Saturday, Feb 18th, 2017, Craig Stowe

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 30

  First Saturday LA Times crossword for Mr. Stowe, as far as I can tell; his other constructions have made it on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Three more for the "complete set".  I did quite well with this one, just one cheat for a proper name in the NE so I could get started up in that corner.  Lots of "nailed it" answers for me today, and they're especially pleasing when the crossings jibe.  Triple 10-letter Across corners, two 11-letter climbers and a 13-letter spanner;

10. Rectangular Manhattan attraction : CENTRAL PARK - I really need to see more of this place; all I really know about the spot is what I have seen in TV shows ( Law & Order, e.g. ), and this great scene from the movie "Die Hard with a Vengeance"

23. Conversational softener : JUST KIDDING

Raymond was "just kidding"

33. Its Gold Medal features a profile of Franklin : PULITZER PRIZE - learning moment for me

Game-ON-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Neutral : ACHROMATIC - with regard to color; in music, a 'chromatic' scale includes all twelve notes of a scale - which reminds me of this 'song'; if you grew up with "Headbanger's Ball", you might recognize it

And here's a clip on how to play the song

11. Farm animals : EWES - I tried SOWS first

15. Reacts to staying up, perhaps : SLEEPS LATE - I gotta sleep late Sunday, have a semi-overnight at the restaurant to prep for fireproofing the ceiling

16. "St. Matthew and the Angel" painter Guido : RENI - my cheat

17. The Hugo Awards are presented at one : CONVENTION - I am in New York City today - my buddy Mike with the games company has a booth at the Javits Center for the Toy/Games Convention, and I am going to bring two of the three board games I 'invented'

18. What hearts may do : RACE - 2017 is off to a good start - someone new makes my heart race

19. Queen __ Revenge: Blackbeard's ship : ANNE'S - good WAG

20. Reams : A LOT

21. Mil. addresses : APOs

22. Tree in a carol : PEAR - you'll find the Partridge there

23. Some subordinates: Abbr. : JRs

24. Turn in : RAT OUT - ah. Not RETIRE

26. __-chef : SOUS - I know the guys who fill this role at the restaurants

28. Home to many warthogs : SAVANNA - that's the area of Africa, not the state of Georgia (OK, different spelling, but I thought it was funny )

29. Eastern servants : AMAHs - couldn't remember this at first

31. Store accessibly : FILE

32. With 37-Across, "No problem" : IT'S - circumreferential to; 37. See 32-Across : OKAY

36. Vintage tape format : VHS

38. Moore co-star : ASNER - another WAG

39. Like thou, say : ARCHAIC - nailed it, and spelled it correctly

41. Three-time Tour de France champion LeMond : GREG

42. See 48-Across : POLAND - partial referential clue to; 48. __-Neisse Line, western border of 42-Across : ODER

43. Albanian currency : LEK

44. Traipse : ROAM

49. Two-point contest? : DUEL - har-har

51. 122-square-mile republic : MALTA

52. "Green Mansions" heroine played by Audrey Hepburn : RIMA - I tried riTa, did not get my ta-DA~!; checked the crossing, and oops

53. Plus : IN ADDITION - nailed it

55. 1860s-'70s Black Hawk War combatants : UTES

56. Digital emergency signal : NINE-ONE-ONE

57. Uncle __ : BEN'S - another shot in the dark that was correct

58. Become decent? : GET DRESSED - nailed it - hah~!

DOWN:

1. Songwriters' org. : ASCAP - American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

2. Knockoff : CLONE - makes me think of the street vendors in NYC - wow, that's a good price for a Rolex~!

3. Salon coloring : HENNA

4. U-turn : REVERSAL

5. "... the morning __ her golden gates": Shakespeare : OPES

6. Yahoo! alternative : MSN - dah, not AOL

7. Rite sites : ALTARS

8. Apes' lack : TAILS - humans, too

9. "__, Sing America": Hughes : I, TOO

11. Improved book list? : ERRATA

12. Adapt in a dangerous way : WEAPONIZE

13. Come across : ENCOUNTER

14. Naps : SIESTAS

25. Not inclined : AVERSE

27. Toledo native : OHIOAN - I was an Ohioan for two and a half years - worked on a made-for-TV movie there

28. Military address : SIR

29. Venus counterpart : APHRODITE - nailed it from --RH--E

30. Goons : MUSCLEMEN - "goon" is the affectionate name for the fighters in hockey games, too

31. "Bossypants" memoirist : FEY - Tina, of SNL fame

34. Efron who voiced Ted in "The Lorax" : ZAC

35. Thankless bunch : INGRATES

36. Product originally called Croup and Pneumonia Salve : VAPO-RUB - this reminds me of SNL, too

40. Give a hard time : HARASS

41. Fixed, in a way : GELDED - oh, that kind of fix

43. Rested (against) : LEANT

45. Hodgepodges : OLIOs - making a return on Saturdays recently

46. Fix things : ATONE - oh, that kind of fix

47. Shaggy : MANED - I was "maned" back in my Headbanger's Ball days

50. Together, in Toulouse : UNIE - Frawnche

51. Vein locale : MINE

54. "L'Âge __": Buñuel-Dalí surrealist film : DOR - perps

Splynter

Monday, November 14, 2016 Craig Stowe

Theme: No Reveal Monday - Theme entries start with related items.

17. Celebration with personnel: STAFF PARTY

29. Hangman man, e.g.: STICK FIGURE

44. React in the slightest way: BAT AN EYELID

60. Hoarse-voiced "Maggie May" singer: ROD STEWART

Argyle here and Craig (back so soon) Stowe. After last week, we needed a nice easy puzzle to start the week. Starting in the NW corner though gave me some doubts but it worked out alright.

Across:

1. Joined, as a team of oxen: YOKED

6. Per person: A POP

10. Pockmark, e.g.: SCAR

14. Bacteria in rare meat, maybe: E COLI. Big maybe. Unless the meat is ground, e coli can only be on the surface of your cut of meat.

15. Hockey score: GOAL

16. Get through tough times: COPE

19. Like certain inappropriate remarks: UN-PC

20. __ Destiny: 19th-century U.S. doctrine: MANIFEST. 8th grade US history, remember? No quiz ... this time.

21. Television host: EMCEE

22. Cloister members: NUNS

23. Title for Elton John: SIR

25. Young fellow: LAD

26. Sound from a flock: [BAA!]. Sound from a Scrooge: [BAH!]

32. More than enough: AMPLE + 46-Down. More than enough: LOTS OF

34. Alludes (to): REFERS

35. Exaggerated publicity: HYPE

36. Garish: SHOWY

38. Hospital helper: AIDE

41. Enter sneakily: EDGE IN

43. Not exactly: ABOUT

48. Born, on society pages: NÉE

49. Israeli weapon: UZI. Both machine guns. 58-Down. WWII weapon: STEN

50. Thurman of "Gattaca": UMA

51. Bygone automaker: OLDS

53. Knocks down completely: RAZES

55. Says over: ITERATES

59. Ticks off: IREs. Ha, it IRKed me.

62. Puts on TV: AIRS. Soon they will be airing Christmas airs. (I know that's un-pc.)

63. Norway's capital: OSLO

64. Sudden power increase: SURGE

65. Cut with a beam: LASE

66. Complaint: BEEF

67. Soup-eating utensil: SPOON

Down:

1. Polite rural reply: "YES'M"

2. Hexa- plus two: OCTA

3. Zen paradox: KOAN. A problem or riddle that admits no logical solution. Trekies know about this.

4. Spritelike: ELFIN

5. Scatter widely: DIFFUSE

6. Court great Andre: AGASSI

7. Word with "of entry" or "of call": PORT

8. Muesli morsel: OAT. Cool alliteration.

9. Two-__ tissue: PLY

10. Problem in a neglected pool: SCUM

11. Ending: CONCLUSION

12. Perform (in): APPEAR

13. Draw back, as one's hairline: RECEDE

18. Repressed, with "up": PENT, 52-Down. Escorted to the penthouse, say: SAW UP

21. Buffalo's lake: ERIE

23. Distort, as data: SKEW

24. Questionable: IFFY

26. "Phooey!": "BAH!" "Humbug!"

27. Comic/writer Schumer: AMY

28. Starters on a menu: APPETIZERS

30. Witch: CRONE

31. Snatch: GRAB

33. Woman seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan: LEDA

36. Look to be: SEEM

37. Casual greeting: "HI, YA"

39. Expected at the station: DUE

40. Nice summer?: ÉTÉ

42. Bearded beasts: GNUs

43. 221B Baker Street, e.g.: ADDRESS. The address of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

44. Part of a time capsule ceremony: BURIAL

45. Hank who voices some "Simpsons" characters: AZARIA. Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson and numerous others.

47. "__ it get to me": I LET

54. Latin being: ESSE. (to be)

55. Eric of "Monty Python": IDLE

56. Hawaiian root: TARO

57. "And thus ... ": "ERGO ... "

60. Steal from: ROB

61. Suffix with rib- or lact-: OSE. Ribose is a pentose sugar. Lactose is sugar from milk.

Argyle

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Craig Stowe

Theme - Do You See What I See? Or My EYES Are Crossed [Up.] or  I-Yigh-Yie.  An anagramish theme in which the letters of the word EYES are scrambled and tucked into theme answer phrases of 2 or 3 words, in each case spanning two of those words.  If you're lucky, you got these letters circled for easy identification.

17. "Gotta go!" : SEE YA LATER.   Adios, amigos -- except I can't leave now, I'm just getting started.

24. Peter Parker's alarm system : SPIDEY SENSE.  To be a bit pedantic, Peter Parker's SPIDER SENSE is a kind of ESP that causes a tingling at the base of his scull, thus alerting him to danger. SPIDEY SENSE is a slangey generalized derivative phrase applied to anyone's [possibly uncanny] ability to suss out danger.

50. Henry VIII's third wife : JANE SEYMOUR.  JANE [1508-1537] was Queen of England for a little more than a year, following the unfortunate Anne Boleyn.  Sadly, Jane died of postnatal complications a few days after the birth of her son, who eventually went on to become King Edward VI.  Queen Jane is not to be confused with Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg [b. 15 February 1951] from Hayes, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Mieke (van Tricht), a nurse, and John Benjamin Frankenberg, an obstetrician.

Medicine Woman

58. Sign of deceit, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : SHIFTY EYES.  Supposedly, a liar cannot look you straight in the EYES.  In reality, this only apples to rank amateurs.  The good ones can pull it off, no prob - without batting an EYE, so to speak.  Here, SHIFTY gives us a clue that the letters of the word EYES have been tampered with.

Hi gang.  JazzBumpa here, complete with bifocals.  Let's give this puzzle the EYE and see what we can discover.

Across

1. Less-played song, usually : B-SIDE.   Takes me back to my yute, when 45 RPM records typically contained a hit song on the A-SIDE and some other less commercially successful song on the B-SIDE.

6. Big name in big projections : I-MAX.   Big screen theater.

10. Skips, as TiVoed ads : ZAPS.  I guess you can ZAP something to make it disappear.

14. Like Andean pyramids : INCAN.  Of or pertaining to the INCA people.

15. Bumpkin : RUBE.  Simple farmers, people of the land, the common clay of the new west  .  .  .

16. Touched down : ALIT.  Landed, as a bird, plane, or lunar module.

19. Without serious thought : IDLY.  As in chattered IDLY.

20. Cuts down : HEWS.  HEW is one of those odd English language verbs that means two wildly different things.  Here, it means to chop or cut with an AXE or other tool.  The other meaning is to adhere to some idea or set of principles.

21. Single : ONE.  As a dollar bill.

22. Garson of Hollywood : GREER.  Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson [1904-1996] was a very popular movie star with MGM in the 1940's.

Real Redhead

23. "Do it, __ will!" : OR I.  Is this an offer or a threat?

27. Bed blossoms : PANSIES.  Flowers.

29. Hyundai rival : KIA.  Korean cars

30. Vineyard cask : TUN.   A large cask holding 252 gallons.

31. Stainless __ : STEEL.   An alloy containing chromium that is highly resistant to rusting.

32. Agent : REPresentative.

33. "Looney Tunes" stinker, familiarly : PEPE. Le Pew, a skunk.

Provide your own caption

34. Kaiser roll topping : POPPY SEED. A pinwheel shaped soft bread roll with a crisp crust, topped with seeds that actually do come from the opium poppy.

38. Hide from a hunter? : PELT.   Cute misdirection, hide and PELT both referring to the skin removed from the hunted animal.  Cf. 53 A.

41. "Yet cease your __, you angry stars of heaven!": "Pericles" : IRE.  From scene I of Shakeseare's play.  IRE, of course, meaning anger.

42. E-cigarette output : VAPOR.

46. Firefighter's tool : AXE.  For HEWING.

47. Lanai music maker : UKE.  Not exclusively for Hawaiian songs - but there are strings attached.

48. Has a conniption : GOES APE.  A way of manifesting IRE.

53. "Noah kept bees in the ark hive," e.g. : PUN.  Word play based on similar sounds and [often awkwardly imposed] double meanings.

54. __ acid : AMINO.  The building block of life.  This organic compound has both carboxylic acid and amine functionality.  These two reactive groups can react with each other, and thus form long complicated molecular chains.  The rest is history.  Or maybe chemistry.  Or biology.  It all gets a little muddy.

55. Capp and Capone : ALS.  Two guys names AL.  One was a rum-running crime boss and the other gave us Li'l Abner.

56. Poet Whitman : WALT.  An American poet [1819 - 1892.]  His collection, Leaves of Grass, was considered to be pornographic at the time.

57. Manner : MIEN.  From the same root as "demeanor."  A way of presenting one's self.  This word was popular ca. 1800, and has been in decline since, especially after 1900.

61. Years, to Livy : ANNI.  Latin and plural.

62. Navigation hazard : HAZE.  It impairs vision, shifts the EYES, and comes in many colors.



63. __-garde : AVANT.  From Olde French into late Middle English - meaning the most forward part of an advancing military force.  Now, by extension, anything at the cutting edge of technology or culture.

64. Establishes : SETS.

65. Fancy jug : EWER.

66. Nutty green sauce : PESTO.  Olive oil based sauce containing pine nuts, basil and garlic, typically served over pasta.

Down

1. Vatican personnel : BISHOPS.  Also chess men.

2. Show disdain for : SNEER AT.   With a contemptuous or condescending facial expression.

3. Dessert drink made from frozen grapes : ICE WINE.   The grapes are frozen on the vine, concentrating the sugars and other solids, yielding a smaller amount of concentrated very sweet wine.

4. Weekly septet : DAYS.  Check your calendar.

5. Disney doe : ENA.   Bambi's aunt appears alliteratively.

6. Modern Persians : IRANIS.  Ancient Persia ---> modern Iran.

7. Subdued : MUTED.  Even on the trombone.



8. Civil War nickname : ABE.   President Lincoln

9. Boomer's kid : X-ER.  Those in generation X.   The baby boomers are the demographic cohort born from ca. 1946 to 1964, in the aftermath of WW II.  Generation X has historically been a disparaging term used to describe alienated youth.   It was only after 1991, when Canadian writer Douglas Coupland came out with his novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, that it was applied to the previously unnamed cohort that followed the boomers.  There are cultural implications to identifying with a particular cohort, and Gen X-ERs, not specifically limited to the after 1964 crowd, could have been born as early as 1956, and up until some vague date in the neighborhood of 1980.

10. '70s-'90s African state : ZAIRE.  Now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

11. Pasta preference : AL DENTE.  Cooked until still firm, and not mushy.

12. Forms a big stack : PILES UP.  I'm thinking of all the leaves yet to land in my yard.

13. Compound in many disposable coffee cups : STYRENE.   Vinylbenzene, a genuinely nasty chemical that also is found in other commercially important plastics.

18. Easy pace : LOPE.

22. Govt. property overseer : GSA.   The General Services Administration is an independent government agency that helps manage and support other government agencies.

24. Corn Belt sight : SILO.  Commonly a cylindrical tower used for storing grain.

25. Barely makes, with "out" : EKES.   Commonly EKES its way into a crossword.

26. "Geez!" : YIPE.   I prefer YIKES!

28. When the NFL's regular season begins : SEPTember brings us football at all levels.

32. Canadian whisky : RYE.  Is all Canadian whiskey RYE? I know not all RYE is Canadian.

33. BlackBerries, e.g. : PDAS.  Personal Data Assistants.

35. Seattle's __ Place Market : PIKE.   One of the oldest continuously operating farmers' markets in the U.S.

36. Antelopes, to lions : PREY.  A step lower on the food chain.

37. At any point : EVER.

38. Sleepover need : PAJAMAS.

Sleepwear for the whole family

39. Check out : EXAMINE.  Take a gander at those jammies!

40. Lax : LENIENT.  Not strict.

43. Tropical fruits : PAPAYAS. The fruit of a tree native to Central America that has been locally cultivated for many centuries.

44. Rich : OPULENT.  Displaying conspicuous or ostentatious wealth.

45. Charges for use of, as an apartment : RENTS TO.

47. GI hangout : USO.  The United Services Organization, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides programs, services and live entertainment to U.S. military personnel and their families.

48. Club owner? : GOLFER

49. Toss from office : OUST

51. County seat of County Clare : ENNIS

52. Thanksgiving decoration : MAIZE

56. "__ Only Just Begun": Carpenters hit : WE'VE

58. Ship, to its crew : SHE

59. "Hee __" : HAW

60. Go on and on : YAP

That wraps it up for today.  Hope your vision didn't get blurred or HAZY.  And that's the truth!

Cool regards!
JzB

Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Craig Stowe

Theme: Five Easy Pieces

Craig's just right Wednesday puzzle reminded me instantly of this movie below. Taking literary license to count the theme reveal as a piece, our midweek exercise literally had Five Easy Pieces of a Piano. In the movie the five easy pieces represent tortured Bobby Dupea's first book of PIANO PIECES/exercises.

All right, it took me three clues to get the gimmick since HAMMER and KEY were not enough but PEDAL cinched it. DUH! My sympathy goes out to piano teachers who have to listen to Twinkle, Twinkle being pecked out laboriously as their student's first Easy Piece!

Theme answers

18. Olympic event featuring a 16-pound ball : HAMMER THROW - Felt covered string striker or a ball and chain Olympic Event

24. Major court rulings : KEY DECISIONS - Those 88 ebony and ivory pieces or certainly this KEY DECISION

39. Speedster's motto : PEDAL TO THE METAL  - Foot operated levers to modify a piano's sound or leave it to Steven to have a twist on PEDAL-initiated acceleration 

50. Particle physics concept : STRING THEORY - What actually vibrates in the piano or???

...and the Theme Reveal

60. Gershwin's preludes, e.g. ... and the starts of 18-, 24-, 39- and 50-Across : PIANO PIECES - Compositions for the PIANO or its parts (HAMMERS, KEYS, STRINGS and PEDALS, etc. all shown here). Hey, a harp really is a naked piano!

Now let's examine the other PIECES of Craig's fine entry -

Across   

    
1. Pal to text "<3" symbols to : BFF - Man, I thought I was so clever when I put in LES as < is the symbol for less than. I thought I was in for a puzzle full of such math symbolism

4. __ Road: WWII supply route to China : BURMA - Allies flew over "The Hump" (Himalayas) in Japanese-controlled Burma to supply Chiang with material in China so they could keep fighting Japan 

9. Michael of Monty Python : PALIN - Michael, no relation to the former Alaska governor 

14. Bud's partner : LOU - "Who's on first?"  "Of course he is!"

15. Best of the best : A-TEAM

16. Stop on Chicago's Blue Line : O'HARE - Cubs game from O'HARE? Blue Line to Addison station and then the #152 East Bus to Wrigley

17. Coastal bird : ERN

20. Skin blemish : ACNE

22. Medicinal houseplant : ALOE

23. __ farm : ANT - $19.99 with 25 live ANTS from Amazon.com 

29. Beehive State college squad : UTES 

30. Clad : ATTIRED 

34. Selective way to order : ALA CARTE - I'll just take a #2 with a Sprite (skip this Steve!)

38. "Make it happen" : DO SO - Picard's line has elements of the clue and fill

43. Part of JFK: Abbr. : INIT

44. Emerges : COMES OUT - Like the Sun for Annie Tomorrow!

45. Vouches for : ATTESTS

49. Meat : GIST

55. Irritate : IRK - What the waitress did to Bobby Dupea in the iconic diner scene in Five Easy Pieces

58. Coleridge work : RIME - A statue honoring Coleridge in Somerset, England where the Ancient Mariner bears his famous winged burden from The RIME

59. Adjuration : PLEA

65. "You don't say!" : DUH

66. When a "Macbeth" witch says, "Something wicked this way comes" : ACT IV - Says Witch 2

67. Idolize : ADORE

68. Spanish pronoun : ESO

69. Moriarty's creator : DOYLE - Sherlock always BESTS (49 Down yesterday) him

70. 2015 World Series player, for short : NY MET -  I remember that series a little differently 

71. Classic car : REO
 
Down
 
1. Not promising : BLEAK

2. "Star Wars" power, with "the" : FORCE - I'm NOT  lining up for tickets for the next movie in this franchise that starts Friday 

3. Comical : FUNNY

4. Scrooge interjection : BAH - There's not a ghost of a chance that he keeps that perspective

5. "Respect for Acting" author Hagen : UTA

6. Sleep stage : REM

7. Half a pop quartet : MAMAS - This group will perform in our town on January 22, 2016 covering The Mamas and Papas and other 60's groups. It's already sold out

8. Bedelia of kiddie lit : AMELIA - "No, Amelia! When I said make us a chicken dinner, I didn't mean serve us cracked corn!"

9. Strong : POTENT

10. Contented sound : AHH

11. Croft of video games : LARA - Well, what would you wear to raid a tomb?

12. Word before man or maiden : IRON

13. Eye source for a dramatic cauldron : NEWT - Clever!

19. Plant part : ROOT

21. Schools : EDUCATES

25. Short list shortener : ET AL

26. Marriage doc. : CERT - ...or do you remember the ad slogan that went with these CERTS?

27. What a colon means, in analogies : IS TO - Guitar : (IS TO) Cello as Segovia: (IS TO) _____

28. Avoid : SIDE STEP - "No one wants to hear about my tax evasion, let's talk about Syria!"

31. __-Rooter : ROTO

32. Old Testament twin : ESAU

33. Nitwit : DOLT

34. Capital of Samoa : APIA - Yep, even in APIA, Samoa "You deserve a break today"

35. Mardi Gras follower : LENT

36. Mine entrance : ADIT

37. Short list shortener : ETC 

40. Boss on "The Dukes of Hazzard" : HOGG - Ah, ya cain't beat the classics! 

41. Exude : EMIT

42. Screen door stuff : MESH - We had to retrofit our screen door to kitty-proof mesh. 

46. Tried hard : STROVE

47. Vacation plan : TRIP

48. Apelike : SIMIAN

51. Down-and-out : NEEDY - NEEDY people aren't necessarily down-and-out

52. More mature : OLDER

53. Reduce, __, Recycle : REUSE - What you can do with old milk cartons

54. Bumpkin : YAHOO

55. Microsoft Surface alternative : I PAD

56. Puerto __ : RICO

57. "Teenage Dream" singer Perry : KATY - She hasn't spoken to her husband of 14 months, Russell Brand, after he texted her on New Year's Eve 2011 that he was divorcing her 

61. Nothing : NIL

62. Site attachment? : COM

63. Afore : ERE

64. Firmed up, as plans : SET

Now you can enter any comments you have on PIANO PIECES, Chess Pieces, Reese's Pieces, et al, etc...

Husker Gary 

Friday, December 4, 2015, Craig Stowe

Theme: How do I get paid here? Wait in the FEE LINE in the corner.

It appears I get another debut puzzle, and a very ambitious one at that. In each of the four corners we have intersecting names of famous fictional felines. They are all part of the family FELIDAE. We get the reveal in middle, which oddly has nothing to do with CATS. To add to the challenge, we have triple stacks of nine in the NW and SE and triple sixes in SW and NE. To get all that into a single grid, there are some compromises and 8 cheater squares, but I still found it one of the hardest of the year. I have not seen that many puzzles where the themers are all proper names.  A CSO to the Corner, so let us  get to it.

1A. "The Jungle Book" villain : SHERE KHAN (9) the bad guy is paired with 1D. Half of a cartoon duo : STIMPY (6) the silly one.

10A. Character in the comic "Mutts" : MOOCH  (5) who I do not know is paired with 14D. Friend of Calvin : HOBBES (6) a wonderful stuffed animal.

63A. C.S. Lewis hero : ASLAN (5) from the other side of the wardrobe is paired with 41D. Scar's brother from Lion King : MUFASA (6).

64A. "Looney Tunes" lisper : SYLVESTER (9) also silly is paired with 47D. Pooh pal : TIGGER (6) another stuffed tiger.

The reveal: 35A. Diagonally ... or what each of four pairs of puzzle answers form? : KITTY CORNER (11).

       

Okey dokey, lets see how he befuddled me...

15. Stubborn : TENACIOUS. A musical name? LINK. (4:53).

16. Howe'er : ALTHO. Both silly abbreviations.

17. Mutton dish : IRISH STEW. This RECIPE?

18. Title from the Arabic for "master" : SAHIB.

19. Litter call : MEW.

20. Orchestra sect. : STRings.

21. Electric guitar effect : REVERB.

22. Christmas __ : PIE. Is this really a thing? Isn't it just mince pie?

23. Mate's affirmative : AYE. Ship mate.

24. 2013 Spike Jonze film : HER. Really weird movie.

25. Arctic coast explorer : RAE. Here we go into the Friday ABYSS.  An unsung HERO?

26. "Revolutionary Road" author Richard : YATES. Have you read the BOOK?

28. "... high hope for __ heaven": Shak. : A LOW. Love's Labour Lost, Act I, Scene 1

30. Mil. awards : DSCS. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS.

31. Part of many a date : MOVIE.

33. Cheapen : ABASE.

38. To date : AS YET.

39. Virtuous : MORAL. If you are too moral you may not...

41. Cry of discomfort : MOAN. which looks a lot like...

44. Romantic evening highlight, perhaps : MOON. After which you many moan.

46. Shore up, as an embankment : REVET. last and only time in the LAT June 2010. I did not recall.

48. Mil. branch : USN.

49. Present : NOW.

50. Munch on : EAT.

52. Former Abbey Road Studios owner : EMI. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd.

53. Gradual revelation : FADE IN. In movies?

55. Center : HUB.

56. Record : LOG. Captain's Log....

57. Ice cream thickeners : AGARS. Yes, seaweed is the SECRET.

58. Peggy Lee specialty : TORCH SONG.A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship. Wiki.

61. Alabama River city : SELMA.

62. Chestnut : PLATITUDE.

Down:

2. "Yoo-hoo!" : HERE I AM.

3. 1944 Pacific battle site : ENIWETOK. The BATTLE  came not long after the battle for Kwajalein, a Marshall Island where an old girlfriend lived on when she was young.

4. Univ. peer leaders : RAS.  This bunch. LINK.

5. Command level: Abbr. : ECH. This is common fill in the NYT but meaningless to me.

6. __-face : KISSY.

7. Winter warmer : HOT TEA.

8. Violinist who taught Heifetz : AUER.

9. State north of Victoria: Abbr. : NSW. New South Wales. CSO to Kazie.

10. Electromagnetic wave generator : MASER. I remember when they won the Nobel  Prize for this DEVICE.

11. Norse royal name : OLAV.

12. Leftovers : OTHERS. I get it but I do not like it.

13. President before Sarkozy : CHIRAC. He recently turned 83. LINK.

21. Nuke : REWARM.

23. "A chain ... strong __ weakest link" : AS ITS.

24. Rail rider : HOBO.

27. French spa : EVIAN. A watered down clue?

29. Kind of vegetarian : LACTO. They eat milk products like cheese.

30. Caterpillar rival : DEERE.

32. Linguistic root : ETYMON. The root of etymology but not a word I know.

34. Derisive sound : SNORT. My memory of this is tied to Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, which is also the real Sandra. Wait until the end.

36. "Yikes!" : YEOW.

37. Disentangle : RAVEL OUT. Not unravel, but...

40. Paper with a Société section : LE MONDE. The 'world' in French and an"A" away.

42. Oklahoma natives : OSAGES.

43. Along with the rest : AND ALL.

45. __ network : NEURAL.

49. Seder month : NISAN. Hebrew Calendar.

51. "Modern Family" network : ABC TV. I have been doing lots of networking.

54. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA. The puzzle friendly Ms Bombeck.

55. Blessed : HOLY.

58. Pulls a Charmin shenanigan, briefly : TPS. Do people still toilet paper houses?

59. Skedaddle : HIE.

60. Some routes: Abbr. : STS.

I will say goodbye with an image of domestic cats and hope none of you are allergic to dander. Lemonade out.

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