Saturday, October 7, 2017

Saturday, Oct 7th, 2017, Alex Bajcz

Theme: "We don't need no stinkin' Bajcz"

Words: 68 (G,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

I did not recognize the author, so I reviewed his constructions based on the blog - discovered his name is pronounced "badges" - and found out Alex has had three puzzles for the LA Times; a Sunday last year, plus a Thursday, and a Friday from 2013 - ironic that the 'theme' that Friday was "No "G"", and today we have no "G" again.  Struggled through this one, had just enough to take some WAGs in places, and ultimately stayed away from Google - though there were plenty of obscure clues today.  I did have to turn on red-letters - I filled in the whole grid, but got no 'ta-DA~!'; and a strange grid we had, to boot; sort of a fourteen-letter pinwheel design.  The longer answers;

22. Classic : QUINTESSENTIAL - I looked at what Google thinks of as the "quintessential" rock song and rock group, and I had to disagree - but then again, I also noticed that Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser of  Blue Öyster Cult did not make Rolling Stone magazine's top 100 guitarists list....and he's been playing live for 40+ years.  What's your opinion of rock's quintessential~?

45. Pass for now : TAKE A RAIN CHECK

5. Break down : BURST INTO TEARS

16. Stereotypical doo-wop garb : LEATHER JACKETS - this is what comes to mind for me, having grown up in the 80's - WARNING~!  I never realized the language in this ditty

Greased Lightnin'
Four ON the floor WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Chimpanzee relative : BONOBO - there was no way that MONKEY was going to be correct, but the -ON--- was enough the get started in the NW

7. "Teen Wolf" airer : MTV - oops; one red-letter oversight - I had "S"TV because my presidents appeared on STreetS

10. One on a sting operation? : WASP - wasn't fooled on this one

14. You'll need a lift to use one : SKI RUN - couldn't get it to jibe with my early DOWN fills, so I ended up changing them

15. "Madam Secretary" star : TEA LEONI - one of the few proper names I knew

17. Have grand ambitions : ASPIRE - I aspire to be the best Property Manager at the winery that officially hired me on Thursday - which coincided with my last day at UPS....and I walked out of there with not a word said to me by anyone, after 7 years with the company.  Not even a lousy donut.  The only person to shake my hand was one of my four drivers, and he still thinks I'm coming back

18. Deal maker : SALES REP

19. Pronoun for Catherine de' Medici : ESSA - I tried SRTA first

21. Mariner's home : SEATTLE - baseball for C.C. - and hockey is here for me~!

26. Peels off, perhaps : UNSTICKS - oops.  My DOWN crossing left me with unstiNks, and around here, sometimes if you "peel one off", it leaves a "stink"

27. Revolutionary icon : CHE

28. Mideast capital once called Philadelphia : AMMAN - I tried ASSAD, who happens to be the president of Syria, not the place in Jordan; the Wiki

29. Prima __ : FACIE - learned from watching Law & Order; the 'evidence' is true unless proven otherwise

31. They might be set in windows: Abbr. : ACs - Air Conditioners

34. Included in the game : DEALT TO - as in cards; I have lost every week for about six months now; there's almost no point in going to play

36. Canal treatment fluid : EAR DROP - that kind of canal

38. Not irreg. : STD

39. Made waves, in a way : OARED

41. House Lannister member on "Game of Thrones" : JAIME - so many people tell me I would love this show, but I have only seen one episode

42. Basses' sect. : STRings

43. First period of the Mesozoic Era : TRIASSIC - filled via perps

48. Script used by ancient Minoans : LINEAR A - learned from doing crosswords; in fact, I believe back then I screwed it up by leaving it as "lineara", and not breaking it down; the Wiki

49. Oft-layered item : CAKE

50. Share of ownership : INTEREST

52. Renew one's strength : REST UP - I get to rest up for three days before the new job starts

56. Trial area : TEST SITE - think bombs

57. Automaker Bugatti : ETTORE - filled via perps

1910 - I have the hot Wheels version

58. Freezer brand : EDY'S - something IN the freezer, not the unit's manufacturer

59. Stereotypical corny joke teller : DAD - ah, not "HAM"

60. Tin ear, to a pathologist : ASONIA - I really thought it would be a-Tonia, but the DOWN had to be correct; tone deaf, from the Latin "a-" and "sonorus", 'sound'

DOWN:

1. Jamboree-on-the-Air org. : BSA - my buddy Ed was a Boy Scouts of  America troop leader

2. Accepts : OKs

3. Something in the air : NIP

4. With a hotel, avenue whose rent is $550 : ORIENTAL - man, I racked my brain to come up with this one without Google, trying to mentally picture the Monopoly board; this is the 'second' group, the light blue squares which also includes Vermont and Connecticut


6. Request for a small delay : ONE SEC - I had "---TEN", which made sense, except there's no word to put in front of TEN to make any sense

7. Some are named for presidents: Abbr. : MTs - ah, mountains, not streets

8. Flirt : TEASE

9. Spanish autonomous community or its capital : VALENCIA

10. Little white breed, affectionately : WESTIE - one of those "awww" inspiring breeds

West Highland Terrier

11. Vital circulation aid : AORTA

12. Fisherman's knot : SNELL

13. Lead Clue weapon : PIPE - and five other original weapons; the rope, the gun, the knife, the candlestick, and the wrench - with three out of six, I guess blunt force trauma was the choice for murder back then

Miss Scarlet in the conservatory~?

20. Put on one's wish list : ASK FOR

22. Outdoor lecture sites : QUADS - college grounds, not muscle groups....

23. Like some unreasonable requests : UNMET

24. "Your noble son __": Polonius : IS MAD - Hamlet

25. Issuer of three-part nos. : SSA - the administration that deals in social security #s

30. Comedian __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC - OK, I knew this one, as well

31. Surface : ARISE

32. Lewis Black, e.g. : COMIC - um, and this one, too

33. Barely a blip : SPECK

35. "American Pie" actress : TARA REID - OK, I forgot this one

37. Makes a break for : DASHES TO

40. Zeta-theta go-between : ETA

42. '50s-'60s country singer McDonald : SKEETS - now this guy I'd never heard of - the Wiki

44. How land is measured : IN AREA

45. Like rakes : TINED - I first read this as "little" for some reason

46. Pacing, maybe : ANTSY - good guess based on the "Y" being there from EDY'S

47. Many a reggae artist : RASTA

48. Beer case word : LITE

51. Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother" : TED

53. Homework amount? : TON - "man, I got a ton of homework to do~!"

54. Ocean State sch. : URI - been a popular crossword school lately

55. Princess' bane : PEA - still trying to get my mom to understand "Peapod", the online home delivery service from Stop N' Shop supermarkets

Splynter

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