Saturday, August 12, 2017

Saturday, Aug 12th, 2017, Doug Peterson & Patti Varol

Theme: DP & PV ( or Tony and Sony~?)

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

Blocks: 29

It's been over a year since we have had this duo of constructors on a Saturday.  This week's contribution was a bit lumpy for me, as I butchered the NW corner and had to cave in to red-letters for my mistakes.  On the flip side, it was an enjoyable solve, with some tricky cluing that I was able to get past, and proper names that slowed me down, but only slightly.  Friendly corners with two 14-letter spanners, a pair of 11's in the Down, and paired 10s in the Down corners;

5. "Candida" singer : TONY ORLANDO - as with most of the proper names, I had no idea about this one to start, but the perp(endicular)s and the familiar, "not-so-vague" personality helped

26. Pioneering music player : SONY WALKMAN - I thought we were looking for an actual person, and when I first filled this DOWN in, was thought it was a guy named "Sonny" something....





35. Friend of the Fry Kids : RONALD McDONALD - had no clue, but when the perps started filling in, I shoulda known - I didn't remember the "fry kids" until I saw this image, and now I think of them as a bit creepy


42. It's generally celebrated on the same day as Tet : CHINESE NEW YEAR - nailed it.  Happy Year of the Rooster ( or Cock, if you prefer....) - I was born in the year of the Pig


Thank you all for your compliments on Wednesday about our debut puzzle - it's a bittersweet success for me - I guess you could say when it comes to published crosswords, I "don't have a clue."

Word N/A~?

ACROSS:

1. Modern categorizing aid : HASHTAG - I have mentioned before that I do not Facebook nor Twitter - but I do see this "#" symbol on TV and in advertising frequently - have you seen the promos for "Garage Rehab" on Discovery Channel~?  I am friends with Russell, one of the hosts of the new show

8. Sign of stress : ALL CAPS - I DON"T LIKE DATING PROFILES TYPED LIKE THIS~!

15. Pennsylvania home of the world's oldest operating wooden roller coaster : ALTOONA - I tried HERSHEY, even though I knew it was wrong.  The famous ride which I have not heard of - but I am not a roller-coaster fan - is the Leap-The-Dips

16. "All will be well" : FEAR NOT - got it on the second pass from the "F"

17. Homophonically named '60s sitcom lady : JEANNIE - funny, I just linked this two weeks ago - I dream of "Genie"

18. Steel work : ROMANCE - knew it was author Danielle on the first pass, went with "FICTION"

19. It's cut and dried : JERKY - I'd like to try making my own some day

20. Fish-eating bird : LOON - not TERN

22. Really feel the heat : BAKE - ah, not MELT

23. Coast Guard pickup : S.O.S

25. Wave function symbols : PSIs - care to melt your brain~? Try to understand this

27. Night spot : BED - huh.  I wonder where my head is - I went with BAR - but I prefer BED these days

28. Financial pg. debut : IPO - a good WAG

31. "The __ of King William": Old English poem : RIME - dah~!  Should have known this from one of Iron Maiden's classics, the re-telling of the story "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

With a little of the poem narrated in at 7:50

33. "Golden Boy" dramatist : ODETS - perps

39. Place to buy a landscape : ART SALE - I filled in the "ART" part and waited

40. Unspoiled : IDYLLIC

44. Per person : A HEAD

45. __ con gas: Spanish soda water : AGUA - oh, duh.  I had no idea on the first pass

46. Nevada copper town : ELY - filled via perps

47. Troubling bank msg. : NSF - thankfully, I have not had a Non-Sufficient Funds message in a long time

48. Cutlass, e.g. : OLDSmobile - I had one, a '77 Supreme Brougham.  Clecho with 55a. Cutlass, e.g. : AUTO

Got about 8 gallons to the mile

51. Angels' org. : MLB - Anaheim from Major League Baseball

53. Peabody-winning journalist Ifill : GWEN - half perps, half WAG

57. Buckwheat porridge : KASHA

61. Waiting to get in, say : LINED UP - ah.  ON/IN LINE was too short

63. Studio mascot : MGM LION

65. Cover, as a cover charge : INCLUDE

66. __ glass : STAINED


67. Like most cartoon characters : AGELESS

68. Only president to win a Pulitzer Prize : KENNEDY

DOWN:

1. Pillar of Islam : HAJJ

2. Nautical direction : ALEE - not PORT, not AHOY

3. Michelin unit : STAR - ah, not TIRE 

4. Traffic chorus : HONKS

6. "The Phantom Menace" boy : ANI - Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a Darth Vader

7. Certain Celt : GAEL

8. High dos : AFROS

9. "Madam Secretary" actress : LEONI

10. Flee : LAM - oops, not RUN

11. Word with grass : CRAB - there's no crab grass on the golf courses I play - but there's a lot of "crabbing" - I was so angry with my game last Sunday I pitched my putter....at a tree.  I did buy a pull cart from eBay, only $42.  Now I need a new putter. 

12. Poe classic : ANNABEL LEE - Edger Allan's last complete poem

13. Make an unexpected connection with : POCKET DIAL - or BUTT dial, your cel phone - mine has a two-piece case, so there is little chance of me making this blunder

14. Stable population : STEEDS

21. Org. Indonesia left in 2008 : OPEC - ah, not NATO

24. Edge furtively : SIDLE

28. Radio host Glass : IRA

29. Rocker alternative : PORCH SWING - I had P-RC-, so I was not fooled by the "alternative" kind of rocker - like the ones in Iron Maiden

30. Torn : ON THE FENCE - again, because of perps, I was not thinking "ripped" for torn

32. Fr. titles : MMES - Dah~! Not STES

34. "The Voice" host Carson : DALY

36. Section in Disney's Animal Kingdom : ASIA - wow, vague.  Never been to Disney

37. "Correct!" sound : DING~!!!

38. Greek theater : ODEUM - oops, I had odeON

41. Word with war or far : CRY

43. Point in the right direction? : EAST - a weather vane/compass point to the right

44. Old name for England : ANGLIA

49. Praises : LAUDS

50. Con targets : DUPES

52. Dwarf who traveled with Bilbo : BALIN - despite my D & D upbringing, I never got into The Lord of the Rings

54. "The Old Curiosity Shop" girl : NELL - perps

56. Trans-Siberian Railway city : OMSK

58. __ wave : SINE

59. Broke ground : HOED

60. Red's pal in "The Shawshank Redemption" : ANDY

62. Expected : DUE - speaking of porch swings, you know this is "expected"


64. Former AT&T rival : GTE

Splynter

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