| Letters on a Soviet rocket |
| Library carrel, basically |
| Like cutting in line |
| Lit sign in a theater |
| Longtime Syrian strongman |
| Low-pH substance |
| Mishmash |
| Moneymaking skill ... or, when read as three words, what happens in 17-, 21-, 35-, 45- and 54-Across |
| Noted California horse-racing venue |
| Nurse, as a drink |
| One traveling with a backpack |
| Ones providing backing for writers? |
| Order to a dog to bark |
| Orson Welles's 'Citizen ___' |
| Period in history |
| Place to leave an auto, in Britain |
| Pods of cotton |
| Pulling a rabbit out of a hat, e.g |
| Read the ___ act |
| Rock's ___ Might Be Giants |
| Scarlett of Tara |
| See 55-Down |
| Something on a to-do list |
| Song from way back |
| Songs for divas |
| Stairs unit |
| Stately hardwoods |
| Stereotypical parrot's name |
| Strategize |
| Tennis's Sampras |
| Tibetan watchdogs |
| Toward a ship's rear |
| Union man? |
| War-hero candidate of 1996 |
| With 37-Down, shrunken body of water in Asia |
| With perfect timing |
| Withdraw gradually from a mother's milk |
| Writer ___ Du Bois |
| ___ of March |
| ___ out a living (gets by) |
| ___ vera |
| 'Now!' |
| 'Sweet' age |
| 1997 Grammy-winning artist whose last name is a fruit |
| 2,000 pounds |
| 39-Across, e.g |
| 40-Across's record label |
| Accessory for a snowman |
| Acorn producer |
| Actress Hatcher |
| Add alcohol to, as punch |
| Air-condition |
| Bauxite and magnetite |
| Begin to flower |
| Body of water between France and Switzerland |
| Breakfast and lunch |
| Buenos Aires's land: Abbr |
| C minor, for Beethoven's Fifth |
| Caesar dressing? |
| Company with a swoosh logo |
| Corn seeds |
| Dadaist Jean |
| Dine |
| Domesticated |
| Dull-colored |
| Elvis who was 'all shook up' |
| Former 'American Idol' judge |
| Furniture giant with a blue and yellow logo |
| Gangster catcher, informally |
| Gets the booby prize |
| Harvard rival |
| Hush-hush org |
| Icicle's place |
| Immigration or the economy, in a presidential election |
| Impoverished |
| '24' or '48 Hours' |
| 'Fiddlesticks!' |
| 'Now where ___ I?' |