Theme: Step in time. Because that's what you do when you dance.
And today, we are all about dancing. Or dancing about. or something like that.
Here is the two-part unifier.
24 D. With 31-Down, hoedown activities, and a hint to the circled letters: SQUARE.
31. See 24-Down: DANCES.
For this to make any sort of sense, you'd have to have the circles in your puzzle, highlighting the four clustered letters that form the names of today's dances.
17 A. Building emergency exit: FIRE ESCAPE. A staircase or other apparatus used for escaping a building on fire.
20 A. Natural skill: TALENT. Ability.
Not only do you need the circles, you also need to read these letters in a loop: hence REEL, a folk dance of Scottish origin, and also a word that indicates spinning. We're off to a good start.
19 A. Takes too much for oneself: HOGS. Keeps or uses something in an unfair or selfish way.
21 A. Ark landing site: Abbr.: MT. ARARAT. Cf Genesis 6 through 9.
The HORA is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans, and is also found in several other countries.
53 A. "Spring Symphony" composer: SCHUMANN. Robert [1810-1846] was a German composer pianist and music critic. This was his first full orchestral work, composed in 1841.
61 A . West Virginia resource: COAL. From under ground.
The HULA is Polynesian dance form existing in various styles, with a complicated history.
57. Be released: GO FREE.
62. They're holstered in old Westerns: LOADED GUNS. Hence many shot off toes, I would imagine.
The FRUG is a dance craze from the 60's. I was there, might even have done it [though, to be honest, probably not] but now can't find anything definitive or helpful, other than it was energetic.
Hi Gang. JazzBumpa here. I would have played for some dancing this year, but, alas, those events got cancelled.
While we're on the subject, here is a collection of dance clips featuring granddaughter Amanda.
Now let's step our way through this puzzle and see what else we can discover.
Across:
5. Shows affection, dog-style: LICKS. Happy tonguing.
10. Amt. rarely paid by a car buyer: MSRP. Manufacturer's Suggester Retail Price.
14. Came down: ALIT. Landed
15. Puget Sound, e.g.: INLET. An indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow, such as a small bay or arm, that often leads to an enclosed body of salt water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon, or marsh. Sounds about right.
16. Elevator name: OTIS. An American company with world wide operations, founded in 1853.
23. P&L part: LOSS. As opposed to profit
25. Injure badly: MAIM. Causing permanent damage to a body part.
26. Pay: WAGES. Fixed regular payments to employees, generally based on an hourly rate.
29. Letters at the end of a proof: QED. An abbreviation of the Latin words "Quod Erat Demonstrandum" which loosely translated means "that which was to be demonstrated".
32. Fish with a net: TRAWL.
35. German gent: HERR.
36. Stalin-era prisons: GULAGS. A system of labor camps maintained in the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1955 in which many people died.
38. Green acres: LEA. A meadow.
39. Some nest egg components: IRAS. Individual Retirement Accounts.
40. Only monosyllabic U.S. state: MAINE. Remember that.
41. Weighty Brit. references: OEDS. Oxford English Dictionaries.
42. Tease: RIB. More fun for the ribber than for the ribee.
43. "Ars Poetica" poet: HORACE. The Art of Poetry is an epistle written in hexameter verse by Horace in CE 19 to the Roman Senator Lucius Calpurnius Piso and his two sons. It contains about 30 maxims for young poets, but is not a systematic treatise on theory.
44. Craving: URGE. A strong desire or impulse.
45. Time off: LEAVE. Authorized absence from duty or employment.
47. From S.F. to Vegas: ESE. East South-East.
48. Aquarium cutie: OTTER. A playful carnivorous aquatic mammal.
49. Math subj.: CALCulus. The mathematical study of continuous change.
51. Palm starch: SAGO. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas,
64. Forget to include: OMIT. I left out a comment here.
65. Connoisseur: MAVEN. An expert or connoisseur.
66. Provide the bank blueprints for, say: ABET. Encourage or assist someone to commit a crime.
67. Even civil ones aren't friendly: WARS. Civil here is relating to the state and its citizenry, rather than indicating politeness. WARS are organized armed conflicts between political entities.
68. Bedding component: SHEET. a large rectangular piece of cotton or other fabric, used on a bed to cover the mattress and as a layer beneath blankets.
69. Flu fighters: SERA. Fluids containing antibodies against a certain disease.
Down:
1. Finn conveyance: RAFT. From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, an 1885 novel set along the Mississippi River in the anti-bellum American South.
2. Et __: and others: ALIA. Literal, from Latin.
3. "Atta __!": GIRL. Exclamation of encouragement and/or recognition of success.
4. Heinz Field NFL team: STEELERS. Pittsburgh's entry in the National Football League.
5. Grocery shoppers' aids: LISTS. Memory aids for anyone.
6. Ltd. relative: INC. Legal definitions for business entities.
7. Refuse to talk, with "up": CLAM. Act in the manner of a marine bivalve that can tightly close its two-part shell.
8. Didn't give away: KEPT. Not necessarily HOGGED, but maybe.
9. Iron output: STEAM. Here, the iron is a household device for removing the wrinkles from clothing, not the metal of the same name. The steam helps.
10. Angora goat fabric: MOHAIR. Why doesn't this come from Mos?
11. Severe weather warning: STORM ALERT. Self explanatory.
12. Latvian capital: RIGA. It is set on the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the River Daugava.
13. Sibilant "Hey!": PSST. [Presumably] subtle manner of getting a person's attention.
18. First chimp in orbit: ENOS. He was the second chimp launched into space, achieving 2 orbits of the earth on Nov. 29, 1961
22. "Peanuts" word of frustration: RATS. Often uttered by the often frustrated Charlie Brown.
26. Pirouette: WHIRL. Spin. More specifically, an act of spinning on one foot, typically with the raised foot touching the knee of the supporting leg.
27. Elevated dwelling: AERIE. A large nest of a bird of prey, typically built high in a tree or on a cliff.
28. "Sit, sit": GRAB A CHAIR. Take a load off.
30. Sports bureau co-founder Al or Walter: ELIAS. This company, founded in 1913 provides sports statistics to newspapers, magazines, websites, and broadcasters covering MLB, NBA and NHL broadcasts.
33. Golfer's "pitching" club: WEDGE. A club with a more steeply slanted face than a 9 iron, designed to hit the ball with more loft.
34. Surgical cutter: LASER. one of many such tools, and one of many such uses.
36. Controversial crop alteration, for short: GMO. Genetically Modified Organism. These are designed at the cellular level to enhance certain properties, such as resistance to certain pests or pesticides.
37. "Golly!": GEE. Gosh.
41. Too tired to go further: OUT OF GAS. Too pooped to participate.
43. Big wheel on a ship: HELM. The device used to steer the craft, not the person operating it.
46. Gymnast's jumps: VAULTS. These are accomplished by leaping or springing while supporting or propelling oneself with one or both hands or with the help of a pole.
48. Prayer opener: O GOD. . . . . . Amen.
50. Settles: CALMS.
52. Contract negotiator: AGENT. one acting in behalf of another person or a group.
53. Flat-bottomed garbage hauler: SCOW. A particular type of flat bottomed barge
54. Deep sleep: COMA. A deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened; fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound; lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle; and does not initiate voluntary actions.
55. Builder who lived to be 950: NOAH. He built a big boat and filled it with animals. Then the rains came.
56. Central church part: NAVE. The central part of a church, intended to hold most of the congregation.
58. Cartoonist Goldberg: RUBE. Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (1883 – 1970), known as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. He is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadgets performing simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways.
60. Spanish pronoun: ESTA.
63. Actress Wallace of "E.T.": DEE. She played the mom.
Not exactly a cake walk, but about right for a Wednesday.
Cool regards!
