Saturday, Dec 28th, 2013, Steve Salitan

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing F,J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

   Thank you all for last week's get well comments; I had such a high fever I thought I was going to lose my mind - literally.   This is the first time I've gotten to a crossword in two weeks.  I was able to review the last three LAT this week, and I have to say thank you to C.C. for covering my part last Saturday, and for a stellar effort on Thursday's puzzle.  As for today, when I saw Steve's name at the top, I figured I was looking at a DNF - I am usually thwarted by his misdirection and vagueness, but with only one cheat,  I was able to finish this one.  Nothing longer than the two 11-letter cross fills today;

 31A. "Violator" band : DEPECHE MODE - JUDAS PRIEST fit, too - but I knew that was wrong; I was finally able to tune in to Pandora for the first time in a month yesterday, and Depeche Mode pops up on my favorite channel with this song

39A. 1996 film with the tagline "YIKES! They've Landed!" : MARS ATTACKS! - Hysterical parody of science fiction and horror directed by Tim Burton with a cast of big names - and Tom Jones, too~!

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. There may be tears in them : DUCTS - Right off we have ambiguity; tEErs, or tAIrs~???

6. Track event : GRAND PRIX - the Indy car kind of track; clecho 16A. Track event : RELAY RACE - the human leg kind of track

15. Like some office boxes : IN/OUT

17. Yellow-flowered medicinal plant : SENNA

18. Champing at the bit, and then some : OVEREAGER

19. "__ Cheerleaders": 1977 comedy-horror film : SATAN'S - I wonder if the people at IMDb feel like they really, really need to include these types of films; then again, the summary does sound intriguing....

21. Campus not far from LAX : USC - well, I figured it was University of something/something California

22. Camera that uses 70mm film : IMAX - So far, I've only seen Skyfall in IMAX (and a nature film at the Museum of Natural History)

23. Exploit : USE

24. Casual evening? : NITE - night (evening) spelled casually

26. Inedible orange : OSAGE

27. Aspire to greatness : AIM HIGH

29. "84, Charing Cross Road" novelist Hanff and others : HELENEs

33. Deco designer : ERTE

34. Agreeing words : "SO AM I"

35. Latin quarters? : CASA

41. Arizona retirement community : SUN CITY

45. Black-footed albatrosses : GOONEYS - also the nickname of the Douglas C-47

46. Ring material : ONION - steel? nylon? oh, duh

47. Savory, e.g. : HERB

48. Tex.-based carrier : SWA - Southwest Airlines - they are the leading airline at my 'local' jet airport, MacArthur; gets so little respect being in the neighborhood of JFK and LGA....

49. "Such a shame" : PITY

50. It's a mess : STY

52. Zen awakening : SATORI

54. Daily reading for many : HOROSCOPE - NEWSPAPER fit, too - and I DO read my daily horoscope each morning; said nothing about getting sick, tho

57. Nitpick : CAVIL

58. New members : INITIATES - Rookies, probies, neophytes (hey, that one fit) - I am a 'new member' of the driver's group at UPS - but I have not made their UNION yet

59. Whence Icarus fled : CRETE

60. Ones on the way up : ASCENDERS - yes, they, are....

61. Had a row : OARED - and another ambiguous word; roe, or rOW

DOWN:

1. Convince otherwise : DISSUADE - took a little too long to let go of PERSUADE

2. More disturbed : UNEASIER

3. Disdain : CONTEMPT

4. Skipjack, perhaps : TUNA - my one look-up; I was sure it was a boat, and it turns out it's also a block cipher, and the one we needed - TUNA

5. Tinny : STANNIC - which means "containing TIN"
- STANA KATIC is better

6. Nursery product word : GRO - Miracle-Gro, e.g.

7. Follies : REVUE

8. Draft picks : ALES

9. Traffic blocker? : NARC - the drug traffic

10. Shade provider? : DYE - the "?" meant it was NOT "ELM"

11. Extol : PRAISE

12. Dealer in old clothing : RAGMAN

13. Way more than a cold snap : ICE AGE

14. Darius I's successor : XERXES - Persian (likely Bibilical) kings

20. Reacts to with an eye roll, perhaps : SIGHS AT - wasn't there a 'Friends' episode where Joey wasn't allowed to roll his eyes at what Phoebe said?

25. Something to test : THEORY

26. Cry of approval : OLE - I had O-HO, then OYE, and I wondered what other "Heyenes" there could be (29A)

28. Laugh line? : HEE - hee-hee

29. Respect : HOMAGE - if you're being really reverent, it's an OH-MAHJE

30. Corrections staff? : EDITORS

32. Humanities degs. : MAs

35. Soup holder : CAN - sometimes, the simplest answers....

36. Best kind of full house : ACES OVER - I had ACE/KINGS, and that stopped me from getting anywhere in the SE for the longest time

37. Use lofty words? : SKYWRITE - HAR-HAR~!!!

38. Pounced on : ASSAILED

39. Short time? : MINute

40. Caldwell's "__ Road" : TOBACCO

41. Most popular baby girl's name of 2011 and 2012 : SOPHIA - what's the inspiration? Usually there's a super-popular female singer/star that causes the increase in popularity; Britney Spears was one I recall

42. They may be civil : UNIONS - wars, rights, engineers

43. __ acid : NITRIC

44. Prairie predator : COYOTE

47. Bouncing off the walls : HYPER

50. Large amount : SCAD

51. Haul : TOTE

53. Frank Kennedy saved it from foreclosure : TARA - the plantation from "Gone With the Wind"

55. Moral lapse : SIN

56. Twisty character : ESS - as in

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 14th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,X,Z)


Blocks: 34

     I really like the look of this labyrinthine grid - I hope it was not as hard for you to work through as it was for me - but I might just be tired.  I got blanked in the NE, had to Google a couple of things in order to get anything at all.  One grid climber today:

6. The Falcons of the Mountain West Conference : AIR FORCE ACADEMY - Colorado Springs, CO

and some of the two pairs of 10's and 9's in the corners;

17. Honda CRF, e.g. : TRAIL BIKE - one I had to look up; I pondered ELECTRIC CAR, but it ran out of juice

28. Its English version has more than 3.5 million entries : WIKTIONARY - Started with DICtionary, and that was close enough

3. Silly goose or sitting duck : NOUN-PHRASE - learning moment for me - the Wiki

54. Loretta Lynn's father was one : COAL MINER - is a child who was bad this year going to be a "COAL MINOR" at Christmas?

ward on~!

ACROSS:

1. Fiji neighbor : TONGA

6. Round server? : ALEHOUSE - DAH~! I tried BARMAID, too short, BARTENDER, too long....

14. Cutter cousin : SLOOP - boats - or should I say, ships

15. Research activity : FIELD TRIP - I took a "field trip" this week; UPS sent me to Queens for two days to deliver - what a completely different operation~!  I spent my 10-hours yesterday on FOUR blocks, period, delivering 300 packages.

16. Hot-and-cold feelings : AGUES - meh

18. Cost : RAN TO - this one still gets me; needed some perps to remind me

19. Honda et al.: Abbr. : MFRs - slight clecho from 17A; manufacturers

20. 1969 Tommy James and the Shondells hit : "SHE" - The other one I needed to look up

21. Canadian road sign letters : KPH - Kilometres per hour - no, wait that's British....Columbia???

22. Recent delivery : NEONATE - I just couldn't think of anything but NEWBORN

25. Architect Mies van der __ : ROHE

26. Cellphone display : BARS - signal strength

27. Midwestern tribe : IOWAs

31. Like some discount mdse. : IRRegular

32. "Powerage" band : AC/DC - going with a gratuitous Hard Rock music link from their previous album

33. Go away : VANISH

34. Org. led by David Stern : NBA - All perps; don't follow basketball

35. Infuse with : STEEP IN

37. The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf. : KSU - A bit of a redundancy with the grid climber

38. Composer Holst : GUSTAV - English composer, famous for "The Planets"; his "Mars" piece was the inspiration for this number from the godfathers of Heavy Metal

40. Is not misused? : AIN'T - Isn't, misused

41. Noir protagonist : TEC - Detective, from the genre

42. Power : STEAM

43. Troubling spots : ACNE

44. Drop : SINK

45. Haberdashery items : TIETACS

47. On a roll : HOT

48. Devil : IMP

51. Bank deposit : LODE

52. Philatelist's purchases : PANES - of stamps

57. Get around : EVADE

58. "Li'l Abner" Tony winner, 1956 : EDIE ADAMS

59. iComfort maker : SERTA - hey~! NOT an Apple product~!

60. With equanimity : SEDATELY

61. "Shame __!" : ON YOU

DOWN:

1. Peter the Great, e.g. : TSAR

2. First International Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductee : OLGA KORBUT - seemed like the best WAG money could buy

4. "Faust" author : GOETHE

5. It roughly translates to "bearded" in Tibet : APSO

7. Picks up : LEARNS

8. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA

9. Aerobic exercise can raise it, briefly : HDL - ah, not BPM (heart-rate)

10. Wagering option, briefly : OTB - Dah~! not I.O.U.?

11. "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" screenwriter : URIS

12. Punjab sect member : SIKH

13. It's almost pointless : EPEE - tough way to clue a crossword staple - I could think of so many items without a point - even considered "KNEE" for a moment

15. NSA headquarters site : Ft. MEADE

22. "Grimm" network : NBC-TV - I WAGed ABC-TV, and was 80% right

23. Red Sox Hall of Fame pitcher Luis : TIANT - I defer to our C.C., who is proabably jonesing for some baseball these days

24. Forever and a day : EON

25. Gymnastic event : RINGS

29. Gave the go-ahead for : ASSENTED TO - started with SAID ---- TO

30. Peel off : SHUCK - not SHAVE - that showed up at 44D

32. "Same here" : AS AM I - what's an "asami"?

33. Jungle features : VINES

36. Grasping organ : PINCERS - not very useful on those VINES in the Jungle, though.   Some singular/plural deception

39. Bit of ink : TATtoo

43. Like some Hindemith works : ATONAL - If Mr. Silk says so....

44. Cut off : SHAVEN

46. Fail to say : ELIDE

48. Secures : ICES

49. Way : MODE

50. Took care of, in a way : PAID

52. Chilean cabbage? : PESO

53. Junior on the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team : SEAU

55. Rural area : LEA

56. Door closer? : MAT - Doormat - I've seen some funny ones at work (some harsh language on a few of these)

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 7th, 2013, Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing Q,X,Y,Z)

Blocks: 34

   This is my third Saturday LAT from Bruce, and I think it's a spectacular looking puzzle with nearly perfect symmetry - and a very solvable puzzle at that~!  Not much to start with, but the solitary fill I had in each corner was just enough to work out some of the common language spanners - we have six today (and two 11-letter climbers);

17. Emergency strategies : EVACUATION PLANS - there was a HazMat fire at the UPS terminal in Uniondale, NY, in Nassau County; my center is in Suffolk; they had to call in FIVE fire deparments, plus a spill team.  That closed the operation for most of the morning sort - not a pretty scene.  No one hurt.

20. Mattered : MADE A DIFFERENCE

23. Post-election governmental meeting, perhaps : LAME DUCK SESSION - when the president knows he's not coming back in January - Wiki

42. Number? : LOCAL ANESTHESIA - Didn't fool me~!  Numb - ers, so I was looking for Novocaine, etc

47. Takes an opposite position : CHANGES ONE'S TUNE

56. Alters some game parameters : RAISES THE STAKES

ON WA RD~!

ACROSS:

1. Overseas county : SHIRE - anyone else read this as countRy?  I had CHINA to start

6. Zurich highlight : ALP - was looking for the German word for song/solo, "ARIA"

9. Golden Gate element : CABLE - tried TOWER first

 14. Saved for later, in a way : TAPED - not much these days; everything I watch is digitally recorded on the cable company DVR

15. Architectural prefix : NEO - nice alternative to "Matrix" character and "opposite paleo-"

16. Providers of added light : ATRIA

 21. NBA great : Dr.J - Not a basketball fan, but I DID know it was not "OTT" nor "ORR"

22. Bush led it for about a yr. in the '70s : CIA

32. March middle : IDES

33. They may lead to risky moves : DARES

34. Many a reference book : TOME

35. Like some tempers : BAD - had it in, took it out; I had the wrong idea for the crossing "suit" (23D)

36. "Reversal of Fortune" Oscar winner : IRONS - Jeremy

37. Brimless hat : TAM - Took a gamble and tried FEZ; BZZ

38. Home of Phillips University : ENID - Oklahoma

40. Secretary of State after Colin, familiarly : CONDI - Condoleezza Rice

41. Candy __ : CANE - anyone try "GRAM" here?

45. Seinfeld specialty : WIT - meh

46. Electrical particle : ION

57. Great enthusiasm : ARDOR

58. Classified abbr. : EOE - Equal Opportunity Employer

59. Part of a meet : EVENT

60. Disengages, as from a habit : WEANS

61. High degree : Ph.D - not "Nth"

62. Comes up short : LOSES

DOWN:

1. Arise (from) : STEM

2. "__ Nagila" : HAVA

3. Jobs news of 2010 : iPAD - Steve Jobs, of Apple

4. Moves back : RECEDES

5. Former Georgian president Shevardnadze : EDUARD - mostly perps

6. Freeze beginning : ANTI - Antifreeze; my water pump went on the Dodge this past Wednesday - it's still sitting in the parking lot at UPS.  The car owes me nothing - it's got 242,000 miles, and it's 14yrs old - I am seriously considering the Dodge Dart come January

7. Hero in Treece's "Vinland the Good" : LEIF - Henry Treece, who wrote this juvenile historical account of Leif Ericsson

8. Magic word : "POOF"

9. Mid-calf pants : CAPRIs

 10. That much or more : AT LEAST

11. Grain layer : BRAN

12. Omar's role in "The Mod Squad" : LINC

13. No effort : EASE

18. Settles : ADJUDICATES - healthy $2 word

19. Bare things : NECESSITIES - the 'bare necessities' - OR - Bear?

23. Suit material : LIBEL - ah, THAT kind of (law) suit

24. Hersey's bell town : ADANO

25. Front VIP : MEDIC - my first thought was front office, but this is the battlefield front

26. Leslie of "Fanny" : CARON - stuck on Nielsen

27. Danish capital : KRONE - capital as in money

28. Enthralls : SENDS

29. Whits : IOTAs - not a whit (iota) of truth

30. Arabian peninsula native : OMANI

31. Mythical lion's home : NEMEA - I tried ASLAN, but that's THE lion ( and the wrong one )

39. Suddenly occurs to : DAWNS ON

41. 1/100 of a Brazilian real : CENTAVO - more money

43. Hybrid cats : LIGERS - LIon/tiGERs - oh MY~!

44. Low-cost stopover : HOSTEL

47. Sticking place : CRAW

48. Memorable napper : HARE - Aesop fable where the slow and steady tortoise wins - I did not know there was some 'controversy' over its interpretation

49. Radamès' love : AIDA

50. Flight feature : STEP - A flight of stairs

51. "We're in trouble!" : OH-OH

52. Call for : NEED

53. They usually have four strings : UKES

54. Birds seen by players of 53-Down : NE-NE

55. Body shop figs. : ESTimateS - I fiugre the water pump on the old Dodge is going to cost me $300-400, and that sounds like a new car payment to me....

Splynter

Another two-letter word game;

What are these lists which use one letter from the first pair to the next?

AL LA AR RI IN NM MN NY

GW WW WH HT TJ JB BO

NA AS SI IR RN NE