1: Ransack

3: Synonym of 'main'

5: White House fiscal planning gp.

7: Actively engaged in paid activity.

8: Answer to this puzzle's title and word that can come before the first word of 17-, 31-, 47-, or 63-Across

10: According to

11: Present tense of lit

14: The plural form of 'creature.'

16: Limited in size or scope.

17: Antonym of 'north.'

19: Fizzy drinks

20: Word before box or savant

21: Shorelines

22: By chance.

23: Present tense of flew

24: Holiday cusp

26: Guacamole ingredient

29: Recyclable item

30: Part of NYSE

31: Pay out; ______ money.

1: Cold and blustery

2: Synonym of 'distant'

3: Flavor enhancer

4: 'Leaving on a ______ Plane.'

5: A possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances.

6: Flocks of these fly south for the winter.

9: The chemical element in the Periodic Table having the symbol 'K'

12: very large US chasm

13: Technical instrument used to see distant objects as stars.

14: Plural form of 'cousin.'

15: Double-talkers

16: Map abbrs.

18: Strike white the iron is ______.

21: Starting sound of 'civic' (but not the ending sound)

25: Paul Anka's '___ Beso'

26: 'To ______ a question, raise your hand.'

27: Attacked a sub?

28: Authoritative ref.