Orthorunics: Tuesday, December 19th, 2023, Joe Deeney

PUNNY MONEY

Today's puzzle is very similar to the one I guest blogged last Tuesday - the first word of the theme answers 'rephrased' as a noun and not an adjective, creating a punny money theme. Two 15-letter spanners and three more themers, generating a fair number of three-letter words as a consequence. A good challenge for a Tuesday, a few unknown proper names, and I did have to cheat to figure out why I did not get my "ta-DA~!"; see below. The theme answers;

16. The landscaping startup was financed via ...: HEDGE FUND - maybe money does grow on trees

21. The extreme tourism startup was financed via ...: VENTURE CAPITAL

31. The shrink-ray startup was financed via ...: MICROLOANS - according the spell-check, this is not a two-word phrase, making it the outlier in the group

41. The religious iconography startup was financed via ...: ANGEL INVESTORS

49. The agriculture startup was financed via ...: SEED MONEY

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Like a final exam in a language class, typically: ORAL

5. Religious offshoot: SECT

9. Nile reptile: ASP - No more Indiana Jones clip; every time I guest-blog....so I PASS on the "ASP"

12. Michael who plays Allan in "Barbie": CERA - filled via perps

13. Physics and chemistry Nobelist Marie: CURIE - and - 19A. Gas observed by 13-Across: RADON

14. __ date: deadline: DUE

15. Direct-hire alternative: TEMP

18. Boxer Muhammad: ALI

20. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" memoirist Alan: ALDA - educated WAG

24. "You're important to me": "I CARE"

25. Conditional programming word: ELSE

26. Gillette brand: ATRA

27. Clicking sound?: SHORT i - C-L-i-C-K; I know there are some here at the corner that are not too fond of this type of clue, but I find them a clever challenge to suss out

34. Wasn't straight: LEANED - Here's the architectural countermeasures taken to save the most famous "LEAN"

35. Desert in northern China: GOBI

38. Social satirist Mort: SAHL - DAH! I typed SAUL; if you look at my grid image, this is the one "cell" I had wrong

40. "The West Wing" creator Sorkin: AARON - Ooops, not AlleN

46. "Buona __": Italian "Good evening": SERA

47. West Yorkshire home of Kirkstall Abbey: LEEDS - I thought maybe this was a fictional reference, such as one from a popular TV series....but it's a spectacular set of ruins

The Wiki

48. On Soc. Sec., perhaps: RETired

51. __ one's time: wait: BIDE

52. Exist: ARE

53. __ guide: USERS

54. Perched upon: ATOP

55. Ed.'s stack: MSs - manuscripts

56. Disorganized state: MESS

57. Workout spots: GYMS

DOWN:

1. "Parable of the Talents" author Butler: OCTAVIA - another WAG

2. Word on an incumbent's campaign poster: RE-ELECT

RE-ELECT MAYOR GOLDIE WILSON - "I like the sound of that";

He gets my vote for best fictional mayor

3. Joined at the elbows: ARM-IN-ARM

4. Spot for a needy pet: LAP

5. Soft glove material: SUEDE

6. Hosp. trauma pro: ER DOC

7. Health insurance giant: CIGNA

8. Football kicker's aid: TEE

9. Accomplishes mundane tasks, facetiously: ADULTS - My friend Mark introduced me to this "21st century" term; we were discussing something like home-ownership responsibility, and he said he was stressed about all this "adulting" - I thought it was hysterical, and still do

10. Dessert with toppings: SUNDAE

11. Graduate from a balance bike: PEDAL - Never heard of a balance bike; in my day, you fell off, got hurt, and got back on again....

13. Blacken: CHAR

17. Unable to be successful with: FAILING AT

19. Bemoan: RUE - Bzzzt~! I had CRY to start

22. Spot to begin a hike: TRAILHEAD - I knew it was trail something

23. Org. with a white rabbit in its logo: PETA

27. Mme., across the Pyrenees: SRA

28. Dearie: HON

29. La Liga chant: OLÉ

30. Word after hot or lightning: ROD - my CT home has several lightning rods - the LI house, not a one

32. Spreadsheet unit: CELL - I have a spreadsheet at work that calculates the ƒ(n) for determining organ pipe dimensions - something like the logarithm something of its wavelength, but it goes down the PETA hole quickly....

33. Part of campus Greek life: SORORITY

36. Nothing-to-do feeling: BOREDOM - Thought I had mono....

Wayne's World

37. Shoe parts: INSTEPS - I had shoe LAST last week

38. Sinister smiles: SNEERS

39. Gives a thumbs up: AGREES

40. Burro: ASS - followed by....

41. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - so the next answer should be ASS AM / FM ~?

42. "Guess you beat me": I LOSE - Nope. I guess I lose....

43. Babies, in Spanish: NENES - I thought it was a Hawaiian bird....