Saturday, Dec 26th, 2015, Ed Sessa

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 34

  Mr. Sessa's name in the constructor's space usually means "fail" in my space, but today was a break from the norm.  It was a long December at UPS - I was in a new position, and we had a poorly managed peak season, but I got thru it, with just three more days to go before it becomes a ghost town thru April.  But I digress.  The grid did not seem intimidating, though I did think there were a tad too many proper names - all of which filled in with a few perps, so not that many WAGs.  Two spanners and a 13-letter central fill, all of them not in my wheelhouse, at least as clued;

17. Condition resulting from oversharing : FACEBOOK FATIGUE - I am not on Facebook; however, I did karaoke at the restaurant's annual party on Wednesday; got a lot of gaping stares - guess they didn't think the mechanic could sing~!  I know someone's phone camera was recording; might go viral on YouTube....not

32. Noodles and beans dish : PASTA e FAGIOLI - isn't this the classic 'slander' for Italians and the language~?

 

52. Little Johnny Jones, in a George M. Cohan song : YANKEE DOODLE BOY

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Hero married to Jimena Díaz : EL CID - learning moment

6. Lip : SASS - seemed too easy for Saturday

10. Quarter moons, e.g. : ARCS

14. Sierra __ : LEONE

15. Coaster section : LOOP - guess on my part, but then again, what else in 4 letters~?

16. Gun barrel measure : BORE

20. Florida horse country city : OCALA

21. SEAL insignia : TRIDENT

22. Discipline : CHASTEN

24. Grouse or carp : KVETCH - pondered a single word for "fowl and fish"

25. Dull finishes : MATTES

26. Commercial prize : CLIO

28. Word for a lady : SHE

29. Space : AREA

30. Graceful : GAINLY - 'Tis the season~! - and in this season of sharing, I found one for the ladies - oh, and I found this, too

37. Cat, at times : YOWLER - I tried PURRER

38. Road warning : HONK - I was thinking "SIGN"

40. Dinner hrs. : PMs -

43. A&W rival : DAD'S - did not immediately come to mind

44. 44-Down model : FIESTA - pleased with myself for getting this and it's cross-reference from just the "S"; 44d. 44-Across maker : FORD

46. May 1 Hawaiian celebration : LEI DAY

48. Across the board : TOTALLY - I did consider this, but hesitated

49. First name in '60s beach party films : ANNETTE - Funicello,  and I got it, but the whole beach party thing was before before my time

51. Met approval : BRAVO - clever - the Met, as in the opera

56. Miracle Mets star Tommie : AGEE - I tried "JOHN", but he was TommY, and a Yankee - not a fan of that team, being from L.I.

57. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN - I knew the city was in the Middle East....

58. "Fingers crossed" : I HOPE - and an IHOP clue at 36d.

59. Koppel and Knight : TEDs

60. Org. whose logo includes a cocktail and a car key : MADD

61. Spanish seashore : COSTA - my good friend Gerry just popped down there Dec 7th for a 3 month stay; last year he was going to "write his memoirs"; I wonder if he plans to work on them again

DOWN:

1. St. Nicholas, in the poem : ELF - "a right jolly old..." - there are verses I did not know about

2. Verdant stretch : LEA

3. Reggae singer whose name sounds like a beverage : COCOA TEA - according to my search, it IS a beverage

4. Blissful : IN ECSTASY - I can think of a few things that would get me there

5. It has its pros and cons : DEBATE - with the two "E"s in place, I went with SeNATe

6. "Wake of the Ferry" painter : SLOAN - all perps

7. Thumbs-up : A-OK

8. "Wait a moment," to Romeo : SOFT - I had the "S" and "O"; the rest was perps - took a moment to understand where the clue was coming from

9. Like some live wires : SPARKING - sorry, can't resist - one of my favorite songs to play on the drums, especially with the cymbal chokes at the end - and Nikki Sixx on fire....

Mötley Crüe - Live Wire

10. Put up with : ABIDE

11. Webster's cousin? : ROGET'S - and his Thesaurus

12. Nestlé chocolate bar : CRUNCH

13. Bristle : SEETHE

18. Fútbol cheers : OLÉs

19. Copenhagen's __ Gardens : TIVOLI

22. Awards co-hosted by Brad Paisley: Abbr. : CMA - country music awards - not my thing - see above

23. Instrument featured in the opening of "Waltz of the Flowers" : HARP - and strangely, when it comes to music, I always love to hear The Nutcracker Suite on my Christmas station

26. Some Wi-Fi providers : CAFÉS

27. Storyteller : LIAR

30. Neuter, as a horse : GELD

31. "Song of the Volga Boatmen" refrain : YO HEAVE HO - didn't know it, but it fit with some perps

33. Until now : TO DATE

34. One getting more boos than cheers : AWAY TEAM

35. "La Bamba" band : LOS LOBOS - about the only reference I knew

36. IHOP section?: Abbr. : INT'L - House Of Pancakes

39. Michael's wife in "The Godfather" films : KAY

40. Not be serious about : PLAY AT

41. Household : MENAGE - can't think of this as "stand alone", especially with the clue that follows:

42. Transgressed : SINNED

45. Stressed, in a way : ITALIC

47. Hockey maneuvers : DEKES - have not played hockey in weeks

48. Govt. debt instrument : T-BOND

50. Icelandic literary work : EDDA - knew from doing crosswords

53. Ref. section staple : OED - Oxford English Dictionary

54. Go (for) : OPT

55. Vote for : YEA

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 19th, 2015, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Y)

Blocks: 32

Ugh - I'm sorry, but I just don't like Mr. Lim's puzzles :7((  Every time I get one on a Saturday, I cringe.  Today was no exception.  I had the right fills, and yet could not finish up the NE and SW corners - not without red letters, one Google cheat, and a hail Mary WAG.  Still not sure what some of the answers mean.  Might have to do with excessive 'cardboard box syndrome' I'm suffering from, and a head cold, to boot.  Quadruple corners of 9-letters, with two inner 10's crossing two more inner 9's;

30. Supplanting : PRE-EMPTING - like football and '60 minutes' on Sunday nights, or the president's TV address

31. Goodyear variety : TIRE SIZES - I need tires on the Dodge - also a new ignition switch, but I'm so close to 300,000 on the odo that I will invest the money to cross that milestone

7. It's hard to put down : PAGE TURNER - I have yet to put my TV up in my room, going on 7 weeks now.  That's how busy I've been.  However, it has led me to reading nearly everything on my room-mates shelves - I've read "The Lost Symbol", half the 'Alex Cross' books, and "The Litigators", a book I was reluctant to read because I sensed that all of Grisham's books were about lawyers, and here was no exception - but this one was really good

38. It may be green : CHINESE TEA

ON Sela WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. High-end beer-serving eatery : GASTROPUB - what~? it's not HOOTERS~?  I'm shocked~!

"I'll have the third from the left"

10. First husband of Bathsheba : URIAH - half perps/half WAG

15. Drink with Campari and sweet vermouth : AMERICANO - I think this has been in crosswords before - Mr. Lim left out the club soda

16. San Francisco : BART :: Philadelphia : __ : SEPTA - I tried METRO, which is, uh, 20% right~? Or is that 40%~?  Anyway, my buddy Mike is from Philly, so I could have called him to find out what the scheduling is down there

17. Islands visited by Darwin : GALAPAGOS - a good, solid fill that had me wondering if I could be wrong

18. Bill toppers : STARS - It takes me too long to remember that "bill" in this sense is the playbill

19. Like some plugs : SHAMELESS

20. Got hot for a while : WAS IN - I really don't know, but I think this is a poker/cards reference; I got hot, so "I'm in"

21. H.S. exam : PSAT

22. Distresses : NAGS AT - yeah, some of the cluing NAGS AT me

23. Silver fish : SMELT - I put in sPelt - that is totally 80% correct

26. Driving forces : URGES

29. __ ale : PALE - again, I got caught thinking "nah, too easy"

35. Wave back? : ECHO - tried EDDY

36. Pointless : INANE

37. Word after big or bright : IDEA - again, too easy~?

40. Holds up : ROBS - ah, that kind of holds up - not LASTS, ENDURES, etc.

41. Stone measure : CARAT - gaffed the "C" with a "K"

42. Storyteller from Thrace : AESOP

43. "Awesome, bro!" : "ROCK ON~!"

Van Halen - Stay Frosty

47. ThinkPads, e.g. : IBMs

49. ooVoo alternative : iCHAT - had zilch on this one; my Google, and having -C-AT, WAGed the rest

50. Dish cooked in seasoned broth : RICE PILAF - healthy fill (pun intended) after a few perps - wanna be a monk~? see 43a. above

55. Left-hand page : VERSO - opposite the RECTO

56. Childhood friend of Paul Cézanne : EMILE ZOLA

57. Secretary of war under Teddy : ELIHU - perps and WAG

58. Defame : DISCREDIT

59. Deferential denial : NO, SIR

60. How fries are usually served : ON THE SIDE

DOWN:

1. Stifles : GAGS

2. Asian nurse : AMAH

3. Ward of "Gone Girl" : SELA - also starred in "The Fugitive" movie, and season two of "House, M.D."

4. Treat cruelly, as another's feelings : TRAMPLE ON

5. Most developed : RIPEST

6. College of Central Florida city : OCALA

8. Some, in Seville : UNOS

9. Order giver : BOSS

10. Naval recovery ship for some Gemini missions : USS WASP

 

 

I seem to recall something about Frank Sinatra last week

11. Change the price of : RETAG - meh

12. "Not for me" : I PASS - another Juliam Lim puzzle~?  12d.

13. Ventricle neighbors : ATRIA

14. Is without : HASN'T - dah~! I thought NEEDS, LACKS, so the "S" went in, and messed me up

22. Site of ancient Greek games : NEMEA

23. What some write on : SPEC - all this reading is helping me with my own fiction novel idea

24. Eponymous physicist Ernst __ : MACH

25. K thru 12 : ELHI

27. Calf snagger : REATA - one of those "variant" spellings; I am sure it's legit, but "meh"

28. James Watson, notably : GENETICIST - notably, I did not know this

30. Resident on the Arno : PISAN

32. Partnership-forming words : I DOs

33. Mount from which Moses saw the Promised Land : NEBO - and then he brought forth the 15, oy, 10, 10 commandments~!

34. Sound of surprise : GASP

39. Outing led by a naturalist : ECO-TOUR

42. Unit in Ohm's Law : AMPERE - I = V/R, where I = current in amperes, V = volts, and the resistance, "R"

43. Torn asunder : RIVEN - I mentioned a different RIVEN last week....or is it the same~?

44. 3M sponge brand : O-CEL-O

 

45. Ruth's __ Steak House : CHRIS - never heard of it

46. GOLEAN cereal maker : KASHI - I have heard of this, from commercials

48. Gush forth : BELCH

50. Second take : RE-DO

51. "Let's go!" : "I'M IN~!"

52. Lombardy city : LODI

53. "Put __ on it!" : A LID

54. What "All are architects of," per Longfellow : FATE

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 12th, 2015, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: "Ol' Blue Eyes"

Words: 71 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

  Well, our Mr. Friday puzzle-constructor makes a rare appearance on Saturday, and carries on with a theme, too~!  A left-right symmetrical grid, with triple 7-letter corners and two "spanners" of 9-letters that are part of the theme.  I wonder if Jeffrey originally tried to work "blue eyes" into the lower left corner at 64a....A few proper names slowed me down, and some misdirection had me off to a slow start, but I did get the "ta-DA~!" - only after I went back and corrected one bad cell.  So, the theme answers;

1. 8-Across member born 12/12/1915 : SINATRA - Frank - his Wiki - I was born in NJ, too~!

Frankie calls the shots

8. Group formed in the '50s : RAT PACK

26. 1-Across hit : THAT'S LIFE

52. 1-Across hit : HIGH HOPES
 

Carry - on - ward ~!

ACROSS:

15. Threatening : OMINOUS

16. Friendly : AMIABLE

17. Super Bowl XXXIII team : FALCONS - I can never remember, and the Roman numerals don't help; waited on perps - I can hardly remember who played in last year's Stanley Cup, once the Rangers were eliminated....

18. New Amsterdam landowner : PATROON - ah, like those who once owned a part of upstate NY that Spitz and I know well....

19. 1958 Pulitzer-winning author : AGEE

20. Moves slowly : SEEPS - or OOZES~?  Had to wait, but the last "S" went in

22. Youngest of the musical Gibb brothers : ANDY - WAG; the others are Barry, Robin and Maurice - these three known together as the "Bee Gees" - the Wiki

23. Antarctica's __ Sea : ROSS - I knew this, but it took R--S for it to come to me

24. Popular side : FRIES - ah, side dish, got it

25. Road Runner cartoon background element : MESA

29. Keep down : OPPRESS - dah~!  Not SUpress or REpress

32. Show of condescension : SNICKER

36. Longtime CBS journalist Charles : KURALT - my one bad cell; don't know how I thought OCAY was OKAY

37. Lament : GRIEVE

38. Part of the Maldives : ATOLL - um, yeah, part....

39. AAA TripTik alternative : GPS - I don't care which one you use, just try not to be "lost" in front of me when driving....

42. Ameliorates : EASES

43. Diner's exclamation : YUM - had no clue at first; then I tried M M M - that's a mere 33%

44. Quick drink : SHOOTER - she didn't bartend where I used to drink....

47. "I feel thee __ I see thy face": Keats : ERE

48. Notice : SPOT

50. Vent emanations : ODORS - not GASES

51. Game in which the player is called the Stranger : MYST - I made it through some of the first game, but it takes a lot of mental concentration to figure it out - there's also a sequel, Riven

55. Woman's name meaning "heavenly" : CELESTE - pretty; I have three names I'd like to give my girls - if I ever have kids....

58. "Garbage in, garbage out" subject : BAD DATA

62. Rainy U.S. capital : OLYMPIA - Washington state - and a place I'd like to live, because it rains a lot

63. Equipped : ENDOWED

64. Innocent-looking : DOE-EYED

65. Dusk : DAYS END - not EVENING....and not DAY SEND, as I first read it

DOWN:

1. Until now : SO FAR - argh~! Not AS YET

2. Insect stage : IMAGO - DaH~! Not LARVA

3. Longtime radio/TV announcer Wendell __ : NILES - perps and WAG

4. Inherited, perhaps : ANCESTRAL

5. Overly : TOO

6. Malfunctions, as a watch : RUNS FAST - I had GOES FAST, but I was fairly certain the theme was SINATRA

7. Makes a case for : ASSERTS

8. Alpine rescue maneuvers : RAPPELS

9. Getting together : AMASSING

10. Small songbird : TIT

11. Slide subjects : PARAMECIA

12. Have __ to pick : A BONE

13. Oafs : CLODS

14. One of its official languages is Swahili : KENYA

21. Bordeaux : glace :: Berlin : __ : EIS :: London : ice  (look away Tin~!)

27. "__ Kitchen": Gordon Ramsay show : HELL'S - I did watch it for the first season or two

28. Personnel manager, at times : FIRER

29. Approves of : OKAYS

30. Something to do with dukes? : PUT UP - "put up yer dukes~!"

31. PSA, say : PROMO

33. Nurse Ratched creator : KESEY - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - which swept the "big five" Oscars - there were only two other movies to do so, and I was shocked to find out about the 1991 winner

34. Activist Medgar : EVERS - perps and WAG

35. Go back to zero : RESET

39. Divinity : GODHEAD

40. "Oh, bother" speaker : POOH

41. Pulsed, as light show effects : STROBED

45. Restrict : HOGTIE

46. Miró's birthplace, to Miró : ESPAÑA - Spain, to us locals....is it me, or has the Frawnche dropped off~?

49. Motif : THEME - rarely found in a Saturday puzzle

51. Early PC system : MS-DOS

53. Traveling game : I SPY

54. Rapids feature : EDDY

55. Marine oil source : COD

56. Symphonic rock gp. : ELO

57. Pipe cleaner : LYE

59. Knock the socks off : AWE - this style knocks MY socks off

60. X, sometimes : TEN

61. Say further : ADD

Spot on yesterday, Lemonade - my condolences to you as well

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 5th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing G,Q,Z)

Blocks: 31

  I fi-ured we'd be -etting a Silkie, and happy to see that I was correct.  However, I seem to have -otten into a 'comfort zone' with Mr. Silk, expectin- to sail throu-h without a lot of trouble.  Today's puzzle was just enou-h of a challen-e, leavin- me with mere seconds of my personal allotted time left.  Some proper names slowed me down, and one or two bad -uesses; I did actually have a couple of -uesses that were astoundin-ly correct - but I hesitated to fill them in.  Triple 10-letter corners, and a two pairs of inner climbers, 10- and 11-letters;

6. Demon : EVIL SPIRIT

12. "The American Crisis" author : THOMAS PAINE

24. Blather : IDLE CHATTER

31. Oregon Treaty president : JAMES K. POLK

[ is there a mini-theme here~!  ;7)  ]

OgNgWgAgRgD~!

ACROSS:

1. Fulfilled : CARRIED OUT - I tried 'SATISFIED', but it didn't satisfy the number of letters required

11. Powerful engine : V-TEN - like the one found in this car

Even looks like a snake

15. Prior name of Burkina Faso : UPPER VOLTA - I was thinking we were looking for a someONE, not a somePLACE....

16. Understanding words : "AH SO"

17. Raises may be tied to one : PRICE INDEX - here I thought we needed something like 'work review'.  I get reviewed at UPS, but it does not affect my yearly raise.  I was going to link a definition for price index, but despite being a relatively simple concept, it just seemed too complicated, even for me

18. Opinion piece : POST - as found here daily

19. First name in 1950s politics : ADLAI - one of those clues where I was going to throw this right in, then thought "eh, maybe we're getting misdirected here...."

20. Chemical relative : ISOMER - seen this in crosswords, so I did fill it in

22. Key with one flat: Abbr. : Dmin - slightly more complicated than just putting in "-M--OR" for any other "key of ---" clue; this one relates to the circle of keys, and I can never remember them - so I went with Fmin, and look how close I was

25. Slumgullion, for one : STEW

27. Remove : ERASE - second time in as many Silkie puzzles with a 'meh' clue for ERASE

28. Washington's forte? : RED TAPE

30. "I Love Music" group, with "The" : O'JAYS - got my apostrophes in their proper places this week....

32. Grandpa Munster portrayer : AL LEWIS - he drove the coffin car, which reminds me of this song

 

33. Big ape : OAF

34. Ltr. extender : P.P.S.

37. Birdwatcher's lure : FEEDER

38. Point in the wrong direction : MISAIM

40. Sam Spade, e.g. : TEC - deTECtive

41. Wrong : SIN

43. Fawning : SERVILE

44. Night calls : HOOTS - put it in, took it out, put it back in

46. Understanding words : I SEE NOW - which screwed up my "I SEE" at 16a.

 
47. Gushing flattery : SMARM - ah, not CHarm - but that's all of 60% correct

49. 1994 Polka Music Hall of Fame inductee : WELK

51. Eastern holidays : TETS

52. Feels sorry for : PITIES

54. Landlocked Asian country : NEPAL - or TIBET~?

56. Arbitrary stake : ANTE

57. Pine Tree State college town : ORONO, MAINE - one of those that I knew, but hesitated to fill in - and I knew it fit, as well

62. One still maturing : TEEN

63. Most common dolphin : BOTTLENOSE

64. Clarify, with "out" : SORT

65. A.1., for one : STEAK SAUCE

 

DOWN:

1. Sports prize : CUP - personally, the ONLY one worth fighting for~!!!

2. Patriots' Day mo. : APR - oops, not PATRIOT day

3. Home of the NCAA Engineers : RPI - been there....

4. Took back : RECANTED

5. Hot : IRED

7. Gives : DONATES

8. Number from the past : OLDIE

9. Off-road traveler, for short : UTE - dah~!  Not ATV

10. Sitcom set in a garage : TAXI

11. Misty : VAPORY

13. Assistance trio? : ESSES - aSSiStance

14. Hugo title word : NOTRE - as in the Hunch Back of....

21. Marine bioluminescence : SEA FIRE - you get all sorts of fighter planes, boat extinguishers and restaurants if you do a search

22. First try : DRAFT

23. Free-for-all : MELEE

26. Romance : WOO

29. Way more than cool : AWESOME - I have to redeem myself for last week with a tasteful image

35. Experimental : PILOT - always makes me think of the opening scenes from Pulp Fiction; "she starred in one of the ones that became nothin'"

36. Diving ducks : SMEWS

39. Ballerina Zakharova : SVETLANA

42. Sydney's state: Abbr. : NSW - New South Wales

43. Team characteristic? : SILENT A - and still no "I", either

45. Familiarize : ORIENT

47. Fancy footwear : SPATS - I did not know this was a shortening of spatterdashes

48. "Exodus" actor : MINEO

50. Online reminder : eNOTE

53. Bad news reactions : SOBS

55. Skunk River city : AMES

58. Spoil : ROT

59. Obligatory letters : I.O.U.

60. White House advisory gp. : NSC - the National Security Council

61. Wide size : EEE

No Gs~?

Splynter