Saturday, Mar 5th, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

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

Blocks: 27

Always a pleasure to see we are getting to work a Saturday Silkie.  I found the grid to be on the chunky side, with another low block count, but several more three-letter words than last week's puzzle.  Still, a pretty good challenge, a little on the tough side for a Silkie, but always solvable as far as I am concerned - though I did have to check the dictionary twice.  Triple 5/8 and 9/6 corners, and nothing longer than those answers;

1d. Discontinue : BREAK OFF - I tried PHASE OUT, such as a car model; "---OUT" showed up later (see 37d.)  This discontinue has more of a "relationship" definition

6a. Software developers' get-together : HACKATHON - Actually a word (term)

39d. Firth of Forth outlet : NORTH SEA

62a. One looking up to his listener? : SERENADER - for the ladies

 

 he is wearing pants....

yONder windoWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Metaphorically dull : BEIGE - these are never dull

15. Attack : RUN AT

16. One with a tender heart? : ARTICHOKE

17. Brother competitor : EPSON - put it in, took it out....printer makers

18. Precedent sources : TEST CASES

19. "Can't fool me!" : "A-HA~!"

20. How some myths are taken : AS FACT - some of the lesser myths addressed on Mythbusters are actually quite interesting to me; e.g., a "bull in a china shop" turned out to be less of a mess than expected.  Last season this year

22. Losing scheme : DIET - Nailed it

23. Skull Island notable : KONG - just caught a few minutes of the 1976 remake of King Kong.  Good way to clue it would be 'star' of films released in 1933, 1976 & 2005 (excluding the "son of Kong" type movies, of course)

25. Deli request : NO MAYO - I prefer mayo over ketchup - sort of a "Pulp Fiction" kind of thing

27. Where ends may meet?: Abbr. : NFL - I enjoy watching football, and the chess-like strategies employed, but I don't get too involved with teams, players or positions

28. Dairy Queen Blizzard option : OREO

29. City between Algiers and Casablanca : ORAN - filled via perps (for those who inquired last week, the crossing answers in crosswordese are 'perpendiculars')

30. "Shucks!" : "AW GEE"

32. Handshake relative : FIST BUMP

34. No. : QTY - the period (.) might have been hard to see on paper

35. Influential capitalists : FAT CATS

36. WWII correspondent Reynolds : QUENTIN - no clue, but with half the perps in place, the most logical answer; clued as 'director of such films as....' and I would have nailed it

40. Comprises : HAS

41. FBI Academy site : QUANTICO - remembered this from seeing "The Silence of the Lambs" - the Wiki

42. Parade honoree, briefly : ST. PAT - almost timely

45. Accommodate : SUIT

46. Certain retiree's title: Abbr. : EMERitus, and I got it

47. __-Magnon : CRO

48. More mawkish : HOKIER - mawkish being one of the two words I had to look up

50. Sq., e.g. : RECTangle - all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares

51. File system's master directory : ROOT

53. Kid : BANTER - the verb

55. Theater warning : "SHH~!"

56. Like most circus performers : ACROBATIC

58. March winds, perhaps : OBOES - good WAG

60. They're observed : PHENOMENA - HOLIDAYS was too short

61. Tiny sucker : LOUSE - dah~! Not LEECH

63. Gene Vincent's "__ Lovin'" : LOTTA - my generation knows "Whole Lotta Love" or "Whole Lotta Rosie"

DOWN:

2. High state : EUPHORIA

3. Most senseless : INSANEST

4. Fed. auditing agency : GAO - Government Accountability Office - I think we've seen this before, but I didn't recall; I went with IRS - bzzzt~!

5. Mount __ Nicolosi, Italian ski area : ETNA

6. Millinery blocks : HAT FORMS - millinery was the other word I had to look up

7. GPS display : AREA MAP - ROAD map was not working

8. Source of inside info? : CT SCAN - cute

9. Pool : KITTY - I went with the verb, and tried AMASS

10. Virginia Cavaliers' org. : ACC

11. Longtime Mississippi senator Cochran : THAD - since I did not know this name, nor 6a., I thought it could be C-had

12. Scam : HOSING - Mr. Silk is good to me - two chances to add leggy pics~!

13. Michael of "Michael Clayton" : O'KEEFE - this guy; his IMDb - I recognize him from parts in Law & Order, CSI, and House, M.D. epsiodes

14. Poland Spring parent : NESTLÉ - I knew this

21. Prominent elephant seal features : SNOUTS

24. "Can't fool me!" : "GOTCHA~!"

26. Like granola : OATEN

31. Dana __, co-star of the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" : WYNTER - this movie scared the sleep out of me for about a year when I was 10 yrs old.  So now I had to research the film, and it led me to this 'disorder'

33. Mideast party : BA'ATH - never heard of it - the Wiki

34. Six minus deux : QUATRE - Frawnche

36. Amtrak unwinding area : QUIET CAR - I once rode the train from Ronkonkoma station on LI all the way to Seattle, WA.  I stopped in Minot, ND, but alas, I did not know I would find friends in MN years later~!

37. Ends unsuccessfully, as a computer search : TIMES OUT

38. Beer container : ICE CHEST

41. Tonic component : QUININE

42. Tosses : SCRAPS - another good WAG

43. Lozenge : TROCHE - rhymes with HOKEY (see 48a.)

44. Worse : POORER

45. Proceeded in a carefree manner : SKATED

49. Hawaiian-born head of state : OBAMA

52. Voice mail sound : TONE - Dah~! Not BEEP

54. Plane's longitudinal rotation : ROLL - I am familiar with how planes fly, but not quite as much as Dudley

57. "__ appétit!" : BON

59. Discontented cry : BOO

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few pictures from JD's trip to Maui last week.  She said "My favorite picture was one up at the volcano. If you can see it full screen, the colors were amazing. We were above the clouds." She also said that the lady in mermaid costume has "3 of those tails and this is her hobby".

Bob and JD

 

 

 

Click here for whales and a few more stunning pictures JD took.

Saturday, Feb 6th, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 68 (missing F,J,V,W,X)

Blocks: 32

Can I just say that it didn't matter how difficult this puzzle was going to be, I was just happy to see "Silk" at the top, next to the author's name~?  Not a walk in the park, mind you - some clever fill and clues, but somewhat dulled by a few "meh" ones.  The thing about Mr. Silk's puzzles is that if I just "sit" with a clue, eventually an idea will "40D."  and give me a fighting chance.  The last corner to fall for me was the NE, after I changed one four-letter entry.  Pretty standard grid, with triple 10-letter corners connected to a fourth 10-letter spanner, offset, and the one nine-letter central clue;

33. Old, fading ad on a building : GHOST SIGN

Furniture AND Undertaking~? I wonder what they kind they make....

5. Potential diamond winner : GO-AHEAD RUN - not sure which diamond it might be; we were talking at UPS about skiing this week, and there are 'diamonds' in that pastime, too

58. Newark neighbor : EAST ORANGE - New Jersey - my birth state

PatersoNJward~!

ACROSS:

1. R&B Foods brand since 2014 : RAGU - Once I got the "U", I went with a WAG

15. Old Testament book : AMOS - oops, I put in ENos - but I had the "OS" part already, so I'll call that 0-for-2

16. Far from perfect : ERROR PRONE - like, say, my first pass on a Saturday solve

17. Prepare for a meal : MAKE - I get it, but....meh

18. Bakery aisle offerings : ONION ROLLS

19. Burpee product : PLANT SEEDS - a bit redundant to me, but I see boxes from the company at UPS all the time, so I knew what to look for

21. Place to build : PLOT - dah~!  Not SITE, my four-letter mistake - 25% correct, 100% wrong

22. Get together : AGREE - I tried UNITE first

23. D-Day transport : LST - been a while since this has appeared in a Sat puzzle

24. Indicator of stress: Abbr. : ITALics

25. 1997 Hawke/Thurman sci-fi film : GATTACA - didn't see it; - IMDb page. I just watched "Bridge of Spies" - very good movie, but a bit drawn out

28. Cell terminal : ANODE - battery cell; I did ponder TOWER or PHONE at first

29. Hummingbird's pair? : EMs

30. Guzzle : CHUG

32. Kudos : PROPS - praise synonyms

35. Jazz dance : STOMP

37. "Aaugh!" : "OH NO~!"

38. Avoid, as an issue : BEG - around these parts it's more like "beg off"

41. Crystal of country : GAYLE - one of my first fills

42. Poisonous plant in the nightshade family : HENBANE - the Wiki

44. How some data is backed up : ON CD

45. Low-fat meat source : EMU - one of those Saturday learning moments

48. Busters : NARCS

49. Psalm words : O GOD

50. Plan Z? : LAST RESORT - clever

53. Most elementary level : GROUND ZERO - this was exactly what I was talking about at 1A. last week~!

55. Cyan relative : AQUA

56. Putty base : LINSEED OIL - ah.  I am familiar with putty, but never checked the ingredients

57. Crave, with "for" : LUST - not PINE; see 32D.

59. Nantes noodle? : TÊTE - Frawnche - and for those who are offended - see here @ 40A.

DOWN:

1. Agitated state : RAMPAGE - also a pretty cool arcade video game; you start out as a city-bashing creature, but if you take enough damage, you revert to your human self

2. Mixture : AMALGAM

3. Mario game racers : GO-KARTS - this is one video game I never got into

4. Online discussion venue : USENET - been popular on Saturday lately

5. Storms of the '90s : GEOs - GM Chevrolet sub-brand; they made the Metro, which had a 3-cylinder engine - the Wiki

6. Alençon's department : ORNE - more Frawnche - I did not realize their "counties" are called departments

7. Fourth-largest moon of Uranus : ARIEL

Odd place for a "Midsummer Night's Dream"

8. Range protectors : HOODS - ah.  I was thinking of some "park ranger", but we're talking this kind of range

9. Physicist Mach : ERNST - oddly, my first two 'confident' fills were proper names; just goes to show, you either know it, or your don't

10. Diamond birthstone mo. : APRil - my birthstone is Amethyst - the chart

11. Surprise with a visit : DROP IN ON

12. Antique shop furniture item : ROLL-TOP - desk, very elaborate construction-wise and still stylish today

13. Vents : UNLOADS

14. Get cozy : NESTLE - OK, I was asked to show some scantily-clad men, so....let's get zesty

20. "I want to learn" : "TEACH ME"

26. Ocean turbulence : CHOP

27. It borders It. : AUS - not many choices, really, so I went with SWI - then SUI, then SUS, and then oh, right, AUS

28. French battle site in WWI : ARGONNE

31. "Little modified Pon-Pon" in a 1964 hit : GTO - pretty good WAG on my part; then again, weren't half the songs in the 60's about your girl and/or your car~?

32. Needle source : PINE - ah, here's where PINE goes

33. Valuable particles : GOLD DUST

34. Proctor's warning : SHH~!!!

35. Wine-and-fruit beverage : SANGRIA

36. Barons : TYCOONS

38. Bernini's genre : BAROQUE

39. Coat, in a way : ENCRUST

40. Develop over time, as an idea : GESTATE

41. Android developer : GOOGLE

43. Volcanic rock : BASALT

45. Superior : ELDER

46. Tribute maker : MAZDA - more cars; same thing as a Ford Escape

47. Apply to : USE ON

51. Course with many angles, briefly : TRIG - ah, not GEOMetry

52. Something to fill : ROLE

54. Hero in a virtual reality film trilogy : NEO - "The Matrix"

Splynter

Saturday, Jan 2nd, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing J)

Blocks: 27

A tragic start to the New Year, in terms of crossword solving for this blogger.  Too many proper names turned this into a fun sponge for me (*, I count 16).  I skipped red-letters and went straight to Google for one-off answers in an effort to solve the NE and SW corners, but even then I struggled up top.  I blame brain-lock, and doing the puzzle much too late to stay open- minded.  Can't even blame UPS - that's all over now, and I'm on a 3-day weekend....Triple 9-letter corners in the 'recto', triple 7's in the down on the 'verso' (trying to use what I have learned doing crosswords, uh, sort of), and two 10-letter spanners;

23. eBay feature : UPPER CASE B - and I got this one, but it was in a corner I solved

46. Silk Road component : KHYBER PASS - did not know the exact spelling

O       N      W    A   R  D~!

ACROSS:

1. Diamond surprise : UPSET - yeah, and just about any sport, really

6. Change keys often? : ISLAND-HOP - I was just plain stuck in a musical frame of mind - USE A CAPO was clever, but too short.  Florida Keys never crossed my mind

15.* "You've got me on my knees" woman in a 1971 hit : LAYLA - I 51-acrossed this one; I happen to prefer the acoustic version to the original

16. Competition covering many miles : SPACE RACE - again, stuck in a sporting frame of mind, so TRIATHLON, IDITAROD (too short), etc.

17. Wing : ANNEX

18. Unix guru, e.g. : POWER USER - I just don't get this; are we talking "power" user as in a computer maven, sort of like wearing a "power" tie to the big business meeting~?

19. Biblical miracle component : LOAVES - the other part being fishes, specifically 5 barley loaves and two "small" fish - the Wiki

21.* ''Wedding Bell Blues'' songwriter : NYRO - no clue

22. Last Hebrew letter : TAV - no clue

25.* Designer Ricci : NINA - no clue

26. D.C. United's org. : MLS - I did know this was soccer

27. King ratsnake's defense : ODOR - I tried FANG to start - that's 0.0% any way you slice it

28. Arctic : GELID - and strangely, I 51-acrossed this one

29. Pencil contents, perhaps : EYELINER

32.* "Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking" villain : Mr. HYDE - I had MRH---, which led me to parse it as "Mr.----", and that helped.  Reminds me of a song I just downloaded;

Men At Work

33. Fateful day : IDES

34. Pick up : HEAR

35. Neighbors of Frauen : FEMMES - German & Frawnche women

38.* "The Roosevelts" documentarian : KEN BURNS - total perp and WAG

42.* Jordan's only port : AQABA - Google #1 - the "Q" was not happening

43. Benefit from work : PERK

44. Classified initials : EOE

45.* Tamblyn of "West Side Story" : RUSS - not AMBER, seen here in House, M.D.

I liked the way her character dressed....

49. Down : EAT - dah~! Not SAD

50. Bug : FLAW

51. Ace the test : NAIL IT

52. Dogfish Head sellers : ALE HOUSES

55.* Mobutu's land : ZAIRE

56. Most unforgiving : STRICTEST

57. Inception : ONSET

58. Slinky spots : TOY CHESTS - I figured this was the toy, and not the gentleman's club

59. Learning methods : ROTES

DOWN:

1.* Poe title answer to " ... 'What is written ... / On the door of this legended tomb?'" : ULALUME - got it via perps, but had to look this up to see if it was one word/name, so here's the Wiki

2. Impressive array : PANOPLY - again, I 51-acrossed it

3. Neural junction : SYNAPSE

4. Professeur's charge : ELEVE

5. Government, often : TAXER

6.* Juno, e.g.: Abbr. : ISP - Internet Service Provider; I was stuck on Roman God/2007 movie

7. Back : SPONSOR - ugh, my sponsor will never forgive me for missing this one

8. Many a president : LAWYER

9. Having a bite : ACERB

10.* 50s-60s emperor : NERO - ugh - literally, from the years 54 - 68

11.* R&B group __ Hill : DRU - no clue

12. With urgency : HASTILY

13. Mythological sea nymph : OCEANID - all I knew was that it most likely ended with "-ID"

14. Fill : PERVADE - such as conversation in crowded restaurant

20. Tea cart items : SCONES

24. Vitamin C sources : ADES - oh, I didn't know you were a source of vitamin C, LemonADE....

25.* Prime minister sworn in by Mountbatten : NEHRU

28. Land __ : GRAB - I'd heard the term, but wanted to read more

30. An arm and a leg : LIMBS - har-har

31. Bean product? : IDEA

32.* "The Little Mermaid" composer Alan : MENKEN - more no clue

34. Wormwood, e.g. : HERB

35. China setting : FAR EAST

36. On a par with : EQUAL TO

37. Domination : MASTERY

38. Site of Truman's winter White House : KEY WEST - semi-clecho~???

39. Dreamer's opposite : REALIST - if I said this is my girlfriend - am I a dreamer or realist~?

Yep, her name is Gabriella, er, I mean Cora

40. "Ain't happening!" : "NO SIREE~!" - right, the clue just after my posted pic

41. Sonnet parts : SESTETS - I had SEPTETS, and 46a. ending in "-SP" seemed unlikely

43. Stages : PHASES

46.* 1971 title detective : KLUTE - heard of it, but never saw it

47. Carry-on no-no : RAZOR

48. Schroeder's love : PIANO - no clue - not a "Peanuts" fan at all

50.* WWI French marshal : FOCH - les Frawnche

53. It's heard at 52-Across : [hic]

54. D and C, in D.C. : STs

Splynter

Saturday, Dec 5th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing G,Q,Z)

Blocks: 31

  I fi-ured we'd be -etting a Silkie, and happy to see that I was correct.  However, I seem to have -otten into a 'comfort zone' with Mr. Silk, expectin- to sail throu-h without a lot of trouble.  Today's puzzle was just enou-h of a challen-e, leavin- me with mere seconds of my personal allotted time left.  Some proper names slowed me down, and one or two bad -uesses; I did actually have a couple of -uesses that were astoundin-ly correct - but I hesitated to fill them in.  Triple 10-letter corners, and a two pairs of inner climbers, 10- and 11-letters;

6. Demon : EVIL SPIRIT

12. "The American Crisis" author : THOMAS PAINE

24. Blather : IDLE CHATTER

31. Oregon Treaty president : JAMES K. POLK

[ is there a mini-theme here~!  ;7)  ]

OgNgWgAgRgD~!

ACROSS:

1. Fulfilled : CARRIED OUT - I tried 'SATISFIED', but it didn't satisfy the number of letters required

11. Powerful engine : V-TEN - like the one found in this car

Even looks like a snake

15. Prior name of Burkina Faso : UPPER VOLTA - I was thinking we were looking for a someONE, not a somePLACE....

16. Understanding words : "AH SO"

17. Raises may be tied to one : PRICE INDEX - here I thought we needed something like 'work review'.  I get reviewed at UPS, but it does not affect my yearly raise.  I was going to link a definition for price index, but despite being a relatively simple concept, it just seemed too complicated, even for me

18. Opinion piece : POST - as found here daily

19. First name in 1950s politics : ADLAI - one of those clues where I was going to throw this right in, then thought "eh, maybe we're getting misdirected here...."

20. Chemical relative : ISOMER - seen this in crosswords, so I did fill it in

22. Key with one flat: Abbr. : Dmin - slightly more complicated than just putting in "-M--OR" for any other "key of ---" clue; this one relates to the circle of keys, and I can never remember them - so I went with Fmin, and look how close I was

25. Slumgullion, for one : STEW

27. Remove : ERASE - second time in as many Silkie puzzles with a 'meh' clue for ERASE

28. Washington's forte? : RED TAPE

30. "I Love Music" group, with "The" : O'JAYS - got my apostrophes in their proper places this week....

32. Grandpa Munster portrayer : AL LEWIS - he drove the coffin car, which reminds me of this song

33. Big ape : OAF

34. Ltr. extender : P.P.S.

37. Birdwatcher's lure : FEEDER

38. Point in the wrong direction : MISAIM

40. Sam Spade, e.g. : TEC - deTECtive

41. Wrong : SIN

43. Fawning : SERVILE

44. Night calls : HOOTS - put it in, took it out, put it back in

46. Understanding words : I SEE NOW - which screwed up my "I SEE" at 16a.

47. Gushing flattery : SMARM - ah, not CHarm - but that's all of 60% correct

49. 1994 Polka Music Hall of Fame inductee : WELK

51. Eastern holidays : TETS

52. Feels sorry for : PITIES

54. Landlocked Asian country : NEPAL - or TIBET~?

56. Arbitrary stake : ANTE

57. Pine Tree State college town : ORONO, MAINE - one of those that I knew, but hesitated to fill in - and I knew it fit, as well

62. One still maturing : TEEN

63. Most common dolphin : BOTTLENOSE

64. Clarify, with "out" : SORT

65. A.1., for one : STEAK SAUCE

DOWN:

1. Sports prize : CUP - personally, the ONLY one worth fighting for~!!!

2. Patriots' Day mo. : APR - oops, not PATRIOT day

3. Home of the NCAA Engineers : RPI - been there....

4. Took back : RECANTED

5. Hot : IRED

7. Gives : DONATES

8. Number from the past : OLDIE

9. Off-road traveler, for short : UTE - dah~!  Not ATV

10. Sitcom set in a garage : TAXI

11. Misty : VAPORY

13. Assistance trio? : ESSES - aSSiStance

14. Hugo title word : NOTRE - as in The Hunchback of....

21. Marine bioluminescence : SEA FIRE - you get all sorts of fighter planes, boat extinguishers and restaurants if you do a search

22. First try : DRAFT

23. Free-for-all : MELEE

26. Romance : WOO

29. Way more than cool : AWESOME - I have to redeem myself for last week with a tasteful image

35. Experimental : PILOT - always makes me think of the opening scenes from Pulp Fiction; "she starred in one of the ones that became nothin'"

36. Diving ducks : SMEWS

39. Ballerina Zakharova : SVETLANA

42. Sydney's state: Abbr. : NSW - New South Wales

43. Team characteristic? : SILENT A - and still no "I", either

45. Familiarize : ORIENT

47. Fancy footwear : SPATS - I did not know this was a shortening of spatterdashes

48. "Exodus" actor : MINEO

50. Online reminder : eNOTE

53. Bad news reactions : SOBS

55. Skunk River city : AMES

58. Spoil : ROT

59. Obligatory letters : I.O.U.

60. White House advisory gp. : NSC - the National Security Council

61. Wide size : EEE

No Gs~?

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 14th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

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

Blocks: 32

I blew through this Silkie in less than half my personal time - and did not have a whole bunch to work with after my first across pass.  There were some crossings that indicated my original ideas might hold water (e.g. 15a.), and then there were plenty of clues that were in my "wheelhouse", as we say.  Triple 10-letter corners in the across, triple 9-letter corners in the downs, and two more 10's inside;

10. Predator known for its piercing call : SCREECH OWL - intimidating

27. Florida surfing mecca : COCOA BEACH - I only got as far south as Jacksonville

half a league ONWARD~! (thx Steve~!)

ACROSS:

1. Musical group founded by a Civil War vet : BOSTON POPS - not that I knew this, but I was fairly sure it was not "Aerosmith" of the '70s - you can read more about the vet here

11. Some email attachments : PDFs - dah~!  Not PICS, and then not GIFs

15. Symbol for the NFL's Bears : UPPER CASE C - I knew what the logo on the helmet was, just had to wait to see how Mr. Silk was going to phrase/parse "capital C"

16. 1970 Kinks hit : LOLA 

17. School uniform part dating to the 1800s : ETON COLLAR

18. Presently : ANON - think  Shakespeare

19. Strip lighting : NEON - the strip in Las Vegas, e.g.

20. Partly roasted treat : S'MORE

21. Consequences of too many blows : TKOs - Boxing

22. Wing it : AD LIB

24. Larger-than-life types : LEGENDS

26. Big name in investment banking : SACHS - Goldman-Sachs, which is a company that was a client of the architects I once worked for

30. King of pop : CAROLE - not fooled; waited on perps, which helped me remember Carole; I was stuck on Ben E.

31. IRA components : CDs - certificates of deposit - one way your individual retirement account can save money

34. Complex pipes : HOOKAHS - so as a carpenter I was thinking about sink traps, etc.

36. Pitch : TAR

37. Civil Rights Memorial architect : LIN - same artist as the Vietnam Memorial - more on the piece here

38. Tahrir Square city : CAIRO - half perps

39. 1979 Pa. newsmaker : TMI - not "Too Much Information" - this refers to Three Mile Island, the nuclear plant that had a "malfunction" - I recall it being a major news event, but I was 8 and did not understand the implications

40. Altar on high : ARA - the constellation

41. "Happening Now" airer : FOX NEWS - don't care for watching the news in general; I can generate enough of my own bad fortune

43. Lotion letters : SPF - sun protection factor - more here - I see that nylon stockings give an SPF of 2; so protect yourselves, ladies~!

44. Italian road : STRADA - straight translation; need to keep your Italian supercars off the streets of NYC~!

46. Peabody Essex Museum city : SALEM - again, perps

48. Course outlines : SYLLABI - now this one I did know - I had to review the syllabus for my Adult Education AutoCAD class back in 2008 when I was an adjunct at NYU

50. Seat of Greene County, Ohio : XENIA - the "X" was my last letter - how did I miss 42d.~?

54. Long haul : TREK

55. Do away with : ERASE - about the only clue I would define as "weak"

59. Low spots : RUTS

60. Taunt : RIDE

61. Like emus : AUSTRALIAN - LONG-NECKED fit, too....

63. Positive assertion : "I CAN"

64. Ownership issue : CLEAR TITLE - the owner of the restaurants I work at went to closing on his first house yesterday - now it's my turn; I have to close up a window, paint the interior, and strip/poly all the floors

65. Red Rose : PETE - DAH~!!  I am so disappointed I missed this one.  Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds; I am sure C.C. nailed it - are you having baseball withdrawal symptoms~?

66. Home safety feature : HEAT SENSOR - along with motion, what typically triggers your....

13D. Outdoor security item : FLOOD LAMP

DOWN:

1. Lake __ Vista : BUENA

2. Didn't sit around : OPTED

3. String holder : SPOOL

4. __ elbow : TENNIS - I have "high volume" elbow from working at UPS - same condition - see the pic in the 'causes' section; this is what I do for 4-5hrs every morning

5. Tolkien monster : ORC - monster meant it was not "ENT"

6. Base figs. : NCOs - military bases, that is; I went with the carpenter's ESTs

7. Where to get a date : PALM - anyone know where to get the "other" kind of date~?

8. Vigeland Museum city : OSLO - again, perps; Mr. Silk does come up with some unique alternatives to the standard clues

9. Bit of wisdom : PEARL - the same restaurant owner's daughter will be 1yr old on Dec 7th - and her name is Pearl

11. Certain metalworker : PLATER - I've seen enough "How It's Made" episodes on this operation

12. Five-time 1960s Emmy-winning actor : DON KNOTTS

14. Literally, "without lines" : SANS SERIF

23. Crotchety remark : "BAH~!"

25. Atmosphere makeup : GAS

28. Fake : HOAX

29. Potato __ : SKINS - oooh, CHIPS was so close - 20%, but 100% in the right places

31. Museum visit, perhaps : CLASS TRIP

32. Traditional Cajun dish : DIRTY RICE

33. Warned, in a way : SNARLED AT

35. Neighborhood : AREA

41. Rx overseer : FDA

42. "I can remember when the air was clean and __ was dirty": George Burns : SEX

45. Ethylene, for one : ALKENE

47. Legendary speller? : MERLIN - casting spells, that is

49. Cry of domination : "I RULE~!" - huh - iRule; I thought this was Apple's new digital tape measure....

51. Dark times abroad : NUITS

52. Novelist Calvino : ITALO - again, perps and one WAG

53. Longtime Moore co-star : ASNER

56. Completely lost : ASEA

57. Fantasy player's concern : STAT

58. Stumbles, say : ERRS

62. Bolted down : ATE

Splynter

Saturday, Oct 24th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 72  (pangram~!)

Blocks: 28

 Still recovering from last week's brutal offering, so I was very happy to see a Saturday Silkie today.  Not that it was any walk in the park, but I did manage to finish in my personal allotted time, tho I have to admit to one Google cheat, and several "type"-overs.  Still, it was very satisfying to get thru a puzzle without feeling totally beaten up.  Triple 10-letter across corners, triple 8-letter down corners, and a bunch of 7-letter fill, too.  

17. Threading tool : SCREW PLATE

37. Aptly named sleep aid : ZzzQUIL - I started with NyQuil, which was too short, so I Googled to see what their 'other' drug was; I loved taking NyQuil, but I'm "not allowed to" anymore

60. Sawdust producer : BELT SANDER - I found this, and thought it was pretty funny - and hey~!  oooh~!  I did not know they had races~!!!

  NWAR~!

(O--------D)

ACROSS:

1. Mystery novel cover-up? : DUST JACKET - the "?" gave it away - but I started with BOOK jacket for some reason

11. Window component : JAMB - ugh, like there's just one 4-letter window part; sash, sill, stop, rail, trim, lock, head....

15. Bad way to leave someone : IN THE LURCH

16. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR - half perps, half WAG

18. Ax : FIRE - I figured it was the verb and not the noun

19. Gets really high : SOARS

20. Reverent : PIOUS

22. Sum (up) : TOT - this is more prevalent in British circles

23. Tahari of fashion : ELIE - I knew this name (and it was a background feature in a Law & Order episode)

24. Slurred pronoun : DAT - "who dat~?!"

25. Game invented at Harrow School around 1830 : SQUASH - and a cross-referenced 57. 25-Across starter : SERVE - my new house-mate Garry plays a game called "pickleball", which is tennis played on a smaller court with a wiffleball - it looks really fun, and you get more volleys going

27. Grandchild of Japanese immigrants : SANSEI - started with NISSEI, and that was enough to work from

29. Amble : SAUNTER - she has permission to saunter thru my new front door

30. Its website includes a Headache Center : ANACIN - Aleve and Advil were just too short; took a while to recall this brand name

33. Mr. Rochester's ward : ADELE - no clue; all perps - from Jane Eyre

34. John of England : LOO - the porcelain perch

39. Case, for example: Abbr. : SYNonym - case = example

40. "No way!" : IXNAY - Pig Latin; the "rules" are here

42. Comparable in quality : AS GOOD

44. Where the Irrawaddy flows : MYANMAR - again, no clue, but once I got "--MAR"....

46. High pitch : TREBLE

50. Netherlands river : AMSTEL

51. "V for Vendetta" actor : REA

53. Blow : TOOT - were you thinking horn, or 'nose candy'~!?

54. Professional runner : POLitician

55. Place to see a hit : SIDE A - music hit, that is

58. Proof word : ERAT - part of "Q.E.D"

62. First name in gossip : RONA - Barrett - her Wiki

63. Musician with the autobiography "My First 79 Years" : ISAAC STERN - I don't know how I knew this, but I got it after just a few crossings

64. "Once more __ the breach": Shak. : UNTO

65. Hunch source : SIXTH SENSE - great movie, too

DOWN:

1. Bad-mouths : DISSES

2. Beverage nickname introduced in 1967 : UNCOLA - 7-up; I liked their more recent promotion

3. Filter : STRAIN

4. Television personality Caputo : THERESA - all but the "A" were perps

5. Yeshiva students : JEWS

6. Sight from the Brenner Pass : ALP - WAG

7. Apology ender : CULPA - mea for starters

8. Venomous Asian snake : KRAIT - for those who are ophidiophobes, I will not post a picture, but offer a link instead

9. Prefix with plasm : ECTO - this made last week's puzzle, too

10. Springsteen's birthplace? : THE USA - sorry, not a big fan of the song, but here's one I do like

The Rising

11. Peter Pan rival : JIF - peanut butters

12. Shakes up : AGITATES

13. In a sullen manner : MOROSELY

14. Fellow members : BRETHREN - nice group of $2 words in this corner

21. Filth : SQUALOR

24. Seven-term Mexican president Porfirio __ : DIAZ - 50% perps, the rest seemed logical

26. Hamburger's link : UND - German "and"

28. Food processors : ENZYMES

29. New Orleans jazz club __ Harbor : SNUG - their website

31. Industry authority : CZAR

32. Brightness measures : IQs - intelligence brightness - I was stuck on lumens for awhile

34. Planned 2019 Pan American Games host : LIMA, PERU - I was reluctant to put UNTO" in at 64a. because of the "U", but then it made sense

35. Open secret, e.g. : OXYMORON - here's a really funny webpage; I consider traffic to be a one word oxymoron; by definition, it's "driving, stopped"

36. Inclined : ON A SLANT

38. Shred : IOTA - dah~! not TEAR

41. Social worker? : ANT

43. Thaw : DETENTE - not DEFROST, but it was enough to get started in this corner

45. Outs : ALIBIS

47. Dairy giant : BORDEN

48. Flames : LOVERS

49. Timeless, in verse : ETERNE

51. Chill : RELAX - ah, the "hip" definition

52. Bother : EAT AT

56. '50s sitcom name : DESI

57. Challenge for a babysitter : SASS

59. Eastern ideal : TAO

61. Auburn, for one: Abbr. : SCHool - took some thought, because I was stuck on hair color

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Good luck to Kevin and our other readers who take part in today's Crosswords LA Tournaments!