Wednesday, Oct 9th, 2024 ~ Blair Hassett

ANONYMOUS EPONYMOUS

I do not recognize the constructor of today's puzzle, and congratulations are in order if this be their LA Times debut~! I am not entirely sure I grasped the theme - can't be sure I get how it connects with two of the "*" starred clues exactly.  Add to that over a dozen proper names, and I have to give this a mere "⭐⭐" rating, despite the fact that it's a shout-out to yours truly, Splynter, who in the "real" word is "Rich".  The theme answers;

17. *Layered dessert with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache: OPERA CAKE - pretty much THE definition of a RICH cake

A recipe for you

25. *Evergreen used to make incense: SANDALWOOD - the plant wood is RICH in fragrant oils, and highly aromatic - also used in perfumes, and expensive

I not sure I even know what the scent smells like. . . . 

36. *Silicon Valley success story: TECH BILLIONAIRE - my last fill was the "B", which I had as "M", so a Natick of a theme crossing a name. . . . "BOO~!" - the better use of this 14A. word

The "original" tech billionaire, IMHO, Bill Gates, $106.1B-worth RICH

46. *Triangular landform: RIVER DELTA - A river delta is RICH in sediments; a river is rich because it has TWO BANKS~!  Ba-dum-tiss

Kachemak Bay, Alaska

56. "You're one to talk!," or what can be said about the answers to the starred clues: THAT'S RICH - THAT'S RICH (Splynter) on the left in the picture above, with Seamus, loading a pipe organ case in Glens Falls NY

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. All the rage: HOT

4. "Same here": "DITTO." - from the Latin dictus, "said"

9. "CBS News Sunday Morning" correspondent Mo: ROCCA - name #1, but I do know of him

14. Sweetie: BOO - not a fan of this type of "abbreviation".  Period. 

15. Strike caller?: UNION - I read that the East  & Gulf coast Dockworkers went on strike, but then suspended it until January - which seems to defeat the purpose of a strike, but it means our economy won't collapse before the upcoming Christmas season. . . .😜

16. Cartography collection: ATLAS - Seven syllables : two syllables = clue : answer

19. Barren and severe: STARK - or better yet, a description of Tony

Iron Man

20. Dress style: A-LINE

21. Plug in: CHARGE - like just about everything these days, from candles to cars

Halloween version

22. Quaint cry: EGAD~!

27. Live (in): RESIDE

29. Celtic "The Celts" singer: ENYA - crossword staple, still a name, #2

30. Sambuca flavor: ANISE

I did not know a variety of anise was star-shaped

31. Cooped (up): PENT - I would not mind being cooped up in a PENT house

33. Network that airs many MGM and RKO films: TCM - Turner Classic Movies

40. CIA forerunner: OSS - crossword staple; the Office of Secret Strategic Services

41. Mountain route: PASS

42. Eatery with its own lingo: DINER - A Greasy Spoon List from Wikipedia

43. Bridge: SPAN - I love the architecture of bridges; this one is in Frawnche Bordeaux

Longest Lift Bridge in Europe, the Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas

45. Cashless exchange: BARTER

51. Game with a rhyming name: I SPY

52. Performs penance: ATONES

53. Wheelchair-bound "Glee" teen: ARTIE - name #3, had him once this past year, so I "64A." knew it

55. Up: RAISE - meh.  Give me a sentence with a one-to-one swap of these two words

60. Discovery astronaut Ochoa: ELLEN - I knew this one, but still a name, #4

61. Pigpens: STIES

62. Shade of green: PEA

63. Map lines: ROADS

64. Rather, informally: KINDA - Sorta like, you know, slang

65. Outside the mainstream, genrewise: ALTernative - I like the Vevo video channel Alternative 80s


DOWN:

 1. "House of the Dragon" network: HBO - shoulda known this; my buddy insisted that I watch "Game of Thrones" because I like castles and dragons, but that's not the only thing going on in the series

I don't have HBO, and I've only seen scenes of GoT

  2. Alley-__: OOP

3. Low digit?: TOE - crossword comedy

4. Binary: DUAL

5. Carve: INCISE - dah~! not SCULPT

6. Disney princess voiced by Anika Noni Rose: TIANA - Disney's The Princess & The Frog - name #5

7. Arcade coin: TOKEN

8. "Best Song Ever" singers __ Direction: ONE - name #6, don't know this 'boy band'

9. Without thinking things through: RASHLY

10. Canadian capital: OTTAWA - CanadianEh~!, hockey is here~! ( name-ish)

11. Spanish "Of course": CLARO - Filled via perps; I really should learn a second language

12. __ shorts: garment with lots of pockets: CARGO

THATS NOT "RICH"

13. Inquired: ASKED

18. Peppery salad slice: RADISH - Ah.  Took me two passes before I got it

21. Poem division: CANTO - A long subsection of an epic or long narrative poem, such as Dante Alighieri’s Commedia (The Divine Comedy)

22. Muse for poets: ERATO - crossword staple, still a name #7

23. Part of one's inheritance?: GENES - har-har

24. "Sound Mind, Sound Body" athletic brand: ASICS - name #8

26. "Dune" and "Dune: Part Two" director Villeneuve: DENIS - name #9 - I cannot get into "DUNE"

28. DOI head Haaland: DEB - name #10 - Dept of the Interior - her website 

31. Jet: PLANE 

32. Raised trains: ELs - Seamus, in the Pipe Organ picture above, is from Chicago, known for its ELevated trains

33. Shades: TINTS - as in color tones, not window treatments

34. Advance slowly: CREEP

35. "__ Christmas!": "MERRY~!"

37. Apple tablets: iPADS - I am PC

38. Confidentiality contract, for short: NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement - I have three board games I have "invented", and would like to get published/produced, but I cannot go to any company without having some sort of  'theft protection' - and a patent costs about $3K

39. Less stuffy: AIRIER

43. Had a feeling: SENSED

"I've A Very Bad Feeling About This"

44. Primps: PREENS - good for "PR" - get it~?

45. Went for a run?: BATTED - baseball reference for C.C.

46. Less common: RARER

47. Novelist Calvino: ITALO - name #11

48. "Behold!": "VOILA~!" - Frawnche

49. Christine of the Paramount+ series "Evil": LAHTI - name #12 - her IMDb

50. Coach: TRAIN - ooh, I got this; I guessed at the 'verb' definition

54. Rae of "Barbie": ISSA - crossword staple, still a name #13

56. Sound of shame: TSK

57. Hoppy brew, for short: IPA - every other crossword

58. Cartoon frame: CEL

59. Pillbox, for one: HAT - standard uniform item in the 60s, for most airlines

They fly "DELTA" 

Splynter