17. National Portrait Gallery, e.g.: ART MUSEUM.
24. Freebies for tourists: AREA MAPS.
49. Rosary recital: AVE MARIA.
61. Puzzle solver's breakthrough, e.g.: AHA MOMENT.
3. Film often with chase scenes: ACTION MOVIE.
25. Inflatable bed for a guest: AIR MATTRESS.
38. Medium for many talk shows ... and an apt place to discuss six puzzle answers?: AM RADIO.
Mark is back to get some airtime with these A&M words. The AM in AM RADIO is for Amplitude Modulation. Talk radio is full of words and fills many of the AM frequencies.
My favorite is Aha Moment.
Across:
1. Winter warm spell: THAW.
5. Simon & Garfunkel's "El Condor __": PASA.
9. Sneer (at): SCOFF.
14. Texas home of Baylor University: WACO. In case you missed it, the # 8 Baylor Lady Bears knocked off the # 1 Connecticut Huskies on Jan 3rd in Waco by a score of 68 to 57. It was the first regular season loss by the Huskies in 4 years and ended a 126 game winning streak. Hondo Hurricane is a huge fan of the Huskies. Please be sure to send your condolences.
15. CPR pros: EMTs.
16. Jazz clarinetist Shaw: ARTIE. 54 Minutes of Swing and Jazz.
19. Ugh-inducing: NASTY.
20. Observes secretly: SPIES ON.
21. 67-Across exile: ADAM.
67. Genesis paradise: EDEN.
23. Dollar bills: ONEs.
28. Soda container: CAN.
30. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.
31. The Emerald Isle: EIRE.
32. Ideology suffix: ISM.
33. Little fluid holder: VIAL.
35. Altered, as voting districts: REDREW. Possibly gerrymandered.
37. Merged labor org.: CIO. Congress of Industrial Organizations. Created in 1935 under a slightly different name, broke away from and became a rival to the American Federation of Labor in 1938, and rejoined again in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.
40. "Give __ break": ME A. of that KitKat bar.
41. Soldiers' support gp. since 1944: AMVETS. We donate.
43. Sign gas: NEON.
44. "Life of Pi" director Lee: ANG.
45. "How ya __?": DOIN. Joey on Friends: "How YOU doin'?"
46. Not __ snuff: unsatisfactory: UP TO.
48. "Cats" poet's monogram: TSE. The poet, Thomas Stearns Eliot, more commonly as T.S. Eliot. Also, an abbrv for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. One example would be mad cow disease.
51. Conveyer of tears: DUCT. You say conveyer, I say conveyor.
54. Taiwan-based laptop giant: ACER.
55. Spanish island, to locals: MENORCA. The four largest islands in the Islas Baleras archipelago east of Spain in the western Mediterranean are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. Many minor islands and islets are close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera, and S'Espalmador
58. Deep cleft: CHASM.
63. Tickle: AMUSE.
64. Dorothy's dog: TOTO.
Dorothy and Toto:
Also, a group of session musicians that gathered together and recorded prior to having a band name. According to legend, the drummer wrote "Toto" on their demo tapes only to differentiate them from other bands recording in the studio. They decided to stay with the name.
65. Tiny fraction of a min.: MSEC. Millisecond. One thousandth of a second. Much much longer than a nanosecond.
66. Jabs with a finger: POKES.
68. Concerning: AS TO.
Down:
1. First word of "A Visit From St. Nicholas": TWAS.
2. Large plucked instrument: HARP. Our friend Laura playing one of her harps.
5. Cuban coins: PESOS.
6. Blessing conclusion: AMEN.
7. Good name for a cook: STU. Homophone of stew.
8. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA.
9. Yemen's capital: SANAA.
10. Hit the books at the last minute: CRAMMED.
11. Extra NBA periods: OTS. Overtimes.
12. In top form: FIT.
13. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" actress Tina: FEY.
18. Put in the game: USE.
22. Texas border city: DEL RIO. Went to school with a guy from Del Rio.
24. Home of the Braves: ATLANTA. The Atlanta Braves of MLB.
26. Grooms, bird-style: PREENS.
27. Municipal waste: SEWAGE.
28. Noisy summer insect: CICADA.
29. "I, Robot" author: ASIMOV. Isaac.
30. Organ with a lobe: EAR.
33. Napa Valley vessel: VAT.
34. "There's no doubt!": I'M SURE. Lisa: I'm positive. Vinny: How can you be so sure ? Lisa: Because there is no way that these tire marks were made by a '64 Buick Skylark convertible. These marks were made by a 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
36. Long, long time: EON.
39. "Gloria in Excelsis __": DEO.
42. All together: EN MASSE. En bloc. In toto.
47. Illicit video producer: PIRATE.
50. High points: ACMES.
51. Evil spirit: DEMON.
52. Card game inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2018: UNO.
53. Pause-causing punctuation: COMMA. Commas are important people.
55. Hand on deck: MATE.
56. Tech news site: CNET.
57. "I Got You Babe" label: ATCO.
58. Ballplayer's hat: CAP. These New Era baseball caps are in order. Baseball fans will see it.
59. Managed care gp.: HMO.
60. Arctic seabird: AUK.
62. Coal scuttle: HOD.
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Patti Varol, editor for the Crosswords Club and Daily POP and Rich's assistant at LA Times. Whether a puzzle is accepted or rejected, Patti always gives constructive feedback. She's also a super crossword constructor and solver.
