Theme: Aerated - The word, AIR, may be added to both halves of the starred entries.
18A. *Ginger ale brand : CANADA DRY. Air Canada, our northern neighbor's largest airline and Air dry, Hanging the wash on the line.
20A. *It gets you a ticket to ride : BUS FARE. Air bus, Image and Air fare, what it would cost to ride the Air Canada airbus.
34A. *Hold that might precede a noogie : HEAD LOCK. Air head, not really a loon, and Air lock, often seen in sci-fi movies.
41A. *Umpire's call : PLAY BALL. Air play, time sought by politicians this time of year and Air ball, a basketball that misses completely.
55A. *Sack with letters : MAIL BAG. Air mail, doesn't mean so much today as most first-class mail goes by air anyway and Air bag, those automotive devices that might save you in a serious crash and harm you in a minor crash.
60A. *Neck-and-neck election campaign : TIGHT RACE. Air tight, a frequent claim of plastic bag manufacturers and Air race, flying planes too fast, too close to the ground.
61D. Word that can precede either part of each starred clue's answer : AIR
Argyle here. Overslept, no time to talk. Good job, Neville.
Across:
1. Actor Lorenzo : LAMAS. IMDb.
6. Crumbly cheese : FETA. Strong taste.
10. Mt. Rushmore's state : S. DAK. (South Dakota)
14. Where Crockett famously fought : ALAMO. Mission in Texas.
15. Disappearing Asian sea : ARAL. East of the Caspian Sea.
16. Running rate : PACE
17. Design theme : MOTIF. From French.
22. Badminton target : BIRDIE. Also called the shuttlecock.
23. "Arrested Development" star Jason : BATEMAN
26. Rushing units: Abbr. : YD's. Ground gained in football, measured in yards.
27. "Star Trek" weapon : PHASER. Could be set from mild tingle to deep fry.
31. Makes an appearance : COMES
33. Investor's online destination : E*TRADE
38. Give out, as a signal : EMIT
39. Loser to DDE : AES. (Dwight D. Eisenhower/Adlai E. Stevenson)
40. School near Burlington, North Carolina : ELON
44. Fix on a stake : IMPALE. "Vlad, don't look at me that way!"
46. Loggers' contest : ROLEO. A little reinforcement of our recent entry. Clip (0:34)
47. Get the better of : OUTFOX
48. Cup rim : LIP
51. Tom Brokaw's domain : NBC NEWS
53. French president's palace : ÉLYSÉE
63. "Cheers" barmaid : CARLA. (Carla Maria Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone Tortelli LeBec)
64. Broadway auntie : MAME. 1,508 performances.
65. Bleacher feature : TIER
66. To no __: fruitlessly : AVAIL
67. Nestlé ice cream brand : EDY'S or Dreyer's.
68. Air France hub : ORLY. A little more air?
69. Drink with steamed milk : LATTE
Down:
1. Baby bleater : LAMB. A round-about shout-out to Windhover.
2. 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty : ALOU
3. Protective floor coverings : MATS
4. "I __ you are!" : AM IF
5. Convenience for an overnight guest : SOFA BED
6. Emerald side : FACET. or any cut gem stone.
7. Hurler's stat : ERA. (earned run average) Important but not as important as the win/loss figure.
8. Sunbather's shade : TAN
9. The Heart of Dixie : ALABAMA
10. Practice with gloves : SPAR
11. Papa : DADDY
12. Harsh-smelling : ACRID
13. Conservative pundit Alan : KEYES. This man.
19. Ate in style : DINED
21. Hard to come by : RARE
24. Level of authority : ECHELON
25. "The Simpsons" watering hole : MOE'S
27. Nestling noise : PEEP
28. Webmaster's file type : HTML. (HyperText Markup Language)
29. Verdi's "Caro nome," e.g. : ARIA
30. Lascivious cloven-hoofed creature : SATYR
32. Took a siesta : SLEPT
35. Name of several Norwegian kings : OLAF
36. Neb. neighbor : COLO.rado. and 44D. Nebraska neighbor : IOWA
37. Plastic construction toy : K'NEX
39. Novelist Waugh : ALEC
42. Lisa of "A Different World" : BONET. and the Cosby Show.
43. 2005-'07 attorney general Gonzales : ALBERTO
45. Broadway fare : MUSICAL
48. "I insist!" : "LET ME!"
49. Trojan War epic : ILIAD
50. Miniature : PYGMY
52. Nail file material : EMERY
54. Mariners' pronouns : SHEs
56. Volcanic flow : LAVA
57. Sitter's handful : BRAT
58. Hit the ground : ALIT
59. Powerful wind : GALE
62. Animation frame : CEL
Argyle
Notes from C.C.:
Thanks for the touching words on Eddy yesterday. I'd like to share this story with you:
Eddy
went into a self-exposed exile in the summer of 2010 due to an incident
on the blog. But he could not resist the pull of the blog, one day he
left a couple anonymous comments. I recognized him immediately (as his
style was so unique), so I wrote to him & teased him about the
posts. I started calling him Lurker B from then on.
Some of you might remember these wonderful sand sculpture picture I linked on August 23,
2010. It's an email forward from Eddy. He commented at 12:07pm (as
Lurker B). Read also Tinbeni's comment @1:24pm (You knew our little
secret?!).
I was pleased and comforted that Eddy was later welcomed back as eddyB and enjoyed his time in the Corner. He'd love what Yellowrocks said yesterday: "We are a true virtual community. I
eagerly look forward to sitting at the table with you daily."
Eddy, JD & Chickie attended Warren & Ruth's pottery & jam sale last September. Here is a photo of them together. From left to right: Warren, JD, Eddy & Chickie.
