17. Harebrained schemes : CRAZY IDEAS. They are often off the wall.
22. Noted sitter : HUMPTY DUMPTY. He fell off the wall and cracked himself up.
36. With 37- and 38-Across, big hit : LONG.
37. See 36-Across : FLY.
38. See 36-Across : BALL. If it's not a home run, it probably bounced off the wall.
47. Cause of bad luck, so they say : BROKEN MIRROR. All I have to do is look in one to break it - it doesn't have to fall off the wall.
56. Bizarre, and what 17-, 22-, 36/37/38- and 47-Across can be, in one way or another : OFF THE WALL.
There are lots of ways to be off the wall. Here we have one figurative off the wall reference, one fictional, and two that could literally either bounce or drop off the wall. Marti here, to pick up the pieces.
Across:
1. Licensed med. personnel : RNS. Checking the perps didn't help much - between RALPH, NAURU and SALEM, all I got was the "S"!!! Cross referenced at 64-Across. Workplaces for 1-Across : ERS.
4. Heavens : EDENS. Edens to Betsy!
9. Relations : KIN.
12. Wireless mouse batteries : AAAs.
14. Fuzzy __ : NAVEL. Peach schnapps and OJ. Great for brunch.
15. How-to presentation : DEMO.
16. One of a kind : LULU.
19. Lay the groundwork : PREPARE.
21. Live-in help, perhaps : NANNY.
26. Squirt : IMP.
27. Hardly a deadeye : POOR SHOT. Any takers?
31. "We __ amused" : ARE NOT. (Oh yes, we are!)
34. Role for Liz : CLEO.patra. Elizabeth Taylor.
35. Personality part : EGO.
39. Catchall abbr. : ETC.
40. Miscellany : OLIO.
42. Pushed : GOADED.
44. Makes tawdry : CHEAPENS.
46. Acct. datum : AMT. I wish the amount in my account were a little higher...
52. __ New Guinea : PAPUA.
55. Gets : OBTAINS.
60. Half DX : CCLV. I prefer this type of clue much more than "Year in so and so's reign…"
61. Campaign funders, briefly : PACS. Political Action Committees.
62. Guts : MOXIE.
63. 1980s surgeon general : KOOP. The only surgeon-general to become a household name. Do you remember why?
65. Jacket material : TWEED.
66. Elevs. : HTS.
Down:
1. "Invisible Man" writer Ellison : RALPH. Full name RALPH Waldo Ellison, named for - (guess who?)
2. World's smallest island nation : NAURU. Map.
3. Capital south of Olympia : SALEM.
4. Protect, in a way : ENCRYPT. I am fascinated by the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII.
5. Challenged : DARED.
6. Perón of Argentina : EVA.
7. Pince-__ : NEZ.
8. Like some dogs and devils : SLY.
9. Sharp : KEEN.
10. One-named supermodel : IMAN. I can never remember if it IMAm, InAm or IMAN.
11. Prone to prying : NOSY.
13. Dining : SUPPING.
15. Decisive times : D-DAYS. Do you know what the "D" stands for? Spoiler here.
18. Short beginning : INTRO.
20. Sphere lead-in : ATMO. Meh. And another: 33-Down. Confer ending : ENCE.
23. Able to give a firsthand account : UP CLOSE…and personal.
24. "Holy __!" : MOLY!
25. "The Pit and the Pendulum" author : POE. Would you believe, I filled it in as "EAP" at first? D'uh!!
28. Proceed : HEAD.
29. Stare rudely at : OGLE.
30. Related : TOLD.
31. Baldwin of "The Cooler" : ALEC. In gambling parlance, a "cooler" is a player who seems to cause other players to get unlucky, thus "cooling" down their hot streaks.
32. "Portnoy's Complaint" novelist : ROTH. It came out in 1969 - and immediately created a public outrage.
37. Informer : FINK.
38. Dugout convenience : BAT RACK. It's where they hang their keys.
40. Talk show tycoon : OPRAH.
41. Durocher of baseball : LEO. "The Lip."
42. Bet : GAMBLED.
43. Skip past : OMIT.
45. Is up against : ABUTS.
48. "Cross my heart!" : NO LIE!
49. Maker of Caplio cameras : RICOH. Never heard of this camera:
50. Like septic tanks : ON LOT. Anyone else scratch their heads over this one? Septic tanks are always located ON the LOT of land that they serve. Town sewer systems draw sewage through sewer lines to a central processing system at another central location. All you want to know, here. (Really, you actually clicked that link???)
51. SASE inserts, often : RSVPS. I used to get invited to a lot of weddings. Now I look through the obituaries to plan my social calendar.
52. Leader who wears the Ring of the Fisherman : POPE. Also called the "Piscatory Ring."
53. Quite a way off : AFAR.
54. Low-ranking GIs : PFCs.
57. CPR pro : EMT.
58. "Man!" : WOW.
59. Tool often swung : AXE. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the AXE.": Abraham Lincoln.
That's all I have for now!
Marti
