Saturday, Feb 27th, 2016, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 66 (missing F,Q)

Blocks: 35

I literally made a face ( to nobody in particular ) when I saw the constructor's name - I've never had much success with a Julian Lim puzzle, so why should today be any different~?  Have to admit to red-letter help, but no Google cheats - and that's an accomplishment, seeing the number of proper names * in the grid.  However, I am going to chalk this one up in the "win" column, as I somehow found the will to tough it out until I got my "ta-DA~!" and just over my personal allotted time.  Lowest word count I have seen on a Saturday, too.  Two spanners, two 13-letter spanners, and two 11-letter spanners;

20. Masters home : AUGUSTA NATIONAL - I was thinking golf to start, so I did not fall into some sort of "----MANSION" trap

48. Not as much : TO A LESSER EXTENT - very pleased I got this, tho I had to wait on perps and then allow it to coalesce in my brain

23. Chef's staples : SALT AND PEPPER - sort of echos the other 13-letter fill;

45*. Jet Tila and Mario Batali : RESTAURATEURS - I was pretty confident about the "-EURS" part at the end, so I tried "---AMATEURS", but no.  I do not recognize these names, but I am very familiar with the concept, seeing as I am regularly involved in the restaurant business - but I was looking for the "N", (restauraNteurs) which the dictionary says is an "Americanism" for the Frawche root word for 'providing food'

24. Shimmering South American denizens : NEON TETRAS - aquarium staple

40. Canterbury tales subject : ARCHBISHOP

 ~!





ACROSS:

1. Spot for a ride? : CAR AD - it took some time to parse this; now I think it's clever

6. Floored : AWED - an early WAG that worked

10. Pinking sound : SNIP - I happen to know that pinking shears are scissors, so another early WAG that stayed to the end

14. Meteorological prefix : ANEMO - meaning "wind"

15*. "United States of Tara" Emmy winner Collette : TONI - Perps

16. Corsair's syllables : YO HO - ho and a bottle of rum~!

17*. Colleague of Charms teacher Flitwick : SNAPE - good thing I am into Harry Potter - Filius & Severus; two guys with "tenure" at Hogwarts  :7))

18. Fly, commonly : LURE - or "A Lure", the first restaurant I started working at

19. "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella," e.g. : NOEL - WAG

25. "Earth still holds __ her gate": Thomas Nashe : OPE - one of only four 3-letter fills

27. Juvenile : KID - the noun; I was in "adjective" mode at first

28. Man in black : NINJA - because (Johnny) CASH was too short, and "AGENT K" too long

32. Harvard's motto : VERITAS - needed a few perps to recall this

35. They'll put you down : ABASERS - pondered TEasers

37*. 2000s Vienna State Opera conductor : OZAWA - here's where the proper names started dragging me down

38*. Joelle Carter's "Justified" role : AVA

39. Geriatrics concerns: Abbr. : SRs

50*. Stop on the Turin-Genoa railway : ASTI

51. Pad __ : THAI - seems obvious now, but this just did not come to me

52. Place to find an argument, perhaps : ESSAY - COURT, ISSUE, nothing was working in the SE for me

53. Best selling point : PEAK - not PLUS, not PERK

54. Smokescreen : RUSE - not DUPE

55. Myrrh, e.g. : RESIN - I can never remember this

56. Get in on the deal : ANTE

57. Goes (for) : OPTS

58. Lifted : STOLE - theft synonyms

DOWN:

1. Condominio, por ejemplo : CASA

2. __ mirabilis: wonderful year : ANNUS - I went with annu-I

3. When Star Wars began : REAGAN ERA - because "A Long Time Ago..." would not fit

4. Shot container : AMPULE - ah, meds, not liquor

5. Inflicts on : DOES TO

6. Land down under? : ATLANTIS - I'm a big fan of "Ancient Aliens", and I am reading two books from authors featured on the show; this "lost" city is a popular topic

7. Hurt, as feelings : WOUNDED

8. All ears, say : ENRAPT

9. One cutting in the kitchen : DIETER

10. Abstract : SYNOPSIS - the noun, not the adjective, again

11. 2007 #1 hit for Alicia Keys : NO ONE

12. "It's been said ... " : "I HEAR..."

13. Exit __ : POLL - oops, not PLAN - that's 50% correct, but only 25% right

21. 31-syllable Japanese poem : TANKA - OK, who else went with HAIKU~!?  I was inspired to share with you my ventures into "limerickal" poetry; see below

22. "Dandy for your teeth" toothpaste : IPANA - really good WAG

25. Lacto-__ vegetarian : OVO - "You're not having meat~?  Check, please."

26. Candy created in Austria : PEZ

29. K-Cup competitor : NESPRESSO

sophisticated filter

30. Fantasy lit initials : J.R.R. - my first thought, but I figured the "T" for Tolkien needed to be in there

31. Sancho's "steed" : ASS

33. Sentence opener in many teens' stories : "I WAS LIKE..." - great clue/fill

34. Parisian fruit pie : TARTE - had it in, took it out....

35. Where to see some kites : AVIARIES - not AQUARIAS, which I know is completely wrong, but I mixed up my kites with skates

36. Scold vigorously : BASTE

38. Apprised (of) : ABREAST - always want to keep "a-breast" of the situation

41. 1961 Lenin Peace Prize recipient : CASTRO

42. Keep from spreading : HUSH UP

43. Spelling experts? : HEXERS - I knew we were looking for WITCH or WIZARD here

44. Get-go : OUTSET

45. 1953 A.L. MVP Al : ROSEN

46. Trouble greatly : EAT AT

47. Mail lead-in : SNAIL - snail mail~!  The good ol' Post Office

48. Spanish morsel : TAPA

49. Newcastle's river : TYNE - dah~! Not TYRE

I am TO A LESSER EXTENT

The KID with an AWED puzzle bent

The clues I do wrest

To keep you A-BREAST

My ESSAY on what J. Lim meant

I HEAR what PEZ DOES TO your teeth

So take one’s toothbrush from its sheath

Know you just wanna

Brush with IPANA

‘fore they EAT AT whats underneath

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 20th, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!

Words: 72 (missing J,K,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

So nice to see our own blog host as the constructor of the 'Saturday Struggle'.  I was a little miffed by the SE corner, with just a few too many proper names, but a WAG here and there and I prevailed - within my personal allotted time AND without Google or red-letter help, no less~!  Yay~!  Triple 9x6 corners, almost triple 8-letter corners in the Down, and two 8-letter fills round out today's long answers;

32. Chain with day care : PETSMART  - I take it they have a pet-sitting service.  Also, we have a referential clue at 42a. Brand at 32-Across : IAMS

38. Refreshing ice cream with blended cookies : MINT OREO

 58. Step out : GO ON A DATE - this phrase is rather unfamiliar to me....  :7((

 63. Tom Jones hit written by Paul Anka : SHE'S A LADY - I am a huge fan of Tom Jones; I grew up listening to his records because my parents are from England.  I bought his "Rescue Me" album, long out of date, on CD from a guy in Russia through eBay - imagine that

Never Had a Lady Before (1979)

DiscO-NWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Siri counterpart : GOOGLE NOW - I have an Android cel phone, but not this feature/ app.  I do know about Siri, as a friend of mine was telling us how her kids were able to get "her" to find "your momma" jokes

10. Inst. with a weekly "Big Picture Science" radio program : SETI - seemed like a good WAG, but I had to have the "S" first

14. Short-term hospital service : ACUTE CARE

15. Demonym that may have a second "a" : UTAHN - strangely, I did not know exactly what "demonym" meant (tho I knew "-nym" meant 'name'); then it showed up on Dictionary.com

16. Ignores : LETS SLIDE

17. Wise guys : SAGES

18. One of the Noldor, in Tolkien : ELF - ooops, not ENT

19. Pitcher's goal : SALE - about as close as we got to baseball today; that's a different kind of pitcher

20. Kind of red : MERLOT - not GARNET - but that's 33.3% correct 100%ly

21. Dark genre : NOIR - seemed to easy, so I left it blank at first

23. Holy __ : TERROR

25. Child expert LeShan : EDA

26. When many take breaks : AT TEN - I had TEN AM to start - right idea, wrong order

28. Work with a partner : DUET

29. Dropbox's blue box, for one : ICON

30. More, to Nadal : MAS

34. Lollygag : LOITER

37. Stay in the cooler : DO TIME - I knew this was jail related, but "sentence" didn't fit

40. Mattress problem : SAG

41. First name in couture : YVES

44. "Pipe down!" : SHUSH - I tried QUIET, but the "Q" was just not going to work

48. Child support org. : PTA

49. Road safety feature : MEDIAN - unless, of course, you drive over it; I have seen and heard people do so

51. Family __ : TREE

52. Schools abroad : LYCEES - oops, not ECOLES; that's Frawnche for school; this word translates to High School

54. Genre of the late David Bowie : GLAM - R.I.P. Ziggy Stardust

56. Dove shape : BAR - the soap, not the bird; I was onto the clue, but I was trying "EGG" or "OVA" to describe the shape of the soap bar....

57. "Iron Chef America" host Brown : ALTON

60. Hunger Games competitors : TEENS - I am in the middle of reading "Catching Fire", book 2; I have the third one waiting....and I am not going to see the movie until I am done

61. "We don't promise you a rose garden" sloganeer : U.S. MARINES

62. Transposes letters, say : ERRS

ODWN:

1. Lead source : GALENA - Galena is the ore that lead is derived from; Galina is the Russian name for "Helen"; I knew one when I lived in Jacksonville, FL

2. Spotted cat : OCELOT

3. Company : OUTFIT - There's a running joke in the movie "Payback" (starring Mel Gibson) about the criminal organization's name the "syndicate" being changed to the "outfit"

4. Alfa Romeo sports cars : GTs

5. More, to minimalists : LESS

6. Flash : ECLAT - and a clecho at; 13a. Flash : INSTANT - two different definitions

7. Got down pat : NAILED - C.C.'s turn of phrase when getting a longer fill in a crossword puzzle with no crossings is "Nailed It", and I like to use it, too

8. Diner kitchen shout : "ORDER UP~!"

9. Minute : WEE - now that's a "wee" mini-skirt~!

10. Heineken logo feature : STAR

11. It's trained on a nest : EAGLE-CAM

12. Name meaning "God's gift" : THEODORE

15. Tweeter, say : USER

20. Phrases on seals : MOTTOS

22. Sends in : REMITS

24. Musical piece : REED - dah~! Not reST

27. Icel. is its only member without a standing army : NATO

29. "Perhaps" : "I MIGHT."

31. Soap, for example : SERIES

33. Short stops? : STAs - StaTIONs

34. She played Arwen Undómiel in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy : LIV TYLER

35. Albee's "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?," e.g. : ONE-ACTER

36. Enjoy The Atlantic : READ - Argh~!  Not SAIL - as in the Atlantic, not THE Atlantic

Ghostbusters (1984)

38. Government nutrition guide : MY PLATE - the website

39. "Holy cow!" : "OMIGOSH~!" - interesting fill

43. Wilde tragedy : SALOME - here's where I started running into trouble

45. Roger Ebert's Illinois birthplace : URBANA - proper name #2

46. Ready for dinner : SEATED

47. Reason for Luther's excommunication : HERESY

49. Target section : MEN'S

50. Family matriarchs : NANAs

53. Ages : EONS

55. "The Social Network" actress Rooney __ : MARA - #3

58. Gloomy one : GUS - "Gloomy Gus"

59. Pickles on "Rugrats" : DIL- #4

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 13th, 2016, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q)

Blocks: 30

Our first Saturday offering in 2016 from Mr. Bickham - his last one, back in September, was easy; I breezed through.  Not so much today.  I had to cheat one proper name, but for the most part, I prevailed, and within my personal allotted time.  Today was one of those days when I truly took advantage of the "Wild-A** Guess".  Had two entries that were featured in recent puzzles, too, which I thought was odd; one clued the same, the other, differently.   Triple 8/6 corners, two spanners, and two 9-letter answers today;

26. Philosophers in the news since 1985 : CALVIN AND HOBBES - One of my all-time favorite comic strips, and I know BarryG is a huge fan as well

46. Basics : BARE NECESSITIES - also a lingerie shopping site - one of their ads....

O be miNe WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Candy in a strawlike container : PIXY STIX - I knew this, but all I could recall of the spelling was "-STIX".  The rest I had to WAG 

pure sugar

9. "The Great Santini" Oscar nominee Michael : O'KEEFE - caved in to Google on this one - before my time - IMDb

15. Do-it-yourself style : HOME PERM - ah.  The important thing to recognize here is that "style" refers to 'hair', not 'manner'

16. One often checking boxes : POLLER - I considered "TESTEE" at first

17. Partly : IN A SENSE - oops.  Had ONE SENSE

18. He broke Walter's NFL career rushing record : EMMITT - Once I had half the letters, I recalled this guy - but I am not such a fan of football that I know the players all that well; in fact, I was told that he won Dancing With The Stars, too

19. Was sharply critical, with "out" : LASHED - not CHEWED

20. Adopted great-nephew of Claudius : NERO

22. Everyday list ender : ZEE - dang~!  Not ETC

23. Common pledge : I DO

24. Composer/conductor Boulanger : NADIA - the "D" was my last fill - funny story; more at 10d.

33. Like many fliers : AVIAN - Dah~!  Had A-I-N, so I tried aLiEn first - as in unidentified fliers

34. Fictional place near Atlanta : TARA - Gone With The Wind

35. Internet __ : MEME - CAFE was wrong, but 25% correct 100%ly

36. Put one's foot down? : REV - and then see 5 Down

37. What smart alecks do : GET CUTE - WISE OFF was wrong

40. Swift of fiction : TOM - WAG

41. Binged (on) : ODed - total WAG

43. Fabrication : YARN - LIE was too short, but I was on that wavelength

44. "Running on Empty" (1988) actress : LAHTI - WAG

49. Ruin partner : WRACK - not an idiom I am familiar with

50. Metaphor words : IS A - ugh.  I had AS A, and nothing was working in the SE.  "Life IS A Journey" - I get it now

51. Dept. in a "Law & Order" spin-off : SVU - I put in MCS first, Major Case Squad

53. Piece of work : TASK - not OPUS

55. Like Miss Congeniality : NICEST

59. Compression-utilizing weapon : AIRGUN

61. Forbidden zone : NO-GO AREA - sounds made up

63. Beckett genre, with "the" : ABSURD - WAG.  I had to find out what makes up the genre - the Wiki

64. Whirlpool protection, perhaps : OVEN MITT - clever; Whirlpool, the manufacturer of fine ranges

65. Designer Johnson : BETSEY

66. 2003 film with the tagline "He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice" : BAD SANTA - never saw it, and have no desire to do so in the future, even at (clecho); 3d. 66-Across setting, briefly : XMAS

DOWN:

1. Dr. __ : PHIL - took just a little too long for this one to occur to me; J, No, Who, Spock, Pepper, Zhivago - letter by letter, I missed the four-letter one

2. New York school : IONA - true clecho to follow; this one is Catholic....

4. New York school : YESHIVA - this one is Jewish

5. Ticket generator : SPEEDING - eh.  I like speed TRAP better

6. Body stretcher? : TENDON

7. Agcy. with complicated schedules : IRS

8. Colossus and Cyclops, e.g. : X-MEN

9. Collapsible topper : OPERA HAT

10. Dragon habitat : KOMODO - OK, so I was thinking FOREST first, and then DUNGEON ( I was a huge D&D fan ).  Then I had --O-O, and filled in KIMONO.  Yeah, I know that's wrong

11. Tree that can form natural tunnels : ELM

12. Daughter of Anne Boleyn : ELIZABETH I - this one we had back on Jan 16

13. Blowout : FETE - not ROUT

14. Deco pseudonym : ERTE - I like Art Deco, and I like this bronze

21. Sweeps on a gridiron : END RUNS - 18a. was probably good for this

25. Watson's creator : IBM

26. Evergreen with edible pods : CAROB - and this one we had on Jan 30

27. Estée Lauder subsidiary : AVEDA

28. Spreadable sausage : LIVERWURST

29. Goes after : ATTACKS

30. Pearly coating : NACRE

31. Behave theatrically : EMOTE

32. They come before finals : SEMIs

38. Superficially attractive thing : EYE CANDY - I learned this term when I worked on the movie set back in '97

39. Colloquial language features : ELISIONS - wanna, gonna, etc.

42. __ Spiegel: German magazine : DER

45. South American desert : ATACAMA - WAG

47. Human __ : NATURE - I thought there might be a slight misdirection, so I went with BEINGS, being in the plural

48. Burned a little : SINGED

51. Scandinavian import : SAAB - SAADLY, they're no more

52. Vague feeling : VIBE

54. Turner of old TV? : KNOB - Mr. Bickham GOT CUTE on this one (37a.)

56. Land near Albion : ERIN - WAG

57. Paving stone : SETT - learning moment for me; I have heard of a Belgian block

58. Casual farewell : TA-TA

60. The Theatre Cat in "Cats" : GUS

62. Tiny tube travelers : OVA - another one that took too long to occur to me

Thank you for all the birthday comments this week - no time to do the puzzle that day, but I did get a chance to read the comments~!

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 6th, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 68 (missing F,J,V,W,X)

Blocks: 32

Can I just say that it didn't matter how difficult this puzzle was going to be, I was just happy to see "Silk" at the top, next to the author's name~?  Not a walk in the park, mind you - some clever fill and clues, but somewhat dulled by a few "meh" ones.  The thing about Mr. Silk's puzzles is that if I just "sit" with a clue, eventually an idea will "40D."  and give me a fighting chance.  The last corner to fall for me was the NE, after I changed one four-letter entry.  Pretty standard grid, with triple 10-letter corners connected to a fourth 10-letter spanner, offset, and the one nine-letter central clue;

33. Old, fading ad on a building : GHOST SIGN

Furniture AND Undertaking~? I wonder what they kind they make....

5. Potential diamond winner : GO-AHEAD RUN - not sure which diamond it might be; we were talking at UPS about skiing this week, and there are 'diamonds' in that pastime, too

58. Newark neighbor : EAST ORANGE - New Jersey - my birth state

PatersoNJward~!

ACROSS:

1. R&B Foods brand since 2014 : RAGU - Once I got the "U", I went with a WAG

15. Old Testament book : AMOS - oops, I put in ENos - but I had the "OS" part already, so I'll call that 0-for-2

16. Far from perfect : ERROR PRONE - like, say, my first pass on a Saturday solve

17. Prepare for a meal : MAKE - I get it, but....meh

18. Bakery aisle offerings : ONION ROLLS

19. Burpee product : PLANT SEEDS - a bit redundant to me, but I see boxes from the company at UPS all the time, so I knew what to look for

21. Place to build : PLOT - dah~!  Not SITE, my four-letter mistake - 25% correct, 100% wrong

22. Get together : AGREE - I tried UNITE first

23. D-Day transport : LST - been a while since this has appeared in a Sat puzzle

24. Indicator of stress: Abbr. : ITALics

25. 1997 Hawke/Thurman sci-fi film : GATTACA - didn't see it; - IMDb page. I just watched "Bridge of Spies" - very good movie, but a bit drawn out

28. Cell terminal : ANODE - battery cell; I did ponder TOWER or PHONE at first

29. Hummingbird's pair? : EMs

30. Guzzle : CHUG

32. Kudos : PROPS - praise synonyms

35. Jazz dance : STOMP

37. "Aaugh!" : "OH NO~!"

38. Avoid, as an issue : BEG - around these parts it's more like "beg off"

41. Crystal of country : GAYLE - one of my first fills

42. Poisonous plant in the nightshade family : HENBANE - the Wiki

44. How some data is backed up : ON CD

45. Low-fat meat source : EMU - one of those Saturday learning moments

48. Busters : NARCS

49. Psalm words : O GOD

50. Plan Z? : LAST RESORT - clever

53. Most elementary level : GROUND ZERO - this was exactly what I was talking about at 1A. last week~!

55. Cyan relative : AQUA

56. Putty base : LINSEED OIL - ah.  I am familiar with putty, but never checked the ingredients

57. Crave, with "for" : LUST - not PINE; see 32D.

59. Nantes noodle? : TÊTE - Frawnche - and for those who are offended - see here @ 40A.

DOWN:

1. Agitated state : RAMPAGE - also a pretty cool arcade video game; you start out as a city-bashing creature, but if you take enough damage, you revert to your human self

2. Mixture : AMALGAM

3. Mario game racers : GO-KARTS - this is one video game I never got into

4. Online discussion venue : USENET - been popular on Saturday lately

5. Storms of the '90s : GEOs - GM Chevrolet sub-brand; they made the Metro, which had a 3-cylinder engine - the Wiki

6. Alençon's department : ORNE - more Frawnche - I did not realize their "counties" are called departments

7. Fourth-largest moon of Uranus : ARIEL

Odd place for a "Midsummer Night's Dream"

8. Range protectors : HOODS - ah.  I was thinking of some "park ranger", but we're talking this kind of range

9. Physicist Mach : ERNST - oddly, my first two 'confident' fills were proper names; just goes to show, you either know it, or your don't

10. Diamond birthstone mo. : APRil - my birthstone is Amethyst - the chart

11. Surprise with a visit : DROP IN ON

12. Antique shop furniture item : ROLL-TOP - desk, very elaborate construction-wise and still stylish today

13. Vents : UNLOADS

14. Get cozy : NESTLE - OK, I was asked to show some scantily-clad men, so....let's get zesty

20. "I want to learn" : "TEACH ME"

26. Ocean turbulence : CHOP

27. It borders It. : AUS - not many choices, really, so I went with SWI - then SUI, then SUS, and then oh, right, AUS

28. French battle site in WWI : ARGONNE

31. "Little modified Pon-Pon" in a 1964 hit : GTO - pretty good WAG on my part; then again, weren't half the songs in the 60's about your girl and/or your car~?

32. Needle source : PINE - ah, here's where PINE goes

33. Valuable particles : GOLD DUST

34. Proctor's warning : SHH~!!!

35. Wine-and-fruit beverage : SANGRIA

36. Barons : TYCOONS

38. Bernini's genre : BAROQUE

39. Coat, in a way : ENCRUST

40. Develop over time, as an idea : GESTATE

41. Android developer : GOOGLE

43. Volcanic rock : BASALT

45. Superior : ELDER

46. Tribute maker : MAZDA - more cars; same thing as a Ford Escape

47. Apply to : USE ON

51. Course with many angles, briefly : TRIG - ah, not GEOMetry

52. Something to fill : ROLE

54. Hero in a virtual reality film trilogy : NEO - "The Matrix"

Splynter