NEED.  When Margaret and I bought our house a couple years ago, we each separately wrote out our "wants and NEEDS; we matched on our NEEDS at 100%

26. Gallant guy: GENT.  

27. Products of thermal imaging: HEAT MAPS.  You know, if you add an "L" to MAPS and rearrange the letters, you get LAMPS ... which when placed behind HEAT gives a whole different product ...

28. Derriere: TUSH.  Ok, is it "TOUCH" or "TUSH" that ZZ Top is claiming they want to get when they are downtown ... 

31. Faded out: DIED.  I suppose this is a "kind way" to clue the word "DIED"

32. Sculler's tools: OARS.  When I was a member of the Jaycees (remember them fellow Boomers?) in MA, we helped sponsor an event on the Connecticut River for racing sculls.  Their ability to synchronize the OARS was amazing ... I couldn't find a video from that venue, but here is one you might want to watch 

33. Muscle building?: GYM.  Hah!  Muscle building in a muscle building!

34. Ada Limón work: POEM.  Unlike the Chairman, Ada chooses a much different kind of poetry than my haiku and limericks

Ada Limon

35. Toni Morrison's second novel: SULA. Fun fact:  SULA is also the name of a Russian river as well as the name of some Indonesian islands

37. "Help us!" letters: SOS.  And, an erstwhile hit song by the group "Abba"; both of which are answers often seen in xword puzzles

39. __ zero emissions: NET.  Can you be a climate hero?

41. Colorful Hindu festival: HOLI. This event has passed.  It was on March 25th. [Wikipedia] "Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna

Moe-ku 5:

Radha and Krishna
Love to celebrate Spring with
Holly for HOLI

42. "Sacre __!": BLEU.

Moe-ku 6:

Camembert, BLEU, and
Roquefort were found on same plate.
A fromáge à trois?

43. Countess counterpart: EARL. What about the "duke of Earl?

48. Emmy-winning Ali Wong series: BEEF. A "Friday" clue, for sure

49. Certain travel doc.: US VISA. Don't think we will need one when we visit Italy later this year

51. Attempt to mediate: STEP IN. This sounds like something that would be more than to "mediate", IMO

53. Batting practice sites: CAGES. Could you make contact with this fastball? Not I

54. Harmony: UNITY. Does the Thesaurussaurus agree? Nope

55. Flatbreads made with atta flour: ROTIS. Not a word in my lexicon. [Wikipedia] "Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, and water that are combined into a dough. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened

56. Wipe clean: ERASE. "Wipe clean" is also a phrase a parent of a baby or toddler might use. So basically, they are just ERASING the poo??

57. Recess on a Catholic school campus?: APSE. Another paraphrased clue. The APSE is a recessed area in a chapel. Recess could also mean "a period of time when school kids get a break from classes"

58. Mesopotamian symbol of fertility: FROG. Ribbit, ribbit ... this guy?

59. Neat: TIDY.

63. Cook in the microwave: ZAP. Time for another comic strip?

64. Rough fig.: EST. Or, winter hours in Washington, D.C.

65. "Shows you!": HAH. The phrase I uttered when I "got" the theme today

66. Attempt: TRY. Hope that your attempt at the puzzle was a positive one

And we are done! Look forward to YOUR COMMENTS below. Hope, too that you are able to try MY PUZZLE @ Universal. See you in a couple of weeks