Theme: None
Words: 72 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 28
Another Saturday struggle from Pawel, but unlike his construction from Jan of this year, I did not succeed without a fair amount of cheating - but then again, I am also in the middle of a lot of projects, so my mind was not entirely focused on the puzzle. One too many proper names, normal for the author, as well. Today's grid, somewhat like a snake, is another example of how to make it difficult to work one area with no hope of getting in to another - for me, I could not get anything going in the NW. Triple 9- and 10-letter corners, the longest answers in the grid;
15. Land across the Baltic from Sweden : LITHUANIA - OK, cheated - I looked at a map of Europe
14. Federal subsidy : GRANT-IN-AID - never heard the term before
53. Crash and burn : HIT BOTTOM
26. Nevada's Area 51, notably : OPEN SECRET
The
Files~!
Files~!
ACROSS:
1. Picture with a surprise ending? : PHOTO BOMB
10. Cheaply, with "for" : A SONG
16. Organ __ : DONOR
10. Cheaply, with "for" : A SONG
16. Organ __ : DONOR
17. Burden to bear : ALBATROSS - Iron Maiden turned a classic poem into a 13minute song;
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
18. Lead-in for here or nowhere : OUTTA - outta here, outta nowhere
19. Much data: Abbr. : NOs - technically, it's just "two" numbers; 1, and 0
20. River of Tuscany : ARNO
21. Oliver Twist, for one : ORPHAN
22. Architectural molding : OGEE - I have not seen this in a Saturday puzzle for a while
23. Cut twice, perhaps : TRISECT - I was thinking someone measured wrong in the first place....
24. Clear of snow : PLOWED - my "private road" does not get plowed
27. The King's middle name : ARON - Elvis, thank you, thank you very much
28. McBride of "Draft Day" : CHI
29. Metz meal : REPAS - too much Frawnche for me today
30. __ vote : SWING
31. Wi-Fi relative : LAN
32. Eisner's successor at Disney : IGER - filled via perps
33. Org. formed in Manila in 1954 : SEATO - good WAG
34. Pulitzer poet Van Duyn : MONA - filled via perps
35. With 22-Down, immortal 20th-century racer : MAN circumreferential to; 22. See 35-Across : O' WAR - dah~! I was looking for someONE, like Richard Petty, not a horse....
36. British county : SHIRE - generic, not specific
37. Spherical bacteria : COCCI - perps got me --CCI
38. Racing Unsers : ALs
39. Make sound : MEND
40. Quenched : SLAKED
41. Downwind current : LEE TIDE
43. Improvisational style : SCAT
44. Aspects : FACETS
45. Sainted pope called "the Great" : LEO I - LEO (Roman numeral), JOHN or PIUS~? Had to wait
46. Masterpiece : GEM
49. Heron relative : EGRET
50. Product announced but never produced or canceled : VAPORWARE - I finally caved in to peer pressure and bought a vaporizer, so I can hang with the "cool" kids at UPS - they're all half my age anyway, so I find it all amusing. I do however, think there's a chance I might quit smoking with this thing - I like the ash-less,no-more-stank-in-the-car 'just like smoking candy' aspects of the thing....
52. Coeur d'__ : ALENE
54. Treat again, as leather : RE-TAN - my preferred kind of "tan"
55. Relax : STAY LOOSE
DOWN:
1. Work on one's vacation, say : PLAN - oh, like booking a room and a flight - I am on "vacation" from UPS, but for me, it meant putting in 40+ hours at both restaurants to get them back into shape - one from the fireproofing mess, the other for grand re-opening in two weeks
2. Hawaii's __ Bay : HILO - good WAG
3. Places with indoor windows, briefly : OTBs - ah. Filled via perps; clever, though
4. Rap article : THA'
5. Storm problems : OUTAGES - SURGES was too short
6. Kept out : BARRED - dah~! Not baNNed
7. Two __: fast-break advantage : ON-ONE - love them in hockey; I finally saw a three-on-three OT game - and I like the fact that a 2-on-1 or breakaway is always imminent
8. Protein-rich paste : MISO - not TOFU
9. Humanities degs. : BAs
1. Work on one's vacation, say : PLAN - oh, like booking a room and a flight - I am on "vacation" from UPS, but for me, it meant putting in 40+ hours at both restaurants to get them back into shape - one from the fireproofing mess, the other for grand re-opening in two weeks
2. Hawaii's __ Bay : HILO - good WAG
3. Places with indoor windows, briefly : OTBs - ah. Filled via perps; clever, though
4. Rap article : THA'
5. Storm problems : OUTAGES - SURGES was too short
6. Kept out : BARRED - dah~! Not baNNed
7. Two __: fast-break advantage : ON-ONE - love them in hockey; I finally saw a three-on-three OT game - and I like the fact that a 2-on-1 or breakaway is always imminent
8. Protein-rich paste : MISO - not TOFU
9. Humanities degs. : BAs
10. Like most grandparents : ADORING
11. Stock options? : SOUPS
12. Facing a deadline : ON THE CLOCK
13. "In your dreams!" : NOT A CHANCE
21. College town about 100 miles NE of Portland : ORONO - seen this in enough crosswords
23. Hackneyed : TRITE
24. 1993 William Diehl thriller on which a 1996 film was based : PRIMAL FEAR
25. Formidable court figure : LEGAL EAGLE - also a movie, but it was "eagleS"
27. Agatha or Edgar : AWARD - nailed it, but then again, I had A-A--
30. The Pont Neuf spans it : SEINE - Frawnche
33. Molts : SHEDS
34. Defense that may be all wet : MOAT - my dream home has a moat
36. Gaga : SMITTEN
37. "Does she ... or doesn't she?" brand : CLAIROL
40. Part of a fictional dog name inspired by Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" : SCOOBY
42. R&B singer __ Marie : TEENA
43. Dividing walls : SEPTA - biology
45. Café supply : LAIT - Frawnche, again
46. León relative : GATO - Frawnche, encore
47. Piccadilly Circus statue : EROS
48. Hand raiser's attention-getter : ME~! ME~!
50. Beta rival : VHS
51. Org. that complements the IMF : WTO - oh. The International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization - I was stuck on "Impossible Mission Force....
Splynter
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