| Like cutting in line |
RUDE |
| Lit sign in a theater |
EXIT |
| Longtime Syrian strongman |
ASSAD |
| Low-pH substance |
ACID |
| Mishmash |
OLIO |
| Moneymaking skill ... or, when read as three words, what happens in 17-, 21-, 35-, 45- and 54-Across |
MIDASTOUCH |
| Noted California horse-racing venue |
SANTAANITA |
| Nurse, as a drink |
SIP |
| One traveling with a backpack |
HIKER |
| Ones providing backing for writers? |
CLIPBOARDS |
| Order to a dog to bark |
SPEAK |
| Orson Welles's 'Citizen ___' |
KANE |
| Period in history |
ERA |
| Place to leave an auto, in Britain |
CARPARK |
| Pods of cotton |
BOLLS |
| Pulling a rabbit out of a hat, e.g |
MAGIC |
| Read the ___ act |
RIOT |
| Rock's ___ Might Be Giants |
THEY |
| Scarlett of Tara |
OHARA |
| See 55-Down |
SEA |
| Something on a to-do list |
TASK |
| Song from way back |
OLDIE |
| Songs for divas |
OPERAARIAS |
| Stairs unit |
STEP |
| Stately hardwoods |
ELMS |
| Stereotypical parrot's name |
POLLY |
| Strategize |
PLAN |
| Tennis's Sampras |
PETE |
| Tibetan watchdogs |
LHASAAPSOS |
| Toward a ship's rear |
AFT |
| Union man? |
GROOM |
| War-hero candidate of 1996 |
BOBDOLE |
| With 37-Down, shrunken body of water in Asia |
ARAL |
| With perfect timing |
ONCUE |
| Withdraw gradually from a mother's milk |
WEAN |
| Writer ___ Du Bois |
WEB |
| ___ of March |
IDES |
| ___ out a living (gets by) |
EKES |
| ___ vera |
ALOE |
