Theme: C.C.C.W~!
Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 31
Does
it seem like the puzzles get harder as the year moves along the same as
the week goes~? This was the second Saturday puzzle in a row that beat
me up, and this one feels a little harsher, like being attacked by friendly fire, coming from
our hostess C.C. In fact, I've gone so far as to coin a new
term; STOG. That is, I went Straight TO Google
for several answers, as the cluing today was, at least for me, rather
vague. Oh well. Red-letters, too. C.C.'s last LA Times Saturday
construction, back in June, was doable, at least. Nothing intimidating
about the grid, with two 11-letter spanners and two 15-letter climbers;
7. "Way to go!" : "NOW YOU'RE COOKING~!" - Quite a few "quote"(*) clues in today's grid, too
8. Dancers seen in strips? : THE CHIPPENDALES - har-har~!
8. Dancers seen in strips? : THE CHIPPENDALES - har-har~!
for the ladies
ACROSS:
1. End with force : STAMP ON - RAID kills bugs dead, too
8. Percussion instrument : TIMPANI - instrument heard here in a John Bonham drum solo from Led Zeppelin's CODA album; the pedal timpani is a tune-able drum
8. Percussion instrument : TIMPANI - instrument heard here in a John Bonham drum solo from Led Zeppelin's CODA album; the pedal timpani is a tune-able drum
starts @ 0:42
15. Contemporary of Plácido : LUCIANO - Domingo, and Pavarotti, two-thirds of The Three Tenors; I can never remember the third guy....him
16. Went deep : HOMERED - no C.C. crossword is complete without a baseball reference
17. Agitated : IN A STEW - my NW was blank, so I tried "-ED" at the end. Bzzzt.
18. Like the flame at Graceland : ETERNAL
19. Singing voice, informally : PIPES - I exercised my pipes at karaoke two weeks ago
20. Workout spot : YMCA - gritted teeth. I really hoped this was not going to be "YOGA", as I had the Y--A, but when it filled I thought we needed an abbr. somewhere for Y.M.C.A
22. Ax : FIRE
23. Quick-footed : SPRY
24*. "I'm amazed!" : "OOH~!" - not "WOW~!"
25. Springfield bar : MOE'S - 'Simpsons' clue.
26. Traditional March 14 servings : PIES - totally stumped me at first; it's not the Ides - the 15th, and not St. Pat's - the 17th. It was only when I mentally pictured the date as 3.14 that "Pi" hit me like the V-8 can
27. Venus, when appearing as the morning star : LUCIFER - learning moment. I did not know this was a translation of a Biblical reference, here
Venus is part of a planetary alignment 23 sep 2017
29. Paradise in "On the Road" : SAL - Jack Kerouac
30. Minor employment needs, in some places : WORK PERMITS - I had to get a work card at 16yrs old to go to work at the now defunct Grossman's lumber company
34. Longtime NBC hit : SNL - I'd like to thank everyone who enjoyed picking up on my mistake regarding last week's "SNL" clue
35. Blow away : AWE
36. Pittsburgh's __ Park : PNC
37. Thanksgiving, e.g.: Abbr. : THUrsday - yup. I figured HOLiday was not good enough today
38. Helpful program for frequent fliers : TSA PRE-CHECK
41. Give under pressure : SAG - I pondered BOW
42. Joan of Arc, for one : HEROINE - I filled in HERETIC for some reason
43. Fill up : SATE
44. Close buds : BROS - not PALS
46. Hardly fresh : OLD
47. Father's ceremony : MASS - that kind of father
48. The first "A" in A.A. Milne : ALAN - Alexander is the second "A"
49. Great Plains st. : OKLAhoma
50. Maestro Doráti : ANTAL - first totally STOG clue
52. Trattoria staple : RAVIOLI
54. Theater originally lit with oil lamps : La SCALA
56. Enter covertly : CREEP IN - I had SNEAK to start
57. Self-gratifying pursuit : EGO TRIP - had EGOTISM to start - that's 5/7ths 4/7ths correct....phew
58. Picking up : SENSING - I'm sensing it's time for a pic for the guys
59. Law groups : SENATES
DOWN:
1. Space for a ship : SLIP - I could not get BERTH out of my head; PIER and DOCK seemed off
2. They started the Arab Spring : TUNISIANS - More recent than I realized
3. Like Pentatonix performances : A CAPPELLA - totally STOG. I know what pentatoniC means, but I had to look up this group
4. Unlikely GoFundMe supporters : MISERS
5. One taking a fall : PATSY
6. Table for __ : ONE - I of course, went with TWO. God help me, the blue-eyed girl has come back into my life, once again....WC might understand my dilemma
9. Little bit : IOTA
10. Fr. title : MME
11. Put on : PERFORM
12. Jack's links rival : ARNIE - golfers. I have not gotten out since the one time I played on vacation in three weeks - and it showed
13. Almost reaches : NEARS
14. Like some chatter : IDLE
21. Ridicule : MOCK
25. Pharmaceutical giant : MERCK
26*. Whisper from a cheater, maybe : "PSST~!"
27. Decrease : LOWER
28. Place for the undecided? : FENCE - clever. I went with LIMBO. Really.
30. Hawked stuff : WARES
31*. "Good first step" : "IT'S A START."
32*. "Not true!" : "THAT'S A LIE~!"
33. Knight who co-founded Death Row Records : SUGE - totally STOG, but it filled via perps
39. Impostors : PHONIES
40. Barrier for Sisyphus : HILL - the name to me always implies a female, though I know the -US ending in Latin is masculine. Ergo, I did not recall this classic myth
43. Safe havens : SANCTA - dah~! Another ending that was not the typical plural "S", which fooled me
44. Play loudly : BLARE
45. "Ungainly fowl" of poetry : RAVEN
47. __ jar : MASON - dah~! Not SWEAR, not JELLY
48. Lob paths : ARCS - made me change my SNEAK IN at 56a.
49. Lena of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" : OLIN
51. Napkin holders? : LAPS - cute
53. Coty subsidiary that makes nail polish : OPI - never heard of this; another STOG had it not filled via perps
14. Like some chatter : IDLE
21. Ridicule : MOCK
25. Pharmaceutical giant : MERCK
26*. Whisper from a cheater, maybe : "PSST~!"
27. Decrease : LOWER
28. Place for the undecided? : FENCE - clever. I went with LIMBO. Really.
30. Hawked stuff : WARES
31*. "Good first step" : "IT'S A START."
32*. "Not true!" : "THAT'S A LIE~!"
33. Knight who co-founded Death Row Records : SUGE - totally STOG, but it filled via perps
39. Impostors : PHONIES
40. Barrier for Sisyphus : HILL - the name to me always implies a female, though I know the -US ending in Latin is masculine. Ergo, I did not recall this classic myth
43. Safe havens : SANCTA - dah~! Another ending that was not the typical plural "S", which fooled me
44. Play loudly : BLARE
45. "Ungainly fowl" of poetry : RAVEN
47. __ jar : MASON - dah~! Not SWEAR, not JELLY
48. Lob paths : ARCS - made me change my SNEAK IN at 56a.
49. Lena of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" : OLIN
51. Napkin holders? : LAPS - cute
53. Coty subsidiary that makes nail polish : OPI - never heard of this; another STOG had it not filled via perps
55. Brandy statistic : AGE
Splynter
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