Theme: Melt in your Mouth - Perennial Halloween favorites are the unifier and four long theme entries plus a spanner follow the M and M lead.
17A. Versatile, as clothes outfits : MIX AND MATCH
24A. Auto title data : MAKE AND MODEL
38A. Toon mouse couple : MICKEY AND MINNIE
49A. All one's strength : MIGHT AND MAIN
60A. Gentle : MEEK AND MILD
69A. Colorful candy purchase, or what 17-, 24-, 38-, 49- and 60-Across all are : M AND M's
Argyle here. Trick or Treat! I think we got a treat for our Monday puzzle. We have had a similar one before, Link but this might be a tad harder.
Across:
1. Capt. Kirk's Asian lieutenant : MR. SULU. Star Trek.
7. Big name in elevators : OTIS
11. Eng. majors' degrees : BAS. (Bachelor of Arts and Science)(assuming it's English and not Engineering.) No wait, I messed up. I should have parsed that as BA's, Bachelor of Arts, plural.
14. Aid from a road travel org. : AAA MAP
15. Calamine mineral : ZINC
16. Make a decision : OPT
19. N.Y. engineering sch. : RPI. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(over by Irish Miss in Troy), where BAS can mean Bachelor of Applied Science)
20. Stein filler : ALE
21. Hawkeye State : IOWA
22. Tom of "The Seven Year Itch" : EWELL. IMDb.
27. Represent as identical : EQUATE
30. Wine: Pref. : OENO
31. Actress Rene : RUSSO
32. Way in or out : DOOR
35. Iraq War concern: Abbr. : WMD. (weapons of mass destruction)
42. __ dye: chemical colorant : AZO. A little tough for a Monday.
43. High-pitched woodwind : OBOE
44. Breakfast corners : NOOKS. Read your Nooks in your nooks?
45. Old OTC watchdog : NASD. (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Over-the-counter (OTC), in this case, off-exchange trading is to trade financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities or derivatives directly between two parties and not drugs.
48. Borneo sultanate : BRUNEI. Perps and a WAG.
54. Skylit rooms : ATRIA
55. Wedding cake layer : TIER
56. Dean's list no. : GPA. (Grade Point Average)
59. Highland refusal : NAE
64. Chicago transports : ELs. (elevated trains)
65. End of a threat : ELSE
66. Like many rumors : UNTRUE
67. Baseball's Cobb et al. : TYs
68. Small complaints that are "picked" : NITS
Down:
1. Papa's mate : MAMA. Clip.(3:19)
2. Skateboard park fixture : RAIL
3. __-Coburg: former German duchy : SAXE. Map. The city.
4. Actress Thurman : UMA
5. PC-to-PC system : LAN. (local area network)
6. "Rabbit at Rest" author : UPDIKE. John Updike
7. Conductor Seiji : OZAWA. Seiji Ozawa - Short Biography.
8. Giant : TITAN
9. Business name abbr. : INC.
10. Connive : SCHEME. 29D. Amer. lawmaking group : U.S. CONGRESS. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
11. Approached rapidly : BORE DOWN ON
12. iLife producer : APPLE
13. Not moving a muscle : STILL
18. "The Simpsons" bartender : MOE
23. Came out ahead : WON
24. Face hider : MASK
25. Stub __ : A TOE
26. College housing : DORM
27. Humorist Bombeck : ERMA
28. Quick classroom test : QUIZ
32. Gently applied amount : DAB
33. Yoko from Tokyo : ONO
34. Dedicatory poem : ODE
36. Voice amplifier : MIKE
37. Arnaz who played Ricky : DESI
39. Luke Skywalker's mentor : YODA
40. Cross inscription : INRI. translation, "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews".
41. Subject of a sentence, typically : NOUN
46. Yellowfin tuna : AHI. Not a sushi clue today.
47. Pollen-producing flower part : STAMEN
48. Showman who teamed with Bailey : BARNUM
49. Painter Édouard : MANET. For Tinbeni. Cheers!
50. Peninsular Mediterranean country : ITALY
51. H-bomb trial, e.g. : N-TEST
52. Flood stoppers : DIKES
53. __ culpa : MEA. Just a thought; I haven't seen or heard, "my bad", lately, and that's a good thing.
56. Encircle : GIRD
57. Prune, before drying : PLUM
58. Fruity beverages : ADEs. Time to put the ades away and bring on the toddies and nogs.
61. New Haven Ivy Leaguer : ELI. Yale.
62. Genetic material : DNA
63. Rainier, e.g.: Abbr. : MTN. Southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington.
Argyle
Notes from C.C.:
Here is a fruit-laden lemon tree from Dennis' new home. He's been enjoying fresh lemonade. Click here for more pictures. I've never seen those tropical trees in person (probably never will) and thought the last one was mango tree.
