Saturday, Dec 31st, 2016, Patti Varol & Doug Peterson

Theme: PV & DP

Words: 70 (missing K,Q)

Blocks: 30

Our third installment from this duo to close out 2016, and this time Patti gets 'top billing'.  A smattering of fills on my first pass, a few gaffes, a few WAGs, and I called it done - but no ta-DA~!  So I had to go back and check where I went wrong, though I was fairly certain it was in the spanner at 34a.; turned out I had another mistake at the proper name for 42a.   Oh well.  Finished within my personal allotted time, and now I am freezing as I compose the write-up; see 31a.  One 15-letter spanner, one 15-letter climber, two 12-letter fills, and paired 10s in the down corners;

34. First volume of a Beverly Cleary series : BEEZUS AND RAMONA - I recognized the author's name, but only the "Ramona" part from any titles

8. "You're skating on thin ice" : DON'T EVEN GO THERE - I had "eveR", since I had no idea about the 15-letter spanner crossing here

23. They're hard to put down : PAGE TURNERS - nailed it.  The last Page Turner I read was "The Racketeer" from John Grisham - now I am on to "The Broker".  I was reluctant to read his stuff because I knew the books revolved around lawyers (and frequently jails/prisons, too) the way Crichton's revolves around genetics, Patterson & Kellerman around murder mystery, etc. - but I am glad I started with "The Litigators", which was quite humorous

43. Comedy team staples : STRAIGHT MEN - I have heard this phrase, but couldn't think of an example - and then I read the list here at the Wiki, and I see quite a few I recognize - which includes James May from the British Top Gear series

2O1seveNWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Not much : JUST A TAD

9. "__ Weeks": classic Van Morrison album : ASTRAL

15. Caravaggio masterpiece that pictures Pontius Pilate with Jesus : ECCE HOMO - the painting

16. Raise : PARENT

17. Iconic building with "point" offices : FLATIRON - dah~! Not PENTAGON, tho I realize there would need to be the phrase "with THE" in the clue

18. Market array : BRANDS

19. What stars have : FAME - I tried EGOS

20. Specialty docs : ENTs

22. In order : TIDY

26. Dauntless : STOUT

29. Spray holder : VASE - ah - I forgot that a "spray" is kind of floral arrangement

30. Site of monkey business : ZOO

31. Get a winter coat? : ICE UP - I am afraid my apartment will ICE UP this weekend - we lost the furnace, which includes the hot water, and won't get repaired until Tuesday.  Always on a holiday weekend....

32. Part of an inheritance : GENE - ah, that kind of inheritance

33. River to the Severn : AVON - another good WAG

37. Cornerstone word : ANNO - I figured EST'D was not going to last

38. Hauls : LUGS - I had TOWS to start

39. 2009 A.L. MVP Joe : MAUER - filled via perps

40. Spectrum band : RED

41. 1969-'70 Broadway musical that ends with a fashion show : COCO

42. Brandt of "Breaking Bad" : BETSY - beSsy seemed just as likely - I have not watched a single episode of this show, but I got a Firestick for Christmas from my landlord, so I can watch everything now - but first I am making my way through "Burn Notice"

46. Benjamin portrayer : HAWN - Goldie, as in Private Benjamin; I was thinking BRAD or PITT, for Benjamin Button

47. Cries of surprise : O-HOs - oops, went with A-HAs

48. John follower : ACTS - Bible chapters

52. Fleet destroyed by the Protestant Wind : ARMADA

54. Ovid, for one : EPIC POET

56. More expensive : DEARER - started as DEEPER

57. Bought back : REDEEMED - Blue Öyster Cult song, too

Redeemed

58. Joshua tree habitat : DESERT - as for what got filled in first, I WILL NOT EVEN GO THERE

59. Tests using Snellen charts : EYE EXAMS

I can read line 7

DOWN:

1. Bridges of Los Angeles County : JEFF - once I changed my "building", this actor's name (and not a structure) occurred to me

2. Home of the Herb Alpert Sch. of Music : UCLA - I had the U and A

3. Hustle : SCAM - ah, the noun, not the verb

4. Head of the Sorbonne? : TÊTE - Frawnche

5. Sushi choice : AHI - made my PENTAGON wrong

6. Eagerly unwrapped : TORE AT - Not even a week ago - I got a Millennium Falcon Bluetooth music player

7. In with : AMONG

9. SFPD alert : APB

10. "Nausea" novelist : SARTRE - I recognize the name, but not much else - the Wiki

11. Express, say : TRAIN

12. Orbital maneuver : RENDEZVOUS - learned this word from reading the 'adapted' novel of The Empire Strikes Back - but I was about 9, and read it literally as ren-dez-vows

13. "Years of Minutes" author : ANDY ROONEY - good WAG with the "OO" in place

14. SFPD ranks : LTs

21. Resolute policies : STANDS

23. __ platter : PU PU

24. One working on keys : USER - computer keys

25. Wreck locator : SONAR - shipwrecks

26. When, in Act IV, Juliet drinks the potion : SCENE THREE

27. "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl" : TEEN DRAMAS - never watched any of them

28. Taverna liqueur : OUZO

31. Structural pieces : I-BARS

32. Riata twirler : GAUCHO

33. Basic Latin word : AMAT - ah.  I had AMAS

35. Rough going : SLOG - popular Saturday Crossword descriptor

36. "Yes!" : AMEN

41. __ block : CINDER

42. Next to : BESIDE - the blue-eyed girl from some time back sat BESIDE me yesterday - my heart was galloping in my chest....

44. Clued in : AWARE

45. Glum : MOPEY

48. Crown : APEX

49. Food __: after-eating drowsiness : COMA - did not suffer this on either holiday this year

50. Come down hard : TEEM - like rain

51. FDA output : STDs - Tried RDAs first

52. Throw into the mix : ADD

53. "The lie that enables us to realize the truth": Picasso : ART - I think I just read this in a book on novel writing

Cubism, get it~?

55. Volcano center? : CEE - VolCano

Splynter

Saturday, Dec24th, 2016, Matt Skoczen

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 29

Phew~!!!  I thought I was going snowblind on the first two passes through this grueling grid.  Mr. Skoczen is back for the fourth time in three months, with lots of vague clues, a few proper names that I knew but not through the reference in the clues, and one or two "meh" answers.  Yet I prevailed, with only one (and a half) cheats; had to look up one word in the dictionary that has never appeared in any reading I have done, and then I did a red-letter check to see if I gaffed something - and I did.  Oh well.  Still, came in under my personal allotted time, and I would say I "broke even".  Four 7-letter corners and 9-letter fills crossing paired 10's and 11's;

4d. Opera originally titled "Violetta" : La TRAVIATA - by "Joe Green" (Victor Borge humor)

the aria from "Rigor Mortis"

24. Phone accessory banned at Disney parks : SELFIE STICK

ACROSS:

1. It's commonly read by waiters : TABLOID - Wait-ers, on the supermarket line

8. Place to meet : HALF WAY

15. 1992 Mamet play : OLEANNA - perps

16. Cork holder : IRELAND - #$%^&*~!  My first thought was the city/county of the country, but I was expecting a "?" in the clue

17. Enterprise enterprise : RENTING - dah~!  I put in rentALS, and that screwed me up

18. They're usually kept : GIGOLOS - I went with MEMOIRS; bzzzt.  I did not get this reference until I looked up gigolo on Wiki - but I do know the David Lee Roth remake

19. 1976 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year awardee : EVERT

20. E major scale note : G SHARP - I knew enough to put "-SHARP" in, and then waited

22. Hawthorne cover image : RED A - The Scarlet Letter

23. Quiet : SETTLE - ah, the verb, not the noun

24. Ben, to Jerry : SON - the comedians, not the Ice Cream guys

27. Truce emblem source : OLIVE TREE - the "branch" comes from the tree

29. John Paul's successor : ELENA - dah~!  I tried PIUS I, figured we were talking Popes; nope - the US Supreme Court; it's OK, my knowledge of both groups is "A-Paul-ing"....

31. Movie : CINÉ - the dictionary says cin-ee is "extracted" from cinema

32. Pollutant banned by Cong. in 1979 : PCB

34. Sights from la mer : ILES - Le Frawnche

35. Subjects of family disputes : ESTATES

38. Erupted : HAD A FIT

40. Call to a line : "NEXT~!"

41. __-Man : PAC

43. Singer Lovato : DEMI - hah~! I knew this one

44. Renée Fleming et al. : DIVAs

46. Great extent : LARGENESS - OK, use this in a sentence which doesn't sound contrived....

50. Fed. assistance program : SSI - Supplemental Security Income - never heard of it

51. Conniving, with "in" : LEAGUE - reminds me of a line from a Robert Plant song

my love is....

53. Durango demonstrative : ESTA

54. __ camera : HIDDEN - not CANDID

55. Shares, with "out" : METES - not DOLES

56. Where to hear a lot of talk : AM RADIO

59. Rayed flowers : DAISIES

61. Bond choice : MARTINI - D'oh~!  JAMES Bond

62. Charlie McCarthy feature : MONOCLE - I know this "character", but not the answer until perps

63. Significant supply : ARSENAL - I tried "---FUL" at the end, and it was not working

64. Sounded like a flute duet? : CLINKED - clever.  Flutes, the glasses

DOWN:

1. One facing charges? : TORERO - thought this was the answer, but I had some bad crossings to start

2. Two-part British academic exam : A LEVEL

3. Noted 2013 resignee : BENEDICT XVI - oh NOW we get the Pope clue....

5. "Doing that right now!" : ON IT - dah~!  I read this as "DO that right now", so I had ASAP, then STAT

6. Where there may be no room : INN - timely

7. Typographical symbol : DAGGER - did not know that this † symbol, tho I have seen it, is called a 'dagger'

8. Modern, in a way : HIGH TECH

9. Font choice : ARIAL - had it in, took it out, because of  MEMOIRS

10. 1852 literary villain : LEGREE - I did not know him; filled via perps, and then I looked him up - Wiki

11. Turn preceder, in Texas Hold 'em : FLOP - followed by the River; last weekend I went in with a full house, 10s over 9s, lost to 10s over Queens - those are the hands that really hurt

12. Popular store opening? : WAL-mart, har-har.

13. Periodo de tiempo : ANO

14. NFL stats : YDs

21. Small distance : STEP

23. Higher than you might have hoped : STEEP

25. "That's __ haven't heard" : ONE I

26. Cartoon award eponym : NAST - mostly perps, N-ST, and then it hit me

28. Sinusitis-treating MD : ENT

30. 1993 "Ethan Frome" star : LIAM NEESON

33. It can get you in : BADGE

35. Extreme pair : ENDS - oops, not ACES; too much poker playing these days, I guess

36. Paquete de __: cerveza purchase : SEIS - a six-pack of beer down Mexico way

37. Iceberg topper : SALAD OIL - my first thought, but it was dressing, not OIL

39. One of Donald's pair : DEE - DonalD

42. Pen : CAGE - ah, the animal confines, not the writing implement

45. Tried to make it home : SLID IN - meh.  Don't like the 'two word' association to baseball

47. Hip-hop group at Live Aid's 1985 Philadelphia concert : RUN-DMC

48. Holt's detective partner in '80s TV : STEELE - the 'other' James Bond - Pierce Brosnan, that is - in his TV role

49. Mouthed off at : SASSED

52. Minneapolis suburb : EDINA - I'm sure C.C. knew this one

54. Execrate : HATE - OK, the word I looked up.  From the Latin "sacrare", as in consecrate

55. Revealing garb : MINI - yep.

56. Chicago-based professional org. : AMA - Saturday cluing

57. Warp, e.g. : MAR - ugh.  I was thinking "speed" as in Star Trek, and "defect", as in wood boards

58. Board game spots with nine sqs. between them : RRs - Monopoly board

60. Moviefone owner : AOL

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 17th, 2016, David C. Duncan Dekker

Theme: DCDD

Words: 72 (Pangram~!)

Blocks: 31

  This is the second LA Times contribution from Mr. Dekker, his last being a Saturday grid back in April 2016.  That was also a pangram -  in fact, it was a double pangram, which I did not recognize at the time, but the phenomenon did not occur this time.  It was also April (of this year)  when we last had a pangram puzzle on a Saturday.  I was not hopeful at the start of this construction, but some really healthy WAGs and a few proper names that I knew outright were a big help; the crossings then allowed me to cruise through the second pass in short time.  Pretty pinwheel grid, with nothing longer than 8 letters;

14. Symbol on viola sheet music : ALTO CLEF

11. Quilting technique : APPLIQUE

35. Sleeveless smock : PINAFORE - I know what a pinafore is, since we used to have to wear either a red or blue one when playing team sports in schools and such - but I never really considered one to be a "sleeveless smock".  Then I went looking for an image - I like it, almost as much as a romper

Not the kind I wore

57. Message to a loser : GAME OVER

Help~! I've fallen and can't reach my wallet~!

ON credit W(c)ARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Bud holder : BEER KEG - was not sure which "Bud" we were looking at (see 4d.), but once the "EE" showed up, it became obvious

8. Horrified : AGHAST - threw it right in, and it counted~!

16. One who always finds himself over a barrel? : COOPER - the "avowal" (see 40d.) of one who makes barrels

17. Pessimistic sort : NAYSAYER

18. Take down : TOPPLE

19. Kitchen counter : TIMER

20. Ball : WAD - oops, not "ORB"

22. Guy : FELLA - my first thought, but was not sure if the "slang" was going to fly

23. "The Dukes of Hazzard" deputy : ENOS - I grew up on this show - had to get my weekly dose of the orange Dodge Challenger with the doors welded shut jumping over the inept sheriff's cruiser, or the local ravine with the bridge out, etc.; could have been another "Dukes" reference if 16a. was "COOTER"

24. __ Penh : PHNOM - knew it from reading books, but was not sure of the spelling exactly

26. Disorderly conduct : RIOT

27. Excitable toon canine : REN - I guessed the DOWN crossing ended in "R", and that helped remind me

28. Examines informally : QUIZZES

30. Who, in Quebec : QUI - Frawnche, all perps

31. Product of New Orleans : JAZZ - I was introduced to "rock-fusion jazz" and Mahavishnu Orchestra back when I was 16; here's my favorite song from them - the guitar might be a little harsh for some ears, but the drum intro is awesome....

Vital Transformation

32. Do : EXECUTE - with nothing filled in, "Do" as a clue is extremely vague; "Run" is another one

34. Little squirt : SPRITZ - SHRIMP, no, SPRITE, no SPRITZ - the literal spray of liquid

37. "Sure, why not" : "I GUESS."

38. Parti-colored : PIEBALD

40. Passed perfectly : ACED

41. So-so connection? : AND - so-AND-so

42. Process of elimination : REMOVAL

44. Links org. : PGA

47. Truck parts : CABS

49. "The Martian" star : DAMON

50. Links mounds : TEES - not the little wooden stick kind

51. Option for a return : eFILE - IRS type returns

53. Moses, for one : JEW

54. Reznor of Nine Inch Nails : TRENT - I knew this proper name, which helped

55. Destructive beetles : BORERS

59. Zealous : ARDENT

60. It can help with the healing process : ALOE VERA

61. Concluded one's case : RESTED - dah.  Went with CLOSED

62. Sooner or later : SOMEDAY

DOWN:

1. Kidding : BANTER

2. Seinfeld character who ordered the "big salad" : ELAINE

3. Word origin : ETYMON - doesn't look right, but I knew it was the right word

4. Romantic buds? : ROSES - see~?  Which "bud" is which~?

5. '80s Chrysler : K-CAR - I had one, a Plymouth Reliant, which my dad gave to me when the floor rusted out on my Subaru Brat; I ended up replacing the engine, then the transmission in the thing.  Not good.  Dodge/Chrysler have come a long way since then - I still have my Stratus with 293,640 miles on it, and now the newly purchased Grand Caravan

6. Cambridgeshire cathedral town : ELY

7. "Aw, shucks" : "GEE WHIZ~!"

8. Fake being : ACT - ooh~!  I put this in, and it worked~!  I pondered ETs, or something along the lines of an "alien" being - the noun, not the verb

9. "Oops!" evoker : GOOF

10. Optimistic sort : HOPER - one who "hopes"

12. Smash hits, often : SELLOUTS

13. Pacts : TREATIES

15. __ Ferdinand, whose assassination set off WWI : FRANZ

21. Nod : DOZE

24. At a loss : PUZZLED

25. Salma Hayek, by birth : MEXICAN - did not know this, but the crossings were in place

28. Doha is its capital : QATAR - oops, went with YEMEN - and a shout out to our Doc~!

29. Franklin Mint founder Joseph : SEGEL - only unknown, and the last "L" was an "R" first, so I did not get the 'ta-DA~!' until I reviewed the grid

31. Spinnaker relative : JIB - I knew this was a sail boat reference, but thought a spinnaker was a type of boat; here's a pic of a colorful spinnaker

Learned another new word; TWING

33. Jersey chew : CUD - Jersey as in cow; had the "D" from ACED

34. Elongated key : SPACE BAR 

36. Cards nickname : RED BIRDS - the St Louis Cardinals, if I am not mistaken

39. Key of Beethoven's Violin Concerto: Abbr. : D MAJ - the "A" was already in place, so I went right to "E MAJ", figuring "E" was the most likely of final letters for 38a.

40. Professions : AVOWALS

43. Homer's final character? : OMEGA - Homer the Greek poet, not Mr. Simpson; D'oh~!

44. Mad : PEEVED

45. Family subdivisions : GENERA - Yeah, GENUSI did not seem correct; Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species; can you tell me what I'm thinking of~? It's classified as Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Odonata/ Libellulidae/Pachydiplax - phew~!

46. Off the mark : ASTRAY

48. Hard weather to deal with : SLEET - that would be rain in solid form; definitely 'harder'

50. Cache of cash, perhaps : TROVE - I had TR---, tried TRUST

52. Seaside glider : ERNE

54. Brim : TEEM

56. Norm: Abbr. : STD

58. Stock response? : MOO - More cow humor

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 10th, 2016, Doug Peterson & Patti Varol

Theme: DP & PV

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 30

The return of a Saturday duo - the last time we saw these two constructors was back in April of this year.  That puzzle featured a 15-letter spanner with a central climber of 13 letters.  Today we have 9-letter corners in the across, a pair of 10-letter climbers in the down, and a smattering of 8-letter fill elsewhere.  I moved through this grid as smoothly as the one from April, did not get stalled on the proper names, but I have to admit I did not get my "ta-DA~!" - turns out I went with BETAS and not BETHS, and should have known better with the crossing down.  Oh well.  Some of the longer fill;

15. Only pitcher whose jersey number was retired by the Mets : TOM SEAVER - I'm from L.I., NY, so I had a pretty good idea who this was

12. 2013 literature Nobelist : ALICE MUNRO - her Wiki

 

66. Bright one in a school : NEON TETRA

27. Smartphone notification : EMAIL ALERT

How 'bout this one~?

ONWARD@Splynter.com~!
 

ACROSS:

1. Sole proprietor? : SHOE STORE - since I was 'hip' to the "?", it would have been in my best interest to try filling in SHOE somewhere, but I left it blank on the first past

10. Spiffy : SMART

16. Certain internet chatter : AOLer

17. Headache source : EYESTRAIN

18. Lopez who played Jiminez in "The Dirty Dozen" : TRINI - got it from perps, but should have been a logical guess in the first place - so would that be a L.A.G.~?  The "Logical-Ass Guess"~?

19. Bear fruit : PAN OUT - watermelon didn't fit....

Get it~? "Bear" fruit~? C'mon, that's funny

20. Company whose old factory had a water tower shaped like the company's product : DIXIE CUP - I tried HERSHEY'S, thinking a "Kiss" would be a pretty cool water tower

22. One of the gang : PAL

24. Get the word out? : ERASE - har-har

25. "Wrong call, I suppose" : "GUESS NOT."

30. Test ban subjects : A-BOMBS - I dropped an "A" bomb at 18a.

33. Coloratura Gluck : ALMA

34. Crow heard on tracks : SHERYL - not fooled - I know who Sheryl Crow is 

36. Keats wrote on one : URN - "Ode on a Grecian..." I believe

37. Mount, as a comeback : STAGE

39. Santa __ winds : ANA

40. The blahs : ENNUI

42. New England sch. in Kingston : Univeristy of Rhode Island

43. 1980 film with the #1 hit "Magic" : XANADU - I remember the title track from star Olivia Newton-John, but never saw the movie - it was a flop, but the soundtrack did well

46. Like the Kara Kum : ARID - a WAG, but it sounded like a desert

47. Goddess on whose bust Poe's raven perched : PALLAS - mostly perps

49. Droning : MONOTONE

51. Target : AIM AT

53. Bad check letters : NSF - @#$Z&%~!  I paid Geico on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, got email confirmation, then paid my credit card bill in full on Black Friday - and received notice from my bank Saturday that I had -$147 in my checking account - Geico posted late.  The negative balance included the Non-Sufficient Fund charge of $38.  Like they don't have enough of my money....

54. It takes a licking : LOLLIPOP - There's a girl at UPS who used to come by with a big bag of lollipops for me once a month. (lollipops is a word you can type with one finger in the top right of the keyboard - try it.)

Umm, not the girl from UPS

57. Bargain for : PLAN ON - I plan on getting a cel phone remote car starter, but wanted to ask those here at the blog for any input they can offer on best brands or functions

62. Canceled a reservation, maybe : ATE IN

63. Tossing and turning : WIDE AWAKE - I hear all the rookies at UPS complaining about trying to get to sleep for a 12am-10am shift for the Christmas peak season.  If I have to, I will take some non-alcoholic night-time sleep aid, just to get over the "switch"

65. Death in Venice : MORTE - I figured it was Italian for "death", but was not sure of the spelling

67. Hebrew letters : BETHs - Dah~! Not BETAs

68. Montana's has a plow, a pick and a shovel : STATE SEAL - oops, I went with STATE FLAG

- shout out~!

DOWN:

1. Pedometer unit : STEP - I used to have a step-counter on my cel phone, and it recorded something like 20,000 steps while working at UPS one morning - and I got nowhere; I was still standing between the slide and four trucks....

2. Georgetown newspaper, with "The" : HOYA

3. Sign : OMEN

4. Brand on the Alcan Highway : ESSO

5. Stings : SET-UPS

6. Tam patterns : TARTANS

7. Some gametes : OVA

8. Journalist Whitelaw __ : REID

9. Orange half of a comic duo : ERNIE - Bert and Ernie

10. Like some appetites : SATIABLE - reminds me of that funny story with the "prefix-less" words; see here

11. To a greater extent : MORE SO

13. Eye care brand : RE۰NU

14. Touch off : TRIP

21. Letter between Whiskey and Yankee : X-RAY - I once worked for an architect who owned his own 4-seater plane (Dudley~!), so know my pilot's alphabet, which may be why I screwed up my Hebrew one

23. "Herbie: Fully Loaded" star : LOHAN

25. Get ready to hit the road : GAS UP - had the "S", so this worked for me

26. Modern opening? : ULTRA

28. Sink : SAG

29. Latish wake-up time : TEN AM

31. TD Garden skater : BRUIN - I know my hockey teams

32. Snarky : SNIDE

35. Odorless gas : RADON

38. Scrutinizes : EXAMINES

41. Styron's Turner : NAT - nearly duplicated at; 59d. Electoral analyst Silver : NATE

44. Hustler's request : ASAP

45. Still saved : UNSPENT

48. Demon of Semitic lore : LILITH

50. In recent times : OF LATE

52. Stops on a commuter train : TOWNS

54. Souvlaki choice : LAMB

55. Plains native : OTOE

56. Painter Mondrian : PIET

58. Dazzles : AWES

60. Cajun staple : OKRA

61. Sci-fi author Stephenson : NEAL

64. 1988 film noir remake : D.O.A. - well, I looked at both films (1950)-(1988), and they do not feature the same characters, nor the same plot, so I am not wholly convinced that the later one could be considered a "remake".  Besides, I would have gone with the Van Halen song....

 

For the guitar players out there try this link, 

watch the fills & the whammy bar work - 

the player in this video hits the mark - 

and they're not easy

Y'all tried the "LOLLIPOP" thing, didn't you....

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 3rd, 2016, John Lieb

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing F,Q)

Blocks: 29

Unlike last week's successful struggle, this week's puzzle was just a Google-fest for me; too many proper names that I simply had no clue about - and even some that I should have known, but were cleverly clued with misdirection.  In my humble opinion, there were a few too many "meh" clues in this one, but only because I had never heard the term, or didn't agree with the clue/answer connection.  Oh well - can't claim a win every week.... It was Mister Lieb who introduced us to "Fun Sponge".  A pinwheel grid, with no fill longer than 8 letters, all in the corners;

7a. Free speech inhibitor? : SWEAR JAR - meh.  The clue was trying to be just a little too cute; IMHO, the SWEAR JAR is for the aftermath of "free" speech; it never inhibited me.  I had "B" and "C" in there - a swear BAR makes sense, and so does CAR when you think of cell-phone free train cars - and crossing this cell with a proper name was just Natick

41d. Quality control process with an alphanumeric symbol : SIX SIGMA - new to me.  I looked it up, and the first paragraph made sense, but the rest lost me.

60. Different exercises performed consecutively : SUPER-SET - like most exercise equipment these days, too - e.g. the combo elliptical and stepper; I don't bother with exercise - I just lift everyone else's treadmills for shipping at UPS

2d. "Star Trek: Voyager" actress : JERI RYAN - Googled.  All I could think of was "JANEWAY".  Never got in to this version of Star Trek, even with a character such as Seven of Nine; I just read that she was once Borg....does that make me a Trekkie anyway~?

ONWA-[resistance is futile]

ACROSS:

 1. Major clothing chain : TJ MAXX - I thought I'd have a chance at this one, once I got a crossing letter, and it was the last "X"

15. Morsel : WEE BIT - ugh.  TID bit was in there originally, and I refused to let go

16. Tufted tweeter : TITMOUSE

17. Unspecific threat : OR ELSE

18. "Right you are!" : "YESSIREE~!"

19. "Women and Love" author Shere : HITE - Google #4 as I solved; kept getting Women IN Love, from D.H. Lawrence

20. Tach readings : RPMs

22. Norwegian king during the Cold War : OLAV V - filled in the "OLA--" and waited, but I felt the second "V" was a pretty good WAG; either I,V, or X

23. Serial sequence : ARC

24. Attributes : TRAITS

26. Door opener? : DEE - the "D" at the front of the word DOOR

27. Where Martin Scorsese taught Oliver Stone: Abbr. : NYU - I knew it was a film school, but tried USC first.  Oh well

28. Rhein tributary : AARE - filled via perps

29. 16th-century rulers : TUDORS

32. Archaeologist, at times : DATER - as in carbon dating, etc.

34. Capital of Kazakhstan : ASTANA - filled via perps

36. Disdained, with "at" : SNEEZED - oops, I had sneeRed at to begin with

38. Mickey Rooney septet : EX-WIVES

42. Blue on screen : RATED X - "BLOODS" fit, too, a show on CBS, so I was pondering

44. Last Supper query : IS IT I~? - several awkward answers in terms of parsing....

45. Completely overhauled : REDONE - for example, this could also be RED ONE

48. Revival figs. : EMTs

50. Texter's appreciation : THX - when I start typing in my texts, the app fills in the whole word THANKS for me

51. I, perhaps : ONE - the Roman numeral "I"

52. Harsh : SEVERE

54. U.N. ambassador appointed by JFK : AES - filled via perps; Adlai E. Stevenson II

55. 2008 Best New Artist Grammy winner : ADELE

58. Sweet sign-off : X O X O - lots and lots of "X"s.  Seven of "X" (see 2d.)

59. King Ahab's father : OMRI - no clue, but filled via perps, yet again; the Wiki

62. Boxer Rebellion setting : PEKING

64. Cherish : TREASURE

65. Shady Records co-founder : EMINEM - DAH!~!!!  I like Eminem, and I know that he's "Marshall Mathers" and "Slim Shady", too.  Just didn't see the connection.  Googled.

66. Snakes : SERPENTS

67. Event associated with warm climates and big midday meals : SIESTA

DOWN:

1. Driving instructor's reminder : TWO HANDS - CAR driving instructor; with TID bit in the grid, I had T-T---, thought maybe this was a GOLF driving instructor; although a "two hand" reminder on the driving range is also a good tip....

3. Initial encounter in a romcom : MEET CUTE - so completely unaware of this phrase, I still couldn't believe it even after I looked it up - here.  I have to admit, I went to pay my rent for the second time at my landlord's bank (not MY bank) because he is in Florida  - the first time I made this trip was Halloween when the tellers were dressed as "Snap, Crackle, and Pop".  However, the cutie I stepped up to yesterday was none of those characters, and when I asked, she said she was on the drive-thru as a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Baker....I like cinnamon.  Does this count as a meet-cute~?

4. Fit : ABLE

5. Frat letters : XIs

6. Former Nissan SUV : XTERRA

7. Hinders : STYMIES

8. "Bullets Over Broadway" Oscar winner : WIEST

9. Sci-fi staples : ETs

10. Recess rejoinder : "AM SO~!"

11. Stir up : ROIL

12. Katy of "High Noon" : JURADO - M, B, C, J~? Take your pick

13. Sincere sign-off : AS EVER - or is it A SEVER~?

14. Player of Kent : REEVES - ah, yes.  I knew it was not Christopher REEVE; but then I recalled the character was played by George REEVES in the 50's

21. Flaunt : PARADE

24. Fiction's Lord Greystoke : TARZAN - yeah, this one eluded me for too long

25. Pringles alternative : STAX - I did get it partially right - I laid in LAYS first 

30. Ill-conceived : UNWISE

31. Stand for 45-Down : DAIS - a circumreferential clue that I figured out; 45. They involve insult comedy : ROASTS - I just watched the roast of Rob Lowe

33. First name in architecture : EERO - first name this week, last name last week (Saarinen); I did not know he died at age 51 - I am only 5 years younger than that

35. Hybrid cuisine : TEX-MEX

37. "Nos __": 2000s French-Canadian drama set in a summer home : ÉTÉS - utterly unsolvable from my point of view; and not just because it's Frawnche; filled via perps, but with 'summer' in the clue, ÉTÉ would have been a good WAG

39. Total assets? : VITAMINS - ARGH~! The cereal Total.  Got me good.

100% of 12 vitamins and minerals~!

40. One way to connect nowadays : ETHERNET

43. Allots : DEVOTES

46. Stomach : ENDURE

47. Superior, vis-à-vis Michigan : DEEPER - Great Lakes

49. Metaphors, e.g. : TROPES - OK, this word sounded familiar, but I still looked it up to be sure.  Googled.

53. Wield : EXERT

56. Vault : LEAP

57. Language that gave us "plaid" : ERSE - yeah, CELT was not right

59. Tom Joad, e.g. : OKIE - I did actually know this one

61. Flare producer : SUN - Nice 'double flare' with the flared skirt, too
 

63. "Big four" record company : EMI

Splynter 

Saturday, Nov 26th, 2016, Mark Diehl

Theme: "Rough Diehl"

Words: 66 (missing J,K,Q,W,Z)

Blocks: 22

Phew~!  I solved it.  Did not look good.  Admit to one "post-fill Google", and two red-letter cheats.  Ran over my personal allotted time in less than two minutes.  I am calling this one a win.  The fateful double whammy of chunky corners tied into two double stacks of 15-letter spanners, and this one was going to be a total blank, or at best a slog, as far as I could tell - and the only reason I was able to get through this brutally brilliant construction was due to the fact that I had a streak of proper names that I knew were definitively correct; I put "*"s next to those clues.  The lowest block count I have ever seen in a 15x15 grid, with 26 being the next closest; add to that the fact that in my opinion, there was no 'meh' fill, and I have to admire this one from Mr. Diehl.  The four spanners, and the bonus 13-letter central climber;

15. Loaded : AS RICH AS CROESUS - my Google; I had the name via crossings, and I checked to see if there was a "financial" connection to this person - the Wiki

17. Side dish in a sauce : CREAMED POTATOES - my small family decided on ordering Thankgiving dinner, and we got creamed potatoes instead of mashed - I liked them, but mom and bro did not

50. Cub, for one : NATIONAL LEAGUER - and World Series winner after 108 years

53. Saint-Exupéry classic : THE LITTLE PRINCE - asteroids are involved - the Wiki

16. Sushi bar selection : SPICY TUNA ROLL - not a fan of uncooked fish, but I am familiar with the selections being some type of "roll", which helped

dONeWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Renewable fuel source : BIOMASS

8. Licorice-flavored liqueur : SAMBUCA - I had "FIRST DOG" for 8d., which made this hard to see, but I am rather "familiar" with this cordial

18. Rashness : HASTE

19. Came across by chance : LIT ON - I had HIT ON

20. Sch. that moved from the Mountain West Conf. to the Big 12 in 2012 : TCU - all perps

21. Prefix with analysis : META - meta-analysis, but in this case, a hyphenated prefix

22. Odd page, normally : RECTO - nailed it; I also know what the frontispiece is

23. Critter with tusks : BOAR

24. Barley wine, e.g. : ALE - argh~! How did I not get this~!? I had no clue

25. First child of Henry VIII to survive to adulthood : MARY I

26. Rummy : SOUSE - the second definition of the word is "drunkard"

27. Leaf producer : NISSAN - oh so clever misdirection; the ECO-friendly car

and a romper image, too~!

29. Like stucco : TEXTURED

31. Lavish supply : PROFUSION

33*. Gateway Arch designer : SAARINEN

36*. Author Huxley : ALDOUS

40*. "The Empire Strikes Back" director Kershner : IRVIN - seen here to the right of Geroge Lucas on the "Dagobah" set

41*. "Tell It to My Heart" singer Taylor __ : DAYNE

43. One abroad : UNE - oh, the number one, missed the misdirection

44. Béchamel base : LAIT - Frawnche for milk

45. Easing of govt. control : DEREGulation

46. Bingo call : B TEN - I tried "TWO B" and "B TWO" first

47. Nature-nurturing org. : EPA

48. State of Österreich : TIROL

49. California's __ Bay : MORRO - perps, and a Natick with Marv at 59d.

54. Caustic solution : SODA LYE

55. Sells off : DIVESTS

DOWN:

1*. King pen name : BACHMAN - this is the name that appears on the novel "Thinner", the first one I ever read from "him"

2. Beersheba native : ISRAELI

3. Euripides tragedy : ORESTES

4. Japanese two-seater : MIATA - another car

5. Top : ACME

6. Miss : SHE - Dah~! I had "ERR", that kind of "miss"

I won't miss this kind of miss

7. British potter James known for Brown Betty teapots : SADLER

8. FDR's Fala et al. : SCOTTIES - not FIRST DOG; took a while to realize we needed a breed here

9. Film beeper, familiarly : ARTOO - Detoo, R2-D2, also a part of the Empire Strikes Back - and other films....

10. Complaint : MOAN

11. Jump in the pool? : BET - my poker game moved up one day this week

12. Bob Hope venue : USO TOUR - I figured it was "USO-", but 'venue' threw me

13. Mark of a shark : CUE CASE - a hustler, a pool hall billiards shark; I have two cases myself

14. Guaranteed : ASSURED

22. Didn't stop talking : RAN ON

23. Destined : BOUND - I suppose I was destined to finally find a new vehicle - here I am at the restaurant with my new old Dodge Caravan

25. Muir Woods' county : MARIN

26. It's a wrap : STOLE

28. Sail-extending pole : SPRIT

30. Yangtze tributary : XIANG

32. Form a political union : FEDERATE

33. Solo pianists often provided music for them : SILENTS - my new old Dodge Caravan came with a cassette player, and I have been listening to myself and friends who've made and sent me audio tapes, and this piece was on one of them;

the dexterity really starts at the 5:00 mark

34. Cheyenne allies : ARAPAHO - half filled via perps

35. Worked with props? : AVIATED - har-har~!

37. Beats to the finish line : OUTRUNS

38. Stoop-shouldered, say : UNERECT - OK, a little "meh"

39. Many in España : SEÑORES

42. Raised the roof : YELLED

45*. __ Moore: Hormel brand : DINTY

46*. '30s-'50s filmdom nickname : BOGIE - Humphrey Bogart - and featured in the song Key Largo, a song that got a lot of "muzak" air time, and I did not know who the singer was

oh, so tacky

48. Hard labor : TOIL

49. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Levy : MARV

51. Waterfront gp. : ILA - International Longshoreman Assoc.

52. Prefix with Pen : EPI

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 19th, 2016, Erik Agard

Theme: None

Words 70 (missing Q,V,W,X)

Blocks: 38

  First time blogging an Erik Asgard LA Times Saturday puzzle for me; he has seven previously published constructions, and with a posting on a Tuesday, he will have hit for the cycle.  Odd-looking grid with the black corners, a high block count, and the step-stacks of 12-,13-, and 14-letter fills; 12 & 14 is hard to do.  Not much success on my first pass, and the short down clues did not help much - if it had not been for some "I know this" fills, I would probably still be working on the grid.  Got my ta-DA~! with one bad cel, silly mistake crossing a total unknown.  Oh well.  Some of the longer fill;

13a. ESPN game show where four expert panelists compete debate-style : AROUND THE HORN - I see it on the TV at the restaurants occasionally, but not an actual watcher - but I do like the chalkboard quotes

15a. "42" subject : JACKIE ROBINSON - my first thought was the "42" of Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and that was not working.  Baseball is not my thing, but once the -SON appeared, a vague recollection of this movie occurred 

65a. Early U.S. Navy flag motto : DON'T TREAD ON ME

66a. Likely to be returned : MISADDRESSED

ONWARpeD~!

ACROSS:

1. Diagnostic aid : TISSUE SAMPLE - oof; vague

17. Water __ : SKI - oops, not "PIK"

18. Gets ready to eat, in a way : NUKES - affectionate term for microwaving; it's how I defrost chicken and re-heat pizza

19. Key of Beethoven's Sym. No. 7 : A Maj - I filled in the "M", and waited; it's going to be A-G, Major or Minor

21. Clipped affirmative : YES,'M

23. Other: Pref. : HETERO-

25. Scary story sound : CREAK

28. One of a prohibitive septet : SIN - the Se7en Deadly

31. Industry bigwigs : CZARS - ah, we've seen this before; did not occur to me at first; I went with EXECS

32. Hide out, with "down" : HUNKER

34. School offering belts : DOJO - martial arts

36. Get : NAB - oops, not "SEE"

37. Rihanna album whose title is a common prefix : ANTI - half perps and a WAG

38. Cosmic balance : KARMA

40. Analogy part : IS TO

41. An ace is under it : PAR - in golf, it's par, birdie, eagle; on a par-three hole, "ace" is a hole in one

42. Desert bordering the Altai Mountains : GOBI

43. Mitt with ten fingers : ROMNEY - clever

45. "Luck Be __": "Guys and Dolls" song : A LADY

47. Smoking evidence : ASH

49. Shuffles, say : iPODS - Apple MP-3 music players

50. Firming (up) : TONING - D-oh~! I filled in Boning, and 25d was anyone's guess

52. Italian recipe word : ALLA

54. User of recording devices called quipus : INCA - fascinating, for me - I had to find out what a quipu was, and here's the Wiki; down at the bottom, the article mentions Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series, and I have read two of his books - now I need to get the one mentioned here.

55. WWII conference city : YALTA

58. Home of MLB's Redbirds : STL - St. Louis Cardinals

61. Learn : GET INFORMATION

DOWN:       

1. Persian for "crown" : TAJ - pondered "ABU" at first

2. Subjects of IRS Pub. 590 : IRAs

3. Belt : SOCK - ah, not "SHOT"

4. Japanese hot pot dish : SUKIYAKI - oops, not TERI yaki

5. Athlete's wear, for short : UNI - I believe it's short for unitard

6. Idyllic settings : EDENS - one of the few clues I got on the first pass

7. Toys with strings? : STRUMS - I have been known to toy with the strings of my guitars

8. "I see now" : "AH, OK"

9. "Leave __!" : "ME BE"

10. Trey Anastasio's band : PHISH - nailed it, but for the life of me I cannot remember my favorite song from them from a live concert; my brother might recall the name.  I spent way too much time looking for it....

11. Chaney of the screen : LON

12. Imitation : ERSATZ - great WAG off the "T" in hetero-

14. Unequivocal rejection : NO MEANS NO

16. Told : NARRATED

20. Alcott's "Little Men" sequel : JO'S BOYS

22. __ out a victory : EKE

24. Prefix with tourist : ECO

25. Indian flatbread : CHAPATI

26. Words with a dismissive wave : RUN ALONG

27. Unable to look away : ENTRANCED

I am unable to look away~!

29. Actor __ Elba of "The Wire" : IDRIS - his IMDb; I was not aware he played the captain in the movie Prometheus, the 'prequel' to ALIEN

30. French handle? : NOM - Frawnche for "name"

33. "Citizen Kane" studio : RKO

35. Shake up : JAR

39. Old hoops org. : ABA

40. Thick paint applications : IMPASTOS

42. OB/__ : GYN

44. Sautéing substance : OIL

46. Unicellular alga : DIATOM

48. Abomination : HATRED

51. "Peer __ Homecoming": Grieg work : GYNTS

53. Rapper Kendrick __ : LAMAR

56. Mennen skin product : AFTA

57. Voldemort's title : LORD - from the Harry Potter series of books and films, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes

59. Cookie containers : TINS

60. __-Tokoin Airport: Togo hub : LOME

62. Pasta ending : INI - rotini was the only one I could think of, so I went looking, and found the pasta shapes dictionary

63. Soft drink ending : ADE

64. Young adult fiction author Vizzini : NED - perps

Splynter