08.29 Mon

M O N D A Y
August 29, 2011
Jennifer Nutt

Theme: So sue me! — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase in which the last word can mean something filed in a court of law.

Theme answers:

• 16A: *Not animated, in filmmaking (LIVE ACTION).
• 23A: *Like replays that reveal bad calls (SLOW-MOTION).
• 49A: *One who can't function under stress (BASKET CASE).
• 10D: *Ineffective executive (EMPTY SUIT).
• 33D: *Hunk or babe's attribute (SEX APPEAL).
• 59A: Where the ends of the starred answers are filed (COURT OF LAW).

Hey, everyone. Hope y'all had a good weekend. I made it through the hurricane completely unscathed, so I'm feeling very grateful today. It was definitely raining and blowing hard out there, but I didn't see any trees down in my neighborhood and I didn't ever lose power, so I'm one of the lucky ones.

Smooth solve this morning. Considering that I've worked in law firms most of my adult life, it took me far too long to figure out this theme. In my defense (see what I did there?), I only worked in litigation for a very short time, so the Perry Mason stuff isn't exactly right there in the front of my brain most days. I hope BASKET CASE was the seed entry for this puzzle, because it's awesome. EMPTY SUIT is also really nice and SEX APPEAL adds a little, um, sex appeal to the grid.

Other favorites for me include:

• 21A: Disco dance (HUSTLE). Can you see a reference to this dance without hearing a bunch of guys yelling "Do the hustle!" at you in your head? I can't.
• 66A: Online business review site (YELP). I've just recently discovered YELP and it's been super helpful. So far, we've used YELP to find a moving company and a mechanic and we haven't been disappointed.
• 14D: Rascal (SCAMP). I don't know what it is about these types of words (also scoudrel and … I can't think of the others right now) but I love them. They sound old-timey and highfalutin' and, well, perfect.
• 30D: Central Washington city (YAKIMA). I'm sure YAKIMA is a beautiful city but I don't think I could live somewhere whose names brings to mind a cat coughing up a hairball. But maybe that's just me.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 13A: Lake into which Ohio's Cuyahoga River empties (ERIE).
• 39A: Doves' homes (COTES).
• 65A: Movie lioness (ELSA).
• 6D: Quarterback Manning (ELI).

Everything — 1A: Cookie holders (JARS); 5A: Baseball feature (SEAM); 9A: What gears do (MESH); 13A: Lake into which Ohio's Cuyahoga River empties (ERIE); 14A: Alabama march site (SELMA); 15A: Austen novel (EMMA); 16A: *Not animated, in filmmaking (LIVE ACTION); 18A: Rotating cooking rod (SPIT); 19A: Grassland (LEA); 20A: Plunked oneself down (SAT); 21A: Disco dance (HUSTLE); 23A: *Like replays that reveal bad calls (SLOW-MOTION); 27A: "Affirmative!" ("YES!"); 28A: Traveler's guide (MAP); 29A: Dental fillings (INLAYS); 31A: "A Doll's House" playwright (IBSEN); 34A: __ noire: literally, "black beast" (BÊTE); 35A: Enveloping glow (AURA); 38A: "I __ Pretty": "West Side Story" song (FEEL); 39A: Doves' homes (COTES); 40A: Do-it-yourselfers' buys (KITS); 41A: __-Coburg, Bavaria (SAXE); 42A: Like speaking (ORAL); 43A: Wee parasites (MITES); 44A: Word with power or reactor (ATOMIC); 46A: "Casablanca" pianist (SAM); 47A: iPhone download (APP); 49A: *One who can't function under stress (BASKET CASE); 53A: Mealtime lap item (NAPKIN); 55A: "That feels great!" (AAH); 56A: Org. issuing many refunds (IRS); 58A: Garden of Eden's __ of life (TREE); 59A: Where the ends of the starred answers are filed (COURT OF LAW); 63A: Emblem of authenticity (SEAL); 64A: Proverbial waste maker (HASTE); 65A: Movie lioness (ELSA); 66A: Online business review site (YELP); 67A: Cut with acid (ETCH); 68A: Medvedev's "no" (NYET); 1D: Come together (JELL); 2D: Astrological Ram (ARIES); 3D: Opponent (RIVAL); 4D: "Get it?" ("SEE?"); 5D: Spat (SET-TO); 6D: Quarterback Manning (ELI); 7D: __, amas, amat ... (AMO); 8D: Ways to get under the street (MANHOLES); 9D: Army meal (MESS); 10D: *Ineffective executive (EMPTY SUIT); 11D: Look happy (SMILE); 12D: Can't stand (HATES); 14D: Rascal (SCAMP); 17D: Nile dam (ASWAN); 22D: Italian "a" (UNA); 24D: Brunch staple (OMELET); 25D: Neckwear pin (TIE TACK); 26D: Santa Clara chip maker (INTEL); 30D: Central Washington city (YAKIMA); 31D: Uncertainties (IFS); 32D: Actress Arthur (BEA); 33D: *Hunk or babe's attribute (SEX APPEAL); 34D: '90s Russian president Yeltsin (BORIS); 36D: Numbered hwy. (RTE.); 37D: Barnyard brayer (ASS); 39D: Old buffalo-hunting tribe (COMANCHE); 43D: Like a he-man (MACHO); 45D: Kimono accessory (OBI); 46D: One of 50 (STATE); 47D: Unable to sit still (ANTSY); 48D: City of Light, in a Porter song (PAREE); 50D: Mars neighbor (EARTH); 51D: Goofy (SILLY); 52D: Wipe off the board (ERASE); 54D: Brown seaweed (KELP); 57D: Whack (SWAT); 60D: Cheerios grain (OAT); 61D: Trojans' sch. (USC); 62D: Quagmire (FEN).

06.15 Wed

W E D N E S D A Y
June 15, 2011
Jennifer Nutt

Theme:  Between a Rock and a Hard Place — A plethora of predicaments.

Theme Entries:

• 17A: *Aid for loose-leaf filing (HOLE PUNCHER).
• 10D: *Pay for a verdict (FIX THE JURY).
• 14D: *Random sample (SPOT CHECK).
• 29D: *Improvisational gig (JAM SESSION).
• 32D: *Deli container (PICKLE JAR).
• 61A: Trouble at the starts of the answers to starred clues (PREDICAMENT).

Hey, puzzle fans. Doug here on a Wednesday. Did you hear the big news yesterday? PuzzleGirl made her New York Times crossword puzzle debut! She's reached the top, the Holy Grail of crossworddom. Her next goal: replace Will Shortz as editor. I wouldn't put it past her. Anyway, she spent most of Tuesday reading congratulatory emails, tweets, and Facebook messages & was generally super-excited all day long. That'll wear you out. So she's asleep right now, and I'm the elf who gets to do the blog while she's zonked out.

I don't know anything about today's constructor, Jennifer Nutt. Hmmm, I see she once collaborated on a puzzle with Andrea Carla Michaels. That settles it. She's awesome. I enjoyed today's theme, and I really like the fact that some of the theme entries intersect. Those of you who've tried constructing puzzles know that it's hard enough to find a set of theme entries that are consistent and have matching lengths. Now imagine that they also have to intersect each other symmetrically. Yikes! So yeah, this grid is impressive. On the downside, I think 17-Across is more commonly known as a HOLE PUNCH (no -ER) and 10-Down, FIX THE JURY, isn't as "in the language" as the other phrases.

Bullets:

• 10A: "The dog ate my homework," e.g. (FIB). I once tried telling PuzzleGirl "The dog deleted the blog," but she didn't believe me.
• 38A: Former Fiesta Bowl site (TEMPE). It's officially the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and has been held in Glendale, Arizona, since 2007.

• 46A: American realist who painted "The Gross Clinic" (1875) (EAKINS). Thomas Eakins. Huh? That's a tough entry for a Wednesday, or any day of the week. I read the Wikipedia article on  "The Gross Clinic" and it's pretty darn interesting. The painting depicts what a surgical theater looked like in the nineteenth century. The title is accurate: it's gross. One critic said that the painting is "one of the most powerful, horrible, yet fascinating pictures that has been painted anywhere in this century...but the more one praises it, the more one must condemn its admission to a gallery where men and women of weak nerves must be compelled to look at it, for not to look at it is impossible." I don't want to traumatize our weak-nerved readers, so please enjoy this basketful of kittens..
• 61A: Trouble at the starts of the answers to starred clues (PREDICAMENT). Was the theme clear to everyone? Each of the starting words is a predicament. You can be "in a hole," "in a fix," "in a spot," etc. And none of them are where you wanna be.

• 66A: He's got the life (RILEY). When I was a kid, one of our neighbors often said to me "You're living the life of Riley!" I never had a clue what the heck he was talking about. Sometimes he told me that when I was mowing the lawn, so I don't think he knew what he was talking about either.
• 27D: "Beetle Bailey" dog (OTTO) / 36D: "Garfield" dog (ODIE). Two very common crossword dogs. You might also run into SNERT from "Hagar the Horrible" or DAWG from "Hi and Lois." I've yet to see the dog from "The Family Circus" in a puzzle. Good old BARFY.
• 59D: Charon's river (STYX). "The Best of Times," by request.

PuzzleGirl will be back tomorrow, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to blog. See you on Sunday.

04.25 Mon

M O N D A Y

April 25, 2011
Jennifer Nutt

Theme: Getting Your Ears Lowered - Things that that get covered in Hairstyling 101.

Theme answers:

• 16A: Near miss (CLOSE SHAVE).
• 22A: Boxer's fit condition (FIGHTING TRIM).
• 37A: Neckwear accessory (TIE CLIP).
• 49A: Specially edited version of a film (DIRECTOR'S CUT).
• 61A: Establishment where the ends of 16-, 22-, 37-and 49-Across take place (BARBER SHOP).

Good morning, puzzlers - Neville here, standing in with scissors in hand while PuzzleGirl finishes up her move. (Poor thing - she's without Internet at the moment!)

So we've got your BARBER SHOP basics in this puzzle - SHAVE, TRIM, CLIP and CUT. None of these is directly related to hair as clued, and that's nice to see. As someone always in search of the perfect CLOSE SHAVE, though, this one could be construed in a hair care fashion. I still like it a lot though, because it's a great entry, and a great theme overall.

I suppose the partner puzzle for this moves down the body a bit: PLUCKED STRINGS, WAX POETIC... erm, STEVE MCNAIR? This needs work - I'll leave the hair removal puzzles to Jennifer, I think.

Bullets:

• 9A: "___, poor Yorick!": Hamlet (ALAS)... I knew him, Horatio:
  
  
  
  Yeeeeeeeah!
  
• 15A. Tibetan spiritual master (LAMA). At the ACPT I was reminded of that gem by Ogden NASH (60A):
  
  The one-L lama,
  He's a priest.
  The two-L llama,
  He's a beast.
  And I would bet
  A silk pajama
  There isn't any
  Three-L lllama.
• 25A: Texas city across the border from Ciudad Juárez (EL PASO). I hope you remembered Juárez from last Thursday's puzzle! Okay, enough blatant self-promotion.

• 43A. It's younger than a yearling (FOAL) - not a MONTHLING.
• 46 & 48A. Police action (RAID & ARREST). Hey, Jennifer - give it ARREST!
• 54A. Regal pronouncement (EDICT). We've got a royal wedding coming up! I wish I had this Friday off.
• 7D: Succeed in every way (HAVE IT ALL). Are the kids these days still listening to Jesse McCartney? I don't think this song is terrible:
  
• 27D: Cut the peel from (PARE). With the P in position, I questioned if the answer could be PEEL, but that's not allowed.
• 59D: Acme (APEX). see 27D above, but replace P with A.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• I don't think there's any real crosswordese in this puzzle? Think I missed something? Kvetch below!
• Okay, on second thought, PG has deemed 21A. Glacial ridge (ARETE) as crosswordese in the past. Let's all remember it (and its classical meaning of excellence) from now on so we don't have to revisit this one. 

[I'm still not on it, but if you are, you should totally follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything else - To be updated!

T U E S D A Y November 16, 2010Jennifer Nutt

Theme: Chocoholic — Each theme answer ends with a word that can follow the word "chocoloate" in a familiar phrase.

Theme answers:

• 18A: *Chicken soup dumpling (MATZO BALL).
• 35A: *Paleontologist's lucky find (DINOSAUR EGG).
• 43A: *Cappuccino seller (ESPRESSO BAR).
• 3D: *Basic computer component (SILICON CHIP).
• 27D: *Parting smooch (GOODBYE KISS).
• 61A: Confection that can start the ends of the answers to starred clues (CHOCOLATE).

Yummy theme today. Is it too early for chocolate? I'm kind of impressed with this grid. It's hard to pack five theme answers plus a reveal into a 15x15 grid. And Jennifer was able to do it without overloading the fill with clunkers. In fact, without any clunkers at all that I could see. My sparkly entry of the day is definitely LAZY DOG (9D: Quick brown fox's obstacle?). That clue is a thing of beauty. (For anyone who doesn't know, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a sentence useful in learning to type because it includes all 26 letters of the alphabet. These days you can use it to test out a font.)

The only real problem I had was a result of slapping in the AE plural ending on AURORAS (25D: Sky lights). I knew at the time that it could have gone either way, but I decided to take my chances. I know! Livin' on the edge! That mistake made SAID hard to see (52A: Came out with). Other than that, I didn't know that a barque has at least three MASTS. Possibly caused by the fact that I didn't know that a barque is a boat. I read 12D: Texter's guffaw as "Texan's guffaw" and wondered how to laugh with a drawl. (LOL)

I enjoyed this solid Tuesday puzzle. Let us know what you thought of it.

Crosswordese 101: Here are the EVAs you should know for crosswords:

• A character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
  
• The youngest Gabor sister, who starred in "Green Acres."
  
• The actress EVA Longoria who plays Gabrielle on "Desperate Housewives."
  
• The actress EVA Mendes who appeared in the movies "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Hitch."
  
• The actress EVA Marie Saint (and you don't have to know anything she's been in because she's only ever clued as a fill-in-the-blank).
  
• And, finally 11D: "The Loco-Motion" singer Little EVA.

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 15A: Athletic shoe brand (AVIA).
• 22A: Neophyte (TYRO).
• 47A: Baseball's Diamondbacks, on scoreboards (ARI).
• 7D: Breakfast for Brutus? (OVA).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: Cold shower reactions (GASPS); 6A: Chicken or turkey (FOWL); 10A: Hair tamers (GELS); 14A: Sacro- ending (ILIAC); 16A: Stratford's river (AVON); 17A: Seward's Alaska purchase, to some (FOLLY); 20A: National flower of Scotland (THISTLE); 23A: Anatomical bag (SAC); 24A: Zeus' wife (HERA); 26A: Fight-or-flight response generator (DANGER); 30A: Ajar, say (OPEN); 32A: Atop (UPON); 34A: Typical studio apartment room count (ONE); 38A: Punch-in-the-gut grunt (OOF); 39A: "Batt. not __" (INCL.); 40A: Bon __: witticism (MOT); 41A: Sit in traffic (IDLE); 42A: Utmost degree (NTH); 48A: Apollo program org. (NASA); 49A: Wee (TINY); 50A: Bunny or kangaroo (HOPPER); 54A: Recede (EBB); 57A: Ahmadinejad's land (IRAN); 59A: Body surfer's ride (BREAKER); 65A: Come up (ARISE); 66A: Crest (PEAK); 67A: Coup d'__ (ETAT); 68A: Correct, as a stitch (RESEW); 69A: Torah holders (ARKS); 70A: Geologic stretches (EONS); 71A: A barque has at least three (MASTS); 1D: Birthday buys (GIFTS); 2D: Hawaii hi (ALOHA); 4D: Buddies (PALS); 5D: Grain-cutting tools (SCYTHES); 6D: Hall of __: athletic standout (FAMER); 8D: Two-time 1980s skating gold medalist Katarina (WITT); 10D: Cameroon neighbor (GABON); 13D: Tina Fey was its first female head writer, briefly (SNL); 19D: Asian ape (ORANG); 21D: Singer Horne (LENA); 28D: __ Gay (ENOLA); 29D: Send for consultation (REFER); 31D: D.C. go-getter (POL); 33D: Tennis's Sampras (PETE); 35D: Shore of Hollywood (DINAH); 36D: Words before the talk show guest enters (INTRO); 37D: Masked men at home? (UMPS); 41D: Charged particle (ION); 43D: Diciembre follower (ENERO); 44D: Frozen cake maker (SARA LEE); 45D: Recipe direction (STIR); 46D: Holstered pistol, e.g. (SIDEARM); 51D: Selections (PICKS); 53D: Looks out for, as a partner in crime (ABETS); 55D: Plague (BESET); 56D: Beer and ale (BREWS); 58D: Belg.-based peacekeeping gp. (NATO); 60D: Place (AREA); 61D: Tax pro (CPA); 62D: "I've Grown Accustomed to __ Face" (HER); 63D: Wine barrel wood (OAK); 64D: Brown shade (TAN).

WEDNESDAY, March 31, 2010—Jennifer Nutt

THEME: "Playing Footsie"—Four phrases begin with homophones of FOOT PARTS (and I don't mean inches).

This is a cute theme. I'm not one of those people who is grossed out by ordinary feet and all things foot-related, and hey, the theme entries only sound like they involve feet. Much fresher than a theme that actually uses HEEL, BALL, TOE, and SOLE phrases, no?

Theme entries:

• 20A: [Proverbial advice to a physician] (HEAL THYSELF). This looks like HEALTHY SELF every time I look at the grid. HEAL sounds like "heel."
  
• 40A: [Scold vigorously] (BAWL OUT). Sounds like "ball." Heh, I said "ball."
  
• 59A: [Certain no-parking area] (TOWAWAY ZONE. "Toe." This theme answer gives me mild crossword PTSD symptoms. At my first ACPT, I didn't check the crossings on a theme entry in the easiest puzzle, and so had crosswordese-ish PLAT instead of PLAN, crossing a TOWAWAY ZOTE. True story.
  
• 11D: [Motown genre] (SOUL MUSIC). "Sole." The Godfather of Sole has got some fancy footwork.
  
• Wrapping it all up is 35D: [This puzzle's theme, if you listen to the beginnings of 20-, 40-, and 59-Across and 11-Down] (FOOT PARTS).
  

Amy's Top One (because I'm on vacation and Top Ten is too many):

• 14A: [Dancer Falana] (LOLA). I believe Rex and PuzzleGirl know of my fondness for this video. I encourage you to watch it twice. (Dancing is optional.)

Crosswordese 101: It's not crosswordese, but it's also not a very common word, so let's look at SWALE. The clue is 52D: [Low, moist area]. My dictionary further elaborates that it's a "marshy depression between ridges." I gotta say, because of today's theme, I'm tempted to apply the word to the space between your toes. Doesn't that need a word?

Everything Else — 1A: Basic Latin lesson word (AMAT); 5A: Bedtime story preceder, perhaps (BATH); 9A: '70s dance club (DISCO); 15A: Canyon effect (ECHO); 16A: Not whispered (ALOUD); 17A: Response bias may affect one (POLL); 18A: Weak, as a novel plot (THIN); 19A: Piccolo, e.g. (FLUTE); 23A: "__ Miz" (LES); 24A: Stick (ADHERE); 25A: Reasoned belief in a supreme being (DEISM); 27A: Scaredy-cat (SISSY); 30A: Appoint as a posse member, say (DEPUTE); 33A: Huck's transport (RAFT); 36A: Consider (DEEM); 38A: Obama's younger daughter (SASHA); 39A: "The Name of the Rose" writer (ECO); 42A: Damaged, as mdse. (IRR.); 43A: BP merger partner (AMOCO); 45A: Stretch of time (SPAN); 46A: Bra size (B CUP); 47A: Falling star (METEOR); 49A: Lesley of "60 Minutes" (STAHL); 51A: Model's array (POSES); 53A: "Get lost!" (BEAT IT); 57A: Defense gp.? (ABA); 62A: Brink (VERGE); 64A: Hit the ground (ALIT); 65A: 1814-'15 exile site (ELBA); 66A: River romper (OTTER); 67A: Titicaca, for one (LAKE); 68A: Cause a stench (REEK); 69A: Natural homes (NESTS); 70A: Author Bagnold (ENID); 71A: Norms: Abbr. (STDS.); 1D: Top dog (ALPHA); 2D: Was heard from the herd (MOOED); 3D: Muslim god (ALLAH); 4D: Like a basketball team's center, usually (TALLEST); 5D: National Institutes of Health city (BETHESDA); 6D: In need of a massage (ACHY); 7D: "Now hear __!" (THIS); 8D: Sharpened (HONED); 9D: Most goofy (DAFFIEST); 10D: Laid up (ILL); 12D: Adorable (CUTE); 13D: Shelley works (ODES); 21D: Prefix with sect or cycle (TRI-); 22D: Captained (LED); 26D: Hot tub (SPA); 28D: Monopolizes, with "up" (SEWS); 29D: Kennel sounds (YELPS); 31D: No __ traffic (THRU); 32D: O.K. Corral fighter (EARP); 33D: 500 sheets (REAM); 34D: Zenith (ACME); 37D: Defensive trench (MOAT); 40D: Fans (BOOSTERS); 41D: With sustained force (UNABATED); 44D: Jobs, vis-à-vis Apple Inc. (CEO); 46D: Oregon NBA team, familiarly (BLAZERS); 48D: Old touring car (REO); 50D: "Yo!" ("HEY!"); 54D: Apartment sign (TO LET); 55D: Asleep, probably (IN BED); 56D: Tropical hardwoods (TEAKS); 57D: Stratford's river (AVON); 58D: __ noire (BETE); 60D: Actor Rickman (ALAN); 61D: Collaborative Web site (WIKI); 63D: Figure out (GET).

MONDAY, Feb. 22, 2010 — Jennifer Nutt

THEME: Chill out! — four theme answers begin with adjectives meaning "informal" or "laid back"


My first day back from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn. Here is my very brief recap (cut-and-pasted from my other blog):

Welcome back! Wait, you guys didn't go anywhere. I was the one who was away this weekend. The tournament in Brooklyn was a lot of fun, though I did not participate. That last sentence appears to make little sense, but is true nonetheless. I was on the periphery of the tournament all weekend, seeing friends and meeting new people and turning my voice recorder on at various, occasionally inappropriate times to try to capture the wisdom, eloquence, and occasionally drunken ramblings of various constructors, editors, and solvers. While the participants were solving, I went into Manhattan for soba noodles (Saturday), or slept late (Sunday). I also got to see really good friends and their brand new baby. There wasn't nearly enough time to see or talk to everyone I would have liked to. There is a new champion, as most of you know by now: Dan Feyer, a guy who trained for his first tournament by solving every crossword I ever wrote about and reading every write-up I ever wrote. One of the first things he told me two years ago was, "I'm probably the only person besides your mother who's read every word you've ever written." And now he's the champ. The other two finalists, Anne Erdmann and Howard Barkin, would have made excellent champions as well — I don't know Anne, but I do know that she was the only woman besides Ellen Ripstein to be on the stage for the finals in the past quarter century; I do know Howard, whom I met at my very first tournament three years ago and is possibly the nicest guy in the world of crosswords (populated almost exclusively by very nice people). Tyler Hinman was out of the running because of a tie-breaker rule (he finished tied for third). This was disappointing to me and a lot of people, as we would have loved to see him defend, but he was gracious in defeat and generous in his praise for Dan and got a *huge* standing ovation when he was announced as the fourth-place finisher (and, for the last time, champion of the Juniors division). It was actually pretty moving. Everyone was excited to have a new champ, but everyone still (rightly) stands in awe of Mr. Hinman's skills (and string of 5 championships in a row). Like the Terminator, he'll be back.

I heard some buzz about the upcoming Los Angeles Crossword Tournament ... will let you know as soon as I get official word about details from the (lovely and astonishingly professional) tournament organizer. Now, on to today's puzzle.

First words = synonymous. An old theme type. These answers are OK, with RELAXED HAIR providing some originality and flair, but with only four theme answers and with CASUAL and EASY not being significantly repurposed in their answers, I found this one lackluster overall. UNO CARD seemed a bit of stretch to me, in terms of its legitimacy as a self-standing answer (9D: It may direct you to skip, draw two, or reverse), but the rest of the fill was solid, if unremarkable. I actually used MEWL in a sentence the other day (describing my own behavior while in the midst of a bout with a stomach virus) (66A: Whimper). Nice word.

Theme answers:

• 21A: Dangerously uncontrollable type (LOOSE CANNON)
• 27A: Weekly dress-down times (CASUAL FRIDAYS) — actually had some trouble here, as to me "dress down" = berate someone for incompetence. Perhaps this is also a feature of some CASUAL FRIDAYS. So much less dignified to take abuse from the boss when you're standing there in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.
• 48A: Music genre heard in elevators (EASY LISTENING)
• 55A: Chemically treated tresses (RELAXED HAIR)

My only rough spots today involved the self-sabotage of bad handwriting. I solved on paper today, and while you can't make typos on paper, you can write so illegibly that even you have no idea what you wrote. This happened to me at least twice. I also wrote in A-ONE for 34D: Very top (ACME) and ALERO (!?!?!) for 54D: Wing: Prefix (PTERO-).

Crosswordese 101: ARLES (53D: Setting for van Gogh's "The Night Café") — if the word is in five letters and "Van Gogh" is in the clue, it's ARLES. Van Gogh moved there in the late 1880s, and found the landscape and light there hugely inspirational. About "The Night Café," van Gogh said: "I have tried to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime" (wikipedia). That, my friends, is a quote, and a far cry from what (I imagine) is being "expressed" in the work of the Impressionists who preceded him.



Enjoy your day

~RP

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Everything Else — 1A: Surgery marks (SCARS); 6A: "Hawaii Five-O" setting (OAHU); 10A: Heist target (BANK); 14A: Sully (TAINT); 15A: Whirled, as a top (SPUN); 16A: Opposite of windward (ALEE); 17A: Impressive display (ARRAY); 18A: Kids' plastic brick maker (LEGO); 19A: "What's in a __?": Juliet (NAME); 20A: Sales agent, briefly (REP); 21A: Dangerously uncontrollable type (LOOSE CANNON); 24A: Taken by a shoplifter (STOLEN); 26A: Pub order (ALE); 27A: Weekly dress-down times (CASUAL FRIDAYS); 34A: Requests (ASKS); 36A: More than requests (PLEADS); 37A: Detroit-based labor gp. (UAW); 38A: Supportive sound from the crowd (CHEER); 40A: Sidekick (PAL); 41A: Best-seller list datum (TITLE); 43A: Sch. near Harvard (MIT); 44A: Ukrainian seaport (ODESSA); 47A: Dover flatfish (SOLE); 48A: Music genre heard in elevators (EASY LISTENING); 51A: Slithery swimmer (EEL); 52A: Letter-shaped shoe fastener (T-STRAP); 55A: Chemically treated tresses (RELAXED HAIR); 61A: Gallery display (ART); 62A: All done (OVER); 63A: Honey spirits (MEAD); 64A: Still-life fruit (APPLE); 66A: Whimper (MEWL); 67A: Puzzle with only one way out (MAZE); 68A: Old anesthetic (ETHER); 69A: Artist Warhol (ANDY); 70A: Greek god of war (ARES); 71A: Cowboy's rope (LASSO); 1D: Clear-night twinklers (STARS); 2D: Insertion symbol (CARET); 3D: Causes of in-flight "bumps" (AIR POCKETS); 4D: Protein synthesis molecule, for short (RNA); 5D: Salon dos (STYLES); 6D: Norway's capital (OSLO); 7D: Gibbons, e.g. (APES); 8D: Extremely big (HUGE); 9D: It may direct you to skip, draw two, or reverse (UNO CARD); 10D: Forbidden (BANNED); 11D: Astronaut Shepard (ALAN); 12D: Nautilus captain (NEMO); 13D: "Peachy-__!" (KEEN); 22D: "Movin' __": "The Jeffersons" theme (ON UP); 23D: Elite invitee roster (A-LIST); 25D: Cut with a surgical beam (LASE); 28D: European peaks, to Pierre (ALPES); 29D: "It's the __ I can do" (LEAST); 30D: Spurious (FALSE); 31D: Celebrity signatures (AUTOGRAPHS); 32D: Southern pronoun (Y'ALL); 33D: Popeye's __' Pea (SWEE); 34D: Very top (ACME); 35D: Denomination of Islam (SHIA); 39D: Wimbledon's official timekeeper (ROLEX); 42D: Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely" (ISN'T); 45D: Perplexing problem (DILEMMA); 46D: Against (ANTI); 49D: Annual (YEARLY); 50D: Six-Day War country (ISRAEL); 53D: Setting for van Gogh's "The Night Café" (ARLES); 54D: Wing: Prefix (PTERO-); 55D: Fontana di Trevi city (ROMA); 56D: Tied, as a game (EVEN); 57D: Lascivious (LEWD); 58D: Darling (DEAR); 59D: Mist (HAZE); 60D: Fruity summer drinks (ADES); 65D: Educ. support group (PTA).