Theme: SLICED BREAD (63. "Best thing" bakery metaphor ... and a hint to each row of circles) -
17. Data-intensive branch of engineering: INFORMATICS. 19. "Positively Entertaining" TV network: ION. RAISIN.
23. God, in Judaism: YAHWEH. And 25. Red-handed: IN THE ACT. WHITE.
38. Camaraderie: RAPPORT. And 41. Avant-garde music genre: ART ROCK. POTATO
52. Winter hike footwear item: SNOW SHOE and 54. Insect-sized superhero: ANT MAN. WHEAT.
Boomer here. Hello puzzle masters. Let me help you get to the CRUST of the matter. Raisin, White, Potato and Wheat bread are sliced up.
Across:
1. Paris eateries: CAFES. I had a talk with C.C. the other day about the birth of Drive-in Restaurants, (McDonald's, Burger King, KFC etc.). They pretty much cut into the success of the CAFE business.
6. Abyss: CHASM.
11. Birthday count: AGE. Of course my age makes me a Baby Boomer. The experience is great.
14. Rack flavoring: SPICE. There were a group of girls with this last name.
15. Hang in midair: HOVER. Add an "O" and you have a vacuum cleaner.
16. Easter beginning?: NOR. Nor'easter.
20. After-tax amount: NET. My after-tax amount is LOOSE CHANGE, but that was too long,
21. Unveiling word: VOILA.
22. Iraq War worries, for short: WMDS. It is unfortunate that so many countries have them in their silos.
28. Burning crime: ARSON.
30. "__ luego": HASTA. See you later! Luckily we don't have too many foreign language words in our puzzles. N'est-ce pas?
31. "Oh dear!": ALAS.
34. Choir voice: TENOR. In my first year I was a Baritone, but then I graduated to Bass. (Voice, not fish)
36. Judge on "The People v. O.J. Simpson": ITO (Lance). This famous judge holds the judge record for appearing in crosswords. "All Rise!"
43. Annoying kid: IMP.
44. Greetings from Fido: WOOFS. Not "Ruffs, or Arfs?"
46. Aired with sharper resolution: IN HD.
47. De-creases?: IRONS. I like this clue and answer. Clever play on words that I cannotenhance.
49. Lariat: LASSO.
58. Surfer's ride: WAVE. I never tried this. 10,000 lakes do not have the waves that "Surf City" has.
59. Makeover result: NEW DO. Pronounced "NUDEOOU"
61. Self-image: EGO.
62. Approx. landing time: ETA. The "E" for estimated is a word for Sun Country trips.
66. Fish in Japanese unadon: EEL. I Googled this and learned that Japanese have a dish called a unadon with roasted eels.
67. Aspect: FACET. How many facets on your diamonds??
68. Montana Tech city: BUTTE. It's pronounced BEAUT. Not sure if they make Butter there.
69. NFL scoring stat: TDS. Preseason has started. I don't pay too much attention until they "Rack 'em up for real."
70. Slanted columns: OP-EDS. I normally skip this section of the paper.
71. Thumbs-ups: YESES.
Down:
1. CBS forensic spin-off starring Gary Sinise: CSI NY.
2. Sleep concern: APNEA. I think this is a breathing problem. I am told that I snore, but I don't consider that Apnea.
3. Elegant Manhattan avenue: FIFTH. Only three blocks from "Puzzlemaster" Mr. Shortz.
4. Environmental prefix: ECO. Weird things are happening. July was a super hot month on record, arctic ice is melting. Soon Manitoba may have more lakes than Minnesota.
5. Diner employee: SERVER.
6. Spiced tea: CHAI. Popular tea. You can get it at Starbucks.
7. Emergency phone link: HOTLINE. Always loved the setup in Maxwell Smart's secret control room(Agent 86 ?) Get Smart
8. Birdlike: AVIAN.
9. Jiff: SEC.
10. Doubtfire's title: MRS. Rest in peace, Robin Williams.
11. Pixar specialty: ANIMATION. Do they still have cartoons every Saturday morning on TV??
12. "Glad you spotted that error": GOOD CATCH.
13. Surrealist Max: ERNST.
18. Mineral hardness scale: MOHS. Mayo Clinic offers MOHS surgery for skin cancer. Created by Dr. Mohs. The mineral hardness thing, I am not familiar with.
22. Director Anderson: WES.
24. Stinging flier: WASP. You do NOT want to be stung by one of these nasty flying objects.
26. Norse god with a hammer: THOR. "If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, all over this land." Peter, Paul, and Mary.
27. Kevin of "Central Intelligence": HART.
29. "The Simpsons" bus driver: OTTO. I can proudly say I have never watched one episode of the Simpson's.
31. MLB's Diamondbacks, on scoreboards: ARI. Good team, ugly uniforms, especially on the road. I cannot believe they let Greinke go. However I think Zack has pitched for about 12 major league teams. Must be a misfit.
32. Covered with plastic, as an ID card: LAMINATED. Actually, most of my cards are already plastic, no lamination required.
33. Yeses from bosses: APPROVALS. I would spellthe clue Yesses.
35. Space-research org.: NASA.
37. Gave the green light, briefly: OK'D.
39. Dominates totally: OWNS.
40. __ Hashanah: Jewish New Year: ROSH. This year starts September 29 and ends October 1. I am not Jewish but I have many friends that are. (Plus I like October 1 because that's when Graybar pays the quarterly dividends,)
42. Tear gas situation: RIOT. Did you watch Yankees Indians game last Saturday.? Brett Gardner, C.C. Sabathia (Not our C.C.) and Aaron Boone were tossed by the umpires. It was a RIOT.
45. Bilked: FLEECED.
48. Be in debt: OWE. I OWE, I OWE, it's off to work I go."Bashful, Grumpy, and Doc"
50. DUI-fighting org.: SADD.
51. Stuck-up: SNOBBY. This is NOT Charlie Brown's Dog. Good Grief !
52. 1974 hit "__ Home Alabama": SWEET. "Where the skies are so blue" Lynard Skynard.
53. Chilling in a cooler: ON ICE. Many winter Olympic events are held there.
55. Track competitions: MEETS. These could be Summer Olympic events.
56. Playing marble: AGATE. I had a bagful when I was a kid. Most were replaced by cat's eyes.
57. Connection points: NODES.
60. Moistens: WETS.
63. "City by the Bay" airport code: SFO. In case you missed it last time: A fellow named Bennett passed away and went up to the pearly gates and met St. Peter. He was issued a harp and wings and asked if a friend of his, Sam Fink was there. "No one here by that name" said St. Peter, "you may want to check down in the other place." So Bennett went down there and found Sam who had opened a discotheque and they had a long chat. But then Bennett said he had to go and went back up to the pearly gates. St. Peter met him and said, "Aren't you missing something?" Bennett responded- "Oh my gosh!! I left my Harp in Sam Fink's Disco."
64. Once around the track: LAP.
65. Lament: RUE. A Golden Girl.
Boomer
