Friday, December 28, 2012

Saturday, Dec 29th, 2012, Ed Sessa

Theme: None

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???
23. AriZona rival : NESTEA - the capital Z clued me in


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