Friday, Aug 7th, 2026 ~ Gali Ellenblum & Tal Wagner

"Park Drive is always jammed"

"I said THROUGH the park"

We're taking the scenic route today, a walk in, uh, drive through the park for yours truly.  I do believe this is a debut construction for both authors - I did a Google search of the names, and the one thing I found they had in common ( if I picked the correct people ) is a "machine learning" education/understanding.  We'd love to get some feedback from you - drop in & visit our Crossword Corner~! ( merge left here )  There were no delays today, just a cruise through the clues & answers, including several one-word types - twenty-one, in fact, which I like; that's how Fridays should be.  Yet another "expanded" grid for your Friday host, two in a row now.  The "ST" abbr. for 'street', tacked on to four in-language phrases, outside the box, on the "side", with humorous cluing - sounds like a coffee or restaurant order.  Standard grid initially, a few names, no Twurds, a balance of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter words, with several car clues & Frawnche fill.  The four themers and reveal;

17. "Our previous recommendation stands"?: STILL ADVISED

25. "My peacock's tail is the best!," e.g.?: FEATHER BOAST

49. Record of one's attempts to enter a hedge maze?: START HISTORY

60. Promise made by a serial dater who aspires to commit?: ONE MORE TRYST - "One More Try" is a unique fill 

38. Features of some detours, or what four answers in this puzzle need in order to match their clues?: SIDE STREETS - and a unique fill, too~!

Grid Flow a low 24.9

🚧But Wait, ⛔There's More~!🏁

ACROSS:

1. Sheer: UTTER - One-word clue, one-word answer; letting me start with SHEER~?  Priceless~!

Utterly beautiful

6. Walrus kin: SEAL

10. Waffle over in the freezer aisle: EGGO - Too easy for Friday

14. Bête __: NOIRE -Frawnche #1, "black beast"

15. Shoestring: LACE - Sunday dupe

16. Infuriate: ROIL

19. Explore Mars, perhaps: ROVE - As Spirit & Opportunity did for NASA; I love the science success stories these two travelers gave us 

20. Ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: TET - new clue for this old answer; learning moment for me

21. Reaction to lions and tigers and bears: "OH MY~!" - never gets old - 😁

22. Vein of ore: LODE

23. Genesis locale: EDEN - AND - . . .

29. Genesis locale: SODOM - straight clecho

31. Accessory often tipped or used for tips: HAT

32. "Dee-lish!": "YUM~!"

33. French bean: HARICOT - straight Frawnche translation, #2, not a "?" clue for "tête"

37. "We are not alone" subj.: SETI - Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence

40. "Shoo!": "SCAT~!"

42. "Call Me" band: BLONDIE - name(ish) - they were just a hint before my time

Oui amie - more Frawnche, #3~!

43. Bud: PAL

44. Refuse to settle, perhaps: SUE - Last week, it was a "boy named SUE" . . .

45. Sticker: DECAL - Ah.  There's where it goes - I had it here - 26D. Sticker: THORN. . . 😜

54. Mountain lion: PUMA

55. "Yer killin' me!": "C'MON..."

56. Utah city near two national parks: MOAB - mostly perps, I just had to fill in the "B"; geo-name #1

Click to enlarge and read the description

58. Fishing pole: ROD

59. Drops from above: RAIN - not the "bomb" kind of drop . . . 😏

63. Early Bond foe: DR. NO - The earliest, in movies, name #2

64. Actor Auberjonois: RENÉ - name #3, knew him from "Benson"

65. :-( : I'M SAD - The "original" way of using typed characters for emotions, a Thursday dupe, and plain sad is actually not available through the blogger, as R-Brain showed . . . now we're "égaliser" 😁

66. Fortuneteller: SEER - AND - 60D. Sphere consulted by a 66-Across: ORB

67. Spanish kiss: BESO

68. Touchscreen tappers: STYLI - FINGER was a 'digit' too much . . . 🙄

DOWN:

1. Marries: UNITES

2. Home of the El Greco Museum: TOLEDO - Spain, geo name #4, more here

3. Pitching: TILTED - Dah~!  Not the SELLING, HAWKING or VENDING kind of pitching

A video about "Pitching" in nautical terms

4. Pitching stat: ERA- aaaand yet another definition of pitching - baseball

5. Make over: RE-DO - thanks for the Sunday shout-out, C.C. - I have finally gotten below 200lbs~!

6. Substance celebrated by the Sloomoo Institute: SLIME - Learning moment for me - more here

7. Smooth course: EASY A - crossword staple

8. Best club in Vegas?: ACE - But the best Ace is of Spades . . . 

Motörhead - another "umlaut" band

9. Was up: LED - think sports, not out-of-bed

10. Bad move: ERROR

11. Peace offerings?: GOOD-BYES - I, and a couple of friends, usually sign off  with "Peace."

12. Buckle: GIVE OUT - Like this bridge did - the verb, not the noun

give IN works, too, but doesn't fit

13. The Grand __ Opry: OLE

18. TV broadcast band: VHF - sssss, close, I tried UHF

22. Allow: LET

24. Like a 2024 Blake Snell game: NO-HIT - the only name I had no clue about, but in retrospect, the answer couldn't be much else, really.  More baseball, name(ish)

27. Despised: HATED

28. French friend: AMI - Frawnche #4, the masculine friend

30. Steamed: MAD - Dah~! Not HOT

34. Symbolic puzzle that dates to the Middle Ages: REBUS - good WAG on my part

35. Key: ISLET - Didn't fool me this time - I count about two dozen definitions of the word "key"

36. Cybersecurity exec: CTO - Chief Technology Officer

37. Very much inclined: STEEP - I am one house, or about 500ft, from CT rte. 195, and I can tell when a semi is either lumbering up the 6% incline, or jake-braking on the down-side

Burrrr-bur-bur-bur-bu-bu-bur . . . .

38. Source of some pink seasoning: SALT MINE - I knew we were looking for "SALT", but "SEA" was not going to work . . .

39. Ramadan-ending holiday, informally: EID - filled via perps

40. Cocoa scrub venue: SPA - it's a "thing" - more on the benefits here

41. Auto maintenance: CAR CARE - TUNE-UP was too short, OIL CHANGE too long

44. Transgression: SIN

46. Respectful dip: CURTSY

47. Virtually indifferent?: AMORAL - clever

48. "The People's Princess": LADY DI - killed in a car crash, Paris, 29yrs ago this month - no one was wearing a seat belt; name #5, Frawnche #5

50. Show respect for: HONOR - nailed it

51. Signs: OMENS - and again

52. Shakespeare lover: ROMEO - name #6 -  Stelvio lover - ALFA Romeo

The 33 Stradale

53. Former NBA star Ming: YAO - at 7ft6, basketball was a good choice . . . name #7

57. Jewish rite: BRIS

59. Hwys.: RDs - It couldn't be "STs"

61. Born abroad: NÉE - the Frawnche 'definition', not the "act" - #6

62. CPR expert: EMT - pray you don't need one if you make an "error" or "transgression" on that road🠉

Splynter

Uhhh . . . 

Friday, Jul 31st, 2026 ~ Betsy Ochester & Andrew Gutelle

ACROSS & . . . 

DOWN  - ON THE CORNER

I do like an "outside the box" kind of puzzle - we had a similar Friday with "Sides Add LE" on April 24th this year from James Mattina.  Today we have a crossword from constructors Betsy O and Andrew G - this is their third LA Times collaboration; the others were (1) on Thursday, and (2) on Monday, both with Naomi at the helm to guide us.  Today's themers can be resolved by adding corner "around" the corner(s) of the grid, and Bob (Feller)'s Your Uncle.  Standard size, no Twurds, typical run of proper names, with TWO Leslies & Penguins today. The themers, reveal, and an expanded graphic of the grid:

1A. *Executive space with great views: [ corner ] OFFICE - Here's a "great view" of my executive blogging command center, taken from the corner at the ceiling 😜

I'm not done with the space yet - still working on the closet area

and a cool set of shelves for the opposite wall

7A. *Area in Westminster Abbey where Chaucer is buried: POETS [ corner ] - More from their website

65A. *Place to find a date?: [ corner ] STONE - ah.  That kind of 'date'

66A. *Stop sign locale: STREET [ corner ] - "Hey, baby, what's your sign~?"   "Stop."

12D. *Scoring opportunity in soccer: [ corner ] KICK

14D. *Defensive player who's often the fastest on the football field: [ corner ] BACK - The NY Jets used to have ESPN's #9 choice, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, but he's with the Colts now

47D. *Eeyore's home: POOH [ corner ] - "Winnie the" and friends' website

53D. *Challenging stretch at Augusta National: AMEN [ corner ] - more from the PGA Masters, here

37. Not far off, or where to look to make this puzzle's starred clues match their answers?: 

AROUND THE CORNER

And a shout-out to the all the Crossword CORNERITES~!

Grid Flow 34.5

    W
     a
     i
But
          There's
                   M
                    o
                    r
                    e(s)~!

ACROSS:

-

-

12. Quaint term for "patella": KNEEPAN - Google says it's one word, and a learning moment for me

13. Supporting Mideast unity: PAN-ARAB - I got stuck on NON-arab, which cost me 2 minutes of looking for my mistake; the Wiki

15. Björk's country: ICELAND - sssss, close - I know of her, went with FIN-land; name #1

16. Ferrera of "Ugly Betty": AMERICA - name #2 - I do the Sunday puzzle on Friday, since I had solved today's puzzle back on Sunday - here's a "slit" for Anon-T's write up 😁

Her Harness page

17. Winnow: CULL - ah; I was thinking M innow

18. Simple shelters: TENTS - made my "RIM OF FIRE" at 19 Down Bzzzzt

20. Rat (on): NARC

21. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" novelist: KESEY - I knew of Ken, name #3

23. Period: DOT - not the "ERA" kind of dot, this one . . . ↙

24. Albanian currency: LEK - Friday.  Vague.

25. "Tubular!": "RAD~!" - two weeks in a row for me

27. Fire (up): REV

29. Texter's "Just a sec": BRB - Be Right Back - I gotta "P"

30. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC - Centers for Disease Control

33. String of dried chile peppers: RISTRA - filled via perps - and a unique fill 😁

35. Reign: RULE

40. Jazz singer Sylvia: SYMS - no clue, name #4 - more here

41. One on parental leave, perhaps: NEW DAD

42. "A Boy Named __": Johnny Cash hit: SUE - name (ish)

43. Navy noncom: CPO - Chief Petty Officer

44. Simple shirt: TEE

45. Pained cry: "YOW~!!"

47. Kung __ chicken: PAO

48. Trippy drug: LSD - LySergic Acid Diethylamide - "acid"

50. Molten rock: MAGMA

Liquid Hot MAG - MA

54. Luxury hotel chain: OMNI

56. Label again: RE-TAG

58. Word: TERM

59. Wedding crasher's destination, perhaps: OPEN BAR - Crossing - 31D. College with an alcohol ban: DRY CAMPUS (a unique fill ) - how's that for a "mixer"~?

61. Pen pal's signoff: "WRITE ME." - Penguin's (#1) sign off - "White Me"

63. "House __": longtime HGTV series: HUNTERS - Here's an episode about a village near my old stomping ground of Long Island - about 20mins south of where I lived

Setauket to Patchogue

64. "Airplane!" star Leslie: NIELSEN - A gimme Leslie #1, name #5 - "I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you . . ."

DOWN:

1. At just the right moment: ON CUE

2. Senses: FEELS

3. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob who won the World Series in 1948 with Cleveland: FELLER - also no clue, name #6, more from the Hall of Fame here

4. Bitter brew, briefly: IPA - was not working with my FINLAND

5. Jargon: CANT - def.  #3b

6. Over and done: ENDED

7. Tennis player Shriver and actress Grier: PAMs - know both "names", #s 7 & 8

Pam #7 is not quite square to the net, but still a pretty cool A I image

8. Low digit: ONE - Dah~!  This time, it was not TOE

9. Merit: EARN

10. Dress rehearsals: TRIAL RUNS

11. French cry of surprise: "SACRE BLEU~!!" - Frawnche expletive

13. Spoke rapidly: PATTERED - I was not giving up N-attered

19. The Pacific __: NORTHWEST - not the "Rim of Fire"

Ah.  Pacific RIM was the movie . . .

22. Knitter's ball: YARN

26. Neglected to: DIDN'T

28. Holiday, casually: VACAY

29. Cool remark: "Brr~!" - I think this may have benefitted from a "?", but it filled via perps, so . . . 

30. __ in Charlie: 'C' AS . . . meh.  CHarlie is a "chuh" sound, not a "kuh", as in Careless editing mistake

32. Part: COMPONENT - solid vague one word 4-letter clue + 8-letter answer

34. Pittsburgh team: STEELERS - PENGUINS (#2) fit, too, name(ish)

36. Afore: ERE

38. GI show gp.: USO - United Service Organization

39. Leslie __ Jr. of "Hamilton": ODOM - Leslie #2, name #9

46. Turkey appendage: WATTLE - for some reason, I went with GIBLET, but thought it was spelled GIBBET - that's something else that "hangs" . . . 

49. New beginnings: DAWNS

51. Gaggle birds: GEESE

52. Mascot Hall of Fame inductee from Queens: MR. MET - I knew "him", forgot what he was called

I grew up with the Mets, did not know he had a "Mrs."

55. A fan of: INTO - I am more into hockey . . . The NHL Eighty-Four game season starts Sep 29th

56. Uncommon: RARE

57. Spunk: GRIT

60. "Severance" director Stiller: BEN - name #10, I "neglected to" know ( 26D. ) he directed; sounds like a thrilling TV series

62. Suffix with front or cash: IER - frontier, cashier

Splynter

Friday, Jul 24th, 2026 ~ Kelsey Dixon & Sarah Sinclair

 "MAKEUP" YOUR MIND

Generations, and as a consequnce, the Gaps

and I did NOT wear ( Grunge ) plaid 

Today's puzzle comes to us from two "younger" generation constructors; their last LA Times was here, in 2024, with TTP at the helm.  I did not recall solving that one, but I got a laugh from TTP's link to the "dap".  As for this one, it wraps up a week of dreadful crossnames constructions, and made me feel I am either too old, or too cynical; it feels more like a Tik-Tok post than a crossword, but YMMV.  Four theme answers where one needs to turn a "blind" eye to the 'blush' synonym in the common 'phrase' answers in order to make sense of the * clue; the reveal is definitely not in my wheelhouse, but I think I got the gist of it . . . an under-sized grid, 15 x 14, with more than a blush of abbrs and names, Twenty-six 3LWs, and a 21st century-speak Twurd, but I can relate to it.  The themers, and the short-spanning reveal;

16. *Lesser: SECONDARY COLOR - a 14-letter spanner, this is the 'tone / tint' definition of blush

20. *Fit for a queen: ROYAL FLUSH - this is the 'verb' definition of blush

33. *Home of the Magic and the Magic Kingdom: ORLANDO BLOOM - also verb, name #1(ish)

46. *Relay rod: BATON ROUGE - and last, the actual noun 'makeup' definition of blush

53. Tendency to overuse a certain cosmetic, or what has caused a mismatch between the starred clues and their answers?: BLUSH BLINDNESS

Sabrina Carpenter may be suffering from blush blindness - and perhaps 

even over-doing the lipstick, too - but I still find her attractive 😁

But Wait There's More~!

ACROSS:

1. 7-Eleven convenience: ATM - same fill, different clue; abbr #1

4. Bubble tea "bubbles": BOBA - becoming a popular clue/answer

8. Influencer devices, for short: MICs - I am aware that "influencer" is now a "thing", dare I say a "career" in the Social Media Digital 21st Century~? A millennials clue

12. Olympic sprinter Richardson: SHA'CARRI - name #2, no clue; filled via perps - when I Googled, her Instagram link came up before her Wiki; born in 2000, so . . . millennial (ish) 

14. ID on a map: IDAHO - Dammit.  Got me.  I just could not get past "I Dentity" - geo name

18. Transcript fig.: GPA - abbr #2

19. Beyoncé song about the joy of human existence: BE ALIVE - millennial

24. Corp. title for Jane Fraser of Citigroup: CEO - I had C_O, so it was either F, E, I, O, or T; name AND abbr #3

25. BBC competitor that airs "Love Island": ITV - Learned about this TV channel when I watched the history of Top Gear - the Gen X series started in 2002; the orignal show dates back to 1977; abbr #4

My, how it changed; I think the 2002-Grand Tour version may have been

the best TV show ever - funny, informative, dramatic, and entertaining

26. 1980s cool: RAD - I was an 80's kid, but by no means was I "Rad"(ical) - or maybe I was - a long-haired 'headbanger nerd' . . . how's that for outcast~?  The cigarette-smoking heavy metal fans hated me for being "smart" and doing well in school, and I simply terrified the geeks . . . Gen X, & abbr #5

27. Unspoken agreements?: NODS

28. "You wish!": "DREAM ON~!" - Gen X would have gone with Aerosmith on this one

The "Toxic Twins", 1973

31. Fed. south of Iran: UAE - United Arab Emirates, abbr #6

37. With 30-Down, Paul Rudd role: ANT - AND - 30D. See 37-Across: MAN - I thought it was THE Ant, which wasn't going to work - I have seen parts of the movies

38. Pride symbol: RAINBOW

40. 1975 thriller with a two-note leitmotif: JAWS - A John Williams composition for Steven Spielberg's movie, which does sound "borrowed" from Igor Stravinsky; we saw 'leitmotif' yesterday - Gen X

EEEEE f . . . . eeeee F . . . . E F E F E F . . . .

I composed this blog days before I read RustyBrain's post -

great minds think alike 😁

43. Roughly: "ISH" - AND - 34D. Roughly: OR SO . . . clecho #1

44. Ring spot: TOE - A whole three-letter word~!  EAR would work, too

45. Accessibility law, for short: ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990 

50. Online friends, colloquially: MUTUALS - must be 21st century-speak, so millennial

52. Apple platform: iOS - AND - 60. Apple assistant: SIRI - clecho #2; I tend to think the younger you are, the more likely you'll be an Apple person - see the first image above.  I'm Android, as all of the Apple products I ever came into contact with crapped out on me at critical moments . . .

58. Far from shore: AT SEA

59. Like farmers market produce: IN SEASON

61. Title derived from "caesar": TSAR

62. Smallest prime number: TWO - Jeez, math again on Friday~!

DOWN:

1. Donkey: ASS - How's that for a whole three-letter word . . .

2. English article: THE - THE English scored SIX goals in the World Cup, four to France - total 10, yet NOT the record

3. Jury-rig with what's on hand, informally: MACGYVER - today's Friday highlight clue/answer for me

4. Not just unoriginal: BANAL - I tried BLASÉ; 60% of the correct letters

5. Chicago airport code: ORD - I was close - I put in ORL, but that's the smaller field in the "other" Orlando - Florida - not Bloom.  ORD comes from the original name of O'Hare, Orchard Place; abbr #7

6. Bandeau, e.g.: BRA

7. "Ain't no rule say the dog can't play basketball" film: AIR BUD - Didn't see this movie - IMDb

8. Parsons who was NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021: MICAH - I knew this name, #4, because he was a Dallas Cowboy hold-out last season - his Wiki

9. Megastar: IDOL

10. Multicolored cat: CALICO

11. Pushed: SHOVED

13. Club in a Manilow hit: COPA - sheesh, pick a Generation already - "makeup" your mind~!

Copacabana, 1978, Barry Manilow

15. Cookies with a "design your own" option: OREOs

17. Ouija board word: YES

A little history

20. Free (of): RID

21. Bad Bunny's "__ Atardecer": OTRO - aaand back to millennials - Español, "Another Sunset"

22. Phony persona: FRONT - much of Social Media, IMHO

23. Touch down: LAND - Dah~!  Not ALIT

27. Gas in an inner tube?: NEON - trying too hard to be witty, this one fell flat

29. "Welp!": "ALAS~!" -  I learned today that "welp" is "sadly", in texts; millennial

31. German equivalent of the Tube: UBAHN - short for untergrundbahn, the subway

32. Romance novelist Hazelwood: ALI - Friday vague name #5

35. Most dense: OBTUSEST - just saying this is obtuse

36. Synthesizer pioneer: MOOG - name #6, more here

39. Atomic: WEE - ah; size-related

40. Brand that dropped "Juice" from its name in 2019: JAMBA - name(ish), and Friday vague-ish, but maybe that's on me because there's only two locations in CT - I've never heard of this "refreshment" store

The name ( #6 ) change story

41. Grown-ups: ADULTS - I'm Gen X, and I still don't care for "adulting" . . . 😜

42. 1960s dance: WATUSI - aaaand back to Baby Boomer

"Luci Watusi"

43. Party line?: "IT'S LIT" - aaaand millennial again, aaaand Twurdish; here's the slang definition; back in my drinking days, "I " was lit . . . 😵

46. Faith based in Haifa: BAHÁ'Í - No clue; more here

47. Clerical tunic: ALB - Another whole three-letter word, and I nailed it~!

48. One subject to a height requirement, say: RIDER - think amusement parks

49. Chaplin of the Netflix miniseries "Treason": OONA - not the OONA this Gen Xer was thinking of; name #8

51. App ad target: USER - meh.  vague.

54. Geico's bus.: INSurance - abbr #8

55. Intel org.: NSA - "No Such Administration", abbr #9

56. Piglet's mother: SOW - I got my Piglets mixed up; I went with ROO - the other Pooh character

As a goalie, I loved the incredible World Cup final saves

on the part of the Agentina netminder . . . and look - 

I can Instagram~!

57. __-cone: SNO

Splynter

Grid Flow 22.9

Notes from C.C.: 

I'm thrilled to tell you that Naomi and I made today's USA Today crossword, edited by Amanda Rafkin. 

Give it a whirl when you have some extra time. We'd love to hear what you think. And a special congratulations to Naomi on her crossword debut!

Friday, Jul 17th, 2026 ~ Alex Rossell Hayes & Brian Callahan

BRING 'B' RING

Now that's some "BLING"

We have seen Brian's name on crosswords before, but I do believe this is the first for Alex Rossell Hayes, so congrats on your debut~!  I loved this puzzle - solid fill, brilliant cluing, it made me smile, and not only is it clever, but in alphabetical order, too - paired A, E, I, O, & U five-letter words 'broken up" to provide some humorous results.  Friday level difficulty, but I was on the constructors' wavelength and breezed through, despite the chunky triple-7-letter plus corners.  An over-sized 15x16 grid, two handfuls of names, no circles, and an even spread of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- AND 7-letter words.  The themers, no reveal;

18. Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes?: "AVOID A VOID."

The Endurance approaching Gargantua, from Interstellar

26. Air travel that's the fifth-best option?: "PLAN E" PLANE

The captain has turned off the seatbelt warning . . . 

36. "My job is ranking people on a scale of 'miffed' to 'downright furious'"?: "I RATE 'IRATE'."

😑😕😖😠😡

"The in-flight meal was unacceptable~! 😡"

51. Juliet's response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond?: "ROME, O ROMEO." - "Wherefore art thou~?  Not in Rome, and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

60. Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble?: UTILE "U" TILE

Richard III - more Shakespeare humor

But Wait, There's More~? . . . 🤪

ACROSS:

1. Agreeing (with): SIDING - not the vinyl cladding on my house

7. Unleash (on): SIC - I had SET to start

10. Chemically quiet: INERT - like the rightmost column in last week's periodic chart

15. Rocker Dee: SNIDER - Name #1, but I knew him because his band, Twisted Sister, were from my home area of Long Island

16. "Industry" network: HBO - had the "H", WAGed the rest

17. Levi's Stadium player: NINER - What if they actually played IN Levi's~?

501-fly football

20. Prickly plants: CACTI 

21. Green prefix: ECO

22. Folk icon Joan: BAEZ - name #2, but fairly well-known

23. Washed-out: PALLID

24. Espresso froth: CREMA - we had this $6999 coffee-making machine in the office at my last drafting job - it grinds beans & boils water . . . I can do that and save seven thousand dollars 😁

Miele CVA7845 sold here if you must have one

28. Element of many English breakfast blends: ASSAM TEA - enough perps to WAG the rest

30. Sci-fi beings: ETs - AND - 60D. Sci-fi craft: UFO - clecho(ish) #1

31. Vehicle with sliding doors: VAN - I have a 20yr old Dodge Grand Caravan, and lately, there's been a rattle driving me nuts; turned out to be the plastic handle of the sliding door; the spring that holds it in place has gotten "tired", so the lever jiggles as I drive . . . 

Up here in CT, I can now register this as a "classic" - and the insurance drops

32. Waver: TEETER - and Tweeter in the same puzzle~!

33. Group of badgers: CLAN

35. Part of R&R: REST - the other "R" is Relaxation ( I have also seen Recuperation )

39. Catchall gp.: MISCellaneous

42. Bad-mouth: DISS - usually just "dis", as in disrespect, but 'acceptable'

43. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" singer: MONROE - Marilyn, name #3

47. Sun Devils sch.: ASU - Arizona State Uninversity - learned by doing crosswords

48. Snag: GET - AND - 6D. Snag: GRAB - straight clecho, #2

49. Treble-makers?: TWEETERS - Wow.  Old-school speaker reference . . . I almost didn't get it

Not your Twitter tweeter

54. Colorful South Asian dresses: SARIs

55. Running groups?: SLATES - Friday vague; those elected to run an organization; more here

56. Aphrodite's son: EROS - Name(ish)

58. Thai neighbor: LAO - the people, not the land

59. Places for soaks: BATHS - I do love to take a hot bath after I tear myself up at the gym

63. Pair of hearts?: ATRIA - the "other" pair are Ventricles

64. Enthusiast: FAN

65. Tickled: AMUSED - this puzzle tickled my fancy

66. Show emotion: REACT

67. Estadio cheer: OLÉ - Español; Spain & Argentina for the World Cup

My father was a HUGE soccer fan, so I had to root for England,

his ( and mom's ) home country

68. Most easygoing: LAXEST

DOWN:

1. Org. with a "Get Ready for Baby" page: SSA - Great new clue for this tired fill, but it took waaay to long for me to find that page on the Social Security Administration website

2. Multiplication, to division: INVERSE - You'd have to "subtract" a letter to fit 'opposite' . . . 🙄

3. Bishop's domain: DIOCESE - nailed it, spelling and all

4. Hard to translate, in a way: IDIOMATIC - "the whole nine ( letters ) yards"

5. Nancy Drew's boyfriend: NED - name #4, and I thought it was NED, but hesitated

7. Slip-ons lack: SHOELACES - nine-letters #2

8. Third-largest of the Balearic Islands: IBIZA - geo name #5

They're probably excited about the World Cup there, too

9. Fish oil source: COD

10. Like LOL, but not haha: IN CAPS - slighly Twurdish, but Friday clever - LIKE WHEN PEOPLE TEXT IN CAPS TO INDICATE THEY ARE SHOUTY~!!!!

11. Horan of One Direction: NIALL - no clue, filled via perps, name #6

12. Lesotho, for one: ENCLAVE - learning moment for me; the Wiki

13. Organ parts with rods and cones: RETINAS - I knew we needed an EYEpart, tried CORNEAS - Bzzzzt~!

14. Aquaman's staff: TRIDENT - seemed the logical answer for a "sea-based" superhero

Aquaman and his other A I-generated "staff" 🙄

19. __ pen: VAPE - ooof.  Friday vague - this thing

23. Honey or sugar: PET NAME - I figured we were looking for something like this

24. Feline: CAT - "Fe" line is sooo last week . . . 

25. Pt. of USA: AMERica

27. Far from far: NEAR - har-har

29. Goods people: TRADERS

34. Scope rival: LISTERINE - Solid fill, simple cluing, nine-letters #3

35. Wedding attire, for some: RENTAL TUX - nine-letters #4; I rented my tux for the premiere of  "The Golem", the movie I worked on back in 1997-8 - available on YouTube July 20th

37. "Mambo Birdland" Grammy winner Puente: TITO - two weeks in a row; name #7

38. Low digits?: TOES

39. Milky Way kin: MARS BAR

  40. Silo: ISOLATE - Phew~!  Friday vague - verb def. #2

41. Indonesian island crossed by the equator: SUMATRA - geo name #8

44. Bring up again: RERAISE - e.g. an issue, not the poker version of re-raise

45. Colorful songbirds: ORIOLES - nailed it

46. Sourdough starter?: ESS - Sourdough, meta-clue; my trainer put me on to sourdough bread

48. Charges: GOES AT 

50. Product removed by shear force?: WOOL - sheAr, not sheEr

The "other" sheer force

52. Value system: ETHIC

53. Heavy __: METAL - so, so last week . . . 

57. Shut tight: SEAL

61. Thurman of "Gattaca": UMA - crossword staple, name #9

62. Philly summer hrs.: EDT - Philadelphia, PA is currently observing Eastern Daylight Time

Splynter

Grid Flow 59.8 - high

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 71st birthday to dear Naomi, our brilliant Monday Sherpa! Her Monday write-ups are always thoughtful, informative, and beautifully crafted. Thanks for all you do for our blog, Naomi, and have a fantastic birthday!

NaomiZ 

2) Happy 73rd birthday to YooperPhil, another longtime member of our Crossword Corner family. Wishing you a wonderful birthday and many happy returns!