It's midnight, everybody at your dinner party has had more than a few laughs, and you, quite frankly, have had enough. Now you'd just like to crawl, exhausted, into your beckoning bed. But your party was perhaps too successful, as evidenced by that one couple who, despite a thinning crowd, big yawns, and the closing-time hum of the dishwasher, are nestled a little too snugly (and apparently permanently) on your sofa.

Jack and Jackie Kennedy never let a few remaining guests keep them from retiring for the evening, says manners expert Letitia Baldrige, a former social secretary to Mrs. Kennedy. Hosts who don't have a staff to lock up after wee-hour departers can shoo clueless stragglers with directness and a sense of humor, she suggests. Say something light, like "This is the most important group of people assembled in any room. The financial, art, and insurance worlds will be bereft if you aren't in good shape tomorrow." For the less theatrical (or passive-aggressive), Lesley Carlin, coauthor of Etiquette Grrls: More Things You Need to Be Told ($12, www.amazon.com), suggests this tack: "It's been so much fun, I've lost track of time, but it's really getting late, and we need to be up early."

If even that seems too daringly direct, you can drop some subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints to coax guests into their coats.

Stop the wine and spirits. Bring on the sobering caffeine.

Turn up the house lights, as they do in bars at last call.

If it's a casual gathering, start clearing the table. Asking guests for a hand can empty a room surprisingly quickly.

Ask one of your guests what time it is, then feign surprise with a big "Wow!"