Thomas has given us a fun mid-week puzzle which was a pleasure to solve. However, like the cartoon below, the gimmick evaded me and then hit me OUT OF left field!
Every starred answer was a two word phrase that began with a word that when prefaced with the phrase OUT OF makes another common phrase. Very nice.
The fill went very smoothly with only this proper noun speed bump on the way
11. Tony-winning actress for "Miss Saigon" : LEA SALONGA - A name we had recently and I had already forgotten but solved itself.
THEME ANSWERS, (plus adding OUT OF to first word):
18. *Cubicle, e.g. : WORK SPACE - becomes OUT OF WORK - Conducting research while OUT OF WORK?
27. *Singing skill that enables good phrasing : BREATH CONTROL - OUT OF BREATH - Breath holding is now a sport called Static Apnea. Here German Tom Sietas beats Brazilian Ricardo Bahia
45. *Number after a circled "c" : COPYRIGHT DATE - OUT OF COPYRIGHT - In Canada, books are OUT OF COPYRIGHT 50 yrs after the author's death. That's January, 2015 for Ian Fleming
60. *Unobstructed view : SIGHT LINE - OUT OF SIGHT - Less is more.
...and the reveal
69. Lacking, and what can go with each word in the answers to starred clues : OUT OF - This silly 1920's song tells of the vendor who is OUT OF bananas!
Now, before I am OUT OF time...
Across
1. Greek played by Anthony Quinn : ZORBA
6. Small plateau : MESA
10. Slick-talking : GLIB
14. "That is to say ... " : I MEAN
15. Channel showing many games : ESPN
17. Incessantly : NO END
20. Kids' racing vehicles : GO KARTS
22. Chicken __ king : ALA - A high school favorite of mine when served on homemade biscuits
23. Prefix with pass or plus : SUR
24. Cultural funding org. : NEA
25. Mottled : PIED
26. MGM motto word : ARS
32. Get an __: ace : A ON
33. Casino gratuity : TOKE - Short for TOKEN of appreciation
34. Overseer : BOSS - The dealer above must call out "TOKE for the dealer" and tap the table to satisfy the pit BOSS that he or she is not stealing.
37. Harbor protectors : JETTIES - The Bussleton JETTY in Western Australia is well over a mile long and has its own railroad
39. "Vitruvian Man" artist : DA VINCI - Robert and Sophie find her dead grandfather in the Louvre posed as the Vitruvian Man at the beginning of The DA VINCI Code
42. Pacific Rim continent : ASIA
43. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI - "All women behave the same"
44. Jupiter or Mars : GOD
50. EPA pollution std. : AQI
52. Wetland plant : REED
53. Capri suffix : OTE - CAPRIOTE - A conical hat worn by clerics in Spain (similar to KKK head regalia) or a resident of the beautiful island of Capri
54. Bit of wordplay : PUN
55. Aviation stat. : ALT - At an ALT of ~50 miles, the sky starts to turn black and you are at the threshold of space
56. "Flags of Our Fathers" setting : IWO JIMA - The Marine Memorial is a sculpture of the raising of the flag on IWO JIMA's Mt. Suribachi and is just "a stone's throw" north of Arlington National Cemetery
63. Inn postings : RATES
64. Cosmopolitan rival : ELLE
65. Gold diggers' objectives : ORES
66. First in a line of Russian princes : IVAN I - 14th century Grand Duke Of Moscow
67. River crossed by Charon : STYX
68. Old or Wild follower : WEST - A 9-part series that tells all you need to know about The West and how it was won/stolen. It may not make you feel very proud.
Down
1. Zest : ZING - "ZING, ZING, ZING went my heartstrings"
2. Melville novel set on Tahiti : OMOO - His second novel - a sequel to Typee and four years before the one about that big fish, uh, mammal
3. Really stink : REEK
4. Split fruit? : BANANA - ~800cal but...
5. Mario who won IndyCar races in four different decades : ANDRETTI
6. Sussex stable area : MEWS - A row of houses or apartments converted from stables. Now you know as much as I do.
7. Anka's "__ Beso" : ESO - This has been a frequent visitor this spring
8. Common sports injury : SPRAIN - One way to ice 'em down and still be somewhat mobile
9. Short sock : ANKLET - When you don't need the boot
10. Rep. group : GOP
12. Run up, as debts : INCUR
13. Afrikaans speakers : BOERS
19. Iraq's __ City : SADR
21. Western border lake : TAHOE - Or a humongous SUV
25. "The Purloined Letter" writer : POE - Dupin replaces The Purloined Letter with a fake
27. Westernmost Mexican state, familiarly : BAJA - BAJA California is the home of my best friend from school (I'd say ELHI if I didn't despise that word)
28. Small deer : ROES - A Eurasian deer
29. With allure : ENTICINGLY
30. Bank statement listings: Abbr. : CKS - I can't be out of money, I still have some CKS!
31. Japanese sash : OBI
35. Edinburgh native : SCOT - Edinburgh native Stu Sutcliffe quit the Beatles to pursue an art career. They did picture him on this famous cover - Far left, third row from the top. I doubt that he got any royalties.
36. Agree (with) : SIDE
38. Eastern spiritual path : TAO
39. One may be fetching : DOG
40. __ of hands : A SHOW
41. Director De Sica : VITTORIO - Did you see his academy award winner Il Giardinao dei Finzi-Contini? Me either.
43. Spanish hero El __ : CID
46. Start to fall? : PRAT - A PRAT fall by Patrick Swayze in Ghost
47. Soccer penalty card color : YELLOW
48. Make more time for hobbies, say : RETIRE
49. "Here we go again" feeling : DEJAVU - Didn't I just blog a puzzle recently...
50. Cathedral areas : APSES
51. Blanket that's often hand-sewn : QUILT
56. Superlative suffix : IEST
57. "Do __ once!" : IT AT
58. Less, musically : MENO - With (Un) slightly (poco) less (MENO) motion (mosso) as you see here
59. "Not a chance!" : AS IF - AS IF I knew what Un poco meno mosso meant!
61. Bad spell : HEX
62. Game console letters : NES
Now for some comments from you that hopefully are not OUT OF line:
The Grid
