The Devil Made Me Do It.
17-Across. * Equally disagreeable choices: HORNS OF A DILEMMA.
23-Across. * Easy to cut, as meat: FORK TENDER.
40-Across. * Improvises: WINGS IT.
51-Across. * Braking signals: TAIL LIGHTS.
And the unifier:
62-Across. "We were just talking about you!" and a hint to the first
words of the answers to the starred clues: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL.
Across:
1. Brief email sign-off: BEST.
5. Baby horse: FOAL.
9. Utterly detest: ABHOR.
14. __ rug: floor decor: AREA.
15. Extreme anger: RAGE.
16. Director Sergio: LEONE. Not a Tuesday name. Sergio
Leone (Jan. 3, 1929 ~ Apr. 30, 1989) was an Italian film director best know
for producing the so-called Spaghetti Westerns. Clint Eastwood starred
in many of his films, including A Fist Full of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. [Name #1.]
20. Line spoken to the audience: ASIDE.
21. Boo-boo kisser: MOM.
22. Serve dinner to: FEED.
27. Be a good dog, say: OBEY.
28. Grade just above C: B MINUS.
32. Mideast title: EMIR.
35. Org. that certifies albums as gold or platinum: RIAA. As
in the Recording Industry Association of America.
38. Pronoun-shaped girders: I-BARS.
39. __ Vegas Raiders: LAS. The professional football team.
42. Gym cushion: MAT.
43. "Erin go __": BRAGH. Roughly translated to mean Ireland Forever.
45. Prod: GOAD.
46. Snaky swimmers: EELS.
47. "The Handmaid's Tale" novelist Margaret: ATWOOD.
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (b. Nov. 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist.
[Name # 2.]
49. Tire leak sound: HISS.
55. Admin. aide: ASS'T. As in an Assistant.
58. Alumna bio word: NÉE. Today's French lesson.
59. Deliver a speech: ORATE.
66. Depend (on): HINGE.
67. Oompah instrument: TUBA. Hi, JazzB!
68. 12/24 and 12/31: EVEs. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
69. Provide with funding: ENDOW.
70. "You missed a __": SPOT.
71. Whitehall whitewall: TYRE. Whitehall is the name of a
street in London, England where many government offices are located, hence,
the cars parked on the street would be "misspelled" as Tyres. Does a
Tyre 49-Across in London?
Down:
1. "Who Let the Dogs Out" group __ Men: BAHA. It was over a
decade ago since this song was released.
2. Greek Cupid: EROS.
3. Calligraphy stroke: SERIF.
4. Clay oven for baking naan: TANDOOR. Everything you wanted
to know about Tandoor, but didn't know to ask.
5. To and __: FRO. More information than you wanted to know
about a pendulum going to and fro.
6. Bumbling fool: OAF.
7. Athlete's peak performance: A-GAME.
8. Gave false hope to: LED ON.
9. Every last one: ALL.
10. Barbecue cut: BEEF RIB.
11. House-shaped browser button: HOME. I misread this clue
as Horse-shaped browser button.
12. "Looks like the joke's __": ON ME.
13. Get lost in a book: READ.
18. Balkan native: SERB.
19. Film research website: IMDb. As in the Internet Movie Database.
24. "The Americans" star Russell: KERI. Keri Lynn Russell
(b. Mar. 23, 1976) portrayed Elizabeth Jennings, a Russian spy, pretending to
be an American on the spy drama The Americans. The show ran
for about 5 years. [Name # 3.]
25. Making, as a knot: TYING.
26. Radiate: EMIT.
29. Birth certificate information: NAME.
30. Eurasian border river: URAL. We often see URAL in the
puzzles, but it usually refers to the mountains, not the river.
31. Phased-out fast planes, for short: SSTs. As in
the Super Sonic Transport planes. The last commercial Concorde SST flight was on October 24, 2003. Exactly 19 years and 1 day ago!
32. Actor Idris: ELBA. Idris Elba (né Idrissa Akuna Elba; b.
Sept. 6, 1972) is an English actor. He portrayed Stringer Bell on the
HBO series, The Wire. Hi, Lucina! [Name #4.]
33. Small store: MART.
34. "No need to describe what happened": I SAW.
36. "Four score and seven years __ ... ": AGO. The opening
line from the Gettysburg Address.
37. Japanese beer brand: ASAHI.
40. "Not so fast!": WHOA.
41. "With ya so far": I DIG.
44. "Adios!": GOTTA GO.
46. Springsteen's __ Band: E STREET. How the band got its name. [Name adjacent.]
48. Flintstone family pet: DINO. [Name # 5.]
50. Wearing kicks: SHOD.
52. Some boxing jabs: LEFTS.
53. Ease off, as rain: LET UP.
54. Expertise: SAVVY.
55. Tennis legend Arthur: ASHE. Arthur Ashe (né Arthur
Robert Ashe, Jr.; July 10, 1943 ~ Feb. 6, 1993) makes frequent guest
appearances in the crossword puzzles. [Name #6.]
56. Laundry cycle: SPIN.
57. Ship: SEND.
60. Cake layer: TIER.
61. "You are something __!": ELSE.
63. London's __ Gardens: KEW. Everything you wanted to know
about the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens but didn't know to ask.
64. "House of the Dragon" cable network: HBO.
65. "Dig in!": EAT.
Here's the Grid:
Happy Halloween!