The major challenge in this puzzle was sussing a theme, which appears to be four items found at the end of fill, which do not appear by themselves when eaten (i.e, they're always in plural form). I may be all wrong as after some 200 puzzles write ups, I just am not sure. I blogged Jacob's first publication last year (a quote theme) and see he has had a NYT as well as another here in March since then. The long fill was the theme and reveal, but there also were: AMENITY, ASIATIC, LABELED, ORATION, GO TO SEED, HABITATS which are nice. Remarkably few proper name references so this should be doable by most. Left handed reliever Jesse Orosco was probably the most obscure along with the YMCA reference to Geneva but I know baseball and the perps were easy because it had to be a place, so it was all good. I also do not want to rock the boat, so let us head out into the sea of clues/fill.
24A Source of much government history : NATIONAL ARCHIVE. (15) It have been featured in many action movies, and you always get chives with your baked potato or cream cheese, not a chive.
32A Tax-exempt outlet : DUTY-FREE SHOP. (12) Having the Bahamas close by helps getting some great buys on imports without paying the excise tax. Well a beer related clue; I learned so much about hops in the past few years.
40A. Theme of many a ballad : ROMANTIC LOVE. (12) This is the odd one out as like the others it is the end of the fill, but it alone spans two words.
50A. Warning to a would-be rebel : DON'T ROCK THE BOAT.(15) One oat...nah. One girl....no clue.
18A. With 56-Across, memorable snack food slogan ... or a hint to what's hidden at the end of 24-, 32-, 40- and 50-Across : BETCHA CAN'T.(10) and 56A. See 18-Across : EAT JUST ONE.(10) I grew up eating Wise potato chips, so when this campaign started I gladly ate just one.
Across:
1. "Good one!" : HA HA.
5. See 55-Across : PAUL. More cross-referencing.55A. With 5-Across, musician for whom a classic Gibson guitar model is named : LES. The inventor of the electric guitar, and pioneer with his wife Mary Ford.
9. Lexicographer's concern : USAGE.They write dictionaries, not much plot but lots of big words.
14. Dutch export : EDAM. Cheesy answer.
15. Big Apple sch. : CCNY. The City College New York. Actually part of the CUNY system, so the full name is the The City College of the City University New York LINK.
16. Procreates : SIRES. The word procreate sounds biblical to me.
17. Monk's wear : ROBE. More biblical stuff.
20. Company name tag? : INC. Cute , as most states require INC., Co. etc at the end of the name.
22. Glass on a radio : IRA. From This American Life. We have had this a number of times, I had in in March in a John Guzzetta puzzle. I think Gershwin is being retired.
23. Symbol of industry : BEE. Busy as a...
30. Campaign staple : ORATION. Has anyone read much Cicero?
31. Surveillance device : SPYCAM. You are on camera half of your life now; get used to it.
35. Crash site initials : EMS. Emergency Medical Service
36. Eggs that may be served with grits : ROE. This clue was fishy.
37. Roadside purchase : GAS. Which you get from the burrito you foolishly bought at the 7 11.
46. 1980s Mets relief star Jesse : OROSCO. World Series HERO. Started I believe with the Twins.
49. Like some elephants : ASIATIC. They come in African and Asiatic? Why not ASIAN?
53. Souse's woe : DTS. Delerium Tremens. Not just a beer, but the shakes and eventually the pink elephants which are neither African or Asian.
54. A little light : RAY. A DO(E), a female deer?
61. Bound : LEAP. Tall buildings...
64. Desolate : STARK. Where they lived, Winterfell, was all of that. 19D. Desolate : HARSH. A mini-theme as well as clecho.
65. Series curtailer : ET AL.
66. They lack pelvic fins : EELS. Well, I have a pelvis but no pelvic fin
67. Short and sweet : TERSE. Sweet in a not very sweet way.
68. Deprives (of) : ROBS. Tempted to write ROBB just to be consistent.
69. June observance : D-DAY. We always should thank the soldiers and their families,
Down:
1. Start of some royal titles : HER. Does PIA count as the rest of the expression?
2. Flap : ADO. Is quiet 'adont'?
3. Rainforests, for many : HABITATS. Wonderful people building and helping others.
5. Banned chem. pollutant : PCB. All you wanted to know and more about these Polychlorinated Biphenyls
6. More than just pass : ACE.
7. No later than : UNTIL.
8. Wet suit material : LYCRA. Gratuitous
9. "Covert Affairs" airer : USA. The network not the country.
10. [Not my typo] : SIC. Latin for thus.
11. Like some numerals : ARABIC. Like 1, 2, 3 etc.
12. YMCA world headquarters city : GENEVA. Never knew this but it makes sense..
13. Value : ESTEEM. How do Italians remove wrinkles?
21. Do : COIF.
24. Bump on a branch : NODE. Much better than being a bump on a log.
25. Calla lily family : ARUM.
26. Logical connector : NOR.
27. End of __ : AN ERA.
28. Nav. noncom : CPO. Chief Petty Officer.
29. Right triangle part: Abbr. : HYPotenuse.
33. Quite a stretch : EON.
34. Ripped into : SET AT.
37. Deteriorate : GO TO SEED. Always wondered about this expression since seeds begin life, but then as vegetables go bad..
38. Adidas competitor : AVIA.
39. Religious faction : SECT.
40. Queue after Q : RST. A cute way for an alphabet string.
41. Text-scanning technology, briefly : OCR. Optical character recognition,
42. Secures, in a way : MOORS. How many own boats?
43. Native suffix : ISH. Moorish, Turkish, Spanish
44. Sky, to Sarkozy : CIEL. Simple French.
45. Called : LABELED.
46. Most unusual : ODDEST.
47. Perform a pirouette, say : ROTATE.
48. GM navigation system : ONSTAR. They advertise often. LINK. (0:54) I guess we are to forget about the recalls and non-recalls.
51. Supply with a spread : CATER.
52. City near Lake Biwa : KYOTO. A new way to clue an old answer.
57. PSAT takers : JRS. In high school.
58. Luau entertainment feature : UKE. CSO to our lost battalion of Hawaii posters.
59. Pinch : NAB.
60. Some Bronx lines : ELS. We couldn't have Ernie again so soon.
62. Like : A LA. as Splynter would say, frawnch.
63. Would-be social worker's major: PSY. My undergraduate and graduate field.
Well, tomorrow starts summer and the days start getting shorter. We do get closer to the NFL season. Today is 5 year wedding anniversary for son one, so I get to babysit my grandpuppy. LPGA playing their open at Pinehurst number 2 this week, should be fun. Thanks for the puzzle Jacob and thanks for the rest Corner. L714 out.
Note from C.C.:
Happy 60th Anniversary to dear Chickie and her husband Bill! Chickie has a backyard full of fruit trees. I saw a bag of dried persimmon at Trader Joe's the other day and thought of you.
