Theme: What has many eyes but cannot see? - No, not Mississippi but good guess. Today we are looking for POTATO and five words that may precede(HEAD) it just as they do in their individual phrases.
17A. *Steady, unobtrusive background sound : WHITE NOISE. White potato.
24A. *Highly charged, as a topic : HOT BUTTON. Hot potato: an awkward or delicate matter.
31A. *Sleeper sofa : COUCH BED. Couch potato: subject of many TV ads.
44A. *Nouveau riche : NEW MONEY. New potato: a young potato of any variety.
50A. *Especially favorable agreement : SWEET DEAL. Sweet potato, a favorite at holidays. Are sweet potato fries common in your area?
62A. Mr. who debuted 5/1/1952, or in a way, what the first word of the answers to starred clues can be : POTATO HEAD. Also, a star in the Toy Story movies.
Argyle here with a semi-tough Tuesday offering from the Dynamic Duo. Only 13 three-letter entries and no cheater squares. Two long descenders and some old and some new fill. Yes, there are more potato phrases but they can't all be mentioned ... in the puzzle but can be in the comments. Try not to duplicate someone else's suggestion.
Across:
1. Short trips : HOPS. I know that isn't the way HOPS would be clued by some of you.
5. Daylong march : ETAPE. Hello, old friend.
10. Baseball cards unit : PACK
14. Swiss river : AARE
15. Stereotypical dog name : ROVER
16. __ Bator, Mongolia : ULAN
19. Pixar fish : NEMO
20. "Roots" hero __ Kinte : KUNTA
21. China's Mao __-tung : TSE
22. Gap rival : J.CREW
23. The Blue Jays, on scoreboards : TOR. (Toronto)
26. Bustle of activity : ADO
28. Kids' touching game : TAG
30. Automaker with a four-ring logo : AUDI
34. Soothing words : SOLACE
38. Bk. before Job : ESTH.
39. Slow-moving tree-hanging animal : SLOTH
41. Fingered, as a perp : ID'ed
42. Arnaz-Ball studio : DESILU
46. Feudal slave : SERF
48. Chou En-__ : LAI
49. Intractable beast : ASS
54. Dallas sch. : SMU. (Southern Methodist University)
56. Shopping meccas : MALLS
57. D-Day craft : LST. (Landing Ship, Tank)
58. They're often cluttered in offices : DESKS
61. Entr'__ : ACTE. French, means "between the acts".
64. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR
65. __ Gay: WWII plane : ENOLA
66. "See ya" : "TA TA"
67. Sugar pies : HONs. Not pastry but words you might call your sweetie.
68. Heat-resistant glassware : PYREX. For baking your potato casseroles.
69. Out of control : AMOK
Down:
1. Taloned bird : HAWK. Cornell red-tailed hawk cam.
2. Pacific island on which much of "Lost" was filmed : OAHU
3. Hard copies : PRINTOUTS
4. Contentious confrontation : SET-TO
5. Directional ending : ERN
6. Dental whitening agent : TOOTH GEL
7. French order-carrying craft : AVISO. Another old friend.
8. Former coin of Spain : PESETA. 70 pesetas = 1 U.S. dollar, circa 1970.
9. Cockney's "in this place" : 'ERE
10. Strict observance of formalities : PUNCTILIO. based in Latin.
11. Warning : ALERT
12. Brief acting role : CAMEO
13. Familiar : KNOWN
18. Only planet with exactly one moon : EARTH
22. Sensei's teaching : JUDO
25. Baloney : BUSHWA. It has been around since the Twenties.
26. Scored a hole-in-one on : ACED
27. Unit of reality? : DOSE. A dose of reality, a wake-up call.
29. Silly : ABSURD
32. Con men : CHISELERS. From back in the day when coins were made of precious metal. This took me WAY too long to find. Link.
33. King of the ring : DON. (boxing promoter) Cute clue.
35. On and on and on and ... : AD NAUSEAM
36. Average marks : CEE's
37. Ice cream brand : EDY'S
40. Revealing, like the heart in a Poe title : TELL-TALE
43. "We're in!" : "LET'S!". You might think of this as responses from in a group to a suggestion to go for pizza.
45. Mess up : MISDO
47. More than a misdemeanor : FELONY
50. Hard tennis shot : SMASH
51. Screwball : WACKO
52. "Your Song" singer John : ELTON
53. Fur tycoon : ASTOR
55. Zubin with a baton : MEHTA. Something to get your blood going 'Carmen' Overture.(3:34)
59. Green Hornet's sidekick : KATO. From the comic, movies, radio and TV show. In the television series he was portrayed by Bruce Lee.
60. State west of Minn. : S. DAK.
62. Get-up-and-go : PEP
63. Income __ : TAX
Argyle
Note from C.C. & Don:
Don came up with this theme. We originally had KANYE WEST for 35D, but it resulted in a few weak entries. I learned not to get attached to any entry from constructing this puzzle.
Note from C.C. & Don:
Don came up with this theme. We originally had KANYE WEST for 35D, but it resulted in a few weak entries. I learned not to get attached to any entry from constructing this puzzle.
