Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: TEAR (70A: Shed thing hidden in 16-, 25-, 39-, 49- and 59-Across) — letters string "TEAR" spans both words of two-word phrases in theme answers
Word of the Day: POMELO (66A: Grapefruit-like fruit) —
The pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) is a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick pudgy rind. It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 cm in diameter, and usually weighing 1–2 kg. Other spellings for pomelo include pummelo, and pommelo, and other names include Chinese grapefruit, jabong, lusho fruit, pompelmous (from Tamil pampa limāsu (பம்பரமாசு) = pompous lemon and shaddock. (wikipedia)
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Man oh man I *really* thought I was going to set a land-speed record today (breaking last week's Monday time of 2:30), but no. 
Nine seconds too slow. By the end, I was going so fast I was actually impressing myself, but it appears that the mysterious phrase WASTE AREA (??!) and the botched first attempt at "PLANET EARTH" ("LIFE ON EARTH" ... boo hoo) was enough to put me off my record pace. Of course one of the down sides of solving that fast is the unlikelihood that you will even notice the theme (which would've helped me with "PLANET EARTH," but just stopping to figure out the theme would've set me back more time than it would've saved me). One thing I learned today: you do not spell NASSER like VASSAR (and sadly that wrong "A" fell right in the (still) baffling WASTE AREA).
Best bits today = SCADS of SCUDS in the west, and the gorgeous DEFINITE ARTICLE right across the center (yes, I know it's only a special kind of nerd who finds DEFINITE ARTICLE gorgeous, but I am that nerd). Had a discussion with wife just this morning about xword playwrights and her difficulty telling them apart. Me: "There are three. 4 letters, 4 letters, and 5 letters. And yes, I get them confused too." The "5 letters" of which I spoke: ALBEE (11D: "The Zoo Story" playwright Edward). Turns out one of my "4 letters" isn't a playwright at all—James Agee wrote some very famous screenplays, and was a film critic and author of various books ... but not stage plays.Theme answers:
- 16A: Profits (NET EARNINGS)
- 25A: Town dump, e.g. (WASTE AREA)
- 39A: The, grammatically (DEFINITE ARTICLE)
- 49A: Dodge City lawman (WYATT EARP)
- 59A: Emmy-winning nature series narrated by David Attenborough ("PLANET EARTH")
Bullets:
- 63D: Gay singing syllable (TRA) — here are some more gay singing syllables, courtesy of awesome Andy Bell and Erasure
- 6D: Turner's 1986 rock autobiography ("I, TINA") — she could not have predicted how popular this book's title would become, crosswordwise.
- 28A: Othello's supposed rival for Desdemona's affection (CASSIO) — yeah, that turns out to be a lie perpetrated by (guess! hint: he's crosswordtastic!)
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