Saturday, November 21, 2015

Saturday, Nov 21st, 2015, Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 36

 Second time in 6 weeks for a Bruce Venzke puzzle - and another relatively quick solve for me - lots of "gimme" clues and answers for a Saturday.  Unlike that last puzzle, however, this one had several proper names, and those fills were the only ones that left me stumped; and since they crossed in two places, I had to cave in to red-letters for ONE lousy cell.  Oh well.  Two triple spanner stacks and a very cool looking grid;

1. Amuse to the hilt : LEAVE IN STITCHES

16. Goth is a subgenre of it : ALTERNATIVE ROCK - I prefer the "goth" at 8d.

17. Tax inequity : MARRIAGE PENALTY - seems like a redundant phrase - but I am biased from my short-lived 2yr marriage


58. Slide rules, for example : ANALOG COMPUTERS - the abacus is another


64. Borrower's protection : INTEREST RATE CAP

65. Some emcees : TOAST MISTRESSES - new to me, but it seemed logical

ONW
A   R
D ~ !

ACROSS:

18. Blotter name : ALIAS - oops, not aliBI - but I was 100% 60% correct

19. These, overseas : ESTOS - threw in estAs, and that was close enough; and on this I'm 100% 80% correct

20. Film lioness : NALA

23. Financial shellacking : BATH

25. T-__ : BIRD - not BONE, and not BILL; I had an '86 4spd 4cyl turbo coupe - nice

in this color, no less

28. Where surfers look for bargains : eMALL - internet surfing

30. With 34-Across, China's locale : EAST

34. See 35-Across : ASIA

35. Logician friend of Einstein : GÖDEL - did not know this one, but I was vaguley familiar with the crossing ADLER; more on Kurt here

36. Give (out) : DOLE

37. Chinese dish eponym : TSO - one of my favorite dishes, General Tso's Chicken

38. Swansea-born : WELSH - bottom left, not far from Cardiff

39. Got used up, with "out" : RAN

40. Scary St. Bernard of fiction : CUJO - one of the first books I ever read

42. Beyond chunky : OBESE

43. Dough dispensers : ATMs

44. Try : HEAR - as in court

45. Not seen as frequently : RARER

46. Amphora, e.g. : VASE - I like the sound of "amphora"

47. Requires : ASKS

49. Dino, __ & Billy: '60s band that included sons of two musical celebs : DESI - a healthy WAG after I had the D--I; more here

51. Sentry's stint : WATCH

54. Is charismatic : HAS IT - I am lacking in the "charisma" department, but I "has it" in other areas; I had to wire a series of cabinet lights at my friend's new house, but I cannot run extension cords in the wall - so I came up with this clever solution

DOWN:

1. Monastery figure : LAMA

2. It has blue-striped jets : EL AL

3. Abruzzi bell town : ATRI - poetic; more here

4. Tara feature : VERANDA - Gone With the Wind

5. 1974 pension plan legislation : ERISA - seen this B4 in crosswords, but it filled via perps today

6. Words with stew and pickle : IN A

7. Bug : NAG

8. __-Chapelle: historic Paris church : STE - spectacular; I love Gothic Cathedral architecture; if you have the time, here's a link to a great show about the building achievements of the time - I like the demonstration at 24:30


9. Track advantage : TIP

10. "__ Got a Secret" : I'VE

11. Belief : TENET

12. Surprised at the party : CRASHED

13. "Dateline NBC" anchor Lester : HOLT

14. Prefix with -plasm : ECTO

15. "The __ the limit!" : SKY'S

21. Investigator's data gathering : LEGWORK - this kind of investigator


22. Low life : AMOEBAS

23. Consecrated : BLESSED

24. Attendant to a man : ALL HERE

25. Baker's quantity : BATCH

26. Send forth : ISSUE

27. Spanish wine region : RIOJA - filled via perps

29. Freud contemporary : ADLER - as I have said here before, there's a book on personality types that I frequently use to understand why people behave as they do

31. Inner tube? : AORTA - har-har

32. Verbal attacks : SLAMS

33. It may be perfect : TENSE

41. Forecasters : ORACLES

43. Flies : AVIATES

48. Insufficient : SHORT

50. "On the Beach" novelist : SHUTE - the "S" was a WAG

51. What early arrivals often have to do : WAIT

52. Cornerstone word : ANNO

53. "So long!" : "TA-TA~!"

55. Moments : SECS

56. "Dies __" : IRAE

57. Recipe abbr. : TSPS

59. Special someone : GEM - here's my "gem" for the week


60. Show with many spin-offs : CSI

61. USAF commissioning prog. : OTS - Officer Training School

62. He played Clubber Lang in "Rocky III" : Mr. T - I pity the fool....

63. Links figure : PAR

Splynter

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