March 3, 2010 LA Times

The AYES have it, all the theme answers end in the same sound. Well, a very quick Wednesday, with the theme being a sound alike.

17A. Fibs: LITTLE WHITE LIES
25A. Seductive peepers: BEDROOM EYES. On so many levels BEDROOM EYES are a wonderful thing, appreciated by both MEN and WOMEN .
45A. Like large cereal boxes. Isn’t amazing how manufacturer keep reducing the size of products (Ice Cream no longer come in ½ gallons) but keeps the price the same, thinking we are too stupid to know they are actually raising the price. Here in Florida, it is the law, the store has to put the per ounce price for consumers to see.
57. 1963 Elvis hit with the lyrics "You look like an angel ... but I got wise": DEVIL IN DISGUISE. This SONG is from the days when Elvis was young and hot.

ACROSS:

1. Hit bottom?: SIDE B. I loved this new take on an old fill, and a great way to start a Wednesday with a little misdirection. 6. Irritate: MIFF. Any word with two “F”s is also a fun start.10. Excessive elbow-benders: We have seen a lot of SOTS lately. 14. Put down: ABASE, an old fashioned word, not to be confused with ABASH15. Sandy color: ECRU, we could have our NEHRU in ECRU.16. World's largest furniture retailer: IKEA, if you have not been, it is an adventure to go to a furniture store, which also FEEDS YOU .20. Author LeShan: EDA, she was quite outspoken on behalf of children but she has become most famous in crossword puzzles. 21. "Bad" cholesterol letters: LDL. I will leave the discussion of Low Density Lipoproteins to our scientists, or our whirly nurse.22. Scrooge creator: DICKENS, this well respected, but sometimes tedious author is not related to our idiom, he scared the Dickens out of me. 23. The first film it aired was "Gone with the Wind": TCM. Another of Ted Turner’s major coups. 24. Inauguration Day events: GALAS.29. Barnyard sound: MAA, we have had this often, and it obviously is just trying to get the BAA from us all. 32. A car with this is often easier to resell” ONE OWNER, I wonder why? Unless it was the LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA .33. What quibblers split: HAIRS, or sometime a six-pack of Blue Moon.35. Asian on the Enterprise bridge: SULU, aren’t we all up on our SAR TREK characters yet? I love George Takei on Heroes .36. Deadens: DAMPS, well that almost put a damper on my finishing. 39. Spanish hand: MANO. 40. Seagoing mil. training group: NROTC.42. Montgomery native: ALABAMAN, while not a native, the current home of my least favorite coach, NICK SATAN .44. His, to Henri: SES, must get our French lesson in. 48. Online suffix with Net: SCAPE, gone and forgotten. 49. Some dashes: ENS. No idea, but it filled. 50. Like test papers awaiting grading: IN A PILE. 53. __ chi ch'uan: TAI , is a very important part of health in the worldof Traditional Chinese Medicine.54. Swell, slangily: FAB, as in the The Beatles .60. Leave out: OMIT, I was tempted to leave this blank as an internal irony, but….61. Signaled backstage, perhaps: CUED.62. "The Da Vinci Code" star: HANKS; Tom needs a good role, after a few duds, or is it just me?63. Shake, as a police tail: LOSE, this is a most complicated way to get there; why a Police Tail?64. TV's tiny Taylor: OPIE, I LOVED this new TWIST, an old Crossword fill.65. Typical O. Henry ending: TWIST, ooo how coincidental…

DOWN:1. Black Friday store event: SALE.
2. Term paper abbr.: IBID, which is abbreviated in legal papers as Id.
3. Excel input: DATA, which echoes our recent GIGO, Garbage in, Garbage OUT.
4. Part of i.e.: Speaking of echoes, ID EST.
5. Easily heard herd leader: I grew up near many dairy farms, and used to watch the herd parade, led by the BELL COW though I never thought of the term.
6. Feeble cry: MEWL, our new word of the month, I guess.
7. German "I": ICH, if you do not know the work of Eddie Izzard a funny, ‘executive transvestite.’
8. "Dragnet" sergeant: FRIDAY, gee we have Jack Webb, and Robinson Crusoe, and a place for lunch.
9. Useless: FUTILE, like being risqué, do not fight it, Lois, carol and Lo-li-ta, it is…
10. Jockey's wear: SILKS perhaps not what was intended, but…
11. Steinbeck migrant: OKIE.
12. Suffix with four, six, seven and nine: TEEN, CANDLES .
13. Say freshly: SASS, our favorite is back!
18. __ Dante the Count of Monte Cristo: EDMOND, did we like the version with JIM CAVIEZEL ?
19. PayPal "currency: ECASH.
23. Brook fish: TROUT.
24. On point: GERMANE, what a nice word for a Wednesday.
25. Cap'ns' subordinates: BOSNS, a bizarre but acceptable abbreviation for BOATSWAIN.
26. Make used (to): ENURE, another favorite of lawyers.
27. Apollo's birthplace, in Greek myth: DELOS.
28. __ culpa : MEA, I have pleaded this here many times.
29. Home of the Hurricanes: MIAMI, the U.
30. Cuban-born TV producer” ARNAZ, is there any other than DESI?
31. United: AS ONE, our obligatory weird looking word, because it is two words.
34. Pile up: AMASS, as in a fortune, noit a rush hour crash.
37. Mideast political gp.: PLO, not in the news much theses days.
38. No different from, with "the": SAME AS, oops, another one.
41. De Beers founder Rhodes: CECIL. I prefer the seasick sea serpent .
43. When "They Drive," in a 1940 Raft/Bogart film: BY NIGHT, Not familiar with the movie THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT but since I have a truck driving BIL, and it has Bogart, I will have to watch it.
46. Cat of many colors: CALICO
47. Demand from a door pounder: OPEN UP, now I think it is the time for the Police.
48. Vindictiveness: SPITE, just for spite, I had nothing funny come to mind.
50. Superstar: IDOL, like Simon Cowell?
51. Pixar clownfish: NEMO
52. Alamo competitor: AVIS
53. Ocean motion: TIDE, which along with FAB, are the detergents of my youth.
54. Done, to Dumas: FINIS,another ECHO from the Count
55. Questions: ASKS, so simple it was tricky.
56. "__ in Show": BEST, one of the many silly movies from Christopher Guest.
58. __ gratia: by the grace of God: DEI, good old Latin.
59. Mich.-based labor group: UAW, did they destroy General Motors?