Message From Above

 

I understand that you are a keeper of herds and flocks. Not only that, I understand that there have been... shall we say, arguments, between you and the herdsmen in the surrounding areas. And now you are looking for assistance, or at least advice.

Surely, if you wish to consult the Pantheon, you should consult Apollo, as he is the defender of herds and flocks.

As you know, if you are looking for answers from Apollo, you cannot get them directly; you must visit the Delphic Oracle. Certainly, it must be clear what will be reported to you from there.

ACROSS
    • Taunt (4)
    • Novelist Anya (5)
    • Dub (4)
    • Implore (8, 2 wds.)
    • The Little Red Book espoused it (6)
    • Musical locale for both Rick Dees and Cookie Monster (5)
    • Dry Spanish Sherry (4)
    • Have the cojones (to) (4)
    • Clamp type (4)
    • Like scalloped potatoes, often (8, 2 wds.)
    • Castor, Pollux, or Orpheus, as per Apollonius of Rhodes (8)
    • Campaign on behalf of (8, 2 wds.)

    • Partway round? (3)
    • Xerox machine (6)
    • Irrelevant (4)
    • Oaf of historic proportions? (11)
    • Football team's pocket protectors (16, 2 wds.)
    • A thoroughly assorted mixture (10)
    • Ballroom dance in 2/4 time (7, hyph.)
    • Sack (7)

    • Overcook beyond edibility (12, 4 wds.)
    • It's antecedent, generally speaking (5)
    • Spelling of note (4)
    • Hansom's puller (9)
    • Audition process's goal (4)
    • Boxer Spinks (4)
    • Make-or-break ordeal (8, 2 wds.)
    • Members of numerous Alaskan teams: Var. (9)
    • Appropriately, one-time jersey color for the Mighty Ducks (4)
    • Lest (6, 2 wds.)
    • Blubber (3)

    • ___ ammoniac (3)
    • Relevance and urgency (9)
    • La Traviata's Violetta, e.g. (9)
    • Innkeeper (8)
    • Up in the air (5)
    • Sow's mate (4)
    • Panoramic view (5)
    • Top-most part of a window (8, 2 wds.)
    • Muslim mystics (5)
    • Disobedient one (4)
    • "Bid" farewell (5)
    • Sesame paste (6)

    • Molecular components (5)
    • Bourne portrayer (5)
    • Joe Btfsplk's creator (6, 2 wds.)
    • A tanner may tan it (4)
    • CEOs may have them (4)
    • They may contain pumpkin patches (16, 2 wds.)
    • Proceeds from Newman's Own products go to it (11, 2 wds.)
    • Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson, say (4)

    • Art Shell or Jim Plunkett, notably (6)
    • Co-worker of Dilbert (4)
    • Campout treat (5)
    • Singer that rose to prominence with the Miami Sound Machine (7)
    • First aid administrator, say (5)
    • Arctic bird of the Laridae family (4)
    • Equal (4)
    • Adage which may resolve the problem alluded to here (27, 5 wds.)

    • Turned down, as an opportunity (8, 2 wds.)
    • Catherine the Great was one (7)
    • Ancient vessels (8)
    • Farinaceous (5)
    • More delicate (5)
    • Ricky to Lucille's Lucy (4)
    • Following in immediate succession (8)
    • Take care of (5, 2 wds.)
    • Skilled craftsman (7)
    • Poet whose work is alluded to in the Agatha Christie title "The Mirror Crack'd" (8)

    • Palm Sunday shout (7)
    • DSL offerer (3)
    • Unfairly blamed one (4)
    • Ottoman, say (8)
    • Enrique's musical father (5)
    • Becoming a lady or gentleman (6)
    • Calm, as fears (5)
    • Certain fugitive (7)
    • Oscar-nominated 1956 movie based on a William Inge play (7, 2wds.)
    • "Spicy" Kia model sold in the UK (7)
    • Northerly expanses (7)
    • Signs a deposition, say (7)

    • City whose foreign military installations include one with an on-base Tim Horton's (8)
    • City with a claim to the Elgin Marbles (6)
    • Pack up one's toys and go home, so to speak (4)
    • City once known as Christiania (4)
    • One who lives a Hefneresque lifestyle, e.g (8).
    • Accompaniments (to) (12)
    • Juice brand formerly owned by the Pasco Beverage Company (8, 2 wds.)
    • Large warship (9)
    • Crocodiles have a reputation for them (5)

    • Co-founder of the Moscow Human Rights Committee (14, 2 wds.)
    • "Bye!", across the Atlantic (4)
    • Cuba and Colombia are part of it (12, 2 wds.)
    • Cowpoke's "Buddy" (7)
    • First chair, often (7)
    • Beautiful young woman (5)
    • Underlying argument, in a proof (5)
    • She was Pam Byrnes in "Meet the Parents" (8, 2 wds.)
    • Threw away (9)

    • Votes for (4)
    • Husband of Isis (6)
    • A tailor might use one (6)
    • Reference's offering (6)
    • Flavorful (5)
    • Wink accompanier (5)
    • Heist target in a 1995 sequel, with "The" (14, 2 wds.)
    • Acted as counsel for (11)
    • GMC offering with an Alaska-inspired name (6)
    • Perseverer's motto (11, 3 wds.)
DOWN
    • A boxer might throw them (4)
    • New Mexican tribal group (7)
    • Grammy-winning West (5)

    • Brief outline (6)
    • They're self-described as "curiously strong" (7)
    • GTA sequel setting (10, 2 wds.)

    • Derision (5)
    • Engross (7)
    • Zip (4)
    • Basketball plays called to exploit a match-up (4)

    • Ultimate examples (8)
    • Handsome specimen (6)
    • Falling on one's sword, say (8, hyph.)

    • Printer's need, perhaps (5)
    • Nike rival (6)
    • Star Trek's Betazoids, e.g. (7)

    • Everybody has a say in it (9)
    • Galoot (4)
    • Ragu competitor (5)
    • Vehicle that is normally black (6)

    • They may punctuate e-mails (9)
    • Without (4)
    • Assn. (3)

    • Sleep disorder (5)
    • Burst of activity (5)
    • Just shy of (6)
    • Hesitate (5)

    • Await (4)
    • Famous painting stolen in 1994 and again in 2004 (9, 2 wds.)
    • Story passed from generation to generation (8)

    • Taking in or letting out (8)
    • Trisyllabic foot (7)
    • Early mechanical repro (9)

    • Bart's bus driver (4)
    • Long to have (7, 2 wds.)
    • Move, slangily (4)
    • Afterwards (5)

    • Hindu mystic (9)
    • Have someone take a number? (12)

    • OPEC is one (9, 2 wds.)
    • "Philadelphia" director Jonathan (5)
    • Competitive martial art (4)
    • Having sadistic tendencies (5)

    • Be overbearing, perhaps (7)
    • With "The", Chan-Forlani flick (9)
    • Bill of fare (4)

    • "What's the __?" (4)
    • Outspoken? (4)
    • Lance Armstrong, for one (9)
    • Fingerprint feature (5)

    • It can detect umami (12, 3 wds.)
    • Disastrous outcome (6)
    • The Central Perk, e.g. (4)

    • Mozart opera title starter (4)
    • Style of truck with a vertical front (7)
    • "Bye Bye Bye" band (5)
    • Inflate one's expenses (3)

    • Pentagon bigwig (15)
    • Adam and Eve on a raft, e.g. (5)

    • One-time Hasselhoff co-star (5)
    • Zachary of Chuck (4)
    • Precaution for live broadcasts (9, 2 wds.)
    • Multivitamin ingredient (7)

    • Process running on a server (6)
    • Meloni, on Law & Order: S.V.U. (7)
    • Mid-afternoon shut-eye (6)
    • Thoroughly upset (4)

    • Demonstrate a past event (7)
    • Toastable Kellogg's product (4)
    • Trigonometric ratios (7)
    • Also-ran (5)

    • Travel permit (4)
    • Race whose start moved from Wasilla to Willow in 2008 (8)
    • Edible that has gone from green to deep purple (9, 2 wds.)

    • Actress Blair (5)
    • Play preceder? (4)
    • Triumphed over (8)
    • Common bacterial infection (5)

    • Distinguished (6)
    • Farm buildings (5)
    • Halo, essentially (6)
    • Time (4)

    • Moses of art (7)
    • Algeresque tales (14, 2 wds.)

    • Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps (8)
    • Bob Hoskins, in "Hook" (4)
    • Extravagant (7)

    • Hip to, as a joke (4, 2 wds.)
    • Long-serving Egyptian president (7)
    • A sub-Saharan antelope (4)
    • Like Sunday New York Times crosswords (6)

    • Sharp-crested mountain ridges (6)
    • Emu or Rhea (6)
    • Mecca for DDR players (6)
    • Created (4)

    • Date (8, 2 wds.)
    • Donned (7, 2 wds.)
    • Breastbones (6)

    • Carol, in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (11, 2 wds.)
    • Phaser setting (4)
    • Location cited in the Marines' Hymn (7)

    • Institute of higher learning on the Rio Grande (4)
    • Run up (5)
    • Banned substance allegedly abused by Barry Bonds (10)

    • Some Buddhist shrines (6)
    • Chillax (10, 2 wds.)
    • Seedy place (4)

    • __ Stadium (Former Denver sports facility (8, hyph.)
    • Blab on and on (6)
    • Wounds deeply (5)

    • Cohort of Luciano and Jose (7)
    • Naïve, metaphorically (13, 2 wds.)

    • Fake (7)
    • Swedish soprano Birgit (7)
    • Russian rulers (5)
    • The Heart of Gold's shipboard computer (5)