Friday, June 28, 2013

Saturday, Jun 29th, 2013, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

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.

5. Warm-weather wear : TANK TOPS - today we will go with one for the guys, and one for the gals

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~!