Saturday, Feb 28th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing F, J, Q)

Blocks: 30

This one just plain gave me a genuine headache - and it's all my fault.  My WAGs were spot on, but my "I know this" answers were completely, utterly wrong, and that made for some really difficult solving.  Oh well.  The NE was a shambles, and it took w-a-a-a-y too long to see some really obvious fills.  Add to that the proper name vagueness, and....Triple 10's in the across corners, and paired 10- and 11-letter climbers on the inside, with a couple of 9's thrown in, to boot;

17a. Correct : ON THE MONEY - can't say I was this today

12d. Metal-bending aid : ANVIL BLOCK - Does anyone else consider this Duran Duran~? That is, redundant~? I proudly filled in PRESS BRAKE - seen here - and just could not get this corner to co-operate.  Guess I'll go stick my head under the "water faucet"

56a. What "D" may mean, monetarily : DENVER MINT - nailed it - rare coins

36a. Square shooter? : BOX CAMERA - once the last "A" popped in, I got the CAMERA part; the rest~?  Nothing.

OW~! DARN~!

ACROSS:

1. Shower alternative : SPONGE BATH - went with ---BATH, but the rest would NOT come to me, even when the "P" showed up

11. Hollow : DALE - Sleepy Hollow, e.g.

15. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1934) actor : PETER LORRE - before my time, so semi-vague

16. NASA unit : ONE G - I considered LT YR at first

18. Pigmented layer : UVEA - skin seemed too easy

19. Takeout menu eponym : TSO - The General, of American Chinese food

20. Smartens (up) : WISES - ah, I was in a "primp" & "tidy" frame of mind, not an intellectual one

21. 1954 Detroit Auto Show unveiling : T-BIRD - eh.  I went with EDSEL, knew it was wrong because I read up on it recently; I felt like an "abbr." was needed here

22. Battery, e.g. : TORT - I knew this was a legal term "battery"; Metallica's take

Metallica - Battery

23. Ride and Brown : SALLYS - knew this, filled it in, then 12d. made me change it - and it was all downhill from there ( or is that uphill~? )

24. Maker of Neo soft drinks : RC COLA - Cheated.  Had to Google.

27. Capital NNE of Rome : ZAGREB - Had the "G" and the "B", but took too long to fill in the rest.

29. Prayer opening : O LORD - "please help me find my mistakes~!"

30. Feelers : TENTACLES - I was on the right wavelength with "antennae", but was short a letter

33. Noggin : BEAN

34. Chain with a red cowboy hat logo : ARBY'S

35. __ Raven: Baltimore neighborhood : LOCH - ah, so that's why the football team is the Ravens~?

38. Very small : MICRO

39. Sequoia Park Zoo home : EUREKA - California - link

40. Teaching model : MOCK-UP - meh.  I know very well what mock-up means, but a teaching model~? Ugh.  When I worked at G&K architects, they had to do a mock-up of this structure to get the aluminum framework cuts correct

41. Actress who starred in two Hitchcock films : HEDREN - Tippi~! From MN~! Semi-clecho with;

22d. Hitchcock thriller set in East Germany : TORN CURTAIN  - her IMDb

43. Jerk : YANK - Noun or verb?  Needed the "K" first

44. Garibaldi's wife : ANITA - Ugh.  Who?  Vague.  Her Wiki

45. Tons : SCADS

47. "Criminal Minds" network : CBS

50. Spanish address : DONA

51. Pointer's cry : "LOOK AT THAT~!" - Look at this~! My buddy Mike, the one with the games company, took home a Family Choice Award~!

53. When the ghost of Hamlet's father first appears : ACT I - I like these clues; it's usually "ACT", followed by "I" or "V"

54. Nanny's service : IN-HOME CARE

55. Fund-raising suffix : THON - like tele-thon

DOWN:

1. Tough __ : SPOT - this clue was a "tough spot" for me; "S**T" was a real possibility

2. They may be filled from wells : PENS - took way too long to dawn on me

3. Mort Walker dog : OTTO

4. Bk. about the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls : NEHemiah - I have a link to these

5. Aged : GREW OLD - Dah~!  The verb; I was thinking of wines

6. Where Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon : ELMIRA - Vague

7. Amplify : BOOST

8. "A-Hunting We Will Go" songwriter : ARNE - Ugh, vague.

9. Marne modifier : TRES - Frawnche for "very"

10. "Yo!" : HEY

11. Mouse action : DOUBLE CLICK

13. Distrustful : LEERY

14. "Tarnation!" : EGADS~!

21. Fictional house "built according to no architectural plan whatever" : TARA - seemed like a good fictional house WAG

23. Friday et al.: Abbr. : SGTs

24. Name in Virginia politics : ROBB - more vagueness - Wiki

25. Singer Laine : CLEO - even more vagueness

26. Gently convinced about : COAXED INTO

27. Barking horse relative : ZEBRA - once I finally got the "Z", it was obvious - but I had not heard of a 'barking' horse; I found some interesting reading on zebras

28. "The Cherry Orchard" daughter : ANYA - ugh, ugh, ugh.  Vague

30. Go a long way : TREK - not "LAST"

31. Neutral color : ECRU

32. Look for a good deal : SHOP

34. "Yes!" : AMEN

37. Region : AREA

38. Ginormous : MONSTER - nailed it

40. "___ X" : MADAME - took some perps

41. Charged : HAD AT - DAH~! I had RAN AT, and that makes MUCH more sense

42. Methuselah's father : ENOCH - WAG from the "H"

43. Comedian Smirnoff : YAKOV - Hey~!  I know this one~!

45. Acoustical unit : SONE

46. Columbia Pictures co-founder Harry : COHN - and back to vague.

47. Masala __: Indian beverage : CHAI - perps

48. Building with big doors : BARN - look at how big those...doors are...

49. Proof mark : STET

51. Top : LID

52. "__ Underground": cult film showcase : TCM

Splynter