Saturday, Jun 28th, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 40

  Today's grid is a bit of a departure from our normal layout, and I liked that.  High block count with 12 in the corners alone, giving us a "circular" pattern.  Brad last stopped in April 26th this year with a Home Improvement mini-theme crossing in the center; today you could say the theme was "brought to us by the letter 'V'" - I count seven.  The first pass did not bode well, but I ended up cruising though to the end - despite drawing a complete blank in the center with the crossing of four proper names. Top and bottom stacks of 11-, 13- and 15 letter spanners:

14a. Fiction involving letters : EPISTOLARY NOVEL - written in the form of correspondence letters, newspaper clippings, diary entries; examples that I know are "Dracula" ( Bram Stoker ) and "Carrie" from Stephen King

55a. Read lots of travelogues, say : LIVE VICARIOUSLY - I like this phrase

RAD, now~!

ACROSS:

1. Cubicle sight : SWIVEL CHAIR

12. 1961 Ben E. King hit : SPANISH HARLEM - link away

16. Hipster persona : MR. COOL

17. Fair : SO-SO

18. Frequent co-producer of U2 albums : ENO - Put it in, took it out, put it back

19. Comportment : MIEN

20. Impact sound : "BAM~!"

21. By and by : ANON - not the ANON we are all too familiar with

22. Pay stub abbr. : YTD - Year-To-Date

23. MIT Sloan degree : MBA - The "Sloan" part had me thinking along the lines of Cancer Doctor ( and part of the proper name block where I drew a blank )

25. Striking action? : ERASURE - Like this

28. Jack-in-the-pulpit family : ARUM - Name #2 in the core of WTF?

30. Entreaty : APPEAL

31. Onetime Bell Atlantic rival : GTE - DAH~! I went with MCI - that's zero % correct

34. 1995 film with the line "Alan, please, last time I played this game, it ruined my life" : JUMANJI - never saw the whole thing - IMDb

36. Not forward : SHY - that's me; I was going nautical first with "AFT"

37. 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee : LENNON - apart from his induction as a Beatle

39. "The Whiffenpoof Song" repetitions : BAAs - link away

40. Veterans : OLD PROS

42. Gag order? : "SHH~!" - Cute

43. Owed : DUE

46. Schmeling rival : BAER - Boxing "Maxes"

47. Wanamaker Trophy org. : PGA - Awarded to the winner of the fourth and final tournament championship; a little history here

49. Reason for an R : GORE - Movie rating

50. Gardner of film : AVA

51. Admitting a draft, perhaps : AJAR - Fresh clue for a crossword staple

53. Like some wallpaper motifs : FLORAL - Actual wallpaper, not that which can be found on one's smart phone - tho you may have a floral motif there, too

58. Altar burners : VOTIVE CANDLES - My first thought, but I was too 36a. to throw it in

59. Political matriarch who lived to 104 : ROSE KENNEDY - I was on the right wavelength, but for some reason, I wanted ETHEL, not Rose

DOWN:

1. Like some rum : SPICED - I just mentioned a "Gilligan's Island", made with spiced rum, last week

2. Got shown : WAS ON

3. Not apathetic about : INTO

4. Baroque instrument : VIOL - I always wanted to know what the difference between a Violin and a Viol was

5. Ex-pat's subj. : ESL - Again, different cluing for a crossword staple; I'm a bit 'meh' about this though

6. Capital where trains provide oxygen masks : LHASA - I knew we were looking for a high altitude city - more here

7. Hog trim : CHROME - "Hog" as in Harley Davidson motorcycles; their stock ticker is "HOG"

8. Robert of "Airplane!" : HAYS - One of my favoritest movies ever; he had a "drinking problem"

9. River through Pisa : ARNO - WAGed it

10. 1969 Peace Prize-winning agcy. : ILO - International Labour Organization

11. Proceeds : REVENUES - the noun, not the verb

12. Nautical pole : SPRIT - MAST, SPAR, YARD, GAFF and BOOM  were all a letter short

13. Image on Israel's state emblem : MENORAH

14. Winged statuette : EMMY - Dah, went with EROS - Bzzzt

15. Uninhabited : LONELY

20. "John Dough and the Cherub" author, 1906 : BAUM - #3 in the crossing of obscure names

21. Well of Souls guardian, in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" : ASP - Great way to clue another crossword staple

23. Sizable : MAJOR - Not LARGE

24. 20th-century maestro __ Walter : BRUNO - Name #4

26. Indian bigwig : RAJAH

27. Imitative : APISH

29. Fairy queen who carried a "whip of cricket's bone," in Shakespeare : MAB - Only 3-letter Fairy Queen I can think of

31. Far-reaching : GLOBAL

32. City with prevalent Bauhaus architecture : TEL AVIV - Some architectural reading

33. Attempt : ENDEAVOR

35. Magellan sponsor : NASA - Magellan, the mission to Venus, ended in 1994 - not the "original" Explorer

38. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" network : NPR

41. "In the Bedroom" Oscar nominee : SPACEK

43. Hirer of Sinatra in 1940 : DORSEY

44. Mount Narodnaya's range : URALS

45. Hard to capture : EELY

48. Adorn : GRACE

49. Pianist Glenn known for his Bach interpretations : GOULD

51. Alamo rival : AVIS

52. Balderdash : JIVE - another great set of lines from "Airplane~!"

53. Fictional rafter : FINN - Huh - I re-read this during my write-up, and the first thought that came to me is that one of the UPS trucks I load is labeled "FINN", and I wondered how that ever got into a crossword....oh, never mind

54. Underground band? : LODE - Didn't fool me, I knew we were looking for "STRIA" or something of that nature

56. Maginot Line arena: abbr. : ETO - again, a detailed clue for a crossword staple

57. Published : RAN

Splynter

Saturday, Apr 26th, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: Mini-theme Crossing in the Middle

Words: 70 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 36

  The triple-packs in the corners today run in the Down direction, allowing shorter Across answers to start; that made this puzzle seem a little less intimidating - despite the crossing of two related 15-letter fills in the center of the grid.  I can think of someone here at the blog who is probably tired of the endless drain on time and money that house repairs can cost, but those two answers are right up my alley, and I am offically a 'house hunter' now....sorry, I was just daydreaming....anyway, just two other long answers, and what I believe is an even spread of proper names, literary references, math, science, biology, and history. 

Mini-theme:

32A. Reason for a loan : HOME IMPROVEMENT - the reason for my loan is just "HOME"

7D. You must keep it up throughout 32-Across : LOAD-BEARING WALL - the longer I looked for an image, the more ambiguous the results got

Other long entries:

25. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" novelist : RAY BRADBURY - love the title, but did not know anything about its author or plot

46. Deep-fried American Chinese dumpling dish : CRAB RANGOON

ardonwardonwardonw

ACROSS:

1. Sedona and others : KIAs - Automotive company, and I nailed it - had a good run to start

5. Wok bottom coats : OILS

9. Closed, for the most part : AJAR

13. Digging : INTO

14. Image on Maine's state flag : MOOSE - I thought it was a SNAKE, but that's this flag

16. Function : ROLE

17. "Yer __ tootin'!" : DURN - a bit meh, as I went with dArn, and figured it might be dErn, but dUrn~?

18. Bestow : AWARD

19. Liturgy : RITE

20. 18th/19th-century Neapolitan guerrilla __ Diavolo : FRA - "Brother Devil", Michele Pezza; the Wiki

21. Cameroon neighbor : CHAD

22. Complained : WHINED

24. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson : LEN - dredged up from somewhere in my brain's crossword archives

27. Does some 32-Across, perhaps : ADDS ON - That's what I plan to do when I find the right property; so far, I found a 500sf house, and it was perfect, but already in contract.  I am going to try and look at another today

29. Cap extensions : EARLAPS - the Princess Leia version

30. Unlikely to come unglued : STOIC - not STUCK; this is more "resolve" than "Elmer's"

31. Golfer's challenge : SAND

39. Word with check or date : RAIN

40. 1969 Tony nominee for Best Musical : ZORBA

41. Mideast rubber : ALADDIN - ah, now I get it; not looking for rubber, but magic lamp rub-ber

45. Acorn-bearer with shallow roots : PIN OAK

48. Astoria-to-Salem dir. : SSE

49. Gentle blow : ZEPHYR - I was thinking "LOVE TAP" kind of blow, not the wind

50. Remove : WIPE

51. Give-go link : IT A

52. "I Got You Babe" record label : ATCO

53. Heavy lifter : CRANE

55. Memorable anticipator of 39-Across : NOAH - my mother said this movie was great, which surprised me; I am keyed up for the new "Godzilla"

56. Surf phenomenon : ROAR

57. Having more yellow than usual : YOLKY - because Jaundiced was a tad too long

58. Crucifix inscription : INRI - Crossword staple

59. People who are tight : SOTs - 9yrs, 3months, 18 days in my past

60. Further : ELSE

61. Head-turner : "PSST~!"

DOWN:

1. One of DC Comics' Teen Titans : KID FLASH - all perps

2. No longer fazed by : INURED TO

3. Willy-nilly : AT RANDOM

4. Family address : SON

5. Fred Astaire, for one : OMAHAN - I W.A.G.ed "OHIOAN"

6. State in a "State Fair" song title : IOWAY - Rodgers & Hammerstein - Link

8. Moldavia, once: Abbr. : SSR

9. Speedy exhortation : ARRIBA - I tried "ANDALE~!"

10. Enlist : JOIN UP

11. Takes in or lets out : ALTERS

12. Not robust, vocally : REEDY - tried RASPY at first

15. Short-lived English king of 1483 : EDWARD V - murdered (?) in the Tower of London

21. Saffron-yielding blooms : CROCI

23. Blood test initials : HDL - Cholesterol number

26. Monopolized the conversation : RAN ON

28. Salzburg pronoun : SIE

31. NATO member since 1982 : SPAIN

33. Jane Austen's "most disagreeable man in the world" : MR. DARCY

34. You might subscribe to it via PayPal : EZINE

35. Many a fed. holiday : MONday - MLK, President's, Memorial, Labor, and Columbus DAYS

36. Canyon formers : EROSIONS - anyone try working with RIVER?

37. Jazz greats, maybe : NBA STARS - second time this week with this misdirection

38. Suffer financially : TAKE A HIT

41. Bit of schoolyard backtalk : "ARE TOO~!"

42. One getting strokes, in a good way : LAP CAT - uh-huh, that's just what I was thinking....

43. Can't tolerate : ABHORS

44. Uninspiring : DRY

45. Olive enthusiast : POPEYE

46. Moguls : CZARS - Tried HILLS, which could have worked

47. Farmyard chorus : OINKS

54. Ocean delicacy : ROE

55. Chill : NIP

Splynter

Saturday, Mar 8th, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 70 ( Pangram~!)

Blocks: 31

   Another solo effort in this year from one of our regular Saturday contributors, Brad is keeping pace with Mr. Silk.  This one made my brain hurt, mostly due to the proper name references, but in terms of geographic obscurity, we did get somewhat of a reprieve.  A 'reverse' pinwheel, with the 11-letter triple stacks towards the right, and 9-letter triples to start the Downs.  Some of the longer fill we have;

2d. A woodpile may be under it : TARPAULIN - I tried ---- TARP, and that wasn't working

4. Teddy Roosevelt sobriquet : TRUSTBUSTER - I tried "SPEAK SOFTLY", because I was thinking sobriquet was a catchphrase, not a nickname

33a. 19th-century bat-and-ball game : ONE OLD CAT - learned this from crosswords, altho I was looking to fit One O' Cat, and it wasn't working

57a. Delta Tau Chi, familiarly : ANIMAL HOUSE - ah, I did not recall their Greek name - it's up on the second floor railing, askew

onward - by skipping an hour tonight~!

ACROSS:

1. Leavenworth and McHenry: Abbr. : FTs - Forts

15. Medium evocation : RAP - "I see...." did not fit; this is the knock on the table while everyone is (supposedly) holding hands

16. Like evergreens : WINTER HARDY - this took too long for me to see, especially since I had "RENO" and not "RICE" in the downs

17. "... __ the hot sun count / His dewy rosary ...": Keats : ERE

18. "I Hope I Get It" musical : A CHORUS LINE

19. Clinking currency : SPECIE - straight up definition - money in coin

21. __ judicata: decided case : RES

22. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS

23. Sported : HAD ON

24. Mineral in pumpkin seeds : ZINC - OK, so I threw in IRON to start - the garden (24d.) fixed that

25. __ Toy Barn: "Toy Story 2" setting : AL'S

26. Prepare for a poster tube : FURL - Dah~!  not "ROLL"

27. London Philharmonic co-founder Sir Thomas __ : BEECHAM - nearly all perps, this was one of those proper name stumbling points

29. Sailor's direction : ALEE - I was fairly certain that on Saturday, it would not be EAST or WEST

30. Hidden : UNSEEN

31. Prefix with scope : OTO - an OTOscope is used to look very closely at the Indian tribes of the plains....no, actually, it's for an ENT - no, not the tree, the doctor who looks in your ears

34. KGB agent's foe : CIA SPY - Oddly, I threw in CIA MAN to start, then I figured it had to be wrong with the next clue/answer being --->

36. Beatles song with the line "There's one for you, nineteen for me" : TAXMAN - "yeah, I'm the taxman" - in 1966, the Beatles' tax bracket had them paying 95%, which makes this math correct - ouch.  We're getting closer to April 15th; I was pleasantly surprised when my "taxman" got me some money back - I had not filed for 4 years, due to low income, but I did pay for Home Inspection school, and that was my big write-off

38. Wrap : END - Pretty sure BOA was not the answer; this is the verb, not the noun

39. Like many French Quarter streets : GAS-LIT

43. Goalie's undoing : DEKE - You can say that again~! (From C.C.: Great picture, Splynter!)

44. Sextet at Woodstock : SANTANA - I liked his Supernatural album

45. Dairy aisle tub : OLEO

46. Start to amble? : PRE - Preamble, as in "WE, the People..."

48. Film villain in a Nehru jacket : DR. NO - Because Dr. Evil did not fit

49. Stifle : QUELL

50. Women : SHEs

51. Keep to oneself : HOG

52. Stuck (out) : JUTTED

53. Spaghetti sauce ingredient : TOMATO PUREE - I went with pASTe, and that was a whopping 72% correct

56. Lobbying gp. : PAC - Political Action Committee

58. Kate's role in "The Aviator" : AVA

59. Maple leaf eater : BOXELDER BUG

60. Make : NET - ah, as in the financial sense; I was trying "FIX", and "SET"

DOWN:


1. Talent scout discovery : FRESH FACE - I was looking for a high school/college sports player being found, not a singer/dancer/artist/movie star

3. Whiz through, in a way : SPEED-READ

4. He said, "Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to" : TWAIN

5. Powell's successor : RICE - oops, Condoleezza, not Janet; the Secretary of State, not the Attorney General

6. New England sch. with a wildcat mascot : UNH - University of New Hampshire, so we had some geography

7. They need connecting flights : STORIES - I knew this was a stairs reference, but I was stuck on FLOORS

8. Playwright Rattigan : TERENCE

9. Grilled-bread appetizer : BRUSCHETTA

10. Uncertain sounds : UHs - not UMs or ERs

11. Deep bow : SALAAM

12. Clarinetist's effect : TRILL - Guitar, too - and probably easier on the guitar

13. Author Ferber et al. : EDNAs

14. Distillery output : RYES

20. "Unforgettable" duet partners : COLES

24. __ garden : ZEN

27. Long-term investment strategy : BUY AND HOLD - great fill

28. The Ducks, on an ESPN ticker : ANAheim

31. Breakfast buffet utensil : OMELET PAN - is a pan a utensil?  Not in my house - pots & pans are cookware; the implements used in preparation and consumption are the utensils

32. Depart : TAKE LEAVE - I had mAKE, which gave me an OMOscope - which is used to...oh, never mind

35. Org. that keeps driving stats : PGA - anyone go with AAA~?

37. Marked for deletion : X'D OUT - the 'meh' fill for the day

40. Greek poetic stanza : STROPHE - a rhythmic system composed of two or more lines repeated as a unit - online dictionary

41. Lassitude : LANGUOR - listless lack of liveliness

42. Italian diminutive suffix : INO

44. Bagel selection : SESAME

46. Button on some receivers : PHONO

47. Dance version of a pop hit, often : REMIX

49. Literary captain : QUEEG

50. Skewer : STAB

52. "__, meine Freude": Bach motet : JESU - I have a few Bach Pipe Organ CDs, so I have seen this

54. __ vez: maybe, in Pamplona : TAL - Spanish

55. Abrade : RUB - fixed my PASTE to PUREE

Splynter

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"