Saturday, January 14, 2017

Saturday, Jan 14th, 2017, Roland Huget

Theme: None

Words 68 (missing B,F,J,K,Q,Z)

Blocks: 25 

A perfectly symmetrical construction with chunky corners and no way to get from one to the other without going through 15-letter spanners and climbers makes this possibly the most difficult grid to work with;  I have to own up to one Google cheat, but other than that, I call this one a win - no fun-sponge answers, and solid fill throughout.  The last Saturday puzzle from Mr. Huget was nearly an identical grid, and I re-read my write-up and it was a struggle then as well.  Still, I liked the challenge, and I was within my personal allotted time, so one cheat is fair, right~?  Anyway, the four spanners and climbers;

31a. Classic children's story about healing : THE SECRET GARDEN - I'd heard of it, but knew nothing about it, so I went to the the Wiki

36a. '60s TV sidekick : AGENT NINETY-NINE - from Get Smart - one of my favorite openings for a show and theme song - here's the 60's Agent 99; I liked Anne Hathaway in the 2008 movie myself

GET SMART

7d. Find the weakness of : HIT WHERE IT HURTS

8d. Accessory for FDR : CIGARETTE HOLDER - see also 55d. for a WWII contemporary



bONnieWARD~!

ACROSS: 

1. "Yikes!" : "OMIGOSH~!"

8. Whitewash : COVER-UP

15. Ancient Roman coins : DENARII - I took Latin for four years in school, so the couble "I-I" at the end was acceptable

16. "It's not an option for me" : "I HAVE TO." - I have to add a leg image - it's not an option for me

17. Court exhibit, perhaps : DNA TEST

18. Squared up : GOT EVEN - I was not sure if this was a carpentry clue, or an "I.O.U." one

19. Customs : MORES - dah~! Not NorMs

20. '70s org. for 21-Down : WHA - I immediately filled in NHL, as I knew who we were looking for at 21d - and I was wrong~!  The WHA was the World Hockey Association, a league I had never heard of - I grew up with the NY Rangers, the team my dad followed before the birth of the Islanders - who got their start from the legal battles of the NHL with the WHA - the Wiki
 
22. Viking family dog of comics : SNERT - Hägar the Horrible


23. Notable periods : ERAS - a gimme for Saturday

24. Side issue? : THORN - a "thorn in one's side" - har-har

26. Piano __ : TRIO - yeah, this one was vague, at best; I pondered LEGS



27. Hound : NAG - oops, not the 'other' hound - DOG - I have an idea for a new board game that I have been working on all week, and there's a good chance I can produce it if the prototype is good - my friend Mike works with China to produce backyard games and such

28. Little ones : PEE-WEES

30. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO - perps

34. "What's Hecuba to him, __ to Hecuba": Hamlet : OR HE - OK, the only fill that was "meh", but not too bad when you quote Shakespeare

35. St Ives gallery : TATE - a WAG off  '--TE'


43. Discount tag abbr. : IRRegular

44. One giving a thumbs-up? : HITCHER - Always makes me think of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy



45. Put the kibosh on : NIX - ARGH~! not HEX, not POX

46. Actors Glass and Silver : RONs - both have died; I knew Ron Silver - he was a lawyer on Law & Order, but I had to look up Ron Silver - ah, from Barney Miller, just before my time

48. Total confusion : CHAOS - I mentioned this word last week - and KAOS was in Get Smart, too

49. High seas adverb : THAR - she blows~!

50. Creamer of the LPGA : PAULA - perps and WAG

52. Search result : URL - oops, not HIT

53. "Rocky IV" antagonist Ivan : DRAGO - this was "my time", but Rocky movies were not my thing; 1985 was a good movie year - Back to the Future, A View to A Kill, and a tie-in to 28a. - see here

54. Being tracked, in a way : ON RADAR

 

56. Think it likely : DARESAY - I pondered DEEMS SO

58. Reference : RESPECT - should this have been reVerence~?  I'm calling blooper

59. Hyundai 1990 launch : ELANTRA - Nailed it, even if it was a WAG

60. Locks : TRESSES

61. Unfair treatment : RAW DEAL 

 DOWN:

1. Leftover : ODDMENT

2. Festival of Lights symbol : MENORAH - big help in the NW

3. Really ticked : IN A RAGE

4. 36-Down areas : GATES - did not work with my NorMs

5. They may be picked out : ORES - ah, a fresh clue for an old fill


 
6. Family nickname : SIS

9. "Look what I found!" : "O HO~!"

10. Brewery fixtures : VATS

11. What happened : EVENT

12. Venerated : REVERED - still calling blooper at 58a.

13. Womb-related : UTERINE

14. Floatplane feature : PONTOON

21. Six-time Hart Trophy winner : HOWE - either HOWE or HULL

24. Lego line that may include gears and motors : TECHNIC - my favorite collection of Lego sets; I have several kits still in a closet at mom's house, including the "old" helicopter set - here's the latest helicopter, but all the new kits have pre-molded parts that take some of the fun out of building



25. Countermands : NEGATES

28. Capital of Western Australia : PERTH - ooh, good WAG off just the "H"

29. Faun look-alike : SATYR

32. Male issue : SON

33. Cartoon canine : REN

36. Site with scanners : AIRPORT

37. It usually doesn't get a laugh : GROANER

38. Hospital triage pro : ER NURSE

39. Mayberry's home: Abbr. : N. CARolina

40. At the last minute, say : IN HASTE

41. New York county north of Erie : NIAGARA - my one cheat - and living in NY, I shoulda known....




42. 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, e.g. : EX-ROYAL - hockey is my thing, not baseball

47. Sharp rebukes : SLAPS

49. General direction : TREND

51. Citrus coolers : ADES

53. Main attraction : DRAW

55. Dogfight participant : ACE - Iron Maiden's Aces High



57. Like : À LA

Splynter

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