09.01 Thu

T H U R S D A Y
September 1, 2011
Steve Salitan

Theme: Round and Round We Go — Each theme answer is a unique definition for the word "rounds."

Theme answers:

• 17A: See 64-Across (AMMUNITION UNITS).
• 24A: See 64-Across (SPARRING PERIODS).
• 42A: See 64-Across (TOURNAMENT PARTS).
• 56A: See 64-Across (TRAYFULS OF BEERS).
• 64A: Clue for this puzzle's four longest answers (ROUNDS).

Good morning, everyone! Couple things before we get started.

First: Merl Reagle has put together a puzzle contest to benefit the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. "The National Brain Game Challenge" will feature four original Reagle puzzles each of which leads to a Key Answer and a Secret Link that connects all the puzzles. I've been assured that "the puzzles are of medium difficulty and the key to winning is seeing the connections rather than knowing a lot of esoterica." The entry fee is $25 and every penny of that goes to the AFA. The puzzles will be available at 3:00pm ET on September 25 and at that point — the race for the cash prizes is on! Please check out the AFA's website for all the details and to register. I'm definitely signing up. It sounds like a lot of fun for a great cause!

Second: I'm waaaay behind on my PuzzleGirl email and I want to apologize to those of you who have sent me notes over the past several months. You probably think it's all part of my plan to be a half-assed blogger, but it really isn't. See, I have this thing where I tell myself I'm not going to respond until I have time to sit down and really be thoughtful about it, and then that time never comes. I promise sometime over the next couple days I'll power through the inbox and pay attention to those of you who have been nice enough to contact me. I really do appreciate you!

So. The puzzle. I was digging this theme until I got to the last theme answer. TRAYFULS OF BEERS seems a little … awkward, doesn't it? It didn't ruin the puzzle for me, but I wish they had all been a little smoother. Basically, I just think it's awesome that Steve noticed there are so many different meanings of the word "round."

I had one recurring "issue" today and it has nothing to do with the puzzle and everything to do with getting old. (At least that's my excuse.) I misread the clue for SPAT as "smallish squirrel" instead of [20A: Smallish quarrel] and misread the clue for MUMS as "Rose Parade followers" instead of [3D: Rose Parade flowers]. Which, by the way, um … shouldn't the flowers in the Rose Parade be, um … roses? Just asking.

I chuckled at myself when I started to write in LEMs where LSTS was supposed to go (12D: WWII transports) and then ran into an actual clue for LEM almost immediately (23A: NASA moon lander).

Bullets:

• 1A: "Close!" ("ALMOST!"). I do love seeing the exclamatory phrases in my puzzle.

• 35A: Something golfers often break (TEE). You're forgiven if you tried PAR first.
• 37A: Molasses-like (THICK). I couldn't get OOZY out of my head long enough for anything else to come in, so I needed a lot of crosses on this one.
• 41A: Crammer's concern (TEST). Thought it might be EXAM, but checked the crosses.
• 47A: Unsafe? (OUT). Cute clue. In baseball, a runner may be either "safe" or "OUT."
• 15D: Short stop? (STA.). If the clue had simply been "Stop" the answer might have been STATION. But STA. is a "short" way of putting it.

• 22D: Palm in one's palm? (TREO). Remember when Palm Pilots were the cooolest things? Ah, the good old days ….
• 38D: BA or HR (STAT). I don't know what BA stands for, but I assume HR is Home Runs.
• 44D: Where distasteful humor often goes (TOO FAR). Best entry in the grid.
• 52D: Fireplace shelf (HOB). Who knew?

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 33A: "Alfred" composer, 1740 (ARNE).
• 12D: WWII transports (LST'S).
• 15D: Short stop? (STA.).
• 51D: Georgia and Latvia, once: Abbr. (SSR'S).

Everything — 1A: "Close!" ("ALMOST!"); 7A: Cartoon monkey (ABU); 10A: __ bonding (MALE); 14A: Create trouble (CAUSE A STIR); 16A: Mount near Olympus (OSSA); 17A: See 64-Across (AMMUNITION UNITS); 19A: Marx's "__ Kapital" (DAS); 20A: Smallish quarrel (SPAT); 21A: With attitude (SASSY); 22A: It may be painted (TOE); 23A: NASA moon lander (LEM); 24A: See 64-Across (SPARRING PERIODS); 33A: "Alfred" composer, 1740 (ARNE); 34A: Study fields (AREAS); 35A: Something golfers often break (TEE); 36A: Martial arts facility (DOJO); 37A: Molasses-like (THICK); 38A: LaBeouf of "Transformers" films (SHIA); 39A: Latin 101 word (AMO); 40A: Drummer in Goodman's band (KRUPA); 41A: Crammer's concern (TEST); 42A: See 64-Across (TOURNAMENT PARTS); 46A: Quite a while (EON); 47A: Unsafe? (OUT); 48A: It's sometimes shaved (SCALP); 51A: Smith's item (SHOE); 53A: Contend (VIE); 56A: See 64-Across (TRAYFULS OF BEERS); 60A: "__Cop": 1987 film (ROBO); 61A: Plant-based weight loss regimen (HERBAL DIET); 62A: Former cygnet (SWAN); 63A: Scale notes (FAS); 64A: Clue for this puzzle's four longest answers (ROUNDS); 1D: Riding sch., e.g. (ACAD.); 2D: Dharma teacher (LAMA); 3D: Rose Parade flowers (MUMS); 4D: Home of the Woody Hayes Athletic Ctr. (OSU); 5D: Electric eye, e.g. (SENSOR); 6D: Capital SSW of Seoul (TAIPEI); 7D: Going head to head (AT IT); 8D: Vita (BIO); 9D: Spigoted vessel (URN); 10D: Parisian words of friendship (MON AMI); 11D: Sale caveat (AS IS); 12D: WWII transports (LST'S); 13D: Lenient (EASY); 15D: Short stop? (STA.); 18D: Windows openers (USERS); 22D: Palm in one's palm? (TREO); 23D: Reporter's source (LEAK); 24D: Co-Nobelist with Begin in 1978 (SADAT); 25D: Teaser (PROMO); 26D: One variety of it remains green when ripe (ANJOU); 27D: Book after Micah (NAHUM); 28D: Kvetch (GRIPE); 29D: Hard nut to crack (PECAN); 30D: Questionnaire catchall (OTHER); 31D: Certain believer (DEIST); 32D: Election prizes (SEATS); 37D: Air__: Southwest subsidiary (TRAN); 38D: BA or HR (STAT); 40D: Titan of publishing (KNOPF); 43D: Put trust in (RELY ON); 44D: Where distasteful humor often goes (TOO FAR); 45D: Hopi home (PUEBLO); 48D: Violas, cellos, etc.: Abbr. (STRS.); 49D: Bad thing to eat (CROW); 50D: "Rubáiyát" rhyme scheme (AABA); 51D: Georgia and Latvia, once: Abbr. (SSR'S); 52D: Fireplace shelf (HOB); 53D: Gold source (VEIN); 54D: Really ticked (IRED); 55D: Some attendance figs. (ESTS.); 57D: TV dial letters (UHF); 58D: Herd dining area (LEA); 59D: Prof's address letters (EDU).

03.31 Thu

T H U R S D A Y
March 31, 2011
Steve Salitan

Theme: The Boys of Summer! — It's a baseball theme for opening day.

Theme answers:

• 1A: *One way to reach a superhero (BAT PHONE).
• 23A: *2008 Republican hopeful (MITT ROMNEY).
• 34A: *Roll-fed toy (CAP PISTOL).
• 46A: *Musical about rock's 4 Seasons (JERSEY BOYS).
• 62A: Its season starts today; its equipment starts the starred answers (BASEBALL).

Very uneven solve for me today. Love the theme. I'm only a casual sports fan, so I don't always know when opening day is but my new boss — a huge baseball fan — took the day off today to go see our Nats, so I was aware this year. As for the theme answers, one made me chuckle, one made me smile, one made me groan, and the one right in the middle gave me a lot of trouble. For some reason, I always want to spell SCADS with a K (31D: Carloads). I also had had TIE ONTO where TIE INTO was supposed to go (25D: Link with). I was waiting to see whether 28D would be STNS or (the correct) STAS (28D: Coming and going spots: Abbr.). But I was pretty sure it was going to be an N after that K, so CAP PISTOL was looking like KNPPOSTOL and that ... took me a while to sort out.

Lots of prepositions and other weird partials in the grid today: AGREED ON right next to ON SALE, SEEN AS, IN UP, TIE INTO. And then there are the several downright clunkers: NOA, LOPER, and NUS (7D: Tishby of "The Island" / 9D: Horse warming up, say / 42D: Sorority letters). But then there's quite a bit of good stuff too, like the triple stack of 7s in the northeast corner:

• 12D: Chemical bonding number (VALENCE).
• 13D: Winning numbers (ELEVENS).
• 14D: Flights that often span two days (REDEYES).

Sure those three words are full of Wheel of Fortune letters, but the Vs just spice it right up for me. There are a few other entries that I like for one reason or another, so let's go to the bullets.

Bullets:

• 27A: Focus of some trips (EGO). Nice clue.
• 30A: Explain (CONSTRUE). I do not think this word means what I think it means.
• 36A: Fertilizer component (POTASH). I like to pronounce this word like POE-TASH and for some reason I crack myself up whenever I do that.
• 39A: "I can't explain it" ("NO REASON"). I typically like answers clued as spoken expressions. Even better when they're exclamations like 55D: "Super!" ("FAB!").
• 53A: "The Executioner's Song" Pulitzer winner (MAILER). For some reason Norman MAILER and Jimmy Breslin are the same person in my brain.
• 55A: Burlesque act (FAN DANCE).

• 4D: Stylish waves (PERMS). Stylish?
• 40D: African plain (SAVANNA).
• 47D: "The Vampire Diaries" heroine Gilbert (ELENA). I'm a little disappointed ELENA wasn't clued with a reference to SONIA (28A: Justice Sotomayor) but that's probably just me. Also, the Twilight series is about as deep as I'm going to get into the vampire genre so I was out of luck here.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 43A: Imitated (APED).
• 44A: Old 51-Across devices (ETNAS).
• 45A: "The Simpsons" shopkeeper (APU).
• 52A: Jai __ (ALAI).
• 8D: Head M.D.? (ENT).
• 28D: Coming and going spots: Abbr. (STAS.).
• 54D: Quarterback Dawson (LEN).

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Everything Else — 9A: Blind slat (LOUVER); 15A: Concurred about (AGREED ON); 16A: Lower, for now (ON SALE); 17A: Ogled (LEERED AT); 18A: Skinned (PEELED); 19A: One of two O.T. books (SAML.); 20A: When Donne is done for the day? (E'EN); 21A: Genesis outcast (EVE); 22A: Go by (PASS); 29A: Unsatisfactory marks? (ACNE); 32A: Fiona, after Shrek's kiss (OGRESS); 49A: Benjamin et al.: Abbr. (PVTS.); 50A: Give pieces to (ARM); 51A: Trial site, perhaps (LAB); 59A: Show up (ATTEND); 60A: Some feelers (ANTENNAE); 61A: Viewed to be (SEEN AS); 1D: __ masqué: dance with costumes (BAL); 2D: A good while back (AGES AGO); 3D: Crime of betrayal (TREASON); 5D: Cad (HEEL); 6D: "How peculiar" ("ODD"); 10D: Bridge opener, briefly (ONE NO); 11D: Take for a chump (USE); 22D: Chest ripple (PEC); 23D: Transform eerily, in sci-fi (MORPH); 24D: __ to one's neck (IN UP); 25D: Link with (TIE INTO); 26D: Donald's second ex (MARLA); 32D: Others, in Oaxaca (OTRAS); 33D: Proceeds (GOES); 35D: Sharp competitor (SONY); 36D: Hefner garb (PAJAMAS); 37D: Work (OPERATE); 38D: Unhappy home inspection find (TERMITE); 41D: Like some film effects (OPTICAL); 44D: Flow back (EBB); 48D: Play places (YARDS); 49D: Secondary strategy (PLAN B); 52D: Chick chaser? (-ADEE); 56D: Actress Gasteyer (ANA); 57D: Some Windows systems (NT'S); 58D: Epitome of slipperiness (EEL).

T U E S D A Y December 21, 2010 Steve Salitan

Theme: Rain, Rain, Go Away — Theme answers end with words that can describe rain.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Throat soothers (COUGH DROPS).
• 23A: Edible pastry decorations (CAKE SPRINKLES).
• 47A: High-quality bed linen (PERCALE SHEETS).
• 57A: Wet bar containers (ICE BUCKETS).
• 65A: Phenomenon described by the ends of 17-, 23-, 47- and 57-Across (RAIN).

I had some issues with this puzzle. I really like the theme and three out of the four theme answers are fine. But, CAKE SPRINKLES? I don't think I've ever heard them called that. Obviously not scientific or definitive in any way, but if you Google the term in quotation marks, you'll only get about 19,000 hits. Without the quotation marks (which to my mind means you're finding the same thing — i.e., sprinkles you'd use to decorate baked goods — but not insisting they be called by the specific phrase) gets you more than 700,000. I was just about to say that I know a bunch of you are foodies, but it occurred to me that's Rex's blog that has all the foodie commenters. Do we have any foodies over here? Well, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who didn't bat an eye over CAKE SPRINKLES.

I also don't think I've ever heard the phrase DRONE BEE (31A: Stingless male), but I'm much more willing to believe that's a real thing that I've simply never heard of. PASTA-RONI tripped me up (5A/60A: Noodle product derived from "The San Francisco Treat!") because I wanted it to be Rice-a-Roni, which obviously isn't a noodle product, but when I see "San Francisco Treat" it gets the Rice-a-Roni jingle going in my head and I can't really focus on anything else. I honestly didn't even notice that the clue said "noodle."

To me, the YEHUDI / GELID / ALTAI section bears more than a passing resemblance to a train wreck (46D: Violinist Menuhin / 61A: Very cold / 64A: Asia's __ Mountains). The D and I were total guesses and there was no one more surprised than me that they turned out to be right.

For all my complaining, there were, however, a few nice medium-to-long answers in the grid. SPACKLE is fun to say (10D: Wall hole filler), as is BATHSHEBA (32D: King David's wife) and PYRRHIC (45A: Like a costly victory), though I admit I needed a couple crosses to confirm the spelling on that last one.

All in all, a nice theme idea and a couple of sparkly words didn't make up for the not-great theme execution and the decidedly non-Tuesday mash-up in eastern Texas. Unfortunately, I'd have to say I'm not a big fan of this puzzle. I'm eager to hear your thoughts in the comments and I leave you with this:




[55D: "Help __ the way!" (IS ON)]

Crosswordese 101: SKAT is CrossWorld's favorite card game, and this is what you need to know about it: (1) it's played with 32 cards, (2) all cards are higher than six, (3) it's played with three hands, (4) it's German, (5) it involves taking tricks and has trump cards.

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

• 62A: Saragossa's river (EBRO).
• 12D: Mountain ridge (ARETE).
• 25D: __ avis (RARA).
• 41D: Purim's month (ADAR).

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Everything Else — 1A: It has more than 5,000 feet (MILE); 10A: Game with trump cards (SKAT); 14A: Tehran's land (IRAN); 15A: "A work of __ a confession": Camus (ART IS); 16A: Whittle (PARE); 19A: Help in a holdup (ABET); 20A: Raggedy doll (ANN); 21A: Stackable cookie (OREO); 22A: Not chronic, as illness (ACUTE); 27A: Hurting the most (ACHIEST); 29A: Going badly in the mil.? (AWOL); 30A: Answer (REPLY); 35A: Org. in Tom Clancy books (CIA); 36A: Gonzalez in 2000 news (ELIAN); 38A: Send packing (AXE); 39A: Ancient Roman language (OLD LATIN); 42A: Exxon competitor (CITGO); 44A: Eve's partner (ADAM); 51A: Dislike and more (ABHOR); 52A: __ scale: talc-to-diamond (MOHS); 53A: Yokohama yes (HAI); 56A: SpongeBob, e.g. (TOON); 60A: See 5-Across (RONI); 63A: Swedish furniture giant (IKEA); 1D: Isinglass (MICA); 2D: It's pumped in gyms (IRON); 3D: Liftoff spot (LAUNCH PAD); 4D: Class with vocab. lists (ENG.); 5D: West Coast team in the 1998 World Series (PADRES); 6D: Collar, as a thug (ARREST); 7D: Small porch (STOOP); 8D: Service reward (TIP); 9D: Beast of burden (ASS); 11D: Afghanistan's capital (KABUL); 13D: French noodles? (TÊTES); 18D: Fake (HOKEY); 22D: Soon, to the bard (ANON); 24D: Plague (AIL); 26D: Victorious shout (I WON); 27D: Sacramento's __ Arena (ARCO); 28D: Provide with a roof (CEIL); 31D: Clamor (DIN); 33D: Military vet (EX-G.I.); 34D: Job rights agcy. (EEOC); 36D: End-of-list abbr. (ET AL.); 37D: Green wedge in a gimlet (LIME); 40D: New Hampshire city known for its annual motorcycle week (LACONIA); 42D: Getting gradually louder, in mus. (CRESC.); 43D: Subway under B'way (IRT); 45D: Irrational fear (PHOBIA); 47D: Father: Pref. (PATRI-); 48D: Digital novel (EBOOK); 49D: River of Lyons (RHONE); 50D: Refine, as ore (SMELT); 54D: Longfellow's bell town (ATRI); 57D: Supermarket chain with a red-and-white logo (IGA); 58D: Animation frame (CEL); 59D: Plop lead-in (KER-).

T U E S D A Y August 17, 2010 Steve Salitan

Theme: Presidents' Day — Theme answers are famous singers each of whose last name is also the name of a U.S. president.


Theme answers:

• 17A: "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" singer (BRYAN ADAMS).
• 29A: "How Glad I Am" Grammy winner, 1964 (NANCY WILSON).
• 45A: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer (BONNIE TYLER).
• 61A: 1971 Oscar winner for "Theme from 'Shaft'" (ISAAC HAYES).
• 12D/36D: Patriotic song that's a hint to this puzzle's theme (HAIL TO / THE CHIEF).

I know I promised to give you details about Lollapuzzoola 3 and, believe me, I will. But for now I just want to tell you one little part of the day that relates to this puzzle. At the lunch break, a bunch of us decided to walk a couple blocks over to a little coffee shop type place. It was me and, like, six other people. Not to be a name-dropper but it was Rex Parker, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Patrick Blindauer, Tony Orbach, Ashish Vengsarkar and … (to get to the point) Steve Salitan! I met Steve at last year's ACPT. Super, super nice guy. Kinda shy but definitely managing to fit right in. So at lunch, Steve was like super attentive to me. He was opening doors for me, pulling out my chair, making sure I had a menu … he even asked the restaurant manager to turn down the air when I mentioned I was cold. And when the waitress brought me the wrong sandwich (no bacon?!?), Steve took care of it for me. Kind of weird how sweet he was being. Not really sure what that was about. So, anyway, awesome puzzle, right? Waaait a minute .… Do you think he was buttering me up so that I'd give him a rave review? That scoundrel!*

So the theme is pretty cool. Impressive that he was able to fit the reveal in the way he did — did you notice THE CHIEF crosses two theme answers? I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bothered by NANCY WILSON. My first thought was the Nancy Wilson in Heart (who is awesome), but 1964 seemed a little early for her (just looked it up, she would have been 10 years old that year). So I decided it must be one of the Supremes, although I thought 1964 was early for her to have done anything solo that would have earned her a Grammy. Plus, as it turns out, her name is Mary Wilson, so all of the other wrongness doesn't really matter anyway. I'm gonna say if you know just a tiny bit more about jazz than the average person, you probably know Nancy Wilson. I know quite a few jazz musicians' names, but Nancy Wilson doesn't make my list. I'm pretty sure that says more about me than it does about her. Just perusing her Wikipedia entry makes me feel a little stupid for not knowing her. There's really only so much room in my brain though. You know what I think I'll do? I'm going to kick David Sanborn out and give his spot to Nancy Wilson. Done and done.

The only other thing I'm going to say about the theme answers is this.



As for the fill, it's really nice for a Tuesday. For some reason, TATTLE and PILSNERS (22A: Be a snitch / 40D: Pale lagers) jumped out at me as awesome. No one likes to see AGIN' (23D: Opposed to, in dialect), but I'm going to assume it couldn't be helped and not overthink it.

Misc.:

• 14A: Preminger and Klemperer (OTTOS). I know OTTO Preminger is a director … or something. Right? But whenever I see OTTO Klemperer's name I think of Col. Klink.
• 24A: Shower wall growth (MILDEW). It's not a coincidence that MILDEW ends in EW.
• 36A: Tuckered out (TIRED).
• 52A: Tuber also known as a New Zealand yam (OCA). Just a reminder of how much you can learn here at LACC!
• 57A: 12/24 or 12/31 (EVE). That would be December 24 (Christmas Eve) and December 31 (New Year's Eve).
• 64A: One of the HOMES lakes (ERIE). HOMES is a mnemonic for remembering the names of the five Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

• 11D: Main arteries (AORTAS). I left the last letter off this answer until I could confirm it with crosses. Sometimes those medical terms that come from Latin (?) take an E for their plurals.
• 46D: In flames (ON FIRE). This answer (like a lot of things) reminds me of a scene on the tragically canceled "Sports Night." Unfortumately, YouTube won't let me embed the video but here's the dialogue. (They're in the newsroom. Casey has just invited Jeremy to join them at a local bar called El Perro Fumando.)
  

  Jeremy: El Perro Fumando?
  Dana: The flaming dog.
  Casey: The smoking dog.
  Dana: Not the flaming dog?
  Casey: The dog's not gay.
  Dana: I wasn't suggesting the dog was gay, I was suggesting the dog was on fire.
  Casey: He's not smoking on fire, he's smoking a cigarette.
  Elliott: He's smoking a pipe.
  Kim: He's smoking a cigar.
  Dan: I say he's gay.

That's it for me for today. Very nice debut, Steve. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

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* Note: All of this is a joke. Steve did none of these things.

P.S. Today's New York Times puzzle is a debut by our own Rex Parker. I hope you'll solve it and comment over at his blog.

Everything Else — 1A: Jib supports (MASTS); 6A: Apparel (GARB); 10A: Waikiki's island (OAHU); 15A: Skinned knee, to a tot (OWIE); 16A: Pained sound (MOAN); 19A: Where the pupil is (IRIS); 20A: School cheer (YELL); 21A: Tofu source (SOY); 26A: Fireplace fuel (LOG); 27A: Broke fast (ATE); 28A: TV network with an eye logo (CBS); 32A: Prefix with violet (ULTRA-); 34A: Gladiators' venue (ARENA); 35A: Mexican money (PESO); 38A: Gym iterations (REPS); 42A: Dislike big-time (ABHOR); 44A: Fess up (ADMIT); 50A: Tissue layer (PLY); 51A: Beatle bride Yoko (ONO); 53A: Does spectacularly (EXCELS); 55A: From the beginning (AFRESH); 58A: Ice cream holder (CONE); 60A: In apple-pie order (TIDY); 65A: Be deserving of (EARN); 66A: Techie's clients (USERS); 67A: In-basket stamp: Abbr. (RECD.); 68A: Pool table cloth (FELT); 69A: "One of __ days, Alice ...": Ralph Kramden (THESE); 1D: Melville's "__-Dick" (MOBY); 2D: Quaking (ATREMBLE); 3D: Hair salon staffers (STYLISTS); 4D: "... and __ a good-night" (TO ALL); 5D: Fig. in an identity theft case (SSN); 6D: Decrease in value (GO DOWN); 7D: On vacation, say (AWAY); 8D: Backboard attachment (RIM); 9D: Presented, as an honor, with "upon" (BESTOWED); 10D: Forget to include (OMIT); 13D: Not visible (UNSEEN); 18D: On the bounding main (ASEA); 25D: Evidence in paternity suits (DNA); 26D: Orpheus' instrument (LYRE); 28D: Sugar borrower's amount (CUP); 30D: Haul in one's arms (CARRY); 31D: Fat in the pantry (LARD); 33D: Horse coloring (ROAN); 37D: Greek "i" (IOTA); 39D: One on the payroll (EMPLOYEE); 41D: Porker's pad (STY); 43D: Life stories, for short (BIOS); 44D: Rainbow shape (ARC); 45D: Yachtsman, e.g. (BOATER); 47D: From Scandinavia (NORDIC); 48D: Pianist/actor Oscar (LEVANT); 49D: Corp. bigwig (EXEC.); 54D: Online shopping outlay (E-CASH); 56D: Watched warily (EYED); 57D: __ of Sandwich (EARL); 59D: Latin "to be" (ESSE); 62D: MS. enclosure (SAE); 63D: Crude abode (HUT).