Once Upon a Time....Happily Everafter
The End
I am unsure how to call this crossword puzzle; on the one hand, it was a solid mid-week challenge for me; on the other, it took a cheat peek to find out why I did not get a "ta-DA~!". Then, after staring at the theme answers for longer than I care to admit, I finally figured out the common thread (only due to the fact that I recognzied the first two as titles ) and it left me feeling less than pleased / satisfied; sorta deflated, I guess. YMMV. Too many names again, even if they are fairly familair - I am not even going to bother linking to them this week - no circles, a balance of 21/22 3LW& 4LWs, and two unique fills (*);
23. Bite-sized treats: DONUT HOLES* - Holes, the book
37. Wide-eyed awe: CHILDLIKE WONDER - Wonder, the book
52. Cares: GIVES A HOOT* - Hoot, the book
61. Perfect resolution, or a feature of 17-, 23-, 37-, and 52-Across: STORYBOOK ENDING - the four theme fills END with the title of a story/book
And Away We Go~!
1. Play mates?: CAST - I do the Down clues first, and I never saw my errors here in the NW . . . .Sigh
5. "31 Days of Oscar" cable network: TCM - Turner Classic Movies
8. Electric current unit: AMPERE
14. "The Traitors" host Cumming: ALAN- name #1
16. Folk medicine figure: HEALER - I had _ E A _ _R, pondered "REAPER" - hey, technically, death is a "medical" thing
20. Punk subgenre: EMO - seems like every week we get this fill
21. Debate topic: ISSUE
22. Obi-Wan portrayer Guinness: ALEC - name #3
26. Took a dip: SWAM
28. Former Russian ruler: TSAR - music interlude; here's an instrumental from Black Sabbath
They would open their show with "Supertzar" playing in the background
29. Bout ruling, briefly: TKO - Technical Knock-Out
31. Dug-out material?: ORE - yeah, I figured this was the common O-R-E fill, trying a different approach on the cluing - I'll admit, it's not bad
32. Overture follower: ACT I
35. Sign of things to come: OMEN
36. Go (for): OPT
42. Protein in a Monte Cristo: HAM
Now I'm in the mood for a sa'mich
44. Analogy phrase: IS TO
45. Afore: ERE
46. "Your point?": "AND....~?"
47. Tried to buzz: RANG - a bit Meh.
50. Onetime Volvo rival: SAAB - two Swedish automakers
59. "Barbie" director Gerwig: GRETA - name #4
60. Lucy of "Elementary": LIU - name #5
64. Sore: TENDER - my feet are sore - I have walked my neighborhood every day but one since I joined the gym; I need to get me some comfortable hiking footwear
66. "Diana" singer Paul: ANKA - name #6
67. "Voilà!": "PRESTO~!"
68. Hosp. workers: MDs
69. Outperform: BEST
DOWN:
1. Imitated a crow: CAWED - bleery-eyed, I read this as "COW", so I put in MOOED; that didn't work with "Waltzing...", so I switched to LOWED, and never checked my Across; hence my black marks in the grid below....
3. Place to find high rollers?: SALON - high on one's head kind of rollers
5. "How Do I Live" singer Yearwood: TRISHA - I did recall this was spelled "SHA", not "CIA" - still, name #7
6. One who may remove a curse?: CENSOR - Bloopers
7. Tycoon: MOGUL
8. "Now I've got it!": "A-HA~!"
9. Social media parent company: META - 'they' own Facebook and other social media outlets, I think, and the company is going with "Social Technology" for a title, promoting "virtual reality" goggles - I have tried a set with a model I built in Revit of a church pipe organ; I was impressed, but it made my modeling skills look lame by comparison. The webpage
Methinks this is called "cheating"
12. Place to see stars: RED CARPET - the kind of stars whose NAMES appear too often in crosswords these days...
18. Comic strip about a teenager: ZITS - name(ish)
24. Gas or elec.: UTILity - there's no gas lines in my area; I have to buy oil this week; the water heater is on my furnace
Don McMillan, Technically funny
30. Creative mind behind the Imagine Peace Tower: ONO - name #9
32. Feels yesterday's workout: ACHES - just in my legs
33. Thespian's role: CHARACTER - ah, good fill
34. Chance for an introvert to recharge: TIME ALONE - I am all for time alone - my ex-wife once called me "anti-social", which was a bonus - it meant I was diagnosed with a disability, and didn't have to participate - 😜
38. Genetic material in Rosalind Franklin's "Photo 51": DNA - a "pivotal diffraction X-ray image" of the strand in 1952 - the story here
40. Rainbow band: INDIGO - I toyed with "ROY G BIV", but once I had some crossings, I see it was just ONE band of color
41. Nearby: NIGH - Ah, that kind of nearby, like the end of the world is NIGH~!
47. Made a big stink?: REEKED - I once managed a nightclub that had live bands on the weekends, and one of the groups was called "REEKING HAVOC" - I tried to explain that it's WREAKING, but they're heavy metal, so their name was "better" 🤘
48. Daisylike blooms: ASTERS
49. Side with tandoori chicken: NAAN
51. Medieval poets: BARDS
53. Revved engine sound: VROOM
54. QB protectors, in football lingo: O-LINE - The offensive group of five (~) guys in front of the quarterback in the NFL
55. Pen sounds: OINKS - That kind of pen
56. Gently pull on: TUG AT
61. Valvoline rival: STP - another common crossword fill
62. "Dude ... ": "BRO..."
63. Smidgen: DAB - hey, at least it was not 'A DAB'
Splynter
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