Words: 68
Blocks: 35 (with 4 cheaters)
A brain-drain puzzle for me, but totally worth the effort~! I would have to say that today's 'theme' could be "try, try again", as I had to change several of my initial answers in order to get this one done. Lots of good clues, some new fill, and an odd-looking grid. Bob has quite a record of puzzles; here's the interview from C.C. Four long-letter climbers;
7D. Theater accommodation : STANDING ROOM - nice to see the (almost) full length answer to a common crossword fill, "SRO" - just lacking the 'only' part
11D. Summons : CALLS FORTH
20D. "Just so you know ..." : FOR THE RECORD - I was trying to get 'FURTHER MORE' to fit, but was lacking a letter
25D. Homemade radio : CRYSTAL SET - had it not been for this appearing in a crossword not long ago, I would have not gotten it at all
ACROSS:
1. "Fear not" : REST EASY
9. Knuckle under : ACCEDE - wanted SECEDE, and tried RELENT instead
15. Likely will : EXPECT TO
16. Betrayed a bias : LEANED
17. Backing an ancient empire, like King Herod : PRO-ROMAN - took me a bit to parse this one out; I was missing the "R", and thought PROTO-MAN??? No, I don't think so....
18. Charge with a lance : TILT AT - Don Quixote, TILTing AT windmills
19. Made a party to : LET IN ON - lots of what I would call "Dan Naddor" fill today
20. Lacking extra room : FILLED
21. RB's gains : YarDS
22. Sonny and Cher, e.g. : DUO
24. The Baltics, once: Abbr. : SSRs
25. Caspian Sea delicacy : CAVIAR
28. Père's son : FILS
30. Strict disciplinarian : MARTINET - straight up definition
32. Nickname for two very different TV doctors : BONES - these two
33. Paying (up) : PONYING - betting term? ( I also see it might be related to the Spanish for put, "poner"~? )
34. Buck up : HEARTEN - shout-out, three days in a row now~!
36. "Sail no farther!" : "AVAST~!"
37. Pipe organist's selection : REED STOP - oh so good - was trying to s-t-r-e-t-c-h TOCCATA in....
39. Breton, e.g. : CELT - I was of the mind that this was a 'jacket' (yes, I know, that's ETON), but eventually, I saw the light - hey, I was in the right island group....
40. Sudden influx : ONRUSH
41. Bacteria-growing gel : AGAR
43. Taxonomic suffix : OTE - coyote, zygote, Quixote ???
44. Old televangelist org. : PTL - "Praise The Lord~!" and some other things, apparently
47. The "P" in P.G. Wodehouse : PELHAM - I tried "Putnam" to start; more on the author here; the man who gave us "Jeeves"
49. Going rate? : CAB FARE
53. Decide not to use : PASS ON
54. Waters off New Guinea : CORAL SEA - Filled in "SEA" right away, then waited; WAGed the CORAL part from - O - AL; Map
55. Familiarize : ORIENT - not TRY OUT
56. Church dignitaries : PRELATES
57. Territorial divisions : STATES
58. George Eliot's first novel : ADAM BEDE - More Wiki
DOWN:
1. Email function : REPLY
2. Ken Griffey Jr., e.g. : EX-RED - wanted EX-MET, but that was Ken Sr. - no wait - he was a Yankee - no wait - they were BOTH REDS - ugh, this is why I leave the baseball to C.C.~!
3. Ladybug's array : SPOTS
4. Actress Polo : TERI - I know her from "Meet the Parents"
5. Coll. course : ECONomy
6. Air head? : ATMOspheric, e.g.
8. Thataway : YON
9. Some choristers : ALTI - plural of Alto; & 32D. Hitter of low pitches? : BASS - HA~! not baseball....
10. Puts a roof on : CEILS - Ugh, this one always gets me
12. Join, as a discussion : ENTER INTO
13. Situation that makes stirring difficult : DEAD SLEEP
14. Clock-change abbr. : EDT- Eastern DAYLIGHT Time
23. Seven-in-one Mideast fed. : UAE - United Arab Emirates - and the seven members
26. Busy : AT IT - be careful how you parse this one....
27. Auto-biographical fig.? : V.I.N. - the serial number of your car; a breakdown for those interested
29. ID with two hyphens : SSN - was Adam's number 000-00-0001 in the Garden of Eden~???
30. Separate : MOVE APART - smart enough to try "APART", and then waited
31. Controlled numbness : ANALGESIA - Anesthesia did not fit
33. Super __: powerful fundraising gp. : PAC
35. URL ending : EDU
38. Med. specialist : ENT - Ears, Nose, Throat
42. Côtes du __: wine region : RHONE
44. Collage application : PASTE - Read this too fast, and you might see the first "A" as "E" - very clever
45. Stuck up? : TREED - NAILED it ( I did have the middle "E" )
46. It often requires a security deposit : LEASE
48. People seen from skyscrapers? : ANTS - nailed it; cute, too
50. Purview : AREA
51. Lip application : BALM
52. Workout target : FLAB
53. Ltr. distributors : POs - Post Offices
54. One often working on Sat. in the spring : CPA - Accountants busy preparing for the IRS deadline of April 15th
Splynter
A-ha!
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