10.01.08 -- Be It Ever So Humble...

“No place like home” Judy Garland with flying house -- The Wizard of Oz
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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Puzzle by Barry Boone, edited by Will Shortz
CONNECTTHEDOTS (20A. Kind of puzzle suggested by this crossword’s theme); NOPLACELIKEHOME (40A. End of a popular saying related to this puzzle’s theme); ALPHABETICALLY (57A. How to link the 12 letters in this puzzle with a single line to make a picture) -- well, what’s to be said…
HAMRADIO (43D. Equipment with a headset) and NEONATAL (4D. Just after birth) are the only other long entries. Alphabetically, the mid-size entries are AGATES (6D. Semiprecious stones); DOTIME (51D. Sit behind bars); ESPRIT (48D. Sparkle and wit); INALIE (46A. One way to be caught); INSANE (35A. Bonkers); and SHOOIN (10D. Sure thing).
A fair amount of five-letter entries ensue, once again alphabetically -- ABNER (71A. Baseball pioneer Doubleday) and ASNER (47A. Ed of “Roots”) and also ASPEN (27D. John Denver wrote two songs about this town); CAJUN (5A. Kind of cuisine in which onions, bell peppers and celery are the “holy trinity”); CAVIL (65A. Quibble); CISCO (5D. Internet equipment powerhouse); COMIC (33D. Doer of stand-up); CRÈME (68A. Oreo filling); DACCA (54D. Bangladesh’s capital, old-style); 21D. “Maria ELENA,” 1941 #1 hit, ENIAC (42D. 1940s computer) and 32. ENOLA Gay; IGLOO (29D. Abode north of the Arctic Circle); 15. Jim Croce’s “IGOTA Name”; IMACS (52A. Mice can be found around them); KNEES (34D. Gardeners may work on them) and KNOTS (26D. Sheepshanks, e.g.); MILER (56D. Athlete who’s not dashing?); NADER (9D. Candidate trailing Bush and Gore); SALAD (18A. Introductory course, often); 25D. “SINGA song of sixpence”; SKATE (25A. Carnivorous fish); VNECK (31A. Sweater type).
The fill: AGES, ALOE, AUDI and AUTO, AZUL, BARB, CAP, COD, CZAR, DEV, DIEU, DUPE, ECO, EVEN, EXC, FAUN, FDIC, GPS and GTE, HUGE, HURT, ISAK, ITOO, JOLT, LADA, LEAF, LISA, MEL, NON, OAFS, OREL, OMAR, OXO, PLAT, RAH, REI, RPI, SAD, SHAM, SIR, SKI, UPON, UTAH, and YUKS (63D. Cheap laughs).
…perhaps a second mortgage?
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Xword Info -- Across: 1. Figure in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”; 10. Fake; 14. Hoodwink; 16. Tremendous; 17. Hughes poem with the line “They send me to eat in the kitchen”; 19. Cy Young winner Hershiser; 23. Cleopatra used it as a beauty lotion; 24. King, in Portugal; 28. Terse letter opener; 37. Way to find you way: Abbr.; 39. French rejection; 44. Former telecom giant; 45. Big name in kitchen gadgets; 50. How some packages arrive; 53. Blue; 55. “The Rubáiyát” poet; 64. Drug ___; 66. “Mon ___!”; 67. German car; 69. Author Dinesen; 70. Surveyor’s map; 72. Big lugs. Down: 1. Bank protector, for short; 2. Camera setting; 3. Agreed ___; 7. Big bump; 8. Logan’s locale; 11. Banged up; 12. A long, long time; 13. Florida senator Martinez; 22. The “D” in R&D: Abbr.; 30. Univ. in Troy, N.Y.; 36. Prefix with tourism; 38. What one might do in 27-Down; 41. A+: Abbr.; 49. College cheer; 57. Blue, south of the border; 58. Russian car; 59. Unnice comment; 60. Balanced; 61. Precursor of the Apple Macintosh; 62. Dining table expander; 64. Toy gun ammo.