Monday, September 18, 2017 ~ Brock Wilson

Theme: Double, Double - but not Toil and Trouble. Two-word phrases; each word starts with the same two letters.

20A. Earnings before the government's cut: PRETAX PROFITS

38A. Words on a "No Trespassing" sign: PRIVATE PROPERTY

54A. Invention that revolutionized book production: PRINTING PRESS

53D. Ad agency guys responsible for 20-, 38- and 54-Across?: PR MEN. Men, because there are two PR's per entry.

Argyle here. Nice spanner. Didn't really need a reveal but it's a cute reveal so ok. Brock has become quite the Monday specialist.

Across:

1. British bloke: CHAP

5. Title for a fictional fox: BR'ER

9. Pancake syrup tree: MAPLE

14. Prefix for "six": HEXA

15. Coleridge's "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME

16. Partners of pains: ACHEs

17. Many Manet works: OILS

18. Like a grand-scale fail: EPIC

19. __ Islander: small-state resident: RHODE

23. End in __: come out even: A TIE

24. French street: RUE, as in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The Rue Morgue is a fictional street in Paris.

25. Cops' orgs.: PDs. Police Departments

28. Fave pal, in 67-Across: BFF. (Best Friends Forever). 67-Across. Cellphone messages: TEXTS

31. German pastry: STRUDEL. Braided Apple Walnut Strudel

33. Question as to technique: HOW

34. New Haven collegian: YALIE

36. Cribbage piece: PEG

37. Gossip columnist Barrett: RONA

42. Rockers' sound machines: AMPs

43. Speck in la mer: ÎLE

44. Coloring cosmetic: ROUGE

45. Chessmen and board, e.g.: SET

46. Squeaky clean, as hospital supplies: STERILE

49. Alternative to grass seed: SOD

50. "No seats" initials: SRO. (Standing-room only)

51. Big __: trademark burger: MAC

52. Gunk: GOOP

60. First appearance: DEBUT

62. Promises at the altar: I DO's

63. __ Hari: MATA

64. Smidge: SKOSH

65. "Me neither": "NOR I"

66. Getting people out of harm's way, for short: EVAC. (Evacuation) Who's next?

68. Secluded valley: GLEN

69. __ of the woods: NECK. Area.

Down:

1. Lamb serving: CHOP

2. Will beneficiary: HEIR

3. Rod on which wheels turn: AXLE

4. Rotini or rigatoni: PASTA

5. Secession approved in a 2016 U.K. referendum: BREXIT. (portmanteau of "British" and "exit")

6. Jack the __: RIPPER

7. Arab leader: EMIR

8. Piccolo relative: RECORDER. Grace Slick on the recorder, gives the song a haunted sound.

9. Actress Hemingway: MARIEL. Don't look to close.

10. German eight: ACHT. More German.

11. Element in matches: PHOSPHORUS. Wiki article White phosphorus hasn't been used for regular matches for some time but you can still get "strike-anywhere" matches.

12. Conducted: LED

13. Language suffix: ESE

21. On the Caribbean: AT SEA

22. En __: on a hot streak, slangily: FUEGO. Spanish, 'on fire'. (Don't play with matches!)

26. "Stick around": "DON'T GO"

27. Influenced: SWAYED

28. Road that avoids the city center: BYPASS

29. Crop raiser: FARMER

30. Container with an attached cover: FLIPTOP BOX

32. Michigan's __ Peninsula: UPPER

35. Drips in a hosp.: IVs

37. Classic roadster: REO. Ransom Eli Olds

39. Giant: TITAN

40. Putting in office: ELECTING

41. Surg. holding area: PRE-OP

46. Workers with anvils: SMITHS.

Under a spreading chestnut-tree

The village smithy stands ...

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought.

47. Pay no mind: IGNORE

48. Begins a computer session: LOGS IN

55. Oxidation damage: RUST

56. Beloved star: IDOL

57. Roof gutter locale: EAVE

58. Like short, clipped notes, in mus.: STAC. (staccato)

59. Burlap container: SACK

60. Va. summer hours: DST. [Eastern](Daylight Saving Time)

61. __ out a living: EKE. Eek! Time to put this to bed.

Argyle

Sunday September 17, 2017 Kurt Krauss

 Theme:  "Brrr!" - "Cold" can precede the first word in each theme entry.

23A. *Filled pastry : CREAM PUFF. Cold cream.

29A. *Protective sports gear : SHOULDER PADS. Cold shoulder.

41A. *Prop in an iconic "Psycho" scene : SHOWER CURTAIN. Cold shower.

66A. *Ragtime dance : TURKEY TROT. Cold turkey.

68A. *Flower named for a legendary beast : SNAPDRAGON. Cold snap.

89A. *Contents of an abandoned one may be sold at auction : STORAGE LOCKER. Cold storage. 

104A. *What will fix misteaks? : SPELL CHECKER. Cold spell.
 
15D. *2017 Broadway musical based on the rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein : WARPAINT. Cold war.  Two of the Down 8's intersect two other Across entries. Those stacks of 8s in the upper and lower left are tough to pull off.

81D. *Lawyer's backlog : CASELOAD. Cold case.

Reveal:

111. It ushers in lower temperatures ... and what the answers to starred clues can have : COLD FRONT

Rich normally keeps this type of words-that-can-precede/follow for weekdays, unless the reveal entry really catches his interest.

This theme works the best when the key word change meanings. In this set, SHOWER, STORAGE and CASE remain the same.

Across:

1. Grand-scale poetry : EPOS. Also 38. Pope output : POEM. Alexander Pope.

5. Corrosive stuff : ACID. Also 6. Corrosive substances : CAUSTICS
 
9. Mariner org. : NASA. Unaware of the Mariner program.

13. Like an eddy : ASWIRL

19. An 80-footer is a long one : PUTT.  I made a long one when I played my very first round. So excited.

20. Square to look through : PANE

21. Got on in years : AGED

22. Old propeller site : BEANIE. Never heard of propeller beanie.

25. Commend : CITE

26. "And God Created Woman" (1956) star : BARDOT

27. Done, for Donne : O'ER

28. Afterthought preceder : ALSO. BunnyM, I also love your posts. Always thoughtful and caring.

31. Had a sample : TRIED IT

33. Wickiup, e.g. : HUT. Wickiup is new to me. Primitive hut.

34. Name of 12 popes : PIUS. Also 57. Four Holy Roman emperors : OTTOs. Ours is a quiet saint.
  
35. Most common draw in Scrabble : AN E. Odd to have an article in front.

36. Hanukkah toy : DREIDEL
 
39. Intolerant type : BIGOT

45. Janvier, across the Pyrenees : ENERO

46. Old TV knob : HOR

47. Gather in bundles : SHEAVE

48. Quick-getaway auditorium seat site : LAST ROW

50. Bygone : OLDEN

53. Actor Cage, in tabloids : NIC

54. CBS golf analyst Baker-Finch : IAN. He's from Australia.

55. Recited confidently : REELED OFF

60. Earthquake prefix : SEISMO. Hi there Jayce! Why can't you have venison burgers?

62. Wise guy : SAGE

70. __ facto : IPSO

71. Military camps : ETAPES

73. Farthest from the action, as arena seats : NOSEBLEED

74. Hogwash : ROT

75. Photog's item : NEG

77. Henri's health : SANTE. "A votre sante!"

78. Dentist's find : ABSCESS. Got via crosses.

83. Fusion, for one : ECO-CAR

87. Rap music article : THA

88. Westernmost African capital : DAKAR. Senegal's capital. Have any of you tried West African-style peanut butter chicken?

93. Ukrainian port, to locals : ODESA

94. Bowser's brand : IAMS

96. Flash : INSTANT

97. Astound : AWE. Inanehiker (Nina) on our blog is a doctor, who quieted my unease with her read of my recent blood test.

98. Hammett hound : ASTA

99. Soaked : WET

100. DNA component : ADENINE

107. Cry to Silver : HI YO

108. Crime boss : DON

109. Commotion : UPROAR

110. Comparable : AKIN

113. Split : CLEAVE

114. Dispatch : SEND. Average person checks his/her email 15 times a day.

115. Bailiwick : AREA

116. Ray, for one : ALer. Gluey fill. Tampa Bay Rays.

117. Hopper and Gabler : HEDDAS. Gluey fill.

118. Nervous : EDGY

119. Not : NARY

120. Italian noble family : ESTE

Down:
 
1. Spaceship Earth site : EPCOT

2. More refined : PURER

3. Ferrell's "SNL" cheerleading partner : OTERI

4. Penn, e.g.: Abbr. : STA

5. User : APPLIER. Odd *ER word.

7. Dope : INFO

8. Hi-__ : DEF

9. Morgen's opposite : NACHT. Night.

10. Currency exchange fee : AGIO. Learned from doing crossword.

11. Attack : SET UPON

12. Ross Sea penguin : ADELIE. Happy feet.

13. French clerics : ABBES

14. Scorch : SEAR

16. At risk : IN DANGER

17. Former Spanish Sahara territory that is neither a river nor has any gold : RIO DE ORO. Helpful clue. Like our grape nuts.

18. Tennis calls : LETS

24. Sierra __ : MADRE. Not LEONE.


29. Ottoman bigwig : SULTAN

30. Doo-wop syllable : DUM. No idea.

32. Uncle of Prince Wm. : EDW. Both Wm and EDW look odd.

33. "Take it" : HERE

37. "Well, that's obvious" : DUH

38. Game equipment : PIECES. We saw a Kirby Puckett game-used jersey at a store for $10K. Crazy.

39. Wanna-__: poseurs : BEs

40. Pull : TOW

41. Hip sound? : SHORT I. The i in Hip.

42. Stay out of sight : HOLE UP

43. Waiters take them : ORDERS

44. "We Try Harder" company : AVIS. Which is your favorite rental car company? We're going back to Payless. Bad experience with Dollar.

48. Reading lights : LAMPS

49. Battery pole : ANODE

51. Nevada city on I-80 : ELKO

52. Born : NEE

54. Golfer Aoki : ISAO. He should come to 3M. Both Jack Nicklaus & Gary Player were here this year.

56. Salon specialists : DYERS

58. Campus house, maybe : FRAT

59. Clotheshorse : FOP

61. Quaint lodging : INN

62. Casa room : SALA

63. Tommy Lee Jones' "Men in Black" role : AGENT K

64. "Faust" author : GOETHE

65. Win the love of : ENDEAR

67. Beliefs : TENETS

69. NFL ball carriers : RBs. Running backs.

72. Spanish wine descriptor : SECO. Dry.

76. More unpleasant, as details : GORIER

78. Stink : ADO

79. Troublemaker : BAD APPLE. Great fill.

80. Like kebabs : SKEWERED. Xi'an style. Lots of red pepper.

82. Stat for Aroldis Chapman : ERA. Rich is a Yankee fan. Patti is a Met fan.

84. Tilt : CANT

85. Govt. prosecutors : AGs. Attorney Generals.

86. Mall tenant : RETAILER

89. Walloped : SMACKED

90. Singer Billie Holiday's nickname : LADY DAY. Unknown to me.

91. __ a kind : ONE OF

92. Moving supply: Abbr. : CTN (Carton)

94. Book end? : ISH. Bookish.

95. Military command : AT EASE

98. Plot makeup : ACRES

99. Playwright Wasserstein : WENDY. Also new to me.

101. Stars watched by many : IDOLS

102. Good-sized chamber group : NONET. Group of nine.

103. Between, in Brest : ENTRE. Alliteration.

104. Quite : SUCH

105. Spewed magma : LAVA

106. Double-decker game piece : KING. Googled afterwards. Never played Pinochle. (Checkers. Thanks, WikWak.)

107. Bar mitzvah dance : HORA

111. Fire : CAN

112. Actress Charlotte : RAE

C.C.

Saturday, Sep 16th, 2017, Erik Agard

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing J,X)

Blocks: 38

 OK, that's better - after two rough weeks, this puzzle was almost a breeze to finish - in about half my personal allotted time.  Mr. Agard was on a three-month roll, missed August, but he's back for September.  Hourglass grid with a triple 11-letter staggered stack in the center and a 15-letter climber;

31a. Event with a caller : SQUARE DANCE - oops; I put in "-AUCTION" at the end; Bzzzt

34a. Fruit on a veggie pizza : BLACK OLIVES - ah.  I buy the 'supreme' frozen pizzas, and always pull off the black olives, but sprinkle on some bacon bits.  I got me a Pizzazz pizza wheel which fits nicely in my kitchenette

35a. Justin case? : BIEBER FEVER - har-har

7d. Standard procedure : A MATTER OF COURSE

2d.~!

ACROSS:

1. Directions home : MAP

4. Slow : DELAY

9. Key of Elgar's "Symphony No. 1" : A FLAT - filled in the "FLAT" part and waited

14. San Antonio Spurs' 1993-2002 home : ALAMO DOME

16. Employer of a lizard and a pig : GEICO - the gecko, and the hog who goes "wee~!"

17. Author of the 2011 memoir "My Father at 100" : RON REAGAN

18. Greek leader? : ALPHA - beta, gamma, etc.

19. "I __ it!" : KNEW - I tried WANT first

20. National League athlete : MET - from the NY Met(ropolitan)s, to be precise - the irony here is that this was one of my clues nixed by the editors for being too difficult for a Wed. puzzle

21. Equilibrium : STASIS

22. Dale relative : GLEN - not CHIP - we had CHIP N' DALE last week - this is the the valley definition

24. Weapon in some supernatural movies : STAKE - Vampires~!

26. Thus far : YET

27. Ship mover : SAIL

29. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY

30. One of the deadly sins : ENVY - LUST would have fit as well

36. Undesirable descriptor for makeup : CAKY

37. ___-A-Fella Records : ROC - cute.  I thought it might be roK

38. Thus : ERGO

40. "Correct, cap'n" : "AYE."

41. Currently airing : ON NOW - I would recommend watching "Garage Rehab" because my good friend Russell is "the muscle" on the show

The "other" guy is Richard from Gas Monkey Garage 

43. Hamilton notes : TENS - dollar bills

45. Fight like sticks figures? : RASSLE - Wrestle in the boondocks, the "sticks"

47. Sch. with a Providence campus : URI - dah~!  I put in RIU to start

49. __ Vogue : TEEN

51. Thins, e.g. : OREOs

52. Three-book Newton work : PRINCIPIA - the Wiki

54. Paper for a letter? : LEASE - think let-ter, one who 'lets'

55. Shun : OSTRACIZE

56. Tried to contain : SAT ON

57. Zero out : RESET

58. 1980s gaming release : NES - Nintendo Entertainment System

DOWN:

1. Annotate : MARK

2. Onward : ALONG - a shout-out~!!

3. Symposium groups : PANELS

4. Big name in anonymity : DOE - John or Jane, not the local trolls

5. Cheese town : EDAM

6. Upscale tiers : LOGES

8. Japanese cabbage? : YEN

9. Quartz type : AGATE

10. Afrobeat star __ Kuti : FELA - filled via perps - never heard of him - his Wiki

11. Mouths : LIP SYNCS

12. Realize : ACHIEVE

13. Pleasantly warm : TOASTY

15. "Harry Potter" father figure : Mr. WEASLEY - the Harry Potter Wiki

With daughter Ginny, the future Mrs. Potter

21. Parachute : SKYDIVE

23. Arabian Peninsula veil : NIQAB

25. "Hello" singer : ADELE

28. City in central Switzerland : LUCERNE

30. Alive : ENERGETIC

32. LeBron's birth city : AKRON - basketball is not my thing.  His Wiki; interesting how his first playoff run ended in a loss to the team at 14a.

33. Turn away : AVERT

34. Schwinn component : BIKE SEAT

35. Redwood City locale : BAY AREA

36. Door-to-door offerings : CAROLS - VACUUMS didn't fit

39. First to fall in most strikes : ONE PIN - nobody leaves the FIVE pin

41. Elizabeth who plays the Scarlet Witch in Marvel movies : OLSEN - filled via perps

42. Legal orders : WRITS

44. Wrest : SEIZE

46. "Meh" : SO SO - crosswordese

48. Concerning : IN RE

50. Turndowns from the tartan-clad : NAEs

52. Iberian land, to the IOC : PORtugal, according to the International Olympic Committee

53. Batter of balls? : CAT - sorry, C.C., no baseball here....

Splynter

Friday, September 15, 2017, Mark McClain

Title: Am I coming or going?

After more than 7 years of blogging puzzles, I do not often need the reveal to understand the theme. Mark got me, even though I knew the likely theme fill made no sense, I did not get what they had in common until the reveal. Telling us to break 58A into three words gave me DRAW TO WARD, and after a slow brain moment the light bulb went on - DRAW backwards is WARD. GAB becomes BAG and the rest fell into place. To maintain consistency, Mark has the second word reverse in the first two themers and and the first word reverses in the next two. The grid with many three and four letter fill makes this a fair test for Friday even before you deduce the reversal. Also it features many witty clue/fill combinations. Ringing organ? : EAR; Taking something badly? : THEFT - come to mind. That did not leave much room for other sparkle, but Mark did include SAPPORO, SATISFY, DYSTOPIAN and RAISE CAIN.

18A. Chat at the supermarket checkout? : GROCERY GAB (10). Grocery Bag jumped out at me as soon as I had the reveal.
-
24A. Marsh bird with uncontrollable urges? : COMPULSIVE RAIL (14). Compulsive is a word most often seen with Liar and Gambler.

38A. Way into Wayne Manor? : BAT KEYS (7). Tab Keys are very important when typing. The shortest fill, BAT to TAB.

51A. Work of a major opera house villain? : EVIL FROM THE MET (14). I watched this SHOW when it aired Live starting in 1977 trying to appreciate opera.

58A. Attract ... or, as three words, sequence change with a hint about 18-, 24-, 38- and 51-Across : DRAW TOWARD (10). If you suss this as DRAW to WARD, you see that this is a word reversal puzzle.

The rest...

Across:

1. Alan of "Tower Heist" : ALDA. It is amazing how well he has played smarmy bad people in this and other projects. A Stiller connection.

5. Partridge family tree? : PEAR. Not sure which family this refers to, the TV series or the Christmas chant.

9. Eliot's Bede : ADAM. This was the first novel published by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). Silas Marner and Middlemarch were her best.

13. He shared the AP Driver of the Century award with Andretti : FOYT. A. J. was a major STAR. when I was growing up.

14. Consumed : EATEN.

16. Con __: tempo marking : MOTO. The word has the same stem as motion but what does it mean in MUSIC?

17. Museum figure : BUST. Tempting...

20. Bigelow offering : TEA.

22. "Utopia" author : MORE. Is this the first fantasy novel? Was his Utopia appealing?  What about 3 Down?

23. Request on "ER" : MRI.

28. Oldest Japanese beer brand : SAPPORO.

29. Discounted by : LESS.

30. Cut out : OMIT.

31. Trivial amount : SOU. Although the French sou as a coin disappeared more than two centuries ago, it is still used to mean of little value. (various).

33. __ science : EARTH. Needed perps.

37. Paella veggie : PEA. Not a dish I cook, but here is a RECIPE.

41. "Eureka!" : AHA. Another made up word, but I guess they all are.

42. Legendary first name in skating : SONJA.  The second name was HENIE. A reminder to some of us of Clear Ayes. 48D. 42-Across' homeland : NORWAY.

44. Northwest Passage explorer : RAE. A true PIONEER.

45. Cinco times dos : DIEZ. Purists would prefer "cinco veces dos."

46. Noodle bar order : UDON.

49. Fulfill : SATISFY.

55. Animal house : DEN.

56. Pertaining to : IN RE.

57. SHO-owned cinematic channel : TMC. The Movie Channel, not TCM or AMC.

62. Not at all tough : EASY.

65. Skye, for one : ISLE.

66. Card worth a fortune? : TAROT.

67. Stir up : RILE.

68. Slender swimmers : EELS.

69. Sweet tubers : YAMS.  Can you pass the QUIZ?

70. Winter coat : SNOW. Another nice one.

Down:

1. Laughlin in Tex., e.g. : AFB. Air Force Base.

2. He often batted after Babe : LOU. Gehrig.

3. Like "The Hunger Games" society : DYSTOPIAN. Should this be included when you have 22A?

4. Tackle : ATTEMPT.

5. Wood fastener : PEG.

6. Ringing organ? : EAR. I like this clue, not the phenomenon.

7. Physics class topic : ATOMS.

8. Cringe : RECOIL.

9. Youngest of the "Little Women" : AMY. Meg. Margaret is the oldest of the March sisters, Jo. Josephine is the second oldest March sister, Beth. Elizabeth is the third eldest sister, Amy. The youngest, Amy is the pet of the family.

10. Article of faith : DOGMA. I liked the movie.

11. Arcade giant : ATARI.

12. Exxon follower? : MOBIL.

15. Guts : NERVE.

19. Giant in little candy : REESES.  Pieces. Phone home.

21. GI's address : APO.

24. Typical Hitchcock role : CAMEO. Stan Lee has taken over as king of the Cameos.

25. Celestial bear : URSA.

26. Take from a job : LOOT. Oh, that kind of job.

27. Johannesburg's land: Abbr. : RSA. Republic of South Africa, home to constructor and blogger Gareth Bain.

28. Finishes (up) the gravy : SOPS.

32. Former SSR : UKRaine.

34. Go ballistic : RAISE CAIN. A THEORY.

35. Taking something badly? : THEFT. Not new but still witty.

36. Unclear : HAZY.

38. Mismatch : BAD FIT.

39. __ Coast : EAST. WEST?

40. Repeated word in the Beatles' "She Loves You" : YEAH. yeah, yeah.

43. National Ice Cream mo. : JULy. Y abbreviate?

45. Aids for romantic evenings : DIMMERS.

47. Hedger's last words : OR NOT. This fill is absolutely correct, or not.

50. Vietnamese holiday : TET.

51. __ Bauer : EDDIE. The STORY.

52. Part of a song : VERSE.

53. Collectively : IN ALL.

54. Anne of comedy : MEARA. Wife of Jerry, mother of Ben; sadly she died in 2015.

59. Director Craven : WES. Unlike  Hitchcock and Stan Lee, Craven (who also died in 2015) often played himself in movies.

60. Danube Delta country: Abbr. : ROMania.

61. Drying-out hurdle : DTS. Delirium Tremens. I had a math teacher, first period, my junior year in high school who brought his coffee to class in a cup and saucer and the sound of his shaking was unnerving before 8 AM.

63. __-mo replay : SLO.

64. Taxus shrub : YEW. They look like junipers but the yew berry has a poisonous seed instead of the base for gin.

I am always curious when we have a theme like this one, as some of our crowd wants only clues and fill and no theme, while others love creativity. Thank you Mark; hope all are well. Lemonade out.

 Note from C.C.: 

Lemonade is safe and sound. His power was finally back last night. He also has a new grandson, who was born on Wednesday Sept 13, 2017. So sweet! You can click here to see more pictures of his beautiful grandkids.

Thursday September 14th 2017 Clive Probert

Theme: "T" Times - punning clues to a phrase with an added "T".

20A. Place to mingle on the slopes? : SINGLES T-BAR. There's an aprés-ski joint in Val d'Isère called "Dick's T-Bar." I had many a post-piste pick-me-up  there back in the 80's. The bar has outlasted the T-bar style lifts. Those things were tricky.

34A. Misplace a casual top? : LOSE YOUR T-SHIRT. Two theme entries in one T-shirt:

39A. Take Rover to Ruth's Chris? : GIVE A DOG A T-BONE. Funny how many people want to call this steakhouse chain "Ruth Chris's".

53A. Dinosaur family drama? : OEDIPUS T-REX My ex and I named our daughter "Jocasta". Then I read the play. Hmmm. Rated "R" for family unpleasantness (the play, not my daughter). She didn't hold a grudge.

Clever by Clive not just to add a "T" to a phrase, but to find four "T-hyphen" in front of the final word of the phrase. This kind of consistency is really difficult to strive for - you can start out with a seed entry that sets you on your way, and then find yourself compromising when you can't find much else that fits the plan.

Fresh fill, including GIRLRIEND, LOW VOLTAGE, SNARFS and TROUGHS. A lot to like. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:

Across:

1. Superhero attire : CAPE

5. Six-footers at parties : SUBS

9. Parakeet quarters : CAGES

14. "You can say that again!" : AMEN!

15. St. Paul's architect : WREN. The City of London's cathedral. Wren lived across the river in Southwark so that he could monitor progress. This is Herbert Mason's iconic photograph taken during the Blitz in WW2:

16. Important fruit in the Mediterranean diet : OLIVE

17. Novelist Morrison : TONI. One of America's literary greats.

18. Zaragoza's river : EBRO. Zaragoza in Spain, not Mexico.

19. Harder to come by : RARER

23. Legal deg. : LLB

24. Big hand measurement: Abbr. : MIN.

25. Gobble (up) : SNARF. Great word. Almost onomatopoeic.

27. Octet since 2006 : PLANETS. Poor Pluto.

31. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. "To Arms!". The stage direction "Alarums and Excursions" indicates that the assembled throng of extras need to start running around grabbing spears and what-not and calling "To War!" and the like.

36. "I saw the opening __ of hell": "Moby-Dick" : MAW

37. "Straight Outta Compton" role, familiarly : DRE. The good Dr. I met Andre when we were pitching software to his Beats Music brand. Smart guy.

38. Word with head or roll : EGG

46. Dull : STODGY. Hopefully, not your egg rolls.

47. Run things? : ERRANDS

48. Doone of fiction : LORNA. Based in the West of England. A good read!

50. NBA tiebreakers : OT'S. Basketball overtimes.

51. Balderdash : ROT

59. Major mess : SNAFU. I like the "Major=Military" connection in the clue. People will have you believe that the "F" means "fouled". Don't fall for it. Situation Normal, All [insert preferred word here] Up.

61. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG

62. Support person : AIDE 

63. One with a strict diet : VEGAN. I'm on a strict diet too - I call it the Food! diet. You won't catch me eating anything else.

64. Boring : BLAH

65. Pass the bouncer : GO IN. BYPASS the bouncer would be "sneak in".

66. Respond to a charge : PLEAD. Pleading ignorance was a loophole that was closed many moons ago.

67. Hearing things : EARS. Fun clue.

68. Singer James : ETTA. Could also be "RICK". So steady on there, Turbo, wait for the crosses.

Down:

1. Subjects of many viral online videos : CATS. This might not fall strictly into the genre, but it's still a treat - a UK commercial for milk. I love it.

2. Mine, in Marseille : A MOI

3. The Quakers of the Ivy League : PENN. Penn State are the Nittany Lions. They sound more fun.

4. Conundrums : ENIGMAS. "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Winston Churchill's assessment of Russian foreign policy in 1939. Also - here's "Nimrod", one of Elgar's "Enigma Variations". Quite beautiful.

5. "American Gods" leprechaun Mad __ : SWEENEY. Thank you, crosses. Neither novel, author nor character have never even come close to knocking at the door of my wheelhouse.

6. Metro areas : URBS. Subs and Exes. Sounds like an adult novel.

7. Muppet with a unibrow : BERT

8. Elitists : SNOBS

9. Western pens : CORRALS

10. In the style of : A LA. Mode. King. Food!

11. Sweetheart : GIRLFRIEND

12. Robbie's daredevil father : EVEL

13. Many a Montenegro resident : SERB

21. One-fifth of a limerick : LINE. Take it away, Owen KL

22. Art school subj. : ANAT. omy

26. Cheering sound : RAH!

27. Hair piece : PLAIT

28. Relatively safe, as electricity : LOW VOLTAGE. Wasn't the Van de Graaf generator that I stuck my hand on in high school which set my hair on end generating 50,000 volts? At a micro-amp, I seem to remember. Or something. Anyway, it didn't kill me. Stick your tongue on a 12V car battery and it's a different story.

29. Flap : TO DO

30. Tidal peril during a storm : SURGE and the anagram hot on the heels ....

32. More than asks : URGES

33. Board rm. session : MTG. Often "bored room". Too many meetings, too much decision paralysis.

35. Bring up : REAR

36. British racing cars : MG'S. Originally an abbreviation of "Morris Garages", now long lost to history. One of these chaps is either over-cautious or terribly rash, vis-à-vis headgear:

40. Old name of Tokyo : EDO

41. Bad way to run a ship : AGROUND. Usually leaves a mark not easily buffed out.

42. Unit of force : DYNE

43. Low-pressure systems : TROUGHS

44. Cricket clubs : BATS.

45. Performing : ON STAGE

49. Southwestern brick : ADOBE

51. Invitation letters : RSVP

52. Scott Turow memoir : ONE L. Harvard Law School freshman year. Published in 1977, apparently many first-year law school students still read it as part of their prep.

54. Getting pictures of the Hollywood sign, say : IN L.A. My local landmark. I still want to get up close, but the arrest/fine/night in jail isn't worth it.

55. Nectar flavor : PEAR

56. Sidesplitter : RIOT

57. Menu including Cut and Paste : EDIT

58. "Hercules" character who got her own show : XENA. She was the honorary starter at a charity golf tournament sponsored by Universal that I played in at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena a few years ago. There were more mulligans taken on that tee than I've seen before or since.

60. Drone regulator: Abbr. : F.A.A

A belated and heartfelt thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Tuesday - I've been up to my ass in alligators at work this last couple of weeks so I didn't have time to stop by on the 12th. My friend Jill took me to my favorite Indian restaurant, and a hot, spicy and merry time was had by both of us.

That leaves the grid - so here it is!

Steve