Today I'll start with the reveal. 35-Across. With 37-Across, sentence openings, and what the ends of 16-, 23-, 47-, and 57-Across can be when rearranged : CAPITAL 37-Across. See 35-Across : LETTERS. I had to stare at my grid for a few seconds before the theme hit me.
16-Across. Postal service : EXPRESS MAIL. LIMA, Peru.
23-Across. Brigades, e.g. : ARMY UNITS. TUNIS, Tunisia.
47-Across. "You made your point" : SAY NO MORE. ROME, Italy.
57-Across. Form small teams at school : WORK IN PAIRS. PARIS, France.
Do you know why London was not included in the theme entries?
Across
1. Crawled, perhaps : SWAM.
5. Broadway show whose title woman can "coax the blues right out of the horn" : MAME. I had to hum a few bars before I remembered her name. And I never knew about 26-Down. Arthur who won a Tony for 5-Across : BEA. I have only seen the film version starring Rosalind Russell.
9. Renege, with "out" : COP. I had "opt" and then "bow" before the perps finally led me in the right direction.
12. Andalusian appetizer : TAPA.
13. Accord competitor : ALTIMA. Honda Accord and Nissan ALTIMA.
15. Hole starter : AWL.
18. __-pitch : SLO.
19. Kanakaredes of "CSI: NY" : MELINA. This lady. I recognize her face, but had no clue about her name. All perps.
20. Plastered : SLOSHED.
22. Curled-lip look : SNEER.
25. The tar, in Spanish : LA BREA. Yes, we knew that, didn't we?
27. Anonymous John : DOE.
28. "The Black Cat" author : POE. Three letters? No hint of Abbr? Go with the flow and enter POE.
31. __ moss : PEAT.
32. Mountains dividing Europe and Asia : URAL.
40. Hop follower : SKIP. and a jump.
41. Modest dress : MIDI.
42. NASCAR __ : DAD. A rather derogatory term for middle class men, synonymous with "redneck." The term was used during the 2004 election, referring to the democrats' attempts to regain the southern male vote.
43. Lion or tiger : CAT.
45. Exercises begun in a supine position : SIT UPS.
50. "... if you want to __ man's character, give him power": Lincoln : TEST A. The partial could have been avoided by clueing it as "Head of Italy?"
54. Part of 56-Across : LOCATOR. 56-Across. Google hit : URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
55. Eats pretzels, say : NOSHES.
60. What "I" may indicate : RTE. Interstate. I-90, I-91, I-93 and I-95 all run through Massachusetts. Did you know that even numbered interstates run east-west, and odd-numbered ones run north-south?
61. Common soccer score : ONE ONE.
62. Only : MERE.
63. June honorees : PAs.
64. Blind component : SLAT.
65. Breyers competitor : EDYS.
Down
1. Restrains : STEMS. I'll try to stem my nit-picking.
2. Like Madame Tussauds figures : WAXEN.
3. Traditional temptation : APPLE.
4. "Manhattan" Oscar nominee Hemingway : MARIEL. 1979 Woody Allen film. Her career has spanned nearly 40 years, and she still looks great.
5. Galaxy gp. : MLS. I was clueless. The Los Angeles Galaxy are a team in Major League Soccer.
6. Source of 20s, briefly : ATM.
7. Harmful gas : MIASMA. Great word.
8. One of the Brontës : EMILY.
9. Dishonorably dismissed : CASHIERED.
10. Bird that's probably not wise and certainly not old : OWLET. Cute.
11. Trudges : PLODS.
13. Fit __ fiddle : AS A.
14. One way to think : ALOUD.
17. Mesmerized : ENRAPT.
21. Porcine sniffer : SNOUT.
23. Kazakhstan border sea : ARAL.
24. Collecting Soc. Sec. : RET.
28. IBM 5150s, e.g. : PCs.
29. Furniture wood : OAK.
30. Inner circles, in astronomy models : EPICYCLES. The Ptolemaic universe used EPICYCLES to explain the movement of the planets.
33. Coach Parseghian : ARA.
34. '60s hallucinogen : LSD.
36. Old Bristol-Myers toothpaste : IPANA.
37. Beer choice : LITE.
38. College email ending : EDU.
39. Extreme summit : TIPTOP.
41. Former space station : MIR.
44. "Solve __ decimal places" : TO TWO. I was much more ambitious, and wanted to solve "to ten" decimal places.
45. Reddish-brown horse : SORREL.
46. Bagel choice : SESAME.
47. Eat loudly : SLURP. Like cowboys eating beans...
48. Main artery : AORTA.
49. Mars pair : MOONS. Phobos and Deimos.
51. Drew back : SHIED.
52. NFL analyst Bradshaw : TERRY. Former Pittsburgh Steeler. How about those crazy uniforms last Sunday? They looked like jailbird bumblebees!
53. Beasts of burden : ASSES.
55. St. Louis-to-Chicago dir. : NNE.
58. Place to see RVs : KOA.
59. NFL mistake : INT.erception. None for Brady last Sunday.
That's it from me - your turn!
Marti
