Saturday, Nov 19th, 2016, Erik Agard

Theme: None

Words 70 (missing Q,V,W,X)

Blocks: 38

  First time blogging an Erik Asgard LA Times Saturday puzzle for me; he has seven previously published constructions, and with a posting on a Tuesday, he will have hit for the cycle.  Odd-looking grid with the black corners, a high block count, and the step-stacks of 12-,13-, and 14-letter fills; 12 & 14 is hard to do.  Not much success on my first pass, and the short down clues did not help much - if it had not been for some "I know this" fills, I would probably still be working on the grid.  Got my ta-DA~! with one bad cel, silly mistake crossing a total unknown.  Oh well.  Some of the longer fill;

13a. ESPN game show where four expert panelists compete debate-style : AROUND THE HORN - I see it on the TV at the restaurants occasionally, but not an actual watcher - but I do like the chalkboard quotes

15a. "42" subject : JACKIE ROBINSON - my first thought was the "42" of Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and that was not working.  Baseball is not my thing, but once the -SON appeared, a vague recollection of this movie occurred 

65a. Early U.S. Navy flag motto : DON'T TREAD ON ME

66a. Likely to be returned : MISADDRESSED

ONWARpeD~!

ACROSS:

1. Diagnostic aid : TISSUE SAMPLE - oof; vague

17. Water __ : SKI - oops, not "PIK"

18. Gets ready to eat, in a way : NUKES - affectionate term for microwaving; it's how I defrost chicken and re-heat pizza

19. Key of Beethoven's Sym. No. 7 : A Maj - I filled in the "M", and waited; it's going to be A-G, Major or Minor

21. Clipped affirmative : YES,'M

23. Other: Pref. : HETERO-

25. Scary story sound : CREAK

28. One of a prohibitive septet : SIN - the Se7en Deadly

31. Industry bigwigs : CZARS - ah, we've seen this before; did not occur to me at first; I went with EXECS

32. Hide out, with "down" : HUNKER

34. School offering belts : DOJO - martial arts

36. Get : NAB - oops, not "SEE"

37. Rihanna album whose title is a common prefix : ANTI - half perps and a WAG

38. Cosmic balance : KARMA

40. Analogy part : IS TO

41. An ace is under it : PAR - in golf, it's par, birdie, eagle; on a par-three hole, "ace" is a hole in one

42. Desert bordering the Altai Mountains : GOBI

43. Mitt with ten fingers : ROMNEY - clever

45. "Luck Be __": "Guys and Dolls" song : A LADY

47. Smoking evidence : ASH

49. Shuffles, say : iPODS - Apple MP-3 music players

50. Firming (up) : TONING - D-oh~! I filled in Boning, and 25d was anyone's guess

52. Italian recipe word : ALLA

54. User of recording devices called quipus : INCA - fascinating, for me - I had to find out what a quipu was, and here's the Wiki; down at the bottom, the article mentions Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series, and I have read two of his books - now I need to get the one mentioned here.

55. WWII conference city : YALTA

58. Home of MLB's Redbirds : STL - St. Louis Cardinals

61. Learn : GET INFORMATION

DOWN:       

1. Persian for "crown" : TAJ - pondered "ABU" at first

2. Subjects of IRS Pub. 590 : IRAs

3. Belt : SOCK - ah, not "SHOT"

4. Japanese hot pot dish : SUKIYAKI - oops, not TERI yaki

5. Athlete's wear, for short : UNI - I believe it's short for unitard

6. Idyllic settings : EDENS - one of the few clues I got on the first pass

7. Toys with strings? : STRUMS - I have been known to toy with the strings of my guitars

8. "I see now" : "AH, OK"

9. "Leave __!" : "ME BE"

10. Trey Anastasio's band : PHISH - nailed it, but for the life of me I cannot remember my favorite song from them from a live concert; my brother might recall the name.  I spent way too much time looking for it....

11. Chaney of the screen : LON

12. Imitation : ERSATZ - great WAG off the "T" in hetero-

14. Unequivocal rejection : NO MEANS NO

16. Told : NARRATED

20. Alcott's "Little Men" sequel : JO'S BOYS

22. __ out a victory : EKE

24. Prefix with tourist : ECO

25. Indian flatbread : CHAPATI

26. Words with a dismissive wave : RUN ALONG

27. Unable to look away : ENTRANCED

I am unable to look away~!

29. Actor __ Elba of "The Wire" : IDRIS - his IMDb; I was not aware he played the captain in the movie Prometheus, the 'prequel' to ALIEN

30. French handle? : NOM - Frawnche for "name"

33. "Citizen Kane" studio : RKO

35. Shake up : JAR

39. Old hoops org. : ABA

40. Thick paint applications : IMPASTOS

42. OB/__ : GYN

44. Sautéing substance : OIL

46. Unicellular alga : DIATOM

48. Abomination : HATRED

51. "Peer __ Homecoming": Grieg work : GYNTS

53. Rapper Kendrick __ : LAMAR

56. Mennen skin product : AFTA

57. Voldemort's title : LORD - from the Harry Potter series of books and films, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes

59. Cookie containers : TINS

60. __-Tokoin Airport: Togo hub : LOME

62. Pasta ending : INI - rotini was the only one I could think of, so I went looking, and found the pasta shapes dictionary

63. Soft drink ending : ADE

64. Young adult fiction author Vizzini : NED - perps

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 12th, 2016, Roland Huget

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 26

Today's puzzle proved to be as difficult as it looked - whenever the symmetry separates the corners (as in this grid) and makes each of the corners independent, for me, that means either getting a foothold, or falling short.  I was able to fill in all the cells, but alas, no ta-DA~!  So I went back and found four red-letter mistakes.  Still, a solid effort on my part, and under my personal allotted time, as well.  7x7 chunky corners, two 9-letter crossings in the center, and four 8-letter "tie-ins";

35a. "Got a minute?" : "CAN WE TALK~?" - a certain catch-phrase for someone, too

21d. Prime example : POSTER BOY

 

  

HanWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Where member golfers gather, familiarly : THE CLUB

8. Tybalt's house : CAPULET - Montague did not fit, and I was guessing he was a part of one of the main characters houses - either Romeo's or Juliet's

15. French roll : ROULEAU - I tried BAGUETE, which I figured needs another "T"

16. Cognizant of : ALIVE TO

17. Like some wake-up hours : UNGODLY - I like watching people's reactions when I tell them I am usually up for work at UPS about 2:30AM - they get that "It's unGODly~!" look on their faces - and in two weeks, it'll be 11PM for peak season

18. Wine product : VINEGAR

19. Biases : SKEWS - my initial Downs led me to try EDGES here

20. Corp. fundraiser : IPO - ah, a financial ploy, not a person

22. Greeted at the door : SAW IN - oops, not LED IN

23. Dollywood locale: Abbr. : TENNessee

24. __ door : STORM - I tried ENTRY first

26. Broadway seductress : LOLA

27. "__ tu": Verdi aria : ERI - learned from Crosswords

28. Oater accessory : TIN STAR - STETSON would fit, but clashed with CAVORT

30. Like half a deck : RED - I have been playing poker on Saturday nights for two months now, so this type of "deck" was foremost in my mind.  I am up $6 for the eight weeks, with a $20 buy in, and my best night was a $61 take

31. French appetizer : ESCARGOT

33. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil : NIEKRO - a Yankee, and I dredged him up from the depths of my mental past

37. Ponderosa order : RIB  EYE - I vaguely recalled that there was a restaurant chain known as Ponderosa, and it must have been from back in my Upstate NY or Cincinnati OH days; none around here

40. Performer who must be from 5'6" to 5'10½" tall : ROCKETTE - pretty good guess on my part; not that I knew of the height restrictions.  I think they must have "minimum leg requirements", too

44. No power can change it : ONE - ah, mathematics.  I was thinking in terms of "power outage", and having no electrical power.  Duh.

45. Calder sculpture : STABILE - learning moment for me.  Alexander Calder "invented" the art form of mobiles, and the ones that don't 'move' are called stabiles.  More from Wiki

There's an example right down the road from me that can be seen from NY 27, Sunrise Highway - referred to as the "big deer head", its title is actually "Stargazer"

47. Burgundy on screen : RON - good guess on my part - from the Will Ferrell movie "Anchorman"

48. Cookware portmanteau : T-FAL - "portmanteau" is one of those things I learned doing crosswords, as well - essentially, it's blending two words, like "SMOG" - smoke and fog.  In this case, as I just learned, it's short for TEFlon and ALuminum

50. Took : STOLE - I hesitated, but was on the "burglary" form of "took" wavelength

51. Paris green? : PARC - I tried EURO, for the money kind of green; then it was BANC, and that seemed acceptable; but BOINT was not - it was my 42d that I guessed wrong

52. Wyandot people : HURON - OK, I cheated - I Googled

54. Tournament pass : BYE

55. Axle in a wooden toy : DOWEL - a complicated definition of a simple item - followed by this clue;

56. One of two nuclides with the same neutron number but different proton numbers : ISOTONE - uh, OK, so I decided isotoPe was good enough, but I was 1/7th wrong

58. Contest name coined by its eventual winner : THRILLA - in Manila, a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier

60. London-based news agency : REUTERS - took half perps for this to come to me

61. Goes underground : TUNNELS

62. Elaine's home, in Arthurian legend : ASTOLAT - my second "A" was an "E" at first

63. Me time? : EGO TRIP

DOWN:
       
1. Board member : TRUSTEE

2. Geese : HONKERS - I tried "GANDERS", which was 100% 3/7ths correct

3. Concerned with good breeding : EUGENIC - I had HYGENIC, which in the Down looked right, but it's Hyg-I-enic; I've never actually looked at the eugenics definition until today

4. One who's not serious : CLOWN

5. Some arena displays, briefly : LEDs - Light Emitting Diode displays

6. O'Hare initials : UAL - why did I think this was ORD at first~? Because that's the Airport Code.  When I looked up UAL, I was in Luau, Angola - the answer is the abbr. for United Airlines.  Tricky.

7. eBay option : BUY IT NOW - the only way I will buy anything off eBay - I can't be bothered to watch how my bids are doing

8. Frolic : CAVORT

9. "Aladdin" prince : ALI - could have been tied into 58A. if you ask me

10. Strike victims? : PINS

 

The revenge of the pins

11. __ layer: eye part : UVEAL

12. Old-fashioned investigation : LEGWORK - these legs work for me

13. Noncash business : eTAILER

14. Phenomenon measured by the Enhanced Fujita Scale : TORNADO - I mentioned the EF scale in a puzzle last month or so

24. Small seals : SIGNETS - I was thinking seals, the 'animal' - but mixed up my CYGNETS

25. Handcuff : MANACLE

28. Printer inserts : TRAYS - I was thinking "please don't be REAMS" - I cannot get that much paper in my home printer, though I guess one could do so with a commercial unit

29. "The Book of Hours" poet : RILKE - perps

32. Top performer : ACE

34. Squeeze (out) : EKE

36. Grooming process : TOILETTE

37. Estate planner's advice : ROTH IRA - being in the DOWN, I stared at this for way too long before the V-8 can flew

38. Imbues : INFUSES

39. Back up : BEAR OUT - I was 'meh' about this, but then I figured out that you better "back up" your argument, or the facts won't "bear out"

41. Net user : TRAWLER

42. Baroque composer Giuseppe __ : TORELLI - perps and one goof

43. Embrace : ENCLASP - OK, but for me, meh. Clecho with 59d. Embrace : HUG

46. Ideally : AT BEST

49. Numbers game : LOTTO

51. Essential thing : POINT

53. Winter air : NOEL - air as in "tune" or "song" - but "COLD" did pass thru my thoughts

55. 1962 title villain played by Joseph Wiseman : Dr. NO - bang~! Nailed it, but I am a big James Bond fan

57. FDR program : NRA - yeah, uh, this makes more sense than "P.R.E."

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 29th, 2016, Peter Wentz

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

We have not seen Mr. Wentz since I last blogged his Saturday contribution back in Jan of 2012.  Today's grid is different from that puzzle, having the two 15-letter entries crossing in the center, with triple 8's and almost triple 10's in the corners.  Looked bleak at the beginning for me, but then a few answers fell into place, with some beneficial WAGs, and only one instance of cheating - I red-lettered to see why the SW corner was not working out.  Oh well.  Still, a fun solve.  The long answers;

35. "Pretty much goes without saying" : IT'S ALMOST A GIVEN

8. Hotel dining room option : BREAKFAST BUFFET - dah~!  I had -- -- BOOTHS, and it was good for a while....

'OlloweeNWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Lie quietly? : PLAY DUMB

9. 1996 gold medalist in men's singles : AGASSI

15. Chipped in from off the green, perhaps : SAVED PAR - I filled in MADE PAR, and it wasn't long enough

16. Picture appropriate for Valentine's Day : ROM-COM - my personal favorite - also the only one I own; Rotten Tomatoes has a better summary than IMDb

17. "You can trust me" : I DON'T LIE

18. Nursery purchase : MANURE

19. Closes a hole, say : SEWS

20. Snowman in "Frozen" : OLAF - saw this movie not long ago on regular TV

22. Like most ears : LOBED

23. Marx work : DAS KAPITAL

25. What adults with youthful faces often get : CARDED

29. Something on a disk : FILE

30. Symbol that increases a musical note's duration : DOT - nailed it, since I play guitar

32. In conflict with, with "of" : AFOUL 

33. Nape covering : MANE - dah~! Not HAIR; 100% 25% correct

34. Sage : WISE - oops, the adjective, not the noun; I had GURU to start

38. Hose holder : REEL - my preferred "hose holder"

39. Leavers of pheromone trails : ANTS

40. Bowl sections : TIERS - not fooled, I knew this was the sporting arena

41. Star, in verse : ORB - I thought it was just planets that got the poetic 'orb'

42. Roman commoner : PLEB - got it; short form of plebeian

43. Series of classes : COURSE - my first thought, but I hesitated

44. Marked by uproar : TUMULTUOUS

47. Ristorante herb : BASIL - filled via perps

48. "Murder in the First" gp. : SFPD - not familiar with this show, on TNT, and I see it was just canceled

49. Home of A. Wyeth's "Christina's World" : MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art; I did not know this was a painting, so the answer was not forthcoming; I have to say, I am moved by this artwork; can't say why, and I guess that's why it's considered "art"

53. Yoga command : EXHALE

55. Couldn't remain still : FIDGETED

57. Wobble : TEETER

58. Volunteered : ENLISTED

59. Tests : ASSAYS

60. Drives : TEE SHOTS - more golf, but my parse was TEES ---, and I was not making the connection; this is the noun, not the verb

DOWN:

1. Penultimate Greek letters : PSIs - those last three three-letter letters always get me; PHI, CHI, PSI - but I guessed correctly this time - I should remember "fee-cheap-sigh"

2. Prepare for a crossing, perhaps : LADE - dah~!  I tried PACK, but I was 100% 25% correct

3. Put out in the open : AVOW

4. Hungers : YENS

5. Banned pesticide : DDT

6. Send to the cloud : UPLOAD - the internet cloud, and I do not store anything there - it's not part of my daily routine for the kind of work I do, nor do I care to have my personal items out in the open, so to speak

7. Posts : MAILS

9. Quarterback's asset : ARM

10. Shot stopper : GOALIE - KEVLAR was not working; I shoulda known this one....

11. Childish rebuttal : AM NOT - ARE SO~?  AM TOO~?  bzzt.

12. Certain explorer : SCUBA DIVER

13. They may be upset about being upset : SORE LOSERS

14. Chatted with, briefly : IMed

21. Blacks out : FAINTS - oh, that kind of black out; I was familiar with the non-sober kind

23. Texas-based tech giant : DELL

24. Urgent call : PLEA - oops, not NEED (I had the "E")

25. 2011 revolution locale : CAIRO

26. Net : AFTER TAXES - I figured it was something like "TAKE HOME" and pay-related

27. Sight from the Oval Office : ROSE BUSHES - I put in GARDEN, and that made all the sense in the world, but did not get me anywhere with the crossings

28. __ citizenship : DUAL - both my parents had DUAL citizenship, here and the United Kingdom, their birthplace

31. Future, e.g. : TENSE

33. Musée de l'Orangerie collection : MONETS - or MANETS~?  I'm never sure - a quote from the remake of Ocean's Eleven

34. 2012 Nintendo debut : WII U - one of those fills which would never stand a chance in a crossword were it not for the way technology moves forward - the Wiki

36. Place to see Santa : MALL

37. Cutlass competitors : GTOs - muscle cars - I am going to pick up my new minivan today~!

42. Weight machine feature : PULLEY - not PLATES, which contributed to my mess in the corner

 43. Get very close : CUDDLE - tried NESTLE first

45. Mazda sports car : MIATA

46. Put forward : OPINE

47. __ testing : BETA

49. Open-textured fabric : MESH - oops, not LACE

50. One of the Ringling brothers : OTTO

51. Conform to : MEET

52. Goes on to say : ADDS

54. Stumbling sounds : ers....

56. Company makeup, largely : GIs - Ah, the military type of company

Splynter  

Saturday, Oct 22nd, 2016, Brad Wilber & Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,Z)

Blocks: 32

   Brad Wilber is a familiar name, but I did not recognize the co-author today - he has contributed several times to the LA Times, mostly Fridays.  The grid itself looked like a typical weekday puzzle, not so intimidating.  I forgot to set the clock, but I do believe I went over my allotted personal time.  The triples on the left and the crossings of the names in the SE slowed me down, again, and had to guess for most of them.  Triple 10-letter corners in the Down, and a pair of 11-letter climbers crossing a pair of 9's;

8. They may provide track details : SLEEVE NOTES - I filled this in, but did not make the connection - I was thinking "track" as in horse racing, not albums/CDs

 back half of a sleeve from a 1985 album

29. Turning point? : USE BY DATE - har-har

23. Signs of infrequent cleaning : DUST BUNNIES

 you might not want to look too closely

44. Line after Casca's "Speak, hands, for me!" : "ET TU, BRUTE~?" - the whole phrase

O.N..W...A....R.....D......~!

ACROSS:

1. Rose of rock : AXL - of Guns N' Roses fame

4. Incidental catches by South Pacific tuna fishermen : OPAHS

9. Mall Santa, probably : TEMP

13. Endodontic therapy : ROOT CANAL - the "-dontic" part helped me out

15. "Finding Dory" studio : PIXAR - "Finding Nemo" characters return

16. Reject : PUSH ASIDE - ah, the verb, not the noun. 

17. As expected : ON CUE - strange.  I nailed this.

18. Roundup group : STEERS - POSSE was not long enough

19. When the French fry? : ÉTÉ - Frawnche summer

21. Terrible's two : ARs - the two "R"s of teRRible

22. Presented an invention? : LIED - clever

24. Compared with : VIS-À-VIS - from the Frawnche for face to face

26. Canada's highest peak : LOGAN - OK, I cheated.  I looked at a list of mountains in Canada

31. World leader whose name shares its last four letters with a state : OBAMA - this was my first guess, since it had occurred to me in the past that Obama and Alabama had the common ending

32. Together : SANE - Oh, that kind of together

33. "South Park" kid : STAN - or KYLE~!?  I went with STAN, then switched, and then switched back

34. Station that employed Lou Grant : WJM - before my time; perps

35. WWI hero portrayed by Gary Cooper : SGT. YORK - again, before my time

38. Bond yield: Abbr. : INTerest

39. Creepy look : LEER - I saw your wolfish look yesterday, Lemonade

41. Not much at all : A BIT - SOME~?  A FEW~?

42. Golfer with an "army" : ARNIE - R.I.P.

46. Longtime Indiana senator Dick : LUGAR - perps and two WAGs

47. Hall of Fame outfielder Richie of the '40s-'50s Phillies : ASHBURN - perps and two WAGs

48. Automaker that introduced headlight wipers : SAAB - oops, not AUDI, but I was close

50. Last pres. born in the 19th century : DDE - not sure if we were looking for a short name, or initials.  At first I had was "E" in the middle, since I misspelled the Frawnche crossing

51. Dr. for women : GYNecologist

52. Cold-stricken : RHEUMY - Dah~!  Not CHILLY - that's 33.33% 100% correct, tho

56. Coventry coolers : GAOLS - argh~!  I was stuck looking for some sort of drink to 'cool' off.  This is the clink, the brig, the gulag, the pokey....

58. Corfu locale : IONIAN SEA - my "OMA" WAG was a big help here

61. Impressive lineup : ARRAY

62. "A Room With a View" author : E.M. FORSTER - his Wiki

63. Final crossing? : STYX

64. Nixon-Brezhnev missile pact : SALT I

65. Approved : OK'D - again, had it, took it out, put it back in

DOWN:

1. Some dadaist works : ARPS - ooo, close, I went with ARTE

2. Cross off : X OUT

3. Shake, as a tail : LOSE - when you are 14d.

4. Ovoid winds : OCARINAS

5. So five minutes ago : PASSÉ

6. Young Darth's nickname : ANI - Anakin Skywalker

7. Victimized : HAD

9. __ can : TIN

10. Dig action : EXCAVATING

11. Senegal neighbor : MAURITANIA - I got it, but don't ask me how I knew it

12. Common computer manual step : PRESS ENTER

14. Running, with "on" : THE LAM - a Blue Öyster Cult song~!

15. Browning field : POESY - I had a feeling POEMS was not going to last

20. River through Umbria : TIBER

25. Break fillers : ADS

26. Focus of an EPA phasedown introduced in 1973 : LOW LEAD GAS - I tried "NON" at the start, but it was not jibing for me

27. Curiosities : OBJETS D' ART - more Frawnche - we got hit hard today~!

28. Mathematical approach to military strategy, say : GAME THEORY

30. "Speak!" : "SAY IT~!"

36. Chess luminary Kasparov : GARRY - Larry, Barry, Garry, I tried them all

37. Much of Botswana : KALAHARI - SAHARAN did not fit - because I was too far north

40. Barbecue seasoning : RUB

43. 17th-century Flemish painter : RUBENS

45. Film Warren commissioned? : BUGSY - I had the "--GSY" part, so I hardly read the clue

49. Hilarious : A RIOT

53. "Teach __ number our days": Psalm 90 : US TO

54. Like doormats : MEEK - I like this door mat

more funny ones here

55. Sale area : YARD - ah, took a moment.  I like "yard saleing"

57. Negligent : LAX

59. Medical suffix : OMA - a cancerous growth/tumor

60. Org. with Colts and Cowboys : NFL - and a gimme to end the day

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 15th, 2016, Mark Diehl

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)

Blocks: 27

  A new Saturday struggle from Mr. Diehl - his last offering being just a month previous, and I fared better with that construction - but then again, I was awake longer than I usually am before starting today's puzzle and blog, so a 'mental fade' might have had something to do with my need to cave in to Google.  Just too many proper names, especially in the NE.  Oh well.  A grid similar to the last puzzle, with 6x10 corners in a nearly spiral pattern, and two 9-letter climbers;

11d. Stinging builder of mud nests : MASON WASP - I should hire these guys for my next tiling job~!

32. Like tournament favorites : TOP-SEEDED

~!

ACROSS:

1. Raid units? : SPRAYS - Kills bugs dead

7. Pass after all else failed? : HAIL MARY - football reference

15. Mine shaft tool : TREPAN - I can see how this would be a rocks tool - the only "trepanning" I was aware of involved the skull

16. Ambiguous part : GRAY AREA

17. Cab Calloway catchphrase : HI-DE-HO - knew this from "The Blues Brothers"

18. Jonathan's cousins : WINESAPS - learning moment for me, on both varieties

19. She plays Hermione in "Harry Potter" films : EMMA - the one proper name I knew

not the Hermione you knew

20. Falls behind, perhaps : OWES - dah~! Not LAGS

22. Some sleepers : SOFAS - Dah~!  Took too long to get this answer - I was thinking trains

23. Soup vegetable : LEEK - um, is there such a thing as BEET soup~? ( I looked; it could have been correct....)

24. Big name in diamonds : ZALES

26. Parishioner's place : NAVE

27. Reagan __ : ERA - grew up during this time frame

28. Word on a business card : CELL - ugh; CORP, CALL, then CELL

29. Old tankard material : PEWTER - even clued just as "tankard material" would have worked

found this one, as well

31. Stallone, in "Capone" : NITTI - hiding in my noggin from doing past crosswords

33. Name on some euros : ESPAÑA - wondered if it was a person's name at first

35. Takes in : ABSORBS

37. Replacement for unlisted items : AND SO ON - could be parsed as AND SOON, clued as an ultimatum

41. Charity tourneys : PRO-AMS

43. Throw out an idea : OPINE

44. Takes root : SETS IN

47. Eats : CHOW - ah, the 'plural' misdirection

49. Brief subject : LAW - pondered RES, but waited

50. Spot for a scrape : KNEE

tragedy~!!!

51. Starbucks order : DECAF - oops, not LATTE

53. "__-daisy!" : UPSY

54. Thumb twiddler : IDLER

56. Dough : CASH - hesitated, thought it was too easy to be "CASH"

57. Pickup spot? : NAPE - think cats, etc.

58. Baloney : FOLDEROL - never heard the term; according to the online etymology, it's derived from song refrains

60. Where Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon : ELMIRA - perps and WAGs

62. Paratrooper's start : FREEFALL

63. Like beef loin, vis-à-vis chuck : LEANER

64. Commuting metaphor : SARDINES - think subways, and people packed into a silver can

65. Bands of cerebral nerve fibers : PONTES - not the first thing that comes up on a Google search

DOWN:

1. Napa County city that's home to Beringer Vineyards : St. HELENA - the website

2. Pricey cut : PRIME RIB

3. 2-Down and others : RED MEATS

4. Vertical, more or less : APEAK - one of those "A" words; seems to be closely associated with anchor lines - Spitz~?

5. Slangy agreement : YAH

6. Loser's mistake? : SNOOZE - "you snooze...."

7. "The Shape of Things to Come" author : H.G. WELLS - I did not know this

8. Develop : ARISE

9. Ziering of "Sharknado" : IAN

10. Soapmaking compounds : LYES

12. See 14-Down : ARAFAT - circumreferential to 14d. With 12-Down, 1994 Peace Prize sharer : YASSER

13. Work on, as a road : REPAVE

21. Peace Nobelist of 1983 : WALESA - cheated.  Googled.

25. Bridge : SPAN

28. High clouds : CIRRI

30. Fund : ENDOW

34. Ottoman officials : PASHAS

36. Craig role : BOND - he will return (as of today) for "James Bond 25"

38. Medium for da Vinci : OIL PAINT

39. Rampaging : ON A SPREE

40. Day of resolve : NEW YEAR'S

42. Magazine renamed Rosie in 2001 : McCALLS - no clue, but got it with half the letters from perps.  I do "ReCALL" McCalls; began in 1873, "apeaked" in the 60's, changed names, and was defunct one year later....

44. One-person boats : SKIFFS

45. "Bewitched" role : ENDORA - I am not too young to remember this show, even if I saw it in syndication

46. Worker in a cage : TELLER - ah, here's my "cage" from last week

48. Useful : OF HELP

52. Nice school : ÉCOLE

53. Dispirit : UNMAN

55. S&L offering : RE-FInance

59. Fared poorly in the wash : RAN

61. Early August arrival : LEO

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 8th, 2016, Greg Johnson

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 30

This is the second Saturday puzzle I have blogged from today's constructor, and upon reviewing that last one, back in Nov. 2015, I read that my solving experience was much the same today - and I recognize this as a pattern with all crossword authors; no matter whose name is at the top of the grid, I seem to have the same struggles and successes with their contribution.  Like that puzzle a little under a year ago, I was able to get through 75% of the puzzle clue-by-clue, but then I ran into self-inflicted spelling/WAG mistakes, and did myself in - no ta-DA - so it was red-letter to the rescue.  Oh well.  Triple 9-letter Across corners, and stacked 9's and 10's crossing a pair of 10-letter climbers;

9. Not woody, to a botanist : HERBACEOUS - I had HE-B---- and just filled this in, not that I knew it was right, but it sounded right

26. Jefferson and others : VIRGINIANS - my first thought, but I waited on perps

1a. Decorative border : HEMSTITCH - too many thoughts to start; clothing, home decor, gardening~?....so I waited

55a. Formal choice : SILK DRESS - add a 44d., and you get this....

33a. One of ten in the Kentucky Derby : FURLONG - I took surveying as part of my construction technology classes in college, and I am always fascinated by the origin of distances and lengths - the Wiki

22d. Black arts practitioner : WARLOCK - "Crowley" fit, but didn't work with the crossings

O.M.G-ward~!

(see below)

ACROSS:

10. Business investment? : SUIT

14. Regardless : IN ANY CASE

15. Black-and-white vegetarian : PANDA - and a semi-clecho with....

16. Black-and-white : POLICE CAR

17. One putting two and two together : ADDER

18. Exit discreetly : SLIP OUT

19. Ivory, e.g. : BAR SOAP

21. Unannounced, as a quiz : POP

22. Beyond silly : WACKO - I tried INANE

23. Corroded : EATEN

26. Protect against harm, in a way : VACCINATE

30. It's about 40.5 for Pittsburgh, Pa. : N.Lat - I got it,  but only because I am aware that LI is roughly on the 42nd North Latitude

31. Inspiration for a red shade : FIRE ENGINE

32. Tirana is its cap. : ALBania

34. "Gr8 joke!" : LOL - at first I didn't get the G-R-8 hint, but then the V-8 can flew....

35. Classroom no-no : CALLING OUT - I pondered CLASS CLOWN, but class can't be in both clue & answer

37. Where le nez is : TÊTE - Frawnche, nose and head

38. Typical ham feature : THEATRICS - ah, the CLASS CLOWN kind of 'ham'

39. More twisted : WRYER

40. Cleared the room, perhaps : STUNK - here's where the problems began; stAnk, stInk - and I don't care for "stunk", so it didn't occur to me

41. Inc. magazine subject : CEO - I tried BUS.  first

42. A museum in Pesaro, Italy, marks his birthplace : ROSSINI - my DOWN crossings had me change this from GALILEO to GALILEI to CASSINI - and I was really pleased with my first 42d. fill

45. Alternative histories : "WHAT IFS"

49. Possible response to "I raise" : ALL IN - I got into a card game with some AA friends last Saturday night, and I am back at it tonight.  The buy-in was $20, and I took one pot that was fairly decent, then lost paired 10s and 8s to 3 threes....I went "all in" and ended up "all out" of money - but I had something to do on a Saturday night for a change - worth every penny of $20

50. Words seen before a dollar sign : AMOUNT DUE - all my bills are paid online

52. Filmmaker's __ light : KLIEG - I am ashamed to admit this did not come to me, but then again, we used softbox lighting on the movie set I worked on, not these

53. Only you : NO ONE ELSE - O.M.G. - the blue-eyed girl has re-entered my life - in the most bizarre way possible.  If you are curious, email me - I can't divulge the details here....

54. Casual food : EATS - as in diner signs and such

DOWN:

1. Swinging joints? : HIPS - har-har

2. Organic compound : ENOL - we had this recently

3. Landlocked African country : MALI

about 23 N Lat

4. Fragment : SNIPPET

5. Business VIP : TYCOON

6. Freeze : ICE UP - Look away, Tin - two weeks in a row~!

7. Careful handling : TACT

8. Union foe in the 19th cen. : CSA

10. Tearjerker : SAD SONG

11. Command following "Oops!" : UNDO - think computers; I have frequent "oops" moments with AutoCAD and Photoshop

12. Flash, maybe : IDEA

13. Weather protection : TARP - baseball winds down as hockey starts up

15. Downtown challenge : PARKING

20. Reason for a misunderstanding : ACCENT

23. Make law : ENACT

24. Quran deity : ALLAH - makes me think of this song from Van Halen, with Dave's "religious" philosophy (@2:40)

25. Stand with a leaf : TABLE - clever way to misdirect, but I did not fall prey, since I have been regularly refinishing leaf tables

27. Dancer posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 : AILEY - did not know this one - filled via perps

28. Govt. issue : T-NOTE

29. Pot-using sportsman : EELER - learned doing crosswords

31. 2K, say : FUN RUN - meh.  I had FUNRA- from my stAnk fill, and just couldn't see what we were looking for

33. Tailor's service : FITTING - ...but then this made sense, so GALILEO had to go

36. Many Aberdeen residents : LASSIES - for some reason, I was thinking Texas, but that's Abilene ( though there IS an Aberdeen in Texas ) - we're talking Ireland instead

37. Harness racer : TROTTER - another good WAG on my pert

39. Withdrew gradually : WEANED

41. Piece : CHUNK

42. Casino tool : RAKE - well, Cassini gave me "CAGE", and that seemed reasonable

43. Paella cooker : OLLA

44. Clothing opening : SLIT

45. Clothing material : WOOL - bonus image this week

46. Off : IDLE

47. Bellyache : FUSS

48. Gets it : SEES

51. "Excusez-__" : MOI - and finish avec les Frawnche

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 1st, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!

Words: 72 (missing B,F,G,J,Q,V,X,Z~!)

Blocks: 29

  Another Saturday soirée from our hostess, C.C., and this one went about at smoothly as one could hope.  Slowed down just a tad in the SW, with a few bad entries, but I got off to a good to start knowing 1a.  I'm becoming a big fan of the site, as you can imagine.  9- and 8-letter fills all around, so I am not going to single out any specific clues/answers.

OctoberNWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Tumblr competitor : PINTEREST - I love this site - there's so much to see, in so many categories, that I began my own collection of photos and images, and have even received comments from strangers.  Besides the pantyhose images, I like the wood projects and clever construction tips I sometimes see

10. Workers' rights org. : OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration

14. Dunkin' Donuts buy : ICED LATTE

15. "Gimme five" : "UP TOP~!"

16. Go wild : RAISE CAIN

17. Sticky corner piece : STAMP - ooh, clever - I was stuck in 'ceramic tile' mode

18. Shot target : ARM - ah, the doctor visit kind of shot

19. Joint room? : CELL - the joint being jail

20. Zero on stage : MOSTEL - I like it when I know the proper names

21. "Later!" : "CIAO~!" - oops, not TA-TA~!

23. Marks meaning the same thing : DITTOS

25. Tongue attachment? : ESE - I have always found it interesting that as you move around the globe, we go from "-AN" (CanadiAN, AmericAN, MexicAN) to the "-ISH" (English, Spanish) thru the 'odd' ones (French, Swiss, Swede) on to the "-I" (Iran-I, Pakistan-I) and then over to the "-ESE" (ChinESE, JapanESE)

26. Pulls hard : YANKS

28. Dynamic start : AERO - aerodynamic - and a Daft Punk song with a great guitar riff

Check out this "live performance" clip

and watch the guitarist's fingers go

29. Lose at the table, with "out" : CRAP - so that's how you get a four-letter word into an LA Times puzzle....

30. Flier to Helsinki : SAS - finally getting this answer stuck in my noggin

32. Coach in six Super Bowls : DON SHULA - I was right, but wrong; for some reason, I thought his name was Jim, not Don

34. Fencing maneuvers : THRUSTS - and here's where the fun begins.  I had RIPOSTS, but that is incorrect - it's RIPOSTES 

38. Kim of "Army Wives" : DELANEY

39. "I agree!" : "HEAR HEAR~!"

41. Grumpy pal : DOC - Seven Dwarfs

42. Works in Madrid? : ARTE - yeah, I thought this might be the answer, but I hesitated

43. Singer with a domed nest : WREN - I found a cool site with a whole slew of peculiar nest constructors

45. Trick users, in a way : PHISH - ah - trick the verb, not the noun - am I thinking too close to Halloween already~?

49. Your, in Tours : TES - les Frawnche

50. Sri Lankan exports : PEKOES - well, I was thinking "TEA"....

52. "Off the Court" author : ASHE - my first thought, but I waited for a crossing

53. Acted badly : SINNED

55. True-to-life : REAL - ha~!  I put this in and forgot about it - and it was correct

57. Cut : LOP - or HEW~?  Had to wait

58. Used a drive-thru, maybe : ATE IN - odd that you have to go "out" to eat "in"

59. Online shopping button : ADD TO CART - great fill, and I love to shop online - this item~? yes, I will "add to cart"~!

61. Tilts : LISTS - dah~! not LEANS

62. Dominican-born designer : de la RENTA - my spelling was a bit sloppy, but I finally figured it out

63. WWII Allied invasion vessels : LSTs

64. Put on : PRETENDED - ah, not the "DRESSED IN" answer I was pondering

DOWN:

1. Music industry woe : PIRACY

2. Samos neighbor named for the son of Daedalus : ICARIA

3. Partner of Marcus : NEIMAN - a place where you can "add to cart"

4. ESPN highlights : TDs - and now there's the "he shoots - he scores~!" of hockey again~!

5. Util. bill : ELECtric

6. Went fast : RACED

7. Latin catchall : ET ALIA - the full-out spelling

8. Overly formal : STILTED

9. Number worn by Tony La Russa as a tribute to Sparky Anderson : TEN - ONE, TWO, SIX or TEN~? I waited on perps

10. Goes (for) : OPTS

11. Like some Chinese TV stations : STATE-RUN

12. Closing subject : HOME SALE - I am in a quandary right now, as my mother's house is in my name, along with my brother's.  He and mom are thinking about selling the house now so she can get an apartment before the "N" word comes up.  I am of the financial mentality that a home equity loan today can mean an improved house for sale tomorrow - but I am out-voted 2-1

13. Google Wallet rival : APPLE PAY - I don't care for Apple products, though Google seems to be sticking more of their finger in a lot of my business these days

15. The __: two-time WWE Tag Team Champions : USOS - all perps, and the second "S" was my last fill ( I thought ditto plural was dittoEs )

20. Daydreamed : MOONED - and then there's the 'other' definition....

22. "Well, why not?" : "OK, SURE."

24. Walked : TROD

27. Beauty pageant band : SASH

29. Rumba relative : CHA-CHA

31. Simmered : STEWED

33. Sty supper : SLOP

34. "No more for me" : "THAT'S ALL" - I thought it might be "---FULL"

35. Finder's words : HERE IT IS

36. Total mess : RAT'S NEST - ah, not PIG STY related

37. Cutty __: Scotch : SARK - for Saturday, the "Scotch" part could probably be left off - as should the "ice", right Tin~?

40. Ask for more : REORDER - add to cart, again

44. Item for a sewer : NEEDLE - the Sew-er not the sewer of plumbing

46. Hong Kong, e.g. : ISLAND - I am reading a book with Hong Kong as part of the plot, and the author went into a lot of detail about the 200+ islands of the area 

47. Nest sound? : SHORT E - ah.  I did not see this until I started writing the blog

48. Set of seven : HEPTAD - nope, not SEPTET

50. Farm houses : PENS

51. Used, as a counter : SAT AT

54. Trifling criticisms : NITS - we have had our share of NITS and NATICKS here at the blog

56. Accumulated accounts : LORE

59. Payroll service co. : ADP

60. Historic span: Abbr. : CENtury

Splynter