Michael Dewey and Kevin Christian

 Title: Watch the bouncing I. 

Michael has been publishing puzzles since 2012, mostly here at the LAT. This is his first collaborative effort, but certainly not for Kevin who is not only prolific, but generously stops by to share his insights here at the Corner. Once I accepted the placement of a random I in the middle of the theme fill, I was prepared for the reveal at 52D, which was part of every theme clue. 52D. Chain with an alternate 28-letter name ... and what you need to write five puzzle  answers? : IHOP (4). INTERNATIONAL (13) HOUSE (5) OF (2) PANCAKES (8). I guess the image is to be of the I hopping into the middle. Creative, but still a bit puzzling to me but the solve went well. The only non-theme long fill are BRIBE MONEY and LIKE  A CHARM both of which are introduced to major puzzle publications here and are placed symmetrically in the grid. -+

The theme:

18A. Item served at 52-Down: POACHED I EGG (11). I have eaten their poached eggs on toast. 

24A. Item served at 52-Down: FRENCH I TOAST (12). They use thick cut French Bread and have many varieties. 

38A. Item served at 52-Down: BANANA I PANCAKES (15). A grid spanner with the central I, and along with chocolate chip very popular. 

47A. Item served at 52-Down: TURKEY I BACON (12). For those of us who do not eat pork it is a great menu addition.

57A. Item served at 52-Down: HASH I BROWNS (11). Always an iffy choice, but they also breakfast potatoes, potato pancakes and french fries.

They also have a nice 55+ menu if you eat out, and they have kids eat free days but I have not been in about 20 years so my comments may not be helpful. On to the puzzle.

Across:

1. Surfing venue: WEB. Not a sea, but a sea of words.

4. Tapered off: ABATED. You be careful about being too proficient about tapering off.

10. Yankees' foes: JAYS. Or the CUBS, METS, RAYS, REDS ...

14. Nautical pronoun: HER. The HISTORY.

15. Chowder chunk: POTATO. Chowdah again so soon?

16. Wind in the reeds: OBOE. The tuning one.

17. Ring star: ALI. Muhammed.

20. 1988 self-titled country album: REBA. McIntyre.

22. Three, in Bari: TRE. Italian from this CITY in Southern Italy.

23. One of the "Emerging 7" nations: INDIA.

28. Word associated with Denver: MILE. Mile high, both literally and with all the legal marijuana smoked, eaten, etc. First I flew there was on a learjet and it semi-unreal to the altimiter at 7000 feet as we were about to land. 

29. Govt. health org.: CDC. Center for Disease Control. No comment - way too political.

30. Flight: LAM. An ARTICLE for thought?

33. Kitchen draw: AROMA. Not a storage area, but what brings people there.

35. Mum of Charlotte, George and Louis: KATE. She is tall.

37. Queen's home: HIVE. How nice to have this next to a possible future Queen.

41. Stuntman Knievel: EVEL. 

42. Like Vassar since 1969: COED. Of the original Seven Sisters, 4 are still women's colleges. Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College decided against adopting coeducation. 

43. Lift providers: UBERS. Not LYFT?

44. Mystery writer Josephine: TEY. Her first novel was made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. As a mystery writer, she was a MYSTERY. 

45. "Can I help you?": YES. No way, leave me alone!

46. Orange County city: BREA. Did you lose your LA?

52. More unfriendly: ICIER. Ah ha, maybe that is Tin's idea?

55. Heckle: BOO. Hiss, or Jeckle?

56. One-horse ride: SHAY. According to the dictionary, it derived from the word chaise, French for chair. It also was Tyrion's favorite whore, and when we solved our dance puzzle this week, it reminded my of Lucina and her sashaying.

61. Non-verbal syst.: ASL. American Sign Language.

62. Tony kin: OBIE. Not Tigger but the award for theatrical productions. Broadway / off-broadway

63. Begin to associate (with): FALL IN. Generally a bad crowd,

64. 2016 Olympics host: RIO. And now 5 years later we have the 2020 olympics in Tokyo.

65. Prepare for a pic: POSE. 
                                                
66. Dumpster fire: FIASCO. The LINK.

67. ISP option: MSN. Micro Soft Network

Down:

1. Landing: WHARF. For a boat, silly.

2. Conger chaser: EELER. A big meh.

3. Loot to keep mute?: BRIBE MONEY. I love the clue and the fill, a rhyme and an introduction.

4. Smartphone software: APP.

5. "The Women" playwright Clare __ Luce: BOOTHE. Boy, is the old timey fill. If you do not here STORY, you must at least read the link. She was a very powerful woman as I was growing up. 

6. Millipede maker: ATARI. the game maker and 13D. 6-Down rival: SEGA.

7. Musical "don't play": TACET. MUSIC

8. E. African land: ETH.  ETH is the three-letter country abbreviation for Ethiopia. so now you know.

9. Buck's mate: DOE. Oh, Deer. More sexual innuendo.

10. Combined: JOINT. There they are cavorting, joined at the hip!

11. In the sack: ABED. What did I tell, sex, sex sex.

12. Hindu ascetic: YOGI. Not Berra, not Bear. The word is from the  Sanskrit - yogi 'one who performs yoga. But historically they were much more. Did you ever read or watch Marvel's in Hindi?

19. Clay pigeon, e.g.: DISC. 

21. __ kingdom: ANIMAL. Why? and why is the Lion the King? 

25. Scottish family: CLAN.

26. Group of eight: OCTAD.

27. Port on its own gulf: ADEN.
                                

30. Best way for something to work: LIKE A CHARM. The other special clue fill combo, I hope they are your MD and KC. 

31. Declare: AVER. I avow that I hate to aver. Or to 33D. Help, as a hood: ABET. Or even to 36D. Imitate: APE a friend. It could lead to an...

32. Untidy situation: MESS.

34. Wild, all-night party: RAVE. Do raves need to be all-night? IDK. 

Maybe. Just don't need a 37D. Writ of __ corpus: HABEAS to get home.

35. Newspaper stand, e.g.: KIOSK. A lovely word like Khaki

39. Taiwanese laptop brand: ACER.

40. Street border: CURB. Not to be confused with the Rave credo PLUR.

45. __ Gagarin, first human in outer space: YURI. Back in the day also

46. Jaime Sommers, TV's "__ Woman": BIONIC.

47. Chuckle: TEHEE.

48. Congo River tributary: EBOLA.

49. Feline complaints: YOWLS.

50. Refuge from the heat: OASIS.

51. Early seat belt material: NYLON.

53. Mexican resort, for short: CABO.

54. Sister of Osiris: ISIS.

58. Lifelong bud, initially: BFF.

59. Italian counterpart of the BBC: RAI.

60. __-cone: SNO.

Kevin Christian

 Title: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE.

Today's trek will require you to jog your memories to recall various "nouns of multitude" for animal groups. If that term is not a familiar one then you might want to follow this LINK and listen and learn. This is a play on word puzzle with five theme fill. Kevin has been entertaining us for more than 10 years with the late dear Santa blogging his first here in April 2010. Remarkably, I do not believe I have ever written up one of his efforts -until now. This theme is a bit subtle, taking an animal group pairing that with a word that gives a different meaning to the now paired word. As with most featured Fridays, this has much to like in the fill...ARE WE OK,  HASSLES,  HOTDOGS,  HYDRANT,  RISOTTO THE BOMB, PANCETTA and USA TODAY, I highlight the new fill by using red. 

For a theme, we have...

17A. Lions in the city?: CIVIC PRIDE (10). Civic being the city part...

25A. Fish with experience?: OLD SCHOOL (9). We reverse the clue, not the fill.

36A. Bees behind bars?: PENAL COLONY (11). This was hard because we think of bees in a hive. My thought was "where do chlamydia live?" I'll see if Tom censors me.

47A. Whales on the run?: ESCAPE POD (9). By now you should know this one. Whales can be very tight when they group, swimming in close proximity to each other on occasion. To the first ceteologists, they resembled seeds in a pod-like that of a legume.

58A. Wolves with a clean lair?: VACUUM PACK (10). Picturing a bunch of surly wolves vacuuming makes this a big stretch.

Across:

1. Persepolis ruins locale: IRAN. In the old Persia, where so much HISTORY lies.

5. Prickly plants: CACTI. Much better than prickly pants.

10. Former Supreme Court first name: RUTH. Ms. Bader Ginsberg, a remarkable woman.

14. iPod model: NANO. 

15. Garden nuisance: APHID. But needed by Peonies, remember?

16. Protection org. since 1970: OSHA. Occupational Safety Health Administration.

19. Slangy sweeties: BAES. I.m already bored with this word. 

20. Pulitzer-winning author Lurie: ALISON. I cannot read the way I used to, but I would have missed her anyway. LINK.

21. Spring: LEAP. Forward.

23. Conan's network: TBS. One of Ted Turner's baes.

24. Willamette River capital: SALEM. The OREGON one. 

27. UFO fliers, presumably: ETS. Meh.

28. __ bath: MUD. People actually pay for these. Or...


30. Luke and Leia's mother: PADME. I just had the yummy Natalie Portman.

31. Show-offs: HOTDOGS. None more so than JOEY.

35. Pats gently: DABS. A little one will do you. 

38. Inland Asian sea: ARAL. Having a COMEBACK?

40. Fixture in some no-parking zones: HYDRANT. Very random.

41. Starr man: RINGO. A gimme from the spelling. 

43. One kept on a child at the pool: EYE.

44. Hole goal: PAR.

51. GE rival: AMANA. Appliance makers. 

53. "Alas!" prompter: WOE. Alack, 

54. Seafarers: TARS.

55. USC athlete: TROJAN.

56. Novel ending?: ETTE.

60. Miranda __ of "Homeland": OTTO. Miranda Otto is an Australian actress who portrayed Allison Carr on Homeland. She is best known for playing Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

61. Dutch cheeses: EDAMS.

62. Czech track legend Zátopek: EMIL.

63. Zen riddle: KOAN. A characteristic example of the style is the well-known koan “When both hands have clapped a sound is produced; listen to the sound of one hand clapping.”

64. "Building a Mystery" singer McLachlan: SARAH.

65. Cook of comedy: DANE. Rather a passe star I think, but I never enjoyed his comedy.

.

Down:

1. If: IN CASE. In Alabama, they say, for case. 

2. Scold harshly: RAIL AT.

3. Wile E. Coyote weapons: ANVILS. He is back again!

4. White __: NOISE. We use a fan.

5. Bo's'n boss: CAPN. Match the abbreviations.

6. Loan fig.: APR. Annual Percentage Rate.

7. Put on ice: CHILL.

8. Helped through a tough time, with "over": TIDED.  Stimulus anyone?

9. Brainstorming session output: IDEAS.

10. Director Reiner: ROB. He also is back after his recent appearance as the director of When Harry Met Sally.

11. Paper with Money and Life sections: USA TODAY. Where you get lots of C.C. puzzles these days.

12. Awesome, slangily: THE BOMB.

13. Bothers: HASSLES.

18. Public town park: COMMON.

22. Narc's find: PCP.

25. "Funny thing is ... ": ODDLY.

26. "I __ thought of that": HADN'T.

29. Home to the Ogden Raptors of MiLB: UTAH. Minor League Baseball.

31. Hägar the Horrible's wife: HELGA.

32. Med. condition with repetitive behavior: OCD. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  

33. Hurt in a ring: GORED. A bunch of bull.

34. Take out, as a vampire: SLAY. Hey Peg, how are you? 

36. Italian bacon: PANCETTA. Maybe with some 39D. Dish with arborio rice: RISOTTO.

37. Like difficult push-ups: ONE ARM. Who can forget?

38. "Do you and I need to clear the air?": ARE WE OK.

42. Withdraw, with "out": OPT.

44. __ party: PAJAMA.

45. Aleve rival: ANACIN.

46. Really get to: RANKLE.

48. Wasp nest sites: EAVES.

49. Red-carpet brand: PRADA. 

50. NBA great Robertson nicknamed "The Big O": OSCAR.

52. Minibike kin: MOPED. We had one while we were kids.

55. Derriere: TUSH. I do appreciate a well-formed one.

57. Long time to wait, facetiously: EON.

59. Thurman in films: UMA. We finish with the now ubiquitous Uma.