Wednesday, Jun 12th, Rebecca Goldstein

 TOFU~!?!?

Or maybe Liver~?

Another Wednesday, another Rebecca Goldstein puzzle, another 16x15 grid; I need more FLAVOR~!

That about sums up today's crossword, with four theme answers and one reveal; four "places" preceded by four, uh, flavors~?  Am I missing something~?  Sure, (sour) apple-flavored Jolly Ranchers are the best, sesame chicken I recognize ( I even throw in some seeds on my General Tso's ) and there are several waffle flavors I did not know about, but I would definitely pass on anything that was "olive-flavored'.  Here are the spanners;

18. Workplace for some Geniuses: APPLE STORE - I am PC.  Period.

26. Breakfast chain with a museum in Decatur, Georgia: WAFFLE HOUSE - I have said before that my favorite "greasy spoon" is the Waffle House

38. Home to Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus: SESAME STREET - Yup-yupyupyup; I was just talking with my supervisor about these guys - and it's hysterical to watch them for the first time in like, 45 years

Brrrrr-ring.....Brrrrr-ing

53. Restaurant with a Never-Ending Pasta Pass: OLIVE GARDEN

63. Tasty location associated with Guy Fieri, and where to find 18-, 26-, 38-, and 53-Across?: FLAVOR TOWN

I don't watch any Food shows, so. . . .

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Warmup in gym class, maybe: LAPS - I preferred to warm up on the rowing machine

5. Dish with a shell: TACO - I make my own tacos at least once a week, and if I choose to eat fast food, it's Taco Bell

I can't wait to try one of these new menu items

9. Unexpressed: TACIT

14. Be a sore winner: GLOAT - nyah-nyah-nyah-NA-nyah-nyah

16. Country on the Arabian Sea: OMAN

17. Clay colour: OCHRE - Meh. I always thought the color was called, uh, "CLAY". . . .

20. Second stringers: B-TEAM

21. Tax Day arrival, astrologically: ARIES - Meh, and questionable; there's a trend to add new signs to the Zodiac, but I could not find one link that had Aries ON 15Apr.  My father was born on 20Apr, which is the "cusp" of the OLD astrological signs; therefore, without a specific birth 'time', he was both Aries and Taurus.  If I were to accept the NEW, then I am no longer an Aquarius, but a Capricorn....

22. Assistant: AIDE

24. Fabric tear: RIP

25. Picture formatted for the small screen?: ICON

30. Walked worriedly: PACED

32. "Sorry, laddie": NAE - and - 43A. Scottish gal: LASS

Oh, Aye, laddie, that's a bonnie lass~!

33. Slammed with customers: MOBBED - I did my time in retail

34. Make a request: ASK

35. Grand in scale: EPIC

37. Gymnast Lee: SUNI - via perps, and yet I am sure I have seen this name before

42. Three-time WNBA MVP Leslie: LISA - via perps; her Wiki

44. Resistance unit: OHM

47. "Cupcake Wars" competitors: BAKERS

50. Frying liquid: OIL

51. Spanish small bites: TAPAS - had this two puzzles in a row

56. Nu metal band since 1993: KORN - I love metal, but this whole generation/genre was just noise, as far as I was concerned; I picked the one song from the decade that I would let play if it came on. . . .

Drowning Pool - Bodies

57. Sanctions: OKs

58. Sponge feature: PORE

59. Artisan association: GUILD

61. African snake: MAMBA

67. Decide (to): ELECT

68. East, in Spanish: ESTE

69. Spanish lakes: LAGOS

70. Ding-dong __: DITCH - I had no clue this was an alternate 'title' for "ring & run"; first learning moment

71. Shoulder muscle, briefly: DELToid

72. Out of __: SYNC

DOWN:

1. JFK alternative: LGA - airport codes - I grew up on Long Island, home to both fields - even though they are associated with New York City

2. Andean grazers: ALPACAS

3. Candy mixed with Coke in a chemistry experiment: POP ROCKS - I'm more familiar with the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, but it was too short --

Growing up, the myth was if you swallowed Pop Rocks, your stomach would explode

4. Contact lens solution: SALINE

5. Tater bite: TOT

6. Spanish "I love": AMO

7. Large mimosa order: CARAFE - the one Champagne to have when you're having more than one~?

8. Racer Kitty known as "the fastest woman in the world": O'NEIL - she even got her own action figure - or is it "doll"~!? - more here

9. "Not gonna lie ... ": TO BE HONEST - these days, you don't get 10 letters, just "TBH" - and, TBH, I happen to like Olive Garden

10. Put on a show: ACT - meh.  STAGE is a better verb, IMHO, TBH

11. Angelic being: CHERUB - my personal favorite cherub image; and the best song on the album

Van Halen - 1984 - Drop Dead Legs

12. Confident words at the poker table: I RAISE

13. Filled in at the office: TEMPED

15. Golfing prop: TEE

19. U-turn from NNE: SSW

23. Objects gently: DEMURS

25. Hoppy pub initials: IPA

27. Jungian inner self: ANIMA

28. Stand up to: FACE

29. Off-Broadway award: OBIE - Off Broadway - literally "Oh Bee"

31. Shortcut created by foot traffic: DESIRE PATH - another new learning moment for me

36. Turn a certain corner in Monopoly: PASS GO - GO TO JAIL did not fit

A hotel on Boardwalk = what rent~? See below

37. Like bread for stuffing: STALE

39. -1,412 ft., for the Dead Sea: ELEVation - see 41D.

40. Lost traction: SLID

41. The lay of the land?: TOPOLOGY - I use a 3D software called Revit for modeling buildings, and it has a topography tool for making the structure "site" as accurate as possible; I can add points of 'elevation'

45. Earned with extreme effort: HARD WON

46. Bing portal: MSN

47. Thundered: BOOMED

48. Basic stuff?: ALKALI - as opposed to "acid" - clever

49. Destiny: KISMET

50. Words of warning: OR ELSE

52. Japanese dogs: AKITAS - learned by doing crosswords

54. Sounded like 52-Down: ARFED - Meh.

55. Habitat for Humanity, e.g., for short: NGO - I've had this before, and still put in NPO, for a Non-xxx-Organization, but not PROFIT; it's GOVERNMENTAL

60. Online address: URL - Uniform Resource Locators - a unique website "residence"

62. Loop in on the DL: BCC - second puzzle in a row, for me, again

64. Emory U.'s home: ATLanta - filled via perps

65. Dog doc: VET

66. Foreign policy gp.: NSC

Splynter

$2000~?  Dammit~!