Saturday, Jun 25th, 2016, Martin Ashwood-Smith & George Barany

Theme: 16x15

Words: 69 (missing J,Q,W,Z)

Blocks: 34

 Today's offering is another expanded standard grid from the duo of Messrs Martin and George to allow for the triple quad stack in the middle, and that's not all; an additional pair of spanners, one at the top and bottom of the construction with nifty 11-letter climbers that cross the quad stack and one of the other 15-letter fills.  This is our second puzzle from the pair, the other being 23 Jan of this year - I looked back and reported that I did OK with the spanners, but not so well everywhere else.  This time, I did better, but still got stuck with one - just one - red letter cheat to get me thru due East.  Oh well.  The spanners;

16a. It's airtight : THE PERFECT ALIBI

29a. Light carrier : FIBER OPTIC CABLE - I knew the first part, but the 'CABLE' part didn't occur to me right away - which is odd, because in my local area, there's a 'cable war' going on between Verizon FiOS, which is Fiber optic, and Cablevision, which is standard; my brother tried FiOS, and switched back.

35a. Text ending in Panama? : A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL - a palindrome; the same forwards and backwards, when you add PANAMA to the end

36a. Eviction consequence : VACANT APARTMENT - I once worked for a cleaning company that specialized in apartment complexes - we had mixed feelings about evictions because the ex-tenant usually ended up leaving valuables behind ( leather jackets, guitars, liquor, porn ) but also some really vicious mess to clean up - used appliances never once wiped down, and in one case, out of spite, sugar in the carpet and ketchup on the walls

37a. Investment in a relationship : EMOTIONAL ENERGY - well, it fits, but I have never really heard this as a "term" before

54. Retire : PUT OUT TO PASTURE - I had the "-TO PASTURE" part, but my first fills in the SW Down were wrong, so it took a while

I'm on vacatiON WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Line at the supermarket : SOUP CANS - nothing about BAR CODE(s)

9. Tapering part : SPIRE - my first thought was candles, and table legs - and then other kinds of legs....

14. Freezer bar with Sir Isaac Lime and Alexander the Grape flavors : OTTER*POP

15. Aleichem who created Tevye : SHOLEM - filled via perps

18. Short and sweet : TERSE

19. Sea lion, e.g. : EARED SEAL

20. Galeón cargo : ORO

21. Etym. : DERIVation - the etymology of a word is where it comes from; I especially like "neighbor" - see here

22. Base address : SIR - dah~!  Not APO

24. Confession starter : MEA

26. "Just __" : ASK

38. Medicare card fig. : SSN

39. Go down : SET - think sun

40. __ Banos, California : LOS - one of those has to be LOS or LAS, but with an obscure (for this east-coaster) town

41. Spring time : APRIL - two words, but it wasn't MAY, JUNE, or MARCH

44. Courses for coll. credit : APs - I took two in high school

47. Teachers' lounge : STAFFROOM

52. Berkshire attraction for race fans : ASCOT

56. Charge : ONRUSH - oops, not AMBush

57. Mae West's final film : SEXTETTE - semi-WAG; not in my wheelhouse.  The IMDb

58. Lacerations : TEARS - ah, I tried SCARS - and then again one other place

59. Get smashed : TIE ONE ON - haven't done so in over 11 years - now I tie two on - each of my shoes....

DOWN:

1. __ voce : SOTTO - as we have discussed here before, the bigger the stacks, the shorter the crossing fill is, and thus usually easier to fill

2. Remaining : OTHER

3. Unborn, after "in" : UTERO

4. Fires (up) : PEPS

5. Algonquian language : CREE

6. Credit fig. : APR - I am looking into this Lending Tree Credit Card offer of $0 balance transfer; semi-clecho with -  7a. Credit card come-on : NO FEE

8. Fishing tool : SPEAR

9. Sardine cousin : SHAD

10. D.C. in-crowd : POLiticianS

11. "__ awake at night": "Pretty Boy" lyric : I LIE - made sense, so I put it in....

12. Name on the 1984 album "My Kind of Country" : REBA - really my only four-letter go-to fill for country

13. __ Sinclair, protagonist of Hesse's "Demian" : EMIL - again, perps

15. "The Office" star : STEVE CARELL

17. Record holder? : CRIMINAL

21. Be affected by gravity : DROP TO EARTH - I had "drop toWARDS", which made sense, but baffled me in the SW corner

22. French governing group : SÉNAT

23. Qom inhabitants : IRANIs

25. Bankbook ID : ACCT. No.

26. Marryin' Sam presided over his wedding : ABNER - OK, I tried ELVIS....

27. Word on the street : SLANG

28. Big name in backpacks : KELTY - my one red-letter was the "K"

29. Pets : FAVES

30. Muslim clerics : IMAMS

31. Strips for brunch : BACON

32. Nursery item : PLANT POT

33. Bite with un aperitivo : TAPA

34. Willie of "Eight Is Enough" : AAMES - didn't watch the show - "Buck Rogers" was more to my liking

first guy on the top

42. All-night bar? : ROOST

43. JFK Library architect : I.M. PEI - I knew this one

44. Less than right? : ACUTE - angles - har-har



45. __ Alegre, Brazil : PORTO

46. Rembrandt contemporary : STEEN

47. Blemish : SPOT - I went with SCAR here, first, and it was altogether wrong

48. Harmony : TUNE

49. Sharp brand introduced in 1977 : ATRA

50. Lou Gehrig's number : FOUR - I thought it was NINE, and so I was never going to succeed until I came to the conclusion that I was wrong

51. Stir : FUSS

52. On the subject of : AS TO

53. Acronymous WWII gun : STEN - I knew this one, too

55. Pink-slip : AXE

Splynter

Saturday, Jan 23rd, 2016, Martin Ashwood-Smith & George Barany

Theme: None (16 X 15)

Words: 69 (pangram)

Blocks: 38

I was glad when this one was over.  The quad stack was not the problem - everything else was.  Too bad, really.  Just some way-too-obscure fill - if you don't know it, it makes no difference how the clue reads.  A bit of a choppy grid, with 16 rows and the standard 15 columns.  Two 11-letter climbers, and the big 6; the quad stack and other two;

16. "A London Symphony" composer : VAUGHAN WILLIAMS - mostly perps and WAG

28. Minimal complications : LEAST RESISTANCE - the clue is a bet "eh"

36. Landscape brighteners : ORNAMENTAL TREES - my idea of ornamental;

Or how about this~?

37. "West Side Story" duet : ONE HAND, ONE HEART - I had one LOVE - can you tell I have no interest in musicals~?

38. Failed big-time : MET ONE'S WATERLOO - like this puzzle

54. Publication known for rankings : FORTUNE MAGAZINE - CONSUMER REPORTS fit, and that just did me in

ONWARD~

ACROSS:

1. Actor in four "Planet of the Apes" films : McDOWALL - did not help that I spelled his name with an "E", not an "A"

9. Antenna support : MAST

13. Traffic report source : CAR RADIO - I no longer listen to the "radio" of my car radio; I run Pandora on my phone thru the MP3 jack

14. Farm report? : BAA-BAA - I figured this was where we were headed....Moo-moo, etc.

18. Dutch banking giant : ING - their US portion was bought out by Capital One, and my retirement was there - and I despise Capital One.  The ING Wiki

19. It may be deviated : SEPTUM - There's a line in a Megadeth song that includes this phrase

20. London-born miler : COE - filled via perps, but I recall the name from crosswords

21. "That's a riot" : HA-HA-HA - I almost filled this in, but waited on perps

23. __ Werner, Best Actor nominee for "Ship of Fools" : OSKAR - a WAG on the "S", the rest was perps

25. Tokyo-based carrier : JAL - the "L" was not happening for me

26. Struggle with assessments? : LISP - cute

39. Whimper : MEWL - I was just not going to get this because of my LOVE over HAND; all the Down crossings were making no sense to me, and the domino effect....

40. __ de veau: sweetbread : RIS - eeeew~!  Not what I thought it was, and this marks the return of Frawnche after a very long absence....c'est la vie

41. Turning points : AXLES - meh.  period.  meh.  Axles are shafts, not points

44. Stein's "The Autobiography of __ Toklas" : ALICE B. - her Wiki

48. Word that sounds like its last letter : WHY - I C Y, D U?

49. Saudi neighbor : QATARI - the "Q" was a WAG, and that helped

51. Remove : LOP - think ornamental trees

58. Early online forum : USENET

59. Turkey, mostly : ANATOLIA - and I gotta link the "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" song

60. Wear well : LAST - this was like my first, and only, across fill on pass #1

61. Cuts from the back : SIRLOINS - ah.  I was thinking someone who "cuts" in line

DOWN:

1. Year in the reign of England's Henry I : MCVI - we had an English history lesson last week

2. Scott of "Hawaii Five-0" : CAAN - I like his acting style, so I liked this version of "Five-O" as much as the original; he plays Turk in the Ocean's movies, too

3. Tranquilize : DRUG

4. URL ending : .org

5. Distressed cry : WAH - pretty cool guitar effect, too

6. Recipe phrase : A DASH - "A" clue

7. Form opener : LINE A - clue "A"

8. Acidic : LOW pH - nice

9. Printemps period : MAI - more Frawnche

10. Taken __ : ABACK  - tsszzz - one too many "A" answers~?

11. Its capital is Apia : SAMOA - HA~! Nailed it

12. Law enforcement tool : TASER

14. __-ray Disc : BLU

15. "It won't be long now" : ALMOST THERE

17. Repubblica __: European country : ITALIANA - um, OK.  Perps.

21. Lives : HAS A HOME - gee, I think I liked the original version - see the interview

22. In the style of the 1975 film "Nashville," say : ALTMANESQUE - never heard the phrase, and in the 'down', was not going to fill for me - but a learning experience after the fact - his Wiki

24. Barbecue fare : SPARE RIB - PORK RIBS~? SHORT RIB~? I tried too many, and missed the obvious

25. One of the Jacksons : JANET

27. Minor key? : ISLET - since I got burned a few weeks ago, I did not fall for this again

28. Device with shuttles and treadles : LOOM

29. Shore raptor : ERNE

30. Freshen : RENEW

31. Runs over : ENDS LATE - my landlord is in Florida, and we're expecting to get hammered with a blizzard today.  High winds combined with the high tide/full moon, he's worried the property will flood - it's on Peconic Bay; that's the kind of "runs over" that was on my mind....

32. Put away : STOW

33. Actress Patricia and drummer Jeff : NEALS - I knew neither person - and I know a few drummers, as I play myself; she was before my time.  His Wiki / Her Wiki

34. Dos minus dos : CERO

35. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO

41. Very bad : AWFUL - like the next clue/answer

42. Bantu language : XHOSA

43. Strummed instruments : LYRES

45. Dharma teachers : LAMAS

46. Mashhad native : IRANI

47. Symbol of victory for immortal Celtics coach Red Auerbach : CIGAR

50. Formic acid source : ANT

51. Actress Taylor : LILI

52. From here __: henceforth : ON IN - 'round here, it's "on OUT", so I tried "UP".  Bzzzt

53. Mendel research subject : PEAS - at first, I didn't understand, but then I realized I had this man confused with this man, so I had tried "ATOM"

55. It may be activated by a plunger : TNT

56. View from Kennebunkport, Me. : ATLantic - I tried PEI - Prince Edward Island, but Nova Scotia is in the way....

57. Confusing scene : ZOO

Splynter

Saturday, Aug 30th, 2014, Martin Ashwood-Smith

Theme: "Quad Stack 16x15"

Words: 69 (missing F,J,Q,U,Z)

Blocks: 36

  I did notice that today's grid was slightly larger than our normal fare, which I have missed in the past - Mr. Ashwood-Smith had a similar Saturday grid with a Quad Stack back in Nov 2012.  Mostly blank through my first pass, just a couple of three-letter fills, but I did know 57a.  Looking back, there really was not too much in the way of vagueness, nor obscurity, IMHO.  Ten-letter corners, two 12-letter spanners, and two 10-letter climbers, one of which I nailed (*).  The Quad Stack:

30. Give an essentials-only account : SPARE THE DETAILS - I had LEAVE OUT DETAILS

39. Exercises in futility : WILD GOOSE CHASES - ugh, took too long for me to get this one, especially having "-CHASES" filled in

40. Mortgagee's calculation : INTEREST PAYMENT - Started with MONTHLY PAYMENTS

41. Group project feedback : PEER ASSESSMENTS - I'd like your assessment on my solo project - here's the finished benches

Carry ONward~!

ACROSS:

1. W. Coast force : LAPD - Police Force, Los Angeles

5. Trailer : MOBILE HOME - Dah~!  I had "MOVIE -----", and that was working for a while

15. "Superman" (1978) co-producer Salkind : ILYA

16. Guacamole maker's discard : AVOCADO PIT

17. Active : SPRY

18. Struggle for a 23-Across : SENATE RACE - circular references in Saturday puzzles are the bane of some here on the blog; 23a. Goal in an 18-Across : SEAT

19. Historic Greenwich Village club : THE BITTER END - I have 'heard' of it, but that's all; their website

21. Ivanhoe, e.g. : SAXON

22. Lao-__ : TSE

26. Volume One words, perhaps : A TO - A to Amer., e.g.

28. Blame : RAP

42. Singer's asset : EAR

43. Waste no time : HIE

44. Half-day exam given four times a yr. : LSAT

47. Welcome words : "HI's~!"

50. Mil. trial : N-TEST

54. One at the end of the line : WIDE RECEIVER - Football line

57. Band with the 1986 #1 hit "Venus" : BANANARAMA

60. Marquee time : NITE - "shorthand" for NIGHT: uses less tiles/letters and space - I had to change the marquee at a "NITE" club called Casanova's, so many years ago; see 38d.

61. Help in a stock exchange? : BROKER'S TIP

62. Old 442 rivals : GTOs

63. Fast-moving game : SPEED CHESS - not for me; I have to think about my moves

64. Lacking : SANS

DOWN:

1. Joggers of a sort : LISTS - I keep mine in the cel phone now

2. Top dog : ALPHA

3. Brand introduced by Corning in 1915 : PYREX

4. Certain prep schooler : DAY BOARDER

5. Caravel feature : MAST - Our constructor had a ship clue/answer in the Nov '12 puzzle, too

6. British miler Steve : OVETT

7. Crams, with "up" : BONES - put it in, took it out

8. Comforting comment : "I CARE"

9. Up-to-the-minute : LATE

10. Wonderlands : EDENS

11. Multitude : HORDE

12. WWII cost-stabilizing agcy. : OPA - Office of Price Administraion - the Wiki

13. Jack letters : MIC - DAH~! I shoulda known this kind of jack - music; usually a different ohm rating than say, "guitar".  I went with LBS, as in spare tire car jack

14. Time for les vacances : ETE - Frawnche - haven't seen much in a long, long time

20. Former Acura model : INTEGRA

24. Gotten up : ARISEN

25. Local __ : TALENT

27. Chiwere speakers : OTOEs

29. Attention getters : PSSTs

30. Take the wrong way? : SWIPE - dah~! Went with STEAL

31. __ gland: organ that secretes melatonin : PINEAL

32. Lets out, say : ALTERS - I bought me a suit this week - my first tailored get up, and it felt good - I've lost 30lbs this summer

33. Old West transport, in dialect : HOSS - Oater-speak for "horse" - I linked genuine frontier gibberish two weeks ago

34. Historic Padua neighbor : ESTE

35. Passbook amts. : DEPs - Deposits; don't hear much about passbooks anymore; I do all my banking with direct deposit, online transactions and mobile app functions

36. Net funds : eCASH - Dah~! Went with "GROSS"

37. DNA compound : THYMINE

38*. Sessions involving steps : A.A. MEETINGS - I did a second "Fourth Step" with a new sponsor this summer; still have NOT followed up on his suggestion....terrifying

45. Up : AWAKE

46. Like a rake : TINED

47. Pulitzer journalist Seymour : HERSH

48. Hot : IRATE

49. They occur before finals : SEMIs

51. "You Must Love Me" musical : EVITA

52. Place atop : SET ON

53. Bobby pin target : TRESS

55. Jeanne __ : D'ARC

56. Means of emphasis : CAPS - I REALLY DON'T LIKE READING TEXTS LIKE THIS

57. Hardly big shots? : BBs - Cute

58. Klee contemporary : ARP

59. __ Valley: San Francisco area : NOE - map

I have one more surprise for my buddy Adam; his logo as a plaque to go opposite the benches on the bar wall of his restaurant;

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

JD's grandson Truman turned 7 years old yesterday. Here he is with his brother Grady on the right and cousin Cameron on the left.

Saturday, Nov 17th, 2012, Martin Ashwood-Smith

(Note from C.C.:  Chicago Tribune website has the wrong puzzle today. Click here  to solve the correct puzzle on line. Or click here to print the PDF file.)


Theme: None

Words: 71

Blocks: 32

WOW~!!!

And again, WOW....

   I did not look at the grid, I just started with 1-across; it was when I got to 30-across that I realized this puzzle has SIX spanners, four-stacked in the middle AND two more grid-spanning climbers to boot. A special 16*15 grid (16 rows).  I was able to finish this bear, but way over my allotted time, and  I do have to admit, I switched to red-letter to figure out where I went wrong.  I had "EGG" for "WAG", and FITTENDS for FITMENTS (a drawback to filling in, and then not going back and looking at what's wrong).  Truly drained my brain, but most satisfying.  A look at our author's construction, who is new to our corner;

17A. Words of relief : "AM I GLAD TO SEE YOU"~!

30A. Food stamps, e.g. : STATE ASSISTANCE - I was on state assistance while I lived in the sober house for 13 months; rent was $444/mo.

39A. Contributing factor in ozone depletion : COSMIC RADIATION - I had TEST IRRADIATION to start; not a half bad guess, considering my thoughts were on A- and H-bomb (and N-) type tests

40A. Without nostalgia : UNSENTIMENTALLY

41A. Chumley's title friend in a '60s cartoon series : TENNESSEE TUXEDO - never heard of either of them; I was born in 1971

59A. Leader elected in 2005 : POPE BENEDICT XVI - I was shocked to hear we have had fifteen Popes named Benedict; here's a full list; some didn't last a full year

8D. Daydreams : CASTLES IN THE AIR - nailed it - I love Castles, and I love this song

15D. Solution for lens transparency problems : CATARACT SURGERY

And just some brilliant cluing....

onward -

ACROSS:

1. "My Dinner With Andre" co-star Wallace __ : SHAWN - total unknown; more here

6. Offensively blunt : TACTLESS

14. Early Web browser : MOSAIC

16. Cadillac Ranch site : AMARILLO - well, I was pretty sure it was in Texas

19. Sanguine : RED

20. Royal Scots for more than three centuries : STUARTS - 1371-1714; more here

21. Salon job : SET - not DYE

22. Not kosher : TREF - learned from crosswords

24. First name in photography : ANSEL Adams, B&W beauty

25. Fit solidly : MESH

26. Mt. Carmel setting : ISRael

28. Needle point?: Abbr. : ESE - Great way to overcome the "Rome to Troy direction" cluing; Rome to Troy New York, that is - map

42. 1989 Jay Presson Allen monodrama : TRU

43. Bit of a laugh : HEE - had TEE, was close enough

44. Half of a downpour? : CATS - 50/50, and I guessed right. Who had DOGS~?

47. "Peg Woffington" author : READE

51. Way up : STEP - not HIGH

55. Hop-__-thumb : O' MY - The WIki on this story

56. Ulterior motives : AGENDAS

58. Galley propeller : OAR

62. Catholic recitation : AVE MARIA - I'm not Catholic; had to wait for perps

63. Target of a Pasteur/Roux vaccine harvested from rabbits : RABIES

64. Sycophant : YEA SAYER

65. Stripes : BANDS

DOWN:

1. Sharp : SMART

2. Big hit : HOMER - Ah, still get some baseball in for C.C. - I was on a "movie" wavelength

3. It's not for everyone : ASIDE

4. Comedian : WAG - now that's not what it means, at least not here....

5. Rock's Lofgren : NILS - Nailed it

6. Exit lines : TA-TAs - as in "I'm leaving, see-ya"

7. "L'elisir d'__": Donizetti opera : AMORE - well, I had A-O-E, so....and it gave me 16 and 20 across

9. Nevado __ Cruces: Andes section : TRES - map

10. Pack item? : LIE - what a pack of lies~!

11. Steven's wife on "Family Ties" : ELYSE

12. Tart fruit : SLOES

13. Gray area? : SOUTH - I thought it was BRAIN, then SKULL, then YOUTH - we're talking about the Civil War south

18. Grayish brown : DUN

23. Furnishings : FITMENTS

25. Cleavers : MEAT AXES

27. Commercial fishing boat : SEINER

29. Body of art? : STATUE

30. Deer tail : SCUT - the online Merriam-Webster dictionary lists it as a "short erect tail (as of a hare)"

31. Writing style : TONE

32. Professional gp. : ASSN - association

33. Indian titles : SRIs

34. Corresponding : SAME

35. French noodle product? : IDEE - French for IDEA, a thought from your brain noodle

36. Historic Egyptian lifeline : NILE

37. How vichyssoise is usually served : COLD - I knew this

38. Greek war goddess : ENYO - never heard of her

44. Patient responsibility : CO-PAY

45. "Don't make __!" : A MOVE

46. Not at all laid-back : TYPE-A

48. Selection word : EENIE - eeny meeny miny moe - various spellings

49. "Now seems it far, and now __": Scott : ANEAR - ah well, an "A" word

50. CD letters : DDD - the way the recording is, well, recorded; I just learned something new; it's referred to as the SPARS code

52. Deadly agent : TOXIN

53. Hung over? : EAVED - har-har, house eaves are "hung" over the walls

54. Schoolmarmish type : PRISS

56. Quatrain rhyme scheme : A B A A

57. Labor pain? : SCAB - I'm in a union, so I knew this one

60. Common pair? : EMs - coMMon, the two "M"s in the middle

61. "We'll let you know" letters : TBA - To Be Announced

Splynter