Hi all.
“And??” is this week’s puzzle title and as explained at 61a [Any of this puzzle’s six theme answers] – PUN, each theme answer is a pun on a “this and that” phrase.
17a [TV series about grass maintenance?] – LAWN ORDER (Law and Order)
22a [Janis Joplin song about a cruel guy?] – MEAN BOBBY MCGEE (Me and Bobby McGee). “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose” but you never see freedom clued as “nothin’ left to lose” so is it really just another word for it?
33a [Like a stage actor with a large part?] – OFTEN ON (Off and On)
36a [Frizzy do on Scooby-Doo?] – TOON FRO (To and Fro). I want to see a picture of this.
49a [Whole lot of little meowers?] – KITTEN CABOODLE (Kit and Caboodle)
56a [Continue to lament?] – MOURN MORE (More and More)

Canadian content
55a [Popular NHL coach Vigneault] – ALAIN. He is currently the coach of the Philadelphia Flyers now in a series with my beloved Montreal Canadiens so he’s not popular with me at the moment.
5d [Toronto cult rockers since 1992] – SLOAN. See last week’s blog about my lack of musical knowledge after the 1980’s.
21d [Water/electric bill] – HYDRO. In Canada, electricity is commonly referred to as hydro.
30d [Upper Canada locale, today: Abbr.] – ONT. And oddly, Lower Canada was Quebec. Upper Canada Village near Morrisburg, Ontario is a wonderful heritage park that I visited as a kid.
32d [Half of Cdn. postal codes] – NOS. A1A 1A1 – letters and number alternate in postal codes

Tip of the Week
The best way to get better and faster at solving crosswords is to do lots of crosswords. This past weekend, I was one of over 1200 participants in a virtual crossword tournament called Lollapuzzoola. I was clean (no mistakes) and finished in the top 10 percent.
You can get the puzzles for only $10 US at bemoresmarter.com/lollapuzzoola
See you next week.