Theme: Rabbit? What rabbit?
18A. Second on a ticket: RUNNING MATE.
23A. "Bring it in, dude" embrace: BRO HUG.
52A. Overseas correspondent?: PEN PAL.
59A. "Booksmart" or "Dumb and Dumber": BUDDY COMEDY.
And the reveal:
38A. Childhood companion depicted five times in this puzzle, thanks to some Down clues: IMAGINARY FRIEND.
The key to the theme is that when you're solving the down entries which cross the "friend" part of the themer, you ignore the "friend letter" - they're invisible. The actual down entries are all still bona fide crossword vocabulary, but unless you ignore that one letter they don't make sense in the context of the clues.
Hi all, Steve here again pinch-hitting. Once I saw the pattern around the theme starting to emerge I thought it was brilliant. There are fully 23 down clue/answers which need to be manipulated to complete the puzzle and honestly I didn't find one that seemed to be a stretch. It also crossed my mind that it's a clever way to use two-letter fill words which usually are not allowed. Very cunning!
My theme title refers to the 1950's movie starring Jimmy Stewart, but Ella's reveal almost makes a title redundant!
Across
4. Hands down: BY FAR.
9. Syrup source: MAPLE. Not sure about this, surely "Maple Tree"? Maybe I'm being pedantic.
14. "There it is!": AHA!
15. Compact cosmetic: ROUGE. The "G" was my final fill, wasn't sure about the name crossing.
16. Build a new room, say: ADD ON.
17. "Da 5 Bloods" setting, for short: 'NAM.
20. Nutrition regimen: DIET.
22. North America's tallest peak: DENALI. 20,310 feet (or 20,320 depending on when you last looked it up). The mountain was re-measured in 2015 using improved measuring technology.
26. Hushes: SILENCES.
30. Vanity cases: EGOS.
32. Pt. of USNA: NAV. Seems an arbitrary abbreviation for "Navy", simply chopping off the last letter.
33. "Selma" director DuVernay: AVA.
34. "Selma" actor David: OYELOWO. Nice proximity of these two.
37. Small bird with a big voice: WREN.
42. Helgenberger of "CSI": MARG.
43. West Coast sch. whose application process may include an audition: CAL ARTS. A couple of friends of mine went to Cal Arts to study animation.
44. Break off: END.
45. Cynical start?: CEE. C for Cynic.
48. Epiphany trio: MAGI.
49. Finishes a gin rummy turn, e.g.: DISCARDS.
56. Aye-aye or dik-dik: ANIMAL. I knew dik-dik, but the other was new to me. I discover it is the world's largest nocturnal primate, and is a long-fingered lemur from Madagascar.
58. Flight board info: GATE.
64. No-frills bed: COT.
65. Slow tempo: LARGO.
66. Future esposa, perhaps: NOVIA. The bride, in Spanish.
67. Roxy Music name: ENO. Brian Eno, the legendary producer, ambient music component and ex glam rocker with Roxy Music. Seems like a good excuse for a music link. Eno is the guy with the long blond hair playing a very rudimentary synth.
68. 12-year-old, e.g.: TWEEN.
69. Ridley of the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy: DAISY.
70. TV room: DEN.
Down:
1. Wedding __: BAND(B). The first of the "invisible" letter down entries. BANDB parses to B AND B by the way, took me a moment to see that.
2. Hindi word for "tea": CHAI(R).
3. Showed up: CAME(O).
4. Exclamation during a polar bear plunge: BRR.
5. "__ had one job!": YOU.
6. Endow: FUND.
7. Moorehead of "Bewitched": AGNES.
8. Restrain: REIN IN.
9. Bullet train technology: MAG-LEV.
10. Server's edge, in tennis: AD(M)IN.
11. Law enforcement org.: PD(A).
12. __ and behold: LO(T).
13. Dash used in date ranges: EN(E).
19. "The Lion King" lion: NALA.
21. Option in a classic paradoxical dilemma: THE EGG.
24. Wrinkled tangelo: UGLI.
25. Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the __ Squad": GOON.
27. Web store icon: CAR(E)T.
28. 12/24 and 12/31: EVE(N)S.
29. __ Antonio: SAN(D).
31. Budget carrier HQ'd in Dallas: SWA. Southwest Airlines. They used to be fun to fly with when I first moved to the USA, now not so much, they've got much more corporate.
34. Muscat resident: OMANI.
35. Fabric measures: YARDS.
36. Tolkien monster: ORC.
37. Twist, as a wet rag: W(I)RING.
38. Cyberchatted with, briefly: IM'ED. Could be an IM, a PM or a DM.
39. Orange tuber: YAM.
40. __ of luxury: (F)LAP.
41. Number of candles, perhaps: (R)AGE.
45. Big name in cameras: CAN(Y)ON.
46. Actor Bana: ERIC.
47. Astronomer Halley: EDMOND. I knew the ED part, but flip-flopped between EDWARD and EDMUND before the cross rescued me.
50. Batting __: CA(D)GE.
51. South Pacific island group: SAMOA.
53. Finished perfectly: (P)ACED.
54. Musical pitch: (A)TONE.
55. Historic British school: (L)ETON. You'd think it was the only school in the UK if you went by crosswordese. It is quite historic, but the school in the town where I grew up, Winchester College, was founded in 1382, whereas Eton didn't come along until 1440. The King's School in Canterbury was founded in 597, so has both beaten by a good half a millenium.
57. __ Strauss & Co.: LEVI. I'm wearing a pair of Levi 511's today.
59. USN officer: (B)LT.
60. "How cute!": (U)AW. United Auto Workers union in case you're wondering.
61. Do, __, mi: (D)RE.
62. Knock: DIS.
63. "Huzzah!": YAY!
69. Ridley of the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy: DAISY.
70. TV room: DEN.
Down:
1. Wedding __: BAND(B). The first of the "invisible" letter down entries. BANDB parses to B AND B by the way, took me a moment to see that.
2. Hindi word for "tea": CHAI(R).
3. Showed up: CAME(O).
4. Exclamation during a polar bear plunge: BRR.
5. "__ had one job!": YOU.
6. Endow: FUND.
7. Moorehead of "Bewitched": AGNES.
8. Restrain: REIN IN.
9. Bullet train technology: MAG-LEV.
10. Server's edge, in tennis: AD(M)IN.
11. Law enforcement org.: PD(A).
12. __ and behold: LO(T).
13. Dash used in date ranges: EN(E).
19. "The Lion King" lion: NALA.
21. Option in a classic paradoxical dilemma: THE EGG.
24. Wrinkled tangelo: UGLI.
25. Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the __ Squad": GOON.
27. Web store icon: CAR(E)T.
28. 12/24 and 12/31: EVE(N)S.
29. __ Antonio: SAN(D).
31. Budget carrier HQ'd in Dallas: SWA. Southwest Airlines. They used to be fun to fly with when I first moved to the USA, now not so much, they've got much more corporate.
34. Muscat resident: OMANI.
35. Fabric measures: YARDS.
36. Tolkien monster: ORC.
37. Twist, as a wet rag: W(I)RING.
38. Cyberchatted with, briefly: IM'ED. Could be an IM, a PM or a DM.
39. Orange tuber: YAM.
40. __ of luxury: (F)LAP.
41. Number of candles, perhaps: (R)AGE.
45. Big name in cameras: CAN(Y)ON.
46. Actor Bana: ERIC.
47. Astronomer Halley: EDMOND. I knew the ED part, but flip-flopped between EDWARD and EDMUND before the cross rescued me.
50. Batting __: CA(D)GE.
51. South Pacific island group: SAMOA.
53. Finished perfectly: (P)ACED.
54. Musical pitch: (A)TONE.
55. Historic British school: (L)ETON. You'd think it was the only school in the UK if you went by crosswordese. It is quite historic, but the school in the town where I grew up, Winchester College, was founded in 1382, whereas Eton didn't come along until 1440. The King's School in Canterbury was founded in 597, so has both beaten by a good half a millenium.
57. __ Strauss & Co.: LEVI. I'm wearing a pair of Levi 511's today.
59. USN officer: (B)LT.
60. "How cute!": (U)AW. United Auto Workers union in case you're wondering.
61. Do, __, mi: (D)RE.
62. Knock: DIS.
63. "Huzzah!": YAY!
And with a final Huzzah! for finishing the puzzle, here's the grid:
