HEavy MEtal, the song from Blue Öyster Cult
This is my first puzzle from Mike Peluso - he has been contributing crosswords since before the Corner, I would guess; his last construction for the LA Times was here, in 2023, on a sumdaze Monday. A simple add-in of the symbol for the element Iron, 'Fe', from the Latin "ferrum". The cluing was solid Friday-level, with just a hiccup for me at the crossing of two name-ish answers - that's YOU, square #5~! Standard grid, no circles, less than ten names, no Twurds, and eight "elemental" songs. The themers & reveal, which is what got me through the themers;
16. Slogan on a very thorough pet sitter's business card?: I WALK THE FELINE - The base phrase is from the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line" - I walked canine Cooper, but not the "feline" cats . . .
28. Upgrade one's cookie supply?: TRADE WAFERS - Trade Wars - no song for you~! - but think the outer layers of, say, 32A., an Oreo cookie . . .
48. Newest resident of the Land of Enchantment?: SANTA FE BABY - A Christmas Classic, the song "Santa Baby", tho I did not know that the "Land of Enchantment" was New Mexico - I DO know my ex-wife is down there, so it can't be that enchanted . . .
62. Treatment for anemia, or a treatment given to 16-, 28-, and 48-Across?: IRON SUPPLEMENT - the periodic chart square for Iron, "Fe"
Thanks Bill Nye, Science Guy~!
ACROSS:
1. Places to feel kneaded?: SPAs - I could go for a massage . . .
5. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR - I do the Downs clues first, and this was my last fill; I had _S_R, yet it took a minute - ah, Russian rulers . . . I solved this one before Moe's Wednesday dupe; name(ish)
9. Vocal quality: TONE - plenty in today's write-up
14. Land parcel: ACRE
15. On the road: AWAY
19. "Exodus" Oscar nominee Sal: MINEO - crossword staple, name #1
20. Anger: INCENSE
22. Snap: PHOTO - Friday vague cluing
24. Carson successor: LENO - Johnny & Jay, the Tonight Show, name #2
26. iPhone platform: iOS
27. Checkers side: RED
32. Sweet sandwich: OREO - the cookies part of OREOs can blended into my ice cream - see 3D.
34. Word on a bottle of Château Margaux: CRU - from the Frawnche for "growth"; more here
35. El Prado, por ejemplo: MUSEO - 'for example, museum', Español #1
36. Cause of statistical misrepresentation: BIAS - that's ALOT of clue for a four-letter answer . . .
38. Colon units: DOTS - Oh, that colon [:] . . . never mind . . .
40. Ordered from DoorDash, perhaps: ATE IN
43. Flight status abbr.: ARRivals
44. Part of many a lunch special: SOUP
"NO soup for YOU~!"
52. Mex. neighbor: USA - there's always that half second of hesitation when I think, "I don't know all those countries in Central America~!"
53. Green around the gills: ILL
54. From the top: ANEW
55. Late bloomer: ASTER
57. Toots and the Maytals, for one: SKA BAND - no clue, but I had perps; more here
Funky Kingston - not really my thing, but I can 'dig' it
60. Aptly named hybrids: UGLIs
66. Four-award acronym: EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony - somewhere last week I read that Steven Spielberg was a winner - so I wondered what he got his Grammy for; it's a bit of a stretch, but OK . . . the Wiki
Raiders March, Raiders of the Lost Ark
67. Plum kin: SLOE
68. Major disappointment: BLOW
69. Gym reps: SETS - For me, training at the gym is three times a week, two SETS of three exercises, and within those, somewhere between 8-16 "REPetitions"; not quite the same thing, IMHO
70. Actress Daly: TYNE - name #3
71. Bajo opposite: ALTO - 'low & high', Español #2
1. Word with lift or lodge: SKI - ski lift, ski lodge
2. Political research center: PEW - never heard of this; named after the Pew family - the Wiki
3. Dessert option: À LA MODE - look, I made protein ice cream - my trainer got me excited to buy and try the Ninja Ice Creami
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The chocolate chips are an added indulgence 😁
4. Share, in a way: SPLIT - but not a banana split - bananas upset my stomach, and I don't know why . . .
5. "Doctor Who" actress Catherine: TATE - I know nothing about the series; it looks like she guest-starred in just three episodes; that's Friday vague - name #4
6. Think tank members, often: SCHOLARS - SCIENTISTS didn't fit
7. Modern art?: ARE - Shakespeare; "Where for art thou~?" - 21st century; "Where're you at~?"
8. Purify: REFINE
9. Softest mineral on the Mohs scale: TALC - This puzzle gets 4-1/2 of 5 ⭐ on the "other" Moe's Scale
10. Tot's scrape: OWIE
11. Childcare providers: NANNIES - There will be NO owies on this nanny's watch~!
12. Unsightly sight: EYESORE - Sightly sight - eye SURE~!
Spectacular view - and the city is pretty as well . . . 🙄
18. Sufficient, once: ENOW - ye olde sfelling of ENOUGH
21. Name on some Canadian pumps: ESSO - far right crossword-friendly letters, name(ish)
22. For: PRO
23. Pronoun option: HER - as last week, so again; YOU, OUR, SHE, HIS or HIM~?
25. College domain: EDU. - internet add-on for education
29. Sony record label: RCA - Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby" was an RCA artist, and so are these girls
The Pointer Sisters, Neutron Dance - seems appropriate for an atomic theme . . .
30. Invoice no.: AMT - I charged $700 to build these custom maple pantry doors to fit an opening the previous contractor framed at 42"- 😖- too small for sliding doors, too big for bi-folds . . . and I always forget to take "before" pictures, and in this instance, would have been worth a laugh
Had to reconfigure the wood floor, too, as the other contractor's
wider opening left two wall-sized "gaps" in the T&G strips . . .🙄
31. Kerfuffle: FUSS
33. Passing thoughts?: OBITuary - Friday clever cluing
37. Food Network host Garten: INA - INA or UTA~? I always get "her" wrong; name #5
38. Tap: DRAW UPON - Spigot and Faucet were all wet in this instance
39. Bard's sphere: ORB
40. Used car caveat: "AS IS"
41. Hollywood innovation of the 1920s: TALKIES - Ah. Right.
42. Swell: ENLARGE - nailed it
43. Actor Vigoda: ABE - name #6
45. Generate more revenue than: OUTSELL
46. Tap: USE - Tap: Spinal . . . the "other" umlaut band name . . .
These guys still go to Eleven . . . Rock N Roll Creation
47. Target score at Augusta: PAR - Augusta being the PGA Tour's premier event in Georgia
49. Some coolers: FANS - I'm the "other" fan of PGA Augusta 2026 winner Rory McIlroy
50. Pledge rival: ENDUST - Pledge being the go-to cleaner for Consuela from Family Guy
No, no use Endust . . .
51. Second-oldest Ivy: YALE - There are only eight, and the list has only one four-letter entry . . . alright, maybe it could be PENN 😑
56. "The Lion King" lion: SIMBA - name #7, but I knew this one
58. Rolls-Royce trunk: BOOT - Brit-speak
59. Hill dwellers: ANTS - or POL(iticians)S~? I picked the correct one this time
61. Joy: GLEE
63. Practice, as a trade: PLY
64. "__ on my watch!": "NOT . . ."
65. Cube root of eight: TWO - ∛8 = 2; geez, now we gotta do math on Fridays~?
Splynter
Grid Flow 19.6, low again
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