Christopher Shaw

Title: Friday quip

Our first new constructor in a while presents us with a quip puzzle. This one has 60 spaces and nice symmetry with 4 seven letter fill. I like Mitch Hedberg who is a regular on the comedy channels on Sirius XM so the humor of the quip appealed, but YRMV.  Not much room left for long fill, but we do get POOL CUE,  SWAHILI, LET'S DO IT and DRUMMING.  There were some learning moments and some old memories dredged up. As Christopher says, LET'S DO IT. I love the the sevens.

20A. Start of a one-liner by 54-Across : MY FAKE PLANTS (12).

25A. One-liner, part 2 : DIED (4).

29A. One-liner, part 3 : BECAUSE (7).

38A. One-liner, part 4 : I DID NOT (7).

40A. One-liner, part 5 : PRETEND (7).

46A. One-liner, part 6 : TO WATER (7).

49A. End of the one-liner : THEM(4).

54A. Standup comic known for one-liners : MITCH HEDBERG (12). A very funny man in the Steven Wright mold. LINK.

Across:

1. Snake, footwise : APOD.  noun. zoology. an animal with no feet or whose feet are rudimentary. 

5. Instagram and Pinterest : APPS.

9. Bad thing to draw during a test : BLANK. Cute clue.

14. Saboteur, e.g. : MOLE. Am infiltrator.

15. Fruit used in alcohol flavoring : SLOE. Used in a sloe gin fizz and a singapore sling.

16. Home for 66-Across : AERIE. I wonder if they really do, or the sea eagle nickname made this answer seem correct. I am no expert on Erns. 

17. Criticism : FLAK. So don't give me any....

18. Wedding dress insert : HOOP. Are they still worn? 

19. Impatient : ITCHY.

23. Tiresome type : PILL. This is a very old fashioned word. 

24. Cavaliers, on scoreboards : CLE. Amazing.

32. Paella pot : OLLA.

33. NFL receivers : TES. Tight Ends, like Gronk.

36. Actress Skye : IONE. She used to be a crossword regular for the three vowels in her name. While she has worked professionally for more than 25 years, she will always be the daughter of  Donovan (Leitch). LINK.

37. Upset : RILED. From roil, getting the waters all turbulent.

42. Stands for funerals : BIERS.

43. Black and Red : SEAS. You needs perps to get this.

44. "__ of Light": 1998 Madonna album : RAY. This was very infer-able even if you do not like Madonna. The ALBUM was well received. 

45. Words to a traitor : ET TU. Brute.

50. Andean root vegetable : OCA.  It is available in a range of colors, including yellow, orange, pink, apricot, and the traditional red.(Wiki). Very popular in New Zealand, where they refer to it as a yam.

51. California tourist attraction : NAPA. Where is the "Valley?"

59. Stereotypically haunted area : ATTIC. Not so much in Florida.

62. One-eighties : UIES.

63. Flash, maybe : IDEA.

64. Absorbed eagerly, with "in" : DRANK.

65. It may affect a sentence : PLEA. An attempt to misdirect the grammarians. 

66. Sea eagles : ERNS.

67. "__ Stardust": David Bowie song : ZIGGY. The album, the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was a concept album that reflected Bowie's self-image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q

68. Chihuahua sounds : YIPS.

69. Afternoon fare : SOAP. Ah the fading operas.

Down:

1. Switch letters : AM FM.

2. Tentacled creature : POLYP. While familiar with polyps in the colon, this was either a learning moment or something I forgot. A polyp is a solitary or colonial sedentary form of a coelenterate such as a sea anemone, typically having a columnar body with the mouth uppermost surrounded by a ring of tentacles. (dictionary).

3. Start of a Norwegian line : OLAF I. Not and NCL ship but monarchs.

4. Northern Illinois University city : DEKALB. See it?

5. "Off the Court" memoirist : ASHE. Tennis great who died so sadly after a blood transfusion.

6. Splash sound : PLOP. From my youth...

"Hasten Jason

Get the Basin

Oops, Plop

Get the Mop"

7. A pro brings his own to the table : POOL CUE. This took lots of work, but I love it.

8. Flower parts : SEPALS. Petals, sepals, stamens....

9. Switch partner : BAIT. Car dealer staple,

10. "Ready if you are" : LET'S DO IT.

11. Circle segment : ARC.

12. Med. research agency : NIH. National Institutes of Health.

13. One in, or on, a chain : KEY. Island?

21. Calvin and Anne : KLEINS. Poor Robert gets forgotten. 

22. Born, in France : NEE.

26. Not as healthy : ILLER. Are you all sick of this fill?

27. Colleague of Ruth and Sonia : ELENA. SCOTUS.

28. Source of some issues? : DADDY. Psychobabble.

30. Comforting sound : COO.

31. Bad picnic omen : ANT. Omen?

33. Area sometimes called "The Roof of the World" : TIBET. Learning moment. READ.

34. "Downton Abbey" lady : EDITH. Edith Pelham (nee Crawley) has her own FANS.

35. Number of Maravillas del Mundo : SIETE. Seven Wonders of the World. 

37. Email again : RESEND.

39. Showing impatience, digitally : DRUMMING.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mez2yxGips1rwp47j.gif

40. __ shooter : PEA.

41. Fink : RAT.

43. Linguistic origin of Kwanzaa : SWAHILI. A complicated LANGUAGE with influences from Arabic.

46. Wee one : TOT.

47. Live in : OCCUPY. Hence all the mail to "OCCUPANT."

48. Hydrophobia : RABIES. Not sure why but I have known this term since I was little. 

52. "Napoleon Dynamite" sidekick Sánchez : PEDRO.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9ojkiom2I1qh5n42o1_500.gif

53. Hockey setting : ARENA.

55. Repulsive : ICKY. My brain went HERE. 

56. Dickens schemer : HEEP. Uriah. He later was reincarnated as THIS.

57. Those, in Chihuahua : ESAS.

58. [Horrors!] : GASP.

59. Woodworker's tool : ADZ.

60. Prefix with cycle : TRI. Uni? 

61. It's game : TAG. And now you are it, as my work here is done. I hope you all have a wonderful father's day weekend, and come catch us next week. Lemonade out.