Not lyin’ - I was dyin’ to figure out how those themers were tyin’ in with all the weird clues containing lying dying and tying!
My path to solving was that as I was doing the grid, I was highlighting all the clues that seemed oddly worded (
15A,
58A,
1D,
31D were the biggest ones) — then saw that they all contained an x-ying verb and saw that there were others that also did, though not as oddly worded (such as
17A). Great fun finding (almost) all the rest, highlighting their entries, and backsolving for the rest! BTW, The term “stans” was completely new to me, as was the word “flats” for the two-bone wing thingy… nice to know what to call them now!