Michael who sang Im lumberjack Im OK / SAT 4-14-12 / Moliere contemporary / Singer in Odyssey / 400 Pennsylvania Nascar event / Locale in much-studied 1934 photo / Equivalent of ibidem / 1980s-90s Ford model / 1970s-80s NBA nickname

Constructor: Mark Diehl

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: COX (30D: 1920 Democratic presidential nominee) —

James Middleton Cox (March 31, 1870 – July 15, 1957) was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920. [...] Cox's running mate was future president, then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the better known analyses of the 1920 election is in author Irving Stone's book about defeated Presidential candidates, They Also Ran. Stone rated Cox as superior in every way over Warren Harding, claiming the former would have made a much better president; the author argued that there was never a stronger case in the history of American presidential elections for the proposition that the better man lost. (wikipedia)

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Both smoother and easier (by five minutes!) than yesterday's offering. Not a lot of flash, but solid enough. Serviceable. Marquee answers are good ("THEODORE REX," JEAN JACKETS) (36A: 2001 presidential biography by Edmund Morris + 29A: Western wear), and there are some nice touches throughout (I esp. like UPDRAFTS and BAT PHONE) (1A: Skirt raisers? + 52A: TV hotline) [note: "TV" is already in the grid at 7-Down—seems like a cluing oversight]. The rest was fine, though there were some unpretty (however valid) moments, like APICAL and the FASCES / SEPTA cross, which I would've blown were not the "E" in SEPTA easily inferrable (from "septum") (47D: Walls of the heart). FASCES looks plural to me, so I figured the [Symbol of power] was a FASCIS. STEP FOUR is wicked arbitrary (31D: "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves," in Alcoholics Anonymous). But everything else really does seem in good fighting shape.

First answer in was DR. J (23D: 1970s-'80s N.B.A. nickname). That was after the NW corner turned up absolutely nothing—nothing but a stray terminal "S" or two, that is. From that stray "S" and AID I was able to get SESSION (8D: Shrink time, say), then AMORE (26A: Subject for Enrico Caruso), then TV DRAMA (7D: Many an HBO show), and then I backed my way easily into that NW corner. Between TOSSES (35A: Discards) and NITE (gimme!) (28A: Kiss hit "Rock and Roll All ___"), I was able to get into the NE with little difficulty. Needed every cross for APICAL, but the rest was a cinch. Started with JEB (instead of JED, 29D: "The Beverly Hillbillies" role) and only "Dutch" came to mind when thinking of Edmund Morris presidential biographies, so it took me a while to see "THEODORE REX." Got into that SW by putting in STEP- and then easily getting PLOTS (46A: Puts on a graph, say) and EARN (40A: Pull down). Also knew SEED (51D: Ranked player), so the rest of the answers, even the odd anatomical PHALANGE, didn't stand much of a chance. Finished very quickly in the SE once I determined that it was the BARK and not the ROOT of the ELM that was a [Medicinal tea source]. Couldn't remember ALICANTE, but it hardly mattered, as the crosses readily took care of that answer (55A: Spanish port). By the way, that's "port" as in "city by the sea" and not "dessert wine."

Bullets:

• 15A: Equivalent of "ibidem" (SEE ABOVE) — off the -VE. The "V" was crucial.
• 18A: Parnassian (POETIC) — I do not know this word.
• 21A: Marion ___, Emmy-winning actress on "Bewitched" (LORNE) — wow, who? Who was she on "Bewitched"? I'm assuming she didn't win her Emmy for "Bewitched" — Ohhhh, she was Aunt Clara, and yes she did win Outstanding Supporting Actress for "Bewitched." Trivia: she won her Emmy posthumously. She was nominated multiple earlier times for something called "Sally" and something called "Mr. Peepers."
• 31A: Cousin of bridge (SPADES) — I know nothing about bridge. SPADES is a reasonably cardy answer, so it wasn't hard to uncover w/ a cross or two.
• 41A: Michael who sang "I'm a lumberjack and I'm O.K." (PALIN) — from the Monty Python troupe. Nice PALIN choice. 

• 56A: Classic Lorre role (UGARTE) — "Casablanca." Learned it from xwords.
• 13D: Liqueur sweetened with syrup (ANISETTE) — off the -ETTE. Not a lot of alternatives.
• 14D: Locale in a much-studied 1934 photo (LOCH NESS) — off the NESS. *Really* not a lot of alternatives.
• 26D: Classical subject of a Velázquez painting in the Prado (AESOP) — had the AE- and still left it for a while because AENEAS didn't fit and I figured the figure would by mythological.
• 33D: 1980s-'90s Ford model (AEROSTAR) — a van, I think. Just needed the "RO." 
• 49D: With 44-Down, it had its grand opening on 10/1/1982 (EPCOT / CENTER) — part of the reason the SE corner went down so fast. Putting a couple cross-referenced clues in one section like this can either kill you or (as today) really speed things along. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld