Thursday, August 19, 2021 - Great Clues GALORE

From Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword MP

A crisp Thursday offering from the pen of Oliver Roeder, today's crossword had lots of sparkling clues. The pièce-de-résistance was 36A, Life preserver? ... or a hint to six squares in this puzzle, CEREALBOX (and we'll just pause here to let that sink in 😀). Other clues worth applauding for included (this is not an exhaustive list by any stretch) 17A, Stand-in for the unnamed, ETAL (nice!); 62A, Org. known for counting backward, NASA (outstanding!); and finally, an example of painstakin...