Theme: Air-raising. All four theme answers are in turn clue definitions for the (same) answer to 53 Down: Clue for 17-, 26-, 45- and 60-Across: LIFT.

17. BRITISH ELEVATOR.
26. FOOTWEAR INSERT.
45. BOOST IN SPIRITS.
60. HITCHHIKERS RIDE.

Hi all, Al here. I guess this makes it as a Thursday crossword because it contains a second, third, and fourth meaning of a word, which you usually see late in the week as a clue, one where you can't just pop in the first answer that comes to mind. I started writing this explanation and struggled with it to the point where I started confusing myself in the attempt to be clear. Let's hope I got this right:

HOMONYMS sound alike, spelling may be either the same or different.
HOMOGRAPHS are spelled alike, sound may be either the same or different.
HOMOPHONES sound alike but have different spellings.
HETERONYMS are spelled alike but sound different.

So, In the theme today for all four cases, LIFT is both a homonym and a homograph, but not a homophone, nor a heteronym. As a side note, heist is related to hoist, because both are the action of something being LIFTed.

ACROSS:

1. Bingo call: B-TEN. Typically there are 75 numbers in play so, "under the B" could be 1-15. However there is a 90 number variant that would make it be between 1-18.

5. Gordon __: Michael Douglas's "Wall Street" role: GEKKO. 1987 Best Actor Oscar.

10. One may require stitches: GASH.

14. German import: AUDI.

15. Slangy negative: IXNAY. Pig Latin for NIX.

16. Control: RULE. The measuring stick is the source for the verb in the sense of to "guide on the straight correct path", with "rule of thumb" appearing somewhere along the way.

20. Fairy tale ender: AFTER. As in "and they all lived happily ever after."

21. Amazement: AWE. From Old Norse agi "fright".

22. Early surgery aid: ETHER. But highly flammable, and with side effects such as nausea and vomiting.

23. Talking with one's hands?: Abbr.: ASL. American Sign Language. Those with delicate sensibilities about language should not click this link, but it is quite well done, with over 1.5 million views and only 207 dislikes.

25. Ante-: PRE. A prefix for a prefix, for example: antecedent (to go before).

34. Washington's Grand __ Dam: COULEE.  Here's a crossword staple, Arlo Guthrie.

35. Fierce anger: RAGE.

36. Carnival city: RIO. I'll spare you from linking to Duran Duran...

37. Old, in Oberhausen: ALTE. German.

38. "Good heavens!": EGADS. and 51D. "Gadzooks!": YIPE. Gad being a euphemism for God.

40. Humdinger: LULU.

41. Relieve (of): RID.

42. Pencil remnant: STUB.

43. Legal-sized fish: KEEPER. Take your pick.

48. Neighbor of Nev.: ORE. Nevada, Oregon. Pronounced like "Or-ee-gn", and the locals appear to get a bit territorial if you pronounce it like the ending of a geometric shape.

49. Reggae singer Kamoze: INI. New to me...

50. Big name in food service: SYSCO. Restaraunt supplier.

53. Brine-cured delicacy: LOX. Smoked salmon.

55. Remove forcibly: EXPEL. Related: repel, dispel, propel, from latin pellere "drive".

63. Andy Taylor's son: OPIE. Little Ronnie Howard from Mayberry, RFD.

64. Submit taxes, nowadays: E-FILE.

65. Kong's kin: APES.

66. Guam, for one: Abbr.: TERRitory. Today's geography lesson.

67. 50s experiment, briefly: H-TEST.

68. Longings: YENS.

DOWN:.

1. Cake with a kick: BABA. au Rhum.

2. Horse racing surface: TURF.

3. Cut, perhaps: EDIT.

4. Nick at __: NITE. "Family" cable channel, reruns and sitcoms.

5. Dogfaces, briefly: GIS. Usually only infantrymen were called that.  Slept in pup tents, stayed in foxholes, wore dog tags, ordered around like a dog.

6. Yoga instruction: EXHALE.

7. Had no doubts about: KNEW.

8. Leafy vegetable: KALE.

9. Santana's "__ Como Va": OYE.

10. Irritates, with "on": GRATES.

11. One may have an agt.: AUTHor.

12. Fruit used to flavor gin: SLOE.

13. Bavarian mister: HERR.

18. Really peeved: IRATE.

19. Fogg's creator: VERNE. Phileas Fogg, Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne.

24. Honeybunch: SWEETIE. What my wife calls me when she is not happy.

25. What might be used when a bomb is hurled on a field?: PIGSKIN. A long pass in football, or a scene from The Mouse That Roared.

26. Port closing?: FOLIO. All your personal investments summarized in a portfolio.

27. Show up: OUT-DO.

28. Flamenco exclamation: OLE. Bravo.

29. Bedouins, e.g.: ARABS. Arabic badawin "desert-dwellers," an already pluralized form of badawi.

30. "Really cool!": RAD. Shortening of "radical".

31. Break out, as violence: ERUPT.

32. Ticks off: RILES.

33. Organized string of gigs: TOUR.

34. Atkins diet taboo: CARB. So close, but too far in the wrong direction with meat. Excess protein is broken down into sugar and urea, which places stress on the kidneys and doesn't really solve the stored fat problem long term.

39. Pistol: GUN. and 50D. Used a 39-Down: SHOT.

40. Island welcome: LEI.

42. Old Detroit brewery name: STROH.

44. Lakeshore natives: ERIES.

46. World Cup sport: SOCCER.

47. Digital dots: PIXELS. Individual component makeup of pictures, shortened to pics, then pix, a Variety magazine word.

52. Swizzle: STIR. Swizzle of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of switchel "a drink of molasses and water" (often mixed with rum.)

54. Haggard's "__ from Muskogee": OKIE. Even back when times were simpler, people were still resisting change.

56. See-through, in comics: X-RAY. An old advertisement for the unwary, whose money would soon be departed.

57. Meerschaum or brier: PIPE.

58. Genesis locale: EDEN.

59. Subtraction word: LESS.

61. Half a devious laugh: HEH.

62. Living in Ariz., maybe: RETired.

Answer Grid

Al