Theme: Live Wire? - Three endings with a loose electrical connection.
20A. Defend a position : STAND ONE'S GROUND
33A. Walk-off home run, often : TIE BREAKER. It has to be in the bottom of the last inning.
40A. Explodes with rage : BLOWS A FUSE
47A. With "The," PBS show for kids, and a hint to the ends of 20-, 33- and 40-Across : ELECTRIC COMPANY
Argyle here. Although the theme is current, much of the fill is dated.
Across:
1. Help for the poor : ALMS
5. Buffalo bunches : HERDS. Strange visual.
10. Florida resort, familiarly : BOCA. (Boca Raton)
14. Quick look : PEEP
15. German sub : U-BOAT. The E-boat was a torpedo boat on top of the water.
16. Cowardly Lion actor : LAHR
17. Old Sinclair Oil rival : ESSO
18. "Throw __ From the Train" : MOMMA. 1987, with Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal.
19. Soap Box Derby state : OHIO. Where in Ohio, you ask. 28D. Soap Box Derby city : AKRON
23. Bind with a band : GIRD. They used to GIRD their loins a lot in days of old.
24. Pinup's leg : GAM
25. Water under the bridge : STREAM
28. One in a church chorus? : AMEN
30. Brit. fliers : RAF. (Royal Air Force)
35. Horne of jazz : LENA. The Lady Is A Tramp - Words and Music, 1948
36. Metallic mixture : ALLOY
37. Homie : BRO. Homie is a shortened version of homeboy, homeboy being your close friend. Bro is someone like a brother to you, relatively speaking.
38. Honda compact : CIVIC
39. Fast-talking : GLIB
42. PC panic button : ESC. Oh?
43. Rounded hammer end : PEEN
44. Filled flapjack-like food : CRÊPES
45. Assist : AID
46. Bow-toting deity : EROS
55. Put in cargo : LADE
56. Swashbuckler Flynn : ERROL
57. Space : AREA
58. Prepare, as rice : BOIL (From C.C. to Jayce: What are your favorite congee ingredients and toppings? I wonder slow cooker will be more effective rather than boiling them forever.)
59. Petty : SMALL
60. Swed. neighbor : NORW. Sweden/Norway
61. "The Thin Man" terrier : ASTA
62. Tones down : TAMES
63. Before long : SOON. The end.
Down:
1. "Tarzan" characters : APES
2. "__ we forget" : LEST
3. Colorado's __ Verde National Park : MESA
4. Toon fry cook in The Krusty Krab restaurant : SPONGEBOB. Full name, SpongeBob SquarePants.
5. "Just go along with what I said" : "HUMOR ME"
6. WWII investment : E BOND
7. "When in __ ..." : ROME. "... do as the Romans do" - Saint Ambrose
8. River projects : DAMS
9. Walk drunkenly : STAGGER
10. Come into one's own : BLOOM
11. Hawaii's most populous island : OAHU
12. Stubble spot : CHIN
13. Yankee slugger, familiarly : A-ROD
21. Bridget Jones's book : DIARY. 2001 British romantic comedy film.
22. Was on the ballot : RAN
25. __ fright : STAGE
26. Cultivates : TILLS
27. Thing of the past : RELIC
29. Ask for Friskies, maybe : [MEOW!]
30. Accelerate, as an engine : REV UP
31. Licorice-flavored seed : ANISE
32. Stands up to : FACES
34. Competent : ABLE
35. Cradle-to-grave stretches : LIFE SPANS
38. Billiards bounce : CAROM
40. Doctor's advice : BED REST
41. Uses a mouse wheel : SCROLLS
43. Poe's "The __ and the Pendulum" : PIT
45. Amtrak speedster : ACELA. A made-up word.
46. Pierre's school : ÉCOLE
47. Isle off Tuscany : ELBA
48. Cambodia neighbor : LAOS
49. Revise copy : EDIT
50. "Joy of Cooking" writer Rombauer : IRMA
51. Study all night : CRAM
52. Suffix with buck : AROO
53. Emperor after Claudius I : NERO
54. Show fatigue : YAWN. Sums it up well.
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
Here are four pictures of Kazie's pretty granddaughter Lea, who will be visiting Kazie in June. Lea's favorite thing to do now is roll over.
