Saturday, June 23, 2012

Saturday, Jun 23rd, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70

Blocks: 37

  Another Silkie in June ~!  Today's puzzle was easier than both Wed and Thu as far as I am concerned - but then again, I was on the right wavelength with clues that I felt confident about when giving it the WAG - ( Wild Ass Guess...not so Wild today ).  Odd grid today, too, with triple drops of 8's in the NW and SE,  plus quads of 6's in the other corners; 4 10-letter answers - 

21A. How waiters take orders : ONE AT A TIME - ever have a waiter/waitress take your table's order withOUT writing it down~?; impressive, especially when they get it right

52A. Best Picture of 1995 : BRAVEHEART - Better times for Mel Gibson;  Have not actually sat through the whole movie, and I don't plan to, either - just came back from seeing Prometheus - ***spoiler alert ~!***  ( just my blog only, though....)

8D. Nutritious intake : SQUARE MEAL - I have discovered Greek yogurt; trying to eat better now that I am 'getting older'....

28D. It's tested using the scientific method : HYPOTHESIS

OnWARD  Orthorunicans~!!!

ACROSS:

1. Lose focus : BLUR

5. Ones arguing about diamonds: Abbr. : MGRs - Managers - I recall the days of Billy Martin of the Yankees; tried UMPS first, since I WAG-ed this as a baseball diamond reference

9. They may help you find seats : STUBS - ticket stubs

14. Race assignment : LANE - Swimming, e.g.

15. Major oil exporter : IRAQ - IRAN, OPEC, any other 4 letter places?

16. Principle : TENET

17. Press : URGE - not IRON

18. In __: unmoved : SITU - straight Latin

19. Between, overseas : ENTRE

20. Mild oath : EGAD

23. Floral accessory : LEI - Aloha

24. Musical membrane : DRUM HEAD - Here I am in my little studio, and my Ludwig '65 Blue Sparkle set

25. Stridex target : ACNE - ah, yes, I remember the days....

27. "Golly" : "OH GEE"

29. Some IDs : SSNs - Social Security Nos, and also; 64A. Old political divs. : SSRs - Soviet Socialist Republics

30. Marsupial that may be no larger than a rabbit : WALLABY - Image

32. Wyo. hours : MST - Wyoming is on Mountain Standard Time - do they skip Daylight Savings??

34. Cold War deal : SPY SWAP - One of the better James Bond 007 moments, IMHO, from "Die Another Day", where he spent 14 months in captivity, then got "swapped"

35. Cityscape feature : EDIFICE - not SKYLINE, but then again, that's redundant, again


40. Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO

41. Remote pair, often : AA CELLS - Remote control batteries

42. Govt. investigative org. : NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board

46. Olympics host of 1956, 1960 and 2006 : ITALY - Considered TOKYO, but with 40A in the clues....

48. Lesage novel "Gil __" : BLAS - meh, French; the Wiki

49. 24 between Berlin and Hamburg, e.g. : AUTOBAHN - never been, but I would like to, one day, take a speed drive down  such a road - is this a "route number"?   ( there's two rt24 roads here on Long Island; one in Nassau, the other Suffolk County )

51. Tax shelter initials : IRA - common crosswordese

55. Black : INKY - not EBON

56. 2005 A.L. Hank Aaron Award winner : ORTIZ - a little help, C.C.~??

57. Swing around : SLUE

58. Where a stud might be found : LOBE - ear, not WALL

59. Get back together : REUNE - is this slang for Reunite?  I could not find it in any online dictionary (!?!)

60. They're charged : IONS

61. One may be habitual : LIAR

62. __ guitar : STEEL - Like this one on the cover from Dire Straits

63. Friday et al.: Abbr. : SGTs - Sergeant Friday, Dragnet fame

DOWN:

1. They're rarely enforced : BLUE LAWS - like not being able to work or buy liquor on Sunday; back when I was sixteen, and working for Grossman's Lumber ( based in MA, do you remember them BarryG~? ), Sunday was DOUBLE time - and I worked an 8-hr shift every time

2. Stock designation : LARGE CAP - if you say so; perps got this one for me

3. Bungling : UNGAINLY

4. Swamp thing : REED - tried FERN to start

5. Protein-rich paste : MISO

6. Alfred E. Neuman feature : GRIN

 

7. Like "Toy Story" : RATED G

9. Cook, in a way : STEAM

10. They can follow points : TENTHS - as in .10

11. Loosens : UNTIES

12. Sportscaster Len who wrote "Spanning the World" : BERMAN

13. Mounts : STEEDS - horses, the noun

22. Super __ : TUESDAY - election fodder

26. Some transit lines : ELs - Elevated trains

27. Shortest book in the Hebrew Bible : OBADIAH

31. Dazzle : AWE

33. Personal quirk : TIC

36. 2, at times: Abbr. : FEBruary, as the months go - my B-day is 2/9/71

37. The Ohio River forms its southern border : ILLINOIS - Map

38. Candy once touted by a giraffe : CLARK BAR

 

39. Trying ones : ESSAYERS

42. "Return to Mayberry" actor : NABORS - Jim, who went on to his own "Gomer Pyle" TV show

43. Tank top : TURRET - nice deception, but I nailed it - not T-SHIRT

44. Phidias' "Zeus at Olympia," e.g. : STATUE - One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

45. Ox, say : BOVINE

47. Like old recorded music : ANALOG

50. Chisel's edge : BEZEL - tried BEVEL first; makes more sense; I think of a watch face when I hear BEZEL; Google feels the same way - try 'chisel bezel'....

53. Squirt : RUNT

54. Hardy's "Pure Woman" : TESS

55. Maladies : ILLS

Splynter

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