Saturday, October 15, 2016

Saturday, Oct 15th, 2016, Mark Diehl

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)

Blocks: 27

  A new Saturday struggle from Mr. Diehl - his last offering being just a month previous, and I fared better with that construction - but then again, I was awake longer than I usually am before starting today's puzzle and blog, so a 'mental fade' might have had something to do with my need to cave in to Google.  Just too many proper names, especially in the NE.  Oh well.  A grid similar to the last puzzle, with 6x10 corners in a nearly spiral pattern, and two 9-letter climbers;

11d. Stinging builder of mud nests : MASON WASP - I should hire these guys for my next tiling job~!


32. Like tournament favorites : TOP-SEEDED


~!





ACROSS:

1. Raid units? : SPRAYS - Kills bugs dead

7. Pass after all else failed? : HAIL MARY - football reference

15. Mine shaft tool : TREPAN - I can see how this would be a rocks tool - the only "trepanning" I was aware of involved the skull

16. Ambiguous part : GRAY AREA

17. Cab Calloway catchphrase : HI-DE-HO - knew this from "The Blues Brothers"

18. Jonathan's cousins : WINESAPS - learning moment for me, on both varieties


19. She plays Hermione in "Harry Potter" films : EMMA - the one proper name I knew

not the Hermione you knew

20. Falls behind, perhaps : OWES - dah~! Not LAGS

22. Some sleepers : SOFAS - Dah~!  Took too long to get this answer - I was thinking trains

23. Soup vegetable : LEEK - um, is there such a thing as BEET soup~? ( I looked; it could have been correct....)

24. Big name in diamonds : ZALES

26. Parishioner's place : NAVE

27. Reagan __ : ERA - grew up during this time frame

28. Word on a business card : CELL - ugh; CORP, CALL, then CELL

29. Old tankard material : PEWTER - even clued just as "tankard material" would have worked

found this one, as well

31. Stallone, in "Capone" : NITTI - hiding in my noggin from doing past crosswords

33. Name on some euros : ESPAÑA - wondered if it was a person's name at first

35. Takes in : ABSORBS

37. Replacement for unlisted items : AND SO ON - could be parsed as AND SOON, clued as an ultimatum

41. Charity tourneys : PRO-AMS

43. Throw out an idea : OPINE

44. Takes root : SETS IN

47. Eats : CHOW - ah, the 'plural' misdirection

49. Brief subject : LAW - pondered RES, but waited

50. Spot for a scrape : KNEE

tragedy~!!!

51. Starbucks order : DECAF - oops, not LATTE

53. "__-daisy!" : UPSY

54. Thumb twiddler : IDLER

56. Dough : CASH - hesitated, thought it was too easy to be "CASH"

57. Pickup spot? : NAPE - think cats, etc.

58. Baloney : FOLDEROL - never heard the term; according to the online etymology, it's derived from song refrains

60. Where Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon : ELMIRA - perps and WAGs

62. Paratrooper's start : FREEFALL

63. Like beef loin, vis-à-vis chuck : LEANER

64. Commuting metaphor : SARDINES - think subways, and people packed into a silver can

65. Bands of cerebral nerve fibers : PONTES - not the first thing that comes up on a Google search

DOWN:

1. Napa County city that's home to Beringer Vineyards : St. HELENA - the website

2. Pricey cut : PRIME RIB

3. 2-Down and others : RED MEATS

4. Vertical, more or less : APEAK - one of those "A" words; seems to be closely associated with anchor lines - Spitz~?

5. Slangy agreement : YAH

6. Loser's mistake? : SNOOZE - "you snooze...."

7. "The Shape of Things to Come" author : H.G. WELLS - I did not know this

8. Develop : ARISE

9. Ziering of "Sharknado" : IAN

10. Soapmaking compounds : LYES

12. See 14-Down : ARAFAT - circumreferential to 14d. With 12-Down, 1994 Peace Prize sharer : YASSER

13. Work on, as a road : REPAVE

21. Peace Nobelist of 1983 : WALESA - cheated.  Googled.

25. Bridge : SPAN

28. High clouds : CIRRI

30. Fund : ENDOW

34. Ottoman officials : PASHAS

36. Craig role : BOND - he will return (as of today) for "James Bond 25"


38. Medium for da Vinci : OIL PAINT

39. Rampaging : ON A SPREE

40. Day of resolve : NEW YEAR'S

42. Magazine renamed Rosie in 2001 : McCALLS - no clue, but got it with half the letters from perps.  I do "ReCALL" McCalls; began in 1873, "apeaked" in the 60's, changed names, and was defunct one year later....

44. One-person boats : SKIFFS

45. "Bewitched" role : ENDORA - I am not too young to remember this show, even if I saw it in syndication

46. Worker in a cage : TELLER - ah, here's my "cage" from last week

48. Useful : OF HELP

52. Nice school : ÉCOLE

53. Dispirit : UNMAN

55. S&L offering : RE-FInance

59. Fared poorly in the wash : RAN

61. Early August arrival : LEO

Splynter

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