Theme: Blade anagrams (shown in GREEN below), revealed in 59 Across: Street weapon, and a hint to the hidden theme in 17-, 23- and 48-Across: SWITCH BLADE. The word "switch" being a cryptic, or English crossword tip-off that an anagram is on play.
17A. Negotiation obstacle: DEAL BREAKER.
23A. Recovery sites: HOSPITAL BEDS.
48A. Most agree it should be reduced: NATIONAL DEBT.
Al here, with a fairly easy Thursday puzzle, I thought. A few tricky clues, worthy of the day, and some fresh non-theme answers: Take that you canaries. A lot of the downs seemed pretty straightforward though. The theme was an interesting exercise for me today. It was once again something I had to ferret out after the puzzle was completed, and not so easy to see without the circles provided in the Across Lite puz file.
ACROSS:
1. Calrissian of "Star Wars" films: LANDO. Played by Billy Dee Williams. A scoundrel. Not really evil, but not to be trusted.
6. Playground rejoinder: AM TOO.
11. Down: SAD. In Old English, this meant sated, or satiated, which passed through heavy with fullness and thus tired, finally emerging as unhappy.
14. Center of Florida?: EPCOT. Center as a building, not as a geography.
15. Pageant prop: TIARA.
16. __ mater: PIA. Perhaps a bit obscure: from Latin "tender mother" is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
19. Gallery opening?: ART.
20. PDQ relative: ASAP. Get 'er done Pretty Damn Quick, As Soon As Possible, STAT (Latin statim, immediately).
21. Palindromic fashion model: EMME. I'll just quote Wiki here to see if you spot the problem: "is largely recognized as the leading model in the profession"
22. Surgeon's patient, perhaps: TREE. Not just a chainsaw wielder, tree surgeons need to know local laws and regulations against removing certain species in the area, and be able to read survey maps in the case of legal neighboring boundary disputes over who "owns" the tree in question.
27. Chip away at: EAT INTO.
30. Paint choices: HUES. I was sure this would be OILS...
31. A and B, at times: PLANS. Drawings, schematics or charts on a flat surface (mathematically, a flat surface is a plane).
32. Holdup note?: LATE PASS. School permission slip.
36. 70s-'80s televangelist show "The __ Club": PTL. Praise the Lord (and pass the ammunition).
37. Vinegary prefix: ACETO. Latin vinum acetum "wine turned sour"
39. Be in the running: VIE. A form of Middle English envie "make a challenge," from Old French envier, from L. invitare (invite).
40. State capital component, often: SALES TAX. Capital as in money.
43. Old fallout source: A TEST. Video from 1953.
45. Apollo 11 destination: MOON. Go back far enough and the same word is used for moon and month.
46. Trading places: EMPORIA. Places for buying and selling, not a scene from the Prince and the Pauper.
52. Skunk's weapon: ODOR.
53. "Children of the Poor" author: RIIS. Jacob. I remember now looking him up previously, but forgot again. Muckraking journalist and photographer trying to help the impoverished in New York over 100 years ago.
54. Reason for the downfall of many kings?: ACES. Oh, playing cards.
58. __-secret: TOP.
62. Rollover subj.: IRA. Individual Retirement account.
63. Turn away: AVERT.
64. Kitchen tubes: PENNE. Hollow pasta.
65. Turk's topper: FEZ. Fezzes are cool if you're a Doctor Who fan...
66. Fills (up): GASES. Going up to $4 a gallon this summer? What, are we living in Europe now?
67. Germs may lead to them: IDEAS.
DOWN:
1. Yeats's "__ and the Swan": LEDA. The swan was Zeus in disguise, who seduced Leda, and in turn bore Helen (of troy) and Polydeuces (Pollux, twin of Castor) about which an opera was written.
2. Copies: APES.
3. Sweet Sixteen initials: NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Yes, it's time for March Madness (basketball) again.
4. 7-Down athlete: DOLPHIN. with 7D. Home of a 4-Down: MIAMI.
5. Place to play favorites, briefly: OTB. Off-Track Betting.
6. Score direction after accelerando, perhaps: A TEMPO. Return to the original speed.
8. Words of aggression: TAKE THAT!
9. Rush find: ORE. Gold rush, not the radio personality.
10. Galley tool: OAR.
11. Fifth wheel: SPARE.
12. Broadcast: AIRED.
13. Some are blind: DATES.
18. Doctor's suggestion: REST.
22. Kitchen meas.: TBSP.
24. Come-__: lures.: ONS.
25. Bronco or Charger: AUTO. Looking for a football word, but no, Ford and a Dodge vehicles.
26. "Taking Woodstock" director: LEE. Ang.
27. "House" actor Omar: EPPS.
28. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA.
29. One way to stand: TALL.
32. First name in comics villains: LEX. Luthor. One of the many LL initialed characters in Superman's life.
33. Say and mean: AVER. From Old French averer "verify from Latin ad- "to" + verus "true". Related word very, which also meant true. Verily so, sire.
34. Speedy Gonzales assent: SI SI. Spanish.
35. __ precedent: SET A. What goes before (precedes) may be taken as a rule for later cases.
37. Loads: A TON.
38. Cops' favorite birds?: CANARIES. Canaries sing (tell all, confess).
41. Dubai big shot: EMIR.
42. Jack of "Barney Miller": SOO. Detective Nick Yemana, who made very bad coffee. Characters galore in this show, Barney Miller in his NY precinct was the updated Andy Taylor from Mayberry RFD.
43. NYPD broadcast: APB. All Points Bulletin
44. Beyond repair: TOTALED. There are no auto "accidents" anymore, they are now termed crashes.
46. Orders from above: EDICTS. Proclamations having the force of law.
47. Screen door material: MESH.
48. "__ you paid me!": NOT IF.
49. Hold precious: ADORE. To speak (and think) highly of, Latin ad + orare (root of orate)
50. Birthstone after opal: TOPAZ. A Hitchcock movie, A B52's song.
51. Petrol unit: LITRE. "English" spelling. Hopefully, I used the correct term, because the language is English. Cuppa? But if you want to be confused, or perhaps enlightened, have a look at this chart of how to refer to our cousins from across the pond.
55. Mr. Peanut prop: CANE. And a top hat.
56. Tracy Turnblad's mom in "Hairspray": EDNA. Played by John Travolta in the 2007 John Waters remake.
57. Gets it: SEES.
59. Show age, in a way: SAG.
60. Sen. Byrd's state: WVA. West Virginia.
61. Electronic storage density meas.: BPI. Bits Per Inch. A bit being the smallest datum, on/off, a 1 or a zero. 8 bits make a byte, the standard for grouping. Each letter you read on a computer takes up 8 bits to store, except for some of the Asian character set, which are termed multi-byte characters.
Answer Grid.
Al
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