Saturday, April 21, 2012

Saturday, April 21, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silk

Words: 72

Blocks: 29

   I had a feeling this was going to be a Silkie, and I was right - and a tough one, at least the first two across and down passes for me - and then my WAG at 57A sliced it open for me.  Two hard to place 14-letter spanners;

33. Ancient inhabitant of Western Europe : NEANDERTHAL MAN - tried to make NETHERLANDIAN fit, not that this has ANYthing to do with the clue....

39. 1997 Spacey/Crowe movie : L.A. CONFIDENTIAL - a movie I am sad to say I have not seen - IMDb

and two just-as-difficult-to-place 11-letter climbers;

10. Hot air : IDLE CHATTER

24. Variance issuer, often : ZONING BOARD - we call it the 'building department' here, and a variance is a deviation from the building code - usually something like how close to the property line a structure can be - and in my experience, the code and the people who enforce them has gotten WAY out of control....

Ultimately, I solved it with only two "cheats". but on the whole, too many proper names, dates, and foreign words made this one less than enjoyable for me....oh well....

Onward ~!

ACROSS:

1. Calm : AT PEACE
 
8. High chairs? : SKI-LIFT - I was hip to this one, but not right away - HeartRx got it, right?

 
15. Experts : MAESTRI - plural of maestro

 
16. Harvard's __ Library : WIDENER - this guy, who perished on Titanic

 
17. Attacked on the fly : STRAFED

 
18. 1996 Olympics city : ATLANTA - my first "cheat" - I tried CALGARY, with the "L" in the right place, but Calgary was the host in '88, and their NHL Flames were the Stanley Cup winners in '88-89

 
19. 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner : TUTU - Desmond

 
20. Per diem hire : TEMP - my first and only confident fill


22. Longish blog post : ESSAY - I was hoping it was not going to be "E-page" - that's a long post for our little corner, no?
 
23. Blue Note's parent co. : EMI - music publishing

 
24. Diddly : ZERO;
and 38A. Diddly : NOT A BIT
 
25. BYU, e.g. : SCHool - Brigham Young Univeristy

 
26. What gets Obama started? : LONG O - I was hip to this mis-direction - the ō to start Obama

 
28. Reaction at the gas pump : OUCH~!!! - I can still find regular for $3.95

 
30. Juillet is in it : ETE - The month of July, in summer, as seen on a "Fraunch" (French) calendar

37. Cite : MENTION

 
41. Around-the-world journalist : BLY - not familiar with her - the Wiki - interesting

 
42. __ country : GOD's - isn't this Florida?  Oh wait, that's "God's Waiting Room"

 
43. Pelé's given name : EDSON -
Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Soccer player
 
45. Like many dicts. : ABRidged

 
46. Naturalist on California's state quarter : MUIR


 
 

49. Sold-out letters : SRO - Standing Room Only
 
50. Thrifty rival : ALAMO - Car rental - I am hoping to use Budget - see the bottom of the blog

 
53. Red states?: Abbr. : SSRs - Getting to be a regular bore here, now

 
54. Sylvia of jazz : SYMS - again, not familiar with this person

 
55. Tommy's forte : PINBALL - Tommy, from The Who, the Pinball Wizard - not a fan, at all.

 
57. Follower of the Bushido code : SAMURAI - sounded Japanese, and it fit, so....

 
59. Western port named for a fur tycoon : ASTORIA - John Jacob Astor, and a little geography, too - at the top of Oregon

 
60. Trendy : À LA MODE - straight French, "according to the fashion" - definition

 
61. Time to relax : LAZY DAY - When it rains, I like to call it a "lazy day"

 
62. Crowd annoyance : ELBOWER - one who elbows


DOWN:

1. Pilsner choice : AMSTEL - Beer

 2. Youngest Oscar winner : TATUM O'NEAL - HEY~! I knew this one ~! I liked her in "Rescue Me", right fermatprime?

3. Relevance : PERTINENCY - I had "E" at the end, with BLE 41A - had to peek to see the "Y"

4. Old Testament twin : ESAU 

5. Org. that added "Explosives" to its name in 2003 : ATF -Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms - if they reworked it, they could be "F.E.T.A" (see 13D.)


6. Center of the Minoan civilization : CRETE

7. Large sea duck : EIDER - I knew this from the book "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

8. Meet deal : SWAP

9. Young beaver : KIT 

11. __ law : LEASH

12. Some seaside retreats : INNS

13. Spanakopita need : FETA - NO clue what this is - but with F_T_, I had the WAG

14. Inbox, sometimes : TRAY - the 'analog' version

21. Early Alcázar castle resident : MOOR - slightly foreign, but I know castles..


25. "Bei Mir Bist Du __": 1930s song : SCHON - foreign words...

27. Enemy of un ratón : GATO - MORE foreign words; I am guessing rat and cat....

29. "The Best of the Alternative Press" magazine, familiarly : UTNE and MORE foreign words.....

30. International Washington neighborhood : EMBASSY ROW - this area of D.C.


31. Custom : TAILOR-MADE

32. Tolkien creature : ENT - The trees that walk ( Clerks II, but I won't link it )

34. Help with : DO FOR - what can I DO YOU FOR~???

35. Chisholm Trail city : ENID

36. Installed, as brick : LAID - or, er, 34A

37. Org. with an "At Bat" app : MLB - is this true, C.C.?  I have the NHL app, of course - and our first team to move on, the Nashville Predators - sorry JazzB

40. Mil. honors : DSMs - Distinguished Service Medals

44. Comparatively curious : NOSIER

45. South __, N.J. : AMBOY - I knew this, but then again, I was born in Paterson, NJ - don't hold it against me....

47. Latin bears : URSAE - Ursa Major and Minor, the big and little bears of the night sky

48. "That __": signoff : IS ALL - 's ALL, Folks~! did not fit

50. "C'mon, be __!" : A PAL 

51. Crossword-solving Simpson : LISA - from the cartoon "The Simpsons" -she's the brainy one with saxophone chops

52. 1998 animated film : ANTZ

53. Leave rolling in the aisles : SLAY

54. Ring contest : SUMO

56. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone :  LIA - this monolith - easy, lois

58. Fairy queen of folklore : MAB

I am curious about those Mid-west regulars who stop in here at the blog - I am praying to be moving to Las Vegas in June, and I will be driving across the country at a "leisurely pace" - anyone need a deck built?  Or maybe just a quick visit from a Saturday blogger??

  Splynter

  P.S. - Am I the first to blog with the "new" format?  It sucks for us authors, let me tell you....









No comments:

Post a Comment