Friday, May 2, 2014

Saturday, May 3rd, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)

Blocks: 33

    A great puzzle from our Saturday Stalwart, Sr. Silk - we had to wait a bit since his last (Apr 5th; almost a month~!)  I liked this puzzle because I cheated, W.A.G.ed and actually knew some things, too - and that means I learned something.  Nifty little pinwheel design with double-word-only stacks in a spiral pattern, plus a couple more 9- and 10-letter words on the inside as well.  The "it looks easy" 4-4-5 across the top was deceiving, to say the least; some of the longer fill:

18a. Bonobo, e.g. : CHIMPANZEE - Also a musician



28d. Australian red formerly called Hermitage : SHIRAZ WINE - a guide for those who can partake of the alcoholic grape

47a. It needs to be refined : CRUDE METAL - Because CRUDE OIL was not enough - how about some crude metal hair band music?


3d. Out of order : ON THE BLINK - When I was growing up, it was usually the TV that suffered this malady

Alexandra

ACROSS:

1. Trudge : PLOD - Um, OK, so, TREK, WALK, STEP....

5. Sonoma County seat Santa __ : ROSA - A WAG off the "O"

9. Square : PLAZA - anyone else in "dweeb" mode here?  Oh, that kind of square

14. Late great? : LENO - Ah, the V-8 can - DUCK~!

15. Sci. subject : ASTRonomy - For some reason, I was pre-qualifying this as a "high school" subject, and not Science in general

16. Eponymous golf promoter Samuel : RYDER - His famous Ryder Cup is the prize for the winning team of USA vs. Europe players

17. FYI relative : ATTN.

20. Brief disclaimer : IMHO - Seen frequently here at the Blog, "In My Humble Opinion"

21. Provider of sound testimony? : EAR-WITNESS

22. Saw things : TEETH - Nailed it - did not fool me with "seeing"

24. Priceless? : FREE - Yup

25. Crayola color since 1949 : BRICK RED

28. Diving duck : SMEW - I tried TEAL

32. Uses a management training technique : ROLE PLAYS

34. Title imaginary friend in a Neil Diamond hit : SHILO - I have spent my music links

35. Fast ship : CLIPPER - "Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"

36. DVD staple : TRAILER - Annoying, actually - and I do not have Star Wars on DVD - just VHS ( for shame )

38. Silicon Valley college : MENLO - all perps

39. Tempo notation : ALLA BREVE

41. Slow : POKY

42. Liver delicacy : FOIE GRAS

43. "The Wizard of Oz" farmhand : ZEKE

44. San Diego State athlete : AZTEC - Total cheat on my part - Googled it

53. Policy pro : WONK - New word for me; messed up the whole SE

54. Transcends : RISES ABOVE

55. Prefix with Aryan : INDO

56. Free __ : AGENT

57. "The Last King of Scotland" tyrant : AMIN

58. Caution to a German shepherd, say : NEIN - Ah, not "HEEL" - that would be a German Shepherd - ah, you deceiver, Barry Silk~!

59. Longtime NFL coach Schottenheimer : MARTY - WAG/perp for me

60. Stop : REST

61. Uruguay's Punta del __ : ESTE



DOWN:

1. Braid : PLAIT

2. "I can do it" : LET ME

4. Phrase in much computer-generated mail : DO NOT REPLY

5. Speed : RACE - RUSH was my first try

6. Federal inspection org. : OSHA

7. Cook quickly : STIR FRY

8. Compete in a strength contest : ARM WRESTLE

9. Jabber : PRATE

10. "Coal Miner's Daughter" subject : LYNN - Loretta

11. Shop shaper : ADZE - LATHE was too long, so I pondered RASP and FILE

12. You might catch a few : ZEES - Had it, removed it, put it back in

13. Father of Deimos : ARES - Greek Gods

19. Patchy : PIED - when this filled, I had to duck again

23. Semiaquatic heavyweight : HIPPO

26. Largest OH airport : CLEveland - Cincinnati's airport is actually in Covington, KY

27. Place to enjoy a sharp drinker? : KARAOKE BAR - musically "sharp", but most of the time, 'atonal' is a better way to describe it

29. Noteworthy events : MILESTONES

30. Abbr. on some city limit signs : ELEVation

31. Had on : WORE

32. Ottawa-based law gp. : RCMP - One of those "ooh, I know this one~!" answers

33. Stick on a fridge door : OLEO - another bit of misdirection that did not get past me - a stick of margarine, not a magnet

34. Tel Aviv native : SABRA

37. Syncopated piece : RAG

40. 1962 hit with the lyrics "the truth could mean I'd lose you" : LIE TO ME

42. Disaster relief org. : FEMA

43. Piquant : ZESTY

45. Split up : END IT

46. Designer fragrance : ck ONE

47. Squeeze : CRAM

48. Baltic seaport : RIGA - No more maps for you~!


49. End __ : USER

50. Noticeable progress : DENT - I am making a dent in my list of things to get done around here, and it feels good, too.  The rental apartment at mom's house is vacant again, so that needs to be cleaned up, I just replaced the valve cover gasket on my car, and changed the plugs; today I tackle the thermostat.  Now the battery idiot light came on in the other car -  the list never seems to get shorter....

51. Dollar alternative : AVIS - Rental car places

52. Nearly six-week period : LENT - An educated WAG

Splynter

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