Words: 72 (missing C,F,Q,W)
Blocks: 30
Mark's "hair styles" puzzle appeared on Sunday, June 2nd, so he has
"bookends" for the month~! Again, we have a non-intimidating grid, with
the long answers inside the edges - seems to be a new trend in Saturday
puzzles....although we do have triple stacks of 2-9's and a 10-letter
word top and bottom. Some of the notables;
19. Powerful military tactic : BLITZKRIEG - "Lightning War"
53. Clownfish host : SEA ANEMONE - Can you "find" Nemo~?
32. "Halo: Reach" and "Kinect Adventures!" notably : X-BOX GAMES
26. High point in 1980 news : Mt. St. HELENS - Great fill, with 5 consonants to start
O+N+W+A+R+D = 75
ACROSS:
1. "Dad Is Fat" author/comedian Gaffigan : JIM - One of my favorite comedians, he's also acted in Law & Order, too
4. Wipe away __ : A TEAR - ugh, an "A" word
9. More popular song, usually : SIDE A - ugh, ANOTHER "A" word
14. Not getting by the censors : UNAIRABLE
16. How some errors are shown : IN RED
17. Tough taskmasters : MARTINETS
- this filled in mostly via perps, and so I had to look it up;
essentially, that's the definition - one who is a strict disciplinarian,
especially military
18. Panache : STYLE
21. Basic Latin verb : ESSE - "to be"
22. Big cheer : OLÉ
23. Giant Giant : OTT - Crossword Baseball standard
24. Greenstreet co-star in "The Verdict" (1946) : LORRE - not the Paul Newman version
26. Letters above WXYZ : MNO - I semi-cheated, and looked at my house phone to save time
27. Team Frisbee game : ULTIMATE - I prefer Frisbee Golf to this game
30. Place cheek by jowl : JUXTAPOSE - I love this word
34. Pocket protector? : MISER - I was thinking "GUARD", as in the QB pocket in football, but in this case, it's a metaphor for money
35. Altar attire : ALBS - ah, not GOWN
36. Dog seen with Kvack the duck : SNERT - Hagar the Horrible, in comic strips
38. Signs of affection : X O X O - hugs and kisses in letters and cards
39. Bad marks : BLOTS
41. Some auditors : I.R.S. AGENTS
43. Tuba relatives : SAX HORNS
45. '60s pop group __ Bravos : LOS
46. Eponymous California museum founder : GETTY
47. Brighton beer, briefly : BEV - all perps; thought it was "IPA" at first
48. Mo. in which Caesar was born : JUL - this
is odd; he is credited with reform of the calendar, which prior to
JULIUS Caesar, did not contain JULY and AUGUST; so how could he be born
in July?
51. Caspian feeder : URAL - map, at the top
56. Staycation locales : HOMES - "Stay-at-home"
vacations becomes "staycations" - My Aunt and Cousin are here from
England; we went to my brother's house for a BBQ last night, and tonight
we are having a bonfire. Here's the pic I took of them; Ann, Brother Kev, Mom, and Carole
58. Kakadu National Park site : AUSTRALIA - map, at the top
59. Admits customers : OPENS
60. What many tests measure : RETENTION
61. "The Glass Bead Game" author : HESSE
62. Places for runners : SLEDS - ah, not LANES
63. Couple in "Annie" : ENs - did not fool me; a-N-N-i-e
DOWN:
1. Egg size : JUMBO - My queen size Sleep Number bed came Wednesday; in the store, I 'selected' 45 as my number - now I am experimenting at home
2. Collectively : IN ALL
3. Women's magazine __ Claire : MARIE
4. Cardinals' home : ARIZONA - Baseball for C.C.
6. "I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again" writer : EBERT - we just had his B-day puzzle~!
7. Voices in il coro : ALTI
8. Property flippers, e.g. : RESELLERS
9. Family gal : SIS
10. Blends : INTERMIXES
11. When many grazing animals migrate : DRY SEASON
12. Fish without pelvic fins : EELS
13. Chick follower? : ADEE - chickadee
15. Morticia's cousin : ITT - Love the theme - earworm~!
20. Nabbed : GOT
25. Glass part : RIM - ah, not CUP
27. Mouse movers : USERS
28. Droid message : TEXT
29. "__ Turannos": E.A. Robinson poem about a complex marriage : EROS
30. Ring tactics : JABS
31. "The Producers" bombshell : ULLA
33. No spring chicken : ON IN YEARS
37. Bearing gifts? : TALENTED
40. One on a liquid diet? : SOT
42. Controls : GOVERNS
44. Some NFL linemen : RTs - Right Tackles
47. Vigorously denounce : BASTE
48. Voight's actress daughter : JOLIE - Took me a moment to recall that Angelina is Jon's daughter
49. Strike caller : UNION - Today is my 3-year
anniversary working at the UPS terminal - no strikes in my future; UPS
seemed WAY too happy to give us what we asked for in the new contract; I
expect to be full-time by the end of August, and not as a driver - I
passed the test, but passed on the position; my Home Inspection license
arrived the day that Mark's last puzzle was posted.
50. Lists in a regatta : LEANS - List is the nautical term for not being on an even keel
51. "Oops!" : UH-OH
52. Sheet in a regatta : ROPE - more nautical terminology
54. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" author : AUEL
55. Framing item : MAT - I thought CEL first; this is this
57. Compass dir. : SSE
Splynter - Hey, I'm down to 193lbs from sweating at UPS~!