This is one of those themes where once you get the first one, it’s a big help to solving the other long clues.  Observe a couple things:  First the title,  crunch time should get you thinking about whether there might be a situation where a space holds more than it ought to be able to.   The second part of the title (Time) is also a clue to what might be crunched.   Your third indication 0f what’s up is that the long clues don’t have question marks at the end, so it isn’t about puns on familiar phrases.   And, last but not least, there are precisely seven long across answers.  Still stumped?  Check out the last specific hint, below.

 

10 specific clue/answer hints (since the long answer are all across, I’ll limit the specific hints to the down clues):

1-D   Gunfight locales:  Nope, not corrals.   Doc Holliday’s hangout.

8-D  It needs a signature:  Think government, not credit card

98-D “Fuhgeddaboudit”:  Remember that quotes around a word mean it’s something that usually spoken, not written and usually slangy, not proper.  2 words.  I’ve never heard anyone actually say “Fuhgeddaboudit!”  but it apparently means you aren’t gonna do what was asked.

102-D Sleep problem, to Brits:  You probably know that “to Brits” and such tell you that it’s how those people who don’t drive on the correct side of the road spell ordinary works incorrectly.   I know they say we’re the ones who don’t know what we’re doing.   That’s definitely possible.  I still don’t know why they keep sticking extra letters in words (“colour”  for “color”) for example.  Isn’t less more?

54-D Precipitousness:  What a word!  It doesn’t mean steep, so be quick about it.

50-D  Deli offerings:  Lox on a bagel with cream cheese?  No, that won’t fit, but maybe just as fattening!

82-D “Great” kid-lit detective:  Psst:  his name rhymes with his sobriquet.   (Sorry, I just have never had the chance to use “sobriquet” in a sentence before!)

58-D “Well, well”:  2 words.  The answer usually starts with “Well,” also.

17-D Corroded: 2 words.   Clue could be:  “What the imp did to the ice cream cake when no one was looking!”

88-D  Isak Dinesen novel setting (Double bonus hint:  This will help you with the theme if you haven’t got it yet):  It’s the name of a continent and it isn’t ASIA.  What could be going on here???