What many NYT Games players lost this week, without the vowels (or, why they lost it, without the vowels)
28A
Like xenon
30A
"I had ___ dream last night because I was doing this month's challenge" (1, 3)
31A
It may come with turkey
34A
Many a scifi antagonist
35A
Apparently this is a bank in Florida. It's one letter away from a word meaning "accomplish"
36A
Roommate complaint
38A
Sand castle maker
39A
Bacon, egg, and cheese offerers, often
40A
If you swap the first two letters you get a part of the eye (otherwise it's some weird acronym that's not worth cluing)
41A
AoPS subforum for young students (to keep things fair: it's a Caesar shift of EKE)
42A
#2
43A
"I can ___ test any day!" - Some nerd, at some point, probably (3, 1)
45A
Alda and Rickman, for two
47A
Financial service for veterans, for short
51A
___ Classical Library (series published by Harvard) (alternatively, it's an anagram for a part of the brain)
52A
Job of Colbert or Stewart (use the British spelling)
54A
Canon
55A
Number
56A
Old three-player card game (anagrams to a synonym of "job")
57A
As to
Verticales
1D
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee"
2D
Biological suffix for describing types of chromosomes (and an anagram of many a student)
3D
Away from the wind, at sea
4D
AI technologies that have surged in popularity these past few years
5D
Major or minor ending
6D
Amber drink
7D
Aircraft with redundancy
8D
Fifth longest river in the world, passing through Russia
9D
Immortalizer
10D
Fin___ (something a fin may provide)
11D
Cybertruck company, in the stock market
12D
Labor lottery, essentially
13D
Meet your maker
14D
They may be full of grids
24D
American bazaars
25D
Something the author's mom might say to the author of this puzzle when she's too busy to make food
26D
Scott Joplin's years of fame
27D
Give a grip
28D
Phrase often uttered between two of the same order
29D
The people between Nicaragua and Panama, familiarly (one letter away from a Mexican staple)
30D
Nimble
32D
Locker?
33D
HS org. with four pillars
37D
Horn tooter, perhaps
44D
Drive from a bank, perhaps
45D
"Stat!"
46D
Miss across the border, for short
47D
"Drat! What letter should I employ to turn OUTRAGE into a word that means 'have a larger scope than'?" "___!" (3, 1)
48D
Excited Spanish affirmative
49D
"How are we ever going to infiltrate the complex?" "Don't worry, I have ___." (2, 2)
50D
One joke (when reversed, a word meaning "excited")
53D
Apparently this is a company that makes rotating machines. This is funny, because in various fonts, this answer consists of its first letter, followed by that letter rotated 90 degrees, followed by that letter rotated 180 degrees