Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Paul Coulter

17. With 18-Across, symbolic goal: FINISH.

18. See 17-Across: LINE.

20. With 22-Across, daily Wall Street signal: CLOSING.

22. See 20-Across: BELL.

52. With 53-Across, concluding phase: HOME.

53. See 52-Across: STRETCH.

56. With 57-Across, farewell effort: LAST.

57. See 56-Across: HURRAH.

36. Perm problem, and a hint to the four two-part answers: SPLIT ENDS.

Melissa here. The gimmick here makes for a theme-heavy puzzle, with eight theme answers, plus the reveal. Each two-part answer makes a different phrase meaning the end of something. FINISH LINE, CLOSING BELL, HOME STRETCH, and LAST HURRAH.

Across:

1. Dine at home: EAT IN.

6. Eye obtrusively: OGLE.

10. Flight coordinators: Abbr.: ATC. Air Traffic Control.

13. Brawl: FRACAS. "A noisy disturbance of quarrel." Has anyone actually heard or used this word in conversation? I only see it in crosswords or books.

15. Author Hubbard: L. RON. He wrote the book Dianetics, and founded the Church of Scientology.

16. John, to Ringo: LOO. Great clue, even though we see it a lot. Ringo Starr, and john as slang for toilet, or the British version, LOO.

19. Landlocked land in S.A.: BOL. BOLivia is the fifth-largest country in South America.

23. False god: IDOL.

26. Went (for): VIED.

27. Berlin's Maxim __ Theater: GORKI. The oldest concert hall building in Berlin. Interesting history.

28. Guys working on lines: WIREMEN. They get a charge out of it. Are women who work on lines also called WIREMEN?

30. Colorful disc-shaped candy: SMARTIE. Popular in trick-or-treat bags.

32. Fed. fiscal agency: OMB. Office of Management and Budget. Description.

33. "Ah, me!": ALAS.

35. __ a time: ONE AT.

38. Flat: STALE. Don't usually refer to flat soda as STALE, or stale bread as flat, but okay.

40. Chemical formula for lye: NAOH. Sodium hydroxide.

41. Antipollution org.: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.

44. Pro tennis designation since 1968: OPEN ERA. The Open Era of tennis began in 1968 when most world-class tournaments first allowed professional players as well as amateurs to enter.

46. Sparkle: GLITTER.

48. Law school class: TORTS. A tort is a civil claim where a claimant has suffered damages due to the actions of another party.

49. City near Colombia's coastline: CALI. City southwest of Bogotá. It’s known for salsa dancing.

55. Quarterback Manning: ELI. Sixteen seasons with the New York Giants.

61. Cartoon canine: REN. The Ren and Stimpy Show.

62. African bovines: GNUS. What's GNU?

63. Spots to remove: STAINS.

64. Indian honorific: SRI.

65. Best Upset, e.g.: ESPY. Best Upset ESPY Award.

66. Uppity sort: SNOOT.

Down:

1. Gee preceder: EFF. Alphabet: F, G.

2. "Exodus" hero: ARI. Otto Preminger directed a 1960 film based on the novel, featuring Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan. It focuses mainly on the escape from Cyprus and subsequent events in Palestine.

3. Summer shade: TAN. Not much time left for tanning this year.

4. Pointy, cold formation: ICICLE.

5. Former FC Edmonton org.: NASL. North American Soccer League.

6. Skate park move: OLLIE. The story of the ollie.

7. Monotonous routines: GRINDS.

8. Like marathons: LONG.

9. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.: ENE.

10. Medicine Hat's province: ALBERTA. Medicine Hat experiences the lowest combined tax rate in Canada, the lowest utility rates in Alberta and an enviable climate. Known as the "oasis of the prairies," Medicine Hat is also Canada's sunniest city.

11. Carpenter's collection: TOOLKIT.

12. Lassie, for one: COLLIE.

14. December driveway clearer, to a Brit: SHOVELLER. Not sure why the Brit distinction is noted here, as both shoveler and shoveller seem accepted spellings in both the U.S. and Britain. Besides one who shovels snow, it is also the name of a type of duck in the northern hemisphere.

21. Moses' mount: SINAI. Where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

22. Tiresome types: BORES. Zzzzzzz.

23. WWII battle site, for short: IWO. One of the Japanese Volcano Islands, and where this iconic image was captured.

24. Faint: DIM.

25. The Sun, say: ORB. From the latin word orbis, meaning circle or disk. Not sure why Sun is capitalized here.

27. Biopic that was 1982's Best Picture: GANDHI. Starring Ben Kingsley.

29. Syrup sources: MAPLES.

31. The Sphinx et al.: MONOLITHS. A geological feature that has only a single massive stone or rock.

34. Subway stop: Abbr.: STN.

36. "¿ votre __!": SANTE. French for "to your health," often used as a toast.

37. Bird on old quarters: EAGLE. Washington quarters.

38. Printing program: SPOOLER. A computer utility that regulates data flow by receiving data (as from a word processor), queuing the data in a buffer, and then transmitting it (as to a printer) with increased efficiency.

39. Subway system extremes: TERMINI.

41. Pilot's approx.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

42. Part of mpg: PER. Miles per gallon.

43. Horace's "__ Poetica": ARS. See here.

44. Significant ones?: OTHERS. As in, "his significant other."

45. Doesn't behave: ACTS UP.

47. Mideast capital: TEHRAN.

50. Dilettantish: ARTSY. Merriam Websters includes this as a dated definition: "an admirer or lover of the arts." The first definition is "a person having superficial interest in an art or branch of knowledge : dabbler."

53. Lacking: SANS.

54. Skips class: CUTS.

56. Clothing dept. size: LGE.

58. __ Grande: RIO. RIO means river in Spanish.

59. Enero begins it: ANO. Spanish. Enero = January; ANO = year.

60. 33rd pres.: HST. Harry S. Truman. U.S. President from 1945 to 1953. His middle initial, "S", honors his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.