Thurs. Dec. 20 NYT Crossword Hints

Theme:  Extra Holiday Pay (see 57-across).  Ok, all puns this time (note the question marks).  Looks like they’re mostly across clues, so we’ll need to solve the down clues to get a handle on them.  I’d suggest starting the 57-across and 63-across area of the puzzle as it’s likely to help solve the rest.   But, to be honest, it’s only a little bit of help.

Specific Hints:

Starting O (this one killed me!): think game, but not sports

Hairy-raising: Not EERIE

Conservative skirt:  well it can’t be a mini, but…

Fishes or cuts bait:  remember what this expression means and it don’t mean nothin’ ’bout fishin’

Centipede creator:  think old arcade game