Theme: Happy endings. All the two word theme entries are changed by ending with an "O", and are clued in a wacky manner as indicated by the (?).
17A. Marx as a Druid?: CELTIC HARPO. Druids were an ancient order of Celtic priests in the societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland + Harpo Marx. Here's a Celtic (folk, lever or Irish) harp with a little bit of Led Zeppelin.
55A. Well-dressed Swedish actress?: FORMAL GARBO. Greta Garbo, in formal wear never said "I want to be alone." She said she wanted to be left alone, while on vacation. A common celebrity complaint with all the paparazzi fuss today.
11D. Godfather portrayer turned shop owner?: STORE BRANDO. Marlin Brando + store brand. Like Roundy's green beans. Those are also called "private label" brands by the packaged goods industry.
25D. Beatle in a bout?: BOXING RINGO. I can picture Ringo Starr in a grudge match with Yoko Ono.
Al here.
Nice to see a pinwheel theme formation in a weekday grid, and not too many names other than the theme, which did help me get the "ending with O" parts of two answers. I found this easier than yesterday's for some reason.
ACROSS:
1. Encircled by: AMONG. Related word: mingle.
6. Persian faith: BAHAI.
11. One with a cover: SPY. Like 61A. Bullwinkle nemesis: BORIS. Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The cartoon spies from Pottsylvania always making trouble for Rocky and Bullwinkle.
14. More of a novice: RAWER. As with a raw recruit. Latin novus: new.
15. Lunch hr. end, often: ONE PM.
16. A victory may break one: TIE.
19. Rio hello: OLA. Portuguese, not Spanish.
20. PD precinct boss: CMDR. Police Department, Commander.
21. Chants of a lifetime?: MANTRAS. Not sure whether Rich or John were trying to be clever with the clue, a play on "chance", but this book actually exists: Chants of a Lifetime is a collection of stories, teachings, and insights from Krishna Das, who has been called "the chant master of American yoga".
23. Works: LABORS. The simple answer this time. Was caught trying to figure out an art or music related answer.
26. Cell component: BAR. A Jail cell. Anyone else thinking biological cell at first? Maybe it refers to a cell phone, but one bar isn't very good, right?
27. Lift with effort: HEFT.
28. Win by __: A NOSE.
29. Built up charges: RAN A TAB. Glad it wasn't "staticy" charges.
31. Parts of personal music libraries: MIX TAPES. I used to make mix tapes from my LPs in the 70's, but does anyone even use cassettes anymore? For that matter, 18D. Vinyl successors, briefly: CDS are probably on their way out as well, with ipods, cell phones and computers storing and playing digital music.
33. Musical intervals: THIRDS. Fifths and sixths would also fit.
36. ASCAP rival: BMI. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers vs. Broadcast Music Incorporated. Music rights groups that collect license fees and distribute them as royalties. Maybe SESAC, the third such US-based organization, will be in a puzzle someday. I doubt it, though, probably too obscure.
37. First rabies vaccine creator: PASTEUR. Also largely responsible for hand and equipment sanitization for doctors before operations. Prior to Pasteur few doctors bothered to wash their hands. If you listen to some nurses stories, they still don't...
39. Interior decorator's concern: ART.
40. Classic breath freshener: SEN-SEN. Licorice flavored.
42. Certain counter's woe: INSOMNIA. Counting sheep.
44. Iron supplement brand: GERITOL. A marketing ploy, named to sound like "geriatric", and originally targeted towards older people with "tired blood". Unless an actual condition of anemia exists, it is not needed by women past a certain age, and not by men at all. Over-consumption of iron can cause hemochromatosis, a serious condition which needs to be treated by bloodletting.
46. Spread out: WIDEN.
47. Memo opener: IN RE. Latin "in the matter of", form of "res", commonly seen in puzzles clues as "thing, in law".
49. Bengals, on scoreboards: CIN.cinatti football team.
50. Noble address: MILORD.
51. Question of advisability: DO I DARE.
53. There are pins at the end of one: LANE. Bowling.
54. Columnist Landers: ANN.
60. Biker's chopper: HOG. A Harley Davidson motorcycle.
62. Stravinsky and a lab assistant: IGORS.
63. Barcelona bear: OSO. Spanish.
64. Bright: SMART.
65. Not schooled in: NEW AT.
DOWN:
1. Ring piece: ARC. Briefly wanted GEM, but decided to wait and see a perp first.
2. West of Hollywood: MAE. Come up and see me sometime. Called Charlie McCarthy (Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy) "all wood and a yard long".
3. Athena's attendant: OWL. She is the goddess of wisdom (and war, civilization, strength, justice, etc.) In Homeric poetry, Athena is most often referred to with bright or gleaming eyes, like owls that can see in the dark, and was often pictured with an owl. The evolution of this constant association is why owls became associated with wisdom.
4. Discounted price: NET COST.
5. Antonius Block's chess opponent in Bergman's "The Seventh Seal": GRIM REAPER. There's an abbreviation used in internet chat rooms and message boards: "tl;dr" (too long; didn't read) for something that you can't be bothered with or get too bored to read all the way through. To me, that's this wiki article on this play, but I linked it just in case you're curious.
6. Nuclear Nobelist Niels: BOHR.
7. Prefix with gram: ANA. Jerome's favorite wordplay: anagrams.
8. Author Wouk: HERMAN. Among other books, The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance
9. Paraphernalia: APPARATUS. From Latin prefix "ad-" meaning: to + parare: make ready.
10. "That's my cue!": I'M ON. Show biz.
12. Dinner side, perhaps: PILAF. Rice boiled with broth, often with meat. Turkish pilav, from Persian pilaw.
13. It can raise dough: YEAST. And that can be used in a bake sale to raise dough...
22. Chiang Mai resident: THAI.
23. Ewe kids: LAMBS.
24. Asian cartoon genre: ANIME. Animation, usually adapted from Manga, which is the printed form, somewhat like a comic book.
26. Fortification: BASTION. Middle French bastillon from Old French bastille, literally fortress, stronghold.
29. Musical seconds: RES. Right after Do, a deer.
30. Not charging for: THROWING IN. But wait, there's more!
32. Safe place with a counterintuitive name: PANIC ROOM. A 2002 thriller movie starring Jody Foster.
34. Less soggy: DRIER.
35. Stop asking for cards: STAND. Poker.
38. Like a USN volunteer: ENL. Enlisted in the US Navy.
41. Parakeet's eats: SEED.
43. Distance on a tank: MILEAGE. Not the army tank.
45. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. Spanish for "Land of fire", named by Magellan. The southernmost tip of South America.
47. Its southern border is about seven times longer than its northern one: IDAHO. Borders six other states + Canada. Name the three states with more state borders.
48. Prohibitions: NO-NOS.
50. Bad start?: MAL. Prefix.
52. HQs for B-2s: AFBS. Air Force Bases.
53. Not leading anyone: LAST.
56. Highest Russian territory, once?: MIR. The former space station. Not an acronym, but a Russian word for (peace, world, society).
57. Kerfuffle: ROW. Spat, ADO, a fight.
58. Grille cover: BRA. A "bug" shield.
59. From Essen to Leipzig, locally: OST. German for east.
Answer Grid
Al
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