Theme: Childish behavior. With a HINT (32A) from 56A. Admonition to one acting out the starts of 17-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across: MIND YOUR MANNERS.
17A. Battle of the Bulge air assault division: SCREAMING EAGLES. The Army 101st Airborne Division. Timely clue related to Veterans day, today.
23A. Doppelgänger: SPITTING IMAGE. In fiction and folklore, your evil double. Also considered bad luck, or even an omen of death, to see one.
34A. It's hard to get romantic with one: NAGGING HEADACHE. This is probably worse. One percent of the population, really?
48A. Reason to see a mechanic: WHINING ENGINE.
Al here.
Not too much to say about the puzzle construction itself. Not a pangram, missing six letters, no helper squares, better than average theme, and a few clever clues. Parts of the theme did help me for once, the "ing" letters filled in a few spots. So, on with the answers. Don included a note to C.C. about the puzzle, which is included at the end of the write-up.
ACROSS
1. U.S. dept. with a Race to the Top reform prog.: EDUC.ation.
5. Iconic rings: HALOS.
10. Lock style: COIF. Lock of hair. Coif from old French for a skull cap worn with headgear, as under a helmet.
14. JV team member, perhaps: SOPH. Junior Varsity, Sophomore. A second year student, literally an "arguer". From sophume, variant of sophism (specious, fallacious argument).
15. Warning: ALERT. From Italian all'erta "to the height," from erta "lookout, high tower".
16. Back in the day: ONCE.
20. Willows for weavers: OSIERS.
21. Cause to suffer: AIL. What ails you? What is causing you to suffer? Never having looked it up before, I never realized the word had this meaning, but just thought that it referred to a state of health not being good. Even knowing that, I still wouldn't ever say "A cold ails me".
22. Word with meal or cake: OAT. I've never heard of oatcakes (similar to pancakes but with a lot of fiber), most references I found seem to be from the UK. Must be more common there?
27. Name on an airport shuttle: AVIS. They try harder.
29. Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA.
30. Alice's workplace: DINER. Mel's Diner in the TV series, with Alice played by Linda Lavin. There's also Alice's Restaurant, the spoken "song" by Arlo Guthrie, based on a true story and made into a movie.
31. Yang's partner: YIN. Male/female, day/night. The concept of balance in all things. You cannot have a back of your hand without there being a front.
32. Clue: HINT. From old English hentan "to seize", related to hunt.
33. Cul-de-__: SAC.
40. Important no. to most car buyers: MPG. Miles per gallon.
41. Coastal raptor: ERNE. The "sea eagle".
42. It starts with "http": URL. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol, Uniform Resource Locator.
43. Sheer: STEEP.
46. Desertlike: ARID.
47. Teeny: ITSY. Could have been itty too.
51. Reservoir borders?: ARS. The letter "R" begins and ends the word reservoir.
52. Besides: TOO.
53. __ Tunes: LOONEY. Warner Bros animation.
60. Court entry: PLEA.
61. Shopping list entries: ITEMS.
62. "Woe __!": IS ME.
63. Some shooters, briefly: SLRS. Single Lens Reflex cameras.
64. Mythical animal kingdom ennead: LIVES. Ennead: "group of nine". A reference to cats.
65. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR. There were tsarinas named Maria, though. A diversion kind of clue to get you thinking MALE, or folk music instead of rulers.
DOWN
1. Gas acronym: ESSO. Standard Oil initials: SO (say it out loud)
2. Holliday and others: DOCS. The two "L"s were a giveaway to look deeper than calendar dates.
3. Revolting situation: UPRISING. Punny.
4. Nest chorus: CHEEPS.
5. Target of pre-race stretching: HAMSTRING.
6. "__ Baba Bunny": classic Bugs cartoon: ALI.
7. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson: LEN.
8. Leia's last name: ORGANA. One of her last names... The Star Wars universe. Born Leia Amadala Skywalker, daughter of Darth Vader. Hidden and adopted by Bail Organa, a royal family on Alderan. Also Mrs. Solo after being married.
9. "Shrek!" author William: STEIG.
10. Minor player: COG. Just a nameless tooth on a gear that keeps the wheel turning.
11. Checked out, as a book: ON LOAN.
12. Cooling-off period?: ICE AGE.
13. Uncle at 0001 Cemetery Lane, in '60s TV: FESTER. The Addams Family.
18. First name in shipping: ARI. Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate.
19. Angular measurement device used in surveying: ALIDADE. Many different types.
24. Bite: TANG. "Serpent's tongue" (thought to be a stinging organ), later "sharp extension of a metal blade", then "sharp taste" followed later.
25. "Count me in!": I'M THERE.
26. Mineral with basal cleavage: MICA.
27. Writer Rand: AYN. Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead.
28. Routing word: VIA. Latin, by way of.
32. __ Hop: bouncing ball brand: HIPPITY.
33. Time-measuring device: SANDGLASS. During the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan around the globe, his vessels kept 18 hourglasses per ship. It was the job of a ship's page to turn the hourglasses and thus provide the times for the ship's log.
35. Feds: G-MEN.
36. "__ go bragh!": ERIN.
37. Kitten's quality: CUTENESS.
38. Retail posting: Abbr.: HRS. Open hours.
39. Callaway of golf equipment fame: ELY. The founder and also the stock ticker name.
43. Overwhelms: SWAMPS.
44. Rollercoaster ride, e.g.: THRILL.
45. Former Disney chief: EISNER. Michael.
46. Rainforest rodent: AGOUTI.
47. Part of a conspiracy: IN ON IT. From prefix com- (together) + spire (breathe), so, to breathe together.
49. Kind of salad dressing: NO OIL. I may have mentioned before that you need (the right) oil to properly absorb the phytochemicals from plants, like carotene, lutein, and various flavenoids.
50. Charged particle: ION. A Greek word meaning "go" adapted by Michael Faraday to label particles that move towards an electrode of opposite charge.
54. Columnist Bombeck: ERMA.
55. Nieuwpoort's river: YSER. Belgium.
57. Courtroom VIPs: DAS. District Attorneys.
58. Test, as an engine: REV.
59. Sra.'s neighboring counterpart: MME. Senorita, mademoiselle. Spanish and French for miss.
Note from Don about today's theme:
"I think secretly that everybody finds a bratty kid more interesting than a thoroughly well-behaved angel. I found some words that describe the bratty behavior, and put them into phrases, wondering when the solver would catch on. It is not the usual kind of puzzle theme, which might make it more of a surprise when the solver comes to the last theme answer. I felt fortunate to find a 15-letter phrase to tidy it up. Next time someone says, “Mind your manners”, you can say “That’s a 15-letter phrase that addresses bratty behavior!"
Puzzle Grid
Al
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