Theme: Uh O's - The last word in each theme entry ends with ?O. No O ending answer for non-theme fill.
17A. Wagon boss's directive : "WESTWARD, HO!"
39A. Replay type, briefly : SLO-MO
61A. "See?" follower : "I TOLD YOU SO"
11D. "War on Drugs" slogan : "JUST SAY NO"
28D. Nickname in Olympics sprinting : FLO-JO. Florence Griffith-Joyner
34D. "Hold on!" : "DON'T LET GO!". Music video.(4:40)
Argyle here. That is a neat crossing in the middle. No duplication of the letter preceding 'O' either.
Across:
1. Funnylady Rudner : RITA
5. Pack the groceries again : REBAG
10. Eyes, to Juanita : OJOs. Spanish.
14. Oodles : ALOT
15. Condescend : DEIGN
16. Ivory soap ad word : PURE
19. Suffix with opal : ESCE. Makes it a verb.
20. Arnaz of "Here's Lucy" : LUCIE. Lucie Désirée Arnaz is the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
21. "Bewitched" witch : SAMANTHA. With Endora, her mother, and Tabitha, her daughter.
23. PennySaver listing, usually : SMALL AD. Anybody doesn't have a PennySaver in their area?
26. Pitches well? : SELLS
27. Lacking direction : ADRIFT
29. Home of Dolphins and Marlins : MIAMI. Football and baseball teams.
32. Bunch of bills : WAD
35. Potted herb spot : SILL
36. Deep valley : CANYON
37. Winged deity : EROS
41. Cabinet dept. concerned with power : ENER. (energy)
42. Symbolize : DENOTE
44. Cup of joe : JAVA. (battery acid, brew, caffeine, café, café au lait, café noir, cappuccino, decaf, decoction, demitasse, espresso, forty weight, hot stuff, ink, jamocha, java , joe, mocha, mud, perk, varnish remover)
46. Singleton : ONE. For those who would rather use a long word.
47. Failed to act : SAT BY. Usually idly.
48. One of the M's in MoMA : MODERN (Museum of Modern Art)
50. "The Hunger Games" actor Kravitz : LENNY. Actor and so much more. Wiki.
52. Places in a pyramid : ENTOMBS
56. Scrambled alternative : OVER EASY
59. Give a hoot : SHOUT. Like, hootin' and hollerin'.
60. River isles : AITS. British Dialect.
64. Prego rival : RAGU
65. Nixon staffer G. Gordon __ : LIDDY
66. Get ready, as for surgery : PREP
67. Food for hogs : SLOP. Slopping the hogs(0:55)
68. Close call : SCARE
69. Discontinues : ENDS
Down:
1. "Unmistakably Lou" Grammy winner : RAWLS
2. Intestinal section : ILEUM
3. Puccini classic : TOSCA
4. Head Hun : ATTILA
5. Dietary guideline letters : RDA. (recommended daily allowance)
6. Always, to Pope : E'ER. Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) English poet.
7. Many eBay clicks : BIDS
8. Filled with horror : AGHAST
9. Pointy-hatted garden character : GNOME. One gnome's story. Link.
10. Talk show caller's opportunity : OPEN LINE
12. Theater sect. : ORCH. (orchestra) "Down in front"
13. "__ penny, pick it up ..." : SEE A. "and all the day you'll have good luck."
18. Uses a blowtorch on : WELDS
22. Soprano Gluck : ALMA.(1884 – 1938) She lives on in crosswords.
24. Give up one's seat, say : ARISE
25. Herb used in borscht : DILL. Not in all borscht recipes; for a simple beet soup, there sure are a lot of variations.
30. Big name in faucets : MOEN
31. Memo starter : IN RE
32. Marries : WEDS
33. Field of study : AREA
36. Witches' assembly : COVEN
38. Recovers from a night on the town : SOBERS UP
40. Whipped up : MADE
43. Actress Daly : TYNE. Still not appearing on TV's "Burn Notice". (Thank you, Irish Miss.)
45. Pretentiously highbrow : ARTSY
48. "__ River": 2003 drama directed by Clint Eastwood : MYSTIC. IMDb.
49. Pessimist's phrase : "NO HOPE"
51. Catches red-handed : NAILS
53. Weep for : MOURN. Don't Cry for Me, Argentina.(5:54) Elaine Page.
54. Cleared tables : BUSED. Just one S because BUSSED as a whole different meaning.
55. Calls it quits : STOPS
56. Rowboat pair : OARS
57. Perfume container : VIAL
58. "Star Wars" philosophizer : YODA. "Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
62. Pres., for one : LDR. (leader)
63. Hide the gray, maybe : DYE
Argyle
1) Note from C.C. & Don:
Don came up with this theme. This is our original grid. As you can see, we have more theme entries, but also EGO, USO, ERATO and other O ending non-theme entries. Rich thought the theme is subtle and should not contain any O-ending non-theme fill. So, a total re-do. Twice actually. The grid was challenging to fill without OREO, ONO, ADO, and other small *O words that we depend on so often.
Don came up with this theme. This is our original grid. As you can see, we have more theme entries, but also EGO, USO, ERATO and other O ending non-theme entries. Rich thought the theme is subtle and should not contain any O-ending non-theme fill. So, a total re-do. Twice actually. The grid was challenging to fill without OREO, ONO, ADO, and other small *O words that we depend on so often.
2) Yesterday Boomer and I met the delightful Lucina and her three lovely sisters at Mall of America. Click here to see a few more pictures. Lucina is just as warm and witty as she is on the blog.
