Words: 72
Blocks: 34
WOW~! Two Triple-stacks of Grid Spanners top and bottom makes for one intimidating puzzle when you're starting out, but the resulting seven 4's, four 5's and two 6's made for a solvable, rather unique-looking grid. Bruce and Stella have combined for several Saturday bears, including one from Apr. 2009, with EIGHT spanners, and a resulting 115 comments - but before my time.
Onward ~!
ACROSS:
1. Unexpected delivery : SURPRISE PACKAGE - I get 1100 packages every day, and "NOT A WHIT" of them is a surprise - oh wait, I work at UPS....
16. War novel that became a Gary Cooper film : A FAREWELL TO ARMS
17. Cypress and others : CONIFEROUS TREES - if it has leaves, it's deciduous, and a hard wood; if it has needles, it's a softwood, and coniferous - a good rule of thumb that I just learned in Inspection class.
18. '03 retirees : SSTs - Super-Sonic Transports, like the Concorde, which I never had the chance to fly on - but living East of JFK airport, we could see one race overhead on its way to Europe on a morning or two....
19. Get ready to dry : RINSE - as in hair
20. Window shopper's buy? : PANE - good misdirection - we're not talking shoes here, just the piece of glass FOR a window
21. Nabisco trademark : OREO - this made me smile - it gave me my only Saturday "theme" puzzle a few weeks ago
23. Ring up? : HALO - ah, cute, I do like these 'punny' type clue/answers
25. Gem : STONE
28. The Oscars, e.g. : EVENT - I knew "AWARD" was the wrong word, but it made my first pass look LESS like a glass of milk in a snowstorm....see 3D
32. Start of a cheer : HIP - "Hip-hip, Hooray~!!!"
33. Numismatist's prize : MINT SET - coin collector, and their rare find
39. It has collars and stays : LAW - I had "TEE", as in shirt, even though dress shirt was a better fit; Collars as in arrests, and Stays as in executions....
40. Hoop spot : EAR - Went with "RIM", but a quick switch to EAR
41. Source of many tiny animals : ORIGAMI - because MENAGERIE didn't fit
42. Some bling : ICE - like 25A, diamonds are referred to in slang as "ice"; - combined with 40A, you get ( just "window shopping" )
43. Jazz __ : ERA
44. Fix the boundaries of : DELIMIT - Huh - I thought had "RE limit" to start, but reading my OWN blog I see that the proper word is DE limit
45. Cinnabar, vis-à-vis mercury : ORE - funny, a good friend of mine just used "vis-à-vis" on the phone yesterday, and I was mentally looking for a synonym while we were talking....
46. Western resort at 6,200 feet : TAHOE - I tried ASPEN to start
48. Suspensefully held in : BATED, like one's breath
50. Phil, for one : NLER - I was not on a baseball wavelength here, until I had NL_ _ for sure - then I realized we were talking the Phillies, and I am sure C.C. has more....
53. Annual employee review contributor : PEER - I so wanted to put BOSS in for this, but knew it was not right
55. AMA and ADA : ORGs - because ASSN was not plural
58. Chemist for whom a flask is named : DEWAR - this "W" was the last to fall, as I have never heard of 59D
60. Uses up one's minutes, and then some : GABS
64. Dissident's request : POLITICAL ASYLUM
67. Tons to do : A LOT ON ONES PLATE
68. Military priority : HOMELAND DEFENSE - SECURITY was one letter too many
DOWN:
1. Pollen is produced in them : SACS
2. Sci-fi vehicles : UFOs
3. Many a Lewis Black bit : RANT - here you go - (3:08) LANGUAGE
4. Break site : PRISON - another song for you~!
5. Whistling zebra? : REF - Got it, and loved it~! Works for hockey officials, too, tho they come with orange arm bands - watched eddyB's Sharks take one from the Devils here in the shoot-out - some nice goals there, and always a learning experience for this amateur goalie.
6. "If Only __ a Butterfly": Imogen Heap song : "I WERE" - WAG, but a sensible one
7. Comic intro? : SERIO - Did not know; so here we go
8. Carolina university : ELON
9. Luxurious : PLUSH
10. In a fog : ATSEA - tried "DAZED" at first
11. Simple place to rest : COT - BED, too, not as simple as COT - maybe MAT?
12. Chess champ after Fischer : KARPOV - This guy
13. __ 51 : AREA - This group, and I have linked this one before
14. Original name of the radio show "Gang Busters" : G-MEN - I am going to guess a radio show from some of our regular's childhoods, but certainly not from mine
15. Brutus's being : ESSE - Latin, "To Be"
22. Increase one's home's value, in a way : REMODEL - God, I could use more people doing this right now....
24. McCartney song inspired by a dream : LET IT BE - I love to read about the inspiration and development of individual songs, and artists like the Beatles get a lot of ink regarding their craft; for example, Paul had Scrambled Eggs for a working title to his song "Yesterday"
25. Baking aid : SHEET
26. Bride's accessory : TIARA
27. Star known by her first name : OPRAH
29. Al's nemesis : ELIOT - Ah, Al Capone, and Eliot Ness, prohibition ERA
30. Shiny shell lining : NACRE
31. Rough cloth : TWEED - ooh~! a good WAG here
34. Rage : IRE
35. Not a whit : NIL
36. __ Friday's : TGI - as in the restaurant chain with the red and white stripes
37. Filmmaker Peckinpah : SAM
38. Recording giant : EMI
47. Like some inspections : ON-SITE - and hopefully in just a few months, I will be preforming these inspections
49. Knitter's pattern : ARGYLE - and a shout-out to Santa, our Monday/Tuesday man~!
51. Minneapolis suburb : EDINA
52. Behind-the-lines job : RECON-naissance, as in enemy lines....
53. Reacted to bad news, maybe : PALED
54. Remove : ERASE
55. Shimmering swimmer : OPAH - OPRAH and OPAH in the same grid
56. Caramel-in-chocolate brand : ROLO
57. Latch (onto) : GLOM - this was my mom's word for eating too fast
59. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" prop : WAND - I am a Harry Potter fan; did not know this was from Cinderella
61. Film composer Menken with eight Oscars : ALAN
62. Protests : BUTS
63. Hook's right hand : SMEE - nice misdirection here, with a reference to one's first mate or gal Friday - one's assistant
65. "My mama done __ me ..." : TOL' - I recall Bugs Bunny singing this in the bathtub, in my childhood - no, it was this clip @ :52
66. Letters on the beach : SPF - I had SOS to start, and then S_F, which had me baffled for a long time - I require Sun Protection Factor 100 for my pale English skin....
Splynter
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