15A. Eight-time Norris Trophy winner : BOBBY ORR. "Mr Crossword" gets a full-name entry today, and a theme one to boot!
19A. Practical joke during a greeting : JOY BUZZER. Comic-strip staple (usually exaggerating the effect!) I didn't know the official name for this device.
31A. Postwar population phenomenon : BABY BOOM. Apparently, Boomers in the US control over 80% of personal financial assets, account for 80% of leisure travel and buy 77% of all prescription drugs. Obviously all that travel and wealth is not good for you.
38A. Yokohama is on it : TOKYO BAY. Trying to fit "WHEEL RIM" in here didn't get me very far.
50A. Board buyer's request : TWO-BY-FOUR. I have a minor quibble here - if you walk into a lumber yard and ask for a two-by-four, you're going to get a post, not a board.
58A. Like many teen girls, and a literal hint to this puzzle's circled squares : BOY CRAZY
Cue screams for One Direction from our youthful readership. I went to YouTube to link some audio of the boys, but you'll be happy to hear that I got distracted watching Kevin Spacey do celebrity impersonations.
Steve here with another product of Mr. Bain's fertile mind. I don't think circle-less solvers were put at too much of a disadvantage. I thought a pangram might be afoot when I saw all the Y's, Z's and the trickier J's, K's and W's making an appearance, but no room for a Q or an X. Given the six Y's and 3 Z's, that doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.
Across:
1. Go wrong : ERR
4. Party garb for Hef : PJ'S
7. Some grenades, briefly : FRAGS. The fragmentation grenade, a thoroughly unpleasant piece of ordnance.
12. Response to a home team bobble : BOO. Tough crowd if you're going to boo your own team for a mere bobble. A complete season-long meltdown and it might just about be acceptable.
13. Tough kid to handle : BRAT
14. Amazon crocodilian : CAIMAN. Spell-check doesn't like "crocodilian". Another reason why you should never trust it.
17. A to A, e.g. : OCTAVE. Favorite clue of the day for me.
18. Mascara mishap : SMEAR
21. Vena __: heart vessel : CAVA
23. Cobbler's tool : AWL
24. Times gone by, in times gone by : ELD. It's in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, but certainly not in mine. I tried to find an example of usage, but drew a blank.
25. Less solid : SHAKIER
28. Anti-bullfighting org. : PETA
30. Steamed cantina food : TAMALE. My local Farmer's Market has a stand selling beef, pork and chicken varieties which is a regular stop for me. I've made my own, but you have to make about 200 at a time to justify the effort.
35. Heaps : A LOT. Or the number of tamales you have to make in a session.
36. Boring routine : RUT
37. In need of a massage : SORE
41. Gravel components : STONES. Here's a very talented collection of gravel:
43. Work without __ : A NET
44. Pens in : CORRALS
45. Scammer's target : SAP
48. "The Book of __": 2010 film : ELI. Denzel Washington drama. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 48% rating, si I don't think I missed anything by not seeing it.
49. Very little : A DAB
53. Less experienced : NEWER
57. Less taxing : EASIER
60. Lose : MISLAY. My Dad always claimed he'd not lost something, he'd merely "temporarily" mislaid it. I think "temporary" had a different meaning for him.
61. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE
62. Tax shelter letters : IRA
63. Take the reins : STEER
64. Single chin-up, say : REP. If I was a pedant, I'd say you can't have one repetition of something, you have to have at least two. Actually, I am a pedant, so I call a very mild foul here.
65. Season ticket holder : FAN.
Down:
1. Fades away : EBBS
2. Dorm unit : ROOM
3. Post-shower wear : ROBE. Does Hef wear one over his PJ's?
4. One paid to play : PRO.
5. "Star Wars" character __ Binks : JAR JAR. Possibly the most annoying character ever introduced into a sci-fi franchise, IMHO.
6. Houston MLB'er : 'STRO
7. School group : FACULTY. I wanted GARAGE BAND, but ran out of blank squares.
8. __ Bits: cracker sandwiches : RITZ
9. Leave wide-eyed : AMAZE
10. "Order! Order!" mallet : GAVEL
11. Dummy Mortimer : SNERD. Brief SNERD/SNERT uncertainty compounded by the unknown ELD. I pondered awhile and I chose wisely (or guessed wild-assly, your call).
13. How much cargo is transported : BY RAIL
14. All-natural flytrap : COBWEB. Amazing feat of engineering.
16. Slangy "Ditto!" : "BACK AT YA!"
20. Pester, puppy-style : YAP AT
22. Crew neck alternative : VEE
25. Medical "Now!" : STAT! From the Latin "Statim", meaning "Urgent". Something I don't want to hear when I'm in the Doctor's office.
26. Saintly radiance : HALO
27. Hog-wild : AMOK
29. Shock __ : ABSORBER
31. Believe : BUY
32. Chaplin of "Game of Thrones" : OONA. I keep meaning to catch up on Game of Thrones - I watched the first two episodes; I think I've got about 90 to bring me up-to-date.
33. Pitcher Hershiser : OREL
34. Predicament : MESS
36. Numerical relationship : RATIO
39. Like many gift subscriptions : ONE YEAR
40. Quasimodo's workplace : BELFRY. Trying to cram "Notre Dame" in here doesn't really work.
41. Putting green patch : SOD
42. Mesmerized state : TRANCE
44. King of pop : CAROLE. I trod the misdirection path of ELVIS/MICHAEL/(insert your favorite here) for a little while.
45. Parts of peonies : STEMS. Misreading this as "ponies" slowed me up somewhat.
46. Look forward to : AWAIT
47. Ad hoc law group : POSSE
51. Gallbladder fluid : BILE
52. Slangy prefix meaning "ultra" : UBER
54. Street urchin : WAIF
55. University founder Cornell : EZRA.
56. "Sleepless in Seattle" co-star : RYAN
59. "Take me! Take me!" at the shelter : YIP. More puppy-pestering.
Fun stuff, and if you didn't get the circles in your publication here they are:
Steve
