Theme: Windmills(2:18) - As the unifier states, there is a synonym for CIRCLE hidden within the themes. If your puzzle has the circles(and they're in the right spots, see here), it makes it a little easier.
17A. St. Patrick's day shout : "ERIN GO BRAGH!"
32A. Business that serves smokers : TOBACCO INDUSTRY
39A. With "leave," settle for the existing situation : WELL ENOUGH ALONE
60A. Privileged group, and an aptly highlighted feature of 17-, 32- and 39-Across : INNER CIRCLE
Argyle here. I'm tempted to comment on the wording of 32-Across but I'll take the advice of 39-Across. Hard G has given us an ambitious Tuesday. There are two spanners and the theme makes a nice diagonal stripe down the face of the grid.
Across:
1. "I'm clueless!" : "GOT ME!". A bad situation for a constructor.
6. Half of Ethiopia's capital : ABABA. Addis Ababa Image.
11. Finger-to-lips syllable : "SHH!"
14. 1994 peace prize sharer Yitzhak : RABIN. Actually, there were three: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin.
15. C.S. who created Narnia : LEWIS and 52D. Narnia lion : ASLAN. From the fantasy novel, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".
16. Chinese word of enlightenment : TAO
19. IV administrators : RNs. But don't call them bag ladies!
20. 0, in Spain : CERO. Spanish for "Zero".
21. Linus awaits the Great Pumpkin in one : PATCH
22. Singer's aid : MIKE. We see MIC quite often these days.
23. Unconventional merchandise quantity : ODD LOT
25. "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" singer Neil : SEDAKA. Skip the clip(2:14) if you want, I'll understand.
27. Lewinsky confidante Linda : TRIPP. No image available.
30. Delinquency word more commonly heard in the plural : ARREAR
36. Fifth in NYC, e.g. : AVE.
37. Contraire à la __: illegal, in Lyons : LOI. French
38. Finished first : WON
46. "M*A*S*H" system : TRIAGE. The process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition.
47. Drum major's cap : SHAKO. Take one home today.
48. Heat rub product : BENGAY
50. Oysters-on-the-half-shell seller : RAW BAR
54. Menlo Park middle name : ALVA. TAE - Thomas Alva Edison. Haven't heard from Nikola Tesla lately.
55. Somewhat warm : TEPID
58. Wave radio maker : BOSE
59. Work the soil : HOE
62. Bachelor in personals, briefly : SWM. Single white male.
63. Short explosive? : NITRO
64. It's not an express : LOCAL
65. Half and half : ONE. It adds up.
66. Yarn unit : SKEIN. How many yards of yarn? "a hank of yarn," from O.Fr.
67. Buck of country music : OWENS. Skip the clip(2:16) if you want, I'll understand.
Down:
1. Artist El __ : GRECO. He was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" (The Greek) was a nickname, a reference to his Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters.
2. Rowed : OARED. Or sculled.
3. Classic Ford : T-BIRD
4. Company that merged with Konica : MINOLTA. Not just cameras anymore.
5. Stonehenge loc. : ENGland
6. Actress Jessica : ALBA. Nice hair.
7. Lion player Lahr : BERT. Nice hair.
8. Sky surveillance acronym : AWACS. Airborne Warning and Control System
9. Swollen ego : BIG HEAD
10. Smudge on Santa? : ASH
11. Ump's call : "STRIKE TWO!"
12. "Hammerin'" baseballer : HANK AARON. Two baseball clues.
13. Watering aid : HOSE
18. Fiber-__ : OPTIC
22. Fourth planet : MARS. Um-m-m. We've had a Fifth Avenue and now a Mars Bar.
24. Dungeons & Dragons monster : ORC
26. R&B's __ Hill : DRU. All four original members of were natives of Baltimore, Maryland. Formation.
28. Casual shirt : POLO
29. Reverent : PIOUS
31. Sandberg with nine Gold Gloves : RYNE. More baseball.
32. "I __ I taw a puddy ..." : TAWT
33. Excessive : OVERBLOWN
34. "This is no lie" : "BELIEVE ME"
35. Expected soon : NIGH
40. Turner on screen : LANA. She was a Sweater Girl.
41. Poached fare : EGG
42. Slob's opposite : NEATNIK
43. Either of the first two consonants in "coccyx" : HARD C. Don's signature clue/answer.
44. Wanted poster abbr. : AKA. Also Known As.
45. Unintellectual : LOWBROW
49. Broadway matchmaker : YENTE
51. Italian ball game : BOCCE
53. Fishing gear : REELS
54. Facetious "I see" : "AH SO"
56. Prefix with scope : PERI
57. Crease remover : IRON
60. Access points : INS. So egress points are 'outs', right?
61. UN workers' gp. : ILO. International Labour Organization.
Argyle
Constructor note:
The phrase “inner circle” was the inspiration for this puzzle. I just had one of those moments where I saw the phrase, and naturally thought that it could be the subject of a puzzle. I knew that I wanted a hidden word to reflect a circle. I decided to go with four-letter words, for some reason. My search yielded three candidates. It was not as easy as I thought to find words that can mean circle that are four letters long. But it did give me a break. I am always trying to make puzzles with five or six theme answers.
Constructor note:
The phrase “inner circle” was the inspiration for this puzzle. I just had one of those moments where I saw the phrase, and naturally thought that it could be the subject of a puzzle. I knew that I wanted a hidden word to reflect a circle. I decided to go with four-letter words, for some reason. My search yielded three candidates. It was not as easy as I thought to find words that can mean circle that are four letters long. But it did give me a break. I am always trying to make puzzles with five or six theme answers.
