Saturday, Oct 31st, 2015, Julian Lim

Theme: Happy Halloween~!

Words: 70 (missing X )

Blocks: 27

  We last saw today's constructor on a Saturday way back in January; I mention this not only because it's true, but I had just returned from upstate NY where my friend Garry has his wind- and solar-powered cabins - and this weekend I move into his house in Flanders. As for the puzzle, I was hoping it would not be too much of a brain-drain.  Gave myself a pat on the back for getting thru most of the gird, but it was a WAGfest in the NW.  Triple 9's crossing triple 7's in the corners are make for one of the worst kinds of grid - it usually means proper names/two-word answers/extreme vagueness;

1. Reaction to a piece of cake : NO PROBLEM - I seriously considered "YUM YUM YUM" because I had the "M"; I also pondered "LET THEM", as in "eat cake"

29. Amazon visitor's need : WEB ACCESS - hmmm, which Amazon~? The River, or the "go-to" online site for shopping~?

46. "Sure, let's!" : "I'M UP FOR IT~!"

60. Attempt : HAVE A GO AT - user-friendly vowel/consonant grouping; have a "goat~?"

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

10. Ustream offering : NET TV - oops, not VIDEO

15. Hyperlink feature : UNDERLINE - frequently seen in email addresses, between parts of names; john_doe@crossword.com

16. Missouri River city : OMAHA

17. Qatar-based broadcaster : AL JAZEERA - the Wiki

18. Equate : LIKEN

19. Org. concerned with pedagogy : NEA - $2 word for the method of teaching

20. Parliament : London :: Storting : __ : OSLO - sounded Scandinavian

21. "As if I care!" : "BITE ME~!"

22. Blending aid, briefly : CAMO - short for camouflage, Frawnche for "smoke in the face"

24. Not high : SOBER - 3,949 days and counting

26. Some univ. proctors : TAs

27. Balances (out) : EVENS

32. Make easier to eat, as fruit : DESEED

34. Noted source of rubies and sapphires : SRI LANKA

35. French vineyards : CRUS

37. Rank quality : ODOR - my first thought was about smell, but I ended going with ONE-A....bzzzt~!

38. Like some courses : REQUIRED

42. Cannonball consequence : SPLASH

48. Knighted conductor : SOLTI

49. "'I __ you liked your drink,' sez Gunga Din" : 'OPE

50. Confines : CAGES

52. Farm food : SLOP

53. Ford model : TAURUS

56. Senate minority leader : REID

58. Otolaryngologists, e.g.: Abbr. : DRs - long word for a short abbr.

59. Patronized, in a way : ATE AT

62. It's open at the end of the fall : CHUTE - ah, parachute - at least you hope it's open at the end....

63. Cattle site : OPEN RANGE

64. Works with keys : TYPES

65. Microbrewery product : WHEAT BEER - ooh, I was close with CRAFT beer

DOWN:

1. Far from clear-cut : NUANCED

2. Like some new mothers : ON LEAVE

3. "Death Comes to Pemberley" author : P.D. JAMES - utter WAG from mostly perps; a link to her website

4. "In Dreams" actor : REA - we saw him last week

5. Ingredient in some Italian wedding soup : ORZO - the little bits of pasta; I like the little bits of meatball; interesting fact about the soup's name origin here

6. Approve : BLESS

7. Hide : LIE LOW - oops, not LAY low

8. Covers up, in a way : ENROBES - I like when confectioners "enrobe" their treats in chocolate

9. Word of apology : MEA - we also saw this last week

10. __ me tangere : NOLI - Latin for "touch me not" - new to me - some history

11. Put out : EMIT

12. Stop for a bit : TAKE TEN

13. 1994 Jim Carrey film : THE MASK

14. Samuel Barber opera : VANESSA - WAG

21. Intertwines : BRAIDS - pondered SPOONS first

23. Like some hotel room coffeemakers : ONE CUP - I had one in my room when I stayed in Delaware

25. River from Cantabria to Catalonia : EBRO - ha-HA~! Nailed it from crossword experience~!

28. Finishing stroke : SERIF - TAP-IN (golf) fit, too, but it wasn't working for me

30. Old cobblestone road sounds : CLOPS

31. Mexican novelist Fuentes : CARLOS - WAG and perps

33. Large pigs : DUROCS - new to me; I only know this Durock

36. Shot contents : SERA - ah, the needle kind of shot

38. Babysitter's reading, at times : RIOT ACT - LULLABY and WANT ADS fit, too

39. Therapist's asset : EMPATHY - I pondered "GOOD EAR" to start

40. What waiters often do : QUEUE UP - those who wait; I spent 90mins in DMV to register my van yesterday - with no signal for my cel phone

41. The "rh" in "rhapsody," e.g. : DIGRAPH

43. Wrapping words? : "ALL DONE~!"

44. Cloud function : STORAGE - the web-based servers kind of cloud; RAINING did fit, tho

45. Cool cat : HIPSTER

47. Tube : TEE-VEE

51. Italian town with a biannual horse race : SIENA - perps

54. Give stars to, say : RATE - OK, how would you rate her~!?

55. Salt Lake City team : UTES

57. Dash : DART

60. wiki__: collection of online manuals : HOW

61. Jaw : GAB

Splynter