Bruce

FYI, Willy Loman is not a door-to-door salesman. He represents a company by selling, or trying to sell, its product at various places in New England, such as Boston,where his son catches him in a hotel with a mistress who is a secretary at one of his buying customers.

Hamlet tells Ophelia, "Hie thee to a nunnery!" Remembering the Old Bard comes in handy.

For the sea serpent, my first thought was of Cecil. Anyone else old enough to remember Beany and Cecil? Also, hosts is used a lot in the Bible meaning armies. In addition, Harrison Ford's name consists of three presidents, not two. There were two of them named Harrison (William Henry and Benjamin), besides Gerald Ford.

I hope I'm not the only one old enough that the clue for 35-Across made me think of a doctor coming to a patient's home.

I got SWAK as love letters, but enter missives in Wordplay goes over my head. Could someone please explain it to me?

What is the picture used in Wordplay? I'm sure it's something witty that's going over my head.

I'm not sure how fore works as a clue for til. Also, if I were making the puzzle, my clue for Tara would have been the O'Hara plantation.

I don't understand the reference to Mr. Sawyer in the Wordplay column in connection with agapes. Who is this Mr. Sawyer and why would he be a problem at an agape meal?

Washboards as instrument panels?

I guess I'm missing something, but what misdirection is there in the clue for 1A?