Saturday, Jun 28th, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 40

  Today's grid is a bit of a departure from our normal layout, and I liked that.  High block count with 12 in the corners alone, giving us a "circular" pattern.  Brad last stopped in April 26th this year with a Home Improvement mini-theme crossing in the center; today you could say the theme was "brought to us by the letter 'V'" - I count seven.  The first pass did not bode well, but I ended up cruising though to the end - despite drawing a complete blank in the center with the crossing of four proper names. Top and bottom stacks of 11-, 13- and 15 letter spanners:

14a. Fiction involving letters : EPISTOLARY NOVEL - written in the form of correspondence letters, newspaper clippings, diary entries; examples that I know are "Dracula" ( Bram Stoker ) and "Carrie" from Stephen King

55a. Read lots of travelogues, say : LIVE VICARIOUSLY - I like this phrase

RAD, now~!

ACROSS:

1. Cubicle sight : SWIVEL CHAIR

12. 1961 Ben E. King hit : SPANISH HARLEM - link away

16. Hipster persona : MR. COOL

17. Fair : SO-SO

18. Frequent co-producer of U2 albums : ENO - Put it in, took it out, put it back

19. Comportment : MIEN

20. Impact sound : "BAM~!"

21. By and by : ANON - not the ANON we are all too familiar with

22. Pay stub abbr. : YTD - Year-To-Date

23. MIT Sloan degree : MBA - The "Sloan" part had me thinking along the lines of Cancer Doctor ( and part of the proper name block where I drew a blank )

25. Striking action? : ERASURE - Like this

28. Jack-in-the-pulpit family : ARUM - Name #2 in the core of WTF?

30. Entreaty : APPEAL

31. Onetime Bell Atlantic rival : GTE - DAH~! I went with MCI - that's zero % correct

34. 1995 film with the line "Alan, please, last time I played this game, it ruined my life" : JUMANJI - never saw the whole thing - IMDb

36. Not forward : SHY - that's me; I was going nautical first with "AFT"

37. 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee : LENNON - apart from his induction as a Beatle

39. "The Whiffenpoof Song" repetitions : BAAs - link away

40. Veterans : OLD PROS

42. Gag order? : "SHH~!" - Cute

43. Owed : DUE

46. Schmeling rival : BAER - Boxing "Maxes"

47. Wanamaker Trophy org. : PGA - Awarded to the winner of the fourth and final tournament championship; a little history here

49. Reason for an R : GORE - Movie rating

50. Gardner of film : AVA

51. Admitting a draft, perhaps : AJAR - Fresh clue for a crossword staple

53. Like some wallpaper motifs : FLORAL - Actual wallpaper, not that which can be found on one's smart phone - tho you may have a floral motif there, too

58. Altar burners : VOTIVE CANDLES - My first thought, but I was too 36a. to throw it in

59. Political matriarch who lived to 104 : ROSE KENNEDY - I was on the right wavelength, but for some reason, I wanted ETHEL, not Rose

DOWN:

1. Like some rum : SPICED - I just mentioned a "Gilligan's Island", made with spiced rum, last week

2. Got shown : WAS ON

3. Not apathetic about : INTO

4. Baroque instrument : VIOL - I always wanted to know what the difference between a Violin and a Viol was

5. Ex-pat's subj. : ESL - Again, different cluing for a crossword staple; I'm a bit 'meh' about this though

6. Capital where trains provide oxygen masks : LHASA - I knew we were looking for a high altitude city - more here

7. Hog trim : CHROME - "Hog" as in Harley Davidson motorcycles; their stock ticker is "HOG"

8. Robert of "Airplane!" : HAYS - One of my favoritest movies ever; he had a "drinking problem"

9. River through Pisa : ARNO - WAGed it

10. 1969 Peace Prize-winning agcy. : ILO - International Labour Organization

11. Proceeds : REVENUES - the noun, not the verb

12. Nautical pole : SPRIT - MAST, SPAR, YARD, GAFF and BOOM  were all a letter short

13. Image on Israel's state emblem : MENORAH

14. Winged statuette : EMMY - Dah, went with EROS - Bzzzt

15. Uninhabited : LONELY

20. "John Dough and the Cherub" author, 1906 : BAUM - #3 in the crossing of obscure names

21. Well of Souls guardian, in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" : ASP - Great way to clue another crossword staple

23. Sizable : MAJOR - Not LARGE

24. 20th-century maestro __ Walter : BRUNO - Name #4

26. Indian bigwig : RAJAH

27. Imitative : APISH

29. Fairy queen who carried a "whip of cricket's bone," in Shakespeare : MAB - Only 3-letter Fairy Queen I can think of

31. Far-reaching : GLOBAL

32. City with prevalent Bauhaus architecture : TEL AVIV - Some architectural reading

33. Attempt : ENDEAVOR

35. Magellan sponsor : NASA - Magellan, the mission to Venus, ended in 1994 - not the "original" Explorer

38. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" network : NPR

41. "In the Bedroom" Oscar nominee : SPACEK

43. Hirer of Sinatra in 1940 : DORSEY

44. Mount Narodnaya's range : URALS

45. Hard to capture : EELY

48. Adorn : GRACE

49. Pianist Glenn known for his Bach interpretations : GOULD

51. Alamo rival : AVIS

52. Balderdash : JIVE - another great set of lines from "Airplane~!"

53. Fictional rafter : FINN - Huh - I re-read this during my write-up, and the first thought that came to me is that one of the UPS trucks I load is labeled "FINN", and I wondered how that ever got into a crossword....oh, never mind

54. Underground band? : LODE - Didn't fool me, I knew we were looking for "STRIA" or something of that nature

56. Maginot Line arena: abbr. : ETO - again, a detailed clue for a crossword staple

57. Published : RAN

Splynter

Saturday, Jun 21st, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 32

  Yes, it was feeling like we'd get a Silkie today - and the first day of summer, officially 6:51am EDT.  Not a terribly daunting puzzle, with a different looking grid.  Three-letter fill to start, which didn't help me much, but there were a few fills on the first pass, and even more on the Downs. Triple 11- and 7-letter corners, and two 10-letter fills on the inside;

33. Cocktail with rum : BAHAMA MAMA - My friends and I came up with the drink name "Gilligan's Island", which was a total misnomer - the drink consisted of Captain Morgan and Ginger Ale, but the show had a Skipper, not a Captain....and I preferred Mary Ann anyway

37. Crusaded : CAMPAIGNED - Great fill, considering the silent "G"

oooh, uh, Onward?!?!?

ACROSS:

1. Image on many Oregon license plates : FIR - Makes sense now

4. Drink containing the antioxidant lycopene : TOMATO JUICE - shoulda had a V-8

15. Rock genre : EMO - Rock? Meh.

16. "I'd have never guessed!" : "IMAGINE THAT"~!

17. Male __ : EGO - Can't believe Mr. Silk threw us all under the bus with this clue

18. Fight site : BATTLEFIELD

19. Doesn't start well? : HOT WIRES - Nice

21. Georgia-based insurance giant : AFLAC - Huh - not AETNA, not GEICO

22. One way to shrink : IN FEAR - made me think of this song, with the lyric "shrinking violet"

23. "Lassie Come-Home" author Knight : ERIC

25. Nautical units : KNOTS - Sort of a 'freebie' for a Saturday

26. Soup served with sour cream : SCHAV - Total WAG; I had SC-A-; never heard of this soup, never had it

31. "You betcha" : YUP - My first thought, and considered it too easy

32. Bring in : EARN

35. Cocktail with sweet vermouth : AMERICANO - never had one

40. Old Venetian judge : DOGE

44. Food franchise initials : IGA - another fill I hesitated on

45. Enjoy on the sly : SNEAK

46. Rancor : VENOM

47. Magazine fig. : CIRCulation

49. Menace at sea : PIRATE - I really wanted to put in KRAKEN

50. Words to un caro : TI AMO - "I love you"....one of these days

53. Nassau Coliseum player : ISLANDER - Mr. Silk rocks~!  Home town fill - and yes, I AM a Ranger fan, but I will root for the Islanders, just because

55. First Bond actor born after the Bond films began : DANIEL CRAIG - Most logical, and it fit; gratuitous image for one C.C.

57. Charlton's "Earthquake" co-star : AVA - IMDb

58. Redealt, say : STARTED OVER

59. No. with a prefix : TELephone

60. It includes the Jurassic period : MESOZOIC ERA

61. Close : END - Great way to "end" the Across clues

DOWN:

1. Budget-squeezing announcement : FEE HIKE - we had this discussion at Home Depot yesterday while building grills; we are trapped on Long Island, unless we're willing to pay $15 to cross the Geo. Washington Bridge - highway robbery?

2. Response to "Did you clean your room yet?" : I'M GONNA - Aww, ma~

3. Support : ROOT FOR - I don't care that the Rangers lost in the Stanley Cup - they played ALL the games they could have played this season.  Not much to "rebuild", either.  Rick Nash, however....

4. Fibula neighbors : TIBIAS

5. Astrologer Sydney : OMARR - I read my daily and love horoscopes before starting work at UPS each morning

6. King's demise : MATE - Chess finale - that kind of king, not "The King" ( Elvis ) or Martin Luther

7. CIA employees : AGTs - ah, not G-Men

8. Up to, in ads : TIL - unTIL

9. Most fit to serve : ONE-A

10. Lynne of ELO : JEFF - forced me to change my insurance company (21a.)

11. Not worthless : UTILE

12. "Gotcha" : "I HEAR YA"

13. Element #20 : CALCIUM - semi-cheat; I have a Periodic Chart app on my phone - can you say nerd?

14. JFK announcement : ETD - Dah~!  not e.t.A

20. Brand used with wings : WET-NAP - Thought it might be "HOT-NIP" or something like that, for a spicy sauce

24. Pro concerned with losses : CPA - my CPA got me a huge return this year - thank you Home Inspection classes~!

26. Military nickname : SARGE

27. 20th-anniversary gift : CHINA - A list, for those curious

28. Czech diacritical sometimes called an inverted circumflex : HAČEK - not a clue, but I WAGed it right the first time. "Little hook", according to Wiki

29. Make __ dash : A MAD

30. Police vehicle : VAN - so vague; this is Saturday cluing

33. "__ Green": Kermit's song : BEIN' - I prefer the Rainbow Connection

34. Today : MODERN

36. More, in Mexico : MAS

37. Title for Obama: Abbr. : CIC - Commander In Chief

38. Shake up : AGITATE - Nailed it, but that's not sayin' much

39. Mooring areas : MARINAs

41. Out, perhaps : ON A DATE - One of these days....

42. Didn't let bygones be bygones : GOT EVEN

43. Shade of green : EMERALD

46. Levitra competitor : VIAGRA - Left out Cialis....I don't watch TV, but when I am at mom's house after hockey, I end up watching Jeopardy, and I can't stand the commercials for these drugs - but really, what else can they depict?

48. 2011 revolution locale : CAIRO

49. Diligent worker : PLIER

51. City on the Moselle : METZ

52. Bar in the kitchen : OLEO - margarine

53. Camaro __-Z : IROC

54. Statistic in baseball and hockey : SAVE - so here's another thing C.C. & I have in common~!

55. Mil. honor : DSM - Distinguished Service Medal

56. Fifth-century date : CDI - 401 in Roman numerals

Splynter

Saturday, Jun 14th, 2014, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,W,X,Z )

Blocks: 36

    I usually cringe when I see Mark's name on the title of a Saturday LAT puzzle, but my first pass garnered some results, so I was encouraged and kept going.  The SW corner, however, did me in, and I had to use red-letters to find my mistake.  Oh well.  Awkward set of blocks today, left us with a stair pattern in the middle, and the SW and NE corners dangling from just two crossings.  Triple 10's and 9's, and two 10-letter climbers on the inside;

10. High-flying group : JET-SETTERS

27d. Classic spy comedy : MEN IN BLACK - Um, spy comedy?  I guess the comic book might have been more of a spy comedy, but I really love the movies with Tommy Lee Jones & Will Smith.  My personal favoritest scene below; Vincent D'Onofrio should have gotten an Oscar for playing a "bug" wearing an "Edgar suit".  Brilliant.

31d. Early invasion participant : THE STONES - Argh~!  Now I get it - British Invasion; I was thinking it was THISTINES, and was going to Google if there was even a tribe or civilization of that name; PHILIstines, yes, but.... I think I would have tied it to the next clue/answer, too

32d. Dive : HONKY-TONK - Musical interlude - and I am NOT a Stones fan, but I just learned how to play this riff on the guitar while looking for the link; it's a pain because it's open G tuning, not standard

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Screwdriver parts : VODKA AND O.J. - as a carpenter, I was curious to know if this was going to be the drink or the tool

11. __ Dea: Roman fertility goddess : BONA

15. Like John Cage's music : AVANT GARDE - Don't know John Cage, but I do know what Avant Garde means - Frawnche

16. Numerical column : ONES - tried TENS to start

17. Order with hot milk : CAFE AU LAIT - Straight up Frawnche, "coffee with milk"

18. Off-rd. rides : ATVs

19. Sour fruit : SLOE - LIME, UGLI(?)

20. Eponymous furniture designer : EAMES - Some design and creativity here

21. Cassowary cousin : RHEA

22. Frequent service station attendant? : SELF - there are a few places around here where they pump gas for me, and I actually don't care for it; I like to try for the 'perfect pump'

24. Some council members : ELDERS - WAG

26. South Pacific island nation : SAMOA - another WAG

30. Sweet and sour : TASTES - and yet a third WAG

31. Article in some modern music : THA' - I went with "TRA", and that got me started; can't say I know anything with "Tha" in the song or the group's name

34. 15-Across Irish playwright : BECKETT - the only Beckett I know is Det. Kate Beckett, from "Castle" - love that show

36. Prefix with fauna : AVI

37. Vert. opposite : HORizontal

38. Artless : NAIVE

39. Boy toy? : KEN - HAR-HAR~!!!

40. Student of Elves, in Tolkien : ENT - Three letters?  Tolkien?  Go with ORC or ENT

41. Twins, at times : SISTERS

43. Vocal stumbles : ERs....

44. View from a lodge : SKI RUN - I knew we were looking for some sort of snow reference

46. __ Adams Wilderness: Sierra Nevada region : ANSEL - educated WAG

48. Georgia-born Hall of Famer : TY COBB - the last "B" filled, and that gave it away for me

49. Shooter's ammo : PEAS

52. Emperor before Vitellius : OTHO - Short-lived reign; the Wiki

53. Pliés may precede them : LEAPS - Ballet/dance moves

58. Mountain transport : T-BAR - I tried TRAM, was 50% correct

60. Breakfast __ : NOOK

61. Write tongue twisters, perhaps : ALLITERATE - Owen, if you would, please~!

63. 1980s speed skating gold medalist Karin : ENKE - Link

64. San José resident : COSTA RICAN - took a second to parse this; the capital city of the Meso-American nation, not the city in Cali

65. Tube lineup : SKED - Tube short for television, SKED short for Schedule

66. Rustic building material : KNOTTY PINE - I dig castles and the look of stone; some wood is nice, but overdone it reminds me too much of a coffin

1. Short suckers? : VACs - Vacuums; I tried LOLS for lollipop first

2. Places to run : OVALS

3. "Platoon" Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor : DAFOE

4. Prepares for an engagement? : KNEELS

5. One-time bridge : AT A - One AT A time kind of bridge.  V-8 can, duck~!!!

6. Feverish chills : AGUE

7. "The Lion King" character : NALA

8. Nip at a bar : DRAM - A SHOT is a bit more than a 'nip', I guess

9. Dog of comics : ODIE - Garfield's drooling buddy

11. College __ : BOARDS

12. Crooked : ON THE TAKE

13. Not once : NEVER EVER

14. Ninjas, perhaps : ASSASSINS

23. Swell : FAB - I tried FAT first

25. Short muscle? : LATissimus dorsi

28. Tuberous Andean plants : OCAs - Learned from doing crosswords

29. Guard dog breed : AKITA

33. Edible thistle : ARTICHOKE - Did not know it was a "thistle"

35. Not odd : EVEN - gimme

41. Nautilus, e.g. : SUBmarine

42. Michaelmas mo. : SEP

45. Cheated : ROOKED - new to me

47. Deliver a rant : LET RIP

50. Eastern adders? : ABACI - we've seen this before; abacus pluralized, and ADD-ers

51. Black Mass idol : SATAN - I had a package yesterday for one of my UPS trucks, and its shelf No. was 6666 - I told the driver he had to go to hell to deliver it; he said he was already there....

54. North Carolina school : ELON

55. And : ALSO

56. Pennsylvania school : PITT

57. "Now!" : STAT - Dah, not ASAP

59. Peace Nobelist Cassin : RENE - filled in with Perps

62. Brew finish : ERY - BREWery - I went to the Brickhouse Brewery last night with my buddies, and then dinner at Bobbiques

Splynter

Saturday, Jun 7th, 2014, Steven Riley and Charlie & Lauren Pollak

Theme: 2 triple-stacks

Words: 66 (missing J,Q,Y)

Blocks: 21

   I was preoccupied with the authors of today's puzzle, and did not immediately look at the grid - but when I did, I was taken aback by the expanse of white.  Very low word and block count today, with the two triple-stacks top and bottom.  I am unfamiliar with these constructors, but clearly, it's a collaboration.  I found today's cluing to be less of a Saturday level; the only reason this was not a speed run was because I just didn't know what we were looking for, especially in the triple spanners;

1a. Nocturnal desert lizards : WEB-FOOTED GECKOS

16a. Column opening : I NEED SOME ADVICE

17a. Gave everything to : TRIED ONES BEST AT

46a. Novel republished to commemorate its
2012 centennial : TARZAN OF THE APES

49a. Text following "@" : EMAIL DOMAIN NAME

50a. Appliance used in orthodontics : PALATAL EXPANDER - argh~! right smack in the middle of this clue....

70yrs Onward from D-Day

ACROSS:

18. Crew members : HANDS

19. Actor Flynn : ERROL - Um, this one was just a little too easy for Saturday

20. Demonstrate one's humanity : ERR - To Err is Human

21. They're subject to inflation : EGOs

22. On-call accessory : PAGER

23. Mid-sixth-century year : DLII - Do you know I actually put D-L-I-I in, and said, "no, I better not WAG this and throw off my downs"~?

24. Bug-eyed cartoon dog : REN

25. "Yes __!" : SIREE

26. Convey : BRING

27. Reactions to throat tickles : AHEMs

28. Carroll's caterpillar smokes one : HOOKAH

29. Restaurant with an owl logo : HOOTERS - revised logo

32. Most like a slasher movie : GORIEST - not my genre

33. They might be twisted : ANKLES

34. Sure competitor : ARRID - Deodorants

35. The Renault 5, in North America : Le CAR

36. Common hymn word : BLESS - I can see this being common

37. Recipe meas. : TSP - Teaspoon

40. Circulate : FLOW

41. Martinique volcano : PELEE - I WAGed the "P"

42. Rachel's sister : LEAH - I put BETH in - and that was 50% correct; not up on my Bible "begats"

43. Nikon D3S, e.g., briefly : SLR - Single-Lens Reflex - 35mm camera style

44. "The Heart of Georgia" : MACON - again, I threw this in, took it out, and then ended up putting it back in

45. New, in Nogales : NUEVA - how do you say "easy" in Spanish~?


DOWN:       

1. Shrivel : WITHER - in the down position, I thought I needed an "H" [ whither, which is a totally different word; 'to what place?' ]

2. Madden : ENRAGE

3. Share knowledge of : BE IN ON - does anyone else feel the clue/answer don't quite agree?  Share knowledge of - LET in on, that makes sense

4. Gratifies : FEEDS - ah, not SATES

5. Betting figures : ODDS


6. Baja bear : OSO

7. Swingers with pickups : TONE ARMS - for those with an extensive vinyl LP collection

8. Comes out : EMERGES

9. "You Gotta Be" soul singer : DES'REE

10. Show biz sisters' surname : GABOR - ah, Eva & Zsa-Zsa

11. Biographer Leon : EDEL - the only true unknown for me; all perps

12. Walgreens rival : CVS

13. Resembling a high flier : KITE-LIKE

14. Egg-shaped wind instruments : OCARINAS

15. Correct : SET RIGHT

22. Docks : PIERS

23. iPhone competitor : DROID - I have had my Droid now for two+ years, and all I need is a new screen-saver, which I ordered this past week; I replaced the battery last year because it got wet

25. Complete : SHEER - Aw, you know me, I can think of a MUCH better way to clue this~!!!

26. Rocky nemesis : BORIS - from the cartoon, not the boxing movie

27. Attorney chaser? : AT-LAW - Ambulance Chaser humor

28. Silver, e.g. : HORSE - nice misdirection that did not get past me

29. Semitone : HALF-STEP - Like from B to C, and E to F in the key of C

30. Nash priest, not beast : ONE-L LAMA

The one-l lama,
 He's a priest.
 The two-l llama,
 He's a beast.
 And I will bet
 A silk pajama
 There isn't any
 Three-l lllama.

31. Tombstone location : OK CORRAL

32. Pollution control assessment : GREEN TAX

34. 2013 John Legend hit : ALL OF ME - OK, so here's another complete unknown

36. "Relax, dude" : BE COOL - I can think of two movies with the line "Be Cool"; Pulp Fiction, and the other is Dusk Til Dawn

37. Frisbee golf starting point : TEE PAD - I have played Frisbee golf, but did not know it was called the tee "pad"

38. Helpless heroine's plea : "SAVE ME~!" - I'm looking for a damsel in distress - "I'll save you~!"

39. Electric guitar effect : PHASER - The sound effect produced by this resembles a wah-wah/chorus mix; I have it built into my guitar stompbox, but prefer the flanger sound; there are numerous Van Halen songs that utilize the sound; it's most effective at the intro of Atomic Punk, but I just don't like the song, so I'll give you Eruption instead

41. It eats shoots and leaves : PANDA - ah, not KOALA

42. Comics daughter of Nancy and Frank DeGroot : LUANN

44. Shake alternative : MALT

45. "99 Luftballons" singer : NENA

 

47. Bhutto's overthrower : ZIA - President of Pakistan; more from Wiki

48. Unlike nerds : HIP

Splynter