We're taking the scenic route today, a walk in, uh, drive through the park for yours truly. I do believe this is a debut construction for both authors - I did a Google search of the names, and the one thing I found they had in common ( if I picked the correct people ) is a "machine learning" education/understanding. We'd love to get some feedback from you - drop in & visit our Crossword Corner~! ( merge left here ) There were no delays today, just a cruise through the clues & answers, including several one-word types - twenty-one, in fact, which I like; that's how Fridays should be. Yet another "expanded" grid for your Friday host, two in a row now. The "ST" abbr. for 'street', tacked on to four in-language phrases, outside the box, on the "side", with humorous cluing - sounds like a coffee or restaurant order. Standard grid initially, a few names, no Twurds, a balance of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter words, with several car clues & Frawnche fill. The four themers and reveal;
25. "My peacock's tail is the best!," e.g.?: FEATHERBOAST
49. Record of one's attempts to enter a hedge maze?: STARTHISTORY
60. Promise made by a serial dater who aspires to commit?: ONEMORETRYST- "One More Try" is a unique fill
38. Features of some detours, or what four answers in this puzzle need in order to match their clues?: SIDE STREETS - and a unique fill, too~!
Grid Flow a low 24.9
🚧But Wait, ⛔There's More~!🏁
ACROSS:
1. Sheer: UTTER - One-word clue, one-word answer; letting me start with SHEER~? Priceless~!
Utterly beautiful
6. Walrus kin: SEAL
10. Waffle over in the freezer aisle: EGGO - Too easy for Friday
14. Bête __: NOIRE -Frawnche #1, "black beast"
15. Shoestring: LACE
16. Infuriate: ROIL
19. Explore Mars, perhaps: ROVE - As Spirit & Opportunity did for NASA; I love the science success stories these two travelers gave us
20. Ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: TET - new clue for this old answer; learning moment for me
21. Reaction to lions and tigers and bears: "OHMY~!" - never gets old - 😁
22. Vein of ore: LODE
23. Genesis locale: EDEN - AND - . . .
29. Genesis locale: SODOM - straight clecho
31. Accessory often tipped or used for tips: HAT
32. "Dee-lish!": "YUM~!"
33. French bean: HARICOT - straight Frawnche translation, #2, not a "?" clue for "tête"
37. "We are not alone" subj.: SETI - Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
40. "Shoo!": "SCAT~!"
42. "Call Me" band: BLONDIE - name(ish) - they were just a hint before my time
Oui amie - more Frawnche, #3~!
43. Bud: PAL
44. Refuse to settle, perhaps: SUE - Last week, it was a "boy named SUE" . . .
45. Sticker: DECAL - Ah. There's where it goes - I had it here - 26D. Sticker: THORN. . . 😜
54. Mountain lion: PUMA
55. "Yer killin' me!": "C'MON..."
56. Utah city near two national parks: MOAB - mostly perps, I just had to fill in the "B"; geo-name #1
58. Fishing pole: ROD
59. Drops from above: RAIN - not the "bomb" kind of drop . . . 😏
63. Early Bond foe: DR. NO - The earliest, in movies, name #2
64. Actor Auberjonois: RENÉ - name #3, knew him from "Benson"
65. :-( : I'MSAD - Thursday dupe - the "original" way of using typed characters for emotions - and plain "sad" is actually not available through the blogger, as R-Brain showed . . . and that makes me sad
66. Fortuneteller: SEER - AND - 60D. Sphere consulted by a 66-Across: ORB
67. Spanish kiss: BESO
68. Touchscreen tappers: STYLI - FINGER was a 'digit' too much . . . 🙄
DOWN:
1. Marries: UNITES
2. Home of the El Greco Museum: TOLEDO - Spain, geo name #4, more here
3. Pitching: TILTED - Dah~! Not the SELLING, HAWKING or VENDING kind of pitching
4. Pitching stat: ERA- aaaand yet another definition of pitching - baseball
5. Make over: RE-DO
6. Substance celebrated by the Sloomoo Institute: SLIME - Learning moment for me - more here
7. Smooth course: EASYA - crossword staple
8. Best club in Vegas?: ACE - But the best Ace is of Spades . . .
Motörhead - another "umlaut" band
9. Was up: LED - think sports, not out-of-bed
10. Bad move: ERROR
11. Peace offerings?: GOOD-BYES - I, and a couple of friends, usually sign off with "Peace."
12. Buckle: GIVEOUT - Like this bridge did - the verb, not the noun
give IN works, too, but doesn't fit
13. The Grand __ Opry: OLE
18. TV broadcast band: VHF - sssss, close, I tried UHF
22. Allow: LET
24. Like a 2024 Blake Snell game: NO-HIT - the only name I had no clue about, but in retrospect, the answer couldn't be much else, really. More baseball, name(ish)
27. Despised: HATED
28. French friend: AMI - Frawnche #4, the masculine friend
30. Steamed: MAD - Dah~! Not HOT
34. Symbolic puzzle that dates to the Middle Ages: REBUS - good WAG on my part
35. Key: ISLET - Didn't fool me this time - I count about two dozen definitions of the word "key"
37. Very much inclined: STEEP - I am one house, or about 500ft, from CT rte. 195, and I can tell when a semi is either lumbering up the 6% incline, or jake-braking on the down-side
Burrrr-bur-bur-bur-bu-bu-bur . . . .
38. Source of some pink seasoning: SALTMINE - I knew we were looking for "SALT", but "SEA" was not going to work . . .
39. Ramadan-ending holiday, informally: EID - filled via perps
40. Cocoa scrub venue: SPA - it's a "thing" - more on the benefits here
41. Auto maintenance: CARCARE - TUNE-UP was too short, OIL CHANGE too long
44. Transgression: SIN
46. Respectful dip: CURTSY
47. Virtually indifferent?: AMORAL - clever
48. "The People's Princess": LADYDI - killed in a car crash, Paris, 29yrs ago this month - no one was wearing a seat belt; name #5, Frawnche #5
