As an alternative to the (relatively) easier NYT Monday puzzle, there’s always Brendan Emmett Quigley’s torture chambers.  Always themeless, always challenging, occasionally cruel (especially if you don’t know current stuff, like rappers’ names and internet slang).   In Across Lite, I use the pencil option the first time through.\

Some hints:

It has a very famous shower:  But you might not want to get in it, no matter how dirty you feel you are!

John P. Marquand character:  Call me “Mister,” if you please.

Cleaners, Chef, etc.:  Well, for most of us the answer is true.  Some people have them “in” all the time.

Lose the Fat:  How cruel a way, right in 1-across, to remind us of just how much we enjoyed the holiday season.

Contributes:  4 words phase that doesn’t usually mean donating money.

Geological time period that underwent a time change:  What happened isn’t it new anymore?

Electronic gift guide? :  And I thought these things were supposed to be completely intuitive these days.

X games vehicle:  Just ’cause it’s winter now, doesn’t mean the game’s on snow.

Formally attired:  What no tux?

Part of a baker’s dozen:  Yeh, THIRTEEN fits, but it’s wrong, though it’s the right idea.

It borders Connecticut:  Ok, it’s not an abbreviation, so it can’t be a nearby state like MASS, think board, not map.

Some Twihard Writing crossing Indie Rock’s Les Savy ____ was what, at least for me, what Rex Parker calls a Natick. (Two unknown things crossing each other;  all one can do is guess.)  I had to do a lot of guessing in this corner.  Don’t be embarrassed if you have to use check or even the dreaded Reveal, here.  Sure, you could look it up in google, but then you might get more answers than you bargained for.