Friday, April 12, 2013

Saturday, Apr 13th, 2013, John Farmer

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,V,X)

Blocks: 27

   Hey~!  I finally finished a Farmer Saturday without red-letter help, and in a respectable time as well~!  There were many "alternate" answers to clues today, which could have led to a much harder solve, and some clechos, too.  Pretty pinwheel with a staircase center, triple 9's, triple 8's.  Worth a mention at the top today:

15A. Coroner's conclusion : "IT'S MURDER~!" - Frequent segment in TV shows like "Law & Order", "CSI", "Rizzoli & Isles", etc; personally, I like "CUPPI" - Case Undetermined Pending Police Investigation

67A. Something to throw when you're down : PITY PARTY - I was at a birthday party tonight; anyone here been to a "pity" party lately?

14D. Villainous : SINISTER - from being on the left hand side, which in the Latin is Sinistral, and "unfavorable"; right-handedness is Dextral; I am 'sinister' by the way....

36. One of The United States' six : TIME ZONE



                    d~!

               r

          a

     w

  n

o

ACROSS:

1. Trial run for a far-fetched argument, say : LAUGH TEST - not familiar with this phrase; I was trying to get LITMUS TEST to fit

10. Developing areas : WOMBS - had UTERI to start

16. China from Japan : IMARI


17. Escape : STEAL AWAY - an Ozzy Osbourne song, for those who care; speaking of "Escape", I am looking at a 2006 Ford Escape hybrid, $9K, 68,000mi, 36MPG - depending on the UPS outcome

18. Pre-heist job : RECONaissance - I had "SCOPE", as in 'case the joint';  conflicted with my first choice for 53A."...overhead view" = (tele)SCOPE

19. Begin to develop : BUD - they're showing up here~!  I just whacked down much of the apple tree in our backyard; it was literally choking itself, and the inedible fruit attracts wasps

20. Provençal sauce : AIOLI - that 'eh' crossword garlic mayonaisse

21. As a friend, to François : EN AMI - eh, more Frawnch

22. Encumbrance : ONUS

24. Tender cuts : LOINS

26. Familia titles: Abbr. : SRAs

27. Buddha's birthplace, per most scholars : NEPAL

29. Slack : DOG IT

31. Lake of the Woods prov. : ONTario

32. "Hanging __ Moment": 2001 Lifehouse hit : BY A

34. "When pigs fly!" : "NO CHANCE~!"

36. Winter Palace rule : TSARISM - I put in TSARINA to start(?); also could have been CZARISM, too, and thrown you

40. Not so cool : NERDIER - the 'hip' kind of cool

41. Whistling past the graveyard, so to speak : IN DENIAL - or knee deep on a trip to Egypt....

43. May honoree : MOM

44. __-jongg : MAH

45. Pitch indicator : G CLEF and then the "G" moves to the backside in   56A. Cause of a hair-raising experience? : ZERO G - and a clecho with 35D. Pitching specialists : AD MEN - different kind of pitch, tho

47. BB? : BETAS - um, as in two "B"s ???

51. Manages somehow, with "out" : EKES

53. Aid for an overhead view : STILT - ah, not SCOPE;  stilts so you can see over heads

55. Nobel Laureate portrayed in "A Beautiful Mind" : NASH

58. Regatta racer : SLOOP - ah, not YACHT

60. Sew up : ICE - ah, not END

61. Philip Glass's "Waiting for the Barbarians," e.g. : OPERA - with a title like that, I can envision the Viking Fat Lady singing

62. Author whose only published novel won a Pulitzer : HARPER LEE

64. Saltpeter : NITER - Every time I see 'saltpeter', my mind says "hey, that's NITER, right~? Or maybe I'm wrong~?"; then the perps fill it in....

65. "Be right with you!" : "ONE SECOND~!"

66. Schoolboy jackets : ETONS - From the school outside London, which is NOT in continental Europe; see 1D.

DOWN:

1. Westernmost capital in Continental Europe : LISBON - (Portugal); I stopped myself before finishing "LONDON"

2. Harmonize : ATTUNE

3. Tapped out : USED UP

4. TV debut of 1975, for short : GMA - Good Morning America, not "SNL" - Saturday Night Live

5. Dance in a raffia skirt : HULA - can't pass up a "skirt" link....


6. Track : TRAIL

7. Title director in a 1994 biopic : ED WOOD - did not see this movie

8. Aquarium attraction : SEA LION

9. Fitting activity : TRYING ON  - and clecho 48D. Fitting employee : TAILOR

10. Spy wear, maybe : WIRE

11. Tarot cards, e.g. : OMENS - I have a deck of TAROT cards; I like them for the art, but I do treat them as having an "aura", so they're wrapped in silk - not Barry Silk, mind you

12. Salad component : MACARONI

13. Modern-day male bonding : BROMANCE - I am just not into the "Hangover"-type movies, and I do not consider any of male friends as part of a Bro - mance. 

23. 1999 Stanley Cup finals competitor : SABRE - from Buffalo; not STARS, the winners in 1999; Dallas made it to the Cup final the next year, too, but lost to the NJ Devils; tonight it's Rangers v. Islanders for 7th place in the Eastern Conference - should be a game worthy of the early rivalry between these two teams that has not had much weight lately, since the Islanders last playoff appearance was 2003

25. Unlikely command to a Chihuahua : SIC 'EM

28. Prone : LYING - we had this discussion recently

30. Beat : THROB

33. Converse rival : ASICS - Sneaker companies

37. Hostile environment : SNAKE PIT - also the name of Slash's band for two albums after Guns N' Roses - the first one was titled "It's Five O'clock Somewhere", Tin~!

38. Follow : ADHERE TO

39. Jukebox setting : MALT SHOP

42. "Sweet __": Oscar-winning song from "Waikiki Wedding" : LEILANI

46. Piece of broccoli : FLORET

49. Rise : ASCENT

50. Ally of the Brat Pack : SHEEDY - I mis-read this on the first pass as "RAT" pack; in the 80's, the "Brat Pack" included these actors/actresses

52. "Either/Or" writer Kierkegaard : SØREN - Also mentioned in the "Types" personality book that I frequently talk about; more here

54. Stowe slave girl : TOPSY - not familiar with her; all perps for me

57. Long-nosed fish : GARS - did the fish(es) fool you?

59. Sound often prohibited? : PEEP - "Not a peep from you, young lady~!"

63. Kelly Clarkson record label : RCA

    I passed my UPS driving test despite stalling at a green light in traffic; I was prepared for the crappiest stick-shift they could find (all the 'good' trucks were out on deliveries) and I actually "delivered" a package, as opposed to 'driving around the block'....now I have to wait for either a really busy Spring/Summer, or the next contract in August, when new terms might lead to more retirements.  Thanks for the kind words~!

 Splynter

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