20. *Polite words showing little interest : NOT MY CUP OF TEA. Unless it's Earl Grey. Right, Abejo?
32. *Words often heard after "Welcome" : YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Also, a cute movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
41. *Verbal gamesmanship : TALKING TRASH. Sports stars are really good at it.
55. *Metaphorical boundary : LINE IN THE SAND. Here's one.
And the reveal(ers):
59. With 62-Down, certain...and where to find the ends of the answers to the starred clues : IN THE
and
62-Down. See 59-Across : BAG.
The ends of the theme entries could each be found in a bag: TEA BAG, MAIL BAG, TRASH BAG and SAND BAG. Neat!
Across:
1. Worked a wedding, perhaps : DJ'ED. All I could think of was the "Wedding Crashers."
5. Film on water : SCUM. Had it, took it out, scratched my head, put it back.
9. Worker with a whip : TAMER. Because "trainer" wouldn't fit...
14. Jackknifed, say : DOVE. Anyone else think of tractor-trailer trucks?
15. What you may do when you snooze? : LOSE.
16. Like Silas Marner before finding Eppie : ALONE.
17. Flow slowly : SEEP.
18. Conversant with : UP ON.
19. Cap'ns' underlings : BOS'Ns. Short for "boatswain." He is the senior crewman on deck.
23. Ready to sire : AT STUD. On our tour of the Lippizaner stables, I saw several studs looking like they were ready...
25. Forbid : OUTLAW.
26. Overly : TOO.
27. Be a bad omen : BODE ILL.
31. RB's units : YDS. Running Backs in football are measured by the yards they gain on each play.
35. Chamber opening? : ANTE. Antechamber.
36. Humerous Margaret : CHO. Not a big fan, so I won't give her a link. (It's my write-up, and I can do whatever I want!)
37. Landed : ALIT.
46. Old flier : SST.
49. Enlarge, as a blueprint : RESCALE.
50. Égotiste's pronoun : MOI. French - it's all about "me."
51. Ready for : OPEN TO.
53. City on the Somme : AMIENS. Just north of Paris. Map.
60. Scull crew : OARS.
61. Names : DUBS.
64. Mule and whitetail : DEERS.
65. Balanchine bend : PLIE. George Balanchine is known as "The father of modern ballet."
66. Canon ending? : ICAL. Canonical. I guess non-Mac users wouldn't know that this is Apple's calendar app.
67. Peacock's gait : STRUT. Some women are just soooo hard to impress. 0:55
68. Law firm letterhead abbreviations : ESQS. Esquires.
69. Lines from the heart? : EKGS. Abbr. for Electrokardiogram, the German spelling of the term. Both EKG and ECG are in common use.
Down:
1. Smile specialist's deg. : DDS. Doctor of Dental Surgery.
2. Morning pick-me-up : JOE. Java, mud, battery acid, rocket fuel, mojo, jitter juice, caffeine fix...
3. Smooths : EVENS OUT.
4. Where to get a ticket to ride : DEPOT.
5. "___ Millionaire": 2008 Best Picture : SLUMDOG. Great movie!
6. Column filler : COPY. Not "data," but a newspaper column.
7. Biennial games org. : USOC. United States Olympic Committee.
8. List : MENU.
9. Bulgur salad : TABOULI. Yummm!
10. Up in the rigging : ALOFT.
11. To a large degree : MOSTLY.
12. Ball team, e.g. : ENNEAD. Group of nine.
13. Corrects in wood shop : RESAWS. My motto is always, "Measure twice, cut once." Splynter?
21. ___ top : TUBE. For the guys.
22. Old-time actress Negri : POLA. She lives on in crossword puzzles.
23. "Back ___!": "Same here!" : AT YA.
24. Bugs, for one : TOON. Nice misdirection.
28. Places to tie up : DOCKS.
29. Set of moral principles : ETHIC.
30. "___ roll!" : I'M ON A.
33. Hardly a rookie : VET.
34. "Knots Landing" actress ___ Park Lincoln : LAR. All perps.
38. Certain November also-ran : LAME DUCK.
39. Will occur as planned : IS ON.
40. The one here : THIS.
42. Most pretentious : ARTIEST.
43. Trotsky of Russia : LEON. He once had an affair with artist Frida Kahlo.
44. Ones resting on a bridge : GLASSES. Great clue!
45. Vivaldi motif : TEMA. "Theme," in Italian. I guess I can link his most famous one. 42:00
46. Infants don't eat them : SOLIDS. I had Steaks, then SaLaDS before SOLIDS appeared.
47. Parlor instrument : SPINET.
48. Backpacker, often : TENTER.
52. '60s rockers' jacket style : NEHRU. Popularized by The Monkees and The Beatles, but it was never worn by Nehru!
54. Many a low-budget film : INDIE.
56. Engage in frequent elbow-bending : TOPE.
57. Dutch artist Frans : HALS. One of my favorite Dutch painters. (Other than Rembrandt, of course!)
58. La Salle of "ER" : ERIQ. All perps.
63. Mercedes roadsters : SLs. From the German "Sport Leicht" ("Sport Lightweight"). First used on the Gullwing.
That's it from me for this week!
Hugs,
Marti
