Saturday, Dec 27th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing J,K,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

  I figured we would be finishing up a year of Saturdays with a Silkie, and I expected it to be difficult at that - well, I was spot-on.  There was little to be had in the first pass of across and downs, but I managed to get a foothold in the SE, then crept my way up and left from there.  However, the top right was just not going to budge, and I am kicking myself for missing 7a. - oh well.  Yes, Red-Letter help today, and some of my fool-proof solving methods proved me a fool.  One 13-letter climber is all we have in lengthy fill:

15d. Group label further popularized by a 1991 self-named documentary : MTV GENERATION - I'm of the MTV Generation, but I did not actually have MTV growing up - we did not have cable, so I used to soak it up when I was at my friends' houses; one of the first videos I ever saw;

Men At Work

O - N - 2 - W - 0 - A - 1 - R - 5 - D~!

ACROSS:

1. 2014 high-tech release using the slogan "Bigger than bigger" : iPHONE - I am not an Apple person, though I did hear they're coming out with a fan to compete with the Dyson bladeless - it's called the iBLOW

7. 1987 sci-fi film : ROBO-COP - Dah~! I am SO disappointed with myself for not nailing this one - and I have not seen the remake yet, to boot

14. Pointer, perhaps : BLAMER - I was in a 'dog' frame of mind

15. Soften : MODULATE

16. Feeding trough : MANGER - yeah, this time of year, you tend to forget what its original purpose was for

17. Opinion : TWO CENTS - ugh - took too long to dawn on me, but clever - and a**hole was not long enough - because everybody has one

18. Qantas' main hub, in itineraries : SYDney - I knew what we were looking for, but I was not 100% sure it was that straight-up; for example, the code for MacArthur airport around the corner from me is ISP - because it's located in the town of Islip

19. Winner of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowls : DENVER - I like that there are a limited number of answers for this type of clue, but I was a bit irked because it was not the team, like RAIDER or NINERS, but the city

21. Little shaver : TOT - dah~!! - I went with TAD first

22. DJ Alan Freed's nickname : MOONDOG - perps and WAGs

24. Seething : ABOIL

26. 14-Across' concern : FAULT

27. 1959 Bobby Rydell hit : WE GOT LOVE

30. Luncheon follower? : ETTE - LuncheonETTE

31. Concede : OWN UP TO

32. Pickle : MESS - the dilemma, not the dill

33. Meeting focus : THEME - Agenda wouldn't fit

34. Big name in lingerie : OLGA - new to me, I gotta go check out the website

38. Knight wear : TABARDS - I knew this because I want to add another "B" to the spelling; here I am wearing mine for a wedding

40. Hunny lover : POOH - the spelling here was a give-away; Winnie the honey-eating bear

41. Body exhibiting sudden increases in brightness : FLARE STAR - dah!! - I tried SUPERNOVA, which is "technically" correct. I was left with the "key" clue ( see below ) and a WAG at Blare, Glare, and Flare; guess which one I did not pick first....

44. Monterrey jack? : PESOS - Mexican "money"

45. Navigation acronym : SONAR - Once the ---AR was there, I filled in the rest - and then my clever 'solving short-cut' betrayed me; see below

46. Rose in a big way : TOWERED

48. O, at times : HUG - X O X O in cards; one of these days....

49. 1944 Pacific island battle site : SAIPAN - dah~!!! Anyone else put in TAIPAN, or am I the only one who is confused = q.v.

51. __-eared : LOP - DAH~! Who else went with "DOG"~?

53. Against : AVERSE TO

56. Cuddles : SPOONS - one of these days....

58. Trusts : RELIES ON

59. Features of many impromptu speeches : PAUSES

60. "Something wrong?" : "PROBLEM~?"

61. Least honest : SLIEST

DOWN:

1. Some old notebooks : IBMs

2. Kid's bud : PLAYMATE - My buddy Adam, who owns the restaurant,  is a daddy again - Pearl Snow, 7lbs-7ozs, born Dec 7th, 2014 - and they had picked Pearl as a name before the anniversary

3. Fliers, maybe : HAND-OUTS

4. Shocked letters : OMG - Text-speak for "Oh My God"

5. "You __ bother" : NEEDN'T - I read this as bRother my first pass

6. Fumbled, say : ERRED

7. "Lady Jane Grey" dramatist : ROWE - I would have preferred "Mike from Dirty Jobs" for a clue

8. Sign of something gone bad : ODOR

9. Raymond James Stadium NFLer : BUC - Rrrr....I went with RAM, and should have paid attention to the abbr. in the clue

10. Encouraging word : OLÉ

11. Playground retort : CAN TOO - I tried YOU too & ARE too

12. Holy Roman emperor, 1209-'15 : OTTO IV

13. Grinder : PESTLE - argh~! I keep missing this one, as well

20. Exasperated words : "NOW WHAT~!?!?"

23. Fat substitute : OLESTRA - I remember seeing this on "healthy" potato chips

24. Brief creator: Abbr. : ATTorney - because Fruit of the Loom did not fit

25. Goof : BLOOPER

26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. : FEMinine

28. Gingerbread house adornment : GUM DROP - some day I hope to build a gingerbread house in the style of a castle with kids of my own

29. Reveals, poetically : OPES

31. Some parlors, briefly : OTBs - Off-Track Betting

35. Hopeless : LOSE - LOSE

36. Joker's array : GOOD ONES - got stuck thinking of the jokers found in a deck of cards

37. Relaxed responses : AHs

39. __ Lingus : AER

41. Key of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 24 : F SHARP - OK, so I proudly filled in -M--OR, then waited....and got duped - not A MINOR, not D MAJOR, etc. - I think Mr. Silk checks in and tries to out-wit us

42. Vent part : LOUVER - ARGH~~!!  Took way too long to come to me

43. "Measure for Measure" deputy : ANGELO - Learning moment for me - did not know this was Shakespeare - the Wiki

44. Prison buddy? : PEN-PAL

47. Small flying predators : WASPS

49. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE

50. Quark locale : ATOM

52. "Hey!" relative : psst~!

54. Needle : RIB

55. Pierre's pinch? : SEL - Frawnche "salt"

57. Pierre's permission : OUI - more Frawnche, this time "yes"

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 20th, 2014, John Lieb

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 29

  We have seen John before, this year, and I thought I was going to sail to a quick finish - I was racing through some of the long fill - but then the NE did me in for too long....oh well.  Oh, and I was totally off-point in a minor area of the SE, too.  Long line of unused letters today, but we have had seven on a Saturday.  Triple 9-letter across corners, triple 8-letter downs, and two 12-letter spanners;

32. 1970 Top 40 song with the lyric "And I'm lucky that you're mine" : RUBBER DUCKIE - I think I've heard it - link away~!

38. Nickname for the NFL draft's last pick : Mr. IRRELEVANT - half perps, half educated guess - but it makes sense; the Wiki

ACROSS:

1. Go figure? : DO THE MATH - I have been looking for funny T-shirts for Christmas - I liked this one

10. Scented candle option : LILAC - Once I filled AVE MARIA, and WAGed CAROUSED, the ---AC made me realize this was not "TAPER"

15. One may become an exurb : RURAL AREA

16. Carew's Twins roommate : OLIVA - Oh, I know C.C. nailed this one~!

17. Monopoly duo : UTILITIES - I started putting in RAILROADS, which fit - but there's FOUR of those.  Duh. 

18. Inspiration for some Yahtzee categories : POKER - Had it, took it out, ended up trying it again

19. Reasons for handshakes : DEALS

20. Large volume : TOME

22. Alt-rock subgenre : EMO

23. Material for Caesar : GAGS - Ah, Sid Caesar

24. Russian crepes : BLINI

26. Egyptian __: cat breed : MAU - once I saw it, the V-8 can flew

27. Warm time for Nancy? : ETE - Is Nancy Frawnche~? I guess....

28. Nursery nourishment : LOAM - Good WAG on my part - I was in that nursery, not the kiddies

29. Slinky ad feature : STAIRS - oh, THAT Slinky - you know my mind was here - and see, Nancy is American, I'm sure

34. Restraining device : MANACLE

37. Numskull : AIRHEAD

40. High regard : ESTEEM

41. Alice's workplace : MEL'S - the Alice of TV fame

42. 1956 milestone for Ford: Abbr. : IPO - I put in LBO - which is, um, totally wrong

45. __ anglais: English horn : COR

46. Actor Ken and others : OLINS

48. Hitch : TOUR - the 'meh' clue for the day

49. Its Batman version contains a Joker : UNO

50. Like some annoying blog posts: Abbr. : ANON - let's see who pops in today~!

51. Coming-out party? : BELLE - har-har

52. Quality of a good math proof : RIGOR - still no algebra


54. Zen-like "Caddyshack" mantra : BE THE BALL - I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of this movie

57. Grenoble's river : ISERE

58. Hoops matchups : ONE-ON-ONES - basketball, not earrings

59. Former lab heaters : ETNAS - outdone by Bunsen

60. Like many lotteries : STATEWIDE

DOWN:   

1. Lowly worker : DRUDGE

2. Best in a mess : OUT-EAT - I had OUT--T, and this just wouldn't come to me

3. ER protocol : TRIAGE

4. "Vapor Action" brand : HALLS

5. 2013 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey champs : ELIs - another WAG

6. Place to wrestle : MAT

7. George W.'s first press secretary : ARI - perps

8. Driver's appointment? : TEE TIME - nailed it

9. Sports : HAS ON - I had the "---ON" part, so no misdirection for me

10. Make big strides : LOPE

11. U.N. workers' gp. : ILO

12. 2002 Lil' Bow Wow film : LIKE MIKE - I had '--KE--KE', and a vague recollection crept into my mind - IMDb

13. Prayer sung by Desdemona in "Otello" : AVE MARIA

14. Carried on : CAROUSED

21. Makes bad calls? : MIS-DIALS

24. Hall of Fame pitcher who managed the Yankees to a 1978 title : BOB LEMON - more baseball for C.C.

25. Tag : LABEL

28. Ill-gotten loot : LUCRE

30. Chances : TURNS

31. Vier times zwei : ACHT - German 4 X 2 = 8 - still no algebra

32. Special : RARE

33. Poetic rapper : RAVEN - ah, that kind of rapper - as on a door....

34. Only woman with two Nobel prizes, formally : Mme CURIE - Oddly, I filled this in with only the -CU- in place; and she WAS French, technically - the Wiki

35. Insurance fraud perpetrator, perhaps : ARSONIST

36. Ammonia component : NITROGEN

39. Distinguished : EMINENT - I think the "arsonist" clue made me read this as "extinguished" first

42. Historic island palace : IOLANI - I'm a big fan of Hawaii Five-O, both the old and the new - some trivia, including the palace

43. __ pork : PULLED - I, um, had BALLed pork to start - my palace was LElani, and, well, cut me some slack - it's been a long month

44. Uncreative threat : OR ELSE

47. Latin rock group Los __ : LOBOS

48. First sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy : TEBOW

50. "Iliad" war god : ARES

51. Factor opening : BENE - benefactor

53. Mouths, anatomically : ORA

55. See 56-Down : TEA - circumreferential, I got all the letters via perps

56. With 55-Down, sore throat soother : HOT

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 13th, 2014, Pawel Fludzinski and Michael S. Maurer

Theme: None

Words: 64 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 33

  A new duo for our Saturday solving strife, and a mouthful to pronounce, to boot~!  A big chunky grid with only four - count 'em - FOUR three-letter words.  Nice.  Argyle handled Pawel's last LAT puzzle back on July 29th, and I did not see Michael's name in the blog archives, so I'm guessing this is his debut.  Technically, triple 9-letter corners, but not on the grid edge, but I'm not being picky.  A little over the half-way mark in my personal time - but one bad cel, and I should have known better.  To change it up, here's the big three-letter words for the day;

21a. Beehive State native : UTE - the Beehive state being Utah, and therefore....

46a. Matinée idol Johnson : VAN - I never heard of him, and I see he was "The Minstrel" in the Batman TV series of the 60's - about the only place I would have seen him, and I don't recall the character at all

16. Deodorant product word : DRI - like this

48. CCCI quintupled : MDV - my math skills are suffering from the six-day worknights at UPS - first I multiplied by 3, and that gave me CMIII, and that didn't fit - oops, I meant 4X - nope, that's MCCIV - dah~! FIVE times~!

ACROSS:

1. "The __ the facts, the stronger the opinion": Arnold H. Glasow : FEWER

6. Bois __: tree once used to make bows : D'ARC - The irony is that this reappears at 12d. - more here

10. Simple race of fiction : ELOI - Saturday cluing for a crossword staple

14. Words from one who doesn't see : I'M OUT - "see" as in poker; "I'll 'see' your twenty, and raise you ten"

15. Wear tails to tea, say : OVERDRESS

17. __ diem : CARPE

18. Cutting : SATIRICAL

19. Egyptian life symbols : ANKHs

20. It was spawned by the Manhattan Project : ATOMIC AGE

22. It may precede a stunt : DARE - Tis the season for a "triple DOG dare"

23. Lover of Aphrodite : ARES

24. Polo and others : TEAM SPORTS - um, well, yeah, that's one example

27. Some rats : ALBINOS

28. Surprise : STARTLE

34. Super Bowl party array : SALSAS

35. Jack feature, perhaps : ONE-EYE - anyone else caught up in thinking about car jacks?

36. Gives special treatment to : EXEMPTS

38. Use to one's advantage : TRADE ON

39. Ironically, Samantha Bond portrayed her in several films : MONEYPENNY - I'm OK with the new girl playing Moneypenny, but I am very happy that Ralph Fiennes replaced Judy Dench as the new "M".   New movie, Spectre~!   Gratuitous Bond image

41. Suffers : AILS

45. "Up and __!" : AT 'EM

47. Titanic, e.g. : STEAM SHIP

49. Sister of Goneril : REGAN

51. On-site trial : FIELD TEST

52. Acid used in soap : OLEIC

53. About to cover old ground? : IN REVERSE - har-har

54. Trunk : TORSO

55. Soviet news acronym : TASS - ITAR or TASS~?  I figured at the bottom of the grid, the two "S"s worked better

56. Vibrating instrument piece : REED

57. Recesses : APSES - NAVES or APSES~? Again, at the bottom of the grid, the "P" worked better than the "V"

DOWN:

1. Pay stub letters : FICA

2. Pianist who often collaborates with Yo-Yo Ma : EMANUEL AX - cool name - his Wiki

3. Craftsman's item : WORK TABLE - I went with work BENCH, which makes sense to me - but then again, I'm a carpenter, so....

4. Softener of a kind : EUPHEMISM - like 'negative patient outcome' for 'dead.'

5. GPS data : RTEs

6. Back to back, in Bordeaux : DOS-à-DOS

7. Personification : AVATAR - like our little pics on the blog

8. Sass : RETORTS - the singular/plural threw me

9. Many a piece of pulp fiction : CRIME STORY

10. Author Jong : ERICA

11. '70s-'80s Rabbit competitor : Le CAR

12. __ orange : OSAGE - I had ELOI, then changed when I thought this was "AGENT"

13. Man and others : ISLES - did not fool me, but then again, I had the "I" and last "S" in place

24. Zap : TASE - WAG

25. Pop partner : SNAP - and don't forget the third guy, Crackle

26. Letter man : POSTMASTER

29. Words after grab or take : A NAP - I had "IT UP"

30. Convert to condos, say : RE-DEVELOP

31. Romeo and Juliet, for two : TEENAGERS

32. Cooked with onions : LYONNAISE - Frawnche, "from Lyon", because Saaaaute-e-e-e wasn't working

33. Selection process word : EENY - meeny, miney, moe

37. "Take that!" : "SO THERE~!"

38. Like a diner eying a dessert tray : TEMPTED

40. German/Polish border river : NEISSE

41. Equally buff : AS FIT

42. Rock memoir : I, TINA - learned from doing crosswords

43. Hardly good looks : LEERS

44. __ resistance : SALES - meh

49. "The Godfather" composer : ROTA

50. Some PX patrons : NCOs

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 6th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,V)

Blocks: 31

Starting off December's Saturdays with a Silkie, and a good one at that - and what I mean is, it was still difficult, but there was enough to work with that I did in fact finish, but with red-letter help and over my preferred time limit - but that was due to a ZEALOUS approach to the SW corner; I pretty much shot myself in the foot down there.  Oh well.  Two triple nine corners, and two long 14-letter fills;

28a. 2000s best-seller subtitled "The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" : "FAST FOOD NATION" - I pondered "SUPER-SIZE ME", but that was the movie about eating McDonald's everyday, every meal, for one month - more here

45a. It contains a due process clause : FIFTH AMENDMENT - DAH~!!  I was pretty confident that this was the SIXTH amendment - I watch a lot of "Law & Order" - because I know that the FIFTH amendment contains the right against self incrimination; found out that NY was the only state that requested 'due process', and that the 14th Amendment contains such language, too

42a. onward~!

 ACROSS:

1. Breakfast fare : SWEET ROLL - "----BAGEL" was working, so long as I had AGHA in place of RANI

10. Excuse : ALIBI

15. Disposable : THROW-AWAY - put it right in, decided to take it out; then the first "W" returned, and so it went back in

16. Mauritian coin : RUPEE

17. Chocolate-covered snack : RAISINETS - don't like 'em, but Goobers are good; referential clue - 47d. Maker of 17-Across : NESTLÉ

18. Tyrannical types : OGRES

19. Packed away : ATE - I can pack away a bag of Goobers no problem

20. Current : TIDE - Dah~! Not "LATE"

21. Revere : HONOR - not ADORE

22. Dry, in a way : WIPE - as, say, your windshield - see 35a.

24. Beethoven's "Archduke," for one : TRIO - did not quite understand this; here's the Wiki

26. Ones working at home, maybe : UMPS - baseball's 'home'

32. Besides : TOO

33. Alternative to shaving : NEET - NEET or NAIR? Had to wait

34. __-Cat : SNO - I'll bet Mr. Silk cringes when he has to use this in a grid

35. Cause of a wet blade : DEW DROP

39. Easter tradition : DYED EGG - I went with "EGG HUNT"

41. Prefix with lateral : UNI -unilateral

42. Working hard : AT IT - I was at it from 2am to 7am this morning at UPS, and from 12:15am to 9:30am every night this past week - only 13+ days to go~!

44. Hammer setting : EAR - ah, that hammer

50. "I'm just sayin'," in texts : FWIW - For What It's Worth

51. Reason for a warning : GALE

52. Persian Gulf capital : DOHA - shout-out to Doc~!  I had to wait on perps

54. Slate, for one : eZINE

56. Bk. before Job : ESTHer

59. Female lobster : HEN - I figured it was HEN or COW, had to wait again

60. Gem : STONE - worked for "Slate" at 54a, too, which messed me up

61. Zealot : EXTREMIST - also the title of a Joe Satriani album; here's a cut from "Surfing with the Alien"

63. Kingdom east of Australia : TONGA - Dah~! I put in SAMOA, and the "A" was good, but only 20% worth

64. Some priests : CELIBATES

65. Olympic event since 1968 : SKEET

66. There's one in the London Chancery Bldg. : U.S. EMBASSY

DOWN:

1. __ vote : STRAW

2. Experimenter's question : "WHAT IF...."

3. It may precede 16501 : ERIE, PA - very good - the zip code; I was pondering Roman numerals - but 10,000 =¯X; and that's not crossword acceptable

4. Daughter of Hyperion : EOS

5. Fool : TWIT - ah, the straight-up use of the word, IMHO

6. Eastern royal : RANI - AGHA was a possibility

7. Had because of : OWED TO

8. Eventually : LATER ON

9. Lille lily : LYS - Frawnche

10. Buck add-on : A-ROO - Buck-a-roo

11. Bit of wheel hardware : LUG NUT - important bits, I might add

12. "You can depend on me!" : "I PROMISE~!"

13. Pub game : BEER PONG

14. -osis : -oses :: -y : -__ : -IES - plural endings, as in neurosis, neuroses, pony, ponies

21. Flavored, as roasted chicken : HONEYED - I've heard of honey-glazed, so this was close enough

23. Cornerstone abbr. : EST'D - when the stone is too small to fit "established"

25. Named : IDed

27. Get lovey-dovey, in Leeds : SNOG - if you've seen Harry Potter....

29. Regular religious reading : TORAH

30. Movie scenes : FOOTAGE - ah, good clue

31. Select group : A-TEAM

35. Behind : DUFF - the noun, in this case; seasonal gratuitous image

36. 1944 battle site : ENIWETOK - wow, what a fill - new one for me; the WIki on this Pacific Atoll

37. Place to get connected : WiFi ZONE - Dah~! the "X" from my erroneous "SIXTH" stopped me from seeing this

38. Strong cotton : PIMA - a lesson in fiber-producing plants

40. __ Scott v. Sandford: 1857 Supreme Court case : DRED - learned from paying attention in high school, I think

43. Fax forerunners : TELEXES - more pluralizing

46. Minor pain : TWINGE

48. Pitches a gem against : NO HITS - more baseball for C.C.

49. Luther's 95 __ : THESES - and yet more pluralizing

53. Restless : ANTSY

55. Undiluted : NEAT - There you go, Tin~! No "three-letter words" today~!

57. In good shape : TRIM - Dah~!  Not "HALE"

58. "Sunny" singer Bobby : HEBB - that one "ugh" moment, where I could not tell which letter to start this clue with and end the "Biblical Book" abbr. clue with as well - WAG the "H"

60. D and C, in D.C. : STs - streets; clever - nothing to do with "District" and "Columbia"

61. Old French coin : ECU - been popular, lately

62. Kid's cry : "Maa~!"

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 29th, 2014, Jeff Chen

Theme: None

Words: 64 (missing F,K,Q,Z)

Blocks: 33

I saw Jeff's name, and cringed - I ususally suffer an epic fail when he's the constructor, but I am pleased to announce that I was, in fact, able to beat this one, with a mere 3 seconds to spare on my personal time clock.  Yay~!!  I can feel my brain cells tingling.  I loved the look of this puzzle, a true pinwheel of backwards "block C's", connected via four 10-letter fills, though it does make for a low word/high block count.  The longer fill:

24. Superstitious admonition : DON'T JINX IT - Great fill

9. Court groups : LEGAL TEAMS - Because TENNIS teams was too long

39. Undeveloped areas : OPEN SPACES

26. Ones who are retiring : INTROVERTS - I consider myself an introvert, but I am about 20yrs from retiring - har-har~!

OOO  N     N  W             W     A          RRR    DDD      ~!

O   O  NN  N    W   W   W   A  A        R    R  D    D   ~!
O   O  N  NN      W W W   A  A  A     R R     D D     ~!
OOO  N     N       W  W    A             A   R  R   D        ~!

ACROSS:

1. It's a bluff : SCARP - geological jargon

6. Let it all out, perhaps : BAWL

10. "Yeah, what-evs" : "I BET"

14. Kit and kaboodle : TOTAL

15. She plays Jackie on "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE

16. "99 Luftballons" band : NENA

17. Taqueria adjective : ASADA

18. Tongue specialists? : LINGUISTS - I knew where this was going, but "OLE" at 19d was messing me up; the "O" was making me try to get LEXICOLOGIST to fit

20. Six-Day War setting : SINAI - I knew it involved Israel, but it took a moment for this broader geographical area to occur to me

21. Target, say : MEGA-STORE - does anyone else pronounce it "tar - ZHAY" to make it sound more upscale~?

22. Prince Valiant's heir apparent : ARN - knew from doing crosswords

23. Beat on "Survivor" : OUTLASTED - outwit, outplay - outwitted worked, too

27. Laborer on the move : MIGRANT

28. Crushed, as a spice : PESTLED

34. Obliquely : ASLANT and a straight up clecho; 3d. Obliquely : AT AN ANGLE

35. Without serious consideration : AIRILY

36. "Yikes!" : "JEEPERS~!"

38. Considerable : IMMENSE

41. Title bout, say : MAIN EVENT - nailed it, which gave me the first letters of the corresponding DOWNS, and that always helps

46. Reminder of an old flame? : ASH

47. Purity : INNOCENCE

48. First name in rap : TUPAC - Shakur, gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada

51. "Sleepy Hollow" director : TIM BURTON - nailed it.  Does anyone watch the TV series~?  I am enjoying the new "Constantine" on NBC

52. One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA - I toyed with ELENA, IRENE, and was not too far off

53. Abbr. for the nameless? : et al. - Latin for "and others"

54. Rocky heights : TORS - more geological jargon

55. Small change : CENTS - I tried DIMES first

56. Judicious : SANE

57. Weapon of yore : SNEE

58. "Grumpy Old Men" actor Davis : OSSIE

DOWN: 

1. King's Cross and others: Abbr. : STAs - London train stop

2. Mozart title starter : COSI - fan tutti, an opera by Wolfgang

4. Gun site : RADAR TRAP - Clever; it took a long time for me to tie "gun" to "trap", which I had via perps;  I was trying so hard to get BATTLESHIP to fit, or maybe "---DECK"; what's the name for the ship's armament level, Spitz?

5. Easy-to-miss miss : PLAIN JANE - sometimes, it's the plain Janes that are the most attractive when they dress up, IMHO

6. Last of an annual trio : BELMONT - Dah~!! Took way too long for me to get this; the Triple Crown of horse racing - The Kentucky Derby and The Preakness Stakes are the other two - in the U.S.

7. Ciao relatives : ADIEUX - I was so pleased to put in ADIEUS, but I needed the Frawnche version to be right

8. Certain brogue : WINGTIP - ah, the shoe, not the accent

11. Inebriate : BESOT - the verb, not the noun

12. Between, to Berlioz : ENTRE

13. Extremely shocked? : TASED - yep, that's getting extremely shocked

19. World Cup chant : "USA~!" - and a referential clue at 10d. 19-Down, e.g.: Abbr. : INITs

24. Key of Pachelbel's Canon: Abbr. : D maj - Ah~!  The "A" was there, so I had 75% of this one taken care of

25. River through northern France : OISE

29. Like-minded : SIMPATICO - SYMPATHETIC did not fit; nor did COMPASSIONATE

30. Cherishes : TREASURES

31. Vital components : LINCH PINS - Don't know why I spelled Linch with a "Y", maybe this connection

32. Conditional word : ELSE

33. Turns red, perhaps : DYES

37. Used to buy : SPENT ON - I get it, but the tense/usage doesn't quite jibe with me

38. Pungent, for example : INTENSE

40. Request for more : ENCORE

41. Pittances : MITES - meh.  I think mOtes is a better fit

42. Jazz singer O'Day : ANITA

43. "Cold Mountain" hero : INMAN

44. Lofty : NOBLE

45. Coin first minted under Louis IX : ECU - learned by doing crosswords

49. Against : ANTI

50. Court event : CASE

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 22nd, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 70 (missing Q,W,X)

Blocks: 27

 Mr. Wilber's prolific solo Saturday work is starting to rival that of Mr. Silk~!  We last had a visit from Brad in September.  Lots of vagueness on the first pass, but the Downs gave me a lot of letters to work with, and I ended up smoking through the puzzle in about half time.  Not an intimidating grid at all, yet a block count that is only one more than last week's.  How deceiving - and just two 9-letter fills comprised the whole of the 'long' answers;

25a. Highly visible septet : BIG DIPPER - The Big Dipper consists of these seven stars, yet part of the larger constellation Ursa Major

45. Gig at the brig : GUARD DUTY - I was thinking Jailhouse Rock

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Jeweler's concerns : SETTINGS

9. Coke product : FRESCA - Coca-cola, that is

15. Passed : OVERTOOK - the kind of passing drivers of cars do; see 7d.

16. "Top Hat" dancer : ROGERS - Ginger - because ASTAIRE did not fit ( the only other dancer I know of that regularly appears in crosswords )

17. How Dickens' novels were first published : SERIALLY - I had S---IALLY, and I thought, SOCIALLY~? Naw, they didn't have Facebook back then....

18. Is wild about : ADORES

19. Backwash creator : OAR - I went with "EBB", but it fit better at 48a.

20. Montreal Canadiens' all-time leading point scorer : LaFLEUR - Guy; I went with Maurice "Rocket" RICHARD first; he scored 50 goals in 50 games in the '44-45 season, but LaFleur scored 50 goals a season for 6 straight seasons decades later

22. Toon shopkeeper : APU - The Simpsons

23. Signals one's presence, in a way : RAPS

27. Year in Clement VIII's papacy : MDCI - well, just had to wait on perps, but after the "M" and "I" appeared, I tried the other Roman numerals ( C, D, X, V ) that would work with the "down" answer

28. Piquancy : TANG

29. Silly sorts : GEESE - "Silly Goose~!"

30. Jump back into the fray : RE-ENGAGE

32. Clingy husk : BUR - seems short a letter....

33. Paper fatteners : INSERTS - ah, Newspaper; I did not get this until I came to do the write-up; our Sunday paper is about to gain some weight with the holiday season upon us

34. Flips : GOES APE

38. Hot air ballooning watchdog: Abbr. : FAA - we have a drone problem developing over here; they're interfering with JFK airspace

39. Almond confection : MARZIPAN

40. About 1% of the Earth's atmosphere : ARGON - I did not go with RADON; just linked this two weeks ago

43. Engine once known as Live Search : BING - WAG

44. Abbey section : APSE - APSE~?  NAVE~? wait on perps

47. Your alternative, at times : ONE'S - seen often in crossword clues

48. Taper off : EBB - ah - that's where it goes....

49. 1974 top ten hit for Carole King : JAZZ MAN - Link away~!

51. Kenyan export : TEA - had the "A", WAGed the "T-E-"

53. Green Giant morsel : NIBLET - toyed with CARROT first

55. Dietary practice : VEGANISM - it may be a practice, but I'm not in the game; I just had this for dinner here at A Lure

57. Efface : DELETE

58. Sea along the Balkan peninsula : ADRIATIC - with the first "A", and "C" in place, this dawned on me

59. Letter closing : AS EVER

60. Buoys up : HEARTENS

DOWN:

1. Underwhelming : SO-SO

2. She played Principal McGee in "Grease" : EVE ARDEN

3. View providers : TERRACES

4. Prefix with athlete : TRI - TRIathlete

5. Right-leaning type?: Abbr. : ITALicS - see above

6. Bourbon Street city, informally : NOLA - New Orleans, LousianA

7. Drivers can be seen in them : GOLF BAGS - nailed it; did not confuse the 'club' with the 'car controller'

8. Broad view : SKYLINE

9. Mountebank : FRAUD - filled via perps; did not have any clue ( except to consider the Alp, Mont Blanc ); a swindler

10. Five-time A.L. home run champ : RODRIGUEZ - oh, him

11. A BMOC may have a big one : EGO - speaking of EGOs, see above

12. Colorful cover-up : SERAPE - total WAG, total win~!

13. Brunch order : CREPES - anyone try OMELET~?

14. Guarantee : ASSURE

21. Whisking target : EGG - and, uh, see above

24. Miss badly : PINE FOR - I went with LONG at first; I am holding out hope for my blue-eyed girl still

26. Blofeld's cat, in Bond films : PERSIAN - I think Mr. Bigglesworth was a great way to satire the whole thing

27. Picture of health? : MRI - we've seen this before; the "?" denotes the slight mis-direction

28. "I'm off!" : "TA-TA~!"

31. Baryshnikov move : GRAND JETÉ - Hello~!  I couldn't link a male in the pose, it looked to painful; yet this past Wednesday I played hockey, and the other goalie asked how I could get so low - I guess I'm almost as flexible; my buddy Bob sent me this pic from a few years ago

32. Wimbledon five-peater : BORG - Bjorn

34. Largest moon of Jupiter : GANYMEDE - I love watching shows on the probes we've sent out to explore the solar system; this one took 6 years to get there, but had some great moments

35. Fondness : APPETITE - for Destruction?  Great album cover, which was, of course, banned

36. Submits, as an exam paper : PASSES IN - HANDS IN was not enough; but then again, I remember we used to "pass in" exams by handing them to the person at the desk in front of us

37. Topeka-to-Peoria dir. : ENE - I threw in NNE

39. Bar __ : MITZVAH - this should have come easier than it did

40. Handout from a chair : AGENDA - I knew what direction this was pointing, but I spent Tuesday helping my buddy Adam move, and he has a 13 month-old son, so there was this image of baby food flying....

41. 40th anniversary symbols : RUBIES - an educated WAG after the "R" showed; I knew it was not Diamond, but a little further on than, say, "wood"; here's the list

42. Unintelligible talk : GABBLE - I had GARBLE in place; EBB fixed that

43. Sawyer of old comics : BUZ - the other "missing a letter" answer

46. "Antiques Roadshow" expert : DATER - carbon dater?  Now that's an antique~!

47. Booth warning sign : ON AIR

50. Onetime capital of the Mughal Empire : AGRA - seems sensible, now that I look at it

52. Pacers and Ramblers : AMCs - nailed it - but then again, I owned a Concord Sportabout

54. Bk. of the Torah : LEV

56. Baseball's Ryan Zimmerman or Jordan Zimmermann, briefly : NAT - I defer to our  baseball-starved but fearless leader, C.C. on these answers

There's always room for dessert~!

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 15th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing Q,W)

Blocks: 26

Well, I figured it was time for a beating from a Barry Silk puzzle, and he did not disappoint.  This one took me my full personal time, plus I needed red-letter help to see where I went horribly wrong.  Some very clever mis-direction, plus a solid set of shady Saturday clues that drained my brain - but I loved it~!  Triple 10-letter pinwheel, with two sets of 6/7/8-letter stacks and a low block count made this one enjoyable - but I will admit to a cringe moment.  Some of the longer answers;

11a. Key of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 : E min - so I threw in the "M" and waited; the second part is typically 'MAJ' or 'MIN', and the first part is A,B,C,D,E,F, or G - easy, right?

13d. At all : IN THE LEAST - oh, so vague

55a. Device used in WWII pilot training : TRAMPOLINE - I just learned that this man was the inventor

28. Psychic : MIND READER - I had the reader part, but wanted PALM, CARD, etc.

OR WA ND~!

ACROSS:

 1. Emergency beeper : SMOKE ALARM - Dah~!  I was stuck in volunteer fire-fighter mode - I have a buddy of mine who carries an emergency beeper with him at all times

15. Former Lagos-based carrier : AIR NIGERIA - I went with ---- AIR, and I was in the right frame of thinking, but bass-ackwards

16. "__ Girl": 2012 best-seller : GONE - took too long to remember this

17. Item on a therapist's office table, maybe : KLEENEX BOX - vague, but a good one

18. Airing : ON TV - I got it, but "phew"

19. Coin feature : EDGE - head, tail, face

20. Xi preceders : NUs

21. Cuthbert of "Happy Endings" : ELISHA

23. Florida pros : BUCs - ah, the football team; I should have known better with the abbr of pros; I was thinking RAYS

25. Like cockatoos : CRESTED - the original "mohawk"

26. Plain : HOMELY

29. Smoke shop choice : PANATELA - Cigars are measured by length and ring size;  I smoke these, which measure 4 x 30 (cigarillios)

30. Term coined by Dior : A-LINE - dress shape, and I did not know this

31. Capital of Belarus : MINSK - I had the M and K in place, and so I took an educated WAG

32. __ room : REC

33. Zest : RIND - ah, the part of the fruit, not the enthusiasm definition - I went with ELAN

34. Sole piece : FILET - ARGH~!  I was so stuck on shoes and sneakers, I never caught onto the 'fish' concept

35. Starbucks offering : CHAI - OK, their tea

36. Commonly rented item : DVD - ah, not "CAR" - seemed common enough

37. Nook reads : ZINES - Meh.  In fact, meh again.  I went with EBOOK, which did not jive with the plural of the clue, and then EMAGS, and that makes more sense than ZINES

38. Raise : HOIST

39. Nightingale and others : HEROINES - referring to Florence, not the bird

41. Full of grime : SMUTTY - I tried FILTHY, but we're looking for the grime more commonly found in, say, Hustler

42. Discharged : EGESTED

43. Ultra Set Trap maker : d-CON - 4 letters and a "trap"~? Try d-CON

44. Qatar locale : ARABIA

45. Word after Premier or Grand : CRU - Winery term; the Wiki

46. Like roulette wheels : SPUN - ah, very clever

50. Extinct dove relative : DODO

51. Food fit for a queen bee : ROYAL JELLY - learning moment for me; the Wiki

54. At any time : EVER

56. "Nebraska" Oscar nominee : DERN - Bruce, and he won "Best Actor" for his role at the Cannes Film festival

57. Hill prize : SENATE SEAT

DOWN:  

1. Benefit : SAKE - as in "for the --- of...."

2. Not so hot : MILD - not WARM, not COLD, more like the spice of your sauce

3. Wash. neighbor : OREGon - see Onward~!

4. Calisthenics exercise : KNEE BEND

5. Article for Nietzsche : EIN - not "DER"

6. Bureau : AGENCY - I started the Castle Home Inspection AGENCY, but it's not a bureau - the FBI is a better example

7. F Sport maker : LEXUS - I was stuck in "FORD" mode, since their trucks are F-series

8. Wall St. figures : ARBS - arbitrators

9. __ Negro: Amazon tributary : RIO - WAG

10. "Castor and Pollution" artist : MAX ERNST - nice play on the constellation Gemini and the twins, Castor & Pollux

11. Not exactly the modest type : EGOIST

12. Smash : MONSTER HIT

14. California Gold Rush town : NEVADA CITY - and a semi-clecho 31d. Worked in a rush? : MINED

22. Intelligence failure : LEAK

24. Diminutive suffix : ULE - um, like miniscule~?

25. Rabologist's collection : CANES - another vague reference; some Pinterest

26. Stubborn : HARD-HEADED

27. Oil producer : OLIVE GROVE

29. A lot : PILES - vague

34. Certain master's area : FINE ARTS

35. Advises : COUNSELS

37. Ristorante order : ZITI

38. Ins. plan : HMO

40. "South Pacific" screenwriter Paul : OSBORN

41. Carve : SCULPT

43. Play, maybe : DRAMA - vague; could have been the "fun" definition of play

45. Color in the four-color process : CYAN

47. Barre move : PLIE

48. It's out on a limb : ULNA - very clever; the bone in your arm (limb)

49. Duma vote : NYET - Россия

52. Source of iron : ORE

53. Louis in a ring : JOE

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 8th, 2014, Bruce Venzke & Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 28

   I did today's puzzle in two stages; I had to stop about 80% of the way through, but that was OK, because I was drawing a blank in the NW and SW corners.  Upon returning to the game, I noticed the WAGs I was reluctant to try were actually the correct answers - go figure.  Oh, and an alphabet-run technical DNF, which bummed me out(*). Bruce last appeared on a Saturday, Dec 7th, in 2013, and Victor's last Saturday was back on July 7th, 2012 (LAT) - two Victors in a row~!  Triple 10-letter pinwheel design with a pair of 7- and 8-letter fills as well;

17a. Group with many hits : COSA NOSTRA - Learning moment; I did not realize this was another name for the Sicilian Mafia - hence, the "hits" - more like whacks

12d. Get romantic : BILL AND COO - I have heard of the "COOing" part, but the "BILL"~?  I looked it up; it's a bird reference - now I get it

63a. They go down to the wire : CLOSE GAMES - I tried HORSE RACES

28. Some astronauts : SPACEWOMEN - Dah~! My first thought, and yet it seemed too simple - here's a list

O N W Ra Ds~!

ACROSS:

 1. Staff leaders : MAJORDOMOs - no clue to start, then I got as far as MAJOR----

11. Common rhyme scheme : ABAB - Good guess to start

15. In top form : AT ONE'S BEST

16. Wheels : RIDE - I am hoping to buy a new ride this weekend - a 2002 Ford Escape

18. Menlo Park middle name : ALVA - Thomas Edison

19. Fuse, as ore : SMELT

20. Comic strip about a high schooler : ZITS - I like it

22. She plays Watson in "Elementary" : LIU - Lucy

23. Fourth most populous U.S. island : OAHU - I threw in GUAM;  BZZZT~!  50% correct in all the wrong places

26. Reach : CONTACT - as on one's phone

28. Surveillance aid : SPYGLASS - I'd like to live on Spyglass Lane - there's one in my neighborhood

32. Steelers ownership family name : ROONEY

33. Nanki-__ : POO - I have heard this, but I went and looked it up afterwards - oh right - the Mikado

34. Prowler : SNOOP

36. Landlord's assets: Abbr. : BLDGs

37. "... men in __" : A TUB

39. Locks that are picked : AFROs

41. Victoria's Secret spec : D CUP - HA~! I threw this in, and upon doing the write-up realized I was right - I'm sure Dennis nailed it

Hello, blue-eyes - I bet you didn't even notice they were blue (her eyes)

42.* Longtime name in baseball broadcasting : CARAY - the "Y" was my downfall, in 43d., too

44. Inset site : ATLAS

46. Valuable elemento : ORO - goldo, in Spanisho

47. "And wilt thou pledge me this for time __?": Aeschylus : ETERNE - mostly perps

49. Takes a powder : SKIPS OUT - 'round here, SKIPS OUT means someone ran off in the night without paying the rent

51. Goes south : WORSENS

53. Rested from flight : ALIT

54. "He's mine, __ am his": "Coriolanus" : OR I - two quote partials doesn't sit well with me

55. Lases or tases : ZAPS

57. Verdi aria : ERI TU

61. Star followers : MAGI - 'Tis the season once again

66. Repeat : ECHO - 'Tis the season once again
- is there an echo in here~!?

67. Revealing : TATTLE-TALE - like a sign

68. Table tennis club's supply : NETS - um, I guess they would

69. Plots : STORY LINES - ah, that kind of plot

DOWN:

1. Apple array : MACS

2. It may be ionized : ATOM - see "onward"

3. Muralist Orozco : JOSÉ

Jose Orozco's Prometheus

4. Where a turtle might be seen : ON A LOG - sure, why not; the last one I saw was trying to cross Rt 25, which is a 50mph road - I believe he made it

5. Some prom night wear : RENTALS - oh, the tux....never mind....

6. Brit. military award : DSO Distiguished Service Order

7. Delivery pros : OBStetrician - from the Latin "to stand by"; the medical specialist that deals with pregnancy and childbirth

8. City on the Moselle : METZ

9. "Hamlet" courtier : OSRIC

10. Electric generator component : STATOR

11. Celestial altar : ARA

13. Amy Dickinson, e.g. : ADVICE GURU

14. Mole, maybe : BEAUTY SPOT - I do not think of them as beauty; just spots

21. Stereotypical status seeker : SNOB

24. Rival of Martina and Chris : HANA - Mandlíková, Czech tennis star

25. Patriotic nickname : U.S. of A.

27. Spoiled the surprise : TOLD

29. Kid's birthday party contest : POTATO RACE - never had one

30. "No argument" : YOU'RE RIGHT - upon returning to the grid, I was able to get past "YOU", which was all I had filled, and started thinking "YOU'RE" - Duck~!

31. Prepares for filing : SORTS

35. Grammy category eliminated in 2009 : POLKA - I did not know this

38. Illegalizes : BARS - I had BANS, and that threw me

40. Zip (through) : SAIL

43*. Santa __ Valley: California wine region : YNEZ - ugh - really~? Oh well - I'm sure our California contingency got it no problem

45. Catalog giant : SPIEGEL

48. Adopts : ENACTS

50. Low clouds : STRATI

52. Paint-spill sound : SPLAT - uhhh, whooo(ups)~?

56. __ speak : SO TO - ugh - all perps

58. "Project Runway Canada" host : IMAN

59. Commuting leader? : TELE - telecommuting

60. Doesn't let sit : USES

62. Cyclades island : IOS

64. Harp, e.g.: Abbr. : STRing instrument

65. Bridge expert Culbertson : ELY

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 1st, 2014, Victor Barocas

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 29

  Today marks Victor's Saturday themeless debut - as far as I can tell - for the LAT.  I just dove right in, not having had any experience with this constructor on the weekend; his last LAT contribution was almost a year ago - Nov 20th, a Wednesday.  Got to talking to the waitress about her costume, with the cat ears and the tail...WHERE WAS I~? - Oh, yes - Nothing terribly obscure, a few witty clues, and alas, one bad cell, so no "Ta-DA~!"  Two triple 9-letter corners, a pair of 9-letter downs, and two 8-letter acrosses intersecting a pair of 8-letter downs;

3d. Blue wall decorations : EROTIC ART - Hmmm, let me see if I can find any - I really like the implication in this piece - sort of M.C. Escher

Julian Murphy art

32d. Salad ingredients : SCALLIONS - I like to read about how friends here at the blog trade food advice and recipes - just not in the place to try them myself - yet

Asian Scallion Salad

O-rabbit N-rabbit W-rabbit ARD~!

ACROSS:

1. End of a digression : "WHERE WAS I~?" - as I was saying....

10. Christmas flier : COMET - Ah....SLED and SLEIGH did not fit; then the V-8 can flew....and then a clecho, to boot; 42d. Christmas flier : DASHER - Reindeer~!  This Christmas season is a 'short' one at UPS; just 3 weeks, 3 days between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25th - I already know I am working a full 8hrs on Black Friday - at triple time.  Nice~!

15. Like Gene Kelly's dancing : ACROBATIC

16. Ski resort north of Mount Snow : OKEMO

17. Pollster's challenge : CLOSE RACE

18. Stand in for : ACT AS

19. Wear out : TIRE - FLAG, FAIL, WANE

20. Haywire : KABLOOIE - Odd spelling, but the "word" is common enough

22. Circus prop : STILT - because tent pole was too long ( get it~?)

24. Lyra's brightest star : VEGA - Nailed it - but I am a big fan of astronomy

25. Rosencrantz or Guildenstern : ROLE - DANE anyone~?

26. Netlike : LACY - I threw in "HOLY", but I knew it should have been HOLEY

27. Cabs may be lined up at one : WINE BAR - HAR-HAR~!!! Cabernets - but then again, I would hope to see taxis, too....

29. After : A LA - "in style of", "modeled after"

30. Soaks (up) : SOPS

31. Like some bread : YEASTY

35. Reasons for some low scores : BIRDIES - Ah, golf; I was thinking FICO scores ( I am having an issue with mine right now ), and then SAT/school test scores

37. Handy thing to have when you need a break? : POOL CUE - Har-har~!!  I have two pool cues; a Sneaky Pete for playing, and another for the break - usually puts a lot of stress on the stick

38. Zen awakening : SATORI

39. Arabian checker : REIN - Clever misdirection; I was thinking of some type of Middle Eastern game piece - but we're looking for the Arabian, as in the horse, and the check-er

40. Turkish honorific : AGA

41. Expose a card, say : MIS-DEAL

43. Narrow strip : SLAT

44. Cuisine with a condiment called nam pla : THAI - WAG

47. Body __ : MASS

48. Attacks, as with snowballs : PELTS

49. Campaign fund : WARCHEST

51. Vier minus eins : DREI - German, 4 minus 1

52. Sundance showing : INDIE - I tried MOVIE, knew it was too simple for Saturday; still, I was 40% right, right?

53. It's usually an eagle : HOLE IN ONE - Here I was on the golf wavelength, but I couldn't s-t-r-e-t-c-h TWO UNDER to fit; on a par-3, a two-under would be a "one"

57. "A Confederacy of Dunces" author : TOOLE - learning moment for me; published after the author's suicide

58. Clinton had a big role in its construction : ERIE CANAL - ah, that Clinton - a little history

59. Begat : SIRED

60. Held in : REPRESSED - I will refrain from my favorite Monty Python movie....um, no, I won't....see it @2:00

DOWN:

1. WWII female : WAC - Women's Army Corps

2. Digestive aid, to chemists : HCl - Hydrochloric Acid

4. How a pollyanna sees the world : ROSILY

5. "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie" author : EBERT - Roger's take on the movie "North", and how it went on to become more

6. Hard or soft finish? : WARE - HardWARE,  SoftWARE

7. __ loss : AT A

8. Nauseates : SICKENS

9. Glaciation period : ICE AGE

10. Combustible rock : COAL

11. 1881 trouble spot : O.K. CORRAL

12. "I'm with you" : "ME TOO~!" - also the name of Luke Skywalker's other, self-centered, R2 unit

13. Outlook service : E-MAIL

14. "__ a world in a grain of sand": Blake : TO SEE - I could not parse this in the 'down', and having it cross OKEMO did not help

21. Nursery bottle contents : BABY OIL

22. Hunks : SLABS

23. Shire in films : TALIA

24. Limo riders : VIPs

27. "Alack!" : "WOE IS ME~!"

28. Many millennia : AEON - I had EONS first

30. iPhone speaker : SIRI - I have an Android phone and tablet; did you hear that Apple is working on a vacuum to compete with the Dyson?  It's called the "i-Suck"

33. Try to dislodge, perhaps : TUG AT

34. "Leda and the Swan" poet : YEATS

36. Home : DOMICILE

37. Pod occupants : PEAS

39. Make whole again : RESTORE

43. Perceived to be : SEEN AS

44. Ridicules : TWITS - I do not know why I went with twiPs, and Poole, especially with POOL CUE in the puzzle and my mother's favorite insult for the Rangers when they're losing ( "those twits" ) - but I did....

45. Asian capital : HANOI

46. Zeal : ARDOR

48. Haggler's target : PRICE

50. Mind : HEED

51. Roebuck, but not Sears : DEER - nyuck-nyuck-nyuck

54. Word with stick or service : LIP - Lipstick, Lip Service; the smell of some lipsticks is very erotic; see 3d.

55. "Auld Scotland wants __ skinking ware": Burns : NAE

56. Days of yore, in days of yore : ELD

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 25th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing F,J,Q)

Blocks: 32

  Nothing like starting the weekend off with a Silkie~!  I did well in the four corners, but the central block was all proper names, and a DNF loomed.  But - much to my surprise, my WAG-fest actually got me the "Ta-DA~!!".  In fact, upon reviewing the answers for the blog, I noticed that there was a whole bunch of WAGs which got me through.  Triple 11's in the across corners, triple 7's in the downs, and a pair of tens towards the center.  A few of the "acrosses";

4. Bulls' arena? : STOCK MARKET - I was curious if this might be a reference to where the Chicago Bulls play - United Center - but it's too long

16. Fighter with a record 131 career knockouts : ARCHIE MOORE - the Wiki

58. Reef dwellers : SEA ANEMONES - I toyed with "ANEMONE", but the "SEA" part eluded me

60. Wheel of Fortune highlight : PRIZE PUZZLE - I have a "DF" T-shirt that I think is hysterical - you'll have to email me for the image

Own a Dr.~!

ACROSS:

1. Maker of Select writing products : BIC - sure, I'll start with a gimme

15. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO - WAG

17. Georgia, once: Abbr. : SSR - The Russian version, not the U.S.

18. Deli order : POTATO SALAD

19. Player : THESPIAN - ah, that kind of player

21. Experts : WONKS; clecho at 50a. Experts : GURUS

22. Washes : BATHES

23. Word heard before and after old : SAME - Same old, same old....

25. Elected : OPTED - ah, not VOTED

26. Onetime Klein assistant : KARAN - I'm going out on a limb here and saying this is Calvin Klein and Donna Karan, two fashion superstars; I like DKNY because of these

31. Maestro's wear : TUX

32. Academic __ : YEAR

33. Occurred : CAME TO PASS - it came to pass this week that the blue-eyed girl was not at my home group on Tuesday, plus I was unable to get to the meeting I believe she regularly attends - but I do know her sponsor - so something good may still 'come to pass'

35. "The Clapping Song" singer, 1983 : PIA ZADORA - WAG

37. Santa Ana Volcano locale : EL SALVADOR - WAG

40. "La __ Breve": de Falla opera : VIDA - perps, this time

44. Rustic setting : LEA

45. Tanglewood Music Festival town : LENOX - WAG

46. Made aware, with "in" : CLUED

47. Family nickname : MAMA - had to wait on "P", or "M"

49. Target of some reality show hunts : GHOSTS

53. Natural moisturizer : ALOE VERA

55. Cause a dramatic reversal : TURN THE TIDE

57. Buck: Abbr. : DOLLar

59. Deadlock : TIE and a referential at 61a. They may resolve 59-Acrosses, briefly : OTS

DOWN:       

1. Film crew assistant : BEST BOY - I loved working on the movie set; I was not the "Best Boy", but I did do set construction, special effects, stand-in, extra, editing, and I was the "star" of the Bloopers reel

2. Fit : IN SHAPE

3. First name in civil rights : CORETTA - widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.

4. Exhausted : SAPPED - I was sapped yesterday - from UPS at 4am to doing the blog, but in between I did my first independent Home Inspection - I felt like I caught the important things, but I need to get used to the software

5. Nice crowd? : TROIS - Menage?

6. Prefix with -gon : OCTA -  I threw in "POLY" - and that was ZERO % correct

7. "Keeper of the Keys" detective : CHAN

8. Handy set : KIT

9. Shelter cry : MEOW

10. Recess retort : AM SO

11. Colorful mounts : ROANS

12. Capital of the state of West Bengal : KOLKATA - Hey~! Two for the price of one (map); Nepal and Bengal

13. Dutch humanist : ERASMUS - WAG

14. Rock star Nugent : TED 

20. Nepali language : SHERPA - I thought this referred to a 'guide' from the area; live and learn

24. George Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas" : EX'S

26. "On the Waterfront" director : KAZAN - dah~! KAFKA, er, CAPRA, D'oh~! I did notice the crossing of kaRan and kaZan

27. "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon" author : AMADO

28. Chemical reaction portmanteau : REDOX - reactions are typically one of two types; reduction, or oxidation - the Wiki

29. Decor attachment : ATOR - DecorATOR - meh, but you gotta "33d" sometimes

30. Logical connector : NOR - Neither...

33. Yield : CAVE

34. Pioneer in conditioning research : PAVLOV - HEY~! - guess who was hostess last night at the restaurant where I built the benches~!  I was there to make a space for a new printer and set it up, and the owner told me to "dress smart", because my favorite blonde was back~!  I was drooling, but it was the ribs I had for dinner, I swear.

36. Peaked : ILL

37. American __, North Dakota state tree : ELM

38. Big or Little follower : LEAGUER

39. Kabuto-wearing warrior : SAMURAI

41. "That was normal for me once" : "I USED TO"

42. Ford Field city : DETROIT - Ted is from Detroit ( 14d )

43. Magazine department : AD SALES

46. Swiss, e.g. : CHEESE

48. Lucie of "The Jazz Singer" (1980) : ARNAZ

49. Logician known for "incompleteness theorems" : GODEL

51. __ Reader: eclectic magazine : UTNE

52. Apt collie name : SHEP

53. Comprehensive : A TO Z

54. City on the Danube : LINZ

55. Sugar meas. : TSP

56. Shield supporter on Australia's coat of arms : EMU - WAG

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 18th, 2014, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z, two weeks in a row)

Blocks: 32

  I saw Julian's name in the constructor's line, thought "oh, boy", and despite the deceptive appearance of the grid, I was right - just 4 gimme answers on the first pass across (AIM, VEGAN, WIIs and NEE ).  Down was not much better until I got to the SW, and nailed the two 9-letter fills there.  That gave me hope, and I fought my way through some of the vague clues to an 'almost' finish - F*$#kn Frawnche got me, perped with a proper name.  Ugh.  Anyway, double 9-letter corners and two 11-letter climbers;

8. Be flexible : PLAY IT BY EAR - Started with "STAY----" and that wasn't working.  "Wanna go bowling after work? - Let's play it by ear."  Musically, I have gotten better on the guitar, but I was never quite so good as to "play it by ear"

23. TV cooking show? : BREAKING BAD - The "?" let me know it was not going to be "HELL'S KITCHEN" ( and it wasn't going to fit anyway ).  The 'cooking' in this particular drama was Crystal Meth, if I'm not mistaken - it's on the list of DVD shows to watch for me

ooh~! ooh~! OnWARD~! (see 53a.)

ACROSS:

1. Its General Test consists of six sections: Abbr. : GRE - yeah, not SAT; this is the Graduate Record Examinations

4. "NYPD Blue" Emmy winner Gordon : CLAPP - all perps

9. Senseless : DAFT - I like Daft Punk myself

13. Tone-deaf, say : NON-MUSICAL

16. Topic preceder : IN RE

17. Its airport is in the subcity of Bole : ADDIS ABABA - no clue, but with just a few letters in place, there weren't many places to choose from at that point

18. Rafts : A TON - meh

19. Houdini's birth name : WEISS - Erik Weisz, then Ehrich Weiss

20. Annual milestone, briefly : B-DAY - I always abbr. Birthday in my journal this way

21. "Raise Your Glass" singer : PINK - link away~!

22. Auction giant : SOTHEBY'S - ah - I learned there's no "U"

24. Ham-handed : INEPT

26. Lake Biel feeder : AAR - my first thought, but I hesitated

27. Mil. installation named for a 4-Down general : Ft. BRAGG - I needed 4d to get it; 

4d. Lee side: Abbr. : CSA - Confederate States of America - and one of it's Mil. generals

29. "Nothing to it" : SIMPLE AS ABC

34. Phone bill encl. : SAE - Self-Adrressed Envelope; I don't remit payment this way for anything anymore

35. "London Fields" writer : AMIS - DAH~!!  No clue - first name Martin; published in 1989

36. Like some self-appointed critics : ARTSY

37. Encouraging start? : ATTA - as in "Atta boy/girl~!!"

38. Out of action, perhaps : ILL

39. Dog named for an island : SKYE TERRIER

41. Sunny spots : SOLARIA - because lanais and atria and window sills didn't fit - however, veranda was a possibility

43. Marksman's asset : AIM - I hope so

44. Likely Meatout supporter : VEGAN - Meatout?  Really?

45. Video game series set mostly on Azeroth : WARCRAFT - World of Warcraft; I watched my one-time step-son play this; not as fascinating as Final Fantasy, IMHO

50. __ nut : PINE - had to wait on perps

51. Object : GOAL - object, as in the noun, and more like 'objective'

53. "What have we here?" : HELLO - Well, we have a new blue-eyed girl that has caught my attention - and this one is much more my speed, I think; for one thing, she's in the program, and over a year, too - so she's my new "51a".  Don't know her name yet, but I do know who to ask to find out - and this time I am not screwing it up, C.C. - I will say "Hello"....should I wear my suit~? (gratuitous self-image, but C.C. did request I post it )

54. MMXIV and others : ANNI - Get your Roman calculators out; this is 2014, and the Latin for 'years'

55. Vet's souvenir : BATTLE SCAR

57. Super Mario Galaxy systems : Wiis

58. Initially : AT THE START

59. "Tout de suite!" : STAT - more F*$#kn Frawnche

60. Oreck competitor : DYSON

61. Once called : NEE

DOWN:

1. Vexes, with "at" : GNAWS

2. Ballet with a hoedown : RODEO - um, yeah, I can see that

3. Go no further : END IT - like relationships

5. Cheney chief of staff Scooter __ : LIBBY - couldn't remember the name until --BBY

6. Specialized schools: Abbr. : ACADemys

7. Out-of-favor sunscreen compound : PABA - Learning moment; the Wiki

9. It's often disposable : DIAPER - I hate when these things come thru the UPS system - the perfumes in them really irritate my nose

10. Aperitivi followers : ANTIPASTI

11. Private community entrance : FRONT GATE

12. Prep for a marathon : TEN-K - I don't run, but my buddy Ed does; he's finished marathons, and I won't even start to THINK about one

14. "Oops" elicitors : MISHAPS

15. Dollar bill depiction, familiarly : US SEAL

25. It has six of the seven rainbow colors in its logo : NBC - OK, so which part of ROY G. BIV is missing....

27. __ food : FAST - could have been a circum-referential clue to 30d

28. Drive, e.g. : GEAR

29. Je ne __ quoi : SAIS - ARGH~!!!!; 'nuf said

30. McDonald's slogan : I'M LOVIN' IT - it's getting dated, if you ask me; Justin Timberlake recorded the actual song in 2003

31. Eon parts : MILLENNIA

32. "Game of Thrones" girl __ Stark : ARYA - Don't have HBO/Starz, but I have caught some moments of this show and "Black Sails" when I have been over at my buddy Mike's house

33. __-Foy, Quebec : STE - Ugh, and still more

37. Theatergoers often share one : ARMREST

39. Málaga Mrs. : SRA

40. Lucre : RICHES

42. One hostile to seniors : AGEIST

45. Juice amounts? : WATTS - Juice as in electricity - cute. 

46. E'en if : ALTHO

47. Highway covered in "The Milepost" : ALCAN - the Alaska Highway, or the Alaska-Canadian Highway, and its website

48. Solar __ : FLARE - massive

49. Patisserie product : TORTE - I did drafting for a pastry shop when I worked for the architect, so I knew this term

50. Cat's catchers : PAWS

52. Like some high-fiber cereal : OATY

56. College basketball TV analyst Elmore : LEN

Splynter