Theme: Ear Worm - This Video(4:04) was all the rage when it came out.
20A. *“I’m counting on you!” : "DON'T LET ME DOWN". Title of a Beatles song, could be a theme sometime.
27A. *Nervous Nellie : WORRYWART. I wonder how many will be familiar with this term but I'm not worried. The Word Detective will explain it. Link.
36A. *“By all means!” : "BE MY GUEST"
46A. *Bar’s business booster, in theory : HAPPY HOUR. It's five o'clock somewhere. Cheers!
53A. Singer of the feelgood a cappella #1 hit whose title begins the answers to starred clues : BOBBY McFERRIN
Happy Argyle here. I was half way through a clip when I realized it wasn't McFerrin's, so I linked the original. Sorry about any ad you had to watch.
I wasn't getting the theme until the unifier. And while it seemed a little tough while I was doing it, looking back, it doesn't seem that hard. Some nice down fill and a shortage of foreign words makes me happy.
Across:
Across:
1. Jellystone Park bear : YOGI. He made Mister Ranger worry.
5. Mazda roadster : MIATA
10. Pre-K basics : ABC's
14. Mary Kay competitor : AVON
15. Crop up : OCCUR
16. Female WWII gp. : WAAC. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, changed to just WAC in 1943.
17. __ ring : MOOD
18. Cub-turned-radio co-host Ron : SANTO. A Chicago Cub legend, who was also a diabetic who lost the lower half of both legs before succumbing in 2010.
19. Thornfield Hall governess : EYRE. From Charlotte Brontë's. "Jane Eyre".
23. Foil giant : ALCOA
25. Chi.-based flier : UAL. (United Air Lines)
26. Rebellious Turner : NAT. Led a slave rebellion before the Civil War.
31. Wind-borne silt deposit : LOESS
33. Set (down) : LAY
34. Suffix with hero : INE. (heroine)
35. Last inning, usually : NINTH
39. Miserly : CHEAP
41. “__ little teapot ...” : I'M A
42. Rank above cpl. : SGT.
45. Unhappy spectator : BOOer
49. Saturn, for one : ORB
50. SoCal ball club, on scoreboards : LAA. (Los Angeles Angels)
52. Teeny-tiny : EENSY
58. Madison Avenue award : CLIO. (for advertising and design)
59. Congo creature with notable stripes : OKAPI
60. Look (like) : SEEM
63. Vocal quartet member : ALTO
64. Send payment : REMIT
65. Sporty car roof : T-TOP
66. Piece of work : TASK
67. Like a Siberian Husky’s ears : ERECT
68. W-2 IDs : SSN's
Down:
1. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM
2. Lacto-__ vegetarian : OVO. A vegetarian who does not eat meat of any kind, but consumes dairy and egg products.
3. One way to relieve pent-up emotion : GOOD CRY
4. Like some pools : INDOOR
5. Majority : MOST
6. Suffix with myth : ICAL. (mythical)
7. OXY target : ACNE. Their website, link
8. “Shame on you!” : "TUT, TUT". Well, tsk tsk if you didn't get it the first time.
9. Bakery lure : AROMA
10. Spellbound : AWED
11. Civil War weapon : BAYONET. Why the Civil War?
12. School fundraiser : CAR WASH
13. Hunting dogs pick them up : SCENTS
21. Aye’s opposite : NAY
22. Novelist Bret Easton __ : ELLIS. 1985 bestseller "Less Than Zero". Any reviews?
23. Shoemaker’s holemaker : AWL. Not Willie Shoemaker.
24. Hawaii’s Mauna __ : LOA
28. Chicken : WIMP
29. Whichever : ANY
30. Aqua __: platinum dissolver : REGIA. Why would you want to dissolve platinum? Wikipedia link.
32. Great Lakes prov. : ONT. (Ontario)
35. Spring tide counterpart : NEAP
36. Quilting party : BEE
37. Ahead of schedule : EARLY
38. Plate cleaner, at times : UMP
39. Top-selling Toyota : COROLLA
40. Tolkien’s Shire dwellers : HOBBITS. The movie is opening next week here.
42. Petrarchan works : SONNETS. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch), was an Italian scholar and poet.
43. “Good Will Hunting” director Van Sant : GUS
44. Test, as one’s patience : TRY
45. Lynx family member : BOBCAT
46. Unauthorized user? : HACKER
47. “__ out!” : Y'ER. Last of the baseball clues.
48. Stickups : HEISTS
51. Dean Martin’s “That’s __” : AMORE
54. Reserve : BOOK
55. Starlet’s goal : FAME
56. Homer’s “Iliad,” for one : EPIC
57. “Hud” director Martin : RITT. IMDb.
61. Forever and a day : EON
62. AWOLs avoid them : MP's
Argyle
