Saturday, January 7, 2017

Saturday, Jan 7th, 2017, David Steinberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,X)

Blocks: 27

  Ouch.  Not a good way to start this year's Saturday puzzling.  I had a nearly blank grid after the first Across and Down passes, with "MOET" and BIC" my only fills; then I tried a few WAGs, and the bottom started to fill in.  Worked my way up the sides, where MAESTRO got me into the NE, but 24d. was a total blank - and so on came the red letters, and I have to call Fun SPONGE on too many answers - even ones I got ( I am looking at you, 55a.).  Argh~! - yet ironic that I finished within my personal time.  Oh - and one Google cheat - might as well own up to a complete crash and burn....Near perfect symmetry in the grid spoiled by fill that carried a cringe factor (*) too high.  Nothing longer than 8 letters;

2*. "100% juice smoothie" brand : ODWALLA - not a chance in millions was I getting this - California west coast thing, I guess


14. Investor's concern, familiarly : P/E RATIO - thought it was "----TAX" at first



39. Club attention-getter : PERFUME - ah that kind of club - there was once a fragrance named "Escape" that made me swoon; it's not the scent or the liquor that gets my attention now....


 43. CIA nickname : LANGLEY - Just finished "The Broker", John Grisham, featuring his CIA director Teddy Maynard, who's home base was frequently referred to as "Langley"


ONWARD~!
(redacted)

ACROSS:

1. "Easy!" : "NO SWEAT~!"

8. Scary high : BAD TRIP

15. Facebook co-founder Saverin : EDUARDO - my Google cheat; I am not on Facebook, and don't "tweet" either

16. Come by : ACQUIRE

17*. Soccer blunder : OWN GOAL - my dad would be so upset - he lived for soccer, and I never heard this phrase before

18. Arabian matchmaker : BREEDER - argh~!  Horse talk

19. Site of many '60s tours : 'NAM - ah, not a musical tour, as I was thinking

20. Spread out : SPLAYED - dah~!  Not ARRayed

22. MPG-estimating org. : EPA - I pondered this, and left it blank

23. Kiddie lit count : OLAF - not in my 'ute' - the Wiki

25. Provisions : TERMS

26. Eponymous 18th-century wine trader Claude : MOËT


27. Story featuring Paris : ILIAD - ah, the character, not the city

29. Govt. agency with domestic field divisions in 15 states : DEA - perps left me with D - A

30. Pacific island overrun by wild chickens : KAUA'I - I figured it was Hawaiian, but LANA'I was all I could think of


31. Original "SNL" cast member : RADNER - Gilda - got it once I had the --D--R

33. Godfather cocktail ingredient : AMARETTO - never had one; my first attempt had "----MIX"

35. Lump : GLOB - dah~! Not Blob

37. Wally who played himself in the "Taxi" episode "Latka's Cookies" : AMOS - never watched, but I can see the "Famous Amos" connection

38. Wine drink : SPRITZER

42. Forest weapon : ANTLER

46. Social group : PEERS - I tried CASTE

47. Wite-Out maker : BIC

49. Do away with : ERASE - hesitated on the first pass with this inkling

50. __ health : ORAL - I take good care of my teeth, but my gum is starting to bother me between my last two molars

51. Inexpensive vodka : POPOV - vodka was never my drink, so I pondered STOLI - 12 year anniversary tomorrow

53. Currently playing : ON TV

54. Draft letters : NFL - argh~! football sports draft

55*. Acid test supply : pH PAPER - I filled this in and said "no way"

57. "Wow!" : "GEE~!"

58. Colorful holiday candy : GUMDROP


60. First name in dognapping : CRUELLA - 101 Dalmatians

62. Stem (from) : EMANATE

63. Get gray gracefully : AGE WELL

64. Old Roman adviser : SENATOR

65. Early arrivals : RED-EYES

DOWN:

1*. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" genre : NEO-NOIR - got the NOIR from perps, but nothing made any sense

3. Raisin brand : SUN-MAID - ah, this company I know of

4. Reaction to a treat, maybe : WAG - oops, not "ARF"

5. Lover of Psyche : EROS

6. One way to cope : ADAPT

7. Sounded : TOLLED - I had ---LED; Called, Yelled~?

8. 2008 Poehler/Fey comedy : BABY MAMA

9. Real estate measures : ACRES - clecho with; 21d. Real estate measure : AREA - one outdoor, one indoor

10. Removed for a rules violation, briefly : DQ'ed - my online search pulled up dq'd, no "E" - short for disqualified

11. Day of the wk. : TUEsday - blank, I had a one-in-seven shot; give me a "U" and....

12. Weather : RIDE OUT - the verb, not the noun

13. Emphatic words : "I REPEAT"

24*. Obsessive young devotee : FAN GIRL - ugh.  Never heard the term - but it was a movie from last year

26. Baton holder : MAESTRO

WTF~?

28. Benching targets, briefly : DELTS

30. Greenland currency : KRONE

32. Waitress in the comic strip "Shoe" : ROZ


34. Doctors' org. : AMA - oooh~! A gimme~!

36. Certain jazzman : BE-BOPPER

38. They hold water : SPONGES - FUN Sponges do not

40. Quiche shunner, in an '80s best-seller : REAL MAN - ah, did not know it was a book - the Wiki

41. Longtime morning host : RIPA - made me take out STOLI

44. One-named "American Boy" singer : ESTELLE - almost all perps

45. Lets out : REVEALS

48. Wheels of justice? : COP CAR - har-har

51. A filter may be used to produce it : PHOTO

52. Edge : VERGE

55. Start to fall? : PRAT

56. Regretted : RUED

59. Some trial evidence : DNA

61. Rebus animal : EWE

Splynter

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