Theme: Dear John - Actually, a bit stronger than a Dear John letter. Hit The Road Jack.(2:20) (with The Raelettes.)(Wiki)
16A. Strike gold : HIT PAY DIRT
23A. Mythical Egyptian riddler : THE SPHINX
37A. Lane straddler : ROAD HOG
48A. Guy "nipping at your nose," in a holiday song : JACK FROST
58A. Singer of the 1961 #1 song found in the starts of 16-, 23-, 37- and 48-Across : RAY CHARLES
Argyle here, not on the road. (Note: Yes, it is the Greek SPHINX that asks the riddle but the Egyptian riddler is embedded too deeply in the crossword database to change it now.) Jeff used a diversity clues for this one. People 9, fictional characters 5, animals 10, some foreign words, but no Roman numerals. Your count may vary. How many animals do you consider the SPHINX is? (I included hot dogs as an animal.)
Across:
1. Magician's bird of choice : DOVE
5. Seattle's Best product, slangily : JAVA
9. Fall faller : LEAF. A done deal in my area.
13. Pub picks : ALES
14. Special Forces cap : BERET
15. Fairy tale starter : ONCE
18. Give __ to: approve : A NOD
19. Canadian coin nicknamed for the bird on it : LOONIE
20. Hand-waving or finger-pointing : GESTURE
22. For each : PER
25. Cornfield bird : CROW
27. Smallest prime number : TWO
28. 27-Across plus one, in Italy : TRE
29. Lines of theater seats : ROWS
30. Goes down in the west : SETS. Not what goes down in the west but the very act of so doing.
32. Debatable point : ISSUE
36. Encouragement for a matador : OLÉ
39. LAX hrs. : PST. Pacific Standard Time. When to we get there? 35D. LAX incoming hrs. : ETAs. Finally, a clue that lets you know whether it's an A or a D.
40. Welsh dog : CORGI
42. Screwball : KOOK
43. Dalai __ : LAMA
44. A bit amiss : OFF
46. "Milk" director Van Sant : GUS. This fellow.
47. Oval segments : ARCS
52. Inquire : ASK
53. Rand McNally references : ATLASES
54. Takes home from the pound : ADOPTS
57. Yogi, for one : BEAR
61. Can of worms, e.g. : BAIT
62. "Drat!" : EGADS
63. Brooks's country music partner : DUNN. American Country Countdown is hosted by Kix Brooks without his singing partner, Ronnie Dunn.
64. Sources of immediate cash: Abbr. : ATMs
65. Mends with thread : SEWS
66. FBI personnel : AGTS.
Down:
1. Author Roald : DAHL. James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox....
2. Assortment : OLIO
3. President's weapon : VETO POWER
4. Station with game reports and highlights : ESPNEWS. A portmanteau of ESPN and "news", pronounced "ESPN News".
5. Clampett patriarch : JED. Made his money in oil on TV's Beverly Hillbillies.
6. Onassis patriarch : ARI. Made his money in shipping on the high seas.
7. Brink : VERGE
8. Declare to be true : ATTEST
9. Despises : LOATHES
10. Boredom : ENNUI
11. Piece of the sky, to Chicken Little : ACORN. A fable known as Chicken Little, also as Henny Penny. "The sky is falling."
12. Shipping giant : FEDEX. On land and in the air; on the high seas? not so much.
14. "Sayonara!" : "BYE!"
17. It's roughly 21% oxygen : AIR
21. Unit of parsley : SPRIG
23. Tinker with : TWEAK
24. Franks : HOT DOGS
25. Hook nemesis, for short : CROC. From Peter Pan.
26. Cylindrical caramel candy : ROLO
27. General of Chinese cuisine : TSO
31. Loud call : SHOUT
33. Auto tune-up item : SPARK PLUG
34. Camp Pendleton letters : USMC
37. Jazz licks : RIFFS
38. Approves : OKs
41. Amusement park racers : GO KARTS
43. Longtime Dodger skipper Tommy : LASORDA
45. Brittany brothers : FREREs. French.
48. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime boss : JABBA. No picture, too ugly for breakfast time.
49. Persistently bothered : ATE AT
50. Allegation : CLAIM
51. Missouri river or tribe : OSAGE
52. Cavity filler's org. : ADA. American Dental Association.
54. Blissful sighs : AHs
55. Camping shelter : TENT
56. 9-digit IDs : SSNs
59. Deviate from a course : YAW
60. DJ's stack : CDs
Argyle
