Saturday, December 26, 2015

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

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