Saturday, Feb 25th, 2017, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q)

Blocks: 29

I always cringe when I see Julian Lim as the constructor for Saturday's puzzles, and it was looking pretty bleak at the beginning.  I did manage to get some solid fill in all the corners, was able to work through this challenge with only a half-cheat (I have the periodic chart app on my phone, so I looked that one up) and then it was just a matter of some healthy Wild-Ass Guesses.  Just a few too many proper names in the puzzle for me, but then again, they all filled with the crossings.   Not a terribly intimidating grid, two 9-letter fills on the inside and 8-letter corners

16. One way to serve fowl : À L'ORANGE - We have a duck farm near my place, and it's a stop on my UPS "Q" truck ( the town is Aquebogue )

 39. Herbal beverage : ANISE TEA

65. Name on many bars : HERSHEY'S

 3. Pepper with punch : JALAPEÑO - D'oh~!! Spelled it with an "H" to start

 And there you have a four-course meal....

Vay-Cay-ShON-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Muslim veils : HIJABS

7. Curly's dad on "Sesame Street" : PAPA BEAR - I don't remember him

15. "For unto us a child is born" source : ISAIAH

17. "See?!" : "TOLD YA~!"

18. Counterbalanced, say : WEIGHTED - I had all but the first two letters, and tried "AR-ighted"....

19. Penn., for one : STA - I passed through Pennsylvania Station last weekend; came this close to staying for the Rangers/Capitals game in the Garden right above.  I love going in to New York City.

20. Thing to do with your fingers : SNAP - my first thought, but I hesitated

22. Attain, as great heights : SOAR TO

23. Brewmaster's need : HOPS

25. Plenty of horn? : KLAXON - got it off the "X", but went with a "C" and not a "K"

27. Payless box letters : EEE - Saturday cluing for a common fill

28. It often follows 12 : ONE PM - nailed it, tho I had AM, not PM

30. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" poet Wilfred __ : OWEN - the "W" was my last fill

31. Thirsts : YENS

32. Structure from the Arabic for "lighthouse" : MINARET - learning moment

34. Low bar? : DIVE - I was in one on Thursday to see a friend do her stand-up routine, but she went on too late - UPS comes early.  I did get to shoot some pool with a guy from one of the restaurants - man am I out of practice

36. Green machine : ECO-CAR - PRIUS did not fit

37. Some timeshares : VILLAS - I am friends with the nuns in my area, and they live at a "Villa"; there's usually a 12-step retreat there each spring and fall

41. Poet friend of author Ernest : EZRA - filled via perps

43. Point of view? : EYE LINE

44. Downtime? : FUNK

47. Like some ukuleles : OVAL

49. Many a group vacation photo, in slang : WEFIE - the expanded "Selfie"

50. 2008-'09 Japanese prime minister Taro __ : ASO - perps

51. __ chief : TRIBAL

53. Urquhart Castle's loch : NESS - four letters~? Good WAG

Hey, what's that in the lake~?

54. Created with : MADE OF

56. Ran : BLED

58. Cool : HEP

59. Rule broken by deities? : I BEFORE E - nailed it

61. Target of a whacking : PIÑATA

63. "Mad Men" actor John : SLATTERY - half perps, half WAG

64. Elicits : EDUCES

66. Acknowledge subtly : WINK AT

DOWN:

1. Strikes a chord : HITS HOME - ah, not a guitar clue; I love the chords of this song

And for the guitar players, a lesson

2. Kind of muscle contraction : ISOTONIC

4. First __ : AID

5. Canine sounds : BAYS - not ARFS

6. Osso buco cut : SHANK

7. Tree with green-skinned fruit : PAWPAW

8. Maugham's "Cakes and __" : ALE

9. Irritating growth : POISON IVY - oh, it's irritating alright

10. Chlorine's periodic table follower : ARGON - cheatcheatcheat

11. __ Men: one-hit wonders of 2000 : BAHA - vague recollection of this band

12. Carte part : ENTRÉE

13. Tatum O'Neal received her Oscar at it : AGE TEN - got it off ----EN

14. Overhauls : RE-DOES

21. Seas : A LOT

24. Best Actress after Field : SPACEK - made me change my AM to PM @28a.

26. Struck (out) : X-ed

29. "Yes!" singer Jason : MRAZ - another one up from the dredges

31. #3 on the 2016 Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list : YELLEN - of the Federal Reserve - her Wiki.  There's a Ms. Yellen on one of my UPS trucks who gets at least a box a day; Hey - we're going drone~!

33. Like 100 on most tests : ERROR FREE

35. Mountaineer's expectation : VIEW

Hey now....

38. Productivity-increasing trick, in modern parlance : LIFE HACK

40. Overlooks, as a fault : SEES PAST

42. Prefix with fauna : AVI

43. Airline to Eilat : EL AL

44. Starve, to Shakespeare : FAMISH

45. Worth keeping : USABLE

46. Tender turndown : NO, DEAR

48. Some retreats : ABBEYS

51. Sweet __ : TOOTH

52. Toon pursuing l'amour : Le PEW

55. Small salamanders : EFTS

57. Conn of "Grease" : DIDI

60. Trick ending? : ERY - trickery

62. One in an order : NUN - and a villa~!

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 18th, 2017, Craig Stowe

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 30

  First Saturday LA Times crossword for Mr. Stowe, as far as I can tell; his other constructions have made it on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Three more for the "complete set".  I did quite well with this one, just one cheat for a proper name in the NE so I could get started up in that corner.  Lots of "nailed it" answers for me today, and they're especially pleasing when the crossings jibe.  Triple 10-letter Across corners, two 11-letter climbers and a 13-letter spanner;

10. Rectangular Manhattan attraction : CENTRAL PARK - I really need to see more of this place; all I really know about the spot is what I have seen in TV shows ( Law & Order, e.g. ), and this great scene from the movie "Die Hard with a Vengeance"

23. Conversational softener : JUST KIDDING

Raymond was "just kidding"

33. Its Gold Medal features a profile of Franklin : PULITZER PRIZE - learning moment for me

Game-ON-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Neutral : ACHROMATIC - with regard to color; in music, a 'chromatic' scale includes all twelve notes of a scale - which reminds me of this 'song'; if you grew up with "Headbanger's Ball", you might recognize it

And here's a clip on how to play the song

11. Farm animals : EWES - I tried SOWS first

15. Reacts to staying up, perhaps : SLEEPS LATE - I gotta sleep late Sunday, have a semi-overnight at the restaurant to prep for fireproofing the ceiling

16. "St. Matthew and the Angel" painter Guido : RENI - my cheat

17. The Hugo Awards are presented at one : CONVENTION - I am in New York City today - my buddy Mike with the games company has a booth at the Javits Center for the Toy/Games Convention, and I am going to bring two of the three board games I 'invented'

18. What hearts may do : RACE - 2017 is off to a good start - someone new makes my heart race

19. Queen __ Revenge: Blackbeard's ship : ANNE'S - good WAG

20. Reams : A LOT

21. Mil. addresses : APOs

22. Tree in a carol : PEAR - you'll find the Partridge there

23. Some subordinates: Abbr. : JRs

24. Turn in : RAT OUT - ah. Not RETIRE

26. __-chef : SOUS - I know the guys who fill this role at the restaurants

28. Home to many warthogs : SAVANNA - that's the area of Africa, not the state of Georgia (OK, different spelling, but I thought it was funny )

29. Eastern servants : AMAHs - couldn't remember this at first

31. Store accessibly : FILE

32. With 37-Across, "No problem" : IT'S - circumreferential to; 37. See 32-Across : OKAY

36. Vintage tape format : VHS

38. Moore co-star : ASNER - another WAG

39. Like thou, say : ARCHAIC - nailed it, and spelled it correctly

41. Three-time Tour de France champion LeMond : GREG

42. See 48-Across : POLAND - partial referential clue to; 48. __-Neisse Line, western border of 42-Across : ODER

43. Albanian currency : LEK

44. Traipse : ROAM

49. Two-point contest? : DUEL - har-har

51. 122-square-mile republic : MALTA

52. "Green Mansions" heroine played by Audrey Hepburn : RIMA - I tried riTa, did not get my ta-DA~!; checked the crossing, and oops

53. Plus : IN ADDITION - nailed it

55. 1860s-'70s Black Hawk War combatants : UTES

56. Digital emergency signal : NINE-ONE-ONE

57. Uncle __ : BEN'S - another shot in the dark that was correct

58. Become decent? : GET DRESSED - nailed it - hah~!

DOWN:

1. Songwriters' org. : ASCAP - American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

2. Knockoff : CLONE - makes me think of the street vendors in NYC - wow, that's a good price for a Rolex~!

3. Salon coloring : HENNA

4. U-turn : REVERSAL

5. "... the morning __ her golden gates": Shakespeare : OPES

6. Yahoo! alternative : MSN - dah, not AOL

7. Rite sites : ALTARS

8. Apes' lack : TAILS - humans, too

9. "__, Sing America": Hughes : I, TOO

11. Improved book list? : ERRATA

12. Adapt in a dangerous way : WEAPONIZE

13. Come across : ENCOUNTER

14. Naps : SIESTAS

25. Not inclined : AVERSE

27. Toledo native : OHIOAN - I was an Ohioan for two and a half years - worked on a made-for-TV movie there

28. Military address : SIR

29. Venus counterpart : APHRODITE - nailed it from --RH--E

30. Goons : MUSCLEMEN - "goon" is the affectionate name for the fighters in hockey games, too

31. "Bossypants" memoirist : FEY - Tina, of SNL fame

34. Efron who voiced Ted in "The Lorax" : ZAC

35. Thankless bunch : INGRATES

36. Product originally called Croup and Pneumonia Salve : VAPO-RUB - this reminds me of SNL, too

40. Give a hard time : HARASS

41. Fixed, in a way : GELDED - oh, that kind of fix

43. Rested (against) : LEANT

45. Hodgepodges : OLIOs - making a return on Saturdays recently

46. Fix things : ATONE - oh, that kind of fix

47. Shaggy : MANED - I was "maned" back in my Headbanger's Ball days

50. Together, in Toulouse : UNIE - Frawnche

51. Vein locale : MINE

54. "L'Âge __": Buñuel-Dalí surrealist film : DOR - perps

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 11th, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,V,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

   First things first - I wanted to say thank you for all the Birthday comments on Thursday - I had the time to review them because I was buried under 8" of snow - I always get snow on my Birthday, but I have had better Feb 9ths.  And I have an answer to a question from one of the comments at 5d today.  Anyway, on to today's puzzle - another from our gracious host, C.C., and for the second week in a row, a pretty easy one for me.  I did not get my "ta-DA~!" because of one crossing, but I found it without having to cheat.  Odd looking grid with two black corners, leaving us with triple 10s in the Across, and almost triple 9s in the Down;

 1. Bar line : "WHAT'S ON TAP~?" - because "What's your sign~?" didn't fit

12. Poker telecast equipment : POCKET CAM - none of these at our table 

32. They're high on the Scoville scale : HABANEROS - nailed it.  The pungency 'hotness' scale of chilis

63. "That'll never work!" : "ROTTEN IDEA~!"

oh, it'll work alright....

lONleyWARD~

ACROSS:

11. They're sometimes black : OPerationS

14. Question at an alumni gathering : "REMEMBER ME~?"

15. Word with leg or elbow : ROOM - planes and trains

17. "Looking at all sides ... " : "IN FAIRNESS..."

18. Real estate unit : ACRE

19. Tijuana addr. : SRA

20. Nada : Nogales :: __ : Reims : RIEN - some alliteration, too

21. Phone user : TALKER - oops, not CALLer

23. County in Ulster : TYRONE

 

in the middle of the yellow

25. Some broken pegs, or where they're found : TEES - clever; I had no clue to start with

27. Multi-purpose shortening : ETC.

28. Cooler tenant : CON - cooler as in jail, the clink, ETC. - although ICE was a good thought; straight clecho with 31. Cooler tenant : THIEF

29. Crew tools : OARS - got it

30. 4-Down in France : THE - circumreferential with; 4. 30-Across in America : TEA

34. Pot addition : ANTE - two weeks in a row I'm in the black at the poker table~! I pulled four 6's in one hand - and nothing wild

35. Patriot target : SCUD

36. Went berserk : HAD A FIT - oops, I filled in HAD AT IT

38. Sushi bar appetizer : EDAMAME

40. "... crafty seer, with __ wand": Pope : EBON

41. "__ Yankees" : DAMN - such language~!

43. Feet in a meter? : IAMBS - I tried BEATS

44. Title of respect, in Tokyo : SAN - ah, yes, Daniel-san

45. Bug zappers? : SERA - the stomach and flu kind of bugs

46. Ed. basics : RRR - the three "R"s; reading, (w)riting, 'rithmetic

47. "Major Crimes" network : TNT

48. Green Smoke product : eCIG - I think I'll get one with the money from my B-day; the new car stinks of cigar with the windows closed in the winter

49. Misbehaves : ACTS UP

53. Take back : RECALL - here's my mistake; I had recaNT, which messed up my SW

55. Mark for good : ETCH

57. Old televangelism letters : PTL

58. Second-largest Middle East country : IRAN - behind Saudi Arabia, but I was surprised to see Yemen at #3 - I guess Turkey is not considered part of the area

59. Wipe out : ANNIHILATE

62. Scrapple ingredient : PORK

64. Waves home : SEA - and another pure clecho with; 24. Waves home : OCEAN

65. Cell notice : EMAIL ALERT - my first thought, but I hesitated

DOWN:

1. Slap spot : WRIST

2. Edsel's father : HENRY - Ford Motor Company men

3. "Making AIDS History" org. : amfAR - american foundation for AIDS Research

5. Brand in many a Moscow mule : SMIRNOFF - I got it, but I didn't know why - turns out, it's a drink
Hey - Wilber Charles, that's "Sloth", from Bill W., St 6, 12 & 12~!
 

6. "The Barefoot Contessa" Oscar winner Edmond : O'BRIEN

7. Island goose : NENE - official bird of the state of Hawaii

8. 1776 battleground : TRENTON - got it from half perps

9. Morning hrs. : AMs - my AM yesterday was not a good one - my 'private' road did not get plowed, and I could not get to UPS. 

10. Bugged : PESTERED

11. Like some wills : ORAL

16. Car in a King title : MERCEDES - Ah, this book, from Stephen King.  I thought it was a reference to "Lord Won't You Buy Me", but that's Joplin

22. Biblical beast : ASS

26. All gone : EATEN

31. Busy Las Vegas area : THE STRIP

33. "Whatever" : "I DON'T CARE."

34. Arcade giant : ATARI - I had two memorable Birthdays - the first one being back in Fifth Grade, when I had just two friends come over - but it snowed as bad that night as it did this year; thought it was canceled, but the moms brought them over in the storm, and we played Atari 2600 all.  night.  long.

35. Sting : SMART

37. "Well, well!" : "I DECLARE~!"

39. Carrier to Beijing : AIR CHINA - semi-shout out to our host~!

42. Fuchsia cousin : MAGENTA

 

45. Pommes frites seasoning : SEL - salt

46. Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" : RACHEL - I liked her in "Constantine"
 

50. Soil mover : SPADE

51. Absolute : UTTER

52. Kilt fold : PLEAT

54. "My Way" lyricist : ANKA

56. Arboreal Amazon monkey : TITI

 

This is what I did on my Birthday

60. Georges, par exemple : NOM - Frawnche, name

61. Tiny, in a tiny way : LI'L

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 4th, 2017 David C. Duncan-Dekker

Theme: DCDD

Words: 68 (missing J,X,Z)

Blocks: 33

Well I just about smoked through this puzzle, despite having no answers for the first three long Across fills. A pinwheel grid with triple 10-letter corners meant easier 4-letter fills for crossings, and some of them were too much of a 'gimme' for a Saturday construction.  Hey, they gotta throw us a bone once in a while, no~?  Very few proper names, I knew all of them, and several other clues were in my wheelhouse as well.  One from each corner;

1. Runway covering : TARMACADAM - here I thought this was redundant, as TAR and MACADAM were the same thing, but I went looking and discovered I was wrong

57. Flipper, for one : BOTTLENOSE - I started with "TV----", but 'character' was too long; for some reason, I thought dolphins were "bottleNECK".  Ooops

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

13. Not yet on the shelves : UNRELEASED - my book is unreleased - and uh, unwritten, right now....

24. 1956 rockabilly hit : BE-BOP-A-LULA - before my time, but the phrase appears in this song, which I have linked before, but I think it's worth hearing again

The Afterlife

Paul SimONWARD~!

ACROSS:

11. Border : ABUT - dah~! Not EDGE

15. Hedge : EQUIVOCATE

16. Mellow, with "down" : TONE

17. Source of sweet-scented spice : NUTMEG TREE

18. Car alarm : HORN

19. What suspects may be charged with : TASERS - suspect or perp~?  One can be a suspect without getting tased in the process - I hope

20. Grease, often : FAT

21. Squeezed (out) : EKED - gimme

22. Something else : LULU

23. First name in legal fiction : ERLE - his Wiki

24. Good yield : BUMPER CROP

 

Looks like it's gonna be a good year~!

30. Not a good look : LEER - gimme

31. Made possible : ENABLED

32. Pan Am competitor : TWA - ugh.  I tried UAL, then NWA, and finally got it right

34. Darken, in a way : TAN - ooh, I was close with DYE at first

35. Ordered : BOSSED - yesterday my senior boss thought he'd tell me how to load one of my trucks - so I said to him "why don't you just go sit in the office~?"

36. Manage poorly : ILL USE

38. Leftover bit : ORT - gimme

39. Kid's cry : "MOM~!"

41. Dresses : ATTIRES - ah, the verb, not the noun

42. Like some horses : PIED - pondered "ROAN"

44. Hunting dogs : COONHOUNDS

46. Business opening : AGRO - thought it was agrI, but....

47. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT

48. Depict artistically : LIMN

49. Certain game extensions, briefly : OTs - the NY Rangers won in OT on Thursday

50. Force user : OBI-WAN - I use the Force - it keeps me sober

56. Hand or foot : UNIT - measures, not "limbs"

59. "Constant Craving" singer : LANG - k.d., and I remembered this song

60. Police may look for one : EYEWITNESS

61. Gucci or Rossi : ALDO - perps

62. Some talk show personalities : RADIO HOSTS

DOWN:

1. Big top, e.g. : TENT - gimme

2. Water color : AQUA

3. Groovy things : RUTS - "LPs" was too short

4. Street performer : MIME - gimme

5. Claim : AVER

6. Minor players : COGS

7. Perform : ACT - gimme

8. War-torn Sudanese region : DARFUR - featured in this song from Thievery Corporation

9. Got stuffed : ATE A LOT

10. Join for a drink, say : MEET UP WITH - only if it's coffee - OK, Diet Coke, too

11. Close behind : AT HEEL

12. Library feature : BOOK RETURN

 

14. Gentle quality : TENDERNESS

22. Flat-panel TV component : LCD - had in, took it out

25. Hardly fresh : UNORIGINAL

26. Code-breaking game with colored pegs : MASTERMIND - ah, I remember this game, but I never played it

27. __ Kids: "Sesame Street" brand : PBS - perps

28. Am or Fm : ELEMent - almost got me; I went with BAND first, but this is Americium and Fermium

29. Fictional Soviet sub : RED OCTOBER - I can think of a more difficult way to clue this on Saturday - e.g. "sub captained by Ramius"

33. Chorus line? : ALTO

37. Voice of Master Viper in "Kung Fu Panda" films : LIU

40. Flamenco guitarist Carlos : MONTOYA - perps gave me MONT---, and given the occupation/first name....

41. Social worker? : ANT - gimme

43. "What's the rush?" : "DON'T GO...."

45. Kicked to the curb : OUSTED

50. A little of this, a little of that : OLIO - I have not seen this in a puzzle for a long time - but I don't get to the weekday puzzles much

51. One of the March sisters : BETH - I had the -ET-, so I figured BETH was a good choice

52. __ time : IN NO

53. Tribulations : WOES

54. No. 2 : ASST. - Always reminds me of Dr. Evil

55. Headland : NESS - new definition for me

58. Light head? : TWI - twilight; second "lead-in" clue in the grid (46a.), which is unusual

Splynter