google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Jun 23rd, 2012, Barry C. Silk

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Jun 23, 2012

Saturday, Jun 23rd, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70

Blocks: 37

Another Silkie in June ~! Today's puzzle was easier than both Wed and Thu as far as I am concerned - but then again, I was on the right wavelength with clues that I felt confident about when giving it the WAG - ( Wild Ass Guess...not so Wild today ). Odd grid today, too, with triple drops of 8's in the NW and SE, plus quads of 6's in the other corners; 4 10-letter answers -

21A. How waiters take orders : ONE AT A TIME - ever have a waiter/waitress take your table's order withOUT writing it down~?; impressive, especially when they get it right

52A. Best Picture of 1995 : BRAVEHEART - Better times for Mel Gibson; Have not actually sat through the whole movie, and I don't plan to, either - just came back from seeing Prometheus - ***spoiler alert ~!*** ( just my blog only, though....)

8D. Nutritious intake : SQUARE MEAL - I have discovered Greek yogurt; trying to eat better now that I am 'getting older'....

28D. It's tested using the scientific method : HYPOTHESIS

OnWARD Orthorunicans~!!!

ACROSS:

1. Lose focus : BLUR

5. Ones arguing about diamonds: Abbr. : MGRs - Managers - I recall the days of Billy Martin of the Yankees; tried UMPS first, since I WAG-ed this as a baseball diamond reference

9. They may help you find seats : STUBS - ticket stubs

14. Race assignment : LANE - Swimming, e.g.

15. Major oil exporter : IRAQ - IRAN, OPEC, any other 4 letter places?

16. Principle : TENET

17. Press : URGE - not IRON

18. In __: unmoved : SITU - straight Latin

19. Between, overseas : ENTRE

20. Mild oath : EGAD

23. Floral accessory : LEI - Aloha

24. Musical membrane : DRUM HEAD - Here I am in my little studio, and my Ludwig '65 Blue Sparkle set

25. Stridex target : ACNE - ah, yes, I remember the days....

27. "Golly" : "OH GEE"

29. Some IDs : SSNs - Social Security Nos, and also; 64A. Old political divs. : SSRs - Soviet Socialist Republics

30. Marsupial that may be no larger than a rabbit : WALLABY - Image

32. Wyo. hours : MST - Wyoming is on Mountain Standard Time - do they skip Daylight Savings??

34. Cold War deal : SPY SWAP - One of the better James Bond 007 moments, IMHO, from "Die Another Day", where he spent 14 months in captivity, then got "swapped"

35. Cityscape feature : EDIFICE - not SKYLINE, but then again, that's redundant, again

40. Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO

41. Remote pair, often : AA CELLS - Remote control batteries

42. Govt. investigative org. : NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board

46. Olympics host of 1956, 1960 and 2006 : ITALY - Considered TOKYO, but with 40A in the clues....

48. Lesage novel "Gil __" : BLAS - meh, French; the Wiki

49. 24 between Berlin and Hamburg, e.g. : AUTOBAHN - never been, but I would like to, one day, take a speed drive down such a road - is this a "route number"? ( there's two rt24 roads here on Long Island; one in Nassau, the other Suffolk County )

51. Tax shelter initials : IRA - common crosswordese

55. Black : INKY - not EBON

56. 2005 A.L. Hank Aaron Award winner : ORTIZ - a little help, C.C.~?? (From C.C.: David Ortiz. "Big Papi". Linda can tell you more about him. He was lousy when he was with the Twins. On the DL often. Alas! )

57. Swing around : SLUE

58. Where a stud might be found : LOBE - ear, not WALL

59. Get back together : REUNE - is this slang for Reunite? I could not find it in any online dictionary (!?!)

60. They're charged : IONS

61. One may be habitual : LIAR

62. __ guitar : STEEL - Like this one on the cover from Dire Straits

63. Friday et al.: Abbr. : SGTs - Sergeant Friday, Dragnet fame

DOWN:

1. They're rarely enforced : BLUE LAWS - like not being able to work or buy liquor on Sunday; back when I was sixteen, and working for Grossman's Lumber ( based in MA, do you remember them BarryG~? ), Sunday was DOUBLE time - and I worked an 8-hr shift every time

2. Stock designation : LARGE CAP - if you say so; perps got this one for me

3. Bungling : UNGAINLY

4. Swamp thing : REED - tried FERN to start

5. Protein-rich paste : MISO

6. Alfred E. Neuman feature : GRIN



7. Like "Toy Story" : RATED G

9. Cook, in a way : STEAM

10. They can follow points : TENTHS - as in .10

11. Loosens : UNTIES

12. Sportscaster Len who wrote "Spanning the World" : BERMAN

13. Mounts : STEEDS - horses, the noun

22. Super __ : TUESDAY - election fodder

26. Some transit lines : ELs - Elevated trains

27. Shortest book in the Hebrew Bible : OBADIAH

31. Dazzle : AWE

33. Personal quirk : TIC

36. 2, at times: Abbr. : FEBruary, as the months go - my B-day is 2/9/71

37. The Ohio River forms its southern border : ILLINOIS - Map

38. Candy once touted by a giraffe : CLARK BAR



39. Trying ones : ESSAYERS

42. "Return to Mayberry" actor : NABORS - Jim, who went on to his own "Gomer Pyle" TV show

43. Tank top : TURRET - nice deception, but I nailed it - not T-SHIRT

44. Phidias' "Zeus at Olympia," e.g. : STATUE - One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

45. Ox, say : BOVINE

47. Like old recorded music : ANALOG

50. Chisel's edge : BEZEL - tried BEVEL first; makes more sense; I think of a watch face when I hear BEZEL; Google feels the same way - try 'chisel bezel'....

53. Squirt : RUNT

54. Hardy's "Pure Woman" : TESS

55. Maladies : ILLS

Answer grid.

Splynter

44 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Big surprise! Worked w/o any cheats. In less than a half hour. Thanks Barry S, Splynter.

Agree about BEvEL.

Worked the Jumble in record time, too. Thought I was on a roll. Then the Jumble Crossword brought reality back.

Have a nice weekend, all!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I was almost completely on Mr. Silk's wavelength today and, as a result, blew through this one in near record time for a Saturday.

A few minor missteps, such as DRUMSKIN instead of DRUMHEAD and BEVEL instead of BEZEL, slowed me down a bit, but nothing major. I think the only complete unknown today was Len BERMAN (anybody else want NESMAN here?) although I certainly had no idea that CLARK BARs (which I am familiar with) once had a giraffe spokesanimal.

And yes, I remember the BLUES LAWS well. In fact, although watered down, they still exist here in Massachusetts. Stores can only sell liquor after 12:00 noon on Sundays, for example, and as far as I am aware that law is still strictly (not "rarely") enforced. But when I was a kid, most stores were completely closed on Sundays.

Middletown Bomber said...

nice Puzzle, took me a while to get on Mr. Silk's wavelength. here in PA we still have a few blue laws left. I.E. cant buy a car from a dealer on a Sunday. the Alcohol blue laws have mostly gone by the wayside.

desper-otto said...

Hello Saturday solvers!

Time for one more post before we hit the road for D.C.

As others have mentioned, this was one of the easiest/fastest Saturday solves ever. Hand up for BEVEL/BEZEL and EBON/INKY. Otherwise it was just 10 and done.

Splynter, I think reune must be a back formation from reunion. And yes, stocks are sorted by capitalization -- large cap, mid cap, small cap.

Best misdirection: Tank Top

We still have the alcohol blue laws in Texas -- none before noon on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Thinking maybe 39 down is assayers . That would make 35 across edifica?

Argyle said...

Quick check of the Dictionary.com shows both essay and assay can mean to attempt or try.

Yellowrocks said...

Like many of you, I was on Mr. Silk's wave length and found this to be a quick and easy Saturday puzzle.

I had one quickly solved misstep.
In the SW I had BEVEL leaving O-TIV for the baseball player. Then I thought of TURRET for tank top (oh, not the shirt). ORTIV. Then I changed BEVEL to BEZEL. Oh, ORTIZ. My understanding of BEZEL is the rim that holds the watch face or the face of a gem.

I'm my younger days I ESSAYED to do my own wall papering and painting, which I no longer attempt. I have never ASSAYED an ore.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Splynter, C.C. et al.

Fun write-up today, Splynter, and thanks for sharing your studo pic – nice set. I do remember Grossmans Lumber, too. They were largely booted out of that business by Home Depot.

Like others, I found this to be an easy Saturday (but a really tough Monday!!) I also had an embarrassing problem with “In ___: unmoved”. Doesn’t “a rut” fit there? NOT!! And hands up for BEvEL before BEZEL

The NW corner was last to fall, but I finally got rid of “darn” and replaced it with EGAD, figured out BLUE LAWS, and BLUR-LANE-URGE dropped in.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Husker Gary said...

Barry, you made me use every bullet in my linguistic gun and gave me a wonderful Saturday gift! I am not worthy! NW fell easily and SE gave up in with difficulty. Hmmm... Is that like the girl you dated and the girl you married? RAIN DELAY for golf today!

Musings
-Movies like BRAVEHEART with large groups of men charging at each other with primitive weapons (on STEEDS) and misguided chauvinism leave me cold.
-MGRS never argue about the call at hand, they are trying to get the next one
-My good friend has hundreds of ticket STUBS on display under the glass on his bar
-Those Olympic swim trial LANES are coming to Omaha this week
-Grandson tries to PRESS me on a lot of things. Papa doesn’t negotiate as much as his parents
-Many resources can be refined IN SITU
-Who’s your favorite drummer, Splynter? My brother loved this guy (2:13), one of the few drummers with a hit, ANALOG song. Play it in the background as you read here and try to not get into the beat!
-While Rolf Harris wanted you to “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport”, what did he want you do with his Wallabies? Kazie?
-My distant cousin drove 120 mph on the AUTOBAHN taking us into Switzerland in a Ford Escort
-Small town bars around here flourished on Sunday because of bigger city BLUE LAWS
-Michael Dukakis wishes he had never stuck his head out of that tank (next to the TURRET)

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, Splynter and Silkie Saturday Solvers all. Excellent analysis, Splynter.

Hand up for having never associated BEZEL with a chisel edge, but, if it can be the sloping facet of a gem, I guess it can be the sloping part of the chizel leading to the edge. I most commonly associate BEZEL with a metal trim piece that holds a headlight or tail light in place on a car.

I liked the misleading clues, typical Barry Silk stuff. I was mostly on his wavelength though and got it done fairly quickly for a Saturday.

Now, if I can just figure out that Saturday Sudoku without guessing, I'll be happy.

Ryan Hauck said...

I totally WAG'd on ESSAYERS, and TURRET threw me for a while, but once I got those the crossword snapped into place pretty quickly.

Mikey said...

Things were looking grim, with no fills for the initial pass through the As, until LIAR got WAGged into 61A and a few perps seemed to confirm it.

Surprisingly easy to backfill from there -- some very pleasing cluing -- with the M in 5A/5D MGRS the last to fall. I still don't get it; a real stretch. And another hand up for BEVEL, but Mr ORTIZ insisted on BEZEL, which turns out to be correct. Briefly -- very briefly -- thought that GAS CAP would be a great Tank Top.

I have driven on the AUTOBAHN, unfortunately not in a car truly appropriate, like this one. It was still a blast, even though there was some concern that the car (a TR4) would fall apart. I can say with some assurance that the claimed top speed of 110mph is spot on.

Annette said...

Husked Gary, thanks for the upbeat ear worm! I used to love that song. Sadly, I don't remember any more than the refrain. It's going to be a long day with just that running through my head.

Yay for Clark Bars! We used to give those out to trick-or-treaters.

Mikey said...

Oh, and REUNE is really REÚNE; probably should have given us a hint, like maybe "Get back together en España".

Steven J. St. John said...

Good clue for HYPOTHESIS - I wonder how many people actually know what the scientific method is?

Funny clue: Tank top. Not indicated by a question mark.

For reasons I don't understand, I immediately guessed at BLUELAWS and the whole puzzle cracked open relatively easily.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

As others have said, this seemed to be a much simpler Silkie than usual ~ I stumbled in a few places but really enjoyed working this. I echo just about everything Splynter said in his excellent write-up - same missteps/write-overs. I also had HOWARD before NABORS at 42D before BRAVEHEART set me straight.

The SW was my toughest area ~ I can't believe I didn't get ORTIZ right off the "bat!" I guess that's because I was in the 'Bevel' before BEZEL camp. David "Big Papi" Ortiz came to the Red Sox from the Twins in 2004. He's been a great hitter, especially of late but is becoming known for his rants against various things, most recently the media. Asked if he's coming back to Boston next year, he indicated that he's tired of the drama. *He's* actually become the drama queen/king!

Here in CT we abolished the BLUE LAWS about Sunday liquor sales just a few weeks ago. I think Indiana is the only state left with the ban.

Our near 100 degree temperatures have finally given way to a much more seasonable 80's day today.

Enjoy the weekend!

CrossEyedDave said...

Yay, finally aced a Saturday Silkie!

( I am also a liar...)

Started off well, & then it turned into another learning moment.

Barry C. Silk, this link is no reflection on your wonderful crossword, i am just running out of stuff to link...

Evil Crossword

(Sorry about the 30 second commercial, but if you get the Vitamin Water one, it wasn't too bad!)

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't 39 down "trying ones" be Assayers , not Essayers?

Andy Glick
andrewglick@mac.com

Anonymous said...

"Reune" is slang for acceptance of substandard effort or performance, especially when referring to someone who is capable of producing better results.

Example: ...a "reune" crossword puzzle constructor.

Irish Miss said...

Good morning:

After initial pass through, I thought I was looking at a DNF. But, with patience and perseverance, a happy, no- help, no write- overs ending. Hurrah!

Thanks, Barry Silk, for your usual brain-teaser and thanks to Splynter for a great expo.

Happy Saturday everyone.

Yellowrocks said...

ANON @9:53, could you be thinking of jejune instead of reune?

In my huge unabridged dictionary and in several online dictionaries, reune is said to mean to hold a reunion. especially of high school or college alumni.

Neither jejune or reune are listed as slang.

Lucina said...

Greetings, Splynter et alia. Fine review, thank you, S.

EGAD! I sashayed through a Saturday Silkie! It's hard to believe how quickly this filled when BLUE LAWS fit then the entire NW. Loved swamp thing, REED.

Hands up, though for EBON/INKY, BEVEL/BEZEL. Note: REUNE is not Spanish. I suspect it must be French.

The NE almost tripped me until I gave up on MIDST crossing UNDOES, erased the lot then parsed ONE AT A TIME not ON EAT . . .

BERMAN then fell out of some deep recess where it had been stowed.

Thank you, Barry Silk, for a fun time today.

Nice pic, Splynter. Thanks for sharing.

Stay cool and be cool, everyone!

J-boy said...

Assayer makes more sense - when somebody says cityscape, I think of a skyline filled with buildings, not one edifice. (yeah, edifica as plural is a stretch). Also, bezel was last on my list of chisel edges. Always good puzzles - keep doing it!!

Misty said...

Here's my Pennsylvania Blue Laws story. When I was a teenager one of the drive-in movie theaters offered a Saturday night triple-feature special. However, this meant that we were still on the lot on Sunday 2 a.m., a violation of the Blue Laws. Driving out, we saw a string of police cars ready to move in and make their arrests. Apparently the theater expected this, but the profits from the triple feature were so huge, they decided it was worth the fine.

So what's an ORTHORUNICAN, Splynter?

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Argyle said...

Orthorunicans are residents of Cruciverbia.

Grumpy 1 said...

Sorry, J-boy and others, Assayers and ESSAYERS make equal sense as synonyms for tryers according to several dictionary source. Edifica is not a listed plural of EDIFICE, besides, the clue is 'cityscape feature' (singular). Thus ESSAYERS and EDIFICE are the correct entries.

Misty, I deciphered Splynter's 'orthorunicans' a few weeks ago. Orthogonal lines are lines that are perpendicular to each other. In CAD (Computer aided design) the Ortho line command draws lines that are horizontal or vertical, like the grid of a crossword puzzle. 'Runic' implies a hidden meaning, like the clues in a crossword puzzle. Knowing that Splynter has worked with CAD programs, it wasn't too difficult to figure out that his new word meant Crossword Solvers.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I also felt this puzzle today was a bit easier than usual, certainly easier than I expected it to be. Didn't feel confident about filling anything until I reached the center, where EDO got me started.

I immediately thought of WALLABY and then second-guessed myself, thinking, "Nah, that's too obvious." So I put in opossum. I shoulda trusted my instincts on that one. the Y in HYPOTHESIS (what a terrific word!) served as my V-8 can, and WALLABY it had to be. That led to OBADIAH and I was off to the races.

Hand up for BEvEL.

Oh, and I overthought "Musical membrane" too, pencilling in tympanus. Nope.

Once I finally did get DRUMHEAD and OHGEE, I couldn't figure out what word or words ended in DG (7 down.) When I finally got RATEDG, I made a little "grr" sound in my throat.

As for REUNE, well, 'nuff said already.

May you all have a BRAVE HEART and take things ONE AT A TIME.

Yellowrocks said...

Right on, Grumpy, with ESSAYERS and EDIFICE.

One dictionary lists as the first definiton of BEZEL, a sloped edge or face on a cutting tool, my learning moment for today. I knew only of BEZEL for headlights, watches, and gems, but I wagged the Z.

It may be a stretch, but ABOUT can mean in the vicinity of. Baseball MGRS (managers) argue in the vicinity of baseball diamonds, MGRS argue about diamonds.

Bill G. said...

Re. BEVEL/BEZEL; I was surprised when, after reading what Yellowrocks posted, I looked up BEZEL online and found several sources that referred to the slanted edge of a cutting tool. I've never heard of or read of it being used that way. If I were an editor, I would have changed the clue to; a rim that holds a transparent covering (as on a watch, clock, or headlight), or; the upper, faceted portion of a cut gem. So even though online dictionaries seem to support both definitions, I think using the normal definition rather than one nobody has heard of would make a better puzzle and take away a bone of contention. I wonder if that was Barry's clue or Rich's?

Grumpy 1 said...

BillG, that's why I really like Saturday puzzles. If there is an oddball way of using a common word, Rich or Barry will find it.

YR, I think you hit the nail on the head with using 'about' to mean 'in the area of' or 'all around'.

Lucina said...

BillG@1:27
Normally I would agree with you about the definition but it's Saturday!!

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Barry Silk, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for the excellent review.

Well, got started on the wrong foot. Put in REFS for 5A. Then proceeded to put in EARS for 6D.

Then went down and put in NUMBERS for 27D. When the clue said Hebrew Bible, I assumed it had to be one of the first five books.

I also put in SKYLINE 35A.

With all these errors I had a tough time. Finally slogged through it as we travelled to Virginia. One by one fixed the errors.

Liked AACELLS for 41A.

Liked TURRET for 43D. Saw no reason for a question mark on this. TURRET is a logical answer as stated. Someone mentioned they thought there should be a question mark.

BLUE LAWS. That brings back memories from my youth in PA. It used to be no stores were open on Sunday. No booze or beer on Sunday.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Misty said...

Grumpy 11:58--many thanks for the very clear and elegant explanation!

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't/couldn't #39 down "Trying Ones" be Assayers instead of Essayers?

Doris said...

I worked at Grossman's in Quincy, MA when I was 16 as well. Long time ago.

Rookie said...

Believed that our neighbor, Minnesota, has blue laws. That's why they come to Wisconsin on the weekend. When I googled to verify, I found this surprising bit of information.

13 States continue to cling to Prohibition-era Blue Laws banning Sunday liquor sales. They include: Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. Notably, Connecticut and Indiana are the only two states in the country that ban beer, wine and liquor on Sundays.

Avg Joe said...

I'm not sure that blue laws only concern liquor. I've always understood them to concern all types of trade. Nebraska has never had them that I know, so I'm only working with secondhand information.

JD said...

Evening Splynter, C.C. et al,

Woot!Woot! Lucky us.. a solvable, sensational Silkie on this beautiful Saturday.So many clever clues and fill~ tank top = turret, this helps you find your seats= stubs. Didn't wag Clark Bar until the k fell.

Like many, filling blue laws got the ball rolling.

thx Argyle for the dict. def. for essayers. Didn't understand at 1st

Annette, love your new avatar.

Argyle said...

My town hasn't repealed Prohibition yet. It can't be sold any day of the week, in any form.

Being consumed is another matter. Cheers!

Splynter said...

Hi again~!

Phew ~!

Spent the day in the sun fixing water damaged siding, but it was worth the time.

I figured ASSAY/ESSAY would cause enough trouble without commenting, and sure enough....

HG, I am a "student" of John Bonham, and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. I suppose I can link two songs I love to bang along with~!

Out on the Tiles verse is 7/4 time

Ten Seconds to Love

Splynter

ARBAON said...

Questions: Isn`t Mr. Silk deceased?
I have heard there is no speed limit on the first "interstate", the autobahn. True?
I think "he" wanted "Jack" to "take me wallabie back."

Debby, Debby, come our way!
We need your rain to make our hay.
All the cows are getting sold.
Butcher prices now are gold.
Just bring your rain and not your gales,
Oh well, a few, to fill our sails.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I usually don't even try a Silkie puzzle, but after working really hard most of the day, I sat down late this afternoon to try this one. Lo and behold I finished all but the very SE area where Clark Bar intersected Blas. I also tried to put in Eave where Lobe should have been. I had a great time trying to complete this one today.

Thanks, Splynter for your writeup. I always enjoy the links. I had to look up Essayers and found that the second meaning for Essay in my dictionary is Try. This was my learning moment for today.

Hands up for BeVel instead of BeZel. However that was changed when Ortiv didn't make sense and Ortiz did. I have a bezel around a coin on my charm bracelet. It isn't sharp at all!

Squirt was a great clue. I tried Tyke first, but Runt emerged gradually. My father's nickname for my sister was Runt or Squirt whichever he came out with first. This brought back some fond memories.

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone.

Anonymous said...

Blue laws are almost always enforced, contrary to the 1D clue. They may have been repealed in whole or in part, but they are enforced.

How many people can buy a car from a dealer on a Sunday?

Mikey said...

Lucina, reunir (v.t.) appears in the Spanish online freedictionary and in my old-fashioned paper dictionary of 1968 vintage. REÚNE would be the 3rd person present conjugation; ignore the acute for crosswording, and viola!