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

Saturday, Oct 11th, 2014, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 29

 The last time we saw a Saturday from Tom Heilman was back in July 2013, and we ended up in an extended discussion on the difference between hay and straw....today's puzzle did look intimidating, but once again a series of WAGs got me enough of a toehold to make the necessary adjustments and finish the grid within my personal time limit.  I will admit to a keyboard run to get my "ta-DA~!" at 42a - F*&%n proper noun crossing an abbreviation.  Triple nine corners, and two 12-letter climbers;

6d. "Sit" : TAKE A LOAD OFF

21d. Person with a warped mind, in slang : ONE SICK PUPPY

Drawno conclusions....

ACROSS:

 1. Most unwavering : STRICTEST

10. "Forget about it!" : "NO HOW~!" - Started with "NO WAY"

15. Canine issue : TOOTH ACHE - CAVITIES was too short

16. Previously in print? : ABOVE - took a minute to "get" this; e.g. "see above"

17. Standing guard : ON LOOKOUT

18. Pronged : TINED - educated WAG

19. __ roast : WEENIE - meh

20. Grandstand group : ROOTERS

22. Celebrated : RANG IN - I had a great time when I "RANG IN" the New Year for 2014; I am hoping it leads to something special, still

25. "Danny and the Dinosaur" author Hoff : SYD 

26. Marathon rtes., perhaps : AVEs

30. Botched (up) : LOUSED

32. Christmas catalog item : TOY - I loved the Sears catalog this time of year - I'd sit down and make my "list" complete with page numbers for Santa - do you still have my old lists, Argyle~?

34. Restaurant convenience : MEN'S ROOM - whereas a LADIES ROOM is a necessity....

36. Evening affair : SOIREE

38. Readily assuming different forms : PROTEAN - straight up definition; Dictionary says it's from the Greek sea god Proteus, who could change form

39. Like original Matchbox cars : DIE-CAST - I still have a case full of Hot Wheels; my original Matchbox cars are long gone

40. Got a chuckle out of : AMUSED

41. Rickety : DECREPIT

42. Ruman of "Stalag 17" : SIG - Yeah, the "S" was a letter run

43. Krona : öre :: ruble : __ : KOPECK - 1/100th of a "dollar" equivalent; Swedish & Russian currency

45. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO

46. 2008 Soderbergh biopic : CHE - I tried "ALI" first - bzzzt

48. Shooting ratios : F-STOPS - Camera settings, that kind of shooting

50. Immobilize, as with fear : PETRIFY - My sponsor's suggestion back in July petrified me; found out this Tuesday that he did NOT have all the facts, because he wasn't paying attention, so I fired him - first time in almost 9 years I had to do this; I am extremely happy I went with my gut insitinct and did not follow through on the suggestion, but the issue is still unresolved.  Now I need a new sponsor to help me try again

52. First NFL Man of the Year Award recipient (1970) : UNITAS - Here's Johnny~!

57. Savannah sighting : ELAND - Total WAG, and it stayed

58. Chukka boot feature : CREPE SOLE - Learning moment for me - the Wiki

61. Actress Kemper of "The Office" : ELLIE - Did not watch much of the show; this girl

62. Small cookers : HOT PLATES

63. Enjoyed : LIKED

64. Stretch, say : STAY LOOSE

DOWN:

1. Pack : STOW

2. Mood indicator : TONE - Pondered "RING" at first

3. Something to fill : ROLE - HOLE and HOLD were not good enough

4. "Put __ my tab" : IT ON

5. Loft user : CHOIR - I had the "H" and the "R", and this was the only word that worked

7. Car starter? : ECO - eco-car

8. Moo __ pork : SHU

9. Game for shapeshifters? : TETRIS - Har-Har~!  You have to 'shift' the shapes in order to perpetuate the game - I play 3-D Tetris at UPS every morning, shifting 250+ parcels to fit in a van that only holds 200....

10. Defense gp. : NATO

11. Passing thoughts? : OBITs - This type of clue is filling in immediately for me now

12. Espionage strategies involving seduction : HONEY TRAPS

13. Goes too far : OVER DOES IT

14. Forms a union : WEDS

23. Morning's end : NOON

24. Orbit, for one : GUM - you lint licker~!

26. Oscars org. : AMPAS - New one to me; I thought "ASCAP", but that's music...then AFTRA, then the perps left me with AM-A-; I got the "P",   but....   the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

27. Food that's Italian for "little worms" : VERMICELLI - ewww~!

28. "Time to do something about this" : "ENOUGH TALK"

29. Former fliers : SSTs

31. One who acts : DOer

33. "... __ come" : YET TO

35. Really smell : REEK - There was a band that used to play the nightclub I worked at and they went by the name "REEKING HAVOC" - yes, they got it wrong, but it seemed to fit all the same....

37. Frozen treat : ICEE

39. Like New York's Chrysler Building : DECO

41. Case worker: Abbr. : DETective - that kind of case

44. Inspires, with "up" : PSYCHS

47. Orange Muppet : ERNIE - My brother is going as Ernie for one Halloween party, and then Barney Rubble for another - guess what I am going to wear....now all I need is a place to go - oh, if only someone would join me....   ;7(

49. Matt who scored the Jets only touchdown in Super Bowl III : SNELL - The Wiki

50. Spa option : PEEL - Tried PEDI first

51. Named : IDed

53. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO - The crossword friendly golfer

54. Movie pooch : TOTO - dah~! Not ASTA

55. Draft choices : ALES - ugh, I thought we were talking military here, and went "A ONE"

56. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE - We have "se-seen" this before on Saturday

59. Break down : ROT

60. Flight stat : ETA

 Splynter

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

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 72 (missing H,K,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

  Starting off the month with a Silkie was what I expected, and this one seemed a bit tougher than the last two we had from him - but some healthy WAGs got me just close enough to get a foothold, and with a few corrections, was able to finish in 2/3 my personal time.  Triple 9's and almost triple 10's in the corners, a pair of 11-letter climbers, and one grid spanner;

35a. "Define your world" online reference : URBAN DICTIONARY - Nailed it; some of the entries are funny, but much of it is vulgar, even for me - but I do like this one, only because I work at UPS

7. Bit : BINARY DIGIT - Ah.  I was of the mindset that it was going to be "TOOK A STAB AT"

23. Male cartoon character voiced by Nancy Cartwright : BART SIMPSON - I think most people who know the Simpsons know that Bart is done by a woman

oooooooooo n nn ww wa aa arr d rrrdd~!

ACROSS:

1. 1961 Jerry Lewis film, with "The" : ERRAND BOY - never even heard of it; I had ERRA---, and from the little bit I know about what J.L. did in most of his movies, this was a senseible WAG

10. In its entirety : UNCUT - I liked the UNCUT versions of the "Alien" movies, and the director's cut of "The Butterfly Effect" - anyone here see that~?

15. Peach variety : NECTARINE - Learn something new every day; but then again, when I think about it....

16. Indiana state flower : PEONY - a WAG with -E-N-

17. Availability indicators : DIAL TONES - Ah, availability on the phone

18. Certain candle : TAPER - threw it in, and it stayed

19. Activist gp. with a clenched fist in its logo : SDS

20. Super Bowl highlight, for many : TV AD - I do actually like the football, too, and last year, we got off to an exciting start with the safety - threw the pool numbers off something fierce

21. Heavy-duty soap brand : BORAXO - I have heard of Borax, and the 20-mule team, but this one is new to me; I had the "X", too

22. Open court hearing, in law : OYER - I started with OYEZ, and that was good enough

23. Monk music : BOP - ummm...makes me think of the monks from Monty Python, and the "bop" on the forehead with the wooden boards

24. Certain NCO : CPL

25. Pacer and Medallion : AMCs - I had two AMCs myself; the Hornet Sportabout, which did have huge potential to be a cool ride - and the Concorde - which was not quite the SST mentioned in 4d.

AMC Hornet Sportabout

28. 1963 Top 10 hit for Paul Petersen : MY DAD - Link away~! Way before my time

30. Function opening? : MAL - You get it this time, HeartRx~? I went with "DYS" again

31. Speculator of a sort : DAYTRADER

33. Early business language : COBOL - Another "throw it in there, and it sticks" answer

37. '50s-'60s civil rights activist : EVERS

38. Saturn, for one : GAS PLANET - I had the PLANET part, but for some reason, was really trying to get "EXO" in there - and I knew that 23d was dead on, so the "S" had to stay - duh

39. Sched. maker : IRS - Dah~! I was just talking to my accountant friend today, and this did not occur to me - the Internal Revenue Service and their 1040 breakdowns

40. Eyelashes : CILIA - Ooops....put the ol' "S" in there at the end for the plural, neglecting the Latin - does anyone know some one who is "uno-supercilium"~?

41. ID'ed : MADE - Like undercovers in cop shows

42. Org. chaired by Reince Priebus : RNC - Republican National Convention; perps

43. Scribble : JOT

44. Year Columbus began his fourth voyage : MDII - Hey~!!  My Roman numeral WAG was right on~!  I knew that it would be post-MCDXCII....

46. Corresponds : AGREES

48. Bandy words : SPAR - bandy, the verb; having a verbal dispute


49. Mint : NEW

52. Tanks, so to speak : FAILS - again the verb, not the armored vehicle, nor the armless shirt

53. Distinct : DISPARATE

55. "So Much in Love" pop group, with "The" : TYMES - not familiar to me, perps and a WAG

56. Non-profit whose corporate sponsors include Purina : ADOPT-A-PET

57. Words often evoking 58-Across : SEE ME - Circumreferencial on a Saturday....Teacher needs to see me after school....my buddy from UPS let me borrow his bootleg VH DVD from 1982 - wow

58. Common reaction to 57-Across : TENSENESS

DOWN:

1. Boundaries : ENDS

2. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy : REID - I knew I spelled his name wrong ( E, not I )

3. Colortrak TVs, e.g. : RCAs - an educated WAG

4. SSTs flew over it : ATLantic - Ocean; JFK NY to London or Paris - used to rocket over my first house here on L.I.

5. Smart : NATTY - ah, not WITTY, but 60% correct

6. Annoyed big time : DROVE MAD - DAH~!  I had put ---ERED in, thinking we might be looking for something like 'ANGERED', and that was no help at all....

8. Linear, briefly : ONE-D - this one keeps fooling me; One dimensional

9. "Roundabout" band : YES - I did not much care for anything but "Owner of a Lonely Heart" from them; too progressive, even for a 70's band

10. In the brain, to a Brit : UP TOP - Funny, but my parents are/were from England, and I have not heard this from them - ever.

11. In proximity : NEAR

12. Competitor of NYC's Latin Quarter : COPACABANA - Her name was Lola - oh, sorry, that's the Copa I know - and then I remembered this scene from Goodfellas

13. Like much of the Mariana Trench : UNEXPLORED - Bang~!  Got it

14. Innsbruck's state : TYROL - mostly perps, and a WAG - Austria

21. Hunk's asset : BOD(y) - I went with ABS - BSSZZZT~!!

22. Very hot celestial orbs : O STARS - our sun is a G-type, 'yellow dwarf'

25. Together, musically : ADUE

26. Posthumous 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee : MARVIN GAYE

27. Phishing, e.g. : CYBERCRIME

29. Modeling accessory : DECAL - the kind of modeling I did as a child - the scale model cars and Star Wars vehicles

30. French address : MON AMI

32. Shot providers, briefly : RNs - because BARTENDERS did not fit

33. S.A. country : COLumbia - South America

34. Suffix with electro- : LYTE - ElectroLYTE, as in Gatorade

36. Tweetbot and GoodReader : iPAD APPS - I'll take Barry's word for it; I have a Samsung

40. Nasdaq listings : COs - COmpanies; seems silly I did not get this on the first pass

42. They may be rubber : RAFTS - oh, uh....not um, TREES

43. Aaron's "Breaking Bad" role : JESSE - have not seen the show (gasp~!) but I have heard enough to know something about it; I am done with my Buck Rogers box set - I think it's on to "Dexter" now

45. Steamed : IRATE

47. B or C, but not A or D : ELEMent - Dang~!  Took too long for me to recognize this old fooler - B = Boron, C = Carbon, but no elements for A or D

48. Faction : SIDE - Dah~! Not SECT

49. View from behind? : NAPE - my first thought with the "N" in place, but I waited

50. Nice summers : ETEs

51. Moistens : WETS

53. Brooklynese pronoun : DAT

54. Appeared in print : RAN

Splynter

Saturday, Sep 27th, 2014, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing W)

Blocks: 35

  Well, I saw Mark Bickham's name on this one, and figured I was in for the long haul, but then I noticed that the grid was not so daunting, and as a result, I have to say I just smoked through this puzzle.  Lots of "Z"s, and we got the "Q" and "J", but alas, no place for the "W".  Oh well.  Two spanners, and two 11-letter climbers, and not much else lengthwise.  Splynter is suffering from a prolonged head cold, and a stiff back from hockey, so it's going to be a short one today;

23. Popular '60s-'70s garb : BELL BOTTOM PANTS - threw it right in there, and it worked

46. Some sightings : CLOSE ENCOUNTERS - one of my favorite movies - the Third Kind, that is

4. Pioneers : TRAILBLAZES - The verb, not the noun - I couldn't get blazERS to fit


27. "Chicago" song : ALL THAT JAZZ - I had the "Z" from OZONE, and that helped

OW, darn~!

ACROSS:

1. Early 20th-century Met baritone Pasquale : AMATO - With -M-TO in place, I went Italian....

6. City on the Nile : GIZA - ah, I forget it happens to be a city, and not just a plateau

10. "'Sup" : "HI YA" - I have a UPS logo shirt, but the letters are S'UP

14. Three-time Oscar-winning director : CAPRA

15. OS X basis : UNIX

16. Scholarly Islamic title : IMAM

17. Rasp : CROAK

18. Place to pick up some pets : NAPE - Dah~! Went with SPCA, knowing there was no abbr. in the clue - nice misdirection

19. Yankees coach Tony : PEÑA

20. 10% of MDX : CLI - I needed Husker's calculator again; 1510 x .1 = 151

21. Common file folder abbr. : MISCellaneous

22. Reno and others: Abbr. : AGs

28. Thick-trunked tree : BAOBAB

29. Put on a pedestal : IDEALIZE - IDOLIZE was too short

30. Bee product : QUILT - Dah~! Not HONEY, but I know better on Saturday

31. Followed : RESULTED

32. Makes a decision : ACTS - Not OPTS, but I was 50% correct

35. Word with lake or lick : SALT - Salt Lake, and salt lick - I had a bunny growing up

36. World's largest user of cheese, according to its website : PIZZA HUT - DOMINO'S was too short, but I bet they could give them a run for the title

40. Goes after, as flies : SHAGS - Yeah, baby, yeah~!!!!

44. Alternative-medicine staple : ALOE VERA - Fresh clue for a crossword staple - and the full answer, too

45. Fastball, in slang : HEATER - the season is running out, and the hockey is coming in~!

48. Airline with headquarters in Amstelveen : KLM

49. Energy source : ATOM - I tried WIND first

50. Improv session : JAM

51. Premium factor : RISK - like for your 17yr-old son's car insurance payment

53. Two-band : AM/FM

54. Bashes : GALAs

56. Etonic competitor : AVIA - Sneakers

57. Extend one's service : RE-UP - Military

58. __ layer : OZONE - Nailed it

59. One might be staked : TENT - Vampire did not fit....

60. Mallorca, e.g. : ISLA

61. Quetzalcoatl worshiper : AZTEC

DOWN:

1. Clemson Univ. is in it : ACC

2. Only actor to speak in Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" : MARCEAU - The mime, and his only word is "No."

3. Ill-fated 1967 mission : APOLLO I - Capsule fire took the lives of three astronuats; Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee

5. Poison __ : OAK - OAK or IVY~?  IVY or OAK~?

6. Hit the gas : GUN IT

7. Agitated : IN A STIR

8. Routing aids : ZIP CODES - Yesterday I caught a package bound for Southold, but with a Brooklyn address - bad zip code

9. Send packing : AXE - Dah~! Not CAN

10. Not square : HIP

11. "Seriously" : "I MEAN IT"

12. Asia's longest river : YANGTZE - got it with the "A" and "T" in place; the Three Gorges Dam displaced 1.3 million people; more facts here

13. Got a lot of : AMASSED

21. __ mentality : MOB

23. Summer party invitation letters : BBQ - DAH~! Not BYO....

24. Part of Wayne's world : BATCAVE - Clever misdirection, and I did not fall prey to it; BRUCE Wayne, not Wayne & Garth

25. Neighbor of Tempe : MESA - Cities in Arizona

26. Eponymous skater Axel : PAULSEN - The Wiki

33. What you once were? : THEE - Cute - "...but I wish I could wrap myself / in thee"

 Blue Öyster Cult

34. Last things written on applications? : SURNAMES - Har-har

36. Super saver? : PACK RAT

37. "No harm done" : "I'LL LIVE"

38. Enhances the details : ZOOMS IN

39. Considerate : TACTFUL

41. Got stuffed, maybe : ATE A LOT

42. Material : GERMANE - by definition, relevant; pertinent

43. Yearbook sect. : SRs

45. Buzz : HUM

47. __-Loompas: Dahl characters : OOMPA - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - from the original movie;

52. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" : KAT

53. NPR journalist Shapiro : ARI

54. __ long way : GO A

55. Hardly a long time : SEC

Splynter