Saturday, Jun 17th, 2017, Erik Agard

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 26

Mr Agard has yet another Saturday grid for us, his last one on May 20th.  Not as quick as the last puzzle, it took nearly all of my personal allotted time - however, I did not have cheat (much).  Just a quick red-letter check about a proper name I didn't think was correct, and the rest of the proper names filled themselves in, although we are looking at some rather vague answers today - hey, it's Saturday.  One spanner, two 10s and no corner blocks this week, thus chunky 8x6 crossings.  Some of the longer fill;

35. Modern pizza option : GLUTEN-FREE CRUST - I thought it would be something about online ordering or cel phone apps

6. Break bread? : MAKE CHANGE - I had some crossings from the first pass, but still feel pretty good for getting this one right away

31. "That wasn't exactly honorable of me, was it" : "I FEEL DIRTY" - started out as "i feel SILLY, and GUILTY did not fit

~!

   (see 24d.)

ACROSS:

1. Where regular payments are made : GAS PUMPS - I make payments 3-4 times a week at this debit drain; I bought my new used Grand Caravan in October with 76K miles on it, and I'm already at 97K.  What do you call a guy who works at a gas station~?

Philip

9. Arena cannon fodder? : T-SHIRT - nailed it - the "ice girls" at hockey games and such will come out and launch one with something like the home team's logo on it

15. Agent : EMISSARY

16. Weighs in : OPINES

17. Soybean product also called yuba : TOFU SKIN - ugh.  To each his own

18. "__ Butterfly" : MADAMA - got me with the "A" and not the "E"

19. Stint for Björn Borg or Björk : SET - nice pairing - one for a tennis (set), one for a musical (set)

20. Get back : RECOVER - so when do I get back my 'life', WC~?

22. Messenger substance : RNA

23. Its services include water taxis : UBER - I tried BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) - figured some municipality had to offer them

25. Give up : CEDE

26. Skinny one : SCRAG

28. Shunned ones : PARIAHS

30. Private phone connection : TIE LINE - I had tiP line

32. In vitro cells : OVA

33. Govt. bureau dealing with explosives : ATF - Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms

34. Memo abbr. : ATTN

40. Collateral takeback, for short : REPOssession - Mississippi S's in there

41. You can still blow it up after you pop it : GUM - har-har

42. Loafer letters : EEE

43. Certain radio receiver : AM TUNER

45. Debate-ending procedure : CLOTURE - I wanted cloSure, but it was not working with my downs - yet it stems from the Frawnche for closure

49. Lasso feature : NOOSE

50. __ trip : ROAD

52. Pet reindeer in "Frozen" : SVEN

53. Chapel Hill inst. : UNC

54. It stops the bleeding : STYPTIC - uh, well Band-Aid did fit...I thought this was a medical device, not a medical 'agent'

57. Post-Civil War pres. : USG - Ulysses S. Grant - I pondered Andrew - - Johnson, couldn't recall his middle initial, turns out he doesn't have one (that I could find)

58. Chinese philosophy mainstay : LAO TSE

60. Mongo Santamaria jazz standard whose title is rhymed with "cocoa hue" in Oscar Brown Jr.'s lyrics : AFRO BLUE - long way to go for a very vague clue - I had aLTo blue

62. Introduces : ADDS IN

63. Reach the limit : HIT A WALL

64. Stank up a storm : REEKED

65. They do dos : STYLISTS

DOWN:

1. Rises : GETS UP

2. Protozoan genus : AMOEBA

3. Baker's tool : SIFTER

4. Nittany Lions' sch. : PSU

5. Foe in a four-plus-decade "war" : USSR - that would be the "cold" war

7. Consumer Reports data : PRICES

8. Church council : SYNOD

9. "As I see it ... " : TO ME... - to me, this is just a little bit of levity each week

and that's a Viper, not a 'Vette

10. Not at all all over : SPARSE - missed the second "all" in the clue for a while

11. Secreted : HID

12. First director to win back-to-back Oscars since Mankiewicz : INARRITU - not a clue, but the perps filled it all in - his Wiki - I liked the reference to 'the three amigos of cinema'

13. Left things : REMNANTS - or things left

14. One screening fliers : TSA AGENT

21. Chevy sportster : 'VETTE

24. Unrestrained : RIOTOUS - Went golfing for the first time in 11 years at a local par 3 nine hole course, and I'm glad I did not bother with a score card - my swing count was "unrestrained", but I did do really well on the 8th; a solid drive, a good chip, and nearly holed the putt.  Now the urge to play won't go away....

27. Some reds : CLARETS

29. "__ Maria" : AVE

33. Branch : ARM

35. Finely detailed : GRANULAR

36. Drink from a stand : LEMONADE - shout out~!

37. In line with safety regulations : UP TO CODE - great fill; a lot of what I have to do with my second job requires being up to code

38. Like a fox : FURRY

39. Boardroom cheese? : CEO - guess you'd say they were the BIG cheese

44. Mythical Highlander : NESSIE - and here I thought they finally caught the beast a few weeks ago....(15a.)

45. Conniption : CAT FIT

46. Palate protrusions : UVULAS - if you must see, there's an image here

47. Spring (from) : RESULT

48. Editor of two "Das Kapital" volumes : ENGELS - via perps

51. Warm-blooded fish : OPAHS - oops, not ORCAS - what 3/5ths correct, but only 20%~???

55. Take care of : TEND

56. Holiday stocking bummer : COAL - I received some coal as a gag gift last year

59. "You messed up" : TSK tsk, tsk

61. MD airport : BWI

Splynter