The entire premise will get blow aside fairly early if you’ll be able to see what the “first half” of the puzzle’s theme is the primary half *of*. Turns out not many issues start ANTICI-, so as soon as you’ve got checked all of your crosses to guarantee that ANTICI– is the truth is proper … you are in enterprise. Anyway, all the anticipatory phrases do not actually make sense when the sequential, orderly, top-to-bottom fixing that the second revealer clue depends upon doesn’t come to go. Not solely does not come to go, however occurs in reverse. The 1-Across “first half” revealer pretty *begs* you to determine the ending first. Surely somebody should have, uh, anticipated this. And but we PRESS ON with the charade that that is taking place in predictable order. I just like the creativity right here—breaking the revealer is an unique concept, and refusing to clue the themers with something however ellipses provides a pleasant dimension to the theme. “WAIT FOR IT” is one of the best of the themers, because it feels essentially the most anticipatory in addition to the strongest in its stand-aloneness (the others are high-quality however would possibly simply as simply have been shorter issues, i.e. “ALMOST …” and “NOT YET …”). “IT’S A NOGO” runs bizarre interference on this puzzle, showing to abort no matter course of the theme has gotten underway (it appears to be in a theme-like place early on … and you then get “HOUSTON…” which makes me assume “we have now an issue” and possibly have to wash the mission … But in fact I’m simply seeing issues there. The theme is conceptually very attention-grabbing, nevertheless it’s simply not gonna play proper for anybody however essentially the most methodical, sequential solver.

All the themers stuffed themselves in fairly simply through crosses, so regardless of being primarily unclued (…), they added little or no issue. Only actual issue for me got here within the SW, the place I utterly blanked on ANTARES (40D: Giant star in Scorpius), and had no clue initially which NEO- style they thought Yoko Ono was concerned in (39D: One of many genres for Yoko Ono). Seemed like you could possibly throw any variety of four-letter phrases in there and have a shot. Worst of all for me, although, was that I’d someway by no means heard of a BASKing shark, and in order that BASK clue was bonkers to me (63A: Behave like a sure surface-feeding shark). All the definitions counsel that they “seem to be basking” within the solar / hotter water, however that “seem” is doing loads of work. The clue says that BASKing is their precise “habits.” I believe they’re simply being sharks, doing regular shark issues, and solely look like they’re BASKing from our perspective. A high-quality distinction, however, I dunno, respect shark company, I suppose. Not certain why you went to a shark to clue a very non-shark phrase—it is a wild stretch. I believed possibly the shark was MASKing at one level. Had to essentially hack at this entire SW space to get it to fall. Most of the remainder of the fill felt normal-to-easy, difficulty-wise.

Bullet factors:

• 10A: Sky: Fr. (CIEL) — sort of a deep lower the place international phrases are involved. I can learn French, so no downside right here, however I do not assume I’d cross this one with Yet Another French Word (LES) if there have been every other option to do issues (13D: Article in Paris Match). And with NOUS at 31A: Toi et moi. Dial it again, peut-être?
• 43D: Chinese American dressmaker with a Dolly Girl line (ANNA SUI) — proud to have (lastly!) semi-remembered her. Less proud that I wished to spell her final title like “feng shui” (i.e. ANA SHUI, [sad trombone sound])
• 48D: Joe-___ weed (PYE) — LOL what? No concept. Less than no concept. Figured it have to be JOE-POE since that at the very least rhymes. 
• 9D: Hit the highway with roadies, maybe (GO ON TOUR) — cool reply for those who parse it proper. If not, effectively, you are on the GOON TOUR, and that would get ugly.

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