Saturday, Aug 8th, 2015, Alan Olschwang

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J, X)

Blocks: 28

Whenever I see Alan's name, I cringe - and the grid looked intimidating, to boot ( saw that answer in Thursdays puzzle ).  So my Across pass did not yield much, but then I smoked thru quite a bit of the Downs.  Had to re-work the SE corner, but ultimately, I was really irritated by the crossing of TWO Frawnche words/phrases - ugh, please, Alan.  Triple 9-letter corners in the down, and double 11-letter across corners riding along with two spanners;

17. Celebration of a future union : ENGAGEMENT PARTY - I've been told there's a bachelorette party at the restaurant today; gonna have to show up and "work" for a little while  ;7))

I'll take the third one from the right....

51. Lets have it : LOWERS THE BOOM ON - seems to have nautical origins, though I saw an online discussion which begged to differ

ACROSS:

1. Show that won 16 Primetime Emmys : BREAKING BAD - have to admit, I have not watched the show - but there's always the DVD set

12. Sno-__ : CAT

15. Doesn't bother : LEAVES ALONE

16. Z preceder : A TO --

19. "Vous __ ici" : ETES - Frawnche "You Are Here"

20. Some tech sch. grads : EEs

21. French department __-Maritimes : ALPES - and yet more Frawnche

22. Allotment word : PER

23. Roasts : RIBS - as in jokes, joshes, ridicules

24. Mass figure : PRIEST

25. More familiar role for the portrayer of George in "Bringing Up Baby" : ASTA - phew~!  That's a lo-o-o-ong way to go to avoid a weekday clue/answer.  Took 3 perps and a WAG to get this dog actor

26. Embedded below the surface of : SET INTO - funny, I just spent yesterday working with some outdoor wiring at A Lure; the lines got SET INTO the rock garden next to the deck

27. AMPAS' London counterpart : BAFTA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, along with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

30. Code subject : DRESS - ah, dress code, not spies

32. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR - Tactical Studies Rules - ah yes, how I spent my junior high school days....I liked being Dungeon Master - is that TMI~?

33. Sinister : EVIL

34. Fed, say : AGENT

35. Seahawks coach Carroll : PETE - oh, what were you thinking, Pete~?

36. __ Bund: Swiss newspaper : DER

37. Family member : NIECE - oops, not UNCLE; my Uncle Phil died Wednesday, 80yrs old

38. A.L. West team, familiarly : 'STROS - Houston Astros

39. Shakes : TREMORS - today marks exactly 10-1/2 years since I had one of "those" tremors

41. Classic muscle cars : GTOs

43. Meat garnishes : ASPICS

44. Interstate H-1 locale : OAHU and an interstate semi-clecho with; 49a. Airport near I-480, on itineraries : CLEveland

45. TV "Tool Man" Taylor : TIM - Home Improvement

48. Local life : BIOTA - I had FAUNA, then BIOME.  Only after I started the write-up did I notice it changed via perps

50. City SW of Bogotá : CALI

55. Chemical suffix : ENE - hey, this WAG I got right~!

56. Considers : BEARS IN MIND

57. Georgia, once: Abbr. : SSR - Pocchi, that is

58. Pressure tactic : SQUEEZE PLAY

DOWN:

1. Censor : BLEEP - huh. This was my guess, but I didn't fill it in

2. French annuity : RENTE - Really, Alan, really~?

3. Beaverlike? : EAGER

4. Actress Gardner et al. : AVAs

5. Frat bash staple : KEG

6. Response to a pointer : I SEE IT - reminds me of this scene from "Predator"

7. Convention handouts : NAME BADGES - Hi My Name Is...

8. "Burn Notice" actress : GLESS - Ha~! Got it~! Happened to be on TV one morning at breakfast in Delaware

9. Early AC/DC frontman Scott : BON - I liked his voice

10. Worker in an Aesop tale : ANT

11. Sails, say : DEPARTS

12. Chiseler, at times : CARPENTER - yup, been there, done that

13. Corroborates : ATTESTS TO

14. Top sellers : TOY STORES - ah - the toy itself, a top

18. Others, in Latin : ALII - as in "et al.", and others

23. Pretoria's home: Abbr. : RSA - dah~! I thought RUSsia first

24. Vexatious sort : PEST

25. View from Eng.'s Land's End : ATLantic Ocean

26. West African cuisine : SENEGALESE - great fill, but not a clue on my part - the Wiki

27. Stands where we lie : BED TABLES - clever; more common for me to call it bedSIDE

28. Opposite of predilections : AVERSIONS - nailed it~!

29. Military might : FIREPOWER

31. __ center : REC

34. Vents : AIRS

35. NBA tally : PTs

37. Certain dieter's credo : NO CARBS

38. Trifle : SOU - derived from the Frawnche (ugh) coin, 'of little value'

40. Bit : MITE

42. Hollywood, casually : THE BIZ

44. Autumn color : OCHRE - we are almost there - not a big fan of summer

45. Certain Sri Lankan : TAMIL

46. Massey of "Balalaika" (1939) : ILONA - I WAGed IRENE - Bzzzt~!

47. Fred McConnell's daughter, in an old sitcom : MINDY - ah, from Mork & Mindy

50. Provide gratis : COMP - did you hear that Apple is remodeling a casino in Vegas~? It's called the "iWynn"

52. "The Empire Strikes Back," e.g.: Abbr. : SEQuel, and one of my personal favorites - I happen to like the fact that it was "dark", and that the bad guys prevailed

53. 19th Greek letter : TAU

54. 1300 hours : ONE - PM, military time

Splynter

Friday, August 7, 2015, Bruce Haight

Theme: The Key is on the Board

Three theme answers are common phrases with the first word replaced with the abbreviation for a word whose abbreviation appears on a standard computer keyboard. Does Apple had the same keys? Nope Option key.... Apple in 3 days. If only Bruce had worked in CAPS LOCK he would have managed all the abbreviations on the standard keyboard (ignoring stuff like NUM LOCK, PG DN on the little part). I did Bruce's first LAT, which had no E's as well as a Latin Pun, so this one seemed easy in comparison. My only stumbling block was the mental meltdown that left me grasping for AFTA, which was my last fill, coming from 'FRAID SO. Speaking of which, it was the seven letter fill, much of which was fun, that opened up the grid for me. ALABAMA,  ESTRADA, LA LAKER,  OIL HEAT,  OTHELLO,  PIG IRON, PRY OPEN,  SLED DOG,  TEAPOTS,  WHAT THE,  WIN BACK gave me footholds in each region.

17A. DVD extras, perhaps : ALTernate ENDINGS (10). Don't you wonder about a movie that has different endings filmed; make up your mind!

29A. Ones getting away often : ESCape ARTISTS (10). Is there artistry in escaping?

45A. Hardly team players : ConTRoL FREAKS (10). A term that emerged in the 60's.

58A. Place to see part of 17-, 29- and 45-Across : Personal Computer KEYBOARD (10). So all you had do was look down and you had the theme at your fingertips- literally!


Across:

1. Lamentations : WOES. Sounds religious. 50D. Sound of lament : SOB.  Safer than using the initialism.

5. Handle indelicately : PAW AT. I am sure the cats and dogs of the world would disagree; CED link away (manac where are you?).

10. Mennen skin product : AFTA. I do not use shaving products anymore.

14. That ol' boy's : HIS'N. With my wife's family from Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, this was a gimme.

15. PABA part : AMINO. para-aminobenzoic acid, a natural ingredient in sunscreen no longer in favor.

16. Ready : PREP.

19. Allen contemporary : PAAR. Jack Paar replace Steve Allen on the Tonight Show when I was quite young and we had no television.

20. Court long shots : THREES. Three point shots in basketball; the most famous in Miami history...

21. Order : BOSS. I expect "around" to be around.

23. SEC concern : IPO. Initial Public Offering.

24. Wrenches : TEARS. I expect "from" to be around.

25. Wave catcher? : EAR. Sound waves; very tricky.

26. Aftermarket item : ADD ON.

28. "I've been __!" : HAD. A mini-theme? 33A. "Don't __" : ASK. And...48A. "What a kidder!" : OH YOU. 1D. "Huh?" : WHAT THE....or wtf in textspeak. 11D. "Hate to be the one to tell ya" : 'FRAID SO.

31. Letters from Greece : ETAS.

34. Jam ingredients? : AUTOS. Very tricky; traffic jam.

35. "Women and Love" author Shere : HITE.

37. Nurses at a bar : SIPS. Not your pick up target....

38. Hold forth : OPINE.

40. Shaver : LAD. Are you familiar with the 'little shaver?' 47A. Rap name adjective : LIL. Wayne?

41. Blathers : YAPS.

49. Some tees : XLS. Extra Large.

50. Old West transport : STAGE Coach. We took a ride in one at Old Sturbidge Village while up north in June? Any of our other New Englanders made that ride?

52. Modernist's prefix : NEO. Seems redundant.

53. Bracketology org. : NCAA. The process of rating the college basketball teams for March Madness.

55. More than gloomy : MORBID.

56. Yodeler's range? : ALPS. Not his/her vocal range but the mountain range. Do you yodel while skiing the Alps miss m.?

60. Parts of Polynésie française : ILES. The islands in Polynesia.

61. Alamogordo event : A-TEST. Not sure why I get so many references to bomb testing.

62. 19th-century novel with the chapter "How They Dress in Tahiti" : OMOO. Memo to self: Avoid Moby Dick comments!!

63. Novelist Jaffe : RONA. Many of her BOOKS became movies.

64. Fergie's given name : SARAH. This took a very long time because I thought of HER not HER.

65. Twinge : PANG. Jealousy?

Down:

2. Alternative to gas : OIL HEAT. We had an oil burning furnace in our home when I was growing up. We were shocked  to learn one winter in Fort Lauderdale that our office building had NO heating system at all.

3. "CHiPs" actor : ESTRADA. Poor Larry Wilcox gets no love.

4. Unpleasant look : SNEER. Nobody did that better than Snidely.

5. Inflates improperly : PADS. More deception; the expense account, not Tom Brady's footballs.

6. Cherbourg chum : AMI. Just French.

7. Recover : WIN BACK. Often the goal at a casino.

8. Wool variety : ANGORA. Do not get your rabbits and goats confused. READ.

9. Evict : TOSS.

10. Kindle download : APP. This was so easy I had trouble with it.

12. Brewing vessels : TEA POTS. Too much beer in my life, another easy one gone wrong.

13. They have strings attached : APRONS. Cute.

18. Super __: game console : NES. I loved playing Mario with my sons.

22. Suddenly became interested : SAT UP. And took notice.

25. Latin being : ESSE. From when we get essence.

27. Like a flibbertigibbet : DITSY. My favorite ONE. (4:00)

29. Peter, pumpkinwise : EATER. Talk about your weird poetry; luckily we have Owen and Moe.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater
Had a wife, and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

30. Invades : RAIDS.

32. Imaginary playmate in a Neil Diamond title : SHILO.

36. For kicks : IN FUN.

37. Upscale retail chain : SAKS. Fifth Avenue.

38. "Then must you speak / Of one that loved not wisely but too well" speaker : OTHELLO. Love Shakespeare, feel bad for foolish Othello.

39. Jimmy : PRY OPEN.

40. Shaq, for eight seasons : LA LAKER. Now he and George Foreman are competing for the most commercials.

42. First state, in a way : ALABAMA. Alphabetically.

43. Smelting intermediary : PIG IRON. Did you know this HISTORY?

44. Iditarod sight : SLED DOG.

45. 1997 Nicolas Cage thriller : CON AIR.

46. Handicapper's option : EXACTA. Along with the Trifecta and the Pick 6, favorites of the gamblers. You pick the horse that finish 1/2, in order.

51. Company : TROOP. Still my favorite.

54. Frequent e-Filers : CPAS. Court papers are no almost all e-filed.

55. Bit of lore : MYTH.

57. Org. issuing nine-digit numbers :  SSA. Social Security Administration.

59. That, in Spain : ESA. how perfect a place to finish. I enjoyed this immensely. Thanks Bruce and for the rest of you Lemonade out.

Thursday, August 6, 2015 Loren Muse & Mary Lou Guizzo

Theme: "Spread it Around"

36-Across. Home theater feature, and a hint to this puzzle's 10 border answers : SURROUND SOUND. The reveal says it all. Words that can follow SOUND march around the perimeter of the puzzle.

So, here they are, as they appear (clockwise) in the grid:

1-Across. Group working together : CREW. Sound crew. This could include a "python wrangler." Can you guess what position that might be, without looking it up? (If you give up, you can go here for the answer.)

5-Across. Evaluation : TEST. Sound test. To see if your speakers are working.

9-Across. Surf : WAVES. Sound waves.

13-Down. Vegas strategy : SYSTEM. Sound system. All the speakers, mics, wires and amps needed to get the music heard in the last row.

53-Down. Performance place : STAGE. Sound stage. Usually a SOUND-proof building on a studio lot, used for movie productions.

66-Across. Small meal : BITE. Sound bite. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear...down...this...wall!"

65-Across. Aperture : HOLE. I was wondering what a SOUND HOLE was, and then remembered
this from my misspent youth.

64-Across. Album segment : TRACK. Sound track. How about this one from the "SOUND of Music"?

42-Down. Outcome : EFFECT. Sound effect. Like this, at Halloween.

1-Down. Verify : CHECK. Sound check.  "Check...1...2...3..." To check the microphone's level. So, I guess I have your attention now? Let's proceed with the rest!

Across

14. Actress Lamarr : HEDY. Not just a pretty face, she invented groundbreaking technology to get around Germans jamming the SOUND WAVEs. The principles of her technology are the basis of WiFi and Bluetooth communication.

15. Sharp product : HDTV. These are often hooked up to SURROUND SOUND.

16. Opera's birthplace : ITALY. Now often performed on a SOUND STAGE for TV production.

17. Christian denom. : EPIS.copal. Could involve a SOUND CHECK to make sure the sermon is heard in the back row.

18. EKTORP sofa seller : IKEA. EKTORP is a line of sofas and chairs. They also sell cabinets for your SOUND SYSTEM.

19. Ninnies : DOLTS. Umm, SOUNDS like "colts"??

20. Simply marvelous, with "the" : CATS MEOW. In the alley, at midnight, they create a cacophonous SOUND.

22. Besides : TO BOOT. OK, "Uncle." I can't think of any way to relate this to SOUND...

23. Kipling title orphan : KIM.

24. Pro Bowl team, briefly : AFC. American Football Conference.

25. General-turned-author Wallace : LEW. He wrote "Ben-Hur:A Tale of the Christ."

26. Cult following? : -URE. Culture. It was my first thought.  I think I have been doing waaaaay too many crossword puzzles!

27. Soft drink that sounds like a bit of footwear : NEHI. Haha. "Knee-high," get it?

29. Get wind of : HEAR.

31. Sent by : FROM.

32. Some bolt holders : T NUTS.

34. "The Fisher King" Oscar winner Mercedes : RUEHL. I remember her face from "Frasier." She played the station manager in some episodes.  Darned if I could remember her name though: all perps.

40. Shades of blue : TEALS. Here are some TEALS from Benjamin Moore.

41. Southern Russia's __ Republic : ALTAI.

42. Pair of giraffes? : EFFS. Again, my first thought.

45. Actress Hudson : KATE. She is Goldie Hawn's daughter.

47. Seas, to Sartre : MERS. French.

48. Common reason for absence : FLU.

49. Card game cry : GIN!

50. Never, in Nuremberg : NIE. German.

52. No. after a period : CTS. Cents.

54. Discovered by accident : FELL ON.

56. Is humbled : EATS DIRT.

58. Formerly employed by The Company : EX-CIA.

59. Charity : ALMS.

60. Nepal locale : ASIA.

61. Preserves, in a way : CORNS. Learning moment for me.  CORN originally meant any grain. You use "grains" of salt to make CORNed beef.

62. Skelton's Kadiddlehopper : CLEM.

63. It operates under the Dept. of Homeland Security : USCG. I put in US** and waited for perps.


Down

2. Changes the color of, maybe : REPAINTS. Hoo-boy, I've been doing a lot of that lately.

3. Where to find paste? : EDIT MENU. Because "Mrs. Roberts' first grade classroom" wouldn't fit.

4. "The Swiss Family Robinson" author : WYSS. First published in 1812, and made into a hit 1960 Disney movie. Unfortunately, the screenwriters junked about 90% of the book's content, and made up their own adventures for the family.

5. Pickup artist? : THIEF. Fun clue!

6. Three-term New York City mayor : ED KOCH.

7. Pot-au-feu, e.g. : STEW.

8. New Deal dam org. : TVA. Tennessee Valley Authority.

9. Black or golf follower : WIDOW.

10. Small step : A TO B.

11. Bravery, in the RAF : VALOUR. British spelling.

12. Banderillero's target : EL TORO. I went to a bullfight in Mexico once. Never again.

21. French teacher : MAÎTRE. More French

22. Mother __ : TERESA.

25. Sing the praises of : LAUD.

28. Wounds : HURTS.

30. Dadaist Max : ERNST. Our German friend returns.

The painting "Celebes" was pivotal to his career.

31. Magical item in a 1791 opera : FLUTE. Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.


33. Permeate : SOAK IN.

35. Elementary fellow? : HOLMES. Sherlock, I presume?

37. __ Bator : ULAN.

38. Jonquils and daffodils : NARCISSI.

39. D.C. part : DISTRICT. of Columbia.

43. Bending muscle : FLEXOR.

44. Pivot points : FULCRA.

46. Nail covering : ENAMEL. I was on the galvanized variety of nail at first.

49. "Find out" : GO ASK. In our house, those words were always followed by "...your father."

51. Reply from outside a door : IT'S ME.

55. Friend of Pete and Julie on "The Mod Squad" : LINC.

56. Cockney greeting : 'ELLO.

57. Smear : DAUB.

59. Berlin beef? : ACH.

My only beef? All my fun is over!
Marti

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015 Marti Duguay-Carpenter

Theme: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." No-one ever accused the dastardly Goldfinger of having a bullion heart, but that's exactly what connects all these theme entries, chemical symbol-wise.

19A. Home of the Green Bay Packers : LAMBEAU FIELD. AKA "The Frozen Tundra".

35A. "Northanger Abbey" author : JANE AUSTEN. This was her house, not far from where I went to school in Winchester:

45A. Bistro drink : CAFE AU LAIT. Add a pain au chocolat, a Parisian bistro terrace and some people-watching and you've got the world's best breakfast. You can also pretend to read "Le Figaro" for authenticity.

56A. Olympic action involving a bar : POLE VAULTING. Crazy antics atop a 16-foot fiberglass whiplash of death.

And the reveal:

17D. Kind nature, and, symbolically, what 19-, 35-, 45- and 56-Across have : HEART OF GOLD. Also, for sci-fi comedy fans, the name of the spacecraft powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of books.

Well now - Steve here this first Wednesday in August with "our" Marti's quite excellent auric-themed puzzle. Note how the "AU" is centered in each answer and the down reveal entry intersects all the horizonal themers. That's some mighty fine constructin'. Top that off with some great fill and cluing and we've got ourselves a grand Wednesday.

The theme could count as a CSO to a Corner regular, but I'm not sure you can shout-out to yourself!

Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

1. Barbie maker : MATTEL

7. Dada pioneer : ARP. He called himself either Jean or Hans depending on which language he was speaking. This is my friend Jill's charcoal sketch of his "Torse des Pyrénées" sculpture:

10. Soviet air force acronym : MIG. I went through a MIR-er-um-no-MIG transmutation here. I didn't know it was an acronym - it comes from the names of the founders of the design bureau Микоян и Гуревич.

13. Melodic piece : ARIOSO. Thank you, crosses. Marti - does your knowledge of Italian help you with musical clues?

14. Source of Sun. inspiration : SER. Words from the Rev. Not too long, hopefully.

15. Life-altering words : I DO

16. Mississippi River explorer : DE SOTO. I remembered it! There's a De Soto Avenue not far from me, that's my aide-mémoire now.

17. Put to work : HIRE

18. Stock quote? : MOO

22. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

25. Where to find a horse with no legs? : SEA

26. Outlaw Kelly : NED

27. Favre of the Green Bay Packers : BRETT. No stranger to 19A, he started at QB for 15 straight seasons from 1992 to 2007, before having an early mid-life crisis, decamping first for the New York Jets, and then the Packer's bitter rivals the Minnesota Vikings, and "retiring" twice along the way. He seems to have stayed retired now.

29. Evita's land: Abbr. : ARG. Don't cry for me.

31. Supply with more weapons : RE-ARM

38. __ code : AREA. 818 for me. Apparently that makes me a Valley Girl. Uh-huh, gag me with a spoon. Totally!

39. N.H. clock setting : EST

40. Chanted : INTONED

42. NFL snapper : CTR. Here's Jonathan Goodwin, the center for the San Francisco 49er's. Does wearing that uniform make him a red snapper?

43. Bistro awning word : CHEZ. Somewhere to enjoy your 45A.

47. Austrian state bordering three countries : TYROL. I learned to ski in the Tyrol many years ago. I also learned how to drink schnapps.

49. NFL positions : RGS. It's an NFL-fest today. Standard equipment issue for all playing that position (I hope):

50. Lovely, like a lass : BONNY

51. Cookie Monster eating sound : NOM

53. Poetic preposition : O'ER. How about this:

"With the ebon glass-fiber'd wand
in her grip held tight,
the 56A goddess arc'd
o'er the bar at such height,
falling softly to earth's bosom
afore e'en tis night".

Nah, I'll leave the poeticals to those of you who know what you're doing.

55. Equipment : GEAR

61. Brother of Peyton : ELI. Their pop, Archie, played QB for Ole Miss, and the campus speed limit is 18 MPH in honor of his number. Neat-o.

62. Cornerstone abbr. : ESTD. Probably a good job you don't add the time as well. "ESTD MMDXLVI 9:00 EST"

63. "I'm clueless" : NO IDEA

67. Go pfft : DIE. Full disclosure. I had "DIS" here first, as in DISSING someone with a "pfft!". Of course DISS is the correct spelling, and I didn't notice that LISU at 58D didn't make any sense. So I got the dreaded "The puzzle is completely filled" (translation: "Yeah, you goofed, dingbat") message when I was done. You can see my hunt for the culprit in the grid at the bottom.

68. It's charged : ION

69. Stretched out on the beach : SUNNED. Lovely subtle part-of-speech clue. "Stretched" in the past tense sense, not the intransitive verb sense. Had me thinking for a while.

70. Promise from a shy person? : IOU. Nice! Shy in the "not quite enough" sense.

71. New Orleans-to-Detroit dir. : NNE

72. Put to work : ENGAGE. Clecho with 17A. All kinds of stuff going on today.

Down:

1. "Spy vs. Spy" magazine : MAD

2. Modern art? : ARE. Another great little clue/answer. Eventually the "verb" usage penny dropped.

3. "__ the year's midnight ... ": Donne : 'TIS

4. "You missed it" : TOO LATE

5. Spanish 101 verb : ESTA

6. Appears impressively on the horizon : LOOMS. Usually in a bad way. Icebergs, slab-sided rusty tankers, battleships, Godzilla, Mount Doom and what-not.

7. Where most live : ASIA

8. "M*A*S*H" episode, now : RERUN. RETRO went in, TRO came out.

9. Favor : PREFER

10. Silent ape : MIME. Why aren't mimes particularly original? Because they can't think outside the box.

11. "American __" : IDOL

12. Like no news? : GOOD

20. Make it big in Hollywood : BE A STAR

21. Bean sprout? : IDEA. Lovely clue/answer. Food! Well, the clue was. I'm making pad thai tonight.

22. Goal : OBJECT

23. Like many tabloids : TRASHY

24. Tenant : RENTER

28. Mai __ : TAI

30. 64-Down research subject : GENE SET. Used in gene set variation analysis, as everybody knows. Well, as everybody knows who just Googled it like me. Thank you, crosses.

32. Obscure : ARCANE

33. Light-sensitive eye layer : RETINA

34. Saint Stephen, e.g. : MARTYR. My patron saint. December 26th is his Saint's day, for those of you who pay attention to such matters.

36. Mom's bro : UNC

37. PBS funder : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts. Lovely people.

41. Name : DUB

44. Temperate __ : ZONE

46. Lumberjack's trade : LOGGING. I can't resist.

48. Hippie happening : LOVE-IN

52. Layer of stones : MASON

54. Shampoo instruction : RINSE. Then, apparently, repeat. In other words "use twice as much product as you  need to, thank you very much".

56. Mani counterpart : PEDI

57. Mishmash : OLIO. One of my personal crossword faves - C.C. patiently explained the difference between OLEO and OLIO to me when I first started reading this blog,

58. Stead : LIEU. Ha! I had "DIS" in lieu of "DIE"! How apropos.

59. "Cure Ignorance" online reader : UTNE. I didn't even see this until I got here, so thank you, crosses.

60. Doohickey or whatchamacallit, e.g. : NOUN. Very neat. Another of the day's fun clues.

64. "CSI" evidence : DNA

65. Brain scan, for short : EEG. I'm starting to finally get all the "E-something-G" stuff straight.

66. Citrusy drink : ADE.

Here's the grid. I'll get my coat.

Steve