Hello Cornerites!
Today's title is a tribute to the Little Old Ladies of the Corner. We love reading your insights, comments, and stories!
Our constructor is Chicagoan Brian Callahan. We met him earlier this year when he collaborated with Katie Hale on this puzzle. Congratulations on your first L.A. Times solo grid, Brian!!
Brian has packed an impressive 5 lengthy themers plus a brief reveal into his puzzle. Here they are:
17 Across. Palm crease read by fortunetellers: LINE OF LIFE.
24 Across. Wash unit: LOAD OF LAUNDRY. 
36 Across. Esports giant from Riot Games: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS. New to me. It was easy enough to guess for the puzzle but I had to look it up in order to explain it to you.
Esports is a term for competitive video gaming.
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, commonly referred to as "LEAGUE", is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games.
46 Across. Illinois nickname: LAND OF LINCOLN. A CSO to Brian's home state. President Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois for 31 years.
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| I knew this one from their license plates. |
57 Across. Letter ender similar to XOXO: LOTS OF LOVE.
The reveal is the very last Down clue:
60 Down. Response to a funny text, and a hint to this puzzle's five longest answers: LOL.
Across:
9. Mr. Potato Head limbs: ARMS. I think maybe the humor here is that he has feet but no legs???
14. "Sunday Night Baseball" nickname: A-ROD. Alex Rodriguez
16. Lye, to a chemist: NAOH. Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)
19. "__ Murders in the Building": Hulu series: ONLY.
Season One teaser (2021)
20. Really angry: MAD.21. Malty beer: ALE. Anything "beer" with 3-letters, I guess ALE or IPA. Interestingly, the A in IPA stands for ALE. So is this one of those things where all IPAs are ALEs but not all ALEs are IPAs?
22. __ party: BRIDAL.
In 27 Dresses (2008), Katherine Heigl played a character who was in 27 BRIDAL parties.
In this scene, she shows James Marsden the dresses she wore. (2:39 min)
28. Backyard border: FENCE. "Good FENCEs make good neighbors" is the theme of this Robert Frost poem.
29. "Gangsta Rap" rapper: ICE-T.
30. Gem: JEWEL.
31. Ring up: CALL.
33. Persian Gulf fed. with seven members: UAE. The 7 members of the United Arab Emirates are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah.
40. Old Mac platform: OSX. Operating System X
41. Superficially cultured: ARTY.
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| This cartoon made me think of Friday's puzzle and today's 2 Latin clues, 51A and 2D. |
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| predecessor to rooftop gardens??? |
45. Hunter who shines at night?: ORION.
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| Look for him November - February. |
51. Latin for "as originally positioned": IN SITU.
Example sentence from the internet: At Titan, the on-going Cassini mission has been providing a rich dataset of IN SITU measurements of the ionosphere.
Today's assignment: work this phrase into your next Starbuck's order and report back on the response.
52. Slangy turndown: NAH. 
53. Wager: BET. Wanna BET Calvin's mom was not happy when she walked into the kitchen?
56. Frozen dessert brand: EDY'S.
61. Chap: GENT.
62. Type: SORT. Oh...the noun! 63. __ the Riveter: ROSIE.
64. PC bailout keys: ESCS.
53. Wager: BET. Wanna BET Calvin's mom was not happy when she walked into the kitchen?
56. Frozen dessert brand: EDY'S.
61. Chap: GENT.
62. Type: SORT. Oh...the noun! 63. __ the Riveter: ROSIE.
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| link to an article from The History Channel |
Keyboarding tip: The Esc key can be faster when you are in a stack of nested dialog boxes where each Cancel button is in a different position. Instead of chasing the Cancel buttons around your screen with your mouse, just keep pressing Esc until all the dialog boxes are closed.
65. Spanish "today": HOY.
66. Last name of the "Full House" twins: OLSEN.
65. Spanish "today": HOY.
66. Last name of the "Full House" twins: OLSEN.
10 times twins shared an acting role
Down:
1. Relaxed: CALM.
2. Et __: and others: ALIA. (Latin) We usually see et al. This is from grammarly.com:
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| Mary-Kate and Ashley OLSEN |
Down:
1. Relaxed: CALM.
2. Et __: and others: ALIA. (Latin) We usually see et al. This is from grammarly.com:
Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia (neuter plural). But it can also be an abbreviation for et alii (masculine plural), or et aliae (feminine plural). This phrase means “and others.” Most commonly, et al. indicates other contributors (authors, editors, etc.) in a bibliographic list. There should always be a period after et al. to show it is an abbreviation.
3. Drip from a menorah: CANDLE WAX.
4. Final album in the Green Day trilogy that includes "¡Uno!" and "¡Dos!": TRÉ
I got mixed up thinking about this U2 song:
3. Drip from a menorah: CANDLE WAX.
4. Final album in the Green Day trilogy that includes "¡Uno!" and "¡Dos!": TRÉ
Vertigo (2004)
5. "As I see it" shorthand: IMO. In My Opinion, it is no surprise that AISI didn't catch on.
6. Winnie-the-Pooh greeting: HALLO.
7. Legal write-up: BRIEF.
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| Tighty Whitie takes the stage. |
9. Appropriate rhyme for "appoint": ANOINT.
10. Dept. that tests new products: R AND D. Research AND Development
In the pharmaceutical world, the average R AND D for a new drug is from $1 billion to more than $2 billion dollars. source
11. Back tooth: MOLAR.
12. In a timid way: SHYLY.
15. Utter fiasco: DEBACLE. (noun) a sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
11. Back tooth: MOLAR.
12. In a timid way: SHYLY.
15. Utter fiasco: DEBACLE. (noun) a sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
Example: a zeppelin filled with hydrogen. #Hindenberg.
18. Grow dim: FADE.
23. Regret: RUE.
25. Universal donor's type, briefly: O NEG.
26. First Amendment advocacy gp.: ACLU. and 33 Down. Labor leader: UNION BOSS.
27. Activist Ledbetter for whom the 2009 Fair Pay Act is named: LILLY.
28. Bank add-ons: FEES.
30. Half of Bennifer, familiarly: J.LO. Jennifer Lopez married Ben Affleck last year. In 2003 they starred together in Friday's puzzle's 52 Down movie, Gigli.
18. Grow dim: FADE.
23. Regret: RUE.
25. Universal donor's type, briefly: O NEG.
27. Activist Ledbetter for whom the 2009 Fair Pay Act is named: LILLY.
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| Born April 14, 1938 in Jacksonville, AL, she was the plaintiff in the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. regarding employment discrimination. |
30. Half of Bennifer, familiarly: J.LO. Jennifer Lopez married Ben Affleck last year. In 2003 they starred together in Friday's puzzle's 52 Down movie, Gigli.
Ben + Jennifer = Bennifer.
Coincidentally, she started dating 14 Across A-ROD in 2017, became engaged to him in 2019, and ended the relationship in 2021.
Meh.
31. Reef makeup: CORAL. OTOH, I am much more interested in this answer.
31. Reef makeup: CORAL. OTOH, I am much more interested in this answer.
an underwater video of a coral reef
amazing ... beautiful ... CALMing
32. Away from the bow, on a boat: AFT. as in AFTer the front
34. Yemen coastal city: ADEN. ADEN is found in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. source
37. Lengthy rebukes: EARFULS. (noun) [informal] A prolonged amount of talking, typically an angry reprimand.
38. Big name in bike and snow helmets: GIRO. I just checked. Mine are GIROs.
At first the company only made bike helmets so the name referred to a circuit or tour, as in a cycling competition.
| [TAG26] |
| Bike (left) & Snowboarding (right) I wear them to protect my grape! |
43. Laudatory poets: ODISTS.
44. Tyke: TOT.
45. Nueve menos uno: OCHO. 9-1 = 8
46. Feudal lord: LIEGE. When I looked this up, I kept finding pictures of LIEGE waffles. recipe
47. South American mountain range: ANDES. 3 Fun Facts:
- The summit of Mount Chimborazo in the Andes is the planet's tallest point when measured from the Earth's center.
- The Andes are the longest mountain chain in the world.
- Potatoes and tomatoes originated in the Andes. (Gotta love them for that!!)
49. Many a 101 course: INTRO. true clue!
54. 1960s pop singer Sands: EVIE. Born 1946 in Brooklyn, NY. She was the first artist to record the classic song Angel Of The Morning, but her version was overshadowed by Merrilee Rush's when legal problems rendered Evie's single out of print.
Juice Newton's 1981 cover of Angel Of The Morning
55. Many a character in YA fiction: TEEN. YA is Young Adult. These are books written for readers between the ages of 12 and 18. Need to buy a present for a YA? Check out this list: Time Magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time