21. In good spirits: FEELING FINE.
31. Natural source of paper or rope: FIBER PLANT.
42. Center of attention: FOCAL POINT.
54. Gridiron goof: FUMBLED BALL.
67. N.Y. or S.F. athlete known for the beginnings of 21-, 31-, 42-, and 54-Across?: GIANT.
Across:
1. Harry Potter's forte: MAGIC. Did Harry have some magic beans ?
6. USAF officer: MAJ.
9. Some spouses: WIVES.
14. Susan's "All My Children" role: ERICA. Susan Lucci played the role of Erica Kane for 41 years on the daytime soap.
15. Memorable time: AGE.
16. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE.
17. Antisocial type: LONER.
18. Term start?: MID.
19. Swamp snapper: GATOR.
20. Mantra syllables: OMS.
24. Cause one's stomach to turn: NAUSEATE.
26. Monthly util. bill: ELEC.
27. Goof up: ERR.
28. Off the straight and narrow: WAYWARD. Like Jack, who stole from the Giant. The band is from Topeka.
36. Actress Vardalos: NIA. Winnipeg born Nia in an interview with Katie Couric in 2002.
37. Not hurting for space: ROOMY.
38. Heavenly body: ORB.
39. Less extroverted: SHIER. My sister had a horse that shied away from me.
Wouldn't the comparative "more shy" be shyer, and the superlative form be shyest ?
"Both versions are acceptable in today's standard English. In the 2002 CGEL page 1581: Monosyllabic dry and shy are optionally exceptions to the y-replacement rule, allowing either y or i before the suffix: dry ~ dryer/drier ~ dryest/driest and shy ~ shyer/shier ~ shyest/shiest." English StackExchange. CGEL
41. QB's stat: ATT. Quarterbacks / Attempts. We often have TDS (Touchdowns) as an answer for QB's stat.
44. Japanese straw mats: TATAMIS. 13 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Tatami. I only knew two.
47. One-eighty on the road: UEY.
48. Patron saint of Norway: OLAF.
49. Read a clock: TELL TIME.
57. Bedevil: VEX. "Make (someone) feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried, especially with trivial matters." - Oxford English Dictionaries. I like "especially with trivial matters" in the definition. To me, vex is a slightly milder reaction than irk. Ire is toward the anger end. Don't like seeing ire and irk clued as if they were synonymous.
58. Treat like a pariah: AVOID. Shunned ?
59. Maris, to "the Mick": ROG. Nicknames. New York Yankee baseball stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
60. Afghan's neighbor: IRANI.
62. Attend the homecoming game, say: REUNE. Intransitive verb. Back formation from reunion according to Merriam Webster and others.
63. Inseparable: ONE.
64. Things to shun: NO-NOS. Deserts are to be shunned if you want to lose weight. They are no-nos. Taboos for children are often called no-nos. In baseball slang, a no-hitter is called a no-no. Even Meghan Markle has a list of no-nos now that she's a Royal Duchess. Also see 40D Hoyt.
65. Use at the table: EAT ON.
66. Pricing word: PER.
Down:
1. Honeydew or cantaloupe: MELON.
2. Pleasant smell: AROMA.
3. Infomercial knife: GINSU.
4. Sign in a hotel hallway: ICE.
5. Regular Martha's Vineyard arrival: CAR FERRY.
6. "Glengarry Glen Ross" playwright David: MAMET.
7. Nimble: AGILE.
8. Obi-Wan, for one: JEDI.
9. Like a happy dog's tail: WAGGLY. Google site search tells me this is a debut for WAGGLY here at the Corner.
Making new friends.
10. Shortly, informally: IN A FEW.
11. 1960s ecumenical council of the Catholic Church: VATICAN II.
12. MBA subject: ECON.
13. Dry as a desert: SERE.
22. Wyatt of the Old West: EARP. "It was dry as a desert in Tombstone on that fateful day. Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan and Doc strode purposefully to the OK Corral. Johnny Ringo and Ike Clanton saw the Earps and Holliday coming." Wait, let me start over. "It was a dark and stormy night..."
23. Tidy: NEAT.
25. "I __ to recall ... ": SEEM.
28. Connecticut Sun's org.: WNBA. One of twelve professional basketball team in the Women's National Basketball Association.
29. Nothing, in Nice: RIEN.
Nice is just up the coast from Cannes, and SW down the coast from Genoa, Italy.
30. Tavern missile: DART.
31. Greek campus group: FRAT.
32. Itty bit: IOTA.
33. Reach the lowest level: BOTTOM OUT.
34. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" novelist Anita: LOOS.
35. Eyebrow shape: ARC.
39. Grade school subject: SPELLING.
40. Axton of country: HOYT. Wrote the "No No Song" popularized by Ringo Starr. Also wrote "Joy To The World" and "Never Been to Spain", popularized by Three Dog Night.
42. Marching band wind: FIFE.
43. Slow period: LULL.
45. White mouse, e.g.: ALBINO.
46. "On the Waterfront" co-star Karl: MALDEN. w/ Michael Douglas during The Streets of San Francisco days.
49. Steakhouse order: T-BONE. Tenderloin on one side of the bone, and strip steak on the other side. The porterhouse is really just a T-Bone steak cut from the rear of the sirloin, so it has a larger tenderloin section.
50. Itching to go: EAGER.
51. The first Mrs. Trump: IVANA.
52. Runners occupying bases: MEN ON. Ducks on the pond. The Cubs had three ducks on the pond (bases loaded) with nobody out in the bottom of the third against the Twins on Saturday. They plated all three to tie the game.
53. Have life: EXIST. Are.
54. Cab cost: FARE.
55. Optic layer including the iris: UVEA.
56. Go down: DROP.
61. Louis XIV, par exemple: ROI. His dad was XIII. Became the King of France at the ripe old age of four years and eight months when his dad died in 1643. Reigned for 72 years. Then his grandson XV took the reign. XV arranged the marriage of his grandson XVI to Marie Antoinette. XVI took over in 1774, and was to become the last ROI of France.
XIV established absolute monarchical rule in France, appeased the nobles, consolidated powers, started a lot of wars, signed a lot of treaties, increased France's turf in Europe, and improved France's standing in the world power rankings. He had his architects and builders rehab his dad's hunting lodge and turned it into the Palace of Versailles.
France seemed to get a pretty good R.O.I. on XIV as ROI. But over the course of about 150 years of absolute monarchical rule, things weren't going so well for the people of France, perhaps especially under the rule of his successors. It all culminated in the French Revolution, the ending of the monarchy, the beheading of XVI and Marie in 1793, and the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Enough of that. On to the grid !
