Daily Beast – 1/8/10

“Elvis at 75”  – Daily Beast by Matt Gaffney  – 9:37 (AL)

Today’s topical puzzle from Matt Gaffney celebrates the election of Montreal Expo legend Andre Dawson into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is cleverly disguised as a tribute to Elvis Presley, who would have turned 75 on January 8, 2010.

The theme answers are humorous takes on old Elvis songs:
1A/23A. [Elvis hit about senior instability?] – CAN’T HELP FALLING
37A. [Elvis hit about eating too many peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches?] – HEARTBURN HOTEL
65A. [Elvis movie about aging?] – OLE KING CREOLE
93A. [What the old Elvis walks around the house in? ] – GRAY SUEDE SHOES
113A. [Elvis hit about a hassle of growing older?] – MYSTERY PAIN
16D. [What the old Elvis couldn’t do?] – RETURN TO SLENDER
46D. [Where Elvis sat in his golden years?]  – JAILHOUSE ROCKER

Yet more Elvis:
20A. [Elvis’s manager Col.] – PARKER
47A. [Elvis’s middle name] – ARON
83A. [LISA Marie Presley]
123A. [Elvis‘s hometown] – TUPELO
Muppet Elvis  

Smile, you’re in Area 51:
51A. [Smiles smugly] – SMIRKS
51D. [“Say cheese!” ] – SMILE
Other stuff:
121A. [2001 Pro football Hall of Fame inductee Ron] – YARY. Welcome to Crosswordland, Ron.
61D. [Fella, in internet slang] – DOOD. Whoo noood?
66D. [Former Nebraska senator Bob] – KERREY. They don’t teach former Nebraska senators in Canadian schools.

Now for my first ever contest:
There are 12 video links above. Ten of them relate to Elvis. Two relate to something else. You can win something seen in one of those videos if you tell me:
1) The two odd videos
2) What they relate to
3) What the prize is
I will pick one correct answer at random and give the prize to the winner at the upcoming American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Send your answers to “crosscan1 at shaw.ca” by 11:59PM PST on Wednesday January 13, 2010. Good luck!