Saturday, January 10, 2015

Saturday, Jan 10th, 2015, Alan DerKazarian

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q, Z)

Blocks: 34

 I have not seen this constructor before, but I have seen a grid like this before - and typically not on Saturday.  Very few long-letter fills and simple corners, but a complex array of answers and clues that needed to be mined for hints made this one a healthy challenge.  Have to admit to two bad cells, both relating to "country" music - oh well.  We have two 9-letter crossings, and two 10's crossing 12-letter spanners;

21. Quantum theory pioneer : MAX PLANCK
10. Disaster : CATACLYSM

6. "... forswear thin potations and to addict __ to sack": Falstaff : THEMSELVES - that's a long way to go for a personal pronoun
32. Facetious Appalachian portmanteau : PENNSYLTUCKY - I am familiar with this type of slanderous nick-name; I lived just north of Cincinnati, near a town called Hamilton; the local yokels were said to be from "Hamiltucky"

30. Safari coverings : SUN HELMETS - see here
41. Smart alecks : WISENHEIMERS - learned from watching cartoons

33. Kind of telescope : NEWTONIAN - see here
53. Rare pro golf feat : GRAND SLAM - there's some ambiguity on this one; the Wiki

So, what do 10 and 12 have in common, but skips 11~?

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Handhold : CLASP - don't like that we start with a 'meh'; I think of a CLasp as the little thingy that closes a necklace; a handhold is more of a GRasp

6. Part of a comparison : THAN

10. Montreal Protocol concerns : CFCs - here's a little from the UN environment programme

14. "Men in Trees" star : HECHE - Ann; did not know of this TV series

15. Roadside chain, for short : HO JO - Howard Johnson's - they've vanished out my way

16. Take __ at: try to wallop : A RIP - tried "A RUN" - 50% correct

17. Sean who played Samwise Gamgee : ASTIN - that would be the character from "Lord of the Rings", which sadly I could not get in to

18. Dash : ELAN - this could also be "A RUN"

19. Arum family tuber : TARO - a crossword educated WAG

20. Egyptian menace : ASP

23. Glides : SASHAYS

26. Heart part? : COCKLE - I am still looking for the girl who will "warm the cockles of my heart"

27. Texter's "... but that may just be me" : IMO - In My Opinion

28. Fertile deposit : LOESS - WAGed

31. Elizabeth of "Martha Marcy May Marlene" : OLSEN

35. Old blade : SNEE - had this last week

36. Like some grazers : OVINE - I went with VEGAN first, and I like it better

37. Span. girl : SRTA

44. Complexity : DEPTH

47. Inscribed marker : STELA - dah~! I had an "E" at the end first

48. High-tech worker : 'BOT - Robot

49. Taken out, in a way : ON LOAN

51. Back in the day : LONG AGO

56. Daughter of Loki : HEL - unknown to me, hence one bad cell....

57. "We Three Kings" kings : MAGI

58. Joining device : YOKE

59. Ring material : ONION - semi-fooled me, but once the "---ON" was in place

62. Desierto's lack : AGUA - once I figured out this was not a presonal name, but Spanish for desert....

63. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT - considered to be one of the most complex solo piano pieces - watch here at about 16:30 to see how he crosses his hands back and forth


64. Nice book : LIVRE - ugh, enough with the  foreign stuff, OK~?

65. Treated : SEEN - like doctors; I was thinking "ON ME"

66. Mdse. containers : CTNs - I C a lt f ctns @ UPS

67. Pool events : MEETS

DOWN:       

1. Chinese tea : CHA

2. Nessman of WKRP : LES

3. Be a team : ACT AS ONE

4. Turkish skewer : SHISH - kebabs~!

5. Friends you may never see : PEN-PALS - I saw that this was part of a popular discussion this week

7. Havana "How do" : HOLA

8. Trojan War hero : AJAX

9. Like some rude jokes, briefly : NON-PC

11. Cookout fare : FRANKS

12. Wait to land, perhaps : CIRCLE

13. Reserved, with "for" : SPOKEN

22. Style : LOOK - here's where I twas thinking "ELAN" first

23. Takes it slow, in a way : SIPS - I don't take it at all - Jan 8th was my 10-yr AA anniversary

24. "Yes!" : AMEN - huh; I had the "M" and "N", so I went with "I'm In"

25. Chuckleheads : YO-YOs

29. Hitch : STINT - Got it this time

34. Songwriter Green : CeeLo - had a huge hit with "F*** You"

38. 1991 "Favorite Album - Country" American Music Award winner : REBA LIVE - Reba TIME~!? Nope.  Reba VIBE~!?  Uh-uh.  Dang. 

39. 1970 sci-fi film starring Joan Crawford in her last big-screen performance : TROG - Never heard of it - IMDb Blue Oyster Cult had fun with her, tho ( more piano, too~! )


40. Regarding : AS TO

42. Start of a favorite-meal reminiscence : I HAD

43. 1998 "King Lear" Olivier Award winner : IAN HOLM - I know him from "Alien"

44. Doctrines : DOGMAS

45. Anger : ENRAGE

46. Harass : PLAGUE

50. "This I Promise You" band : *NSYNC - not that I heard the song, but with the "C" in place....

52. Bottled-up type? : GENIE - har-har

54. Boor : LOUT

55. Similar : AKIN

60. Scrap for Fido : ORT

61. Video game letters : NES - Nintendo Entertainment System

Splynter

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