Saturday, Aug 26th, 2017, Mike Buckley

Theme: "Crossword and see me sometime"

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

Blocks: 30

Mike Buckley's last Saturday puzzle was back in April, with his clever spiral galaxy theme and grid design.  Today it's a quotation/speaker theme, and I blew right through this one, in record time.  Did not look promising with a lot of blanks on the first pass, and when I saw the circumreferential clues, thought we were in for a long one.  But then the Down clues were practically gimmes, and that gave me so many perpendiculars that I had no trouble on the second Across pass.  Just to be clear, I know the 'theme' title is a play on a famous quote, which is famously misquoted; see here.  The irony of a sex symbol crossword this week, following some of the comments last week is not lost on me, either. The theme fills;

19. See 38-Across : LOOKED OVER

38. She said, "It's better to be 19-Across than 55-Across" : MAE WEST

I like this one, as well

55. See 38-Across : OVERLOOKED

12.9 billion miles ONWARD~!

(see 22a.)

ACROSS:

1. One who's often over a barrel? : COOPER - the technical term for one who makes barrels

7. Band member with a vihuela : MARIACHI - I have never heard of a vihuela, so I went to Wiki for more.  Mariachi can be found on the golden record of Voyager - see below

15. Use a combine : THRESH

16. Tiny orbiter : ELECTRON

17. Not shrink from : RISE TO

18. Maintain control : RIDE HERD - since we had this in a Saturday puzzle this year, it has become crosswordese for me

21. "The Owl and the Pussycat" poet : LEAR

22. Watched : SEEN  - I watched a show on the Voyager spacecraft Thursday night - fascinating stuff.  Some facts: both missions were launched 40yrs ago; as of Aug 2012, the Voyager I officially left our solar system and became the first man-made object to reach interstellar space; it is traveling at 38,000mph; more here

23. Chocolate-flavored spread : NUTELLA - hey, I knew this one~!

25. Gets misty : STEAMS UP - ah, reminds me of a line from a Tom Jones remake;

@ 0:48

29. Welcome item? : MAT

30. Online shopping offer : CHAT - yeah it pops up, I knock it down, but the little button lingers there on the side....annoying

31. Testimony opener : I SAW

33. Glitterati member : CELEB

37. IV sites : ORs

40. Bedazzlement : AWE

41. Rwandan ethnic group : TUTSI - had to 'guess' just the "S"

43. One of Pop's partners : SNAP - Snap, Crackle & Pop, Rice Krispies

44. "Roast beast"-eating people : WHOS - of Whoville

45. Adobe file format : PDF

47. Shelley dedicated an ode to one of them : SKYLARKS - what, to a Buick~?

49. Musical star who received a 1949 Honorary Award Oscar : ASTAIRE

53. Big heads? : EGOS

54. Split hairs? : PART - I used to part my hair; now I go for the Giorgio Tsoukalos look

60. Blathered : PRATTLED

62. Current quantity : AMPERE

63. Antlion relative : LACEWING - didn't know what an antlion was, but once the answer filled, I sensed it was some sort of dragonfly-type insect; the antlion larva is vicious - a video here

64. Squanders, perhaps : SPENDS

65. Dramatic break : ENT'R ACTE

66. American of Japanese descent : SANSEI - I had NISsei, which is 100% 50% correct

DOWN:

1. PC key : CTRL

2. Its state quarter displays the Wright Flyer : OHIO

3. "... __ it seems" : OR SO

4. Gives a sidelong glance : PEEKS AT - OGLES did not work, but the ----S AT part I left

5. Respect : ESTEEM

6. Onetime Botswana neighbor : RHODESIA - now Zimbabwe

7. "Jeopardy!" first name : MERV - dah~! NOT Alex, not Jack; Merv Griffin, the creator.  I'd like to see a real version of the original concept - that is, one word answers in a category, and you have to come up with the question.  e.g.; Category US state capitals: answer; $200 Oklahoma City - - - - $1000 Albany

8. Sci-fi staple : ALIEN

9. Shining example of mirror-writing? : REDRUM - ah, the Shining - Stephen King's novel, Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny", and the word 'murder' written on a door

10. Curling surface : ICE - curling has been popular on Saturday lately

11. Shoe endorser : ATHLETE

12. Angler's wicker basket : CREEL

13. Every 60 minutes : HORAL

14. Hindu weather deity : INDRA

20. Responsibilities : ONUSES

24. Diplomatic asset : TACT

25. Kilt wearer : SCOT - it was brought to my attention that I have neglected my women commenters, so I will post a picture of a man in a skirt this week

26. No __ traffic : THRU

27. Right in the atlas? : EAST - we had "point in the right direction?" two weeks ago

28. Potential queens : PAWNS - ah.  I forgot about this chess rule, known as promotion - a pawn that reaches the eighth rank ( the far end of the board ) can be 'promoted' to one of the more powerful pieces.  I do not have an equivalent rule in my game, and thus I will have to consider adding it in.  I am on vacation this week, and it is one of my goals to have the board game completely ready for play by four people by Labor Day weekend

32. Not so potent : WEAKER

34. Memorable big cat portrayer : LAHR - the cowardly (ant)lion~?!?

35. Furry Endor native : EWOK - such a gimme for a Star Wars nerd like me

36. Catfish Row heroine of opera : BESS - only had to guess the last "S"

38. Modest skirt : MIDI - and now for the woman in skirt

39. Pirate's viewing aid : SPYGLASS - such a cool word, and the name of a street in my old neighborhood - Spyglass Lane

42. "CSI" evidence : SPATTER - well, not so much evidence as a place to collect it, so to speak

44. Showed willingness to listen (to) : WAS OPEN

46. Cavort : FROLIC

48. Oompa-__: Wonka worker : LOOMPA - not much leeway in cluing for a word like this

49. Big __ : APPLE - I left it blank - and yet probably should have been my first answer, being that I live in New York

50. Leftovers cover : SARAN

51. Political essay : TRACT

52. Ceremony, e.g. : EVENT

56. Border : EDGE

57. Guy dolls : KENS - been keeping in shape~!

and TWO hunks this week~!

58. Mahler's earth : ERDE - I had no idea, so I went and looked it up after it filled via perps - the Wiki

59. '50s sitcom name : DESI

61. Longtime Howard Hughes asset : TWA - I didn't know; so again, the Wiki

Splynter