20A. One debating the unpopular side: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
31A. Healer using magic: WITCH DOCTOR
41A. Uncredited author: GHOST WRITER
55A. Wee-hours work period for 20-, 31- and 41-Across?: GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Argyle here.
Not too sure of the theme since none of the three entries necessarily work at night. Oh well, not many names today. Good solid corners on the grid. Long entries. On the whole, I liked it.
ACROSS:
1. Roe source : SHAD
5. Scrape, cat-style : CLAW
9. 100 kopeks : RUBLE and 6D. Turkish bread? : LIRA. Russian bread and Turkish bread. No euros yet.
14. Geographical extremity : POLE
15. Little suckers : LICE. 16. Matriculate : ENROL. 23. Washing aid for pupils : EYE CUP. 11D. Sassy kid : BRAT. The clues all made me think of students.
17. Turow memoir subtitled "The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School" : ONE L
18. The "Habanera" from "Carmen," e.g. : ARIA. CLIP.(4:14)
19. Blunt, as reality : STARK
24. Blood bank fluid : SERUM
25. "Hold " : A SEC
27. Stew : SEETHE
36. "Man oh man!" : "WOW!"
37. Out of kilter : AWRY
38. Dove murmur : COO
39. About 1,609 meters : MILE
40. Game system played with gestures : WII. Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together. So they say. The big thing is it gets people off the couch to play.
45. Long-haired cat : ANGORA
47. Part of a family business title : SONS
48. Pitching miscues : BALKS
51. Where AMZN stock is traded : NASDAQ. Amazon.com, Inc. / "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Systems," but the exchange's official stance is that the acronym is obsolete.
58. Japanese cartoon genre : ANIME
59. Oklahoma tribe : OTOE. They're out there somewhere. The tribe got moved around a lot and you can't be sure from where they might be clued.
60. Naysayer : ANTI
61. Deadly : FATAL
62. Zip (along) : TEAR
63. Chick's sound : PEEP
64. Head lock : TRESS. Had me thinking wrestling move for awhile.
65. "arguing : ODDS. This idiom uses odds in the sense of "a condition of being unequal or different," and transfers it to a difference of opinion, or quarrel.
66. Messes up : ERRS
DOWN:
1. Fine porcelain : SPODE. Named for Josiah Spode who developed the manufacturing of bone china with blue glaze, based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. IMAGE. I think porcelain and bone china aren't exactly the same but I'll read the Wikipedia ARTICLE later.
2. Sweetheart : HONEY
3. Naproxen, commercially : ALEVE. IMAGE.
4. Epicurean delight : DELICACY
5. Held firmly : CLASPED
7. "ACIDS
8. Make, as baskets : WEAVE
9. Fireman, sometimes : RESCUER
10. Wild : UNTAME. More familiar with untameD.
12. Folk tales and such : LORE
13. "Benevolent" fraternal member : ELK. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE)
21. Having abundant vegetation : LUSH
22. Thereabouts : OR SO
26. Chanel of fashion : COCO
28. Nincompoop : TWIT
29. Burrow indicator : HOLE
30. Pretty pitcher : EWER. Pretty alliteration.
31. Guitar effect : WA-WA
32. Triumphant cry : "I WIN!"
33. Math course : TRIG
34. Business orgs. : COS.
35. Little ones : TOTS
39. Form incorrectly : MISSHAPE
41. Covers, as a driveway : GRAVELS
42. Robust : HALE. NYT Sunday puzzle once had this clue for HALE: "Sarah "who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Can you say OBSCURE?
43. Worldly seven : WONDERS
44. Messenger molecules : RNAS. These little molecules are everywhere.
46. White House family : OBAMAS
49. Onetime capital of Japan : KYOTO. Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. The city in the central part of the island of Honshu, southwest of Tokyo.
50. Filled up : SATED
52. Restaurant patron : DINER
53. Following : AFTER
54. Wax removers : Q-TIPS
55. Growl : GNAR. Add an 'L' at the end and it becomes a tree knot.
56. Ceremony : RITE
57. Country way : ROAD
58. Toward the rudder : AFT
ANSWER GRID.
Argyle
