Wednesday, April 6 2016, Gareth Bain

 Theme: Put a RING on it - The first letter of the four letter combo is orderly moved to the back until we reach RING. 

18. Burn unit procedure : SKIN GRAFT

26. "Rogue Lawyer" novelist : JOHN GRISHAM

44. Rockefeller Center centerpiece : SKATING RINK

56. Quartet of Wagnerian operas, and a hint to the progression in this puzzle's circled letters : RING CYCLE 

Solving without circles makes this trickier. Did you get it?

Across

1. Fabric mimicked by jeggings : DENIM. I tried JEANS first.

6. Dallas NBA team : MAVS. Mavericks.

10. Indian mausoleum city : AGRA. Had a little brain blip when I first filled in AGHA.

14. In the company of : AMONG 

15. __ bargain : PLEA.  

16. Fountain contribution : COIN 

17. Midler's "Divine" nickname : MISS M

20. Allow to enter : LET IN

22. Big name in auto racing : ANDRETTI

23. Kerfuffles : ADO'S

25. Advanced degs. : MA'S. Master of Arts.

31. Whiskas eater : CAT

34. Pulitzer winner Walker : ALICE. Writer and activist who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, The Color Purple.

35. Actor McGregor : EWAN 

36. Dance in a pit : MOSH 

37. Hull fastener : RIVET. Hull of a boat.

38. Group : SET

39. Mazda MX-5, familiarly : MIATA

40. Big nights : EVES

41. How-to component : STEP

42. Follow, as a hunch : ACT ON

43. __ Plaines : DES

46. Farm enclosure : STY. Tried PEN first.

47. Bit of naughtiness : NO-NO

48. Doze : TAKE A NAP

53. Disney character with a white tail : BAMBI

58. Regal headpiece : TIARA

60. Bordeaux brainstorm : IDEE. French for idea.

61. Down-to-earth : REAL

62. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON

63. Boilermaker component : BEER. A boilermaker is a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey.

 

64. Prohibitionists : DRYS. Have never heard that used as a noun.

65. City near Florence : SIENA

 Down

1. Reservoir creator : DAM

2. German actor Jannings : EMIL. No idea. Popular in the 1920's.

3. Sommelier's asset : NOSE. Cute.

 

4. Examples : INSTANCES

5. Classic British two-seater : MG MIDGET

6. Base cops, briefly : MP'S. Military Police.

7. __-Seltzer : ALKA

8. Corpuscle conduit : VEIN

9. Dreamy guy? : SANDMAN

10. Lots of plots : ACRES. Nice clue.

11. Butter in a farmyard? : GOAT

12. Africa's Great __ Valley : RIFT

Impressive.

13. Naysayer : ANTI

19. Light weight : GRAM

21. Hide-hair link : NOR

24. Afternoon break : SIESTA

26. Actor/singer Leto : JARED

27. Green hue : OLIVE

28. Homes with buzzers : HIVES

29. "Ni-i-ice!" : SWEET

30. Quaint headpiece accessory : HATPIN

31. Raccoon kin : COATI

32. __ Martin: 007's car : ASTON

33. Acknowledge in an Oscar speech, say : THANK

36. Barely-there dress : MICROMINI

39. Powerful people : MAGNATES

41. Rock band Lynyrd __ : SKYNYRD

44. Legato's opp., in music : STAC. Short for staccato.

45. San Francisco's __ Hill : NOB

46. "Like a Rock" rocker : SEGER

48. Chicago paper, for short : TRIB

49. __-de-camp : AIDE. New to me. Definition: A military officer acting as a confidential assistant to a senior officer.

50. Bermuda shorts endpoint : KNEE. As opposed to the micromini.

51. One with an untouchable service : ACER

52. Word with fair or foul : PLAY

54. Unadorned : BARE

55. Fairway choice : IRON

57. PGA star from South Africa : ELS. Ernie.

59. Santa __ Mountains : ANA

Melissa

Note from C.C.:

Husker Gary has updated our Crossword Corner map. Please click here to see his latest work. Big and clear. I've archived the map under Olio on the blog front page. Please feel free to email Gary if you want your name added or deleted. Thanks for enormous time and effort you put on this map, Gary!