Friday, Jun 12th, 2026 ~ Emma Oxford

 ANTI-FACTERIAL DISPUNSER

This is my fourth Emma Oxford crossword - the last one was the memorial to my friend Greg and our mutual enjoyment of playing poker puzzle.  I breezed through this Friday fill-in, with only a typo slowing me down.  Today we have five themers, no reveal, totaling 51 squares, that are a punny play on common phrases, redefined as types of ( mostly ) popular bars of soap.  A standard grid, no circles, a three-knight "dog" (🙄), eleven 3LWs, a handful of names, a ridiculous number of abbreviations and/or acronyms - but - was missing just the F & J for a pangram~!

17. Soap that's easy to conceal?: POCKET DIAL - Not the "politically incorrect" butt-dial, this soap -

23. Soap that could use a friend?: LONESOME DOVE - Not the town from the 1986 Pulitzer-prize winning book ( and TV series ), but a solitary bar from this collection - 

37. Soap that's super popular?: HOT LAVA - Not the exercise we used to 'play' in Phys Ed., but this - 

Check out this "soap" artwork on Artsy

49. Soap that's falling apart?: BREAKING DAWN - Not the early rising sun, but the outlier, as this is more dish detergent soap - "Dawn is breaking everywhere . . . " lyric @ 0:30

Refreshing Rain scent is the one on my kitchen sink, and I buy the gallon refill at BJs

61. Soap that's perfect for adding color to a shower routine?: ORANGE ZEST - not the 'shaved' skin of the fruit, but this cleansing product - 

This racing version was a NASCAR promo

But Wash, There's More~!

ACROSS:

1. Easter month, often: APRIL - It can be March - the convoluted way it's calculated; the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon after the Spring equinox 🙏

6. Apple resource with curated guides: MAPS - I am Android, so it's Google's version

10. Bygone handhelds, for short: PDAs - Personal Digital Assistan - it could be either, as in 'holding hands' being a bygone Public Display of Affection - either way, it's abbr/acr #1

14. Lift a finger?: POINT - 👉

15. Landed: ALIT

16. Reply to "I'm sure they'll be fine without you," perhaps: "OUCH." - Harsh, man . . . 

19. Low-carb diet: KETO - My friend Jay was a "keto" dieter; I missed his B-day last month, so I reached out via text a week late; he responded with "it's OK - btw, I met the love of my life, quit my job, sold my house, moved to North Carolina - oh, and had triple by-pass surgery in November . . . '  - and he's younger than me.  Sheesh.  Reminded me of this song

Billy Joel, My Life

20. Hunk: SLAB

21. Setting of the graphic novel "Persepolis": IRAN - filled via perps, Geo name #1

22. Arrive: GET IN

26. Estimate from a contractor: QUOTE - I tried PRICE first; Bzzzzt~!

28. "Me too": SAME - I wanted SO AM I, then AS ME - which was close, but, wrong

29. Relish: GUSTO - the noun, usu. in the prepositional phrase "with gusto" - you're welcome.

30. Big name in gaming monitors: ACER - filled via perps, crossword staple, name(ish)

32. Dec. holiday: XMAS - abbr/acr #2 - only 194 shopping days til . . . the countdown clock

36. Goal: AIM - Still have the same goal / aim / desire / intent to produce my board games - and now I have a fourth one to promote, too; I ran off a simplified version of the board on paper so I could work out the play details

40. Computer file suffix: EXE - for adding programs to PCs / Windows, "executable" - abbr/acr #3

41. School gps.: PTAs - PDAs and PTAs - abbr/acr #4

43. Root vegetable related to Swiss chard: BEET - I had the "EE" from my Down fills

44. SF NFLer: NINER - AND - 52D. SF MLBer: GIANT - five-letter San Fransisco major league teams, football and baseball respectively

46. Astronomical light show: NOVA - meh.  Technically, yes, but I think aurora is a better match

48. Birthplace of K-pop: SEOUL - Geo name #2

54. Signs on for another tour: RE-UPS

55. Pop diva Celine: DION - name #3 - the hot dogs go on . . . 

Peter May, comedian

56. American white __: Gulf Coast bird: IBIS - mostly perps

60. Org. with sponsored Medicare plans: AARP - American Association of Retired Persons - you can actually join at the age of 18 - but I doubt you've 'retired'.  I got my letter from UPS last month, saying I was now eligible for my retirement, having turned 55 in February this year - I think it's a whopping $337/mo., but I'll take it~! abbr/acr #5

63. Pop sensation: IDOL

64. Have too little of: WANT

65. Bowie's role in "The Prestige": TESLA - name #4, I had T _ _ _ A, but not having seen the movie . . . IMDb

66. Where Anheuser-Busch is BUD: NYSE - the New York Stock Exchange listing = BUDweiser beer - abbr/acr #6

67. Some specialist MDs: ENTs - Ears, Nose, Throat - abbr/acr #7

68. Autumn bloom: ASTER

DOWN:

1. Starters, casually: APPS - I was in sport mode, so I tried "ACES" - but this is the meals version "appetizers" - abbr/acr #8

2. Combine: POOL - I 64A. wanted MELD

3. Costa __: RICA - Geo name #5

4. Test pattern?: INKBLOT - the Rorshach inkblot test - I see Bigfoot from under a sheet of ice at #4

5. 5G precursor: LTE - a good WAG on my part, Long-Term Evolution - smartphone tech, abbr/acr #9

6. Spanish parent: MADRE - and another good WAG, 'mother' in Español

7. Cover name: ALIAS - my new board game involves spies

8. Support for a key player?: PIANO SEAT - cute, but meh.  I wanted BENCH or STOOL . . .

Hey, I found some good-looking legs on a piano CHAIR 🙄

9. Mo. town: STL - St. Louis, MissOuri - abbr/acr #10

10. Progress tracker for one trying to "catch 'em all": POKEDEX - I figured it was something like this, but waited on perps - the index of the Pokémon universe - more here

11. Caused by: DUE TO

12. When the fate of Ophelia is revealed: ACT IV - been doing crosswords long enough to know that this type of clue is looking for "ACT _ _", so it was either II or IV, possibly other Roman numerals

13. Sparkled: SHONE - ha~!  Nailed it

18. Prong: TINE

22. Jewel: GEM

24. Letters of equivocation: OTOH - On the Other Hand . . . I just read George Carlin's book, 'How to Rid Yourself of Doubt - or, Should You~?' abbr/acr #11

25. Harry's accomplice in "Home Alone": MARV - I did not know this name, #6

26. Walk out: QUIT - Dah~! Not EXit, but 50% correct

27. Home of the NCAA's Black Knights: USMA - knights #1, abbr/acr #12 - wait - 

there's a whole team of them~?

Uh, no - the United States Military Academy - the West Point football squad

29. Word with age or wage: GAP

30. Took off right after dinner: ATE AND RAN - Cool fill, and a nine-letter Thwurd

31. Rock & Roll HoF city: CLEveland, abbr/acr #13

33. Grubhub link: MENU

34. Rink leap: AXEL

35. Title for a knight in Westeros: SER - I am ashamed to say, I have not seen Game of Thrones

knight #2 - Ser Duncan, in the prequel

38. Short "Duh": OBVI - 21st century-speak for "obviously" - abbr/acr #14

39. Over again: ANEW

42. Maker of Trop-a-Rocka tea: SNAPPLE - Ah.  I didn't see this fill until I did the blog, and I was today-years-old when I learned that this was a flavor "invented" by the band Poison's frontman Bret Michaels for The Apprentice, though I did know he was a diabetic

45. Charges, in a way: IONIZES - WARNING~!  Science content

47. Gives a thumbs-up: OKs - 👍

48. Performed in a choir: SANG

49. Scarecrow's desire: BRAIN - ooops; I put in HEART, but that was the Tin Man - no, Oz never did give nuthin' to him - and an Easter ( see 1A) Egg chorus lyric at 1:11

America - Tin Man

50. Good to go: READY

51. Money in Monaco: EUROS - I didn't take the 'plural' into account, but I did think EURO - and I also learned today that this place is a "microstate", not a 'city' in France . . . Huh 

You can just see my "other" house up on the left, overlooking the Frawnche Riviera . . . 

53. Taboos: DON'Ts - I had "NO-NOs", 60% correct

57. One-up: BEST - the LV Knights are one-up on the 'Canes - knight #3, and my musical pun

58. Tropical spot: ISLE - I'd prefer a trip to Europe over any tropical vacation

59. Movie lead: STAR

61. Be in arrears: OWE - "I know the rent is in arrears" - see the themer link at 49A., lyric @ 3:30

62. GPS prediction: ETA - Estim . . . oh , never mind, it's another abbr/acr, #15

. . . and here's the missing F, J 

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.2

Friday, Jun 5th, 2026 ~ Jess Rucks & Andrew Kingsley

 FRAWNCHE BRED

Well, now, this one was right up my allez~! I loves to poke fun at the French additions to English crosswords more than any other language crossover.  Today we have a collaboration between two constructors who have contributed to the LA Times in the past - Jess's last puzzle was a Saturday in September 2025, and the one from Andrew was in 2023 with co-author Marin Wells.  A clever interpretation theme of French words in English context, but I thought one did land a bit flat.  Yet another oversized 15x16 grid, 22 3LWs, just a couple of names, no Twurds, but two Naticks - ah, Friday.  The themers and the reveal, once again in the center;   

18. "You can't be serious!": EAU BROTHER - "O" brother~!, how 'eau' sounds in Frawnche, the word for water, as in, e.g., eau de parfum - and an argument that "odor" is not a synonym for "fragrance"

26. Chant from a giant: FILLE-FI-FO-FUM - the "correct" pronunciation of Fille, "Fee" = girl

Ma chérie, mon amour~!

55. First words of the Constitution: OUI THE PEOPLE - "Wee" - back in college, when any of my friends "ass.u.me'd" I was joining them ( meaning 'we' ) in some escapade, the go-to catch-phrase was "when did you start speaking Frawnche~?"

65. "RuPaul's Drag Race" catchphrase: SACHET AWAY - "say-shay", which is 'bag' in Frawnche; FWiW, I listened to the pronunciation, per Google's translator, and it does not sound like the "leitmotif" RuPaul speaks, which is based on another Frawnche word, chasse . . . here's a YouTube collection video, with a poorly spelled title 😒

38. "Please excuse the bad language," and what can be said about 18-, 26-, 55-, and 65-Across: PARDON MY FRENCH

pardon MY Frawnche~!

Mais Attendez, Il y a Plus~!

ACROSS:

1. Antlered animal: STAG -  I do the Downs first, which messed up this corner

5. Chews like a beaver: GNAWS - I found this story to be fascinating, and promising, too

Geronimo, literally

10. Verbal digs: BARBS

15. Super Monkey Ball company: SEGA - filled via perps - the Wiki

16. Dulce de __: LECHE 

Sounds good; I have added my chocolate recipe * at the bottom 

17. Native Alaskan: ALEUT - learned by doing crosswords

20. Undersea data carrier: CABLE

21. Flight segment: RISER - AND - 30. Flight segment: STEP - Clecho; flight as in stairs, not SSTs

22. Chance: RISK

24. Bulldogs sch.: UGA - The "G" was Natick #1, University of Georgia

Lucky Dawg . . .

25. Up to, informally: 'TIL

32. Be sick: AIL

33. Wok dish: STIR FRY

34. Untainted: PURE

35. Barrel wood: OAK

37. Cal. neighbor: ARIzona, so ARIZ is not the answer to 62D.

44. Pilates surface: MAT

45. 56-Down pioneer: AOL - early provider of "electronic", not "snail" mail

46. Glitz and __: GLAM - I grew up in the 1980s, so I was into all the "GLAM" bands of the era; Mötley Crüe, Poison, Cinderella, 27D., and these guys🠟 - can you name the band~?

Here's a hint - their "anti-Satanic" hit from the 80s

48. Lends a hand: ASSISTS - not ass.u.me-s🙄

52. Indent key: TAB

54. __ ayam: Indonesian chicken noodle soup: SOTO - Natick #2, the "T" was a WAG . . . [sigh] Friday 

58. Novel: NEW

59. Patient care pros: RNs - Registered Nurses

60. Quick study?: CRAM

61. Glowing coal: EMBER

63. Pageant topper: TIARA

69. Religion with a call to prayer five times a day: ISLAM

70. Let one's actions speak for themselves: MIMED - har-har

Here's unreleased behind-the-scenes footage of the "mime caterers" from Spinal Tap

71. Imperial gem of ancient China: JADE

72. Flings: CASTS

73. Kills it on the runway: SLAYS - ask RuPaul

74. Mars counterpart: ARES - Gods of War, Roman & Greek respectively

DOWN:

1. GPS heading: SSE - Dah~!  Not RTE, but 1/3 correct

2. Go wild on the dance floor: TEAR IT UP - I pondered CUT A RUG, too short

Great track from Gramatik - Tearin' It Up

3. Christina of "Burlesque": AGUILERA - not that I've seen this, but I put Christina and dance together, and . . . name #1

Cher, too~!

4. Talks and talks: GABS - Dah~! Not YAKS, 1/2 correct

5. "I Will Survive" singer Gaynor: GLORIA - I knew this one, name #2

. . . Frank~!

6. Catch: NET - Dah~!  Not NAB, 1/3 correct

7. German cry: ACH - Hey, I got the Deutsch word 100% correct, go figure . . . 

8. "__ were we?": WHERE - alliteration, like the world wide web

9. Ornamental lines: SERIFS - Ha.  I tried "SHRUBS" - hey, it is 1/2 correct . . . 

10. Go the wrong way?: BACKFIRE - I have been rewatching YouTube and Amazon clips of Top Gear and The Grand Tour

11. Gulf st.: ALA - Alabama abbr; I tried FLA, was 2/3 correct

12. Brush off: REBUFF

13. Tabbouleh grain: BULGUR - Ugh.  The other half of Natick #1 - the "G" was a total WAG

14. Like some "Heated Rivalry" scenes: STEAMY - I didn't know of this Canadian TV series about bromance and hockey, more here - I had ST _ _ _ Y on my second pass

19. "What game are you watching!?" target: REF - Ah.  Shouting at the TV during a bad hockey, NFL, soccer, etc., official's call

23. Raga instrument: SITAR

25. Baking soda amt.: tsp - Funny story - I was shopping for spice at my Big Y supermarket when an older guy in the aisle asked me what I was looking for; I said "bagel everything" seasoning; he said "Huh, I'm looking for "bagel salt" . . . so I offered him several choices I had found, and he walked off in disgust; then he came back and showed me what he really needed - baking soda . . .  Ah.  Guess I need to clean my ears 😜

27. Pride member: LION

Glam metal artist White Lion, When the Children Cry

great guitar solo @ 2:36

28. Quechua pack animal: LLAMA

29. Rubber gaskets: O-RINGS - the part that failed tragically on the Space Shuttle Challenger

31. Allow: PERMIT

36. Capital in Honshu's Kansai region: KYOTO - My first thought, hesitated; Geo name #3

39. Producers of road movies?: DASH CAMS - I have one, need to install it before I drive down to Long Island next week to house-, dog-, cat- and fish-sit for my brother and his wife on their one-year anniversary vacation.  I'm hangin' with Cooper~!

40. Abalone eater: OTTER - I tried SEALS

41. To-do: FLAP - A bit if Brit slang, refers to a state of panic, agitated fuss, or noisy tumult

42. Backdrop of an animated series in a Lucasfilm franchise: CLONE WAR - the IMDb

43. Harsh negativity, in slang: HATERADE - A mockery of "Gatorade", and Natick #2, part 2

. . . only when I'm driving

47. Take the field?: MOW - I had to replace the flat 10x8 Four-ply tire on my tractor, which I could not get fixed at six locations - had to go back to the place that sold me the machine, and it cost $210 - I can get two tires with change replaced on my car for that money . . .

I cringe to think what a BACK tire goes for . . .

48. Like some heart valves: AORTIC - nailed it

49. Gymnast Lee who won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award in 2025: SUNISA - Ah.  I knew it was Suni, I did NOT know it was SuniSA - her Wiki; - name #4

50. Natural rug fibers: SISALS - nailed it, number two - Monday dupe

51. Little jerks: SPASMS - nailed this, number three - it's not the pain-in-the-a$$ type of jerk  . . . 🙄

53. Runs, in a way: BLEEDS - Missed this one on the first pass

56. Username, often: EMAIL

57. CPR expert: EMT

62. Cal. neighbor, informally: BAJA - I was thinking ARIZ~?  OREG~?

64. "I smell a __!": "RAT~!"

66. Nashville honor, for short: CMA - Counrty Music Award

67. "Psst!": "HEY~!"

68. "You rang?": "YES~?"

Splynter

* Made my own chocolate this weekend - 1/2cup cocoa powder, 1/2cup coconut oil, which is all saturated fat - and all the calories, 2tsps organic honey, 1/2tsp vanilla extract and salt - so, so good, but I'm going to try and swap out half the oil with unsweetened applesauce to reduce the calories

I also use a similar silicone tray in my air-fryer to make breakfast "stacks"

Grid Flow a high 46.0

Friday, May 29th, 2026 ~ Zachary David Levy

CASEICULTURIST

nah, just a cheesy blog writer

I had the "up" words Z-D-L puzzle in January and RB handled his last crossword back at the start of May.  Today our consistent constructor gives us a "redefinition" of what one's career might entail, but with a humorous twist (~?) - I have mixed feelings about this one; I found it Friday challenging, and therefore enjoyable, but as it's been said at The Corner in the past, the juice maybe not be worth the squeeze; YMMV.   Another over-sized 15 x 16 grid, chunky 9-letter corners, several, and some obscure, names, twenty-two 3LWs, and ALOT of Twurds.  The themers, followed by the centrally located reveal;

18. Photographer?: CHEESEMONGER - a one-word professional who selects, cares for, cuts and sells cheese; I linked a "How It's Made" episode on cheese making back in March

26. Police officer?: TICKET AGENT - I've never gotten a speeding ticket; I have, however, had two DUI arrests, one arrest & ticket for lapse of insurance, and two for operating a commercial vehicle in the HOV lane & illegally crossing the HOV buffer "line".  Sheesh.  This is what drinking cost me; once I stopped, so did the tickets - go figure . . . 

I was never THAT drunk . . . 

52. Carpenter?: FLOOR TRADER - in my carpentry work days of yore, I have done several ceramic tile floors, and a couple of Pergo ones - one could argue I "traded" the old linoleum for something better

Floor Cheese

63. Realtor?: STREET VENDOR - It's true, in a sense - David Cook, my Realtor here in CT, sold me a house while we were on the "street" I now call home . . .

The cheese on the street . . . 

38. "That's someone else's problem," or an apt title for this puzzle - NOT MY JOB - As a retail manager in the home improvement industry, I heard the reveal far too many times.  For those who read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the clue is a different "thing" altogether . . . 

But Wait - There's More Cheese~?

ACROSS:

1. Like some temples: MASONIC - Dah~!  I wanted to fill this in, hesitated

8. Epiphany trio: MAGI - I do the Downs first, already had the "G" in place

12. Maker of Sticking Point press-on nails: OPI - Nailed it, but this is a crossword staple

15. Tennis period since 1968: OPEN ERA - my one mistake; I had openerS at first

16. Make smooth: IRON - good one

17. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN - name #1, which I did actually know

20. Pester: IRK

21. Bandleader's command: HIT IT - It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses . . .

"Hit it."

22. Hosp. areas: ERs - Not ORs

23. Dry Italian whites: SOAVES - filled via perps

Swah-vay

25. Object of adoration: IDOL - this one's protected by the Hovitos . . . if only you could speak Hovitos

The Wiki on the Golden Idol's "history"

28. Sphinx, mostly: LION

30. mRNA vaccine maker: MODERNA - their website

31. Splashes gently against: LAPS AT - Twurd #2

34. Brit's cuppa: TEA

36. "How ya __?": "DOIN'~?"

37. Org. that issues Energy Star labels: EPA

42. Fella: LAD

43. Quayle follower: GORE - VPs in the 90s; name #2

45. Diamonds, slangily: ICE

46. Some big batteries: D-CELLS

48. Retro: OLD-TIME

51. Florida coastal city, informally: BOCA - Raton; Geo name #3

I lived in Jacksonville for two long years

55. Milk source: TEAT - I had GOAT, 50% correct

59. Skiffle singer Donegan: LONNIE - I heard this from my British parents growing up - name #4

"Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it's Flavor~?"

I never heard all the lyrics - it's quite a fun rocker of a song

60. By way of: VIA

61. Jeff Tweedy's band: WILCO - no clue, more here, name #5

62. Vader, as a boy: ANI - Star Wars, Darth Vader né Anakin Skywalker, names #6

66. Hr. division: MINute

67. City west of Tulsa: ENID - Geo name #7

The Pipe Organ company finished this instrument before I started

68. Giggly outbursts: TITTERS - titters and teats in one corner, Hmmm . . . 

69. Sack: BAG - the verb definition "FIRE" was not going to fit

70. Drawn-out tale: SAGA

71. "I need an answer right now": "YES OR NO~?" - Thwurd 

"Let me sleep on it" lyric @ 6:00

DOWN:

1. Rice cake that may be filled with ice cream: MOCHI - new to me

The recipe here

2. Rose pest: APHID - I DID know this 

3. Handle: SEE TO - Twurd #4

4. Actor Ed and food writer Molly: O'NEILLs - I knew of Ed; the Wiki on Molly.  Names #8

5. Place to brood: NEST - didn't fool me

6. Anger: IRE

7. Entered: CAME IN - Twurd #5

8. Capital of Belarus: MINSK - Ah.  This filled via perps.  Geo name #9

9. Uru. neighbor: ARGentina - Geo name abbr

10. Attends: GOES TO - Twurd #6

11. Bit of hard-won progress: INROAD - according to the internet, this is one word

12. Bakery item dotted with kalamatas: OLIVE ROLL - good WAG on my second pass

13. Reliable plant: PERENNIAL - AND - 49D. Purple 13-Downs: IRISES

14. Quaint desk accessories: INK STANDS - I know of ink wells, not stands

Buy this one here

19. Tolkien baddie: ORC

24. Mature: AGED - the ambivalent tense of the clue made me try "RIPE"

26. Emerald City visitor: TOTO - the dog from the Wizard of Oz, still a name, #10

27. Key of Vivaldi's "Spring": Abbr.: Emaj - I knew the "m" would be correct . . . could have been Amin, etc.

29. "Amsterdam" novelist McEwan: IAN - name #11

31. Roasted entree that may be served with mint jelly: LEG OF LAMB - I knew this; once I had some crossings, the V-8 can flew

Leg of LamP

32. Kotero of "Purple Rain": APOLLONIA - I vaguely remember the movie, released in 1984 - before my HS days, and did not see - not a Prince fan back then - name #12, and a unique fill.  The IMDb

nylons don't do well with those shoes 

33. Letting off the hook: PARDONING - $2 word

34. SHO subsidiary: TMC - no clue, knew we needed a TV abbr - SHOwtime, The Movie Channel

35. __ contact: EYE - I am getting much better at this as I "mature"

39. Level: TIER

40. Fragrance: ODOR - IMHO, I don't think of a fragrance as an "odor"

41. Email covertly: BCC - Blind Carbon Copy

44. Collar named for an elite school: ETON - learned by doing crosswords

47. Erode: EAT INTO - Twurd #7

50. Active volcano in Eur.: Mt. ETNA - Iv'e had this "abbr full fill" once before 

51. Warren who played Dick Tracy: BEATTY - knew it, still name #13

53. Vegan body care brand: AVEDA - name(ish)

54. Fizzle out: DIE

56. Tribal leader: ELDER - Dah~! Not CHIEF

57. Oak tree, once: ACORN

58. Trunk: TORSO - Dah~!  Not CHEST

61. Dampens: WETS

64. 18-wheeler: RIG

65. Try (for): VIE

Splynter

Grid Flow 30.7

Friday, May 22nd, 2026 ~ David P. Williams

 GET THE "LED"OUT

Tough call, depends on my mood, but I think this 🠉

is my favorite Zeppelin song

There's also a tribute band of the same name

Our constructor David has been a regular for the LA Times since 2021, and mostly Saturday themeless puzzles at that.  Today he turns lead into "crossword gold", as he has a change-in-the-clues theme, rather than the fill - and as suggested at 34A., we are looking to take the "l, e, a & d" out from the four starred themer clues ( not the Periodic Table symbol for lead, Pb, Latin 'plumbum', which showed up nowhere, as I first thought ).  Quite deceptive if you don't know to look "outside the 15x15 grid", so to speak.  I like it when I finish a puzzle and go "Hmm, what am I missing~?"  Just a handful of names, none too obscure ( OK, one was pretty vague - I'm lookin' at you, 14A.~! ),  a balance of 17 3LWs to 20 four-letter ones, a few abbrs, no Twurds, but a couple of "fishy" entries . . . The reveal, and the "*" theme clues;

 34. "Move it!," or how to make this puzzle's starred clues match their answers:

GET THE LEAD OUT

 Every classic rock station I grew up with usually did a 3 to 5-song run, typically Friday at Rush Hour, of  Led Zeppelin's music in a segment that they all affectionately titled "Get the LED out"

18. *Mis[lead]s in an alley: GUTTER BALL - Miss in an alley, a bowling reference; our dear-departed Boomer preferred calling the venue the "lanes", not the alley . . . "misleads in an alley" conjures up some questionable ethics . . .

23. *Word[le ad] collection: DICTIONARY - Word collection = dictionary; I got done in by the Wordle with a "_vowel _ E R" solution the first week of May - too many choices 😡 By my count, there are 150 ways to fill this in, plus two "Y" versions as well

50. *Storied Gi[lead] locale: OMAHA BEACH - Storied G.I. locale - Normandy on D-Day

I want to go see "Pressure" at the end of the month

57. *P[lea d]eal venues: BELL TOWERS - "Peal" venues - now that's funny

I came into contact with this insturment through the pipe organ company - 

a carillon playing the "Theme from Harry Potter" at the end

But Wait, There's Morel Ead~!

🙄

ACROSS:

1. Give and take: SWAP - Made my EDMONTON @ 2D. Bzzzzt~!

5. Blister: SCATHE - think reviews, as in " _ _ ing . . ."

11. Tango number: TWO - it does take Five . . . Two, Sir~!

14. Mother of Beyoncé and Solange: TINA - no clue, filled via perps, name #1

15. William Sydney Porter's pen name: O. HENRY - name #2

16. Fresh: RAW - Dah~! Not NEW

17. Pop artist Warhol: ANDY - Knew him, but it filled via perps anyway, name #3

20. Hospital figs.: RNs - Registered Nurses

21. Of two minds: TORN - Left-handed people ( like me ) are in their "right" minds . . . 😁

22. Sub-par performance?: EAGLE - Golf scoring terminology, Eagle is 2 under par

27. Fog: MIST

28. Kicked off: OPENED

29. Has a strong influence on: IMPACTS - I was close - I had impaRts, just 14% wrong

31. Posting on the side of a food truck: MENU

32. Summer music?: DISCO - Donna Summer, that is - clever.  Name(ish)

"On The Radio" - in keeping with the theme

The week this song was released, Nov 1979, Led Zeppelin

set a new record . . . 

40. Walking aids: CANES - I have one, but walking my neighborhood is too dangerous - no sidewalks, narrow streets, angry dogs . . . I have started going in to the gym to climb the Stairmaster for 30mins on my off-days from training classes

41. Icy response?: Brrr~!

43. Reaction creators: STIMULI

47. The __ Brothers: blue-eyed soul band: DOOBIE - "red -eyed", maybe, I don't know if I'd call them 'blue-eyed', but they come up on the classic rock stations as well - name(ish), and their best song, IMHO

Also released in 1979, it hit #1 in April, and they won the "Song of the Year" Grammy

49. Tsukiji market buy, perhaps: TUNA - Good WAG on my part; fishy #1

53. __-Latin: medieval language: ANGLO

55. Only: LONE

56. Night of revelry, initially: NYE - New Year's Eve

60. Sashimi's lack: RICE - half perps, but a learning moment for me - and I like rice, plus I'll stick to cooked food, thank you - fishy #2

More about sashimi - or just see Rusty Brain's post yesterday

61. Work of fiction: LIE - that it is~!

62. Carry too far: OVERDO

63. "__ come to me ... ": "IT'LL" - unlike raw fish, it's on the 'tip of my tongue' 🙄

64. Northern limits?: ENs  the limits of the word, NortherN

65. Speed up: HASTEN

66. Some drones: BEES - the animal kingdom ones, not the package delivery ones . . . then I wondered if they are in the "animal" kingdom - so I looked

Yup~!

DOWN:

1. Fame: STARDOM - shoulda known this 

2. Manitoba's capital: WINNIPEG - I tried the city in Alberta; both are hockey towns, so that's how I knew them at all - Montreal moves on~!  Buffalo lost, at home, in OT, to end game 7.  Sigh.

3. Director's cut?: "AND . . . SCENE~!" - OK, maybe a twurd, but I worked on two movie sets, and this is a "phrase" used tongue-in-cheek to direct your attention to the fact that the performance is over

4. Cough up: PAY

Can you name these two characters~?

5. Rave review: SO GOOD

6. Old-fashioned farm apparatus: CHURN - "I can't believe it's not butter . . . yet"

7. CVS Health subsidiary: AETNA - half perps

8. Big bang letters: TNT - dynamite big bang

9. Charlemagne's domain, briefly: HRE - [the] Holy Roman Empire

10. Governess who breaks the fourth wall: EYRE - I started filling in this name, #4, but waited; "breaking the fourth wall" is when a character "speaks" to the reader/watcher - e.g., "Deadpool" et al.

Top 10 Fourth Wall breakers; YMMV

11. Star-crossed: TRAGIC

12. Financial nabe in NYC: WALL ST. - 'nabe' being an abbr for neighborhood  

13. Little hooters: OWLETS

19. Auburn rival, to fans: 'BAMA - Hah~!  I threw in [ Crimson ] "TIDE"; two Georgia universities in a sports feud that turned into a deplorable act of pure malevolence against trees . . . over football.  Sheesh.

The Iron Bowl and the poisoned oaks

21. Draw: TIE

24. Hardware with flanges: T-NUT - we've seen these before

25. Goes up: RISES - like the F*&king price of gas

Exactly

26. Community pool org.: YMCA - ah - we have a YMCA in my neighborhood, and it does feature a pool; apparently, there used to be a pool in my gym back when it opened

30. Entertainment medium, for short: POD - Cast.  Meh.

32. Fabric named for a Frawnche city: DENIM - sergé de Nîmes; I tried TULLE; it's Frawnche as well

33. Tahiti, par exemple: ILE - plus Frawnche, for island

35. Ft. Worth school: TCU - I had the "U" part correct 😜 - Texas Christian; speaking of  Jesus . . . 

36. Heavenly sign: HALO

Om, I'm tellin'~!

37. Wind instrument featured in R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming": OBOE - I know of R.E.M., but not this song - the oboe comes in at 3:00

38. City slicker: URBANITE

39. Early wheels: TRICYCLE - nailed it

42. Does a cobbler's job: REHEELS - I went with RESOLES

Another person doing a cobbler job

43. Bridle suite?: STABLE - Didn't fool me here, either

44. Listen: TUNE IN - perhaps you'll "tune in" to the various music genres posted today

45. Spanish English: INGLES - Español - oooh, symmetry . . . 

46. Chambers of commerce?: MALL - Har-har.

47. "A Man on the Inside" actor Ted: DANSON - name #5, but a good WAG again

48. Honor bestowed by HM King Charles III: OBE - the Order of the British Empire - and a list of who has declined . . . 

51. With it: ALERT

52. Teeming crowd: HORDE

54. Brief "Then again ... ": OTOH - "on the other hand . . . "

58. Reproductive cells: OVA

59. Montgomery of jazz: WES - I knew of him through Eric Johnson, who emulated his style in this song.   Name #6

"East Wes", from Ah Via Musicom, 1990

60. Umbrella spoke: RIB

Splynter

Grid Flow 24.1