I have not had the pleasure of blogging a puzzle from Tim - this is his fifth construction for the LA Times - his last grid was over a year ago. An impressive collection of triple sevens in each corner, without being "Saturday" level difficult - and that's hard to do midweek. I sailed though this one and I enjoyed it. We have twelve seven-letter words, 18 fivers, 20 4LW, and 21 3LWs; a handful of names, but none that were too obscure, IMHO. My first thought was we were looking at some "double letter" fills ( e.g. the Y-Y in 17A., and the R-R in 25A. ) for a theme, but no - instead we have four places described by a shade of BLUE. Three of the five themers are unique to crosswords, and the other two have only appeared one other time. The themers & reveal;
17. Sites for shipbuilding: NAVY YARDS - navAL yards sounds more natural
25. Spots for guests to freshen up: POWDER ROOMS - there's only one bathroom in my house, and it's my yellow/orange/red "dragon" room - see 1 Down
39. Metropolitan area at the junction of three rivers, familiarly: STEEL CITY - officially known as Pittsburgh - but I found this list of several others ( not at a three-river junction )
55. Home for a king and queen: ROYAL PALACE
66. Geographic regions known for the longevity of their residents, and what 17-, 25-, 39-, and 55-Across are?: BLUE ZONES - the Wiki
32. Laptop alternative: TABLET - I now have three laptops, and one tower - the latest laptop is to be kept in the "music room" for playing songs and recording - see 1 Down
33. Feminine Italian pronoun: ESSA - sort of like contESSA
35. Early Peruvian: INCA - I'd like to see the ruins
38. Potential jurors: PEERS
42. Ferret relative: STOAT
45. Come across as: SEEM
46. Rogen of "Kung Fu Panda": SETH - name #3
50. "Shoulda listened to me!": "TOLD YA~!"
52. Bio class: LAB
54. Once known as: NÉE
58. "Step away from my kibble": GRR- Dogspeak
59. Sofa headrest, for a napper: ARM
60. Classic record label: EMI
61. Racket: NOISE - how 'bout this Racket Noise~?
Alexander Bublik
63. View from Everest: NEPAL
69. Investment profits: GAINS
70. Doesn't keep pace: LAGS
71. Bits in citrus sorbet: ZEST - learned from doing crosswords
72. Spanish folk hero: EL CID - name #4 - Happy travels, Naomi~! My parents honeymooned in Spain in 1966 - and attended a bullfight, no less
73. Fifth letter of the NATO alphabet: ECHO - We were challenged about this last Friday - I caught your Unicorn~!
74. "Salus populi suprema lex __": Missouri motto: ESTO - Latin; "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law" - shout-out to inanehiker~!
DOWN:
1. Sanctuary in the basement, maybe: MAN-CAVE - When I first told my coworkers at my last NY job that I was going to make the basement of my new CT home a "man-cave", they said the WHOLE house would be a man-cave - and this turned out to be quite true~!
My living room is my "blue" room - the office is the "green" room, and so on
2. Some spuds: IDAHOES - sssss, close - I had IDAHOAN
3. Steep-sided gorges: RAVINES - I had CANYONS
4. __ acetate: banana-scented compound: AMYL - no clue, filled via perps - the Wiki - some interesting facts in this short article
5. Shared intimacy, briefly: PDA - Public Display of Affection
6. Musician's gift: EAR - I play by tablature - but I am getting better and knowing my guitar notes by name now, rather than positions, which means I am growing as a musician
Can anyone tell me what song this intro is from~?
7. Tossed in: ADDED
8. Personal style: TASTE
9. Soup with rice noodles: PHO - we've seen this before; I needed P_O to recall what it's called
10. New use for an old T-shirt: RAG - yup
11. Pet carrier opening: AIR HOLE - sounds like a soft insult - don't call me an air-hole~!
No new four-legged friend yet, but I keep looking
12. Idealist: DREAMER
13. Hockey stat: ASSISTS - the fast pace of the game results in TWO players getting points for assists
The Broadway Blueshirts failed to make the 2025 playoffs
18. High-pitched barks: YIPS - and golfer woes, too
22. Work on the wall?: ART - Ah. Now that I see the answer ( filled via perps ), I get it. Reminds me of names-that-can-be-nouns/verbs jokes - a list here
26. Andy Taylor's son, on classic TV: OPIE - speaking of funny names . . . .#5
27. Opposite of waxes: WANES - like the phases of the moon
Nice shade of background blue - and there's a "BLUE" moon, too - more here
28. Intensely focused: RAPT
29. Falls into line: OBEYS
34. Carne __: taco option: ASADA
36. The Browns, on scoreboards: CLEveland - hardcore NFL rivals to Pittsburgh
37. Amtrak's fast service: ACELA - Here's a B1M construction channel clip as to why the service cannot get to European/Asian "bullet" speeds (name(ish))
40. Brief "Bye for now!": TTYL - textspeak, Talk To You Later
41. Apple variety: IMAC - not fooled by the fruit / computer ambiguity
42. Bizarre: STRANGE
43. "Scary how lifelike that is!": "TOO REAL~!"
44. Washington's __ National Park: OLYMPIC - I had to wait for crossings before I recalled this
47. "Start your __!": ENGINES - here's another YouTube clip about the facts behind the Ford vs. Ferrari movie - which I thought was a great film
48. Most succinct: TERSEST
49. Toast opening: "HERE'S TO..." - I better start thinking of something to say at my brother's wedding in July....
51. Mimic: APE
53. Auto pioneer Karl: BENZ - Dah~! I put in OTTO, and should have known better; name #6
56. Stroll: AMBLE
57. Fragrant purple bloom: LILAC
62. Move like honey: OOZE
64. Singer DiFranco: ANI - crossword staple, name #7
65. Psychedelic initials: LSD - Not "L D S"
Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home
67. "I hate it": "UGH~!" - I keep a daily journal ( a "captain's log", if you will ) and UGH makes frequent appearances, usually when I don't care for something, some statement, or some outcome
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