Words: 72
Blocks: 32
I believe this is Mr.
Sessa's first LAT Saturday puzzle, at least looking back through the
blog. I did see lots of Sunday grids. This one was fun, got stuck only
in the Mid-West, having tried NY METS for the baseball team ( I know,
1962 ), and G-MAN for CZAR. Lots of geography, and I have to admit a
DNF by one letter, the "V" in MORAVIA (and LAVER) - two names I just
didn't know, so I WAGed a "D", then an "N". Bzzzt.
One grid spanner:
38A. Display anger : CLENCH ONE'S FISTS - not something I am prone to doing; biting my lower lip, well that's something else....
two 12-letter fills:
19A. "Don't just sit there!" : "SAY SOMETHING~!" - I had started with "DO...", and ran short on fill
58A. 2005 Christopher Nolan action film : BATMAN BEGINS
- great movie, a well-done adaptation of the comic book vigilante;
still have not seen the final movie of the trilogy. Also a semi-clecho
with 35A., Bruce Wayne's alter-ego
and three 9-letter climbers:
9D. Leave without reason? : BRAINWASH - I get it, but it's not quite right to me
20D. Hairy crawler : TARANTULA - I will not link any pics; but I will link this song from Dusk Til Dawn by Tito & Tarantula
34D. You can't eat with one : CHOPSTICK - had me fooled at first; I thought "you can eat with chopsticks - oh wait, ONE....ah-a~!"
Onward~!
ACROSS:
1. Least likely to be free : BUSIEST
8. Prime time for clammers : EBB TIDE - had LOW tide to start
15. Desperate way to run : ON EMPTY - feel free to link the song from Jackson Browne
16. Unlike bald tires : TREADED - both my van and car are well treaded right now
17. Increases, as production : STEPS UP
18. Bearded ladies and sword swallowers : CARNIES
21. Sunny Day Real Estate's music genre : EMO
22. Rating org. : MPAA - The Motion Picture Association of
America; my brother bought me the Blu-ray '50 years of James Bond'
collection, complete with a "slot" for when Skyfall is available; what,
no $5 off coupon???
27. Ditat __: Arizona's motto : DEUS - once I had some letters, this seemed apt
29. Botox target : BROW - not CHIN
31. Lit out : RAN
32. Biennial games gp. : IOC - International Olympic Committee, every two years; once for Summer, and then for Winter
35. '60s Bruce Wayne portrayer : ADAM WEST - we had this guy on Monday, too
42. Stopped paying attention : ZONED OUT - I had ---ED OUT, and I couldn't think of the phrase....must've zoned out
43. One acting badly : HAM - I put in IMP, and then he appeared at 4D.
44. Unlike the OED : ABR - idged, as we found out yesterday the shelves need to be over-sized for the Oxford English Dictionary
45. Aptly named pope : PIUS - yes, apt
47. Printer's measure : PICA
51. 1969 baseball expansion team : ROYALS - Kansas City; maybe our mid-west guys have been to a game; C.C. might have some interesting tidbit, too
54. Earth : LOAM
57. Malmö Airport carrier : SAS - with a name like Malmö, it had to be Swedish; down at the bottom, here
61. Czech region where Freud was born : MORAVIA - got me; didn't know this at all
64. SkyDome city : TORONTO - and this one I nailed; I get geography right sometimes
65. New York film festival site : TRIBECA - the TRIangle BElow CAnal (Street), NYC.
66. One taking off regularly : AVIATOR - ah, not AIRLINE
67. Historic Venetian basilica : ST. MARKS
68. Words before a disappearing act? : GET LOST
DOWN:
1. Exercised authority over : BOSSED
2. Feral : UNTAME - I get this way watching Salma Hayek lick her leg (@2:52, if you missed it at 20D.)
3. "Toodles!" : "SEE YOU~!"
4. Little devils : IMPS - the bastards keep moving all over the gird
5. Derby setting : EPSOM
6. Campaign in : STUMP
7. Rare medical classification : TYPE AB - blood type
8. Carve in stone : ETCH
10. City east of Lac de Neuchâtel : BERNE
11. Zippy tastes : TANGS
12. Forest part of 2006 : IDI - Forest Whittaker, in this movie
13. Diamond head? : DEE - DAR~! I didn't think of this the first pass - the "D" at the head of the word....
14. Money changers?: Abbr. : EDs - editors, working on Money magazine; anyone go with ATM?
24. Cancún crowd? : TRES
25. Nod, vis-à-vis Eden : EAST - more geography, this time Biblical
26. Workers on a hill : ANTS - anyone try REPS, SENS~?
28. __ qua non : SINE
30. Horace work : ODE
33. Anxious med. condition : OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
like arranging the shampoo bottles with the labels facing out or risk
crashing a 747....I don't know, ask my ex-wife....
36. Poet's deg. : MFA - Master of Fine Arts
37. Namby-pamby : WIMP
38. Antidrug honcho : CZAR - Um, wouldn't this be the PRO drug honcho?
39. Iberian wolf : LOBO
40. Elision from Eliza : 'ENRY - the omission of the "H" sound;
my parents are both English, still have their accents; so it's "bloody
'ell, lost me glasses" sometimes
41. Québécois's approval : OUI - well, again, with a word like....had to be French
46. "In America" novelist : SONTAG - more here
48. Really enjoys : IS INTO
49. Dantean divisions : CANTOS
50. Put in order : ASSORT
52. Ethiopian map word : ABABA - the capital city, ADDIS ABABA
53. Four-time Wimbledon champ : LAVER - huh, this guy - I see he did it all before I was even born
55. Higher in rank than : ABOVE
56. Worth : MERIT
59. "Serpico" writer Peter : MAAS
60. Net score : GOAL - yeah, we're not seeing any hockey goals this year
61. Range parts: Abbr. : MTs - Mountains
62. Leftover bit : ORT
63. Outer margin : RIM
Splynter
