Theme:
17A. Downside of reading in poor light : EYE STRAIN. Private Eye.
24A. Drive-thru cleanings : CAR WASHES. Private car. I think of the old railroad cars.
39A. Range for indoor comfort : ROOM TEMPERATURE. Private room, if your lucky.
49A. Staunch political group member : PARTY HACK. Private party, that's what I hear when I try to get in.
62A. Solid baseball hit : LINE DRIVE. Private line, telephone.
7D. Doctor's self-employment, and a hint to the starts of the five longest across answers : PRIVATE PRACTICE
Argyle here with a rare Monday pangram. Grid spanning row and column. Interesting fill. Should be a good week.
Across:
1. Brewpub choices : ALES
5. Bottle tops : CAPS
9. Newly hatched pigeon : SQUAB. I wonder at what age they stop being SQUAB and become flying rats.
14. Lower California, familiarly : BAJA. The actual name of the peninsula, nothing to do with the state.
15. Mother Goose baddie : OGRE
16. Hearing-related : AURAL
19. Magic wand wielder : FAIRY
20. PC go-to type : TECHIE
21. Use the ballot : VOTE
23. Mlles., in Spain : SRTAs
29. Checkpoint "Hold it!" : "HALT!". "Where are your papers?"
31. Little-known information : ARCANA
32. Prefix meaning "billion" : GIGA
36. Harbor landing : PIER
38. Bridge positions : EASTs
42. "Tomorrow" title singer : ANNIE
43. High spirits : BRIO. From Italian but of Celtic origin.
44. 1974 Sutherland/Gould spoof : "S*P*Y*S". Asterisks were to indicate bullet holes.
45. "Burnt" crayon color : SIENNA
47. Egyptian cross : ANKH
51. Montezuma subject : AZTEC
56. Admin. aide : ASST.
57. Hawkish : PRO WAR
58. Not so many : FEWER
64. African antelope : ELAND
65. Muscular woe : ACHE
66. Born and __ : BRED
67. Prepares, as cocktails : MIXES
68. "Little" Dickens girl : NELL. Nell Trent, fictional heroine of Charles Dickens's novel "The Old Curiosity Shop".
69. "Besides that ..." : "ALSO ..."
Down:
1. Helps illegally : ABETS
2. Hen, vis-à-vis eggs : LAYER
3. Kick out : EJECT
4. Olympic skater Cohen : SASHA. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist.
5. Apple heart : CORE
6. Turkish title : AGA
8. Hombre's title : SEÑOR
9. Low-crime section of town : SAFE AREA
10. Sine __ non: essential : QUA
11. Ocean State sch. : URI
12. River to the Rhine : AAR. In Switzerland, Aare.
13. Activist Nellie : BLY
18. Addams Family nickname : TISH. Morticia Addams (TV)
22. Howard Hughes's airline : TWA
24. Scale, as Everest : CLIMB
25. Improvises like Armstrong : SCATS. Scatting with Louis and Ella. Clip(3:09)
26. Welcomes to the penthouse : HAS UP
27. Blog piece : ENTRY
28. Freelance writers' encls. : SASEs
30. Zoo swinger : APE
32. Hold tightly : GRASP
33. Ancient Greek region that was home to Heraclitus : IONIA
34. One with no hope : GONER
35. Make ___: rake it in : A MINT
37. Sign anew, as a contract : RE-INK
40. Thirty feet : TEN YARDS
41. Soldier of Seoul : ROK
46. Sighs of relief : AHs
48. Difficult : HARD
50. "The Chronicles of Narnia" lion : ASLAN
52. "___ the Greek" : ZORBA Novel and film.
53. Handle, as a baton : TWIRL
54. Rain gutters run under them : EAVES
55. System of belief : CREDO
57. Banana covering : PEEL
58. Like "la" in Fr. or Sp. : FEM.(feminine)
59. Quarterback Manning : ELI
60. Like many lifelike museum displays : WAX
61. Opposite of WSW : ENE
63. Buffalo Sabres' org. : NHL
