Theme: Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle, or Mutilate - Okay, these four entries you can FOLD.
17A. Sunbather's spread: BEACH TOWEL. Shake your beach towel well be for folding.
29A. Cards to bet on: POKER HAND. LOL, you fold your poker hand if you don't have the cards to bet on.
45A. Brunch dish: HAM OMELET. Please mix the ham with the eggs before you fold it.
61A. Coupe-back contraption: RUMBLE SEAT. Folded up when not in use. Good place for backseat drivers.
39D. Instructions next to a perforated line ... or a hint to 17-, 29-, 45- and 61-Across: FOLD HERE
Argyle here. I have started my Christmas season with this present from Irish Miss and C.C.
Across:
1. "House" actor Epps: OMAR. See yesterday's puzzle.
5. Plant-sucking insect: APHID
10. Gala affair: BALL. Could be a BAsh.
14. Went by bus: RODE. No rumble seat but ... .
15. Wear away: ERODE
16. __ Day VitaCraves Multivitamins: ONE A
19. Spelling contests: BEEs
20. Intended: MEANT
21. Lend support to: AID
23. Wrestling surface: MAT
24. "In case you weren't listening ... ": "AS I SAID ... "
26. Like lambs: OVINE
28. Pat-on-the-baby's-back intended result: [BURP!]. I like that intended result.
32. Cut and pasted, say: EDITED
35. New York Harbor's __ Island: ELLIS
36. Penpoint: NIB
37. Tough problem: DILEMMA
39. Evergreen tree: FIR. Got your Christmas tree yet?
42. Jelly beans, e.g.: CANDY. Alternate clue: Canes for your fir.
43. Waiting for customer support, often: ON HOLD
49. Singer Fitzgerald: ELLA
50. Speak from the soapbox: ORATE
51. "Help!"-ful pot scrubbers?: S.O.S PADS
54. Texter's "I'm shocked!": [OMG!]. (Oh My Goodness)
55. Down in the dumps: SAD
58. Glee: MIRTH
59. Movie "Citizen": KANE
65. Yet again: ANEW
66. "Ditto": "ME, TOO!"
67. Try to persuade: URGE
68. "Women and Love" writer Shere: HITE. A book report.
69. What Buffy does: SLAYS. TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and she does.
70. Lowly worker: PEON
Down:
1. Poet's planet: ORB
2. Stooge with Larry and Curly: MOE
3. Tracy/Hepburn battle-of-the-sexes comedy: ADAM'S RIB
4. Proof of purchase: RECEIPT
5. Insurance giant: AETNA
6. Bit of expert advice: PRO TIP
7. "__ about that!": HOW
8. It's in your head: IDEA
9. Cold-cuts seller: DELI
10. Songwriter Dylan: BOB. HO, Ho, Ho! He didn't wrte this one.
11. Iron-poor blood condition: ANEMIA
12. Womack of country: LEE ANN
13. Withstood wear and tear: LASTED
18. Consumes: HAS
22. Wilde's "The Picture of __ Gray": DORIAN. First published complete in 1890. Wiki LINK
24. German automaker: AUDI
25. Large, innocent-looking peepers: DOE EYES
27. VCR format: VHS. (VideoCassette Recorder/Video Home System)
28. Batman player Affleck: BEN. Don't tell anyone but he's really Bruce Wayne.
30. Dutch airline: KLM. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.
31. Red Muppet: ELMO
33. "My Cup Runneth Over" singer: ED AMES
34. Eat in style: DINE
38. Cholesterol letters: LDL. (Low-density lipoprotein) Bad one.
40. Afflictions: ILLS
41. Nutritionist's fig.: RDA. (Recommended Dietary Allowances)
42. Camp bed: COT
44. Warms, as canned soup: HEATS UP
45. Pipe smoked in trendy bars: HOOKAH. If a hookah smoking caterpillar has given you the call ... Call Alice 555-4321
46. Fashion designer Giorgio: ARMANI
47. Fridge sticker: MAGNET. But not the ones with stainless steel doors.
48. Peppermint Patty, for one: TOMBOY. "Guess what, Chuck. Disaster time. Our teacher wants us to read a book during Christmas vacation."
52. Farm facilities: SILOs. Just down the road from me.
53. Opposite of post-: PRE
56. Hugging limbs: ARMS
57. Paces-and-pistols encounter: DUEL
60. Meadow mom: EWE
62. LIRR overseer: MTA. (Long Island Rail Road/Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
63. In the past: AGO
64. Boxing count: TEN. "He's out!"
Argyle
