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Fictional band fronted by David St. Hubbins / SUN 12-24-23 / Highly prized...
Constructor: Drew SchmennerRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME:"Wrap Stars"— an "ELF" rebus—five "ELF" squares, whom the puzzle calls SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS (get it, 'cause they're helpers and...
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Vitamin that contributes to hair and nail growth / MON 12-25-23 / 1996 Deana...
Constructor: Amie WalkerRelative difficulty: it's a Monday, so ... Monday (solved Downs-only) THEME:"THAT'S MY JAM!" (59A: "I love this song!" ... or a doubly apt description of 17-, 28- and 46-Across)...
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Fashion designer Kamali / TUES 12-26-23 / Long-eared pal of Pooh / Letter...
Merry Christmas, everyone! It's Clare for the last Tuesday of December, which is coincidentally the day after Christmas. Hope everyone had a lovely holiday and has a great New Year. I solved this with...
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Ancient method of encipherment with a message wrapped around a cylinder / WED...
Constructor: Kareem AyasRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME: THESAURUS (33D: Writer's reference ... or what each row of shaded [in my case, circled] letters is missing?) — shaded letters spell out the...
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Deity from whose hair flows the river Ganga / THU 12-28-23 / 1960s-70s...
Constructor: Kiran PandeyRelative difficulty: Easy-Medium (mostly Easy, but a couple of these movie titles might be elusive for many solvers...)THEME: Movie? Magic! — ordinary phrases are clued as if...
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Sierra follower / FRI 12-29-23 / Foil to Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar" /...
Constructor: Robyn WeintraubRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME: none Word of the Day: Cuba libre (12D: Cuba libre ingredient => COKE) — Rum and Coke, or the Cuba libre (/ˌkjuːbə ˈliːbreɪ/ KEW-bə...
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Cabinet resignee of 1988 / SAT 12-30-23 / Pair of hand drums, in Indian music...
Constructor: Simeon SeigelRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME: PARTY (63A: Event suggested by this puzzle's circled squares, read clockwise from the top) — circled (and unchecked, i.e. uncrossed) squares...
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Form of algae also known as rockweed / SUN 12-31-23 / Crispy Japanese cutlet...
Constructor: Matt Linzer and Rafael MusaRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME:"It's Going Down"— the BALL DROP (seen in TIMES SQUARE on NEW YEAR'S EVE) is depicted, literally, five times in this...
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Kids' chasing game with head taps / MON 1-1-24 / Off Broadway musical made...
Constructor: Harry ZhengRelative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)THEME: XXY — three-part phrases where the first two parts are identical:Theme answers:DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE (20A: Kids' chasing game...
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Turkish title of respect / TUE 1-2-24 / Promotional event at a dealership /...
Constructor: Jeffrey MartinovicRelative difficulty: Challenging (***for a Tuesday***)THEME: DOUBLE NEGATIVES (38A: Some grammatical no-nos ... or a description of four pairs of answers in this puzzle?)...
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Home of Bach Ma Temple / WED 1-3-2024 / Musical instrument also called a...
Constructor: Jared GoudsmitRelative difficulty: Medium (12:32)THEME: "RE""FUSE"— The letter string RE is "fused" between two wordsTheme answers:[Was worth another mention] for BO[RE]PEATING[Travel...
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"Simply sharp" brand / THU 1-4-24 / Tech giant in New Taipei City / Something...
Constructor: Chase Dittrich and Christina IversonRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME: [blank] & ___ — theme clues are phrases with certain letters underlined; the phrase, taken as a whole, is an...
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One arriving tomorrow, supposedly / FRI 1-5-24 / ___ far niente (pleasant...
Constructor: David P. WilliamsRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME: none Word of the Day: FENTY (39A: Fashion label founded by Rihanna) — Fenty (stylised as FEИTY) was a fashion brand of ready-to-wear...
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"Bad plan!," in Southern slang / SAT 1-6-24 / Unfiltered brew / Comment after...
Constructor: Ben Tolkin and Julian XiaoRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME: none Word of the Day: BOKEH (5A: Out-of-focus effect in photography, from the Japanese for "blur") — In photography, bokeh...
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Lead role in 1978's "La Cage aux Folles" / SUN 1-7-24 / Dawn figure, in myth...
Constructor: Michael SchlossbergRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME:"Gimme a Second!"— on four occasions, successive Across clues are clued identically, but in each case, the second of the two answers has...
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Canadian fries-and-gravy dish / MON 1-8-24 / Titular soccer coach on a hit...
Constructor: Nate CardinRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME:"NOT MY FIRST RODEO" (54A: "Done this before, you know!" ... or a hint to the last words of 17-, 23-, 31-, 40- and 48-Across)— last words are...
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Fantasy sports scoring standard, informally / TUE 1-9-24 / Writer/podcaster...
Constructor: Adam WagnerRelative difficulty: Normal, maybe a little north of Normal (despite being an undersized puzzle)THEME: TUESDAY (55A: Part of a calendar septet, and a phonetic hint to this...
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Kyrgyzstan mountain range / WED 1-10-24 / 2007 Michael Moore documentary...
Constructor: Chloe Revery and Alissa RevnessRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME: SHARING IS CARING (60A: Preschool teacher's mantra ... or a hint to the answers to the starred clues)— "SH" is changed...
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Basic linear expression / THU 1-11-24 / Mohammed's third and youngest wife /...
Constructor: Damon GulczynskiRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME: Y = X (69A: Basic linear expression with a hint to answering the five starred clues in this puzzle) — change "y" to "x" in each of the...
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Temper, quaintly / FRI 1-12-24 / Pair of percussion pieces / It doesn't run...
Constructor: Hemant MehtaRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME: none Word of the Day: HI-HAT (29A: Pair of percussion pieces) — A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal,...
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