Saturday, Apr 23rd, 2016, Doug Peterson & Patti Varol

Theme: DP & PV

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,V,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

  It's like déjà vu all over again~!  This duo had a Saturday offering just three weeks ago.  When it came up today, I thought I signed in to the wrong date.  Unlike that last grid, this has only one spanner, plus a 13-letter climber, four 10-, and two 9-letter fills as well.  I also smoked through this one in near record time, and without any look-ups or red-letter cheats.  The long answers;

35a. Side with waves : CRINKLE-CUT FRIES - I like my fries close to burned

15d. Bug on the road : CLASSIC BEETLE

sha-na-nOn-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Loves to solve, say? : ANAGRAM - excellent way to start off a crossword puzzle - we all loves to solve, don't we~?  I got the misdirection immediately

8. Mavens : SHARKS

14. Sudden and swift : METEORIC - like a rise to fame

16.* Company that annually honors "Women of Worth" : L'OREAL

17. Batter's dream : MEAT BALL - never heard the term; I am sure C.C. knows all about this

18.* 2015 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee : O'MEARA

19. Action figures? : ODDS - har-har

20. 1954 film based on the short story "It Had to Be Murder" : REAR WINDOW

22. Four-time Australian Open winner : AGASSI

24.* LBJ theater : 'NAM - a few apostrophe answers this week *

25. Key of Mozart's Symphony No. 39 : E FLAT - ha-HA~!  I put in " _ FLAT" and waited on perps~!

27. Fix, as a toy : SPAY - oh, clever.  I went with MEND, but this refers to the 'toy' dog

29. Kisser : YAP - not GOB

32. Weapon with a nock : ARROW

33. Subatomic particle : PION - I WAGed MUon, and that was 100% 50% correct

34. Former Italian statesman Moro : ALDO - perps and WAGs

38. Rapper Nate : DOGG - According to Wiki, he's a cousin of "Snoop"

39. Obligation : DEBT

40. Copious : AMPLE

41. Second-century date : CLI - well, I threw in "C", and waited

42. Sister of Dakota : ELLE - filled in via perps; I know Dakota was the little girl in the remake of "War of the Worlds", but forgot she was the little girl in "Man on Fire", too.  She's grown up....

43. Got up : AROSE

44. Dig for hard-to-get clams? : DUN - I gotta tell ya, I just don't get this.  I thought "ATM" was a clever answer, but no

46. Harder to hold : EELIER - and then I nailed this one

48. "Ocean's 11" co-star : DEAN MARTIN - ah, the original.  I am a big fan of the remake, personally

51. Dog with a typically blue-black tongue : CHOW - I knew this because my room-mate in Cincinnati Ohio had one - the dog, that is....

55. They often drive people home : RBI MEN - more baseball

56. Leave alone : LET SLIDE - I parsed this as Lets Lide, and it didn't jive

58. Check : ARREST

59. Tangled up : ENSNARED - clecho with; 42. Tangle up : ENMESH - having the answers both be "EN" words seems a bit borderline

60. Sturm und Drang novelist : GOETHE - I was curious; the Wiki

61. Fusible alloys : SOLDERS - I am constructing a bathroom in the house, complete with Jacuzzi.  Nice.  I am going to build a copper manifold - using solder.  After I install that in the crawlspace, I'm running PEX to the fixtures.  So far, so good.

Not me

DOWN:

1. Shell collection : AMMO - well, I had the "A", so I went with this, tho I do not see an abbrvtn in the clue

2. Grant factor : NEED

3. Ever so slightly : A TAD

4. Plays nice : GETS ALONG

5. Deprive : ROB

6. Dormant Turkish volcano : ARARAT - I knew it was the landing site of Noah's Ark, but not that it was a volcano

7. Quite a distance : MILES - great name for your chauffeur, too

8. Yawn-inducing : SLOW

9. Corny stuff : HOMINY

10. Staples Center, e.g. : ARENA - home of the LA Kings from the NHL

11. Statement before taxes are dealt with? : READ MY LIPS - and a direct quote in this song from Megadeth;

George Bush @ 2:42

12. Pecan pie syrup : KARO - I got this - and I don't bake

13. Popular side : SLAW

21. Remove roughly : RIP OUT - like, say, splynters~!!!

23. Rubberneck : GAWK - viz. 15d.

25. Tasmanian-born Flynn : ERROL - first Flynn I thought of

26. Appliance brand owned by Electrolux : FRIGIDAIRE - didn't know this fact, but the word fit....

28. Pangolin snack : ANT - whoa~!  I have never heard of or seen this animal before - now I want one - and we have an ant problem in the house, too

30. Oscar winner for "Skyfall" : ADELE - gratuitous image for C.C.

31. Ask : POSE

32. "Rock or Bust" band : AC/DC - perps got me A - - C; pretty much a gimme for me

33. Kitchen tool : PEELER

34. Like jousters : ARMOR-CLAD

36. Cholesterol letters : LDL

37. What's on the menu : FARE

43.* "You're lyin'!" : AIN'T SO

45. Yet to be fulfilled : UNMET

47. Legal claims : LIENS

48. Main __ : DRAG - Squeeze and Street didn't fit

49. The Aragón feeds it : EBRO - see map, below

50. It may precede a deal : ANTE

52. Bring on : HIRE

53. River to the Baltic : ODER - see map, below

 and nearly another anagram, too

54. Forms a union : WEDS

57. Show with Kenan Thompson, briefly : SNL

Splynter

Saturday, Apr 16th, 2016, Debbie Ellerin

Theme: Debut~!

Words: 70 (missing F,J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 31

  This is Debbie Ellerin's debut Saturday puzzle for the LA Times, as far as I can tell.  She has had two other puzzles, one duo with Jeff Chen on a Sunday, and a solo effort on a Monday - which to me seems to be the hardest day to construct a puzzle; there has to be a simple theme, simple answers, and simple clues.  I have tried my hand at construction; it's a lot harder than you think earlier in the week.  This one looked a bit daunting at the outset, but then a few solid fills led me to finish in half my personal allotted time.  A pretty pinwheel grid today with triple 9's and almost triple 9's - and nothing longer than that.  And a gratuitous shout-out to yours truly at 46d.~!  Debbie is already in my good books~!

17a. Agitated : STIRRED UP - I had stEAMed up at first

13d. They're turnoffs : EXIT LANES - oooh, so close with EXIT RAMPS

52a. Vanity case? : EGOMANIAC

28d. Sci-fi emergency vehicle : ESCAPE POD - my first experience with an 'escape pod';

oNEW-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Ring pairs : TAG TEAMS - on the first pass, I was not sure if this was wedding rings or boxing rings - turned out to be wrestling

9. Result of hitting the bar? : SPACE - I thought we might be looking for something like DRUNK

14. Some strays : ALLEY CATS

16. Plant from the Greek for "flame" : PHLOX - the clue led me to discover this interesting reading

18. Garlicky sauce : AIOLI - my first fill; crossword staple

19. Present, say : TENSE - ah.  Took too long to see this definition of "present"

20. One to keep closer? : ENEMY - one only keeps the friends "close"

22. Setting for a Det. Tigers game : EDT - Went with CST - central standard time; of course, the baseball season is only during Daylight time, and Detroit is not that far from the east coast, really

23. Designer of many Harper's Bazaar covers : ERTE

24. Golden Horde members : TATARS - learning moment for me

25. Dancer Chmerkovskiy of "Dancing With the Stars" : VAL

26. Rutabagas, e.g. : TUBERS - nailed it

27. Chicago Cubs' spring training city : MESA - filled via perps

28. Squired : ESCORTED

32. Lethal phosphorus compound : SARIN

one can just look this up these days

33. Lose control, in a way : SPIN OUT

34. Grind : RAT RACE

36. Evasive : CAGEY

37. Epitome of slowness : MOLASSES - "AS A SNAIL" did cross my mind

38. Parted sea : ARAL - I thought it was the "RED" sea, but in today's geography, this sea has split

39. "Rent" Pulitzer-winning dramatist : LARSON - half crossings, half WAG

41. __ se : PER 

42. Fortune : KISMET - ah, fate, not riches

43. Private dining room? : MESS - clever

47. "Yada yada yada" letters : etc.

48. Place to get clean : REHAB - BT, DT.

49. "Affliction" Oscar nominee : NOLTE - did not see the movie

50. Key location : PIANO - I was trying to be overly clever and pondered Florida; it was only after I came here that I see the answer filled itself in

54. Bean seen on-screen : ORSON

55. "Aha!" : "NOW I GET IT~!"

56. Many a combine model : DEERE

57. Some seniors : OLDSTERS

DOWN:       

1. Kind of buds? : TASTE - I tried BOSOM to start

2. Size up, maybe? : ALTER - tailoring humor

3. Sparkle : GLINT

4. Far from flowery : TERSE

5. Title narrator in an 1847 novel : EYRE

6. Deck top : ACE - ah.  Cards, not carpentry

7. Entered the pool? : MADE A BET

8. Hindered the development of : STUNTED

9. Fixes : SPAYS

10. Golden ratio symbol : PHI - φ

11. Some succulents : ALOE VERAS

12. Frigid : COLD AS ICE - look away Tin~!  Look away~!

15. Stick a fork in : SPEAR - "me...I'm done"

21. "__ Robinson" : MRS.

24. Peace Nobelist of 1984 : TUTU - Desmond

26. Metal-measure word : TROY - precious metals; the Wiki

27. Men's home? : MARS - the women from Venus

29. Fifth wheel : SPARE TIRE - ah, the actual definition, not the guy who tags along on a double date

30. Cuban home? : CIGAR CASE - I'm a cigar smoker ( not Cubans, mind you ), and so this one was sort of a gimme

31. Law school newbie : ONE-L

32. Kenton of jazz : STAN - filled via perps

34. Bruins' home : ROSE BOWL - I was of course, in an NHL Boston Bruin's mindset - this is UCLA

35. Beaucoup, with "of" : A LOT - "I made beaucoup bucks betting on the game last night"

37. Onetime Sterling Optical spokesman : Mr. MAGOO - seemed logical to me

39. Piece of fiction : LIE

40. Beyond the pale? : ASHEN - cute.  Skin tone

42. Scandinavian capital : KRONE - dah~!  Fell into the trap; not Oslo, Stockholm, nor Helsinki - the money kind of capital

43. "Bouquet of Sunflowers" painter : MONET - I had the "M", so it was an "A" or "O" WAG for the artist - I got it

44. Choice : ELITE

45. Flight segment : STAIR - my lovely Siberian friend got sticker shock when she discovered how much it would cost to come to America

46. Splinter groups : SECTS - I am a part of a lot of groups; this blog is one (LOL)

49. Badgers or hounds : NAGS

51. Negative link : NOR

53. Prefix with life or wife : MID - mid-life, midwife

Splynter

Saturday, Apr 9th, 2016, Ed Sessa

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing G,K,Q,X)

Blocks: 30

  Normally it's hit or miss for me with Ed Sessa's puzzles, but today I couldn't enter the answers fast enough.  I just happened to be in a WAGing mood, and threw in what I thought was the most logical solution, and quite a few were good.  No Google, no red letter, and got my ta-DA~! in less than half my personal allotted time.  Triple 10-letter Downs, and nearly triple 10's in the Across, and another pair of 11-letter climbers towards the center;

5. Catkin bearer : PUSSY WILLOW - the Wiki

I found this, too

25. Went ballistic : LOST CONTROL

 o o o o o O O O ONNN WA A A aa aa rr dd d  d   d  ~ ~ !!

ACROSS:

1. Heart : CORE - A Wild-Ass Guess ( tho educated ) to start; all my other W.A.G.s are "*", whether they were good or bad

5*. JFK Library architect : PEI

8. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer : J.S. BACH - I knew this, but failed to consider the "J.S." part

14. "C'mon, be __!" : A PAL

15. In abundance, in slang : UP THE WAZOO

17. Data lead-in : META

18. Flowerlike marine creature : SEA ANEMONE

19*. Latin 101 word : ERAT - ah, not AMAS

20*. Bear's call : SELL - stock market reference

21*. Worked on the road : PAVED

22*. Nowadays : LATELY - I went with "AS LATE"

24. Mine yield : SALT - rather specific

26*. Tails : SHADOWS - dah~! Not FOLLOWS

28*. Most lemony : SOUREST - dah~! Not TARTEST

33. Word with air or bed : HOT - I could only think of BUG and PAN, and neither worked with air

34. Ammo for Moe : PIES - Three Stooges reference

36. Peloponnesian War side : SPARTA - about the only WAG I did not throw in; the Wiki

37. One on a lot : AUTO

39. Didn't reach logically, with "to" : LEAPT

41. "Downton Abbey" title : EARL - a gimme for those commenters that watch

42*. "City of the Beasts" author Allende : ISABEL - a semi-WAG since I had "I--B-L"

44. Dissenting group : SECT

46. Tommy Pickles' younger brother on "Rugrats" : DIL - shows up often in crosswords, and I can never recall the name right away

47. Vitamin A form : RETINOL

49. Infect with the T-virus, in "Resident Evil" films : ZOMBIFY

51. Things that come in pairs : TWOS - like these~!

53*. Melody and Millie, to Minnie Mouse : NIECES

54*. Earth pigment : OCHRE

58. Jargon : CANT - new to me; straight definition (3) - here

60*. Wood strip : LATH - a WAG only because I thought SLAT might work, too

61. Focus of 1972 environmental legislation : CLEAN WATER

63. Stub __ : A TOE

64. "Yikes!" : "HOLY TOLEDO~!"

Die Hard with a Vengeance

65. No more than : MERE - ooops, went with LEST

66*. Bad temper : SPLEEN - I tried RANCOR

67. High-speed letters : DSL - internet service

68. Ain't right? : ISN'T - the correct pronunciation/spelling

DOWN:

1. Clothing material for John the Baptist : CAMEL'S HAIR

Heavy Metal Camel

2. Marx Brothers setting : OPERA HOUSE

3. Rapping sound : RAT-A-TAT-TAT - I wasn't sure of the spelling this time

4. Carried away : ELATED

6. Near-pointless swordplay? : ÉPÉE - fencing weapon

7. Romans and countrymen: Abbr. : ITALianS

8. Brad's ex : JEN - Pitt and Aniston

9. Suddenly involved (in) : SWEPT UP

10. 2016 College Football Playoff champ : 'BAMA - don't watch, don't follow, but this is a common abbreviation in crosswords

11. Sea of __, south of Ukraine : AZOV - dah~! Not KIEV; my green-eyed friend lives in a town w-a-y north and east of Moscow; we've been sharing emails for three weeks now; she's 1372 miles from this sea; it is one vast country....

12. Ice cream parlor purchase : CONE

13. Worked in a bed : HOED - oh, uh, a garden bed, I knew that....

16. Immortal Bears coach : HALAS - filled in via perps

23. Prune : LOP

27. Get it : SEE - ah.  "Now I get it (see)."

29. Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE - and a semi duplicate at; 57D. Comical Martha : RAYE

30. Uproots : ERADICATES - I think of 'uproots' as having to move abruptly; I don't necessarily think it means to utterly eliminate

31. In a state of endless conflict : STRIFE-TORN

32. You can count on it : TALLY SHEET

35*. Flier to Sundsvall : SAS - seen this Scandinavian airline enough to guess

38. Eastern sash : OBI - sort of too easy for Saturday

40. Loadable confections : PEZ

43. International accord : ENTENTE - I had DEtente

45. "More than I care to know" : TMI - textspeak for Too Much Information

48. Subway option : LOCAL - vis-à-vis express; I pondered TOKEN, but 'local' made more sense

50. Guy de Maupassant novel : BELAMI - again, filled via perps

52. Stuffed : SATED

54. "Draft Dodger Rag" folk singer : OCHS

55. Western sound effect : CLOP - my soon to be "eradicated" marriage featured my ex-wife's son clopping two coconut halves together, as I rode in on an imaginary Monty Python horse

I am about 60lbs lighter today

56. Inferno : HELL

59. "__ Declassified School Survival Guide": 2000s Nickelodeon sitcom : NED'S - never heard of this show; crossing "Jargon" at 58A., the "N" was a complete unknown/natick

62. Persuaded, with "over" : WON

Splynter

Saturday, Apr 2nd, 216, Patti Varol & Doug Peterson

Theme: Two Double Stacks

Words 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 27

Phew~!  This one was a toughie, yet upon reviewing it, there really wasn't a lot that couldn't be worked out - but I have to admit to one Google - the crossing of two proper names and some other vagueness in the SW slowed me down tremendously.  Nearly blank on the first passes, but a few educated WAGs at some longer fills gave me some toe-holds, and I was able to hammer out the remainder.  Two double stack spanners, tied to 11-letter fills, and a couple of paired 8's in the Down;

15. Like many a Beverly Hills party-goer :  

FASHIONABLY LATE - I think she's going to be fashionably late

17. Heeds sound advice : LISTENS TO REASON

46. Bird named for its large-scale migrations :  

PASSENGER PIGEON - I was curious, so I looked it up; I did not know they were extinct

49. DVD special feature, perhaps : ALTERNATE ENDING - I wanted alternatIVe, but the double "E" was messing me up; I couldn't see it for a while

~!

ACROSS:

1. Law school accrediting org. : ABA - looking back, this should have been a gimme (American Bar Association)

4. Current information source : TWITTER FEED - I am not on Twitter, nor Facebook - I get my news the old-fashioned way; rumor

18. Former seniors : ALUMS

19. Points for a piano tuner? : TINES - ugh.  The tool, not the person

20. "Murder in the First" airer : TNT

21. Crossword legend Reagle : MERL - should have gotten this on the first pass

22. Primed : READY

23. "Hogan's Heroes" setting, briefly : WWII - the show was before my time; I have been watching some "World War II in color" history on the AHC channel

24. Word with wash or wear : EYE - eyewash, eye wear

25. Zen teaching techniques : KOANS - I WAGed the "K"

26. "Aw, mom!" sound : GROAN

27. Zsa Zsa's older sister : MAGDA

28. "I think you'll like it!" : "TRY ONE~!"

29. Sweat inducer : SCARE

31. Desolate tract : WILDS

32. One good at figures? : SKATER - figure skater; I was on that wavelength

nice figure

33. Sea : BRINY - nope, not OCEAN

35. Mirren of "The Hundred-Foot Journey" : HELEN - this was my only ACROSS fill on the first pass

36. Thugs : GOONS - hockey players, in some instances

37. BART stop : SFO - OK, I took a stab at this one on the first pass, too; San Fransisco Airport on the Bay Area Rapid Transit

40. Hard to grasp : EELY - I went with this, then OILY came to mind

41. Complex : DENSE - I had TENSE; that's 100% 80% correct

42. Dutch word meaning "farmer" : BOER

43. Triple Crown stat : RBI - ooops, I was thinking horse racing, not baseball

44. "Tequila Sunrise" writer/director Robert : TOWNE - no clue, and the "W" was my last fill - but the "ta-DA~!" was there~!

45. Beverly Hills retreat : VILLA

50. Time for fluff pieces : SLOW NEWS DAY - I always find it a little contradictory when the 6 o'clock news spends 22 minutes talking about terrorist attacks, floods, riots, wages going down, taxes and gas prices going up, and then 2 minutes on the cute puppy that chases its own tail....

51. Soapmaker's supply : LYE - OK, I got this one on the first pass, too

DOWN:       

1. Lit : AFLAME

2. Castle wall : BAILEY - So glad I am a huge castle person; I knew this

It's hiding - think courtyard

3. Promise : ASSURE

4. All scores? : TIES

5. Wooed successfully : WON

6. Rather : INSTEAD

7. "Orphan Black" star Maslany : TATIANA - I really wanted to try this show out, but never got a chance to watch

nice figure

8. Govt. obligations : T-BONDS - another good guess

9. __ de los Timbales: Tito Puente's nickname : EL REY - I figured it was "king", but forgot the "El" part

10. Bakery output : RYES

11. Where Hollywood is: Abbr. : FLA - oh, that one - I'm sure a lot of our regulars got it

12. "American Sniper" director : EASTWOOD - I did not remember Clint did this one as well

13. Many British prime ministers : ETONIANS - graduates of Eton school

14. Tooth layer : DENTINE - ENAMEL was too short

16. Web page standard : HTML

22. "I copy" : "ROGER." - we were just talking about "Airplane~!" at the restaurant yesterday

23. Not straight, in a way : WRYLY - like some humor

25. Black on screen : KAREN - Before my time; I would have known Karen ALLEN

"We...are...not...thirsty"

26. They can be silly : GRINS

27. Bristol bro : MATEY - I am reading P.G. Wodehouse, a prolific writer his whole life, with a focus on English life - so this word pops up frequently.  I love his writing.

28. Interlace : TWINE - dah~! Not WEAVE

29. Its first national tournament was held in 1932 in Atlantic City : SKEE-BALL - I did not know this, but I tried "-BALL" at the end, and that helped hugely

30. Nymph who ultimately became the stars of Ursa Major : CALLISTO - I had an A - INSTEAD (6d.) - of O at the end; also a moon of Jupiter

32. Hillary aides : SHERPAS - oh. that Hillary.  The explorer, not the candidate - my housemate is tuned in to CNN 24/7 right now, and it's a bit much

33. Tied hats : BONNETS

34. Snow-White's sister, in Grimm : ROSE RED - found this; Disney making a movie

36. Trifle : GEWGAW - this has appeared in crosswords before, but it was just not coming to me

37. Été blazer : SOLEIL - Le Frawnche sun

38. Grand theft auto, e.g. : FELONY - since it's not capitalized, it's not the video game

39. Santa Ana's county : ORANGE

41. "Holy Sonnets" poet : DONNE - my Google - the Wiki

42. City NNE of San Antone : BIG D - Dallas, TX (colloquial names) Hi there, D-Otto~!

44. Arctic-to-Antarctica migrating bird : TERN - good guess off the "R"

45. Like clematis : VINY - I knew this was going to be something like "VINED"

47. Needle : SEW

48. Gravel designation : PEA - sizing

Splynter

Saturday, Mar 26th, 2016, Mark Bickham

Theme: MB

Words: 72 (missing J,X,Z)

Blocks: 34

   I typically cringe when I see Mr. Bickham's name in the title, though upon reviewing his last two Saturday offerings, I see that I fared well on the last one, and claimed to have breezed through the one prior to that.  This week, I have to say, I threw in a few WAGs and they worked out for the best; they helped my long answers tremendously, and led to a fast solution.  I might have discovered the wavelength that Mark operates on.  I will admit I had one letter wrong, which I discovered when there was no "Ta-DA~!" at the end.  I'll take it.  One climber, and one spanner, with a pair of 12-letter fills stacked either side;

7d. Loan document : PAYMENT SCHEDULE

35a. Response acknowledging familiarity : I GET THAT A LOT

38a. Couple getting away together? : PARTNERS IN CRIME

41a. Beyond reproach : SQUEAKY CLEAN

вперед~! (62a.) 

ACROSS:

1. She played Madeleine in "Bel Ami" (2012) : UMA - did not see this movie

4. Get really excited : FLIP

8. Mug shot result? : FAT LIP - not sure which "mug" and "shot" we might be looking at; the one involving arrest, or the one involving 'arrested development' ( that is, consuming alcohol excessively ).  Turns out neither - instead it's a shot to the mug

14. __ data : RAW

15. "The Diana Chronicles" author Brown : TINA - filled via perps

16. Rooks, e.g. : AVIANS - I was on a chess wavelength; here it's the bird

17. Social follower? : ITE - socialite

18. Levitate : DEFY GRAVITY - that's what it means

20. Fashionable : CHIC - I did technically post a pic of legs last week, but just to be clear, this is still what I call "chic"

22. "Enough, José!" : "NO MAS~!"

23. Shout after a muleta manipulation : OLÉ - Spanish uno mas - a muleta ( having had to look it up ) is a red cape fixed to a stick.  I pretty much figured out what the answer was without knowing, though the actual definition of the word is "crutch"

24. Hard-to-hit pitch : HIGH C - ah, not baseball

26. __ fail : EPIC - this was my first thought, but I hesitated

28. Carrier of many old couples : ARK
 

30. Historic Buddhist temple : SHAOLIN

33. You can count on them : ABACI - got it

42. Lemony spice used in Middle Eastern cuisine : SUMAC - I'm guessing it's not the poisonous kind....

43. Question of time : "HOW LONG~?" - I tried "HOW SOON", and two "O"s were good to go

46. Half a drink : TAI - and of course, I tried MAI

47. Not out : SAFE - ah, here's the baseball

50. 2000s Showtime series, with "The" : L WORD - heard of it, have not seen it

52. "Star Trek" initialism : TNG - "The Next Generation", which truly was MY generation's Star Trek; I could not get into the original, tho the movies with the original cast were to my liking.  Now we're being shown Star WARS, the next generation

54. In a big way : BADLY

57. Party where lomi salmon may be served : LUAU - I tried BRIS to start; bzzzt.  The internet claims it's actually lomi-lomi

58. Runway highlight : BEAUTY QUEEN - I have been communicating with a girl who was the beauty queen of a dance at her college - and she is a cutie; 29, with beautiful green eyes - maybe more next week....

61. Treasury Dept. variable : GNP

62. Fitting game : TETRIS - one of my all-time favorite video games

I also found this, this and this

63. 1970 Kinks hit : LOLA

64. Stand in a barrel : AGE - think the verb

65. Outsmarts : ONE-UPS

66. Good place to see plays : ESPN - more likely to see RE-plays, actually

67. Rocker Nugent : TED

DOWN:

1. "Spenser: For Hire" actor : URICH - It took a moment to recall his last name; I knew his first name was Robert; I knew him from "The Ice Pirates" from way back in 1984

2. He's no Johnny One Note : MATHIS - I have one his Christmas albums

3. Barely clear of the bottom : AWEIGH

4. Co. with a bouquet in its logo : FTD - Florists' Transworld Delivery - the Wiki

5. Bank security : LIEN

6. Scoop : INFO

8. Iranian language : FARSI

9. Clark's "Mogambo" co-star : AVA

10. It helps you avoid seeing spots : TiVO - the "spots" being TV ads; I DVR all my stuff so I can skip the commercials, too

11. Boxer who retired undefeated : LAILA ALI

12. Building security device : INTERCOM

13. Humanities dept. : PSYchology; I see that it might be considered a science instead

19. Clothing giant : GAP

21. Starbucks latte order : CHAI TEA

25. Courvoisier and Hennessy : COGNACS

27. Taunt : CATCALL

29. Surfer's option : KITE - my one wrong letter was the "K"; I had SITE, which makes internet surfing sense; I did not check my crossings

31. Garlic relative : LEEK

32. "Just doing my job" : "I TRY." - this week I had a new truck in my UPS line-up, and it was a disaster the first day of the week; I did not feel very good about the job I did.  I recovered pretty quickly, however, as the driver told me I did an outstanding job two days later.  I try.

34. Nocturnal bird : BARN OWL

36. City name that looks like an oxymoron : HILO - High, or Low~?

37. Over : ANEW

38. "Hey!" : PSST - oops; with my MAI, I tried AHEM

39. "__ Hunger Force": Adult Swim cartoon : AQUA-TEEN - I have seen a few episodes of this show, but I was more a fan of "Robot Chicken"

40. Ponder : RUMINATE

44. Milky Way component : NOUGAT

45. Farm : GRANGE - my first AA home group was in a community center we called "The Grange"; I am guessing it was once a part of a local farm, as it is now an historic landmark

48. Profundity metaphor : ABYSS - this one goes "deep"

49. Provider of answers, briefly : FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

51. Had : DUPED - "I've been duped~!"

53. Provider of answers : GURU

55. Some summer births : LEOS

56. Kennel noise : YELP

58. "Takin' Care of Business" rock gp. : BTO - Bachman-Turner Overdrive; classic rock of the 70's

59. Bills left behind, perhaps : TIP

60. Indian bread : NAN

Splynter

Saturday, Mar 19th, 2016, Gail Grabowski

Theme: GG

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

Blocks: 28

An enjoyable puzzle from Mrs. Grabowski, though it might have had a few too many proper names for some - I would have been included, except I knew enough of them to get a foot hold, and the rest were helped along nicely by perps.  One or two WAGs, and nary a Google search nor red-letter exposed.  Nothing intimidating about the grid, with triple 10- and 9-letter corners, and two more 9-letter entries in the middle across;

15a. Meteorological record : ALL-TIME LOW - my personal all-time low here on Long Island was going to work overnight at Roadway Express when it was -4° and snowing inside the covered dock

13d. It's beside the point : ONES PLACE - clever; number 'locations'  _ _ . _ _

67a. 1998 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee : ERECTOR SET - once I had the "-S-T" at the end, I got it, though I never actually had an Erector Set - it was all Lego when I grew up

35d. Church music source : ORGAN LOFT

ONWARDski~!

ACROSS:

1. Some kids' parties : SLEEPOVERS - I once had a two-friend sleepover for my B-day in February, about 1980; it snowed, and I was depressed because I figured it was all off, but the moms of the two kids made it to my house ( I'm guessing they wanted some peace and quiet themselves in their houses~!)

11. Tag word : FROM

16. Driving area : LANE - I suppose that's how you'd describe it....

17. Can't imagine : HAVE NO IDEA

18. Available : OPEN - tried FREE, had one "E" correct

19. Longtime Parlophone record label owner : EMI - RCA, RKO~?; I waited

20. Edge : HONE - think verb, and it works

21. Document preparer : TYPIST

23. Roundup line : LASSO - good guess; could have been RIATA

25. Chicago mayor after Richard : RAHM

27. Start to cure? : EPI - epicure

28. Minnesota's St. __ College : OLAF - close by, C.C.~?

31. "The Munsters" actress Yvonne : DE CARLO - I thought it was spelled with an "I"; her Wiki; had it been clued with a different role, I would not have known.

33. Supplies site : STOREROOM

37. City in southern Egypt : ASWAN - The Nile makes two appearances today

38. Catnip, e.g. : HERB - good WAG for me, but then again....

39. Spam, perhaps : EMAIL - all my SPAM is in email form

41. They sit on pads : MICE - whoops, I had Rice, and well, uh, that is technically correct

42. Flowed furiously : RAGED

44. Tossed out a number : ESTIMATED - hah~! Nailed it

46. High spirits : ELATION

48. Provoke : SPUR

49. __ mother : DEN

50. They might be hard to crack : NUTS - I put in SAFE, tho the pluralizing didn't match

52. Awestruck sort : GAPER

56. Stars home : DALLAS - NHL - hockey.  We're closing in on the playoffs

58. Caps, say : TOPS

61. Satisfied sigh : AAH - I put in the first "A", then I waited to see if it was AAH or AHH

62. Cooking staple, to Rachael Ray : EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - learned from crosswords

63. City on the Wabash : TERRE HAUTE

66. Money-raising option, briefly : RE-FI - it is time to refinance my mother's house, and start the process of fixing it up; it's in a bad way

68. Old Atl. crossers : SSTs - you know it's been so long since I've seen this answer in a crossword that I had to look up what it was~?  Granted, I was thinking boats, not planes, and I don't get the chance to do many puzzles in the week; editor Rich has probably tried to avoid it. Super-Sonic Transport, like the Concorde

69. Section : DEPARTMENT

DOWN:

1. Saharan region : SAHEL - all perps

2. Wool source : LLAMA - WAG, and it stuck

3. Newsworthy inductee of March 24, 1958 : ELVIS - US Army induction - there's a dedicated Wiki page; before my time, and I am now older than the age at which he died

4. Évry summer : ÉTÉ - Frawnche

5. Elementary camera feature : PINHOLE

6. 1847 work with the chapter "Life at Loohooloo" : OMOO - Once the last "O" appeared, this was crosswordese

7. Marble characteristic : VEIN

8. Tribal leader : ELDER

9. Eggs sometimes served with grits : ROE - didn't know this, but it did fit

10. Wrap up : SWATHE

11. Probably not a really good show : FLOP

12. Joan Rivers' asset : RAPIER WIT

14. Touched on : MENTIONED - it's been "mentioned" that I like legs pics

it's art....get it~?

22. Interactive party song : YMCA - did my fair share of this drunken dance

24. Frozen dessert : SORBET

26. Doesn't turn away : ADMITS  - think bouncers

29. Lionel Richie's "You __" : ARE

30. Inflame : FOMENT

32. Capital east of Khartoum : ASMARA - Eritrea

33. Tracks-covering vehicles : SHREDDERS - I understand the need for a little deception on a Saturday, but shredder as a "vehicle" is a bit of a s-t-r-e-t-c-h

34. Reading material? : TEA LEAVES

36. Western alliance: Abbr. : OAS

40. Edge : LIP - dah~! Not RIM

43. Manzo of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" : DINA - no desire to watch

45. It's usually not a pretty picture : MUGSHOT

Mr. Larry King, in the year I was born

47. Sent packing : OUSTED

51. __ throat : STREP

53. Breathing spell : PAUSE

54. All gone : EATEN

55. "Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief" speaker : RHETT

57. "The Giver" author Lowry : LOIS - perps

59. Subject of the 2013 documentary "Blackfish" : ORCA - never heard of the film, but the title makes sense, now

60. '80s-'90s tennis star Korda : PETR

64. Poetic preposition : ERE

65. Coat part : ARM

Splynter

Saturday, Mar 12th, 2016, Bruce Venzke

Theme: Two Triple Stacks

Words: 68 (missing F,J,Q,Y)

Blocks: 38

I am always fascinated when I see spanners grouped in threes (and fours) with crossings (perpendiculars) that are not such a stretch that the puzzle seems forced; and then I get that feeling that it's going to be a tough grid to solve.  Today, however, I seemed to breeze through with very little trouble - but I had some incredible WAGs that were solid from the get go.  Our regulars here at the blog will be quick to point out that big groups of 15-letters usually leads to shorter Downs.  Not so much today, though we did have a high block count - and a good-looking grid, at that.   The spanners;

1. Where to see pop-ups : ELECTRIC TOASTER

16. Holding capacity : SATURATION POINT

17. Doesn't do anything : SITS ON ONE'S HANDS

57. Security employees : STORE DETECTIVES

60. Doesn't care for : TAKES A DISLIKE TO

61. Prepare for a ball : DRESS TO THE NINES - the origin~?

O                 N                 W                 A                 R                D             ~            !

ACROSS:

18. Caning material : RATTAN - oops, not WICKER

19. Shows frugality : STINTS

20. N.S. setting : AST - Nova Scotia, and Atlantic Standard Time; I happen to know they are 1 hour ahead of my time zone, EST

21. Word on some dipsticks : ADD - just looked at the one in my van yesterday - and it was at the "ADD" mark

22. Thickening agent : AGAR

25. '70s congresswoman known for wearing wide-brimmed hats : ABZUG - 3 perps and 2 WAGs

29. 15th-century golfer, probably : SCOT - ah, a 'generic' answer

33. Likely to skid : BALD - tires

34. Train puller : BRIDE - bang~! Nailed it

35. Iolani Palace locale : OAHU - seen before in crosswords

36. Search result : URL - dah~!  Not HIT

37. Org. with a WaterSense program : EPA - sensible WAG

38. Mad man of film : MAX - I have yet to see the 2015 remake of the 1979 film

39. Letter-shaped beam : Z-BAR - went with I-bar first; a genuine 75% correct

41. Early 17th-century pope : PAUL V - I tried 'PIUS -' with early crossings

43. "If wishes __ horses ... " : WERE

44. Sector : ZONE - not AREA

45. Liberal : AMPLE

46. They're frequently tapped : ALES - not KEGS

47. Incidentally, briefly : BTW - texting shorthand for "By The Way"

49. __ Karate: old aftershave : HAI

51. Cricket official : SCORER - I tried UMPIRE; then I had to look to see if this was an actual 'official'

54. Certain summons : TICKET

DOWN:

1. First of September? : ESS - September

2. Cave, say : LAIR

3. Kett of old comics : ETTA

4. Crème brûlée preparation : CUSTARD

5. Hambletonian events : TROTS

6. Deferred payment : RAN A TAB

7. Get __ the record : IT ON -

8. Rose team, on scoreboards : CINcinnati; Pete Rose of the Reds - C.C. must be thrilled we are at Spring Training - just means we are close to the Stanley Cup playoffs for me....

9. Word in a readiness metaphor : TOES - "be on one's toes"....eh

10. Performing : ON STAGE - sometimes on your toes here, too

11. Orchard pest : APHID

12. Dirty rat : SO-AND-SO

13. Glare reducer : TINT

14. Circle's lack : ENDS - I was close with EDGE

15. NFL linemen : RTs

22. Talking excitedly : ABUZZ

23. "The Kiss" was her last silent film : GARBO

24. Historian Nevins : ALLAN - I guessed the two "L"s

26. Another name for bluegill : BREAM

27. Close, as a parka : ZIP-UP - how about 'close, as heels' for Saturday cluing~?

28. 1960s Interior secretary Stewart __ : UDALL

30. Alpaca relative : CAMEL - I like camels

I found so many other funny ones (add 9d.), but....

31. Orchard Field, today : O'HARE - I knew this from crosswords

32. Spiffy attire : TUXES - sort of a mini-theme going on

40. Engine rebuilding jobs : REBORES

41. Checked out, feline-style : PAWED AT

42. Jam component : VEHICLE - nice misdirection, if you tried some sort of fruit

43. Surfing mecca : WAIKIKI - great fill

48. Bun element : TRESS

50. Join the cast of : ACT IN - second semi-theme going on, with 10d. and the next clue;

51. Beverly Hills sighting : STAR

52. Old beehive oven product : COKE - new to me; the Wiki

53. Change in appearance : RE-DO

54. Sellecca's "Intelligence for Your Life TV" co-host : TESH - didn't see this filled in until I came to write the blog

55. Still : EVEN

56. Toque spot : TÊTE - I knew a toque was chef headware, and that it was Frawnche

57. Benchmark: Abbr. : STD - standard

58. "__-Willow": "The Mikado" song : TIT

obdurate definition

59. Cleaning product with two periods in its name : S.O.S

remember "Wacky Packages~?"

Splynter