Monday June 13, 2022 John Lieb

Theme: GOAT (69. Superlative acronym spelled out by the starts of the answers to the starred clues)

20. *Title of many compilation albums: GREATEST HITS.

34. *Not at all talkative: OF FEW WORDS.

42. *Taylor Swift song with the lyrics "You can't get rid of it / 'Cause you remember it ... ": ALL TOO WELL.

54. *"There's no way to know yet": TIME WILL TELL.

Boomer here. I am not sure who could be the G.O.A.T today, but nominations are open! My nomination for G.O.A.T. is a pride of Minnesota, Judy Garland where Grand Rapids Minnesota celebrated her 100th birthday on June 10.  Judy is resting Somewhere over the Rainbow after her death in 1969.  Can anyone name a different movie that is rerun on telecast on dozens of TV stations every year?  Or also portrayed on high school drama stages if they only have a brain?

A very busy week is coming for C.C. and me with VA visits to Orthopedics, Oncology, Radiation, and a quick stop for a blood draw. We'll be there many hours which could include lunch in the cafeteria.  Been there once before and it was pretty ordinary.

 Across:

1. Mustang automaker: FORD.  I had one of these in 1968.  Dependable and economical.

5. Honey liquor: MEAD.  Honey and liquor don't seem to go together.

9. "__ Mia!": ABBA musical: MAMMA.

14. Nike rival: AVIA.  I did not know that NIKE had any rivals.

15. Convention center event: EXPO.  Great place for a baseball card show.

16. Noble gas in some lasers: ARGON.

17. Prepare for a newborn's arrival: NEST.  Perhaps if you're a bird.

18. Softball glove: MITT.  Catcher's glove is called a MITT.  Also Senator Romney.

19. Entice: TEMPT.  Pizza anyone??

23. Old 1-Across named for a horse: PINTO.  This was cheapest.

24. Stores: SHOPS.  I think SHOPS is better known as a verb.

27. Costello partner: ABBOTT.  ABBOTT labs in Minnesota made news for their baby formula product recently.

30. Sweetie: BAE.

31. Vote in favor: YEA.  Holler in New York when Aaron is introduced.

33. Actress Polo: TERI.  Phoebe's mom on "Friends".

38. Take along: BRING.  Maybe I should  BRING a lunch this week.

40. ISP pioneer: AOL.

41. Covert agents: SPIES.

45. "To be," in French: ETRE.  "Or not to be, that is the question".

46. Up to, briefly: TIL.  The end of time.

47. Directional suffix: ERN.

48. Agitation: UNREST.

50. White __ machine: sleep aid: NOISE.  Way over my head!

52. Sight-singing teaching method: SOLFA.  Two notes down the scale.

59. Infomercial dude: AD MAN.

62. Dancer Falana: LOLA.

63. Drink whose logo has frosted letters: ICEE.  Bag that helps deal with shoulder pain.  The VA sent one home with me.

64. LEGO brand for tots: DUPLO.  Huge LEGO display in Mall of America.  C.C.'s favorite megamall.

65. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB.

66. CBS military drama: NCIS.

67. Reproductive health pro: OB-GYN.

68. Pop artist Warhol: ANDY.  Sheriff  Taylor reruns.

Down:

1. Long, pointed tooth: FANG.  No, I have dentures. 

2. "Evvie Drake Starts __": novel by Linda Holmes: OVER. Pilot in "Airplane" 

 

3. Counterpart of run in calculating the slope of a line: RISE.

4. Unit of information: DATA POINT.

5. Foul ball caught at a game, e.g.: MEMENTO.  I only have one in my lifetime.  My son once caught two in the same game.

6. Have life: EXIST.  I guess that covers all of us.

7. Likely will, after "is": APT TO.

8. Biblical verb: DOTH.  I'll stick with "DOES"

9. "Crash Into Me" rock group Dave __ Band: MATTHEWS.  Take away a "T" and you have Milwaukee HOFer Eddie.

10. Childish retort: ARE SO.  AM NOT!

11. Old RKO rival: MGM.

12. Messy hairdo: MOP.

13. Industrious insect: ANT.  Not sure how they dig homes in our driveway.

21. __ for tat: TIT.

22. "No need to tell me what happened there": I SAW.  If the board is too long ...

25. Mineral that resembles gold: PYRITE.

26. Passover meals: SEDERS.

27. Facing the pitcher: AT BAT.

28. German capital: BERLIN.  Never got there.  I was only in Hardheim.

29. S.O.S alternative: BRILLO.  Steel wool.

30. Kristen of "The Good Place": BELL.

32. Strong point: ASSET.  Pile of money.

35. Young deer: FAWN.  Bambi.

36. Adversary: FOE.

37. The "O" of iOS: OPERATING.  The team did me about two weeks ago.

39. Contributes to, as a group gift: GOES IN ON.  Take up a collection.

43. Utah city near Provo: OREM.

44. Soothing song: LULLABY. In the tree top.

49. Super Bowl org.: NFL.  They are already practicing.

51. Setting of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels: ITALY.

52. Faint: SWOON.

53. Lubricated: OILED. Some get OILED in the bar.

55. "Boo'd Up" singer __ Mai: ELLA.  My grandma's name

56. Danish shoe brand: ECCO.

57. A Skywalker twin: LEIA.  a Princess.

58. For fear that: LEST.

59. Hullabaloo: ADO.

60. Name: DUB.  Beer brand spelled backward.

61. Fuel efficiency stat: MPG.  Advantage with today's gas prices!

Boomer

Saturday, Dec 3rd, 2016, John Lieb

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing F,Q)

Blocks: 29

Unlike last week's successful struggle, this week's puzzle was just a Google-fest for me; too many proper names that I simply had no clue about - and even some that I should have known, but were cleverly clued with misdirection.  In my humble opinion, there were a few too many "meh" clues in this one, but only because I had never heard the term, or didn't agree with the clue/answer connection.  Oh well - can't claim a win every week.... It was Mister Lieb who introduced us to "Fun Sponge".  A pinwheel grid, with no fill longer than 8 letters, all in the corners;

7a. Free speech inhibitor? : SWEAR JAR - meh.  The clue was trying to be just a little too cute; IMHO, the SWEAR JAR is for the aftermath of "free" speech; it never inhibited me.  I had "B" and "C" in there - a swear BAR makes sense, and so does CAR when you think of cell-phone free train cars - and crossing this cell with a proper name was just Natick

41d. Quality control process with an alphanumeric symbol : SIX SIGMA - new to me.  I looked it up, and the first paragraph made sense, but the rest lost me.

60. Different exercises performed consecutively : SUPER-SET - like most exercise equipment these days, too - e.g. the combo elliptical and stepper; I don't bother with exercise - I just lift everyone else's treadmills for shipping at UPS

2d. "Star Trek: Voyager" actress : JERI RYAN - Googled.  All I could think of was "JANEWAY".  Never got in to this version of Star Trek, even with a character such as Seven of Nine; I just read that she was once Borg....does that make me a Trekkie anyway~?

ONWA-[resistance is futile]

ACROSS:

 1. Major clothing chain : TJ MAXX - I thought I'd have a chance at this one, once I got a crossing letter, and it was the last "X"

15. Morsel : WEE BIT - ugh.  TID bit was in there originally, and I refused to let go

16. Tufted tweeter : TITMOUSE

17. Unspecific threat : OR ELSE

18. "Right you are!" : "YESSIREE~!"

19. "Women and Love" author Shere : HITE - Google #4 as I solved; kept getting Women IN Love, from D.H. Lawrence

20. Tach readings : RPMs

22. Norwegian king during the Cold War : OLAV V - filled in the "OLA--" and waited, but I felt the second "V" was a pretty good WAG; either I,V, or X

23. Serial sequence : ARC

24. Attributes : TRAITS

26. Door opener? : DEE - the "D" at the front of the word DOOR

27. Where Martin Scorsese taught Oliver Stone: Abbr. : NYU - I knew it was a film school, but tried USC first.  Oh well

28. Rhein tributary : AARE - filled via perps

29. 16th-century rulers : TUDORS

32. Archaeologist, at times : DATER - as in carbon dating, etc.

34. Capital of Kazakhstan : ASTANA - filled via perps

36. Disdained, with "at" : SNEEZED - oops, I had sneeRed at to begin with

38. Mickey Rooney septet : EX-WIVES

42. Blue on screen : RATED X - "BLOODS" fit, too, a show on CBS, so I was pondering

44. Last Supper query : IS IT I~? - several awkward answers in terms of parsing....

45. Completely overhauled : REDONE - for example, this could also be RED ONE

48. Revival figs. : EMTs

50. Texter's appreciation : THX - when I start typing in my texts, the app fills in the whole word THANKS for me

51. I, perhaps : ONE - the Roman numeral "I"

52. Harsh : SEVERE

54. U.N. ambassador appointed by JFK : AES - filled via perps; Adlai E. Stevenson II

55. 2008 Best New Artist Grammy winner : ADELE

58. Sweet sign-off : X O X O - lots and lots of "X"s.  Seven of "X" (see 2d.)

59. King Ahab's father : OMRI - no clue, but filled via perps, yet again; the Wiki

62. Boxer Rebellion setting : PEKING

64. Cherish : TREASURE

65. Shady Records co-founder : EMINEM - DAH!~!!!  I like Eminem, and I know that he's "Marshall Mathers" and "Slim Shady", too.  Just didn't see the connection.  Googled.

66. Snakes : SERPENTS

67. Event associated with warm climates and big midday meals : SIESTA

DOWN:

1. Driving instructor's reminder : TWO HANDS - CAR driving instructor; with TID bit in the grid, I had T-T---, thought maybe this was a GOLF driving instructor; although a "two hand" reminder on the driving range is also a good tip....

3. Initial encounter in a romcom : MEET CUTE - so completely unaware of this phrase, I still couldn't believe it even after I looked it up - here.  I have to admit, I went to pay my rent for the second time at my landlord's bank (not MY bank) because he is in Florida  - the first time I made this trip was Halloween when the tellers were dressed as "Snap, Crackle, and Pop".  However, the cutie I stepped up to yesterday was none of those characters, and when I asked, she said she was on the drive-thru as a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Baker....I like cinnamon.  Does this count as a meet-cute~?

4. Fit : ABLE

5. Frat letters : XIs

6. Former Nissan SUV : XTERRA

7. Hinders : STYMIES

8. "Bullets Over Broadway" Oscar winner : WIEST

9. Sci-fi staples : ETs

10. Recess rejoinder : "AM SO~!"

11. Stir up : ROIL

12. Katy of "High Noon" : JURADO - M, B, C, J~? Take your pick

13. Sincere sign-off : AS EVER - or is it A SEVER~?

14. Player of Kent : REEVES - ah, yes.  I knew it was not Christopher REEVE; but then I recalled the character was played by George REEVES in the 50's

21. Flaunt : PARADE

24. Fiction's Lord Greystoke : TARZAN - yeah, this one eluded me for too long

25. Pringles alternative : STAX - I did get it partially right - I laid in LAYS first 

30. Ill-conceived : UNWISE

31. Stand for 45-Down : DAIS - a circumreferential clue that I figured out; 45. They involve insult comedy : ROASTS - I just watched the roast of Rob Lowe

33. First name in architecture : EERO - first name this week, last name last week (Saarinen); I did not know he died at age 51 - I am only 5 years younger than that

35. Hybrid cuisine : TEX-MEX

37. "Nos __": 2000s French-Canadian drama set in a summer home : ÉTÉS - utterly unsolvable from my point of view; and not just because it's Frawnche; filled via perps, but with 'summer' in the clue, ÉTÉ would have been a good WAG

39. Total assets? : VITAMINS - ARGH~! The cereal Total.  Got me good.

100% of 12 vitamins and minerals~!

40. One way to connect nowadays : ETHERNET

43. Allots : DEVOTES

46. Stomach : ENDURE

47. Superior, vis-à-vis Michigan : DEEPER - Great Lakes

49. Metaphors, e.g. : TROPES - OK, this word sounded familiar, but I still looked it up to be sure.  Googled.

53. Wield : EXERT

56. Vault : LEAP

57. Language that gave us "plaid" : ERSE - yeah, CELT was not right

59. Tom Joad, e.g. : OKIE - I did actually know this one

61. Flare producer : SUN - Nice 'double flare' with the flared skirt, too

63. "Big four" record company : EMI

Splynter 

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 John Lieb

Theme: Philosophy - Live for the moment.

18A. "We're done here. Please leave": YOU MAY GO NOW

30A. Lone source of local entertainment: ONLY GAME IN TOWN

45A. Eschew modern conveniences: LIVE OFF THE GRID

57A. Like the child of your first cousin, to you: ONCE-REMOVED. (still a first cousin)

56D. Modern-day carpe diem spelled out at the starts of 18-, 30-, 45- and 57-Across: YOLO. (you only live once)

Argyle here. Carpe diem and the day is Tuesday. If you are Bond, James Bond, then You Only Live Twice. I liked today's pairing of RANT AND RAVE and YOSEMITE SAM.

Across:

1. __ for the course: PAR

4. Proverb: ADAGE

9. Wire fence stickers: BARBS. Inventors had a field day with this type of fencing.

14. Winner of the most 2016 Olympic medals: USA. 46 golds, 37 silvers and 38 bronzes. 44-Across. Part of 14-Across: Abbr.: AMERica.

15. Prize founder: NOBEL

16. Accustom (to): INURE

17. __ Tin Tin: RIN. Yo, Rinny! But who was Sgt. Preston's dog? (No, not Tige.)

20. For mature viewers: RATED R

22. Foot prettifier, briefly: PEDI. (pedicure)

23. Miss. neighbor: ALA. (Alabama)

24. Grape-Nuts cereal brand: POST. Developed in 1897 by C. W. Post, no grapes or nuts were harmed in the making of this cereal.

26. Big Board letters: NYSE. (New York Stock Exchange)

33. Pop in a glass: SODA. Not the same as pop in his cups.

34. Wonder: AWE

35. Longtime name in Syrian leadership: ASSAD. Hafez al-Assad and his son, Bashar al-Assad.

36. Prereq for a lifeguard: CPR. (CardioPulmonary Resuscitation)

37. Fred Flintstone's boss: MR. SLATE

40. CBS logo: EYE

41. Yoga position: ASANA. Number of positions

43. Conservationist's prefix: ECO. (ecological interaction)

49. Worrisome grades: DEEs

50. Misplace: LOSE

51. Tennis do-over: LET

52. Open house offering: TOUR

54. Great suffering: MISERY

62. Great Lakes' __ Canals: SOO

63. Baseball legend Satchel: PAIGE. The Official Satchel Paige Home Page.

64. Dior skirt style: A-LINE

65. "__ the President's Men": ALL by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

66. Does' mates: STAGS

67. Cares for: TENDS

68. Sound on Old MacDonald's farm: MOO

Down:

1. Sound of a contented kitty: PURR

2. Great Wall setting: ASIA

3. Deliver a tirade: RANT AND RAVE

4. Sometime soon: ANY DAY

5. "Let's Make a Deal" selection: DOOR. Often three doors but what's behind them?

6. __ Dhabi: ABU

7. Emerald, e.g.: GEM

8. Slip by: ELAPSE

9. Texas city of 1.3 million, familiarly: BIG D. Dallas.

10. Consecrates with oil: ANOINTS

11. It may be unearned: RUN

12. Compadre: BRO. (Brother)

13. Clinch, with "up": SEW

19. Mythical Himalayan: YETI

21. Singer Fitzgerald: ELLA

24. Feline feet: PAWS

25. Brunch servings: OMELETS

27. Ill-tempered Looney Tunes character: YOSEMITE SAM

28. Persuaded: SWAYED

29. Week or rear add-on: ENDER. Better to have a weekender than a rear-ender.

30. "My bad!": "OOPSIE!"

31. Needlefish: GAR

32. Scottish denial: NAE

33. Nearly boil: SCALD. Nearly a repeat of yesterday.

37. Long March leader in 1930s China: MAO. Mao Zedong.

38. Tylenol target: ACHE

39. One may be stubbed: TOE

42. Retirement fund: NEST EGG

44. Belligerent god: ARES. Greek god of war, son of Zeus and Hera.

46. Chimney part: FLUE. Now is the time to have it checked before the heating season. PSA

47. Word processing category involving page dimensions: FORMAT

48. Moves smoothly: GLIDES

53. Lodes and lodes: ORES

54. Patch up: MEND

55. Hershey's caramel candy: ROLO. A treat for trick-or-treaters.

57. Black __: covert missions: OPS. (see 59-Down)

58. D.C. ballplayer: NAT. Washington Nationals.

59. Spy novel org.: CIA. (Central Intelligence Agency)

60. "¡Viva el matador!": "¡OLE!"

61. __ Scully, Dodger announcer for 67 seasons: VIN

Argyle

Wednesday, October 21, 2015, John Lieb

Title: CC Rider

We denizens of this site quickly saw our lovely leader C.C. in the gimmick of double C's in each two word phrase where the first word ends in C and the second word begins in C. However, John's fine hump day offering invoked the original use of CC for the Carbon Copy method of producing a messy facsimile as seen in this blurry CC of an interesting 1958 typewritten letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to JFK.

Today, of course it is mainly used as a way to send a duplicate email to another recipient electronically sans the messy paper

Theme answers:

16. Three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee : ERIC CLAPTON - First as a member of this group, then a member of Cream and then as a solo artist

22. Master thespian's skill : DRAMATIC CHOPS -Yeah, I've heard she's got 'em. Do you remember this movie?

49. Brew produced without pesticides : ORGANIC COFFEE - This must be good  because it says so!

58. "One Thousand and One Nights" transport : MAGIC CARPET - Or a ride offered by this group

The theme reveal:

65. Duplicates, briefly ... and a hint to 16-, 22-, 49- and 58-Across : CC'S 

John's fun gimmick could also have referred to CC's of medicine, Closed Captioning  we use for Downton Abbey or, as previously mentioned, the very nice lady in Minneapolis who runs this electronic popsicle stand.

Across  
    
1. Punch kin : ADE - Not a JAB

4. Refuse : TRASH - Turn down garbage - REFUSE REFUSE

9. Debussy's sea : MER - I'll bet you can figure out this 1914 American song lyric here in French "Par la MER, par la MER, par la belle MER" (*answer at the bottom)

12. __ Scotia : NOVA

14. Makes arrangements for : SEES TO - What Joann will do for our kitty when we travel again

15. Chopper : AXE

18. Sleep phase initials : REM

19. 1990s Polish president : WALESA - Lech, the electrician who became president, helped Poland into a post-communist era

20. Ocean State sch. : URI - The Fightin' Rams of the University of Rhode Island

21. California's __ Valley : SIMI

25. Pretentious sort : SNOB - Dontcha just hate 'em?

27. Used Grecian Formula on : DYED - Not enough vanity with me for that

28. Uses for a fee : RENTS

29. Civil War nickname : ABE

30. Artist's shade : HUE

31. "La Bamba" actor Morales : ESAI - A frequent flyer on this airline

33. Burroughs' feral child : TARZAN - I think we know the pithy dialog below

35. Welcomes to one's home : ASKS IN

39. Actress Sommer : ELKE

41. Sets for binge watchers : TVS - Hey, it's a Jetson's marathon!

42. Rapid-fire weapon : UZI

43. Fireplace piece : GRATE

46. Maker of Air Zoom sneakers : NIKE - How would these look on a 69 yr old retired teacher? Yeah, I thought so too.

48. Eyewear, in ads : SPEX

52. Regatta implements : OARS

53. Shout of support : RAH

54. Burglars' concerns : ALARMS

57. Former AT&T rival : GTE

60. See 62-Across : LEE

61. Endless, poetically : ETERNE

62. With 60-Across, big name in desserts : SARA - They had the best jingle with a double negative that was in C.C.'s lovely Monday puzzle.

63. Harris and Asner : EDS - I best remember Ed Harris as Gene Kranz uttering, "Failure is not an option" in Apollo 13

64. Gave the wrong idea : LED ON

Down

1. Once again : ANEW

2. Latina toon explorer : DORA - The Explorer

3. Superhero's nemesis : EVILDOER

4. Long Island Iced __: cocktail : TEA - No Lipton in there!

5. Public stature : REPUTE

6. Not sidesaddle : ASTRIDE - It would never do for Lady Mary of Downton Abbey to sit ASTRIDE

7. Hard to arouse : STOIC - Even sidesaddle, she would look STOIC

8. Sweetie pie : HON

9. Ohio county or its seat : MARION - Named for "The Swamp Fox" Francis Marion. Look who played him on TV

10. Not obliged to pay : EXEMPT - UN envoy and their parking tickets

11. Neglectful : REMISS

13. Harsh : ACERB - ACERBIC is a form more familiar to me

14. Focus of an annual 26-Down contest : SLAM DUNK 

17. Jefferson Davis was its only pres. : CSA - The story of Jeff Davis being captured while disguised in  women's clothes was untrue but gained a life of its own

21. Mideast chieftain : SHEIK - Do you remember Ray Stevens' now VERY un-pc song about the "SHEIK of the burn in' sands"?

23. Reply to Bligh : AYE

24. Ill-mannered : CRASS

25. Convened : SAT

26. Hoops gp. : NBA

30. Drummer Alex Van __ : HALEN

32. Avoid embarrassment : SAVE FACE - Better than this

34. Epsilon followers : ZETAS 

36. Large political spending org. : SUPER PAC - They raised $828,224,700 for the 2012 election 

37. Ending with civil or social : IZE

38. Put the kibosh on : NIX - 1935 Variety headline translated - "Rural people don't like movies about rural people"

40. Behind bars : ENCAGED

41. Ring result, briefly : TKO

43. Help in many a search : GOOGLE

44. Like many violent films : R-RATED - MPAA says "This rating is given for strong and frequent language and violence, nudity for sexual purposes and the abuse of drugs."

45. Goes with the flow : AGREES

47. Asian MLB outfielder with a record 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons : ICHIRO - As a Mariner, Yankee and Marlin (after playing for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan for 9 years)

48. Craftsman retailer : SEARS 

50. Really boiling : IRATE

51. Jeb Bush's st. : FLA

55. Cougar maker, for short : MERC

56. Dots on a subway map: Abbr. : STAS - The Kingston Trio sang "Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square STAtion and he changed for Jamaica Plain"

58. Voice legend Blanc : MEL

59. Channel founded by Turner : CNN

*Song lyric in English was "By the SEA, by the SEA, by the beautiful SEA"

A rerun of a something I have previously posted: If our blog mistress's doctor wanted to sent her med dosage to Walgreens and a copy to her, he would "CC the CC's to C.C." 


Husker Gary

Saturday, Apr 4th, 2015, John Lieb

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 27

   I have done well with Mr. Lieb's puzzles in the past, but today it was looking pretty bleak.  The first across pass yielded only about 5 answers, and then on the down run, little more.  Caught a break with a few well-placed W.A.G.s, and I happened to know a few of the proper names, too.  Alas, I did cheat - one look-up, and one verification - so I have to admit to a DNF.  Drat.  Two spanners, two 10-letter movie reference* climbers, and triple 9-letter corners made up the long fill;

17a. Donkey in "Shrek" et al. : ANIMAL SIDEKICKS - when one "ponders" other animal sidekicks, one might recall a TV show from '79-'81;

54a. "Been there, done that" : "NOT MY FIRST RODEO" - I found a little history here

13d. 2014 A.L. MVP : MIKE TROUT

28d. Wet blanket, in modern lingo : FUN SPONGE - new phrase to me, but I do like it - I'll use it to describe the way vague circumferential Saturday clues suck the joy out of some puzzles

Down-ar~!

ACROSS:

1. Franchise spawned in the '60s : STAR TREK - my personal favorite of the show's variations was "The Next Generation", which was my generation's version; the original was a bit too dry for me, and the latest version of the franchise, the "young" original crew, just doesn't do it justice, IMHO

9. Away for the summer, maybe : AT CAMP - nailed it; felt like I was off to a good start

15. White Sox nickname, with "the" : PALE HOSE - I thought this might be a specific person, but it's a reference to their uniform - white socks = pale hose

16. Longtime Ottoman Empire territory : BOSNIA

19. Dedicate : DEVOTE

20. Lug : TOTE

21. Worked (up) : HET

22. They're just looking : EYERS - oh, those 'socket sets'

23. Cries for attention : "HEYS~!"

24. NFLer Ronnie for whom a defensive award is named : LOTT - the Wiki

25. Remote power source : AA CELL - almost got me thinking "distant", and not TV/DVR

27. Land overseas : TERRE - I had terrA to start; good enough for me

28. Univ. staff : FACulty - not TAs; made the SW very slow in solving

31. Prevent from going to seed : MOW

32. Organization level : ECHELON

34. Sam Samudio's spoken opening in "Wooly Bully" : UNO DOS - link away~!

36. Sea-dwelling Greek god : NEREUS - Poseidon didn't fit; neither did NEPTUNE, the Roman version

37. Most populous OPEC nation : NIGERIA - OK, I cheated - sort of....I went and found a list of OPEC nations, because I had ---ERIA; ALGeria would have worked, too, but only 23% the population

39. Ask to be excused, with "off" : BEG

40. It merged with Sprint in 1983 : GTE

41. Command before a click : SMILE - dah~! Stuck in computer, not camera mode

42. Treated for traction, in a way : SALTED - Did anyone else think of this traction~?

45. Cocktail party fare : PÂTÉ - ya know, I have always heard this word in jokes, on TV, etc., but never actually knew what it was

46. Securely : FAST - as in "the bolt held the door fast"; there's quite a few homographs for 'fast'

47. Overseas denials : NEINS - Ach~! German~!

51. Taxonomic suffix : OTA - what I found was that this guy is of the subclass "pterygota"

52. "The Secret of __": 1982 animated movie : NIMH - I remembered the name, but not the movie - IMDb trivia

53. "Working Class Hero" songwriter : LENNON

57. "Brighton Rock" author : GREENE - I was missing the first letter, and "G" seemed to make the most sense, but I did Google to check

58. Doing a lawn job : AERATING

59. Lamb treats : ESSAYS - oh, so crafty - Charles Lamb, not "KEBABS" as I first tried

60. Hoodwinks : MISLEADS

DOWN:

1. Garden aid : SPADE - I tried "STAKE" off the "S" in Star Trek

2. Second-longest-serving Chief Justice : TANEY - perps

3. Not out of the game : ALIVE

4. Suckerfish : REMORA

5*. Song featured in "Moonstruck" : THAT'S AMORE

6. Break for a certain wannabe : ROLE - ah.  Crossing the "Sox" clue, this was way too vague for me; now I get it - an actor wannabe

7. Mariner cap insignia : ESS

8. "Reservoir Dogs" actor : KEITEL - and a lot of other Tarantino movies, too

9. Disables the alarm, say : ABETS - cute

10. Tip in Vegas : TOKE - seen this in crosswords before; not the 'toke' I grew up with

11. TV franchise since 2000 : CSI

12. Relay part : ANCHOR LEG

14. Acceptable form of back talk? : PAST TENSE - Har-har~!

18. His epitaph includes "knight" and "man of letters" : DOYLE - Sir Arthur Conan

23. Fell : HEW

24. Creepy look : LEER

26. Mozart title starter : COSI

27*. 1927 Buster Keaton film : THE GENERAL - totally not my generation - IMDb

29. Some film artists : ANIMATORS - q.v. 52a

30. Ponders : COGITATES

33. "For a life gone digital" news source : CNET

35. Editor's mark : DELE - or STET~? I can't tell with these crossings~!

38. "Same here" : "AS AM I"

39. Deli order : BLT

43. Hindu community : ASHRAM - dredged this one up from the depths

44. Represent : DENOTE

46. High winds : FIFES - ah, not like "zephyr", but high-pitched musical instruments

48. Bhopal locale : INDIA - well, the spelling should have clued me into a 'general' idea of where to find it

49. Continuously : NO END

50. Makes out, across the Pond : SNOGS - learned from "Harry Potter"

52. Part of a Fifth Ave. address : NY, NY - I'm here in LI, NY

53. A and P, e.g.: Abbr. : LTRS - More deceptive if it had been clued A & P - as in the mrkt

55. Apology opener : MEA - culpa

56. Dante's half-dozen : SEI - Italian "six"

Splynter