Tuesday, January 9th, 2024, Freddie Cheng

 EEK~!

 OR

 - where to find a common rodent -

Today's puzzle consists of three theme fills of two 12- and one 13-letter spanners, with a 'broken' reveal of 9-letters across the bottom line.  Two 10-letter DOWN answers as well.  Not so many names today, but lots of abbreviations.  Some "meh" answers, IMHO, and an unusually longer than normal Tuesday solve time for me, but we FIR, so....

19. Home of Cinderella Castle: MAGIC KINGDOM - here's the "home" of a certain M. Mouse

Ominous

36. Unpretentious business: HOLE IN THE WALL - like a local bar, say

Thanks Hahtoolah~!

54. Pizza/arcade chain founded by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell: CHUCK E. CHEESE - HuskerG showed us how "Mr. Cheese" used to be a RAT; now he's a MOUSE~?

65. With 67-Across, desktop accessories, and a description of 19-, 36-, and 54-Across?: MOUSE
67. See 65-Across: PADS - PADS in the colloquial sense of home, crib, abode, castle, etc. - here's my blogging spot and desktop mouse pad....

And Away We Go~! ( see 39D.)

ACROSS:

1. Swimmer's exercise: LAPS - C.C. and I have a friendly challenge to push each other by Easter to an accomplishment - I would like to lose 10+lbs, and she would like to do a butterfly LAP in the pool without the aid of flippers - I hope we both succeed~!

5. __ shift: DAY

8. Venomous African snake: MAMBA

13. "Just doing my best": "I TRY"

14. Rough cut: DEMO - meh.  I suppose a raw recording of one's music~? And a  semi-abbr.

15. Is in neutral: IDLES

16. Eye lubricant: TEAR

17. Diamond dynasty: ALOU - baseball diamond....knew this from doing crosswords

18. Earns: MAKES

22. Standard: USUAL

23. Matches, in fashion: GOES - as in "that bag GOES well with that dress"

the shoes, too

24. __ green: PEA - I painted my "home office" in a shade of green called "Aquamarine" - what I really wanted was the official name/formula for the shade of green that the NY Bridge & Tunnel Authority paints their spans, e.g., the Throgs Neck Bridge, which the internet calls "grey green"; I wrote to them, and was told that they are "not allowed" to disclose that information....Really~?  I asked some friends who work for NY DOT, and one suggested finding the contractor who does the painting, and my brother said to go through FOIL - it's not that important  :7))

Two mile span between Long Island and the Bronx

27. "Get it?": SEE - so I suppose this paint color hassle could be called "GREEN TAPE"  - Get it~?

28. Gambling initials: OTB - Off-Track Betting - abbr. #1

31. Dollhouse dishes: TEA SETS - oh, those doll house dishes....uh, never mind....

33. Captivated: ENRAPT - yeah, Spellcheck is not happy about this, either....

35. Top out: PEAK - think hit songs; this one PEAKed at #1 the year I was born

 

Jeremiah was a bullfrog~!

40. Veal __: Italian entree, briefly: PARMesan - abbr. #2

41. "The way things stand ... ": "AS IT IS..."

42. From Moscow: RUSSIAN - I blogged the Nov 1st, 2023 puzzle with Moscow, IDAHO - not Russian

45. Did not get up: SAT - meh.  Stayed Seated, maybe

46. Orchestra home: PIT

49. "Can't Get It Out of My Head" gp.: ELO - Electric Light Orchestra - abbr. #3

50. Wharton degs.: MBAs - Master of Business Administration - abbr. #4

52. Computer problem: CRASH - meh - I think a problem could cause a crash...

57. Arctic dome: IGLOO - I once did a presentation for an architect with this massive build-up of the 'greatest piece of building engineering since the dawn of man, using local building materials to reduce its carbon footprint', then revealed a picture of an igloo - his partner praised me for my clever deception

60. Lie low: HIDE

61. One of 14 in a pro's golf bag: CLUB - oops, I had IRON - can you imagine the pitch on a 14-iron~?

These go to "eleven" ( 12, actually )

62. __ buddy: BOSOM -  TV show with Tom Hanks, way back in 1980

63. Passport fig.: ID No. - meh. - abbr. #5

64. Sheltered at sea: ALEE - crossword staple

66. Ad Council ad: PSA - Public Service Announcement - abbr. #6


DOWN:

1. Acid or base indicator: LITMUS - Dah~!  I tried Ph TEST first

2. "Relax, soldier": AT EASE

3. European capital with a medieval astronomical clock: PRAGUE - I knew this, but hesitated to fill in; I worked on a TV movie set back in 1997, and we used shots the director got of the ornate clock for some dramatic interludes

4. Aleppo's land: SYRIA - I nailed this one

5. Sandwich shop: DELI

6. "__ Us": multiplayer logic and deduction game: AMONG - 3/5ths perps, 2/5s WAG

7. Encouraging message: YOU GOT THIS

8. Brunch drink: MIMOSA

9. "House of Gucci" actor Driver: ADAM - he played Darth Vader's grandson, Kylo Ren

10. Civil rights monogram: MLK - abbr. #7

11. Spelling meet: BEE

12. Braying animal: ASS

14. Terr. that became two states: DAKota - abbr. #8

20. Replicant: CLONE - two blogging puzzles in a row with this word

21. Poor grade: DEE

24. Come off like old paint: PEEL - I had CHIP

25. Listing abbr.: ET. AL. - abbr. #9

26. "Go find out!": ASK

29. Tetra- minus one: TRI - four, less uni = three

30. Dried fruit in trail mix, perhaps: BANANA CHIP

32. Facial spots: SPAS - Dah~! I had ACNE; a clever clue

33. Targets of some bark beetles: ELMS - WAG; up here in CT, several of my ASH trees were killed by a beetle, and now I have a lot of firewood

my backyard on Sunday

34. FG's three: PTs - American Football, Field goal points - abbr. #10

He hits the post~!

36. Carry with effort: HAUL - TOTE, DRAG, HUMP, HEFT, etc.

37. Thereabouts: OR SO

38. Lyft status: ETA -abbr. #11

39. Glinda or Elphaba of "Wicked": WITCH  - the cartoon from which I get "And Away We Go"

40. Kin of ante-: PRE-

43. "Just got back from work!": "I'M HOME~!"

44. __ Dhabi: ABU

46. Rice dish from Valencia: PAELLA

47. Put into circulation: ISSUED

48. Ancient city whose ruins are in Luxor: THEBES

51. Overcomes friction: SKIDS - ah, in the negative sort of way....

53. Sum up: RECAP

54. Sounds like a dove: COOS

55. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay: EDNA

56. Org chart topper, typically: CEO - the Chief Executive Officer - abbr. #12

57. Watsonx's maker: IBM - technically, an abbr.

58. Sludge: GOO

59. Sch. with a Shreveport campus: LSU - Louisiana State University - abbr. #13

Splynter