Words: 70
Blocks: 28
Wow - cruised through this puzzle, rare on any given Saturday, but I just got back from the bars and hanging with the guys, and I am really tired~! It always helps when you score the first word of the grid, though - real confidence booster. Triple stacks of 7's in the corners, and a grid spanner;
36. Is having unending bad luck : CAN'T CATCH A BREAK - most likely the seed entry;
and two 10-letter climbers;
12D. Take too far : OVEREXTEND - see 29A
28. Feature of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" : CANNON FIRE - I love this composition, the way it builds and subsides; I have this version; the cannons are powerful enough to blow out matches if you hold them in front of the speakers (so you know now what I did one semester in college)....if you care to, here's a link to the 15+ minutes with chorus and cannons
Onward ~!
1. Exchanged : SWAPPED
8. Hiking hazard : DROP OFF - we talked about this last week
15. Caesar salad basic : ROMAINE - CROUTON fit, too
16. "Grease" in the '90s, say : REVIVAL
17. Small cinema, nowadays : TRIPLEX - what if you parsed this as Triple X ~???
18. Tree-lined walkway : ALAMEDA - I know of the city; here's an image of the actual definition
19. Adams with a Hasselblad : ANSEL - photographer, and his camera - a page of his spectacular images
20. Mrs. Fields brand : TCBY - The Country's Best Yogurt
22. Game to pursue : PREY
23. Places to see buckjumpers : RODEOS - none for me, thanks
25. Brewers, e.g., briefly : NLers - Baseball, the teams here - C.C., did they move from the AL~?
26. Geometer moth caterpillar : INCHWORM - there was one on my sheets just the other day
29. Final crossing? : STYX - I was going to put this in, thought "nah", and then I got 12D
30. Three-division sports gp. : NCAA
31. Family reunion attendees : NIECES - WAG
33. Builder of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft : TRW - yes, the same as the credit company
39. Royal son of comics : ARN - Prince Valiant
40. Surgical tool : STYLET
41. Certain Caltech grad: Abbr. : ENGineeR
42. Little TV redhead : OPIE
44. Balanced : EVENED UP
46. Gals : JANES - Dah~!! This one had me going - I have never heard of 46D
48. Set : HARDEN
49. Graceless sorts : OAFS
50. Possibility that's not an option : NO-NO - this was "meh" for me
51. Bar basic : LAGER - not Vodka - I had neither tonight - I left the sloppy drinking to the others, and drove them all home safely
55. Examined the look and feel of : TRIED ON
57. Toscanini was its music director in the 1920s : LA SCALA
59. Waiting, to some : TORTURE - it is for me - traffic lights, shopping lines, getting a little "somethin', somethin' " - alas, not tonight....that is, no lass for me....or is that L'ass because it's me~???
60. Inward journey? : EGO-TRIP
61. Dosage specification : ONE A DAY
62. Pair of fins : TEN-SPOT - fins is slang for five dollar bills
DOWN:
1. Eur. title : SRTA
2. No longer mint : WORN
3. "The Anti-Death League" author : AMIS - More here
4. Party topper : PAPER HAT - not the rare fill I thought it was....
5. Where one might have a sinking feeling : PILLOW - the perps got this; otherwise, it would have been an "ugh" moment
6. Storm hdg. : ENE
7. Skill : DEXTERITY
8. Dull shades : DRABS
9. Depend : RELY
10. Biological duct travelers : OVA
11. Spotted in a troubling way : PIMPLY - Acne, har-har
13. Recording device applied to applause : FADER - I guess; as a musician who records, I know what this is - but my car stereo has one, also
14. Castigates : FLAYS - hey, now, let's not get DF here....
21. Tell the truth, finally : COME CLEAN - or here, for that matter....
24. Give away : DONATE
25. Federal org. with a "Safety Recommendations" Web page : NTSB - here's the page~!
26. Old empire builder : INCA
27. At 6,684 ft., Mt. Mitchell is its highest point : N. CARolina
29. Taken to a table : SEATED
32. Volt maker : CHEVROLET - all electric car - I prefer the Fisker, with it's gas engine designed to charge the batteries only
34. Prego rival : RAGU
35. Sitcom call letters : WKRP - I had -KR-, and was totally lost until I remembered what "call letters" were - radio station IDs
37. TV's Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle, briefly : CSIs - Crime Scene Investigators
38. Stages as it happened : RE-ENACTS
43. Pre-euro currency : PESETA
45. Author DeMille : NELSON - I like his stuff - especially his cop character John Corey
46. Word game : JOTTO - new to me - PHEW~! Dare to try ~!
47. John Carradine's role in "The Ten Commandments" : AARON - Dah~! I had -ARON, and was going through the alphabet - and skipped "A" altogether....
48. Colony's concern : HONEY - Bee colony
50. "A Doll's House" wife : NORA
52. Irving title writer : GARP
53. Film director Petri : ELIO
54. Mesmerized : RAPT
56. Fizzler : DUD - My NY Rangers hockey team turned out to a be a "DUD", losing to the NJ Devils tonight - and so Eddy, we are down to 4-7 games in the 2012 season. I will be rooting for the East coast, since my West coast choice, Vancouver, was eliminated in the first round.
58. __ limit : AGE
Sadly, I must report that the opportunity to move to Las Vegas has fallen apart - but I have not given up on my plans to move out West - it's just going to have to wait a bit - I thank all of you who offered me a place to stay, and dinner ( AJ, HG ); I am still holding you to that offer~!!!
Splynter
