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

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing J,Q)

Blocks: 32

    There are three reactions during the solve of a crossword, I believe; 1), the "I know this" and you fill in with confidence; 2), there comes an answer and you go "oh, I get it, that's pretty clever"; and 3), when the V-8 can comes sailing across the room and you think "D'oh, I shoulda known that~!"  Mr. Silk's offerings are like this for me most of the time, but today I had a fourth emotion - one of those rare, "Rrrr", teeth-gritting moments; see below.  Challenging triple 10-letter stacks in the four pinwheels, and two 12-letter climbers:

5d. 69-Across preservation technique : FREEZE DRYING - 69-Across being "rose petals", and it's getting close to Valentine's Day, guys - personally, I have no one to cater too ;(

21d. 1982 James Bamford book about the NSA, with "The" : PUZZLE PALACE - more here, for those curious

onward~!

ACROSS:

1. "Giant" novelist : EDNA FERBER - Once I did a 'Down' pass, there were enough letters to figure this one out; falls into the #1 category

11. Sweeping : EPIC - I started with "WIDE", which slowed me down in the NE corner for too long; falls in to category #2

15. 1971 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year : LEE TREVINO - again, enough Down fill to get this one

16. MillerCoors brand : ZIMA - the "Clear Beer" that was the big thing just as I turned 21, but alas, has gone away

17. Where one can swing close to home? : BATTER'S BOX - nailed it (that's a #1 response), and I am sure C.C. did, too

18. Jaws : RAPS - GABS, YAKS, etc

19. Pitcher of milk? : ELSIE - the spokes-cow who 'pitches' milk in ads

20. Fall preceder : SLIP - started with "TRIP"

22. Japanese drama : NOH - Part of me wanted "OKE", from our earlier-in-the-week discussion

23. Kingpin : CZAR

26. Email program named for a writer : EUDORA - never heard of this software, or the author

28. Union fighter: Abbr. : CSA - REB? or CSA? - I went with the former, of course - that's a #2 in my book - reference to the Confederate States of America

31. Cheese shop offerings : EDAMS - went with "CUBES" first, thinking about samples

34. Peels : ZESTS -  PARES, the verb, RINDS, the noun? ARGHHH~!

35. With it : HEP - Filled in hIp, which was good enough to start

36. Daughter of Jacob and Leah : DINAH - not up on my Bible lineage, so I went with SARAH, and that was - D-otto, check me - 40% correct

37. Letters from Greece : ZETAs - could only be this, "Betas", or "iotas"

38. 1940s command: Abbr. : ETO - we've seen this once this week

39. Traditional Amish toy : RAG DOLL

41. Together : ONE - clever; technically, two = one

42. Evaluate : ASSAY

44. Do away with : ERASE - Had TrasH to start; 60% right

45. 10, at times: Abbr. : OCT - the 10(th) month

46. Eponymous German bacteriologist : PETRI - ah, and his dishes were popular, too

47. Pass a second time, in a race : RE-LAP

48. French article : LES - I put in DES to start

49. Overthrow target : TYRANT - For some reason, I had the image of a Quarterback's spiral in my head, so I was trying to fit "HAIL MARY" here

51. Lee of Marvel Comics : STAN

53. Flying Cloud, e.g. : REO

54. Proceeds : GATE - The noun, in this case, or money collected

57. Ruy __: chess opening : LOPEZ - this falls in to the #1 category, since I learned this from doing crosswords - and it was on a Saturday, no less; a clip for the chess player

61. Car trip game : I SPY - with my little eye, something beginning with "M"

63. Tanks : TAKES A DIVE

66. Pacific salmon : COHO - remembered this from the salmon puzzle we had recently

67. Compound used in photographic film production : ACETIC ACID

68. Was onto : KNEW

69. Florist's decorative supply : ROSE PETALS

DOWN:

1. Dresden's river : ELBE

2. Pass out : DEAL - ah, that kind of "pass out" - I used to do a LOT of the other kind

3. Brooklyn team : NETS - Basketball, and the local NBA team for me, which I don't follow; interferes with hockey, tho not as much this year. 

4. Top story : ATTIC - DAH~!  Gets me every time~!  The top story of a building, not the newscast

6. Election end? : EER - ElectionEER, such as a campaign manager

7. Campground array : RVs - Recreational Vehicles

8. Chest protectors : BIBS - I put in RIBS, and then "EDNA" fixed that

9. Hydroxyl compound : ENOL - such as THIS one, (neat~!, please~!) which often leads to 2d.

10. "Chicago" song : ROXIE - I was thinking of the "wrong" Chicago (the 70's band, not the musical)

11. Book before Neh. : EZR - ARGHHH~!  Here's that fourth response - The book is EZRA, and I had to Google it; dropping the last "A" makes me grit my teeth on this one - and I worked out an alternative solution in this corner to avoid the crummy abbr.  - SLR, which is a camera, SPIC, as in SPIC N Span, Lima and not Zima - done~!

12. Bench alternative : PIANO STOOL - Clearly a #3 moment for me, as I was thinking cars, and therefore BUCKET SEAT.  Here's some piano funny

13. Weight : IMPORTANCE - I had ---NCE at the end, and pondered putting in OUNCE to see if that would lead me somewhere

14. Liquid holdings : CASH ASSETS

24. Song on Sarah McLachlan's "Surfacing" album : ADIA

25. Park __ : RANGER - oh, duh - I couldn't see this on the first pass.  Um, that's a #3

27. Two-point Scrabble tile : DEE - the only other 2pt tile is "GEE", which worked, too

28. "The Flame" band : CHEAP TRICK

29. Observes : SETS EYES ON

30. Sign of possession : APOSTROPHE - very clever, - a #2 in my book -  Splynter's, e.g.

32. Sierra __ : MADRE - OK, I put in LEONE to start - also #2

33. Isles of __: Gulf of Maine locale : SHOALS - A WAG after 83% perps

40. Quarterly half-day exam : LSAT - Saturday cluing for the test for Law School - if you're interested in taking the test, here's the schedule

43. Constellation next to Scorpius : ARA

50. Volga region native : TATAR - The Wiki - I once had a cute pen-pal in Kazan

52. Acknowledge silently : NOD AT

55. Bell or shell lead-in : TACO - Taco Bell, taco shell, nice

56. Squeezes (out) : EKES

58. Type size : PICA

59. Source of harm : EVIL

60. Letters from Lancaster : ZEDs

62. "Ouch!" : YOW

64. Festival d'__ de Québec: annual music event : ETE - Saturday cluing for "Summer in Somme"

65. Taste : SIP

Splynter

Saturday, Jan 18th, 2014, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,U)

Blocks: 31

   I get very dismayed when I see Mr. Bickham's name listed as the constructor on the crossword,  because I find his Saturday puzzles to be very difficult to solve.  While today's grid has a very cool look to it, there was also a LOT of white, and my first pass did not yield much.  BUT - as is always the case, by plugging away, and throwing a few WAGs in, I was able to complete it.  There was no analyzer available last night, so forgive me for typos and omissions.  Two grid spanners:

17a. Traditional Austrian dish : WEINER SCHNITZEL - I started to fill in VIENNA SAUSAGE, but that just wasn't working with the down answers that I knew were correct

56a. Annual People feature : SEXIEST MAN ALIVE - Adam Levine of "The Voice" and Maroon 5 fame was the winner in 2013 - very racy pic here

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Lake Titicaca forms part of its border : BOLIVIA - oh, what a name~! map

8. Rug treatment : SHAMPOO - for both the carpet and the toupée versions

15. Demanding attention : EXIGENT

16. Performing a spiritual ritual : CENSING - the wafting of the thurible - I just learned something

19. Promise that doesn't always work out : I DO - I did, but now I don't; maybe....

20. Baby blues, e.g. : PEEPERS - I have blue eyes; the hostess at the Italian restaurant has gorgeous ones - she's so adorable, I'm thinking about "I DO" again

21. Half a Gabor? : ZSA-zsa

22. It can help you avoid ads : TIVO - or your local cable company's DVR, which is just about the only way I'll watch television these days

24. _____ Gras : MARDI

25. Swabber's aid : PAIL - I thought we might get our "Q" with Q-tip, the cotton swab, and the "U" on the DOWN side

26. Bohemia native : CZECH - could be from right here on Long Island, too~!

28. Food often served in chains : PIZZA - not links, as in sausage

29. Cry upon arriving : HERE I AM~!

32. Breezes (through) : WALTZES - tough, but entertaining clue/answer

34. Anabaena or chlorella : ALGA

35. Andean root vegetables : OCAs

36. Cyclist's wear : SPANDEX

39. Milky : WHITISH

43. Patty Hearst's SLA alias : TANIA

44. "Pearly Shells" singer : DON HO - now that I think about it, this should have been an easy WAG

45. Prophetess in Luke : ANNA - Saturday cluing for a common name

46. Conforms : JIBES

51. Fresh-mouthed : PERT

52. Way to go: Abbr. : RouTE

53. More than just enthusiastic : FANATIC

55. Mark, as a ballot : X IN

59. Didn't need instructions : KNEW HOW - I'm a "Type 5"; even if I do KNOW HOW, I still read the instructions - which came in handy doing a laminate floor last year; the installation for the larger tile style requires the longer side to be tapped into place, not the shorter one

60. Christmas eave sparklers : ICICLES - Did NOT fool me - I saw the "a" in the homonym eve

61. Straightforward demand : YES OR NO ?

62. Banks, e.g. : LENDERS

DOWN:

1. Entrance : BEWITCH - DAH~!! totally fooled by this en-TRANCE, not EN-trance; I was looking for a doorway that ended in ---ITCH

2. Discolor, as banana peels, e.g. : OXIDIZE

3. Be postponed for later attention : LIE OVER - meh; I think of LIE OVER as in airports

4. Engine starter: Abbr. : IGNition; too bad there was no way to deceive us with "KEY"

5. #2 : VEEP - The "V.P."

6. Directed against a thing, to lawyers : IN REM - Lemonade?

7. Clueless : AT SEA

8. TV listing : SCHEDule; TV is technically an Abbr.

9. '50s-'70s Montreal Canadiens star ____ Richard : HENRI - brother of Maurice, the "rocket"; this led Henri, younger, to be nicknamed the "pocket-rocket"

10. Spanish cordial : ANIS - anise in English

11. Colo. hours : MST - Mountain Standard Time

12. Dash : PIZZAZZ - Scrabbly fill

13. It fits all, so they say : ONE SIZE

14. Crazy Horse and Red Cloud : OGLALAs - according to Wiki, one of seven subtribes of the Great Sioux Nation

18. "Kiss of life", briefly : CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - and I spelled it correctly without looking it up~!

23. "1984" location : OCEANIA - or Eddie Van Halen's backyard, if you're thinking about this 1984

25. Rest area visit : PIT STOP - I had PI-S-O- , and thought....naw, can't be

27. "Broom-____": comic strip : HILDA

28. Geometric pattern : PLAID

30. Gray : AGE - put it in, took it out, went back in

31. Nth degree : MAXimum

32. Blow away : WOW

33. Rhine whine : ACH~!

36. 2004 Stiller title role : STARSKY & Hutch - IMDb; Owen Wilson as Hutch, but even better was Snoop-Dogg as Huggy Bear

37. Pro-V hair care brand : PANTENE

38. Takes over : ANNEXES

40. Banished : IN EXILE - better than "ENISLE"

41. McGovern's running mate : SHRIVER

42. Sex appeal : HOTNESS

46. Bourne of Ludlum's novels : JASON - I saw a fourth book at the Salvation Army last week; almost bought it for $.99

47. Apart, in a way : IN TWO

48. "... like THAT!" : BAM~!!!

49. .biz biz : ETAIL - I like the redundancy

50. "____  I Don't Have You" : 1959 hit : SINCE - I would link the Guns N' Roses version for Slash's great opening guitar work, but Axl ruins the rest of the song

53. NHL Player's Association director Donald : FEHR - Oh, I know this name all too well for the fiasco from last season, and its shortened schedule

54. "Am I my brother's keeper?" speaker : CAIN

57. Iconic Japanese island, familiarly : IWO Jima

58. PC monitor type : LCD

Splynter

Saturday, Jan 11th, 2014, Timothy L. Meaker

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,K,Q,V,W,Z)

Blocks: 37

   I have not had the opportunity to blog a puzzle from Mr. Meaker, and I did not see an interview from our "11d.", C.C.  I did review his other LAT contributions, and there seems to be a consistency in his cluing and answers.  I have to admit, this one was a pretty smooth solve for a Saturday, with an odd, patchy grid, and few long stacks; there were several unique answers, plus a generous amount of three-letter words.  Some of the longer fill for today;

12. 1964 Glenn Ford/Geraldine Page romantic comedy : DEARHEART - I started with DEATHTRAP, which fit, but was a 1982 film with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve

54. Ben & Jerry's, e.g. : TRADE NAME - IMHO, the best flavor, and not because I'm in NY

9. Focus of a 1990 psychology best-seller : INNER CHILD - more here

25. Idaho/Wyoming landscape : TETON RANGE - run with the buffaloes here~!

ONWARD~!!!!

ACROSS:

1. '70s quartet consisting of two married couples : ABBA - Well, how many 4-letter 70's groups were there with two men, and two women?

5. Wall St. strategy : LBO - Leveraged Buy-Out

8. Addams family nickname : TISH - Gomez's nickname for the 'wifey' Morticia

15. Seek protection from : RUN TO (you)

16. Cub leader : DEN MOTHER - I had DEN MASTER first - close enough to get a start in the NW

17. Laura of "ER" : INNES

18. Wait : STAY PUT - STAND BY fit, too

19. All thumbs : UNADEPT - my 'meh' word

21. See 59-Across : BOP; 59. With 21-Across, Cyndi Lauper hit : SHE - there was some controversy over this song, as it refers to masturbation....

22. Sequence often seen above WXYZ : MNO - I semi-cheated; I knew it was letters on the phone, but I had to look

23. Training systs. : RRs - um, not really sure; I believe this is about the P/RR/S weight training system, but it could also be about RailRoad trains, really....

24. Words with end or angle : AT AN

26. Get real : FACE FACTS

29. They may be tapped : ALES - had KEGS

30. __-Turkish War : ITALO

31. __ polloi : HOI - Greek for "majority", it now carries a pejorative sense of "commoners"

32. Portable storage container : TOTE BOX

35. 1948 Literature Nobelist : T.S. ELIOT

37. "Well, well!" : O-HO~!!

38. Actress Ryan : IRENE

40. Paris pronoun : ELLE

41. Complex : MANY-SIDED

43. They're not gentlemen : CADS

44. Letters concerning available space : SRO - Standing Room Only; I thought it might be S.FT, or SQ.I, as in square feet/inches

45. Eye : ORB - Poetry and crossword standard

46. Sci-fi escape craft : POD - ah, the escape pod - Star Wars, Alien, The Fifth Element...

47. "All greased up and ready to sing" '70s-'80s TV hosts : SHA-NA-NA - OSMONDS fit, too, but they weren't 'greased up' - at least, not ON TV....

49. Early NASA probe : MARINER - The Venus missions

53. Delhi tongue : HINDI

56. Advocated : URGED

57. Deadlock breaker : EXTRA TIME

58. Road to the Forum : ITER - Straight Latin for road

60. More than just thought-over : ORAL - I don't really understand this clue/answer, but you should try putting the whole thing into Google - BE WARNED~!!!

DOWN:

1. Puts in : ADDS

2. Red shade : BEET

3. "Hulk" star Eric : BANA

4. Where to see major decisions? : ARMY BASE - major as in the rank and officer

5. Slacken : LET UP

6. 100 satang : BAHT - Thailand

7. No ordinary rock : ORE - No ORE-dinary rock?

8. Much of Siberia : TUNDRA - I didn't know there were that many Toyotas in Russia - oh, wait, never mind....

10. Reach extenders : STEP STOOLS - mini-ladders with no hand-rails, essentially

11. Party person : HOST - Splynter has a new interest in the hostess at the Italian restaurant - don't worry, C.C., I don't think she's Russian....

13. Hayride invite : HOP ON - uh, yeah, hayrides....

14. Shortened : TRUNCATED - my driving career at UPS has been truncated - I'm back to the early AM pre-load position, and will probably be there until May

15. Narrow inlet : RIA

20. Much December radio fare : NOELS - not for another 11 months

22. Showerside item : MAT

24. Colorful top : ALOHA SHIRT - What I call a Hawaiian shirt, learned from doing crosswords

26. Loan offer : FIXED RATE

27. Opponent : FOE

28. Web extension? : SITE - Website

29. Energy source : ATOM

33. Start of an early Grafton title : B IS - for Burglar

34. Victim of Artemis : ORION - I love the time of year when Orion, the constellation, is visible, roughly Sept to March; the story goes that Orion was bitten and killed by Scorpio, and therefore in the 'other half' of the night sky

36. Provide a segue for : LEAD INTO

39. Great Plains st. : NEBraska - Hmmm, I think there's one or two guys from the blog there

42. Over there : YONDER

43. Jazz contemporary of Hancock and Jarrett : COREA - Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and the one I had not heard of, Keith Jarrett - a little piano piece from him

46. 1998 World Series player : PADRE - San Diego - beaten by the damn Yankees

47. Feng __ : SHUI - With the limited space I have, I try and practice this art; however, I do have a mirror and a flat-screen TV (both about the same size and shape) in the bedroom, and both face the bed - this is not good feng shui, tho I did know this, and could possibly hang a curtain in front of the mirror

48. Support : AID

49. Fermat's forte : MATH - another semi-shout-out to a blog regular

50. Hair-removal brand : NAIR

51. 1815 title character who "thought a little too well of herself" : EMMA - I tried EYRE, but that left me with TRADE NAYE and EXTRA TIRE - well, the latter could have been clued as "SPARE"

52. Stagger : REEL

55. Med. orders : RXs - Prescriptions

Splynter

Saturday, Jan 4th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70 (missing F,J; see below)

Blocks: 35

   This was the most arduous Saturday Silkie I have had the pleasure of working in a long time~!  The answers came slowly, and the proper name crossings did not speed things up at all.  Very unusual grid design, with a set of overlapping 'rings';   I wonder if the blocks preceding 23a and 45a were not there originally.  Either way, we have triple 10-letter stacks and two 11-letter climbers:

11d. Orderly traffic pattern : ZIPPER MERGE - This just doesn't work; at least not here on Long Island - if Long Islanders (typically) could comprehend this, there would be no such thing as "rush hour" traffic - and I don't just mean work zones, either.

23d. Phone book feature : AREA CODE MAP - our local phone books actually have an area map that is folded up in the back

55. Weather vane : ANEMOSCOPE - from the Greek for 'wind', we also have the wind speed device, the anemometer - that's hard to say~!   Now try sphygmomanometer

sfig-mow, uh, sfig-man-a, sfig-mumble-mumble, DAH~! - ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. End of a descent : SPLASHDOWN - astronauts and re-entry

11. Alternate courses : ZAGS - a WAG, but I did have -A-S

15. Gwadar Bay is an inlet of it : ARABIAN SEA - there was -R---N--A after some crosses, so "SEA" felt right; the ARABIAN part seemed like a good WAG, too

16. Fertile Crescent land : IRAQ

17. Commit, in a way : GET ENGAGED - some say you might need to be committed if you decide to get engaged

18. Indiana city where the International Circus Hall of Fame is located : PERU

19. Take up : USE - Meh

20. Dedicated lines : ODE

21. Telephone __ : POLE - a little history here; I also heard that Morse was under pressure to deliever his proposal to go country-wide to the US government, and having failed to bury his telegraph line, stuck ceramic wire supports in trees to carry the line from Baltimore to D.C. - now we're stuck with the system.   How many of our bloggers live in an area where there are NO telephone poles? 

22. Big name in shaving : ATRA

24. French 101 verb : AVOIR - I don't speak Frawnch, but I believe this is "to have"

26. "Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist" essayist : ELIA

27. Sound of waves : ROAR - neat little play on words

28. Uncovered : NUDE

29. Delay cause : WRECK - yeah, that and weather

30. How some equipment is acquired : ON LEASE

32. Drift : ROAM

34. Oil source : SESAME - canola, corn, shale, and dinosaur are some other sources

35. "Long-lasting" chocolate brand : RIESEN

39. Collectible sheets : CELS - I thought they were individual frames; I wouldn't call them 'sheets'

41. Routine that's not funny : RAT RACE

42. Colorful flowers : PHLOX - any one else throw in a plural "S" at first?

45. Not procrastinating : ON IT

47. Wax : GROW - a 'waxing gibbous' moon is one that is growing from first quarter to full

48. Crucifix : ROOD - learned this because I had an American history teacher, Mr. David Rood

49. Nitrogen compound : AMIDE

50. Downs : EATS

51. At a previous time : ONCE

52. Jack insert, briefly : MIC - this "M" was the last letter to fill, and I had to duck for the flying V-8 can; I should have guessed this immediately, as I have discovered not one, but TWO open-mic nites this past New Year's Eve - I can't wait to get up and jam~!

53. Barrett of Pink Floyd : SYD - one of the founding members; for those who do not know his story

54. Support piece : BEAM

60. __ noche: tonight : ESTA

61. Traces : DELINEATES - the 'outline' definition, not the 'last vestiges' one

62. Put one's foot down : STEP

63. Drop-down item that hopefully doesn't have to : OXYGEN MASK - I was stuck in computer mode, and kept thinking of some drop-down menu item

DOWN:

1. Sonoran Desert natives : SAGUAROS

2. Coolant giant : PRESTONE

3. Some gridiron passes : LATERALS

4. See 43-Down : ABE;  43D. With 4-Down, one-time White House nickname : HONEST

5. It's not a good thing : SIN

6. Witchy woman : HAG

7. Evidence of descent : DNA - semi-clecho, but this has a different 'descent' meaning

8. James whose company published the first U.S. edition of "The Prince and the Pauper" : OSGOOD

9. More unkempt, lawn-wise : WEEDIER

10. "Unsafe at Any Speed" author : NADER

12. Ring of color : AREOLE - it's been a while since we saw this one [C.C., can you find that classic link?]

13. Bruschetta ingredient : GARLIC

14. Barely get (by) : SQUEAK

24. Adams of filmdom? : ANSEL - black and white film, that is

25. Saturn SUV : VUE - I had ION at first - which is their 4-door sedan

29. Take no action : WAIT

31. Former Food & Wine publisher, familiarly : AMEX - the Wiki

33. Make a delivery : ORATE - ah, not drive-brown-truck....

36. City south of Tampa : SARASOTA

37. Adaptable subspecies : ECOTYPES

38. Paper department : NEWS DESK

40. Aid for the restless : SOMINEX

41. Divest : RID

42. Examines closely : PROBES - not SCOPES - that showed up in 55a.

44. Pinpoint : LOCATE

46. Well : NICELY - such as saying "That will do well (nicely)"

49. "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" author : AMADO

56. Eurasian aircraft acronym : MiG - more Wiki

57. Unified : ONE

58. Hill fig. : SEN - REP, POL, which one?

59. Carolina quarterback Newton : CAM - the only sports figure I know named CAM is the former player and now preisdent of the Boston Bruins, Cam Neely

Splynter

Here's your F & J ~!  (one block from my UPS route)