I pulled out 22A Like neon gas: NOBLE because I had written INERT because it fit and worked, except that it turned out that it fit but didn’t work.
Theme!
17A Athlete who rarely gets sacked or has a pass intercepted: STARQUARTERBACK -> S|TAR|QU|ART|ERBACK.
29A Run-down places: RATTRAPS -> |RAT|TRA|PS.
33A Figure to aim for, according to personal trainers: TARGETHEARTRATE -> |TAR|GETHE|ART|RAT|E.
42A Pastry made with an orchard fruit: PEARTART -> PE|ART|ART|.
56A Political group symbolized by a donkey: DEMOCRATICPARTY -> DEMOC|RAT|ICP|ART|Y.
37D Various creative mediums … or a hint to variations found in the shaded squares: ARTFORMS. Because they’re A-R-T in different forms. Yay.
Finished this one in 7:41.
| Day | This Wk | Best | Average | 4-Wk Avg | Streak |
| Monday | 7:41 | 3:49 | 9:23 | 5:39 | 79 |
| Tuesday | 5:22 | 13:13 | 9:53 | 2 | |
| Wednesday | 7:38 | 17:03 | 15:57 | 19 | |
| Thursday | 12:12 | 28:20 | 26:54 | 5 | |
| Friday | 10:29 | 30:58 | 17:30 | 19 | |
| Saturday | 20:11 | 32:48 | 31:59 | 19 | |
| Sunday | 15:11 | 52:41 | 40:33 | 6 |