theme: back seat driver
17A. *Vaudeville headliner : TOP BANANA. from wikipedia: Originally, the phrase "Top Banana" was coined by comedian and Vaudeville Performer Harry Steppe" banana seat.
24A. *Count Basie's theme song : ONE O'CLOCK JUMP. basie used it as his closing song for over fifty years. a jump seat is a seat in a vehicle or aircraft that can fold up out of the way.
39A. *Too-small quantity : DROP IN THE BUCKET. an idiom meaning a small, insufficient amount. a bucket seat is contoured to hold one person.
50A. *1959 Monroe classic : SOME LIKE IT HOT. classic billy wilder film. the only seat here that is not an actual seat - an expression meaning a high-pressure situation.
63A. What many sports cars lack, and, in a way, what the ends of the starred answers are: REAR SEATS
melissa here.
pretty straightforward theme, but i needed the unifier to figure it out, as i was trying to connect the first words instead of the last. i thought this puzzle had a pretty broad range of obscure and gimme clues - but maybe it's just me, i'm a little rusty.
let's see how this goes, i've been suffering the animosity of inanimate objects, and the internet connection at the new digs is a tad unstable. i'm just gonna type reeeeeeeeeeeelllly fast and see what happens. fortunately, i can type faster than i can think.
Across:
Across:
1. Organic fuel : PEAT. decomposed plant material, also used as fertilizer. environmentally controversial. interesting wiki page.
5. Beggar's returns : ALMS. money or charity given to the poor.
9. Out-and-out : TOTAL. "that movie was an out-and-out flop."
14. Soprano Gluck : ALMA. okay well that is out-and-out obscure. my first thought was it must be some character from the soprano's ... except gluck doesn't sound very italian, does it? turns out alma gluck was a soprano recording artist, who died in 1938. oh, that alma gluck. her second husband was violin virtuoso efrem zimbalist, father of actor efrem zimalist, jr. (77 sunset strip), who was the father of stephanie zimbalist.
15. Tree nursery? : NEST. cute.
16. Winnebagos' kin : IOWAS. again, a little obscure. indian tribes.
19. Actress Kelly : MOIRA
20. Anaheim team, to fans : HALOS. baseball. see the halo?
21. Splotch : BLOB. "it creeps, it crawls, it eats you alive! the splotch! somehow just doesn't sound as frightening.
23. Fishing gear : NET
28. Garment border : HEM
29. Michael of "Caddyshack" : O'KEEFE. he played caddy danny noonan.
32. Marbles competition : MIBS. i think you might have to own a hobby shop to know this. what i found online was that a mib is the target in a marble game, and a mibster is a person who plays marbles.
36. Get out in the open : AIR. air that dirty laundry.
38. Singsong syllables : TRA LA
43. Open mic performer, often : COMIC. my favorite comic.
44. Bruins legend : ORR. bobby. hockey.
45. "My love __ a fever, longing still": Shakespeare : IS AS.
46. Deeply rooted : INBRED
48. Gandalf portrayer McKellen : IAN. lord of the rings.
57. "Go team!" : RAH
59. Well out of range : AFAR
60. It may be captioned : PHOTO
61. Hoover rival : ORECK
66. Bench clearer : MELEE. visually evocative clue.
67. Pitcher Pettitte with a record 19 post-season wins : ANDY. yankees / astros.
68. Out of the cage : FREE
69. Less hardy-looking : PALER
70. Early Iranian : MEDE. finally remembered this.
71. "America's Next Top Model" host Banks : TYRA
Down:
1. Logical start? : PATHO. pathological.
2. Online mortgage broker : E-LOAN
3. More than enough : AMPLE.
4. It's not done : TABOO. it's done, it's just not supposed to be done.
5. "State of Wonder" novelist Patchett : ANN. author of bel canto.
6. Country expanse : LEA
7. "A Fuller Spectrum of News" network : MSNBC. never heard of it.
8. Bit of rhubarb : STALK
9. Middle of nowhere, metaphorically : TIMBUKTU. great album.
10. Hugs, symbolically : OOO
11. Cult classic of 1990s TV : TWIN PEAKS
12. It passes between Swiss banks : AARE. it's a river, love this clue.
13. Would-be One L's hurdle : LSAT. one l is a first year law student, lsat is the law school admission test.
18. Author Sholem : ASCH. controversial, polish-born, jewish-american writer, 1880-1957.
22. Eye of el tigre : OJO. spanish for eye.
25. Tilt : LEAN
26. Fail to mention : OMIT.
27. Overseas thanks : MERCI. french.
30. Lab coat speck? : FLEA. labrador, another great clue.
31. Chow : EATS
32. Year Elizabeth I delivered her "Golden Speech" : MDCI. 1601. sure, i knew that, didn't have to look it up or anything. "The Golden Speech has been taken to mark a symbolic end of Elizabeth's reign, one which is widely considered one of the Golden Eras of England's history."
33. Caddie's suggestion : IRON. i work with a lot of caddies. that's all i'm going to say about that.
34. Jaw-dropping news : BOMBSHELL
35. Veep before Gerald : SPIRO. agnew.
37. Letter after pi : RHO
40. Motel convenience : ICE MAKER
41. "Gymnopédies" composer Satie : ERIK
42. Scot's bluff : BRAE
47. Dict. offering : DEF
49. Small bites : NIPS
51. NFLer until 1994 : LA RAM. los angeles rams.
52. Castle with many steps? : IRENE. dance steps. early 20th century ballroom dancer.
53. Museum concern : THEFT
54. White with age : HOARY. hoarfrost = white ice or snow crystals.
55. Weasel-like swimmer : OTTER
56. Where captains go : TO SEA
57. Frolic : ROMP
58. Field of expertise : AREA
62. GPA reducer, usually : CEE. grade point average.
64. Put in : ADD
65. Deli choice : RYE
