I found this on the tougher side for a Wednesday puzzle, and I needed my thinking cap. Not a lot of unknowns, but clued so I had to work for some of the answers. Nice theme, each a common phrase with a double meaning.
17. Recap of the biopic "Walk the Line"?: CASH ACCOUNT. A cash account with a brokerage firm requires that any securities transactions be payable in full from funds in the account at the time of the settlement. Also, Walk the Line was first a (1956) hit song, then a (2005) movie about Johnny Cash, his rise to fame as a beloved country music singer and his 35-year marriage to June Carter Cash. Story Behind the Song: “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash.
26. Recap of an anatomy lesson?: ORGAN RECITAL. Thirty-minute organ recitals are given each day by Tabernacle and Temple Square organists and guest organists. An alternative meaning would be bodily organs, such as the liver, pancreas, and spleen.
47. Recap of the rise and fall of Peloton?: SPINNING YARN. "Spinning a yarn," is slang for telling a long, imaginative story. Also, Peloton is a brand that makes exercise equipment, notably stationary bikes. The bikes are used for "spinning" classes in trendy gyms but are also available for home purchase, along with a monthly subscription for streaming and on-demand classes. After reports of falls and injuries, millions of models were recalled.
61. Recap of a dollar bill's journey from the mint to a wallet?: SINGLE STORY. Common phrase meaning a building that has only one level. Also, a one-dollar bill is called a "single." I know someone who wrote his name on every $5 bill he ever had, as an experiment to see how often the same bills came into his hands. Learning moment: In her TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story, Adichie describes the effects that labels can have on how we think about ourselves and others.
Across:
1. Update a cartographer's work: REMAP. A person who draws or produces maps.
6. With 8-Down, "The Simpsons" character in a rhinestone suit: DISCO.
11. Plant, as seeds: SOW.
14. The first "A" in CAT scan: AXIAL. CAT stands for “computed axial tomography” and CT is simply “computed tomography.” CAT scan was the first of the two terms to be used; CT scan has become more common in recent years. These two procedures are the same, though.
15. In the lead: ON TOP.
16. Vietnamese soup: PHO. Phở is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat.
19. Before now: AGO.
20. Fire dept. volunteer, perhaps: EMT. Emergency Medical Technician.
21. Flimsy: THIN.
22. Like some 1950s cars: FINNED. These Are the Most Fin-Tastic Cars of the 1950s.
24. Newborn horse: FOAL. Male foals are called colts and female foals are called fillies. When a mare (female adult horse) has her baby, we say she has foaled. When foals turn one year old, we no longer call them foals but instead we call them yearlings.
25. Dance versions of songs, e.g.: REMIXES.
30. "The Golden Girls" city: MIAMI.
31. Take steps: ACT.
36. Apple Watch med. app: ECG. Apple Watch Series 4 and later has an electrical heart rate sensor that, along with the ECG app , allows you to take an electrocardiogram (or ECG).
37. Wetlands plant: CATTAIL. Cattails – A Survival Dinner.
41. "I get it now!": AHA.
42. Orderly: NEAT.
44. By way of: VIA.
45. Glitch: ERROR. Anyone else having a sudden glitch with Apple saying you are out of space but you're not? I even bought more to buy myself some time while I figured it out, but it didn't help.
51. High-jumping antelopes: IMPALAS. I always remember Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's vivid description about gazelles (a group of related antelope) in a 1907 letter to his wife: "Their legs are like rifles, from which leaps are fired."
54. Mad (at): SORE. Seen mostly in books and crosswords.
55. Chef Samin who wrote the cookbook "Salt Fat Acid Heat": NOSRAT. Also a series on Netflix.
56. First-class: A ONE.
57. Studio with a lion mascot: MGM. MGM (acquired by Amazon in 2021) was formed in 1924 by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. In November 2010, after MGM Studios filed for bankruptcy, MGM Resorts released a statement MGM Studios is a completely separate entity with no common ownership," and "The filing has no impact whatsoever on MGM Resorts International."
60. Wine adjective: DRY. 40 Wine Descriptions and What They Really Mean.
64. Business abbr.: INC. Incorporated.
65. Hit a low note?: MOOED. Haha. Cow.
66. Characteristic: TRAIT.
67. Beginning and end of a phoenix: ASH. The phoenix is a mythical golden bird associated with renewal and regeneration. Rising from the ashes of its previous life, the phoenix is a symbol of hope, of life and of better things to come, born from the knowledge and experience of difficult times and challenging circumstances.
68. Tennis star Agassi: ANDRE.
69. __-pop: electronic music genre: SYNTH.
Down:
1. 10K, for one: RACE.
2. Academic hurdle: EXAM.
3. Waterfall spray: MIST.
4. "I needed that!": AAH.
5. Nonromantic, as a friendship: PLATONIC.
6. Unlikely to bite: DOCILE.
7. Privy to: IN ON.
8. See 6-Across: STU.
9. Parade shower: CONFETTI.
10. Former name of Kia's K5 sedan: OPTIMA. In 2021, Kia dropped the “Optima” name and renamed the model in the U.S. to feature the same name it carries in South Korea, “K5.”
11. Shapewear brand: SPANX.
12. "Golly!": OH GEE.
13. Forest: WOODS.
18. Burn a bit: CHAR. Burnt Ends: What are they and how to make them.
23. Cairo's river: NILE.
24. Partner and the kids, briefly: FAM.
25. Costa __: RICA.
26. Comet, to some: OMEN. "Comets have a long history, usually as omens and bearers of bad news," says Woody Sullivan, professor of astronomy. "But on the other hand, the death of Julius Caesar was marked by a comet and this was taken by the Romans as a sign of his divinity.
27. Risotto grain: RICE. From Bon Appétit: Risotto is like a clingy baby. You can’t put it down, you can’t walk away from it, and you can’t ignore it. Its needs are straightforward; it just wants all of you. And if you give it all your patient attention, it will transform into a puddle of love. Here's a recipe.
28. "Bad Romance" singer Lady __: GAGA.
29. Board game with settlers: CATAN. Previously known as The Settlers of Catan or simply Settlers, is a multiplayer board game first published in 1995 in Germany. The object is to grow your small island town into a flourishing city.
33. "Nobody doesn't like __ Lee": SARA.
34. Son of Odin: THOR. Norse gods. As well as thunderstorms, Thor is associated with oak trees, and is said to protect mankind.
35. "Phooey!": DARN.
38. Earhart's field: AVIATION. Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and writer. In 1932, Earhart became the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In an attempt to fly 29,000 miles around the world, with only 7,000 miles to go, she and her navigator Fred Noonan took off from (now) Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937, at 12:30 a.m., heading toward tiny Howland Island. They were never seen again.
39. Containers in a British pantry: TINS. Better known in the states as "canned food."
40. Support for calves, but not cows: LEG RESTS.
43. Old Russian ruler: TSAR.
46. Pastrami bread: RYE. On my bucket list: Eat a Rueben at Zingerman's Deli.
48. Blood bank supply: PLASMA.
49. Tristan's beloved: ISOLDE. Lovers in a medieval romance based on Celtic legend. The hero Tristan goes to Ireland to ask the hand of the princess Isolde for his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. On their return the two mistakenly drink a love potion prepared for the king and fall deeply in love.
50. Not any: NONE.
51. Country whose national anthem is "Jana Gana Mana": INDIA. (Lit. 'Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People.')
52. Poetic dawns: MORNS. Noun, not verb. Short for mornings.
53. "Ha! You believed me!": PSYCH.
56. Golden __: AGER. Used euphemistically or humorously to refer to a senior citizen.
57. Bellyache: MOAN.
58. Sandpaper coarseness measure: GRIT.
59. Bit of folklore: MYTH. Stories that are based on tradition. Some may have factual origins, while others are completely fictional.
62. Silent assent: NOD.
63. Take a bite, say: TRY.
And here's the grid:
