Saturday, February 6, 2016

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

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