17. Canadian natural resource manager : PARK WARDEN. An unlikely looking clue, but sussable with perp help and a little head scratching. You can read about them here. PARK is the selection for keeping the vehicle stationary.
24. Dramatic backwards hoops move : REVERSE DUNK. Better seen than explained. A car in REVERSE goes backwards.
36. Photon, e.g. : NEUTRAL PARTICLE. Protons and neutrons are polarized, photons go lightly down the middle of the road. NEUTRAL is a resting position between REVERSE and DRIVE.
46. Push one's buttons, and then some : DRIVE INSANE. Is there someone who knows how to push your buttons? I can be maddening. DRIVE is the selection for actually going somewhere.
56. Like many diets : LOW CALORIE. Weight watching strategy. LOW gear is for low speed and controlled power.
64. Shift letters spelled out in 17-, 24-, 36-, 46- and 56-Across : P R N D L Vide infra.
Strangely, in the following video London gets it right - at least that part of it. In the industry this bit of apparatus is indeed called the PRNDL, just as she pronounces it.
Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here, your chauffeur for the day. Let's DRIVE on through Ned's puzzle and see if we can avoid pot holes and speed bumps.
Across
1. Plentiful : RIFE. This old Anglo-Saxon word might have originated with the Old Norse word for "acceptable."
5. Green-lights : OKAYS. Allows or permits. Looks odd spelt out.
10. Fruit-bearing trees : FIGS. They are native to the Middle East and Western Asia, now cultivated throughout the temperate zone.
14. "Tiger Beat" cover subject : IDOL. As in pop star. Per Wikipedia, Tiger Beat is an American fan magazine marketed primarily to adolescent girls.
15. Pentagon quintet : SIDES. Tautologically true.
16. Cumming of "The Good Wife" : ALAN. A legal and political drama on CBS.
19. Desi Arnaz's birthplace : CUBA. More specifically, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha, III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was born in Santiago, where his father was the mayor.
20. 10 to the 100th power : GOOGOL. Just a really big number.
21. Party amenity : FAVOR. A trinket given to party guests.
22. Get on : AGE. No comment.
29. Play to __ : A TIE.
30. "Carmina Burana" composer : ORFF . Carl ORFF composed this cantata in 1935-6, based on 24 poems from a medieval manuscript of the same name containing 254 poems in Latin and vernacular languages. The entries are ribald, irreverent and satirical. Here is the most famous segment.
31. Polio vaccine developer : SABIN. Albert Bruce Sabin (August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) developed an oral polio vaccine.
33. Bk. after Galatians : EPH. The letter to the EPHesians, traditionally attributed to Saul of Tarsus [aka Paul the Apostle] is the 10th book of The New Testament.
40. Photo lab prod. : ENLargement. When a right click is not enough.
41. Words said while folding : I'M OUT. Of a poker game, not putting away the laundry.
42. Outer Banks st. : N. CAR. North Carolina.
43. Island near Corsica : ELBA. Everyone knows this as the site of Napolean's exile, but he spent his final six years confined at the British island of St. Helena.
44. Result : EFFECT.
51. Facial feature above la bouche : NEZ. The mouth and nose on le visage.
52. Fluttered in the breeze : WAVED.
53. Passionate : ARDENT.
55. School where part of "The Madness of King George" was filmed : ETON. British school, four letters, fill it in and move on.
60. Dubliner's land : EIRE. Or ERIN. Always need perps.
61. The Little Mermaid : ARIEL.
62. Little woman : GIRL. Not so sure about this one.
63. Photographer Pattie who was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton : BOYD.
65. Ripoff : SCAM.
Down
1. Mending target : RIP. Sew it up.
2. St. with a panhandle : IDAho. I wanted FLA. Can we use that pan to fry up some potatoes?
3. Absent-minded : FORGETFUL. Again, no comment.
4. Nevada county or its seat : ELKO. In the North-east corner of the State on the Humboldt River.
5. Oklahoma natives : OSAGES. Originally from the Ohio River valley, they migrated West of the Mississippi by the mid 17th century to avoid the invading Iroquois.
6. Renamed Russian ballet company : KIROV. Earlier the Imperial Russian Ballet, now the Mariinsky.
7. Throw for a loop : ADDLE. Confuse, befuddle.
8. "__-haw!" : YEE. I wanted HEE. Eiher way a western or rural expression of joy or exuberance.
9. Form 1040 ID : SSN. Social Security Number.
10. False front : FACADE.
11. Sweet tweet : I LUV U. I somehow misread this as sweet treat, and was thoroughly ADDLED.
12. Equatorial African country : GABON. On the West coast, below The Gulf of Guinea.
13. Snide commentary : SNARK.
18. Apple invader : WORM. Of the pome, not the computer.
21. Fencing ploy : FEINT. A deceptive or distracting movement intended to create an opening.
22. Do a makeup job? : ATONE. To make amends, and thus make up for some transgression. I love this kind of clue.
23. Bridge immortal Charles : GOREN. Charles Henry Goren (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991) was a player who wrote many books about the game and did much to popularize it. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s.
25. Moroccan capital : RABAT. Just up the road from Casablanca.
26. The hoosegow : STIR. Alternate slang words for jail.
28. Immature newt : EFT.
31. Memorial __-Kettering: NYC hospital : SLOAN. The world's oldest and largest cancer center.
32. Manjula's husband on "The Simpsons" : APU.
33. Quirky : ECCENTRIC. Literally, off-center, into English from Greek.
34. Venue : PLACE.
35. Alamo competitor : HERTZ. Car rental, not the Mexican-American war.
37. Rankled : RILED.
38. Both: Pref. : AMBI-. Could be ambiguous.
39. Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 : IN F. The Key of F Major.
43. Reached equilibrium, with "out" : EVENED.
44. Final goal : END ALL.
45. Experience : FEEL. I'm trying to experience the equivalence here, but don't quite feel it.
46. One who may be "adorkable" : DWEEB. Dork, DWEEB, nerd - a socially inept intelligent person. Think Sheldon Cooper.
47. Proportional relation : RATIO. Math. It represents for some quantity of thing A how much there is of thing B. It can look suspiciously like a fraction.
48. Target of elephant poachers : IVORY. Tusks.
49. Politely admitted : SAW IN. Escorted to one's seat, frex.
50. Parabolic, e.g. : ARCED. The classic arch.
54. Yuletide quaffs : NOGS. Eggy drinks.
56. Race unit : LAP. Once around the track.
57. Bruin great : ORR. Bobby, the Boston hockey player.
58. Tax shelter initials : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
59. Spreading tree : ELM. Are there any left?
Okay, folks, the DRIVE is over. No traffic jams nor detours, and only a couple of minor bumps along the way. Hope you enjoyed the journey. Now it's time to put it in PARK.
Cool regards!
JzB
