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

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,Z)

Blocks: 32

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

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

 back half of a sleeve from a 1985 album

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

23. Signs of infrequent cleaning : DUST BUNNIES

 you might not want to look too closely

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

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

ACROSS:

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

4. Incidental catches by South Pacific tuna fishermen : OPAHS

9. Mall Santa, probably : TEMP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22. Presented an invention? : LIED - clever

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

38. Bond yield: Abbr. : INTerest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

51. Dr. for women : GYNecologist

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

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

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

61. Impressive lineup : ARRAY

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

63. Final crossing? : STYX

64. Nixon-Brezhnev missile pact : SALT I

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

DOWN:

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

2. Cross off : X OUT

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

4. Ovoid winds : OCARINAS

5. So five minutes ago : PASSÉ

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

7. Victimized : HAD

9. __ can : TIN

10. Dig action : EXCAVATING

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

12. Common computer manual step : PRESS ENTER

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

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

20. River through Umbria : TIBER

25. Break fillers : ADS

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

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

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

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

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

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

40. Barbecue seasoning : RUB

43. 17th-century Flemish painter : RUBENS

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

49. Hilarious : A RIOT

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

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

more funny ones here

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

57. Negligent : LAX

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

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

Splynter

Saturday, Aug 13th, 2016, Gareth Bain & Brad Wilber

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 28

  Well, I thought I was not going to do so well with this puzzle when I saw the constructors' names, but all in all, I came out on the other side with just a few scratches - but I have to admit to some red-letter cheating.  I was done in by the proper names, again, and one entry that I am ashamed to have missed, but it's been a long hot and humid week, so that's my excuse....what's yours~?   Triple 9- and 11-letter corners, with a couple more nine-letter entries on the inside.  One from each corner;

15. Some wealthy '70s British emigrants : TAX EXILES - The Beatles come to mind, and a lot of other musicians

12. Political nickname : "The GOVERNATOR" - Ahhnold Schwarzenegger

67. Bond, e.g. : MASTER SPY - gratuitous image for C.C.

 

30. Liqueur in a monastic-looking bottle : FRANGELICO - back in the day, a friend of mine used to make an alcoholic drink that tasted like the milk of the cereal "Boo Berry", and this was one of the main ingredients

LONG
         W
             A
                 R
                   D
                   ~!

ACROSS:

1. Parents concerned with play dates? : STAGE MOMS - har-har

10. Like kelp : ALGAL - I thought maybe LEAFY; this image is "ALL GAL"

16. Those who call New Zealand "Aotearoa" : MAORI - educated WAG

17. Yom Kippur theme : ATONEMENT

18. Buff : MAVEN - I was stuck on the verb for a while; this is more like Film ___

19. Default : RENEGE

20. "Penny Dreadful" network, briefly : SHOwtime - never heard of this show, but I don't get premium channels

22. Lea grazer : EWE

23. Changdeokgung Palace city : SEOUL

26. Like white tigers : INBRED

28. Left Bank eateries : CAFÉS

31. Temp in many pictures : MALL SANTA - At first I thought it was "MALE ---", but the last "-TA" was solid; I just could not see the connection to 'pictures' - had it been 'shopping centers'....but then, that's too easy

33. Water cooler newcomer : HIREE - every week there's newly hired kids at UPS, and very few last beyond a year

34. Cardiogram connection : LEAD

35. Nuclear fission pioneer Otto : HAHN

36. Educator LeShan : EDA

37. Defender at Thermopylae : SPARTAN

40. Noir hero : TEC

41. Group of pals : GANG

43. Bard's instrument : LUTE

44. "... with a muffler __ her eyes": "Henry V" : AFORE

46. Pigs and cows, e.g. : UNGULATES - "hoofed" - the Wiki

48. Mules' mothers : MARES - HORSE was not the correct pluralism

49. Ideal : EDENIC - ah, so that's how you get EDEN to fit 6 letters....

50. Branding target : STEER

52. He succeeded Michael as Batman : VAL - Kilmer, one of the few proper names, and I could spell it, too

53. Lincoln's st. : NEBraska - Shout Out to two of our regulars~!

55. Swear : ATTEST

59. Stomach : ABIDE

61. Way to get to Bora Bora : AIR TAHITI - D'oh~! I went with VIA, not AIR

64. Quest for intel : RECONnaissance

65. Immature : UNRIPENED

66. Tiny energy sources : ATOMS

DOWN:
1. Scrabble board symbol : STAR - smack in the middle

2. Turner Prize-awarding gallery : TATE

3. Impulse pathway : AXON - good WAG, but then again, a four-letter brain word....

4. River through Rochester, New York : GENESEE - I'm familiar with the answer because I drove down Genesee Street when I visited my buddy up at Utica

5. Interpretations of scripture : EXEGESES - all the consonant filled via perps; the rest was "E" WAGs; new word for me

6. Old copy : MIMEO

7. Fútbol cry : OLÉ

8. Chess pieces : MEN - I SO want a stone set for the back yard~!

9. Now-flightless "birds" : SSTs - great clue for a standard CW fill

10. Two-time National Book Award-winning poet A.R. __ : AMMONS - WAGed one "M", the rest was perps

11. A.L. West team, in crawl lines : LAA - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

13. Sleepy backseat query : "ARE WE THERE~?"

14. Performances in rows : LINE DANCES

21. "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" aunt : HILDA - again, a WAG

24. Häagen-Dazs ingredient? : UMLAUT - this is Blue Oyster Cult/Spinal Tap territory~!

25. To whom Polonius said, "To thine own self be true" : LAERTES - I WAGed the spelling

27. "Ridiculous!" : "BAH~!"

28. Cuban Revolution VIP : CHE GUEVARA - I am familiar with this iconic poster image

29. Help badly? : AID AND ABET

32. Grapevine product, with "the" : LATEST - there's also the A.A. Grapevine

38. Put : PLACE

39. Young camper's proof of ownership : NAME TAPE - I looked this up after the fact because I had never heard of such a thing

42. Try hard (for) : GUN

45. At a greater distance : FARTHER

47. Bedding : LINENS

51. Absorb the loss : EAT IT

54. "John Dough and the Cherub" author : BAUM - perps and a WAG

56. Zehn minus neun : EINS - das German 10 - 9 = 1

57. Bit of progress : STEP

58. Spruce (up) : TIDY

60. King's end? : DOM - kingdom

62. Like Schubert's "Trout Quintet" : IN A - filled in the "IN" and waited....

63. The 1906 Hepburn Act gave the ICC power to set rates for them : RRs

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Chickie, who has been with our blog since 2008. Chickie and her husband Bill has been married for 62 years.

2) Happy Birthday to Spitzboov's wife Betty as well! They've been married for 51 years!

Spitzboov & Betty at the reunion dinner held at the US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, 2012

Saturday, Feb 14th, 2015, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 30

  Oh well, no theme this week.  So I will make one up.  We're going with a "romantic" music montage for today;  Triple 11-letter and almost triple 10-letter corners, nothing longer, and just a few proper names to annoy today - and a lot of French.  Happy Valentine's Day - for those who celebrate....  ;7P [ note: I had some trouble with the video links when I was posting the blog. ]

63. Soft Cell hit with the lyric, "Once I ran to you, / Now I'll run from you" : TAINTED LOVE

3. Campaign team member : SPIN DOCTOR

 Two Princes - Spin Doctors

44. "__ in April never came so sweet": Shak. : A DAY - do you know the connection to this video~?

Ugh.  Saturday, the 14th

DRAWNO

ACROSS:

1. Airline to Trondheim : SAS - I went with KLM to start

4. Grounds for an umpire's warning : RACKET ABUSE - thought this was a baseball umpire at first; then I thought of John McEnroe, but this guy - I've been there, only it's a goalie stick and a defenseless post

15. Nile Valley threat : ASP

16. What beeps may be : EMAIL ALERTS

17. Pandora's Tower platform : Wii - Don't know this game, but I do love Pandora - the internet radio - not the jewelry; my new phone has a L-O-O-o-o-n-g lasting battery, so I can listen for hours - makes me sad that I spent $75 on an MP3 player a month ago

18. Collar attachments : DOG LICENSES

19. Jackson's second vice president : VAN BUREN - I knew this; watched the History channel series on the presidents, and these two men had a run that was seen again with Reagan/Bush; the VP just couldn't live up to the "original"

21. Packed in more than : OUT ATE

22. One whose work is at an end? : INDEXER

23. Respecting : AS TO

24. Winnings, eventually : POT - and a referential clue at; 56d. 24-Across starter : ANTE

25. Eleanor's mother-in-law : SARA - this to me was utterly vague; I guess you had to be there to understand this was the Roosevelts.  I thought it might have been Biblical, for all I know

27. Home of Appalachian State Univ. : N CAR - been a rough academic year

31. Georgia crop : PECANS - OK, so I put COTTON in to start - does my "C" count at all, D-Otto?

34. Celebratory : GALA

36. Emulating : À LA

37. Tell : RAT

38. Triceps-strengthening equipment : CURL BAR

40. Small magazine inserts : BBs - ah. Not ADS - the gun kind of magazine

41. Montana motto word : ORO - I seem to get this a lot

42. Soloist in Tchaikovsky's "Swan's Theme" : OBOE - WAG; I doubt it was "DRUM"

43. Old connection method : DIAL-UP

45. Amt. rarely charged : MSRP - Manufacturer's "Suggested" Retail Price

47. Classic film curtain tugger : TOTO - Wizard of Oz

49. JFK, but not LAX : DEMocrat; JFK, the man, not the airport

50. "Keep dreaming!" : "AS IF~!" - sha~!

52. The Thrilla in Manila, notably : REMATCH

56. View from Yerevan, Armenia : ARARAT - the mount(ain), which is a dormant volcano, and resting place of Noah's Ark (but not the "lost" ark of the covenant)

59. Hype : BALLYHOO - OK, here's some blatant V-day hype

60. Hourly-rate offerer, often : NO-TELL MOTEL - think they're as booked as the restaurants today~?

62. Girl rescued by Uncle Tom : EVA

64. Chemin de __ : FER - um, OK.  I had to know, so I looked it up; literally, it's Frawnche for "lane of iron" - a railway

65. Dreamy looks : EMPTY STARES - meh, not quite the same in my book.  I'd like to see a girl get a dreamy look when she thinks about me - and would rather it not be an empty stare....

66. Venture : TRY

DOWN:       

1. 2009 horror film sequel : SAW VI

2. Far East fruit : ASIAN PEARS

4. Updike's "Rabbit __" : REDUX - this followed up with the next clue = Rrrrr

5. "L'elisir d'__": Donizetti opera : AMORE

6. Heat or Magic : CAGERS - I went with NBAers first; the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, two basketball teams in Florida - neither are doing well, but then again, the Knicks....I don't care for the game, but the owner of the restaurant I'm working at does

7. Potter's heat source : KILN

8. Biblical mentor of Samuel : ELI - oh, here's the Bible clue....

9. Dish served in an edible bowl : TACO SALAD - nailed it; I like the one from Taco Bell

10. Early seal hunter : ALEUT - educated WAG, since ESKIMO wouldn't fit

11. "Kramer vs. Kramer" Oscar-winning director : BENTON

12. __ Major : URSA

13. Editorial cancellation : STET - oops, went with DELE first

14. Forum infinitive : ESSE

20. Software version : BETA

23. Desert mount : ARAB - not the desert mountain - q.v. 56a.

26. Lace protector : AGLET - that thingy on the end of your shoelaces

28. Bad reception? : CABLE THEFT - clever

29. Record protector : ALBUM COVER - what's your favorite~? 
     I am trying to decide; this one's up there

30. Speak like Vito Corleone : RASP - didn't think it would be "LISP"

31. Limo destination : PROM

32. Many a PX customer : NCO

33. DVD menu option : SUBTITLES

35. 1968 groom, familiarly : ARIstotle, JFK's 'replacement'

39. It may be pitched : ROOF

46. Rear : PARENT - I get it, but....

48. One on the stump : ORATOR

51. Off-color : SALTY

53. Sorbonne enrollee : ELEVE - more Frawnche (student)

54. Lille lasses: Abbr. : MLLES - still more Frawnche (mademoiselles)

55. Grizzled : HOARY

57. Leave the path : ROAM

58. Left __: rewarded : A TIP - eh.

59. Incan army weapon : BOLA - well, there you have it, Lemonade~!

61. Colorado Rockies schedule letters : MDT - more mountains, but in daylight saving time now

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

 

Happy Birthday to dear Marti, our multi-talented & loving Thursday Sherpa and friend.  I'll forever cherish a thoughtful letter Marti wrote to me when I asked her a rather personal question "Do you believe in God?" 

Marti has been through a lot in life. She probably went through more pains than most of us did. Yet she remains optimistic and positive. Her mere presence on the blog is a huge comfort to me. 

I'm so lucky to have you on our team, Marti. You're our sunshine.

Oh, look at this! Allen bought Marti these beautiful red roses. The cat thought it's for her.

Saturday, Jan 3rd, 2015, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 30

 Welcome to another year of Saturday setbacks~!  I was so pleased to be able to fill in the first four across answers, sensing I might be on Brad's wavelength, only to crash and burn at the longer fills and caving in to red-letter help in the bottom half. [sigh] Oh well....Still, a great challenge, a little heavy on the proper nouns(*), and some clever misdirection, but all in all, a fun puzzle.  6x8 triple-word corners, two 11-letter, and one 13-letter spanners;

33. Carolina bisque tinted orange by roe : SHE-CRAB SOUP - Once the "--SOUP" part appeared, it was only a matter of time before I remembered this - the Wiki

36. Popular news group : MEDIA DARLINGS

39. It can be used to make gin : DISCARD PILE - Clever; alternative version of "gin", this time the card game; the clecho at 32a. "It can be used to make gin : SLOE" refers to the fruit used in drinks such as "Sloe Gin Fizz"

 ~!

ACROSS:

1.* Its construction created Lake Nasser : ASWAN DAM - nailed it; always good to start off with the correct fill at 1a.~!

9. Certify : ATTEST - and again....

15.* "Wuthering Heights" backdrop : THE MOORS - and then "fail" - went with "CIVIL WAR", since I have no clue when, where or what this book is about

16. Want : DEARTH - "fail" - went with DESIRE - but was 28.5% correct

17. Word not usable with an indefinite article, such as "magic" or "dust" : MASS NOUN - I had the two "N"s, and that led to --NOUN, and from there it was an educated WAG; you don't vacuum up "a" dust, or use "a" magic ( but you might have 'a' magic wand - but now it's changed to an adjective.)

18. Made up : UNTRUE - ah, not UNITED - this is the pretend, 'fake' made up, not the end-of-a-tiff made up

19. Heave-hos : OUSTERS - meh

20. Word with level or devil : SEA - I started with "SUB", which half worked

21. Bizarre : ODD

22. Snicker follower : SNEE - snickersnee - a large knife; unrelated to the next clue

23. [snicker] : HEH - which is a mini-laugh

25.* Skyler's sister on "Breaking Bad" : MARIE - if you say so; all perps

27. CPA's concern : TAX LAW

30. Darn things : SEW - cute

40.* Bobby Darin record label : ATCO

41. "Shame on thee!" : "FIE~!" - whoops, went with "TSK~!"

42. Weightlifting technique : SNATCH - clean and jerk did not fit; I have to admit to a little "snicker" at this answer - such a DF mind....

47. Academic administrators : DEANS

49. Lofty letterhead abbr. : ESQuire

51. Tolerated : BORE

52. LAX posting : ARRival - duped; went with ETA

53. Smidge : TAD

55. Business, informally : BEE'S WAX - As in the phrase "Mind your own ---"

58. Chemical relative : ISOMER - isoTOPE did not fit, and it took waaay too long to remember this word

60. Act out, say : RE-CREATE - I always get a laugh out of shows like "UFO files" that always include a "dramatic re-creation" of the events occurring on 'that night'

61. Deferential bow : SALAAM

62. Ravel, vis-à-vis "Pictures at an Exhibition" : ARRANGER - here's the Wiki; if you play the "promenade", you'll recognize it

63. Like Miss Marple's attire : TWEEDY - uh, OK

64. Speech disruptions : STUTTERS - Dah~!  I had this, changed it to stAMMers

DOWN:    

1. No greater than : AT MOST

2.* "Entourage" publicist played by Debi Mazar : SHAUNA - I watched the show - liked it - but it never seemed to get 'dramatic'; this character I don't recall - but when I saw her pic, I remembered her from "Goodfellas" - IMDb

3.* "Far From the Madding Crowd" region : WESSEX - this is where the puzzle started to bog down on me with the proper nouns, and that sucks the life out of it when you don't have a clue

4.* Brewery bought out by Heineken : AMSTEL - a WAG from the "A"

5. Zilch : NONE - not NADA

6. Access point : DOOR

7. Frantic, perhaps, with "in" : A RUSH - "in a rush"

8. ISP with a butterfly logo : MSN

9. In tandem, musically : A DUE

10. Brunch hr. : TEN A.M.

11. Pic on a pec : TATtoo

12. Computer self-diagnostics list : ERROR LOG

13. Bookish : STUDIOUS

14.* Benchley novel : THE DEEP

20.* Shepherd of "The View" : SHERRI - mostly perps

24. Joint risks? : ESCAPES - ah - the "joint" here being jail; I had knees in mind first, then I thought this was a reference to eloping - that kind of joint 'escape'

26. LPGA part: Abbr. : ASSN - Ladies Professional Golfing Association

28. One side of the Bering Strait : ASIA - I threw in USSR, but that's kinda dated now

29. Berth place : WHARF

31. Squash court features : WALLS

34. Whirled : EDDIED

35. __-aimé: beloved, in French : BIEN - can't get away from the Frawnche

36. Tool for making precise crosscuts : MITER SAW - yeah, true, but I tend to associate a 'miter' with 'angle' cuts; my Sliding Compound Miter Saw

37. Salad green : ESCAROLE - whoops - I put in CURTSY for deferential bow, and forgot to change it, so the "R" was blocking my "L" ( and be careful when spelling curTSy )

38. No View, No Touch Trap maker : D-CON - becoming a crossword staple

39.* Max Ernst, for one : DADAIST

43. Without : ABSENT

44. Tugboat's fee : TOWAGE

45. Evidence of major impact? : CRATER

46. Bewitching types : HEXERS - ah, just the spell-casters, not the "hot girl" kind

48. Farm addition? : STEAD - Dah~! Went with STAND (60% correct) - more popular, and aggravating, down here on L.I. - I'll be upstate in Spitboov country today

50. Pyramid hopper in a 1980s arcade game : Q*BERT

54. Multitude : ARMY

56. Almond relative : ECRU - ah, the color, and usually associated with my favorite gratuitous image

 ecru pantyhose

57. Sum, in a different form : ERAT - remember your Latin; Sum, Esse (which I went with first), Fui, Futurus - "state of being" - I am so pleased I recalled that this is known as "declension"

59.* Novelist Rita __ Brown : MAE

60. Univ. peer leaders : RAs - Resident Assistants

Splynter

Saturday, Nov 22nd, 2014, Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 70 (missing Q,W,X)

Blocks: 27

 Mr. Wilber's prolific solo Saturday work is starting to rival that of Mr. Silk~!  We last had a visit from Brad in September.  Lots of vagueness on the first pass, but the Downs gave me a lot of letters to work with, and I ended up smoking through the puzzle in about half time.  Not an intimidating grid at all, yet a block count that is only one more than last week's.  How deceiving - and just four 9-letter fills comprised the whole of the 'long' answers;

25a. Highly visible septet : BIG DIPPER - The Big Dipper consists of these seven stars, yet part of the larger constellation Ursa Major

45a. Gig at the brig : GUARD DUTY - I was thinking Jailhouse Rock

10d. Five-time A.L. home run champ : RODRIGUEZ - oh, him

31d. Baryshnikov move : GRAND JETÉ - Hello~!  I couldn't link a male in the pose, it looked too painful; yet this past Wednesday I played hockey, and the other goalie asked how I could get so low - I must be almost as flexible....my buddy Bob sent me this pic from a few years ago

OИMVЯD~!

ACROSS:

1. Jeweler's concerns : SETTINGS

9. Coke product : FRESCA - Coca-cola, that is

15. Passed : OVERTOOK - the kind of passing drivers of cars do; see 7d.

16. "Top Hat" dancer : ROGERS - Ginger - because ASTAIRE did not fit ( the only other dancer I know of that regularly appears in crosswords )

17. How Dickens' novels were first published : SERIALLY - I had S---IALLY, and I thought, SOCIALLY~? Naw, they didn't have Facebook back then....

18. Is wild about : ADORES

19. Backwash creator : OAR - I went with "EBB", but it fit better at 48a.

20. Montreal Canadiens' all-time leading point scorer : LaFLEUR - Guy; I went with Maurice "Rocket" RICHARD first; he scored 50 goals in 50 games in the '44-45 season, but LaFleur scored 50 goals a season for 6 straight seasons decades later

22. Toon shopkeeper : APU - The Simpsons

23. Signals one's presence, in a way : RAPS

27. Year in Clement VIII's papacy : MDCI - well, just had to wait on perps, but after the "M" and "I" appeared, I tried the other Roman numerals ( C, D, X, V ) that would work with the "down" answer

28. Piquancy : TANG

29. Silly sorts : GEESE - "Silly Goose~!"

30. Jump back into the fray : RE-ENGAGE

32. Clingy husk : BUR - seems short a letter....

33. Paper fatteners : INSERTS - ah, Newspaper; I did not get this until I came to do the write-up; our Sunday paper is about to gain some weight with the holiday season upon us

34. Flips : GOES APE

38. Hot air ballooning watchdog: Abbr. : FAA - we have a drone problem developing over here; they're interfering with JFK airspace

39. Almond confection : MARZIPAN

40. About 1% of the Earth's atmosphere : ARGON - I did not go with RADON; just linked this two weeks ago

43. Engine once known as Live Search : BING - WAG

44. Abbey section : APSE - APSE~?  NAVE~? wait on perps

47. Your alternative, at times : ONE'S - seen often in crossword clues

48. Taper off : EBB - ah - that's where it goes....

49. 1974 top ten hit for Carole King : JAZZ MAN - Link away~!

51. Kenyan export : TEA - had the "A", WAGed the "T-E-"

53. Green Giant morsel : NIBLET - toyed with CARROT first

55. Dietary practice : VEGANISM - it may be a practice, but I'm not in the game; I had this for dinner here at A Lure last night

57. Efface : DELETE

58. Sea along the Balkan peninsula : ADRIATIC - with the first "A", and "C" in place, this dawned on me

59. Letter closing : AS EVER

60. Buoys up : HEARTENS

DOWN:

1. Underwhelming : SO-SO

2. She played Principal McGee in "Grease" : EVE ARDEN

3. View providers : TERRACES

4. Prefix with athlete : TRI - TRIathlete

5. Right-leaning type?: Abbr. : ITALicS - see above

6. Bourbon Street city, informally : NOLA - New Orleans, LousianA

7. Drivers can be seen in them : GOLF BAGS - nailed it; did not confuse the 'club' with the 'car controller'

8. Broad view : SKYLINE

9. Mountebank : FRAUD - filled via perps; did not have any clue (except to consider the Alp, Mont Blanc ); a swindler

11. A BMOC may have a big one : EGO - speaking of EGOs, see above

12. Colorful cover-up : SERAPE - total WAG, total win~!

13. Brunch order : CREPES - anyone try OMELET~?

14. Guarantee : ASSURE

21. Whisking target : EGG - and, uh, see above

24. Miss badly : PINE FOR - I went with LONG at first; I am holding out hope for my blue-eyed girl still

26. Blofeld's cat, in Bond films : PERSIAN - I think Mr. Bigglesworth was a great way to satire the whole thing

27. Picture of health? : MRI - we've seen this before; the "?" denotes the slight mis-direction

28. "I'm off!" : "TA-TA~!"

32. Wimbledon five-peater : BORG - Bjorn

34. Largest moon of Jupiter : GANYMEDE - I love watching shows on the probes we've sent out to explore the solar system; this one took 6 years to get there, but had some great moments

35. Fondness : APPETITE - for Destruction?  Great album cover, which was, of course, banned

36. Submits, as an exam paper : PASSES IN - HANDS IN was not enough; but then again, I remember we used to "pass in" exams by handing them to the person at the desk in front of us

37. Topeka-to-Peoria dir. : ENE - I threw in NNE

39. Bar __ : MITZVAH - this should have come easier than it did

40. Handout from a chair : AGENDA - I knew what direction this was pointing, but I spent Tuesday helping my buddy Adam move, and he has a 13 month-old son, so there was this image of baby food flying....

41. 40th anniversary symbols : RUBIES - an educated WAG after the "R" showed; I knew it was not Diamond, but a little further on than, say, "wood"; here's the list

42. Unintelligible talk : GABBLE - I had GARBLE in place; EBB fixed that

43. Sawyer of old comics : BUZ - the other "missing a letter" answer

46. "Antiques Roadshow" expert : DATER - carbon dater?  Now that's an antique~!

47. Booth warning sign : ON AIR

50. Onetime capital of the Mughal Empire : AGRA - seems sensible, now that I look at it

52. Pacers and Ramblers : AMCs - nailed it - but then again, I owned a Concord Sportabout

54. Bk. of the Torah : LEV

56. Baseball's Ryan Zimmerman or Jordan Zimmermann, briefly : NAT - I defer to our  baseball-starved but fearless leader, C.C. on these answers (From C.C.: Here is a good old article about them. The former is a little (2 millions?) behind Derek Jeter in this 2013 list.

There's always room for dessert~!

Splynter

Saturday, Sep 20th, 2014 Brad Wilber

Theme: BW

Words: 72 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 35

  Another solo Saturday from Brad Wilber, with a deceptively easy-looking grid.  I found today's puzzle had what I would call "reverse solvability" - that is, the long answers filled in with little effort, but the shorter ones really baffled me.  8- and 6-letter triple stack corners that did not look intimidating, and just two 10-letter phrases crossing two of the four 9-letter runs rounding out the longer spans;

6d. Moles may cross them : ENEMY LINES

30d. One might include "Go skydiving" : BUCKET LIST

o, a, r d n w....?!?!

ACROSS:

1. Pirate inducted at Cooperstown in 1988 : STARGELL - Ah, Baseball to start; took some perps for me to WAG this one; I am sure C.C. nailed it - she can elaborate (From C.C.: I think he's TTP's favorite player, lifelong Pirate.)

9. Tuning shortcut : PRESET - I was in a guitar frame of mind; this is more like your AM/FM, Sirius and Pandora kind of tuning; I call my Pandora station "Myynde Wax" - there's a story behind it....

15. Try to pick up : COME ON TO - There's a girl at the restaurant where I built the benches that likes to scratch my back; do you think it's an attempt to "come on to" me~??

16. Make wrinkly : RUMPLE - I was tempted to try "CREASE"

17. Auto safety feature : HEADREST - simple, but effective

18. Capital with an Algonquin name : OTTAWA - Albany (NY) fit, too, but....

19. Abound : TEEM

20. Many a jayvee athlete : SOPH - tried "TEEN" first

22. Org. with an online Patriot Index : D.A.R. - Daughters of the American Revolution

23. Loan applicant's asset : STEADY JOB - It's getting close to new car time; I have a steady job, a high credit score, and a Dodge with 251,000 miles on it

26. Barnyard cries : BRAYS

28. Much of the New Testament is attributed to him : PAUL - I waited on perps

29. Longtime Ivory rival : LIFEBUOY - soap makers - makes me think of "A Christmas Story"

31. 11-Down skill : CPR - circumreferential, ugh; 11. 31-Across pro : EMT

32. Ins. giant : AIG

33. Citrus whose juice is used in Asian cuisine : YUZU - new to me; the Wiki

34. Give as a task : ASSIGN - Don't get me started on "tasks"....

36. Brno natives : CZECHs

40. 1960s role for Bamboo Harvester : Mr. ED - I had 'M-ED' and had to duck to avoid the V-8 can

42. Word with run or jump : SKI - ski run, ski jump

43. Self-satisfied sound : "HEH~!"

44. Requiem Mass segment : DIES IRAE - the full phrase

46. "The Phantom Tollbooth" protagonist : MILO - all perps

47. Loin cut : T-BONE - toyed with throwing this in to start; then the "N" showed

49. Words of resignation : C'EST LA VIE - Frawnche - but it does remind me of this video

51. URL ending : ORG - uhhh, .com, .edu, .biz....

52. Did a sendup of : APED - mimicry

54. Heroine with notable buns : LEIA - hey now, these buns

55. Pungent condiment : WASABI

57. Took for a ride : SWINDLED

61. Standoffish type : ICICLE - back in college, there was a girl all the guys referred to as the "ice princess" - ironically, she asked ME out....

62. Like the trade winds : EASTERLY

63. Hitching post attachment : TETHER

64. Stop and go, say : ANTONYMS

DOWN:

1. Ivy, e.g.: Abbr. : SCH - meh. 

2. Part of Italy where Calabria is, figuratively : TOE

3. Curtis Cup contenders : AMATEURS - Golf - sort of like the Ryder Cup; more here

4. Bridge do-over : RE-DEAL

5. Hurt in a ring : GORED - Ask Evander Holyfield

7. West Point grads: Abbr. : LTs

8. Much : LOTS OF

9. Hold (up) : PROP

10. Performer in every episode of "Laugh-In" : RUTH BUZZI

12. Relaxing outing : SPA DAY

13. Super Bowl XXXIII MVP : ELWAY

14. Drops during lows : TEARS - my last fill was the "R"; took a moment to see 'drops' as a noun and not a verb

21. Jump, in a way : OBEY

23. Employer of vets: Abbr. : SPCA - ah, those kind of vets

24. Four-note piece : TAPS

25. It may be up : JIG - "Surrender...the jig is up"

27. Casanova : ROUE

32. Accommodating : AGREEABLE

35. Hacker's cry : "I'M IN~!"

37. Knight life ideal : CHIVALRY - it's not dead

38. Port opener : HELI - heliport

39. Braking system component : SHOE - I think they need replacing on my van, but I am still working on the leaf spring

41. Ones spotted in casinos : DICE - this could have been very deceptive, indeed; ones, spotted, dice....lots to work with

42. Carrier to Copenhagen : SAS - Airline

44. Lallygags : DOGS IT

45. Site with an important part in a 1956 film? : RED SEA - part?  Har-HAR~!!!

46. Winless horse : MAIDEN

47. Specifically : TO WIT

48. Reinforce : BRACE

50. Measures taken slowly? : LENTO - musical direction

53. Seaside strolling spot : PIER

56. Rats along the Rhine? : ACH - exclamations; "Rats~!" and "Ach~!"

58. Peaked : WAN - skin color, 'to wit'

59. London's earliest water pipes were made with it : ELM - I wanted "WOOD"; did not realize we were looking for a specific type

60. Beginning to function? : DYS - DYSfunction(al) - don't I know it

Splynter