Saturday, April 22, 2017

Saturday, Apr 22nd, 2017, Debbie Ellerin

Theme: None

Words 72 (missing J,Q,W,Z)

Blocks: 33

A friendly looking grid today from Ms Ellerin, which was how I described her last Saturday offering as well.  Lots of my first Across guesses were so wrong they worked out just right for the Down crossings, strangely, and the rest of my answers turned out to be spot-on correct.  Alas, I did not get my "ta-DA~!" because I guessed at the end of the second longest Across fill, and "BAILed" to correct it - and so I had a sloppy Down answer with an 'I don't know for sure' Across perpendicular.  Oh well.  Red-letters it is.  Two 8's, two 10's, and two 12-letter spanners;

22. Rotten Tomatoes caution : SPOILER ALERT 

 Or this one~?

9. Stud venue : CARD ROOM - because of the horse race clue, I was thinking about that kind of stud.  Our weekly card game is held in a friend's dining room - I need to bring some felt to cover the table top tonight

27. Oktoberfest setting : BEER GARDEN - aw, I waited, since I got "BIER" wrong last week

45. 2008 financial crisis mantra : TOO BIG TO FAIL - even UPS tried to get in on the "free" money

36. Problem addressed by counters : INSOMNIA - ah, the sheep count-ers.  Here's Megadeth's take on the disorder
 

3. One who shuns shaking : GERMOPHOBE - I still did not get this until I was writing the blog - HAND shaking, oh....







ACROSS:

1. Some conversion targets : PAGANS - my first read was conversATion, so I waited

7. Time to "Run for the Roses" : RACE DAY - we're at the start of the Triple Crown season

14. Blissful : EDENIC - ah, not ELATED

15. Bar talk? : LEGALESE - Nailed it

16. Shout from Speedy : ARRIBA - not ÁNDALE

17. Devils' playgrounds? : ICE RINKS - Well, I was in the NHL New Jersey Devils frame of mind, but this did not jump out at me

18. "Losing My Religion" group : REM

19. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" star Sonia : BRAGA

21. ... : DOTS - I thought maybe we had some sort of theme going on today, but this just turned out to be exactly what you see....dots

25. Teen introduction? : PRE - ugh.  I tried SIX

26. Canonized pope who persuaded Attila not to attack Rome : St. LEO

27. Accessory for Miss Piggy : BOA

30. Half a luau serving? : MAHI - the other half tastes better

32. Usher's creator : POE - filled via perps

33. Revolted : ROSE UP - the revolution type of revolt, not the "I'm offended" one

35. Thatcher or Blair, e.g. : OXONIAN - tried ETonian.  This is one from Oxford, or relating to

37. Smirks : SIMPERS - I thought this meant to weep, not smile

38. Capital since 1797 : ALBANY - bam, nailed it - but maybe it doesn't count because I lived there, so it might have been a subconscious remnant of those days

39. Expected : DUE

40. Ballpark phrase : OR SO - ah, the ballpark estimate, not the baseball park

41. Provider of a small raise : TEE - clever

42. "It Don't Come Easy" singer : STARR - Ringo, in his solo career

44. "Star Trek" record : LOG - totally missed this one, so when I had L-G, it took the V-8 can to get it.  I've been keeping a journal of my daily events for the last 12 years, and that includes my punch times for UPS; when I went in to dispute my hours this week, my boss to a dig at me and told me to "check my diary".
"It's a log, dude."

49. Dixie elision : MA'AM - dah~!  I went with Y'ALL, and I am sure so did everyone else

51. Plain to see : OVERT

52. Cellular messenger : RNA - ah, the genetic, not phone-callian type of cellular

53. Soaking solution : MARINADE - got stuck on "DYE", so it took a while for this to appear

55. Feuding (with) : AT ODDS

57. Fashion item used for protection in ancient Egypt : EYELINER - learning moment; CODPIECE fit, but I was sure the garment was not called that. In fact, the 'kilt' is called a shendyt, but the long belt I was thinking about is just called a belt.  More here; there's a mention of eyeliner under cosmetics


58. "I'm a fan" : LOVE IT

59. Leafs, e.g. : NISSANS - again, I was in hockey mode, so I was thinking of the Toronto Maple LEAFs, or some sort of Canadian reference

60. Yoga class regimen : ASANAS

DOWN:

1. Still-life subjects : PEARS - which worked with my first two Across fills, but when the rest didn't, out it came
Nice pear....

2. "Mad Men" extra : AD REP

4. "The Phantom Menace" boy : ANI - short for Anakin, the Skywalker who gave us Luke and Leia

5. Angler's hope : NIBBLE

6. Close one : SCARE

7. Automaker's bane : RECALL

8. Preceder of beauty? : AGE - AGE before Beauty

10. Prufrock's creator : ELIOT - filled via perps

11. Bump souvenir : DENT - I figured this was one on the head, so I went with WELT - that's 50% correct - and 100% at that, right D-O~?

12. Requires : ASKS

13. "Roundabout" rock group : YES - I was never able to appreciate their progressive rock style, but half the original members formed ASIA, and their debut album is still one of my favorites of all time - more on ASIA here
 
15. Tie up in surgery : LIGATE

20. Bad lighting? : ARSON - took half a beat for me to remember this clever cluing for that kind of lighting

23. Youngest of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" : IRINA - filled via perps

24. Like many 32-Across works : EERIE - not PROSE, not VERSE - which was 100% 60% correct~!

28. Shared between us : OURS - the literal definition

29. Lhasa __ : APSO

30. Safety feature for zoo visitors : MOAT - there's a moat around my dream home

31. Drive shaft component : AXLE

32. Check phrase : PAY TO

34. Make fun of : SPOOF - my crossings gave me SMOOB, so I was going to check and see if maybe it was a word....it is; check the 'Urban' Dictionary

37. Power concern : SURGE - I had -U--E, which led me to ponder JUICE

39. Club at a club : DRIVER - more golfing

43. They may be humble : ABODES - I prefer to refer to my humble abode as the awesome man-cave - my whole studio apartment, not just the entertainment room

44. Powerball and others : LOTTOS

45. Word in pregame instructions : TAILS - or you could choose HEADS

46. Refrain part : TRA-LA

47. Setting for "Slumdog Millionaire" : INDIA - filled via perps; did not see the movie

48. Has legs, so to speak : LASTS - yes - and she has legs, too


49. "Allow me" : "MAY I~?"

50. Father of Phobos and Deimos : ARES

53. Valets, e.g. : MEN - meh

54. Rockport's cape : ANN - not sure where Rockport is, so take your three-letter pick; COD, MAY, or ANN - two of them in Massachusetts


56. Eggs : OVA

Splynter

No comments:

Post a Comment