Saturday. Feb 23rd, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 34

 This was a tough one, with a lot of proper names that threatened to undo me, but then some common sense crept in.  With a few changes to early WAGs that threw me off-course to begin with, I was able to get through this Silkie....but just over my personal allotted time....oh well.  How did you all do?  A rare "spotty" grid from Mr. Silk, without the usual chunky corners, and two cheater squares.  One grid-spanner:

35A. Former name of the bonobo : PYGMY CHIMPANZEE - Did myself in by pre-filling the last three squares with "-APE", figured I was being smart....there's also a DJ/musical act called Bonobo - check this out, gang~!!

And some other unique fill:

3D. Structure damaged in a 1989 earthquake : BAY BRIDGE - I watched "Strip the City" on Science Channel, San Fransisco (they also did Sydney, London, Toronto, and are finishing up with Rome and Dubai); there was a a clip of this bridge's upper section that collapsed onto the lower; now they are in the process of building a new bridge right next to the original

32D. Fair color? : AZURE BLUE - Fair skies, that is; I love these eyes, too

 

14A. Score in a rare way : STEAL HOME - first time in a published crossword; can you remember a televised home stealing event, C.C.? - also - 50D. 2005 World Series player (his team's only appearance, and they lost) : ASTRO

ONWRAD~!!!

ACROSS:

1. Infect : IMBUE

6. Downs : EATS

10. Derisive exclamation : HAH~!!!

13. Should have said : MEANT

17. "I totally had you going!" : PSYCH - I had PS---, thought my MESA was wrong; then I had PS-CH, and figured I was totally wrong, then the V-8 can came flying....my last letter

18. Drum, say : CONTAINER - ARGH~!!! When you're a drum-MER, then you get caught up in BEAT TIMER, and all sorts of phrases that have nothing to do with container drums....

19. Luxury garb : SABLES

21. Johnny Friendly portrayer in "On the Waterfront" : LEE J. COBB - I had LEE- COBB, couldn't think of a FOUR-letter first name; crossing the CA city didn't help; I'm on the wrong coast

22. It hasn't released a U.S. model since 1987 : RENAULT - Stylish~!!!  Yes, I remember the Renault Alliance, which was probably the last to been seen in America.

24. Edible pods : OKRAS

25. Make two cuts in, maybe : TRISECT - Nailed it

27. Literary monogram : RLS - Robert Louis Stevenson

28. Said three times, a story shortener : YADA - Seinfeld

29. Benefit : AVAIL

32. "Head and Shell" artist : ARP - Jean, and the piece seen here

39. Nationality suffix : ESE - Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese

40. Night time : TEN P.M.

41. Anise-flavored apéritif : OUZO - it was in, it was out; TEEN for PEON made me change it early

42. Some PD officers : LTs

43. Low-cost carrier owned by Southwest : AIR-TRAN - didn't we just have this clued as a Florida-based carrier?

46. Inflexibility : RIGOR

49. Irish omen of death : BANSHEE - nice; I just thought they were screaming ghosts

51. Hunks : ADONISES - also unique fill

53. Eponymous astronomer : HUBBLE - Edwin Hubble, and the orbiting telescope that bears his name

56. Foreman's dramatic phrase : NOT GUILTY - This took a while to come to me; I got thrown by the capital "F" of Foreman, thinking it was a proper name, not the jury foreman who stands and reads the verdict.

58. Place for a crown : MOLAR - ah, the tooth; don't have one (crown, that is; I did lose a molar to a cyst, tho....or is that a 20A. SAC?), so it didn't immediately come to mind

59. Common reimbursement requirement : CLAIM FORM - also unique fill

60. Fights : BOUTS

61. Korean War pres. : HST - Harry S Truman

62. Old draft category : TWO A - Well, we always see ONE A, so I suppose there is a TWO A; is there a NINE Z~???

63. Game with a disk operating system? : SKEET - Hmmm, hockey didn't fit, nor shuffleboard - AH~!!!

DOWN:

1. Rascals : IMPS

2. Flat formation : MESA

4. Guy giving you a pointer? : UNCLE SAM - He wants YOU to go blue on the blog....

5. Fruit-ripening gas : ETHENE - Um, OK, all perps, sounds good

6. Key for backups? : ESCape - the top left key that works in AutoCAD, but not Photoshop; can I tell you how annoying it is to switch between programs? - also -  25D. Use keys : TYPE

7. Eniwetok, for one : ATOLL - I had the "A" early; tried ALEUT; screwed myself

8. Holding : TENET

9. Quench : SATE

10. Word in many oaths : HONOR - I had "NOT~!"  for the Derisive exclamation, so I tried NEVER here

11. Lab subject : AMEBA

12. "Scarborough Fair" quartet : HERBS - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Marti linked the Beastie Boys for me, so here's the Beatnik Boys

15. Home to California's Torrey Pines Golf Course : LA JOLLA

16. Some country folk : HICKS

20. Fluid holder : SAC

23. Many a Mormon : UTAHN - one from UTAH - let it go....

26. Beams : RAYS

27. Tear : RIP

30. Skybox guest : VIP

31. Mideast capital once called Philadelphia : AMMAN - An Egyptian name for this Jordan city - Wiki

33. Iran's Shah Mohammad __ Pahlavi : REZA

34. McJob holder : PEON - not TEEN

36. Element no. 39 : YTTRIUM - I cheated, I cheated~!  I have a periodic table app on my Android - OK, you can read that "nerd", but hey, it's fascinating

37. French "these" : CES

38. Student's purchase : NOTEBOOK

42. Night sound? : LONG I - the sound in the word Night, Niiiiiite

44. Nationality suffix : ISH - English, Irish, Spanish, um, French

45. Compass points : RHUMBS - a loxodrome; it's....well....it's technical - here

46. Spread with hands : RANCH - DAR~!!!  I got this, but stared at it for a bit; oh, THAT kind of spread, and those guys called "hands"

47. Fan faves : IDOLS

48. Insinuated : GOT AT

49. Under : BELOW

52. Smooth out lumps, in a way : SIFT

54. __ fee : LATE

55. While opening : ERST - erstwhile

57. Vocalist Sumac : YMA - crossword standard


Splynter