Theme: Two faced - Both parts of each theme entry can follow "Baby".
17. Bake sale confections made with root veggies: CARROT CAKES. Baby Carrots. Babycakes (term of endearment?)
24. Shine-minimizing makeup layer: FACE POWDER. Babyface. Baby Powder.
34. Wireless networking protocol: BLUETOOTH. Baby Blue (color or song). Baby Tooth.
46. Pop's pop: GRANDDADDY. Baby Grand(piano). Baby Daddy (American sitcom)
55. Driver's alert about an infant, and a hint to what can precede both words of 17-, 24-, 34- and 46-Across: BABY ON BOARD
C.C. here. Saw no draft from Melissa this morning. Hopefully she'll return next Tuesday. Santa Argyle has made progress on this post, so I'll just finish his.
This looks like Katherine's LAT debut. Congratulations! It's challenging to come up with a set of entries where both words can precede or follow. Five themers with a 9 in the middle also added constructing difficulty.
Across:
1. Rodent Templeton in "Charlotte's Web," for one: RAT
4. Provide with more than enough: SATIATE. We have SATE more often.
11. Miner's target: ORE
14. Flightless bird: EMU
15. Memorable Greek shipping magnate: ONASSIS (Ari)
16. Aggravate: VEX
19. Finish off: EAT
20. Chance for a hit: AT BAT
21. Asia's __ Darya river: AMU. It flows into Aral Sea. Darya is Persian for "river". We also have 47. Abu __: DHABI. Abu means "father of". I don't know what "Amu" means,
22. Cornstarch brand in a yellow-and-blue container: ARGO
23. Chair or bench: SEAT
27. Harmonious: TUNEFUL
29. Scare: DAUNT
30. Soon-to-be grads.: SRs
31. Vanity cases?: EGOs
33. Plagues: BESETS
36. Degenerate, like Agnew's snobs: EFFETE. Googled afterwards: "effete corps of impudent snobs". Is that Agnew's own words or his speechwriters'?
39. Apt name for a Dalmatian: SPOT
40. Mil. academy: OCS. (Officer Candidate School)
43. Black, in Bordeaux: NOIRE
44. Like the flame at Arlington National Cemetery: ETERNAL
50. Vacation site you might sail to: ISLE
51. Painter Magritte: RENÉ
52. Managed care gp.: HMO. (Health Maintenance Organization)
53. Follow, as advice: ACT ON
54. "Fear the Walking Dead" network: AMC. (originally stood for "American Movie Classics")
58. Peace symbol: VEE
59. Central Texas city: ABILENE
60. Bestow, to Burns: GIE. Scottish variant of give.
61. Chemical suffix with benz-: ENE
62. Cut at an angle: MITERED
63. Always, to Poe: E'ER
Down:
1. Finds new players for: RECASTS
2. One who plays without pay: AMATEUR
3. Wrapped headdresses: TURBANS
4. Chimney residue: SOOT. Santa's coat is still clean and nice.
5. Colony insect: ANT
6. Tic-toe filler: TAC
7. Father of Jacob and Esau: ISAAC
8. Words on a volunteer's badge: [ASK ME]
9. Highway headache: TIE-UP
10. Half a figure eight: ESS. Great clue. 8
11. Late in arriving: OVERDUE
12. Substance used for chemical analysis: REAGENT
13. Obtains via coercion, as money: EXTORTS. Did you all see Jennifer Aniston's "Derailed"? Really scary.
18. Part of APR: RATE
22. Knee-deep (in): AWASH
24. Bach work: FUGUE
25. Therapeutic plant: ALOE
26. Prince Siegfried's beloved, in "Swan Lake": ODETTE
28. Like pool tables: FELTED
32. Ave. crossers: STs
33. Swag: BOOTY
34. Suisse capital: BERNE. We just had BERN yesterday.
35. Newspaper page with views: OP-ED
36. Personalize at the jeweler's: ENGRAVE. Oh I don't have a personalized jewelry item. But look at this street. It's in Siren, Wisconsin. The road is named after Bill Burnikel, Boomer's great-uncle, who had a farm there.
37. Work site supervisors: FOREMEN
38. Bride-to-be: FIANCEE
40. Performing in a theater: ON STAGE
41. Dieter's unit: CALORIE. Followed by 42. Thin: SLENDER
45. Man who "wore a diamond," in "Copacabana": RICO
48. Realm of influence: AMBIT. Not a word I use.
49. Holmes' creator: DOYLE
53. Still sleeping: ABED
55. "Kapow!": BAM
56. "__ the land of the free ... ": O'ER
57. SSW's opposite: NNE