Theme: Welcome! Come right in. - What you hope will greet you at a party.
17A. What snowbirds seek in winter: WARM WEATHER
27A. Ready-to-send correspondence: OUTGOING MAIL
49A. Liqueur holder: CORDIAL GLASS
64A. Ideal party thrower described by the first words of 17-, 27- and 49-Across: PERFECT HOST
Argyle here. These are three things a host should be and I'm sure today's hosts, Gail and Bruce, would be. Don't forget to thank them before you leave.
Across:
1. "Handle __ care": WITH
5. Burns with hot liquid: SCALDS
11. Ex-Florida governor Bush: JEB
14. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU. (may his tribe increase!)
15. Reacts facially to a bad joke, say: WINCES
16. Chopping tool: AXE
19. "Mamma __!": MIA
20. Mecca's peninsula: ARABIA
21. Heat in a microwave: ZAP
22. Indy service areas: PITS. Races have been won and lost in the pits.
23. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO
25. Most doubtful: IFFIEST. Like this C/A?
31. Network with regular pledge drives: NPR. Wait, wait, don't tell me; it's National Public Radio.
32. D-Day French city: ST.-LÔ. 95% destroyed after the 1944 bombardments, known as The Capital of Ruins.
33. Steak orders: T-BONES
37. Calm under pressure: COOL
39. Since Jan. 1, in accounting: YTD. (Year To Date)
41. Folksy account: TALE
42. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. (Agnes Moorehead)
45. Buster Brown's dog: TIGE
48. Jamaican music genre: SKA
52. Last word of a verbally cited passage: UNQUOTE
55. "Doctor Zhivago" heroine: LARA. I didn't pick this one last time; now I can.
56. Potpie veggies: PEAs
57. Hydroelectric facility: DAM
59. Quik maker: NESTLÉ. Nestlé Nesquik® No Sugar Added Chocolate Flavor Powder (note the name change. It has been Nesquik since 1999 but Nesquik won't do for a clue.)
63. Dad, to grandpa: SON
66. Cutoff point: END
67. C to C, in music: OCTAVE
68. Richard of "A Summer Place": EGAN. A Summer Place is a 1959 romantic drama film. Richard Egan (1921 - 1987).
69. Org. with a PreCheck Program: TSA. (Transportation Security Administration)
70. Sets free: LOOSES
71. Facts and figures: DATA
Down:
1. Electric guitar effect: WAWA
2. Letter-shaped beam: I-BAR
3. __ Bora: Afghan region: TORA
4. Scrooge's "Nonsense!": "HUMBUG!"
5. Worry about something, slangily: SWEAT IT
6. Cloak-and-dagger org.: CIA. (Central Intelligence Agency)
7. Animated bug film: ANTZ
8. Bar mitzvah toast: L'CHAIM or l'chayim, lechayim, lehayim; literally, to life.
9. What fries are fried in: DEEP FAT. Is DEEP a type of FAT now?
10. Ukr. or Lith., once: SSR. (Ukraine or Lithuania, former Soviet Socialist Republics)
11. Actor Foxx: JAMIE
12. Freeway off-ramps: EXITS
13. Savage sort: BEAST
18. Tipplers: WINOs
22. Cockpit figure: PILOT
24. "I'm __ human": ONLY
26. Little lie: FIB
27. First fairy tale word: ONCE
28. Second fairy tale word: UPON. 18D to 28D, modern fairy tale?
29. Trampled (on): TROD
30. '80s-'90s crime boss John: GOTTI
34. Mission Control org.: NASA. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
35. Benevolent fraternal group: ELKS. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
36. Salty expanses: SEAs
38. Center of power: LOCUS. plural loci.
40. Bygone phone feature: DIAL
43. Pal of Piglet: ROO. Both are pards of Winnie the Pooh.
44. Radio City Music Hall design style: ART DECO
46. Cursory looks: GLANCEs
47. Long-legged wader: EGRET
50. "... near and __ my heart": DEAR TO
51. Assailed verbally, with "out": LASHED
52. Surprise win: UPSET
53. Bright signs: NEONs
54. Press conference format, briefly: Q AND A. (Questions and Answers)
58. Degs. for choreographers: MFAs. (Master of Fine Arts)
60. Old Roman robe: TOGA
61. Future D.A.'s exam: LSAT. (Law School Admission Test)
62. Sicilian volcano: ETNA
64. D.C. big shot: POL
65. Morn's counterpart: EVE
In 2009, at age 92, Dame Vera Lynn became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart. She now lives in Sussex, England, with daughter Virginia as her neighbor.
Argyle
