Saturday, Feb 15th, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 70  (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 33

  Either I am getting very comfortable with Saturday puzzles, or this one comes in at about a Friday, maybe even earlier level.  Brad is flying solo this week, as did his partner "DP" two weeks ago, and has what I would call a 'get out of jail free' offering today. A not-so-intimidating grid, with non-chunky corners and two grid-spanners;

17. Norwegian offerings : PLEASURE CRUISES - sort of a mini-theme going, with 31a and 45a, too - I won't go near any type of cruise like this

56. Fails to intervene : SITS ON ONE'S HANDS

ONWARD, wandor, norwad, wordan, donwar, rondaw, etc.

ACROSS:

1. "A Different World" actress : LISA BONET - spin-off from "The Cosby Show", she was once married to Lenny Kravitz and has changed her name - some interesting ones, here

10. More than ready to do : UP FOR

15. Halley's field : ASTRONOMY - as in Halley's comet - a gimme here; you too, Husker?

16. Veronese white : SOAVE - drew a blank until I had S--VE, then the light bulb came on

19. Most like a beachcomber : TANNEST - any one else think "HOMELESS" ?

20. "__ Mutual Friend": Dickens' last completed novel : OUR

21. Royal letters : HRH - His/Her Royal Highness(ness) - as in 35a.

22. Texting gasp : OMG - Oh, My, Gawd~!

23. Profile listing : HOBBY

25. "Yes!" : "I DO" - I did, but I stopped

26. St. Peter's Basilica attraction : PIETA - Michelangelo's marble statue

29. Many roomies : SIBS - Siblings; my brother and I shared a room for 12 years

30. Match : BOUT

31. The first one open on Majorca in 1950 : CLUB MED - I think the clue should be openED; I recall the TV commercials

33. Lake Geneva river : RHONE

35. Princess with a Wookieepedia entry : LEIA - Star Wars

36. "I Lost It at the Movies" author : KAEL - Pauline, never heard of her

37. Narrow vents : SLITS

39. Teaching method based on set theory : NEW MATH

42. Gent : CHAP

43. Moselle tributary : SAAR

45. "The Love Boat" bartender : ISAAC - click for Earworm~!

47. Hit the __ : HAY

48. "Precisely!" : "BINGO~!"

49. Lucy of "Elementary" : LIU - I liked her in the Mel Gibson movie "Payback"

50. Time to look forward : EVE

51. Trot : JOG

52. Aids : SUCCORS

59. Spud : TATER

60. Europe's tallest ferris wheel : LONDON EYE

61. Underhanded type : SNEAK

62. Mississippi has four : AREA CODES - nice bit of ambiguity

DOWN:

1. Telecommuter's tool : LAPTOP

2. Like about 1.5 billion people : ISLAMIC

3. His was the first number retired by the Mets : STENGEL - Casey; I am a Mets fan, but maybe C.C. has more to offer (C.C.: #37. Retired by the Yankees as well.)

4. Ireland's __ Islands : ARAN

5. Audio giant : BOSE - ah, not SONY - had the "O" first

6. Cross to bear : ONUS

7. View from The Hague : NORTH SEA

8. Graph- ending : EME - Grapheme, the smallest semantically distinguishing unit in a written language

9. Cooperstown charter member : TY COBB - Not a baseball guy; I went with "C. Young" to start - can you tell I had the "Y" first~?!?

10. There's a lot of interest in it : USURY - I have one credit card that is 19.99% - getting close to my definition of usury

11. Food cooked in an imu : POI - Hawaiian cooking - more here

12. Method : FASHION

13. Accruing fines, maybe : OVERDUE

14. Did a double take? : RE-SHOT - as in photography

18. Chafes : RUBS RAW

24. Kin of -ish : OID - Roundish object = spheroid

27. Spring bloom : TULIP

28. Distract the security guard, say : ABET

30. Pampas weapons : BOLAS

32. Assignment : MISSION - "Your mission, should you choose to accept it...."

34. Half: Pref. : HEMI - Like Dodge advertises, their "HEMI" engine just means the cylinder shape is half round at the top

36. Fuel that built the Rockefeller fortune : KEROSENE - Learned this from watching "The Men Who Built America" from History channel

37. Adjective for "Pygmalion" or "Major Barbara" : SHAVIAN - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of George Bernard Shaw or his works: Shavian humor.

38. Shower paraphernalia : LAYETTE - Baby shower, that is; an outfit of clothing or bedding

39. Hound : NAG - ah, not DOG - the verb, not the noun

40. Like owls : TALONED

41. Lock-changing tool? : HAIR DYE - nice

42. See 57-Down : CHESTS, 57. With 42-Down, spots for sailors' gear : SEA

44. Luanda's land : ANGOLA

46. Triggers a bleep, maybe : CUSSES - @$#%X~!!!

48. Icelandic singer : BJORK - I had -J-RK to start, and it worked~!

53. Org. that rejects bad eggs : USDA - literally

54. Van. alternative : CHOColate - I saw the "." after Van(illa) and so I wondered if it might be referring to Van(couver), which happens to be in the same area as....

55. Recent Yankee star named for Jackie Robinson : CANO - Robinson Cano is now with the Seattle Mariners, 10yrs, $240mil.  Yeah.

58. Scand. kingdom : NORway - not q u i t e ...a duplication of the name in 17a.

Splynter

Note from C.C.:


Happy Birthday to dear Skip (Hondo on the blog), who is a huge fan of UConn women's Basketball. He's also an expert on vintage sports cards & attends shows often on weekends. Besides Marti, Dudley & Montana, Hondo also met Irish Miss in person.

Left to Right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana

Saturday, Aug 17th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q)

Blocks: 37

   I do believe Mr. Wilber took it easy on us this week - at least it seemed so for me; I worked harder on yesterday's "Buzz" puzzle than I did today - and today had just as many "Z"s, too~!  A rather odd-looking grid, a scattering of blocks ( and a high count for a Saturday ).  Just two 11-letter climbers, and two 9-letter entries in the across:

4. Familiar slogan : CATCH-PHRASE - what's your favorite "catch-phrase"? I'll tell you mine....

25. Beginner : ABECEDARIAN - Literally, someone learning the "ABCDs" of their milieu, from the Latin for someone learning the, well, a,b,c,d's

24. Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things," e.g. : JAZZ WALTZ - I have added music links elsewhere in the puzzle, so feel free to find yours

47. Triple : THREEFOLD

Ooooooooonward~!--------->

ACROSS:

1. Pretentious fop : COXCOMB - Filled this in on the second pass; derived from the hat worn by court jesters, as it resembled the 'cock's comb'; i.e., the crest of a gallinaceous (ooh, big word) male bird

8. Ring of Fire country : JAPAN - nailed it, but then again....Ring of Fire story

13. Some brotherhoods : FRIARIES - new word for me, but I knew about friars; see 62A

15. Slow-tempo Spanish dance : BOLERO

16. "Who's on First?" comic : COSTELLO - I started typing BUD ABBOT, but was short a letter

17. Britt of "The Wicker Man" : EKLAND - Spelled it wrong; I had "U" in for the "A"

18. Resource in Montana/Wyoming's Powder River Basin : COAL MINE - a shout-out to our Montana

20. Antique auto : REO - too easy for Saturday

21. Peacock Throne leaders : SHAHS - more 'cocks'....

26. Grandeur : POMP - To go along with your coxcomb....

27. Majestic quality : HALO - and still more; a glow about the 'head'?

28. Launder money for, e.g. : ABET - is this really abetting, or more like racketeering?

29. "This could get ugly!" : "UH-OH~!"

30. Diner cooker : GRIDDLE - The appliance, not the person

32. Dickens's "Little __" : DORRIT

34. Creator of Marryin' Sam and Joe Btfsplk : AL CAPP - Some etymology on the name Btfsplk

38. Was a mentor to : ADVISED

42. Earth tone : ECRU

43. Amount to take : DOSE

45. Edgar-winning mystery writer Stabenow : DANA

46. "__: The Wanderer Talks Truth": singer's memoir : DION - musical interlude

49. Flooded field : PADDY

50. Unsavory paper : RAG

51. Brad, for one : FASTENER - the small nail, not the actor Pitt

53. One of six official U.N. languages : ARABIC

55. They're often mixed : EMOTIONS - my first thought, and so I did NOT fill it in; I thought it was too easy for Saturday

59. Waiter's observation : I'M NEXT - The person in line, not the server

60. Fertilizer compounds : NITRATES - Great WAG for me

61. Try : TASTE

62. Plainsong singer : CHANTER - reminds me of this movie:

DOWN:

1. Phased-out refrigerant compound : CFC - Chlorofluorocarbon, and if you care to continue our chemistry lesson from last week....

2. Conquistador's treasure : ORO - Spanish man, Spanish gold

3. They follow the nus : XIs - cute use of homonym ("Late Night following your local news")

5. Creme-filled snacks : OREOs - well, there's a lot to get DF about on this Saturday~!

6. Actress Kunis : MILA

7. Lab vessel connected to a vacuum pump : BELL JAR

8. Regular "Laugh-In" feature : JOKE WALL - starring that crossword staple ARTE Johnson

9. Up, in scores : ALL - tied, that is; I used to hear this in soccer recaps - "Manchester and Arsenal 1-all in the second half"

10. LensCrafters rival : PEARLE - eyewear professionals

11. Journalist Peter : ARNETT

12. Crammer's tablet : Nō-DōZ - pill popping tablets, not the i-thingy

 

14. Horn of Africa native : SOMALI

15. Automotive pioneer Karl : BENZ - Half of the Mercedes-Benz company's origins

19. Maker of PerformX sportswear : IZOD

21. Tater : SPUD

22. Seasonal chuckle : HO-HO - short a Ho~?

23. Spanish soap staple? : AMOR - Spanish soap opera, that is, and love; threefold love makes for much more drama

27. "Design on a Dime" network : HGTV

31. Art movement born during WWI : DADA - some history here; funny, but this article uses 4D in the 4th paragraph

33. Obsession with an accent : IDÉE FIXE - I was thinking this was a clue about perfume at first; idée fixe is Frawnch for fixed idea, so that kind of obsession, with the 'accent' on the "E"

35. __ test : ACID - seemed a little too easy for a Saturday

36. Nudge : PROD

37. Weak : PUNY - we just had this earlier in the week, I believe

39. Altar assurances : I DOs - until you DON'T for some ( including me )

40. "Bambi" creator Felix : SALTEN

41. Peculiar to a locale : ENDEMIC - I like "indigenous" better; sounds less 'plague-like'

43. Greg's TV partner : DHARMA - ABC sitcom I never watched; I like this Dharma better

44. They have stops and keys : ORGANS - LOVE the pipe organ; more music - what incredible skill

47. Attribute : TRAIT

48. Really, after "in" : FACT

49. Historic Jordanian city : PETRA - the city built into the canyon wall, and featured in "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade"

52. "Sex and the City" actor Chris : NOTH - I never watched this, either, but I was a huge fan of "Mike Logan" on Law & Order

54. Get into the pool : BET - the gambling pool

56. Third Major Leaguer to reach 500 home runs : OTT - now this is more like Saturday cluing; total WAG for me, but then again, how many three-letter baseball players can you name, C.C.~? (From C.C.: Derrek Lee came to mind.)

57. Alumna identifier : NÉE - more Frawnch. more accent.

58. Lith., once : SSR - for BarryG, before he goes away~!

Splynter

PS.

 I would like to know if anyone here has any idea about how to go about getting a novel copyrighted, and then published.  Thanks for your responses.

 Oh, and here's the missing "Q"