Theme: The Woods Are Calling
John Muir's quote was actually, "The mountains are calling, and I must go." What Muir really meant. Such a consistent theme here, with the first two, and last three letters of each spelling out a type of wood (or tree), and the 'filler' in between - thus WOOD FILLER. Awesome.
17. *Specialized baking surface: PIZZA STONE.
23. *Unwelcome sci-fi visitor: ALIEN INVADER.
34. *Pair with a license, often: MARRIED COUPLE.
47. *Location method requiring a sorted list: BINARY SEARCH.
55. Carpenter's compound, or what's found between each of four pairs of circled letters: WOOD FILLER.
Across:
1. Signs of healing: SCABS.
6. Like many summer drinks: ICED.
10. Pipe smoker's gadget: TAMP. Verb, not noun here.
14. Vinyl hit, usually: OLDIE. Vinyl has made a comeback and is pretty popular again.
15. Complimentary: FREE.
16. "I have an __": IDEA.
19. Reason for a cake, briefly: BDAY.
20. Flower bed tool: HOE.
21. Yet, poetically: THO.
22. What a person eats: DIET. Or more typically, what a person doesn't eat.
28. Spelunking spot: CAVERN.
30. Rescue copter: MEDEVAC.
31. Classical theaters: ODEA. From dictionary.com: a hall, theater, or other structure for musical or dramatic performances.
32. Paddle cousin: OAR.
33. One-time connector: ATA.
39. Diamond throw: PEG.
40. Kind of tale or fate: SAD.
41. Sweet companion?: SOUR.
42. Cheese on a cracker: CHEDDAR.
45. Lets go: LOOSES.
49. Frozen dessert chain: TCBY. The Country's Best Yogurt, a chain of frozen yogurt stores.
50. Common email attachment: PDF. Portable Document Format.
51. Wall St. specialist: ARB. Definitely not my area - anyone else know this? "The practice of simultaneously purchasing and selling securities in two separate financial markets in order to profit from price differences between them. For example, an arbitrageur would buy a security at one price on the London Stock Exchange and sell the same security at a higher price on the New York Stock Exchange. "Arbs" also get busy in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), mostly by shorting the stock of companies making an acquisition and simultaneously buying shares in the takeover target."
54. "Now hear __!": THIS.
59. Words with movie or show: SEE A. We're all doing this at home now. My local art theater is hosting viewing online in their virtual cinema, calling it "Distance and Chill."
60. Quattro maker: AUDI.
61. "Au contraire": NOT SO. French.
62. Formerly, quaintly: ERST.
63. Genealogy chart: TREE. Nice bonus word.
64. Laundry challenges: SPOTS.
Down:
1. Junior-to-be: SOPH.
2. Award coveted on "Mad Men": CLIO.
3. Shaping tool: ADZE.
4. Industry, informally: BIZ.
5. Poseidon's realm: SEA.
6. Programming decision construct: IF THEN.
7. Sing like Bing: CROON.
8. Yet, poetically: EEN.
9. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" duettist Kiki: DEE.
10. Shinbones: TIBIAE. Tricky plural spelling.
11. What extra cost hopefully brings: ADDED VALUE. Not always so.
12. Ones enjoying a rare meal?: MEAT EATERS. Rare meal ... nice.
13. Fork over: PAY. Coming right after the clue above, I was thinking meat.
18. Hoosegow: STIR. Hoosegow is slang for jail - or also for being drunk and disorderly.
22. Movie format: DVD.
23. Say confidently: AVER.
24. Kind of jet: LEAR.
25. It's Intel-based since 2006: IMAC.
26. Lyre-playing emperor: NERO.
27. Early TV brand: RCA.
28. Inviting, as a look: COME HITHER. Lauren Bacall ...
29. Commercial writers: AD AGENCIES.
32. Unmatched: ODD.
35. Words to an old chap: I SAY.
36. All __: listening closely: EARS.
37. Biennial games org.: USOC. United States Olympic Committee.
38. Luxurious: POSH.
39. Banned chem. contaminant: PCB.
43. Pats gently: DABS AT.
44. Martini order: DRY.
45. Scottish boy: LADDIE.
46. "Carmina Burana" composer: ORFF. The Lasting Appeal of Orff's Carmina Burana.
48. Lyrical work: EPODE. A form of lyric poem written in couplets, in which a long line is followed by a shorter one.
52. Take five: REST.
53. Good buds: BROS.
54. Half a fly: TSE.
55. Angkor __: Cambodian temple: WAT.
56. Plural possessive: OUR.
57. Connections: INS.
58. Cut (off): LOP. Ow.
