Monday, June 19, 2017 Mark Feldman

Theme: No Reveal Monday

17A. Shrewd person, to a food critic?: SHARP COOKIE

29A. Important person, to a food critic?: BIG CHEESE

47A. Despicable person, to a food critic?: ROTTEN EGG

66A. Lazy person, to a food critic?: COUCH POTATO

Argyle here. NW corner gave me pause but then it was off to the races. Now I have to race thru the blog because a line of T-storms are racing this way.

Across:

1. Brawl: MELEE

6. See 27-Down: BOOKS. 27-Down. With 6-Across, records that might be "cooked": THE

11. L.A. Galaxy's org.: MLS. (Major League Soccer)

14. Alpine climber's need: ICE AX

15. Asinine: INANE

16. Goal: AIM

19. African antelope: GNU

20. Hide: CONCEAL

21. Like skunks and zebras: STRIPED

23. Hitching post?: ALTAR. Cute.

25. 44-Across VIP: KING. 44-Across. High school dance: PROM

26. James Bond's school: ETON

33. Prevent, as a robbery: THWART

36. Female neigh sayer: MARE

37. Betray: SELL OUT

39. Avian symbol of pride: PEACOCK

46. Doze off: DROWSE

52. Math average: MEAN

53. Fencing sword: ÉPÉE

54. Witch trial town: SALEM

57. Impressive banquet displays: SPREADS

61. Acknowledged a military superior: SALUTED

65. Weeding tool: HOE

68. CIA forerunner: OSS. (Office of Strategic Services)

69. Vaudeville show: REVUE

70. "He loves me" piece: PETAL

71. Tetley product: TEA

72. Class-ending pair?: ESSes

73. Rub off the page: ERASE

Down:

1. Uncategorized stuff: Abbr.: MISC. (miscellaneous)

2. Repeat: ECHO

3. With the fat trimmed off: LEAN

4. Auditory passage: EAR CANAL

5. Kick out: EXPEL

6. Where DNA tests are performed: BIO LAB

7. Singer Yoko: ONO

8. Acorn sources: OAKS

9. Make using yarn: KNIT

10. Reader of tea leaves: SEER

11. Member of the crow family: MAGPIE

12. White sale goods: LINENS

13. Blotch: SMUDGE

18. "Cool" hipster: CAT

22. President married to Mamie: IKE. The Eisenhowers.

24. Outer edge: RIM

26. Out-of-this-world beings, in brief: ETs

28. Wise bird: OWL

30. Space: GAP

31. Rep on the street: CRED

32. When repeated, "Great speech!": "HEAR, hear!"

34. Weapon in Clue: ROPE

35. Spoil: TURN

38. Water-testing digit: TOE

40. Traveler to work: COMMUTER

41. Must pay: OWE

42. Civil War org.: CSA. (Confederate States of America)

43. Boy doll: KEN

45. Classic British sports cars: MGs

47. Did over, as a movie scene: RESHOT

48. Be against: OPPOSE

49. Revered Mother: TERESA. Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

50. Casual top: TEE

51. Deep cuts: GASHES

55. Once around, in a race: LAP. My first lap has just about run.

56. Secretly tie the knot: ELOPE

58. Land parcel: ACRE

59. "Easy __ it!": DOES

60. Santa Fe and Tucson, in the auto world: SUVs. (Sport utility vehicle)

62. "Cheerio!": "TATA!"

63. Greek vowels: ETAs. [H]

64. Give (out) sparingly: DOLE

67. Prompt on stage: CUE

Argyle

Sunday June 18, 2017 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "Pop Culture"- DAD spans across each theme entry.

23A. Brand created in Toronto in 1904 : CANADA DRY. Now owned by Dr. Pepper.

25A. 23-Across buyer : SODA DRINKER. Pepsi in our household.

42A. School social worker's concern : CHILD ADVOCACY

89A. Alert precipitated by heavy rain : FLOOD ADVISORY. I sure don't miss the rainy season in Guangzhou. Rains every day.

108A. Audio system connector : IPOD ADAPTER. I've hit Stop Download on a few podcasts.

110A. Annual Silver State celebration : NEVADA DAY. Google shows it's October 27 this year. That's Boomer's birthday.

32D. Newspaper revenue source : CLASSIFIED AD

38D. Gorilla Glue, for one : WOOD ADHESIVE. Our fridge handle was broken a while ago. Fixed with Super Glue. Amazing.

Reveal entry:

111. Today's honoree, found in this puzzle's eight longest answers : DAD

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers on our blog!

Gail's puzzle is a nice sequel to Bruce Haight's Mother's Day puzzle. Classic Gail design: Six theme entries Across. Two Downs.

I mentioned this before, Gail and Bruce Venzke name their puzzle GAB if Gail's name comes up first, e.g., Gail comes up with the theme. They name their puzzle BAG if Bruce's name comes up first.

They seem to collaborate only on weekday puzzles. All Gail's Sundays have been solos.


Across:

1. Physics calculation : MASS

5. They may be broken on purpose : LAWS. Thought of EGGS first.

9. "You gotta be kidding me!" : AW MAN

14. Aussie bedrolls : SWAGS. This is new to me.

19. Comics pooch : ODIE . "Garfield".

20. Put in other words, say : EDIT. Gail is a total pro. Her puzzles won't need much editing from Rich.

21. British county : SHIRE

22. Garlicky mayo : AIOLI. Looks similar to Steve's mayo.

27. Bank protection : LEVEE. Riverbank.

28. Country : RURAL. Adjective "Country".

29. Web search tool : ENGINE

30. Cleared out : VACATED

33. British peers : EARLS

34. Some basilica singers : ALTI.  Altos is more common. 

35. "How about that!" : I'LL BE

36. Kin of -trix : ENNE

37. "The Dark Mirror" antagonist, e.g. : EVIL TWIN. Never heard of the movie.

41. Infamous 1974 bank robbers: Abbr. : SLA. Symbionese Liberation Army

47. Plastic __ Band : ONO

48. Hypotheticals : IFs

49. Noisy disturbance : TUMULT.  We also have 55. Inner turmoil : ANGST. This Chinese character means "serene"/"quiet".

50. Fence material? : LOOT. Great clue.

51. "I'm getting to it" : SOON

52. Curious to a fault : NOSY

54. Galileo's birthplace : PISA. Gary & Joann were there.

55. Partner of 46-Down : AAH. And 46. Partner of 55-Across : OOH
 
56. Talk show medium : AM RADIO

59. Cat Nation people : ERIES

61. Industry heavyweights : TITANS. Tech-driven, these days.

63. Airport sign : ARRIVALS

64. Flutter : FLAP

66. Colorful appetizer platter items : VEGGIES. Here in our local flea markets, the veggies stands are mostly operated by Hmong people. I'm so happy to get veggies like water spinach & Daikon radishes.

68. "The Call of the Wild" ride : SLED

69. Outdoor party focal point : TAILGATE. Hi there BlueHen.


72. Run off : ESCAPE

74. "Swing Shift" Oscar nominee : LAHTI. I sure need Christine in the clue.

77. Free sample constraint : ONE EACH

78. Farm denizen : ANT. Ant farm.

79. Exiled Shah Mohammad __ Pahlavi : REZA. I only know him as the Shah.


81. Press Secretary Spicer : SEAN. Sorry you did not get to meet the Pope.

82. Taylor's husband between Wilding and Fisher : TODD

83. City near Tulsa : ENID

85. Still developing : UNRIPE

87. Return ID : SSN. Tax return.


88. Former "How Do Your Children Grow?" PBS host LeShan : EDA

92. Follower's suffix : ITE. Not IST.

93. Getting into the wrong business? : MEDDLING. Russia!


95. Duncan of the Obama Cabinet : ARNE

96. They're on the house : EAVES. Another great clue.

98. Sandberg in Cooperstown : RYNE. Iconic picture. Quite a few names in this puzzle.

99. Biker's headgear, perhaps : DORAG

101. Weeds out : FILTERS

103. Confirm, as a password : RE-TYPE

106. Descriptor in lotion commercials : SILKY. Or a smooth Saturday LAT Barry-style.

107. Wrangler material : DENIM

114. Goes for the lure : BITES. You won't believe the fishing stuff in our Fleet Farm. So many lakes here. Did you use to fish in your Wisconsin puddles when you were a kid, D-Otto?

115. Espresso order : LATTE

116. "Agreed!" : AMEN

117. Whittle : PARE

118. Aromatherapy choice : SCENT. I wish Dr Teal's has non-scented Epsom Salt.

119. Far-reaching : BROAD

120. Put to sleep, perhaps : BORE

121. Some emailed files : PDFs
  
Down:

1. Comfy footwear : MOC. Moccasins.

2. Crown-installing org. : ADA

3. Sloth, e.g. : SIN

 

4. Aquanaut's habitat : SEA LAB

5. Time off : LEAVE

6. Tacked on : ADDED

7. Power conduit : WIRE

8. Squalid quarters : STY

9. Gave one's word : ASSURED

10. Fingerprint pattern : WHORL

11. Big name in auto maintenance : MIDAS. Do you have ABRA in your area? They fixed our back bumper. So pleased with their service. Midas overcharges.

12. Word near Kazakhstan, on maps : ARAL

13. Composer Rorem : NED

14. Holy : SAINTLY

15. Improvise : WING IT

16. Golfer Isao : AOKI. Never saw him in person. We go to 3M Championship every year. Free admission, thanks to 3M.

17. Secluded spot : GLEN

18. Many a retired racehorse : SIRE

24. Get a hint of : DETECT
 
26. Piece of the past : RELIC

28. Charged : RAN AT

30. Brand measured in drops : VISINE. We also have 45. Brand with a spokesstork who sounds like Groucho : VLASIC. Sparkly fill, though nothing beats these pickles. CrossEyedDave's favorites. He probably likes the spicy version.

31. Completely behind : ALL FOR

33. Run over : END LATE
 
34. Online icon : AVATAR

36. Difficult to find : ELUSIVE

37. Start to tour? : ECO. Eco-tour.

39. How sun-dried tomatoes are packed : IN OIL

40. "Tut-tut" evokers : NO NOs

43. Military drill syllable : HUP

44. "You've found the right person" : I'M IT
 
51. File command option : SAVE AS. Another great fill.

53. Cried out : YELLED
 
57. __ Butterworth : MRS

58. Streamlet : RILL

60. Trilogy, often : SAGA. We also have  104. Many a Charlton Heston movie : EPIC

62. Meeting staple : AGENDA

63. Bad-mouth : ASPERSE. Never used the verb. Only the noun "Aspersion".

65. Campaign funding org. : PAC

67. Bringing home : EARNING

69. Clan symbol : TOTEM

70. Battery pole : ANODE

71. Mr. Right : THE ONE

73. Opera star Pinza : EZIO ."South Pacific". I talk like Bloody Mary.

75. Culinary guard in ancient Rome : TASTER

76. Landscape artist George : INNESS. Unfamiliar to me.  Here is his "Delaware Water Gap".

78. Samaritan's offering : AID

80. National Humor Mo. : APR

84. Creamy quaff : NOG

85. Factor in tanning : UV RAY

86. It's usually down for the night : EYELID. Ah, I was not thinking of my own face.

89. Go by quickly : FLY PAST

90. Like some index cards : LINED

91. Claret or burgundy : DARK RED

94. England's first poet laureate : DRYDEN. I need "John" in the clue.

97. Bank offering for smartphones : ATM APP. Is this a thing? Does it help you find ATMs?

99. Word of agreement : DITTO

100. "All the Love" singer Adams : OLETA. Forgot. We had her before.

101. Flu symptom : FEVER

102. Fatuous : INANE

103. Messy meal : RIBS
 
105. Haul : TOTE

106. Yard or boom : SPAR

107. How-to presentation : DEMO

109. NATO member since 2009 : ALB. OK, Albania.

110. Collar : NAB

112. Boxer's comment : ARF

113. No denial? : YES.  Ah, yes!

C.C.

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

Firday, June 16, 2017, Christopher Shaw

Title: Friday quip

Our first new Friday constructor in a while presents us with a quip puzzle. This one has 60 spaces of theme and nice symmetry with 4 seven letter fill. I like Mitch Hedberg who is a regular on the comedy channels on Sirius XM so the humor of the quip appealed, but YMMV.  Not much room left for long fill, but we do get POOL CUE,  SWAHILI,  LET'S DO IT and DRUMMING.  There were some learning moments and some old memories dredged up. As Christopher says, LET'S DO IT. I love the the sevens.

20A. Start of a one-liner by 54-Across : MY FAKE PLANTS (12).

25A. One-liner, part 2 : DIED (4).

29A. One-liner, part 3 : BECAUSE (7).

38A. One-liner, part 4 : I DID NOT (7).

40A. One-liner, part 5 : PRETEND (7).

46A. One-liner, part 6 : TO WATER (7).

49A. End of the one-liner : THEM(4).

54A. Standup comic known for one-liners : MITCH HEDBERG (12). A very funny man in the Steven Wright mold. LINK.

Across:

1. Snake, footwise : APOD.  noun. zoology. an animal with no feet or whose feet are rudimentary. 

5. Instagram and Pinterest : APPS.

9. Bad thing to draw during a test : BLANK. Cute clue.

14. Saboteur, e.g. : MOLE. An infiltrator.

15. Fruit used in alcohol flavoring : SLOE. Used in a sloe gin fizz and a singapore sling.

16. Home for 66-Across : AERIE. I wonder if they really do go to these, or the sea eagle nickname made this answer seem correct. I am no expert on Erns. 

17. Criticism : FLAK. So don't give me any....

18. Wedding dress insert : HOOP. Are they still worn? 

19. Impatient : ITCHY.

23. Tiresome type : PILL. This is a very old fashioned word. 

24. Cavaliers, on scoreboards : CLE. Amazing.

32. Paella pot : OLLA.

33. NFL receivers : TES. Tight Ends, like Gronk.

36. Actress Skye : IONE. She used to be a crossword regular for the three vowels in her name. While she has worked professionally for more than 25 years, she will always be the daughter of  Donovan (Leitch). LINK.

37. Upset : RILED. From roil, getting the waters all turbulent.

42. Stands for funerals : BIERS.

43. Black and Red : SEAS. I needed perps to get this.

44. "__ of Light": 1998 Madonna album : RAY. This was very infer-able even if you do not like Madonna. The ALBUM was well received. 

45. Words to a traitor : ET TU. Brute.

50. Andean root vegetable : OCA.  It is available in a range of colors, including yellow, orange, pink, apricot, and the traditional red.(Wiki). Very popular in New Zealand, where they refer to it as a yam.

51. California tourist attraction : NAPA. Where is the "Valley?"

59. Stereotypically haunted area : ATTIC. Not so much in Florida.

62. One-eighties : UIES.

63. Flash, maybe : IDEA.

64. Absorbed eagerly, with "in" : DRANK.

65. It may affect a sentence : PLEA. An attempt to misdirect the grammarians. 

66. Sea eagles : ERNS.

67. "__ Stardust": David Bowie song : ZIGGY. The album, the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was a concept album that reflected Bowie's self-image.

68. Chihuahua sounds : YIPS.

69. Afternoon fare : SOAP. Ah the fading operas.

Down:

1. Switch letters : AM FM. I like this also.

2. Tentacled creature : POLYP. While familiar with polyps in the colon, this was either a learning moment or something I forgot. A polyp is a solitary or colonial sedentary form of a coelenterate such as a sea anemone, typically having a columnar body with the mouth uppermost surrounded by a ring of tentacles. (dictionary).

3. Start of a Norwegian line : OLAF I. Not an NCL ship but monarchs.

4. Northern Illinois University city : DEKALB. See it?

5. "Off the Court" memoirist : ASHE. Tennis great who died so sadly after a blood transfusion.

6. Splash sound : PLOP. From my youth...

"Hasten Jason

Get the Basin

Oops, Plop

Get the Mop"

7. A pro brings his own to the table : POOL CUE. This took lots of work, but I love it.

8. Flower parts : SEPALS. Petals, sepals, stamens....

9. Switch partner : BAIT. Car dealer staple.

10. "Ready if you are" : LET'S DO IT.

11. Circle segment : ARC.

12. Med. research agency : NIH. National Institutes of Health.

13. One in, or on, a chain : KEY. Island/Door Opener?

21. Calvin and Anne : KLEINS. Poor Robert gets forgotten. 

22. Born, in France : NEE.

26. Not as healthy : ILLER. Are you all sick of this fill?

27. Colleague of Ruth and Sonia : ELENA. SCOTUS.

28. Source of some issues? : DADDY. Psychobabble.

30. Comforting sound : COO.

31. Bad picnic omen : ANT. Omen?

33. Area sometimes called "The Roof of the World" : TIBET. Learning moment. READ.

34. "Downton Abbey" lady : EDITH. Edith Pelham (nee Crawley) has her own FANS.

35. Number of Maravillas del Mundo : SIETE. Seven Wonders of the World. 

37. Email again : RESEND.

39. Showing impatience, digitally : DRUMMING.

40. __ shooter : PEA.

41. Fink : RAT.

43. Linguistic origin of Kwanzaa : SWAHILI. A complicated LANGUAGE with influences from Arabic.

46. Wee one : TOT.

47. Live in : OCCUPY. Hence all the mail to "OCCUPANT."

48. Hydrophobia : RABIES. Not sure why but I have known this term since I was little. 

52. "Napoleon Dynamite" sidekick Sánchez : PEDRO.

53. Hockey setting : ARENA.

55. Repulsive : ICKY. My brain went HERE. 

56. Dickens schemer : HEEP. Uriah. He later was reincarnated as THIS.

57. Those, in Chihuahua : ESAS.

58. [Horrors!] : GASP.

59. Woodworker's tool : ADZ.

60. Prefix with cycle : TRI. Uni? 

61. It's game : TAG. And now you are it, as my work here is done. I hope you all have a wonderful father's day weekend, and come catch us next week. Lemonade out.

Thursday, June 15 2017 Brian Thomas

Theme: Un-hip Paragon- as the 1960's flower child might describe her squeaky-clean parent.

The reveal sits across the middle of the grid:

36A. With some unscrambling, the contents of each set of circles : PERFECT SQUARE

The four nine-letter scrambles are, clockwise from the North-West: SIXTY-FOUR, THIRTY-SIX, EIGHTY-ONE and FORTY-NINE, or 8x8, 6x6, 9x9 and 7x7.

Very inventive puzzle from Brian, and it also appears to be his LAT debut; if so congratulations! I did a little Googling and found a namesake of his who occasionally comments over on Amy Reynaldo's blog. Stop in at the Corner, Mr. Thomas and tell us something about yourself!

This was a fun puzzle to solve. It took me way longer than my regular Thursday time but fortitude paid off. My last fill was the A of ULTIMA/ABT which was, quite honestly, a toss-up between A and O, ballet not being my strong suit.

Regarding the theme, I filled in the "49" square first, and was thinking about NFL teams but that didn't last long.

I did find it a little "bitty" with a slew of 3's, 4's and 5's, but crafting around those four cubes isn't easy. Nothing really annoyed me though. Maybe ABT did, a tad.

Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

1. Port initials : USB. I started off on the wrong foot here by filling in FOB and feeling smug that I was hep to shipping terms.

4. Fallon's predecessor : LENO

8. Negative quality : MINUS partnering 8D's MERIT. Very nice.

13. Late July arrival : LEO

14. No longer hung up on : OVER

15. Composed : SERENE

16. Going rate? : TAXI FARE

18. Younger daughter of Hi and Lois, in comics : TRIXIE. No clue, thank you crosses.

19. Admission of defeat : I LOST! Which I would have done if I'd have given up early on this puzzle

20. Petal pusher? : FLORIST. Hand up for reading "pedal" and trying to work out why CYCLIST should be clued with a question mark. I left it alone and when I came back to it I read the clue properly.

22. Baseball's Wills and TV's Povich : MAURYS

24. __ zone: shallowest oceanic region that sunlight doesn't reach : BATHYAL. Pure learning moment. Or, as a southern Mom might say to her muddy tyke - BATH, Y'ALL

27. Co. once led by Baryshnikov : A.B.T. American Ballet Theatre. I tried MET first which fit nicely with BOX OUT but this area required some serious unpicking at the finish.

28. Sap sucker : APHID

31. Green prefix : ECO-

32. Suffix with Bieber : MANIA.Not from me.

34. Like aged cheddar : SHARP

40. Invoice word : REMIT

41. Blow one's fuse : ERUPT

42. Once-sacred snake : ASP

43. Straight sides of a pizza slice, e.g. : RADII. Food! I don't eat a lot of pizza, but there's a joint near me where the chef is credited with inventing the barbecue chicken pizza, one of CPK's best sellers.

45. Relaxation destination : SPA

48. Low-down prank? : HOT FOOT. I'd never heard of this.Setting someone's shoelaces on fire. Seems like a recipe for instant and unpleasant revenge.

51. __ torpedo: "Star Trek" weapon : PHOTON

54. Symbol of complementary principles : YIN-YANG

57. Watching intently : EYING

58. Bakery-café chain : PANERA. Food! They make pretty good sandwiches. Soup's nice too.

60. Man of steel? : CARNEGIE

62. "Wild" author Strayed : CHERYL. Very good book. She didn't hold anything back, she's a strong woman to reveal some of the things she'd done in her life.

63. Actor Baldwin : ALEC

64. Tillis of country : MEL. Crosses filled this in for me.

65. "Sonatine Bureaucratique" composer : SATIE. Erik. Born Éric Alfred Leslie Satie. Not sure if you've ever heard anything he composed? Yeah, you have.

66. Soothing succulent : ALOE

67. Pitches during breaks : ADS. Warm-ups from the bullpen? No, C.C. isn't here today.

Down:

1. Word's last syllable : ULTIMA. Torn. Ultima/Ultimo. Both seemed reasonable. As I said at the top of the blog, I WAG'd it.

2. Aquanaut's base : SEALAB. Cartoon Network had a big hit with their late-night animation of the same name.

3. Block during rebounding, in basketball : BOX OUT. The NBA finals just finished. Lots of fun. Contrast and compare "finals" with "final" at 37D.

4. Up in the air : LOFTY. Anyone taller than 6' tall when I was growing up in England was guaranteed to be nicknamed "Lofty", I made it to 6' even, so never was awarded the moniker. It annoyed my elder brother to heck though, he only made 5'11" and only accepted that I was taller than him during a family visit a couple of years ago. He's still grumpy about it.

5. Actress Longoria : EVA

6. Soft toy brand : NERF

7. Russian city where Turgenev was born : OREL. Mr. Hershiser gets a rest from clue duty today.

8. Positive quality : MERIT. Great pairing with 8A today.

9. "Fighting" Indiana team : IRISH. Gimme. This is me at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu in 2008. I didn't have anything better to do that year, so why not Christmas on Oahu watching the Irish?

10. When some fans have to wait till : NEXT YEAR. Most fans. Most years. My UK soccer team, Chelsea, won the Premier League this year, so no waiting in 2017 for me. My Champions T-Shirt is en route.

11. Solitary prefix : UNI-. Tard. Cycle. Vision? I'm sure there's plenty more, but I've run out of ideas.

12. "Told you!" : SEE?

15. Fine fiddle : STRADivarius.

17. Med. nation : ISR.ael.

21. Sapporo sash : OBI

23. Reasonable : SANE. Took a while to see this, but if you make a sane argument, you're being pretty reasonable.

25. Zoning unit : ACRE

26. Cut : LOP

29. Shot : PIC

30. Word repeated twice in a Roger Ebert title about bad movies : HATED. I tried to look this up, but I drew a blank - even IMDb doesn't list a title which has Roger Ebert credited? What did I miss?

32. Injured pro's test, perhaps : MRI

33. Toward the stern : AFT. Get back there, you salty swab.

34. "What's doin'?" : 'SUP?. Obligatory man-nod required. Upwards chin-tilt, not the downwards one. Try it. "'Sup?" (Upwards chin-tilt) See? You'll be hanging with your new homeys in no time.

35. Haberdasher's item : HAT

36. Latin American capital : PESO. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Capital as in currency.

37. Like some late-game hockey goals : EMPTY NET. The last goal of this NHL season was an empty-netter scored by Pittsburgh against Nashville in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final. Now, look back to 3D and try and explain Finals vs Final.

38. Hindu title : SRI

39. Wisecrack : QUIP

40. Fan sound : RAH! 

43. __ blue : ROYAL

44. Words with clip or crossroads : AT A

45. Mark of shame : STIGMA

46. Paid (up) : PONIED

47. Cloud dwellers? : ANGELS

49. Guy in the kitchen : FIERI. He's a horrible cook, a terrible food critic but a great host and personality. Dear Food Network, please stop him critiquing other people's food and get him to stick to being a natural on TV. You notice he doesn't have his own cooking show any more?

50. Deli order : ON RYE. Food! Pastrami, please. At Katz's Deli on Houston in the lower East Side in Manhattan. Pickle spear. Fries if you must. Don't lose the ticket they give you on the way in, I believe you get thrown in the East River if you can't produce it on your way out to show what you ate and cash out.

52. For this reason : HENCE. Hence don't lose your ticket at Katz's

53. "Listen up," to Luis : OYE!

55. Indiana-based sports org. : NCAA. Two Indiana shout-outs today. South Bend for Notre Dame, and these wonderfully organized, rational and non-profit-making people in Indianapolis.

56. Chutzpah : GALL

58. Best Buy buys : PCS. I bought the Lenovo I'm composing this compostable blog at Best Buy a couple of months ago.

59. "That's it!" : AHA!

61. Flying Cloud, for one : REO. I really only know the Speedwagon, and that's because of the band. What a lovely car - this one is from 1931.

What's left? I'm sure I'm forgetting something ... oh wait - the grid!

Steve (Rory McIlroy to win the US Open, you heard it here first)