Saturday, February 21, 2015

Saturday, Feb 21st, 2015, Johnathan L. O'Rourke

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,V)

Blocks: 27

  Upon reviewing our list of constructors, Mr. O'Rourke has but one prior LAT puzzle, dating back to Oct 30, 2011 - a Sunday, and from the same year I started doing the Sat blog.  I was able to do 75% of this one, but the SW corner was just crash and burn - too many proper names/locations, and as a result, kinda sucked the life out of this otherwise engaging excursion.  Oh well.  Triple 9- and 10-letter corners, and two 11-letter spanners - one which I knew immediately, but didn't know the exact spelling;

30. "Die Hard" cry adapted from an old cowboy song : YIPPEE KI YAY - I was really close - just had an "I" at the end of yippie....one of my favorite movies, all time, and I like to watch it at Christmas


43. Range for some power measurements : ZERO TO SIXTY - in reference to cars, but the definition just doesn't jive with me....it's not really a measurement of the power so much as the rate of acceleration - which might be incredible, but have no reflection on the actual 'power'; take the Jaguar XF diesel - only gets up to 140mph, but it's 0-60 is 5.9secs.  I tested my 2000 Dodge Stratus about two years ago - 11+ seconds.  258,000 miles ago, it probably got close to 140mph.

DCLXVI~!

[Gasp~! The number of the beast~!]

ACROSS:

1. Modern location code : IP ADDRESS

10. Vertical sides : JAMBS - doors and windows, e.g.

15. Ability to stand? : TOLERANCE - I can tell you, my tolerance got pretty high when it came to alcohol, which leads to the next clue/answer;

16. "What I always get" : USUAL - like, say, Scotch, NO ICE~!!!

17. Baby, for one : SPICE GIRL - dah~! Clever. the others;
Scary, Sporty, Ginger & Posh

18. Ward cry? : NURSE - "it's medication time~!"

19. "Bless __ ...": Psalm 68 : YE GOD

20. "Shadow of the Vampire" Oscar nominee : DAFOE - no clue; WAG

22. Mr. __!: old detective game : REE - get it~?  Mister - ree....?  Har-har

23. Churchill's "so few": Abbr. : RAF

25. Chess tactic : PIN - new one to me, since I have played a lot of chess, but I get it

26. [Oh, my!] : "GASP~!"

27. Reagan era mil. program : SDI - the "Strategic Defense Initiative", which the media referred to as "Star Wars", and since I grew up with the movie/myth, found it a little insulting

33. Trap catchings : LINT - This took WAY too long....might be because I was at the restaurant and in a 'lobster' & 'crab' frame of mind

35. Wager : LAY - meh. I get it, but.

36. Get comfy : NESTLE - I do hope to get to nestling, soon - and she's wearing 65a.~!

37. "The Hangover" star : ED HELMS - totally unhelpful for me - not only did I NOT see the movie, but I still have no desire to, either, and I don't recognize the actor - IMDb

39. Is worth something, in dialect : AIN'T HAY - once the first "A" filled in, I got this

40. Fifth-grader's milestone, maybe : AGE TEN - ARGH~!  ELEVEN fit, too, and I was 11 in 5th grade

41. One may involve a homonym : PUN


42. Like the Negev : SERE - Dah~! Not ARID

46. "The Spanish Tragedy" dramatist : KYD - Had to cheat the "K" - Natick, in the truest sense; two names crossing?  Ouch.

47. Behan's land : ERIN - Duh.  Sounded IRAN/IRAQ at first

48. Robot extension? : ICS - Robotics

49. Chinese dynasty during Caesar's time : HAN - WAG - but, three letters...?

51. Little : BIT - This puzzle frustrate you~? A "bit".

52. "__ yourself!" : BRACE

54. 1946 Literature Nobelist : HESSE

58. Nice parting : ADIEU - That's "Neece", the Frawnche city

60. Baklava flavoring : ROSE WATER - I thought it was going to be honey-something

62. One removed from the company? : LONER - Two's company, three's a crowd; one's a loner....like me  ;7(

63. Cocktail portmanteau : APPLETINI - I can never remember the definition of portmanteau when I see it in crossword clues; need to remember it's a 'name' derived from parts - in this case, an apple-flavored martini

64. Start using Twitter, say : LOG ON - ugh.  I don't "tweet"

65. Victoria's Secret purchase : BOYSHORTS - I prefer seeing these on a woman over a thong any day, twice on Sunday


DOWN:       

1. Tiny : ITSY

2. Urban, e.g. : POPE - did not fool me

3. Boorish Sacha Baron Cohen persona : ALI G - I saw Borat, and stopped there

4. Style : DECOR

5. 1993 rap hit : DRE DAY - Dr. Dre

6. Low-quality paper : RAG

7. Home of Phillips University : ENID - ugh.

8. Full of spunk : SCRAPPY - I wanted sNappy, but it was too short

9. Instagrammed item : SELFIE

10. __ bug : JUNE

11. Pac-12 sch. whose mascot carries a pitchfork : ASU


12. "Swingin' Soiree" DJ : MURRAY THE K - this would have been a very neat corner were it not for the "K"....and the guy was before my time - his Wiki

13. It doesn't include benefits : BASE SALARY

14. About to crash? : SLEEPY-EYED

21. About 1.8 tablespoons, vis-à-vis a cup : ONE-NINTH - Funny, but "ELEVENTH" worked here, too, and since I don't usually divide my cups this way....

24. "Double Indemnity" genre : FILM NOIR

26. Basic ideas : GISTS

27. Despicable sort : SLEAZEBALL

28. Australian wind : DIDGERIDOO - ah, the musical instrument; I was thinking along the lines of some sort of "DEVIL ZEPHYR" - Bzzzt

29. Willing consequence? : INHERITING - Doesn't look right, but it is - "I bequeath..."

31. Step on stage : PAS - meh meh meh meh - Frawnche

32. Grasp : KEN - and yet I nailed this three-letter fill

34. Jackson Hole's county : TETON

38. Court call : LET - DAH~!  I was in 'law' court, and thought it was OYE

39. TV input letters : AUX - Hmmm, didn't think it was VCR

41. 1980s "SNL" regular : PISCOPO - OK, I cheated - I got as far as PI---, and could not think of his last name - but I knew he was a guest in one episode of Law & Order

44. Sacred beetle : SCARAB - Hey~!  One answer I felt confident about~!

45. Name derived from the Tetragrammaton : YAHWEH - once I had ----EH, there weren't too many names you could think of

50. "Far out!" : NEATO

52. Cheat, in slang : BURN 

53. Notice : ESPY

55. Hullabaloo : STIR

56. Text status : SENT

57. Most massive known dwarf planet : ERIS - fascinating - I did not know about this; did you, Husker~?  The Wiki. Take a look at its orbit


59. Fair-hiring initials : EEO - DAH~! Went with EOE, which is 100% right, and yet still wrong - correct, D-Otto~?

61. 2012 British Open winner : ELS - three letters and an open winner~? Try ELS

Splynter

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