Fri, Jan 2nd, 2026 ~ Nate Curry & Kevin Curry

 Café Au L.A.(IT)

or, the Times Crossword with your Morning Joe~?

Hi there~!  Splynter here, commencing my new day blogging.  Our first Friday puzzle of 2026 is a crossword from constructor Kevin Curry (alliteration), a regular, and what I gather is one of his three kids, Nate, who is 10(ish) yrs old - he and younger sister Kaela created a puzzle that made the NYT.  Today's grid, an oversized 15x16 to accommodate the center spanner, consists of four themers that drop, or "knock off" the I & T at the end of common phrases to create punny new ones.  A few too many names for me, a whole SLEW of abbrs, no circles, and a balance of 26 3LWs compared with the 24 five-letter ones.  The themers and the reveal; 

18. Warning on a note passed in a seminar?: NOT FOR PROF(IT)

more here

25. Crystal ball consulted atop Mount Everest?: HIGH EARTH ORB(IT)  - A.K.A. Geosynchronous Orbit

37. The discovery of the Lucy fossils, for one?: SIGNIFICANT DIG(IT)

52. Beauty school treatment?: LEARNER'S PERM(IT) - I got my learning-to-drive permit at 16yrs old

61. "Cut that out!," or an apt title for this puzzle: "KNOCK IT OFF~!"

Two other thoughts:

Unruly CanadianEh!~? - Bad Hab(IT)

Robinson with his musicians~? - Smokey and the Band(IT)

But Wait~!
There's More~!  ( all good, -T - Onward~! was my Saturday sign-in )

ACROSS:

1. Charges: BILLS - the contractor "charges" $$ for his time

6. During: AMID

10. House shower?: CSPAN - I wondered if this was "shOU-er", or shOH-er; I finally figured out it was the latter, with the channel that shows Congress, the US "House" of Representatives & Senate

15. More slick: ICIER - 'tis the season~! - I've cleared my driveway three times so far

16. 2024 NBA All-Star Game MVP "__ Time" Lillard: DAME - name #1, and I had "G-ame", since that made more sense at first, but I knew my "AD" at 6D. had to be correct - more about him here

17. In the loop: AWARE

20. Sew loosely: BASTE - I knew this 'cause my mom was a sewing master

21. Not gross: NET - weights and measures, as opposed to icky over sterile

22. Some Duracells: AAs - I'm an "AA" as well, but not a battery

23. Like many fiddle-leaf figs: POTTED - I had p-I-tted, which made sense at first - but figs have seeds, not pits - sigh.  

All(IT)eration

24. Land south of Eur.: AFRica

28. Hawaiian for "white": KEA

29. Highest seed: ONE - as of this writing, the Denver Broncos are the #1 seed in the NFL

30. Regret: RUE

31. Marble __: RYE

32. Up and about: ASTIR - if you have to ASTIR, you might need AWHISK - found at 60A.

34. Mother with a Nobel Peace Prize: TERESA - even if we all know who this is, still name #2

42. Agree: ASSENT - all(IT)eration

43. Soccer star Sergio who scored more than 100 goals for Real Madrid: RAMOS - no clue, name #3

45. Audible sighs: "AHs"

48. Long. crosser: LATitiude, the grid of the globe - all(IT)iteration

49. "Rugrats" dad: STU - name #4, learned doing crosswords

51. Tiebreaker periods, for short: OTs - OverTimes

56. Opposite of oui: NON - yes/no - ah, my first Friday Franwche fill - all(IT)eration

Oui~!  Oui~! Très Oui~!

57. Release: LET OUT - "who let the dogs out~?" woof, woof

58. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE - name #5, we see her a lot in crosswords

59. Paramount+ partner, briefly: SHO - SHOwtime, streaming services - all(IT)teration

60. Batter beater: WHISK - what a whip~! - all(IT)eration

65. Like déjà vu: EERIE

66. Cry of dismay: "OH NO~!"

67. Leaves for dinner: SALAD - my first thought was the leaf sections when expanding the dining room table, but it's the 'other' leaf - lettuce, romaine, etc.

68. Freezing temps: TEENS

69. Large number: SLEW - Hercules "slew" a whole slew of heads off the - - -

70. Monster with regenerative heads: HYDRA

The 1960 movie "Hercules vs. the Hydra" - all(IT)eration

DOWN:

1. Recycling container: BIN - my blue recycling bin goes out every other week - my garbage, rarely once a month

2. Admission of guilt: "I CONFESS."

3. Well-read individuals: LITERATI - filled via perps

4. Not right?: LEFT - I am a LEFTY, so I nailed this one

5. Sold-out letters: SRO - crossword staple, Standing Room Only

6. Magazine income source: AD PAGE - I had figured it being "AD" something . . . .

7. Swampy habitat: MARSH - I had BAYOU to start; been reading a lot of James Lee Burke books that take place in Louisiana, so this 'hab(IT)at' was on my mind; I did get a David Weber Sci-Fi book, "Off Armageddon Reef", and finished "Hail Mary" from Andy Weir; great book - thank you all for the reading suggestions

8. Texter's qualifier: IMO - In My Opinion

9. Pt. of HDTV: DEFinition; High and TeleVision were too long

10. Novelist Meg: CABOT - name #6, had no clue, learned she is the author of "The Princess Diaries", and the "O" does seem more likely than the "I" that I had from p-I-tted

11. Broad strip: SWATH - as in a swath of destruction laid down by a tornado

12. Tacos al __: PASTOR - never heard of this, so the NE corner was messy; name (ish) - the Wiki

13. Aorta, for one: ARTERY

14. (If) necessary: NEED BE - in hockey playoffs, games 5,6 and 7 may be "if necessary"

19. Picnic spoiler: RAIN - I pondered "ANTS" first

23. Groom feathers: PREEN

24. Pseudonym preceder: A.K.A. - Also Known As

25. Features of orchestras and rhinos: HORNS - clever

26. Upright: ERECT

27. Spiritual glow: AURA - it was either HALO or AURA, and I guessed correctly

33. Four-time French Open winner Swiatek: IGA - name #7, learned doing crosswords

34. Window shades: TINTS - slightly meh; I think windows GET tinted - OR - treatments like drapes, curtains, blinds, shades, etc.

35. Play guitar: STRUM - well, that is part of the mechanics - there's also picking, fretting, tapping, bending, sliding - did I miss anything~?

Eddie would have turned 71 on Jan 26th

36. Org. for orthodontists: ADA - American Dental Assoc.

38. Key: ISLET - That kind of key

39. Dread: FEAR

40. Comment from someone listening to elevator music, perhaps: "I'M ON HOLD."

41. Push beyond acceptable limits: GO TOO FAR - "you've gone far, Ted" was a classic Benny Hill gag

44. ID with two hyphens: SSN

45. Totally wrong: ALL WET - I had heard this phrase before, usually from my mother

46. [Giggle]: HEE-HEE - I had TEE-HEE, so 5/6ths correct - and technically, our Monday dupe~!

all(IT)eration

47. Many a mockumentary: SATIRE - this ROCK-umentary comes to mind

49. Manatee, e.g.: SEACOW - Awww, this puzzle shoulda been blogged by MM~!

50. Taxing trip: TREK - All(IT)eration

53. Gymnast's gripping aid: ROSIN - Dah~!  Not CHALK

54. Zaps: NUKES - Ah.  I use this term all the time when referring to the microwave

55. Susceptible (to): PRONE - as in "prone to lying down while sleeping" 😜

59. "Don't go!": "STAY~!"

61. MMA stat: KOs - Mixed Martial Arts, a sport I do not watch, and Knock Outs

62. Kraken's realm, briefly: NHL - the 'briefly' should have clued me in to the abbr, but I went with "SEA" - yet this is also correct , as the Kraken of the National Hockey League hail from SEAttle

63. "Or so": "ISH." - I'll be over about nine"ish"

64. HHS agency: FDA - Health & Human Sevices, and the Food & Drug Administration; here's the hierarchy on the website

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.9

Wednesday, Dec 24th, 2025 ~ Leslie Young

NOT "16"

...and not "8" - she needs better math skills

Leslie Young, née (oooh, I got to use it for real~! ) Leslie Rogers, was part of this collaboration here at the LA Times, and has been published in a few other places as well.  I really liked the theme today - a solid, non-reveal type that has multiple examples of the common 4x4, "four by four" term we use day to day.  All the themers are unique, cosisting of always-hard-to-use, 12-letter fills ( or, 4x3 if you like ), in a standard grid, and none of the trite trappings - NO circles (yay), just a few names, a few abbrs, and nothing vague or "meh".  The FOUR themers;

19. Where to find a sturdy 4x4: THE HOME DEPOT - my "second" home; A 4x4 in this instance actually starts as lumber four inches by four inches square, but once dried and planed, measures 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" - and a judge upheld this "nominal" terminology.  I used a short one for the center leg of this table I made as a Christmas present for my brother.

My first try at epoxy, too

26. Where to find a caloric 4x4: IN N' OUT BURGER - there are no locations of this west-coast franchise beyond TX ( TN is next ) as of 2025 - a 4x4 is this mouth-watering construction

My trainer would tell me this is my entire daily caloric intake in one sa'mich

42. Where to find an adventurous 4x4: OFF-ROAD TRAIL - the "classic" definition of a 4x4, which is a 'truck' with all four wheels powered; nowadays, there's also "all-wheel drive" - A.I. says this is the original four-wheel drive - the Wiki

Great sales pitch imagery

51. Where to find an athletic 4x4: RUNNING TRACK - I had to look this one up, as I am not "athletic", per se; it's the 4 x 400 meter dash - more from this website

An'  A w
!          a
~         y
o G  eW


ACROSS:

1. Gift wrapping need: TAPE - For all those "last minute" Christmas types, of which I was once a part, you now have less than 24hrs to minimum safe distance . . . 

5. Sound in "The Addams Family" theme song: SNAP - Twice, preceded by; Du-Du-Du DUM

9. Dramatic haircut: CHOP

13. Jazz legend Fitzgerald: ELLA - name #1

14. Award presented at the World Science Fiction Convention: HUGO - name #2 - I am a voracious reader, and I switch between Crime/Detective/Mystery & Sci-Fi to change it up, so I knew what a "Hugo Award" was; can anyone recommend an author from any of these genres~?  I am looking to read someone new...

15. Origami bird: CRANE

16. Fortnite's company: EPIC GAMES - Learned by doing crosswords; more here

18. Noodle dish: RAMEN

21. "You __ to be there": "HAD"

22. Tug-of-__: WAR

23. Endless expanse: OCEAN

30. Shadowboxes: SPARS

33. Disapproving chorus: BOOs

34. Brew that may be hazy: IPA - getting to be a cliché fill now

35. Lines that are often blue: URLs - like this

36. Out of it: LOOPY - I have been there....

38. Glitz: GLAM - Two weeks in a row with "GLAM" for me

39. Stock quote?: MOO - cattle = stock, cows 'say' moo - clever clue/answer

40. Took a tumble: FELL

41. In one's __: emotional: FEELS - never heard this phrase; the "F" was my last "eff-in" fill

46. Drummer twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: STARR - Ringo, and I learned today the second induction was as a solo artist in 2015; name #3

And previously as the drummer for The Beatles

47. Subj. for an aspiring polyglot: ESL - polyglot = knowing or using several (English as Second) Language(s)

48. Faux __: PAS - Foe Paaah, Frawnche, "false step"

55. Baggage __: CLAIM - I have not been in an airport for over 20yrs, and I don't travel much anymore - two weeks ago, I had some questions from Cornerites; unclefred asked about the pipe organ job - I left in February as I felt I was not being given the chance to grow into the company - and then they changed owners in June, as well ... see also 31D.

58. Eight-sided solids: OCTAHEDRA - Dungeons & Dragons fans know . . . .

59. Provokes: BAITS

60. Backup camera's view: REAR

61. Send out: EMIT

62. Quick and nimble: SPRY

63. Blend together: MELD

64. Dull: FADE - the verb instead of the adjective

DOWN:

1. Pearly whites: TEETH

2. Omega opposite: ALPHA - it's all Greek to me . . . .

3. Practiced, as a trade: PLIED - I am learning much as I ply(wood) my new trade as a handyman member of Home Advisor on the Angi app; just finished this bar for a client 

Home Depot 1x oak boards and 3/4" oak plywood - a learned a few "bar" things, too

4. Per person: EACH

5. Spiritual healer: SHAMAN - good WAG on my part

6. Dos, por ejemplo: NUMERO - Español, 'two', but I didn't suss the 'No.' connection

7. Like black vinegar: AGED - I have never heard of 'black' vinegar

8. Billy Porter series about 1980s ball culture: POSE - name #4, totally unknown to me; "ball" refers to ballroom culture, the Wiki on that; here's Billy Porter's Wiki

9. Result of a blast from the past?: CRATER

That'll leave a mark....

10. Cordon bleu meat: HAM

11. End of a countdown: ONE - Give it a week, and "Yule" understand this clue/answer

12. Write: PEN - I am still gathering ideas for my own Sci-Fi book/screenplay

15. Early spring bloomer: CROCUS - I found out ASTER "comes up", er, short

17. Met Gala garb: GOWNS - Dah~!  Got suckered by the lack of  'plural' in the clue

I'm down with the gown~!

20. NOLA sandwich: PO'BOY - I am reading James Lee Burke's Robicheaux series - the main character Dave is an alcoholic cop who goes to AA, set in Lousiana. ( CSO to Big Easy & Hahtoolah ), name(ish)

24. Quick and nimble: AGILE

25. Annapurna's country: NEPAL - filled via perps

In the center

26. W-2 org.: IRS - Death & Taxes, or, phonetically, the "hearse and the irse"

27. Horseshoe-shaped fastener: U-BOLT

28. Spinner: TOP

29. Merino males: RAMS - Motorized Machines, too

I worked with a guy who liked to point out "Ram in front, Dodge behind"

30. Japan's national sport: SUMO - does make sense

31. Tenured employees, for short: PROFs - ...and Prof M asked two weeks ago why the "~"~?  It started waaay back in texts - I like to see an "!" stand out from a "1", "or an "l", and it just went from there

32. Floating in the air: ALOFT

36. Get the hang of: LEARN

37. Word before some language names: OLD - Old Enlgish, Old Norse, e.g.

38. Insole option: GEL

40. Subreddits, e.g.: FORUMS - should this be forA~?  Or am I being too forMAL~?

41. Sordid matter: FILTH - "I read this disgusting filth. Twice."

43. Triple play, for one: RARITY - Did C.C. know this fact~?

44. Vacation cottage, often: RENTAL - Ah.  Not  A-FRAME - but 50% correct letter-wise

45. Realm in Norse cosmology: ASGARD - that's the "A" word I could not recall; name #5

48. "Love, Loss, and What We Ate" memoirist Lakshmi: PADMA - no clue, filled via perps, and I WAGed the last "A", since I misunderstood what "DULL" referred to at 64A.  Name #6

49. Pungent: ACRID - but I nailed this one

50. Walk on water, essentially: SKATE - har-har....

NY Rangers and the NHL's highest-paid goalie, Igor Shesterkin~!

52. Convention: NORM - here's a simply complicated explanation

53. Slushy drink: ICEE

54. "Finding Nemo" setting: REEF - A-ha; OCEAN was in the grid already, and SEA was too short

55. Network with an eye on television: CBS

56. F1 unit: LAP - Formula One racing

57. Yoga ball filler: AIR - I think the girl in this GIF gets some air . . . .

Wednesday Splynter, Signing Off . . . . see you next year~! 

Grid Flow was a low 26.0

Merry Christmas, Festivus, and Happy New Year~!

Wednesday, Dec 10th, 2025 ~ Peggy Sue Marlin

 CHiPs Fries

I do believe this is Peggy Sue Marlin's first published puzzle - congratulations~!  I found this link to another crossword site, and her name appears there a few times.  For today's theme, Peggy uses the "UK" term for a 'thing' as an adjective for the "American" 'thing', with a humorous result.  My parents were born and raised in Nottingham, England, so I was familiar with the "other" terms Brits use, e.g. lorry for truck, bonnet for hood, etc.  Standard grid, no circles, just thirteen 3LWs, but a few too many names for my taste.  The themers, all unique; 

20. Rental unit with zero personality?: FLAT APARTMENT

A whole building of FLAT apartments

28. One who forgot insect repellent for a walk in the park?: BUGGY STROLLER - Camelot~!

I have to push the Pram A Lot ~!

45. Five-star frank?: BANGER SAUSAGE

This is a FINE example of sausage~!

52. Salad special at a Cape Canaveral cafe?: ROCKET ARUGULA - new to me, I did not know that arugula, everywhere else, is called "rocket" - you learn something new from crosswords everyday~!

And Away We Loo~!

ACROSS:

1. "Star Wars" villain: VADER - "I find your lack of faith . . . . distubing" - name #1

6. Cartoon supplier of explosive tennis balls: ACME

Wile E Coyote's go-to supply company

10. "I'm __ you asked": "GLAD"

14. BP merger partner: AMOCO

15. Glitzy rock genre: GLAM - ah, such sweet memories....NY Dolls and Kiss may have started it all, but I grew up in the 80s with the likes of Poison, Cinderella, and my personal favorite, Mötley Crüe

Care to see the video for Looks that Kill~? -  I'm GLAM you asked~!

16. Work (up): RILE

17. Emblems on some caps: LOGOS

18. Add to the staff: HIRE

19. Auth. unknown: ANONymous

23. Mai __: rum drink: TAI

25. Día de __ Muertos: LOS - Espaniol, "Day of the Dead" - used as the backdrop for the opening sequence from "Spectre", the penultimate Bond film starring Daniel Craig.  There were NO edits for the first four minutes, and that's an incredible feat; the behind-the-scenes making of - with the one-shot description mentioned at 10:42.  Here's a gratuitous Daniel 007 for C.C.

I need to talk to my trainer Brett about this diet & exercise plan

26. "Lost" actor Daniel __ Kim: DAE - "Dae of the Five-O", too - in fact, I see he had a guest "54D." on Law & Order back in 1994 - his IMDb; name #2

27. Grow older: AGE

32. Host of the 2004 Olympics: ATHENS - I believe they hosted the FIRST games, as well

33. __ cards: INDEX - they come in handy for . . . .

34. Repetitive learning method: ROTE - printing music notes on, so I could learn them by sight, rather than counting lines and spaces

35. Craft beer letters: IPA - crossword staple

36. "Aladdin" parrot named for a Shakespeare villain: IAGO - name #3

40. Brother's daughter: NIECE - my niece-in-law broke her lower leg riding a quad on Thanksgiving

43. Puffy reminder of a scuffle: FAT LIP - FAT TIRE is an Amber Ale

47. Washington airport code: DCA - Dah~!  Not SEA for Seattle / Tacoma, the other Washington - D.C. - and Ronald Reagan Airport

49. Bible book before 1 Cor.: ROM - Romans - ooof; I guess it's a change-up from ROMantic COMedy, but I am not familiar with the Biblical books

Bottom Shelf

50. "Star Trek" series, for short: TNG - The Next Generation, and MY generation.  I could not get into the original series, as I knew Star Wars before I saw William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, et. al. in their roles as Kirk & Spock, etc.  I did, however, embrace the characters in this series, which began in 1987

Bangers humor

51. Recycle bin item: CAN

56. Repulsive: ICKY

57. Club choice: IRON - not sa'miches, but one of the "niblicks" used at 44D.

58. Big name in plastic wrap: SARAN - says name right in the clue - #4

61. Outside the lines: FOUL - sports lingo, not coloring books

62. Sandy sediment: SILT - Sandy sentiment~?

You're The One That I Want, Grease, 1978

63. Entry on a Spotify playlist: TITLE - music streaming; I use Pandora; Spotify is too much work for me

64. Carton sealer: TAPE - I first read this as cartOON

Wile E "sealed" in glue

65. Low digits: TOES

66. Quite capable: ADEPT

DOWN:

1. Actor Kilmer: VAL - name #5

2. Ti __: Italian "I love you": AMO - how ROMANtic

3. Ace-versus-ace sky battle: DOGFIGHT - George Lucas explains how he used clips of WWII dogfights so his Star Wars special effects team could grasp what he was aiming for with the Death Star battle finale

4. Climate change sci.: ECOLogy

5. Historian Terborg-Penn: ROSALYN - Sheesh.  On Wednesday.  Name #6 - her Wiki

6. Horrified: AGHAST

7. Chip bag closer: CLIP - Not SEAL

8. Argentine soccer legend Diego: MARADONA - I recalled this name - more here - name #7

9. May birthstone: EMERALD 

Definitely not the Grinch . . . .

10. Nana: GRAM - I grew up with "Granny", thus my one goof in the grid - the 'N' to 'M'

11. One-dimensional: LINEAR

12. Word with run or tag: ALONG - run along, tag-along

13. Al __: pasta specification: DENTE

21. Throw in the trash: TOSS

22. Lead-in to prompter: TELE - TelePrompTer - history

23. Ski lift: T-BAR - third "Tee" answer in row

24. Mustang or Pinto: AUTO - FORD worked, as well - two names used by the Ford Motor Co. - and Charlie's Angels, too

An article from Motorbiscuit about the cars here

29. Davis of "A League of Their Own": GEENA - knew it, still a name, #8

30. More edible, perhaps: RIPER

31. Off-ramps: EXITS

35. Video game plumber who freezes enemies: ICE MARIO - I knew Mario, but not the ICE version - name #9

37. Menu phrase: À LA CARTE - good to see the whole phrase in a crossword

38. More than mega-: GIGA - one point twenty-one GIGAwatts~!

Doc Brown, Back to the Future

39. Like a 24-hour diner: OPEN - all day . . . . and night

41. Memo phrase: IN RE

42. Self-centered sort: EGOTIST - Narcissist was too much for this answer

43. Vampire tooth: FANG

44. Masters Tournament host city: AUGUSTA - I like to watch golf 

45. "Wait, what did you just say?": "BACK UP..."

46. Double duty?: STUNTS - Stunt doubles, har-har

47. Deviate: DRIFT

48. __ powder: COCOA

53. Schwarber who led the National League in home runs in 2022 and 2025: KYLE - I don't care much for baseball, so this one was all perps - name #10

54. Actor's assignment: ROLE - I prefer behind-the-scenes work, but I would love to play a twisted bad guy in a movie some day

55. Set, as a table: LAID - meh, but I guess so

59. Swiss peak: ALP

60. March Madness souvenir: NET - college basketball - the winners usually snip the net from the rim

Splynter

Wednesday, Dec 3rd, 2025 ~ John Harrington

  BRAIN CRAMP

I'm a fan of the Canucks, like Bert  - or perhaps you know of this card game

I do the DOWN clues to start, so I quickly discovered that the theme was DOWN, as well - and I know there are a few visitors to the Corner who are not fond of this type of construction, and now, combined with the always admired circles - just like yesterday~!.  Sigh.   John had one other contribution to the LA Times in the past, almost four years ago to the day with a similar theme that Boomer covered.  I have not had the pleasure of blogging one of his puzzles; I am totally impressed with the theme fills, and their clever arrangement, but some of the other clue/answers didn't thrill me.  A handful of names, 24 each of four- and five-letter words - more than the 17 3LWs - a 15x15 grid, and three unique (*) fills; 

5. The Guess Who song covered by Lenny Kravitz: AMERICAN WOMAN* - I never cared for the original, so the remake did nothing for me - sorry.  

10. Principle that anything that can go wrong will go wrong: MURPHY'S LAW - There are more now;

I have proven the Workshop law too many times to count - hardware as well as tools

19. Comedian's self-deprecating assurance: "I'M HERE ALL WEEK.~!"* - Ba-dum-tiss

29. Unseen collective character on "The Office": CAMERA CREW

I so wanted to link the "best of" this phrase, but it's NSF Work - ironically

7. Routine before a race, or what can be found in this puzzle's circled letters: 

WARM UP STRETCHES* - The circles denote the letters W A R M that s-t-r-e-t-c-h "up" the theme answers - one needs to limber up the noggin before working a crossword puzzle . . . .

Grid Flow is 35.2, roughly the average

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. __ lines: mysterious geoglyphs in Peru: NAZCA - I like watching "Ancient Aliens", and the Lines are a frequent topic on that show - the Wiki; geo name#1

And now A I has discovered 300+ more glyphs - the website

6. Couple: TWO

9. Love, in Spanish: AMOR

13. Geometry class statement: AXIOM - here's an explanation, sort of . . . 

14. Ink pouches: SACS

16. Knockoff version: DUPE - no abbr indicated for "duplicate"

17. Chop finely: MINCE - my AXLE/IRON made this  - L O C - , so I knew something was not right

18. Some Hollywood red-carpet events: PREMIERES - Solid fill

20. Go along with: ESCORT

Air Force One with a fighter "escort"

22. Formal address: MA'AM

23. Con's opposite: PRO - Corrections Officer was too long 😜

24. Celebratory gesture after a success: AIR PUNCH

'tis the season~!

26. "You __ one job!": "HAD~!"

27. TV network based in Central London: BBC - network #1, the "beeb"

30. Complain: CARP

A goldfish carp - get it~?

31. "Claws" actor Jack: KESY - No clue, filled via perps; his IMDb; name #2

33. In the style of, on French menus: À LA

34. Sailor's "Halt!": "AVAST~!"

36. Puts one's feet up: RESTS

39. Instant noodles option: RAMEN - I made my mac N cheese for Thanksgiving, but when I opened this box of Penne, it had Rotini in it

It's an "im-pasta"

41. Ultimate degree: Nth

42. Razzle-dazzle: ÉCLAT - more Frawnche, "burst out"

43. "Sullivan's Crossing" channel: THE CW - network #2 , never watched, filled via perps - name (ish)

44. Caribbean island near Venezuela: ARUBA - geo name #2

46. Blackjack card: ACE - see also 63D.

47. Crucifix: ROOD - My US History teacher in high school was Mr. Rood; he claimed his "rock band" went by the name "Merchants of Death", from the historical WWI pejorative - and he would tell us on Fridays to "make it a better weekend for someone else.", which I always appreciated.

49. Track legend Zátopek: EMIL - name #3

50. __ factor: WOW

51. AIT scanner org.: TSA - three days in a row now; Advanced Imaging Technology, Transportation Security Admin.

53. Spaghetti topper: MEATBALL

Looked so good when I wrote the blog, I went and made more "Ro-Penne" with meatballs

Or is it Pen-tini~?

56. "Monsters, __": INC.

57. With, on French menus: AVEC - more more Frawnche; without = sans

58. Dives like a hawk: SWOOPS

62. Taylor Swift hit that aptly spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100: FORTNIGHT

65. Easy-to-spot jigsaw pieces: EDGES - I had a picture of Cooper made into a jigsaw puzzle as a present for my sister-in-law last year; she and my brother are tackling it now to be done before this Christmas

Me 'n Cooper, loungin' on the couch

66. Release: FREE - messed up my "SPATS" @ 51D.

67. In __ of: LIEU - send donations to the Splynter board game fund in lieu of flowers . . . .

68. Everglades wading bird: EGRET - showed up in Monday's puzzle, too - I lived in Florida for two years, don't  rEGRET moving 😜

69. Threaded together: SEWN

70. Form 1099 fig.: SSN - IRS didn't work

71. Falls (over): KEELS

DOWN:

1. Topic of conversation for parents-to-be: NAME - #. 1. name.  Ha~!

2. Turning point?: AXIS - I put in AXLE, but in retrospect, an axle is not really a "point"

3. Multivitamin element: ZINC - Dah~!  Not IRON

4. Drinkable chocolate: COCOA - I like Ryze mushroom cocoa, but it does not make me as sleepy as advertised

6. Cook's meas.: TSP - a "tisp" is smaller than a tibble-spip, ( TBSP ) amounts I am working with when following a 'ree-sype'

8. One of a geographic quintet: OCEAN - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic - which is now called Southern

9. Summery drink suffix: ADE - hi Lemonade~!

11. "Tosca," for one: OPERA

12. Fill in, as a bare spot in a yard: RESOD

I think I see a "bare spot" in the yard

15. Noisy kiss: SMACK

21. Chiefs star Kelce, to fans: TRAV - Since I am so NOT a Chiefs fan, I had no clue; this season, no NFL team seems to be the run-away favorite, as far as I can tell - name #4

25. Sanskrit for "life force": PRANA - ooops, not ASANA - that's a hatha yoga posture

27. Oldest Simpson kid: BART - Lisa, & Maggie haven't aged a day in almost 40 years - name #5

28. Ho-hum: "BLAH."

32. Min. fraction: SEC

35. Stick out like a sore __: THUMB

37. Food truck fare: TACO

38. Nurse a grudge, say: STEW - we already had several 'food' clues & answers

40. Green prefix: ECO

45. Slant: BIAS

48. New Jersey NHL player: DEVIL - I lived in Albany, NY, which is home to their farm team, the River Rats

51. Petty quarrels: TIFFS - my answer was Bzzzt~!

52. "Zzz" sound: SNORE - I prefer this ZZ sound

A post-Thanksgiving "TV Dinners", ZZ top

54. Protection: AEGIS - filled via perps; the OE dictionary says it's of Greek origin meaning "shield"

55. Ski resort building: LODGE - A-FRAME didn't fit

59. Fantasy heavy: OGRE

60. Banana skin: PEEL

61. Retired jets, briefly: SSTs - Super-Sonic TransportS - The Concorde, e.g. - this fill has been making a comeback, lately

63. Royal flush card: TEN - had to change my ACE here due to its showing up for Blackjack @ 46A.

64. Winery vat: TUN - filled via perps; etymology here

Splynter