Hodgepodge bowlful of munchies / MON 12-23-24 / Two equal parts, to kids / Madonna coffee table book released a day after her 1992 album "Erotica" / CBS late show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson / Hoppy holiday? / Heavenly protector of sailors / Ontario-based network that aired "Schitt's Creek"

Constructor: Glenn Cook

Relative difficulty: Easy (easiest Downs-only I've ever done, or close to it)

THEME: AFTER MIDNIGHT (34A: CBS late show hosted by Taylor Tomlinson ... or where to find the first words of the answers to the starred clues) — first words of each themer can follow "MIDNIGHT" in a familiar phrase or name:

Theme answers:

• SNACK MIX (17A: *Hodgepodge bowlful of munchies) (midnight snack)
• MASS TRANSIT (25A: *Buses, trains, subways, etc.) (midnight mass)
• COWBOY BOOTS (48A: *Rodeo footwear) (Midnight Cowboy)
• OIL PAINT (58A: *Portrait artist's medium) (Midnight Oil)

Word of the Day: Midnight Oil (see 58A) —

Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by Hirst, Moginie and original bassist Andrew James as Farm: they enlisted Garrett the following year, changed their name in 1976, and hired Rotsey a year later. Peter Gifford served as bass player from 1980 to 1987, with Bones Hillman then assuming the role until his death in 2020. Midnight Oil have sold over 20 million albums worldwide as of 2021.

Midnight Oil issued their self-titled debut album in 1978 and gained a cult following in their homeland despite a lack of mainstream media acceptance. The band achieved greater popularity throughout Australasia with the release of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1982) – which spawned the singles "Power and the Passion" and "US Forces" – and also began to attract an audience in the United States. They achieved their first Australian number one album in 1984 with Red Sails in the Sunset, and topped their native country's singles chart for six weeks with the EP Species Deceases (1985).

The group garnered worldwide attention with 1987 album Diesel and Dust. Its singles "The Dead Heart" and "Beds Are Burning" illuminated the plight of Indigenous Australians, with the latter charting at number one in multiple countries.

• • •

A rare Downs-only solve where I knew everything. Every Down. No mysteries. Every answer, first try, all the way to the end. I doubt I could've gotten every answer *cold*, but the thing about Downs-only is that along the way, you begin to infer longer Acrosses, and then those letters help you with the Downs you haven't got yet. So I eventually inferred the end of MASS TRANSIT and all of AFTER MIDNIGHT and the beginnings of OIL PAINT and finally COWBOY BOOTS from the Downs I had in place, and then used the inferred letters to get into the Downs in areas I hadn't explored yet. But I never had more than one letter in place with any Down I looked at, and still got every single one. Even HALFSIES I got off just the "H" (38D: Two equal parts, to kids). The only bit of hesitation I experienced was when I tried to infer the front end of COWBOY BOOTS—I had -OY BOOTS and for some reason did not immediately clock it. Some kind of TOY BOOTS? Just couldn't see it. If I'd taken a few more seconds, I think I would have, but I took one look at 45D: W.W. II naval menaces, wrote in U-BOATS, and with that "B," finally saw that the boots belonged to a COWBOY. From there, five seconds or so to the end. I don't speed-solve anymore, but if I did, this could easily have been my fastest time ever. Sub-2:30 for sure. Closer to 2:00. I only had to look at half the clues, and all of them went right in, so ...  yeah, it would've been very fast. It was fast even at my normal JOG TROT pace (trying that term out after learning it yesterday ... can't say I love it). This is all to say—this was easy. Way easier than a typical Monday. With Acrosses, who knows? Might've been a lot slower. I certainly wouldn't have known some of those Acrosses, including *the revealer*, LOL I do not watch network TV anymore and have no idea who Taylor Tomlinson even is. She seems to be very big on Tik-Tok. According to wikipedia, one of her biggest comedic influences is Maria Bamford. This endears her to me, Maria Bamford being one of only two comedians I've ever paid to see. Anyway, Taylor Tomlinson has a late show on CBS, apparently! Good to know!

This theme is kind of old hat. A typical "words that can follow/precede" theme. None of the themers themselves are that exciting, except AFTER MIDNIGHT, which is a nice standalone phrase (while I was solving, I just assumed it was going to be clued via the Eric Clapton song). I liked BLAST OFF, AFTER MIDNIGHT, and HALFSIES. Not much else registered. Oh, I realized I have a weird blockage when it comes to spelling CYMBAL (5D: Drum kit component). Honestly, I know how it's spelled—I look at it, I know what it means, it's a word I've known forever—but today, after I thought, "oh, I know this answer!," I tried *write* this answer and my brain was like "whoa whoa whoa ... are you sure about literally any of these letters?" I was spelling it so slowly and deliberately, like a third-grader on a spelling test: C-Y (really, "Y"?)-M (this already looks wrong)-B-... A-L? (not "L-E," right?). Right. Doesn't help that SYMBOL is a homophone. Also doesn't help that Shakespeare wrote a play called CYMBELine. I think of myself as a better-than-average speller, but ... man, CYMBAL still looks kinda wrong to me.

Notes:

• 5A: Ontario-based network that aired "Schitt's Creek" (CBC) — Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I only ever saw Schitt's Creek featured on Netflix. If I'd been looking at Across clues, I would've guessed CBC, just because of the "Ontario" bit (assuming, correctly, that the "Ontario" in question is the Canadian province and not the (as an acquaintance of mine put it) "airport with a town attached" in Southern California. 
• 46D: Heavenly protector of sailors (ST. ELMO) — did you know that "ST." (as an abbr. for "saint") never gets an abbr. indicator in clues? I did not know this. I looked at all the STELMO clues—no abbr. indicators. I looked at the STMARK clues—same. STJUDE—same. But when "ST." is an abbr. for "street," out come the abbr. indicators (for the most part). MAIN ST clues either indicate the abbr. directly, e.g. [Business center: Abbr.], or suggest it by analogy, e.g. [Central route thru town]) or else use a "sign" clue that dodges the issue, e.g. [Common town sign], [Sign in the middle of town]. Not sure why there's this discrepancy between "saint" and "street" abbreviation cluing. I'm guessing that saints' names are so commonly written out as "ST." that the "Abbr." indicator maybe seems unnecessary. But the "street" abbr. is pretty common too, so ... shrug.

• 30A: Hoppy holiday? (EASTER) — 'cause of the Bunny, I'm guessing. Really glad I didn't have to look at Across clues today. I'd've been wondering "wait ... there's a beer holiday now?"
• 49D: University of Maine town (ORONO)—total crosswordese. If you didn’t know it, don’t feel too bad. But remember it.
• 42D: Madonna coffee table book released a day after her 1992 album "Erotica" (SEX) — wow, there's a throwback. Not the easiest SEX clue for a Monday, I'd say, though I was able to remember it. In three letters, there wasn't much else it could be. Then again, I was a young man and still very immersed in contemporary pop culture when that thing dropped. Plus my best friend was one of the biggest Madonna fans on the planet (well ... one of the biggest Madonna record collectors, anyway, for sure). But I can see this clue missing a lot of people in 2024. 
• 54D: Apt anagram of ANGER minus N (RAGE) — so ... not an "apt" anagram of anything, then. When you have to throw letters out, the "anagram" bit is nullified. I mean, FIRE is an "apt" anagram of BURN if you replace three of the letters and wish hard enough.

Time for more Holiday Pet Pics now.

Here we have Graycie and Little Man, wrapping paper enthusiasts (Little Man is also called "The Dude" because of his "soul patch")

[Thanks, Adrienne]

Here's Willie—named after William Blake of "Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright" fame. Since he is seen here chilling (behind a poinsettia), you could call him "Chilly Willie," but that would be corny. (RIP, Willie)

[Thanks, Monica]

Top here enjoys sleeping on soft things and being left alone. Typical cat stuff. Side note—I have that crossword ornament on my own tree. 

[Thanks, Laura]

These two scamps are Ripley and Trebek. Trebek has all the answers, of course, whereas Ripley ... he didn't murder anyone and then assume their identity, did he? He looks mischievous, but not *that* mischievous. 

[Thanks, Laura]

And lastly today, we get a big family pet extravaganza! That's Juko (human) belly-rubbing Max, who's being sniffed by Foxy while Romeo roams the periphery of what I assume is the world's biggest wreath. Get in there, Romeo! Christmas dog pile!

[Thanks, Jerry]

See you all next time (Christmas Eve!)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]