Thursday, January 9, 2014 Peter A. Collins

Theme: "Making the cut"

The words in each of the four corners of the grid are synonyms for "cut." Interesting, that the clues for each one have nothing to do with that sense of the word. Let's go clockwise around and find them:

1-Across. Make it home? : SCORE. Baseball reference.

10-Across. Karate move : CHOP. A quick strike.

13-Down. Diminish : PARE. As in "pare" down expenses. (OK, maybe this one has a "cut" meaning, too.)

59-Down. Rollers without wheels : DICE. Craps cubes.

67-Across. Golfer's concern : SLICE. For a right-hand golfer, a banana curve ball that ends up to the right of the intended target. Sometimes used to advantage on a dog-leg right hole.

65-Across. Fit : TRIM. In shape.

51-Down. Feature of some skirts : SLIT. Sexy feature.

1-Down. Sassy sort : SNIP. Does everyone know this meaning? I think of a "snip" as someone who isn't worth bothering with.

And the reveal:

38-Across. With 40-Across, taking the easy way (and a hint to eight aptly placed answers in this grid) :

CUTTING. 40-Across. See 38-Across : CORNERS.

This certainly felt more Friday-level to me. But I still finished in my typical Thursday time. Lots of unknowns and names that depended heavily on perps to reveal.

Across:

6. Trunk hardware : HASP. Tire "iron"? Nope - wrong kind of trunk.

Steamer trunk

14. 2013 US Open winner : NADAL. This only took five perps to get. I was thinking golf, of course. But neither "Justin" nor "Rose" fit.

15. In the past : ONCE.

16. Chaplin's widow : OONA. Thank goodness for old favorites!

17. Query in Matthew : IS IT I?

18. Crybaby of a sort : SORE LOSER.

20. Like French doors : PANED.

21. Special benefit : PRIVILEGE.

22. One having a ball : DEB. Cute.

24. "You said it!" : AMEN.

25. University of Georgia mascot Hairy __ : DAWG.

Georgia mascots

28. Like a GI doing dishes : ON KP.

30. Selena of "Wizards of Waverly Place" : GOMEZ. More perps. I was thinking of Sela, and could only come up with "Ward." Never watched this show.

35. Anticipated touchdown hr. : ETA.

36. Nail holders : TOES.

37. Meditative genre : NEW AGE.

41. As per schedule : ON TIME.

42. Knocks : RAPS.

43. One might make a setter better : VET. Cute clue!

44. Question type : YES/NO.

45. Start of a Spanish cheer : VIVA. I think this refers to "VIVA la vida," meaning "long live life" or "live the life." Maybe Lucina can help me out here.

46. Antiprohibitionists : WETS. They are the opposite of "tee-totalers."

47. The Supremes, e.g. : TRIO. Sorry, but every clip has annoying ads.

49. Collectible radio : RCA.

RCA Radio ad

51. Ristorante choice : SPAGHETTI.

56. Ready to rumble : ARMED.

60. Drags one's feet : LOLLYGAGS. Love that word.

61. First name in puppetry : SHARI. Lewis. With Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse.

62. Smidgen : IOTA.

63. Reunion invitee : ALUM.

64. Very malicious : TOXIC. Ever hear of a toxic relationship?

66. Telescope part : LENS.


Down:

2. Honduran home : CASA.

3. Frigg's husband : ODIN. The word "Friday" comes from the Anglo-Saxon name for Frigg.

4. Like most Pixar movies : RATED G. I always have to check perps to see if it will be "G-rated" or "rated G."

5. Skip over : ELIDE.

6. What a white "H" on a blue sign signifies: Abbr. : HOSP.ital.

7. Arctic wear : ANORAKS. We've had this word before.

8. Stick to a tight budget : SCRIMP.

9. Annoyance : PEEVE.

10. Unflappable : COOL.

11. It might wind up in the yard : HOSE. Good misdirection.

12. 100 sawbucks : ONE G. "Thou" would also fit...

19. Sticks around : LINGERS.

23. American frontiersman : BOONE. Dan'l.

25. Trapping strategy : DECOY.

26. Carry __ : A TUNE.

27. "King Kong" actress Naomi : WATTS.

29. What a "-" may indicate: Abbr. : NEG.ative.

31. Fess (up) : OWN.

32. Novelist Binchy : MAEVE. I liked "Circle of Friends."

33. Pond wader : EGRET. Hmmm, the old "heron" or "EGRET" dilemma...

34. Bartender's supply : ZESTS.

36. Coarse grass used as fodder : TIMOTHY. Possibly named after farmer and agriculturist Timothy Hanson.

37. Without face value : NO PAR.

39. __ lizzie : TIN.

40. NBAer who plays at "The Q" : CAV.alier of Cleveland. "The Q" is the nickname for the Quicken Loans Arena.

42. Control for an out-of-control crowd : RIOT GUN. For the ones in 56-Across, maybe?

45. Basketball Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick : VITALE. Also known as "Dickie V."

46. Pop art pioneer : WARHOL. (I'm getting hungry…)

Warhol soup can

48. Grand : REGAL.

50. Treatments for breaks : CASTS. How's your leg, Irish Miss?

52. What a "D" often means : POOR. Or "big" (as a bra size) Dennis?

53. Some basilica singers : ALTI.

54. Glitz : GLAM.

55. Doctrines : ISMS.

57. Ankle-length skirt : MAXI.

58. Burdon of The Animals : ERIC. Still active after more than forty years, he just came out with a new album called "Til Your River Runs Dry." The song "Water" was inspired by a conversation he had with Gorbachev. 4:21 (Skip the ad in only 4 seconds.)

That's all I have for this week!
Marti

Note from C.C.:

Husker Gary has updated the Corner map. Click here.  If you want to be on the map, please contact Gary (gschlapfer@gmail.com).

Sunday October 13, 2013 Peter A. Collins

Theme: "Cross Country" - Two countries which share two letters are merged in each theme answer.

 23A. Border sharers of Europe? : SANMARINORWAY (San Marino & Norway)

 41A. Border sharers of Europe and Asia? : SPAINDONESIA (Spain & Indonesia)

 52A. Border sharers of South America and Asia? : CHILEBANON (Chile & Lebanon)

 

 69A. Border sharers of Europe and Asia? : UNITEDKINGDOMAN (United Kingdom & Oman)

 94A. Border sharers of Asia and Africa? : NEPALGERIA (Nepal & Algeria)

 101A. Border sharers of Asia? : MYANMARMENIA (Myanmar & Armenia)

 124A. Border sharers of North America and Asia? : JAMAICAMBODIA (Jamaica & Cambodia)

How observant of Peter to find this different approach to a country theme. He's one of the most innovative constructors in the country. You never know what to expect in a Peter A. Collins grid.

This is his Xword Info photo. Looks like some kind of music fest to me.

Across:

1. Family nickname : MOMMA

6. Waltz king : STRAUSS

13. Artificial surface football injury : TURF TOE. Commonly associated with players who play on artificial turf. Pain in big toe joint.

20. Places : AREAS

21. Kitchen worker's wear : HAIRNET

22. In the zone : ON A ROLL

25. Slows : RETARDS

26. Ignore : SNUB

27. Dyeing occasion : EASTER

28. Named person : DESIGNEE. You would think it's designatee.

29. Harry Potter's Hedwig, e.g. : OWL. I'm glad the clue is not asking for Harry Potter's owl. 

31. Building near a track, maybe : STABLE

34. End of many addresses : COM

35. Energize, with "up" : AMP

38. Frosty coat : HOAR

46. Ranee's wrap : SAREE

48. Relax, with "out" : VEG

50. Burn covering : SALVE

51. Birth of __ : AN ERA

55. Acronymous WWII gun : STEN

56. Three-star off. : LT GEN. No google. Guess who's the first ever LT GEN in the US?

57. Give a charge to : IONIZE

58. "Go placidly __ the noise ...": Ehrmann : AMID

60. With 17-Down, "Cross Creek" Oscar nominee : RIP. And TORN (17. See 60-Across). It's clued as a name because  TORE (13D. Hurried) is also in the grid. Ideally one of them should have been removed. 

62. Shore thing : SAND. Sure thing.

63. We're-together link : IN THIS. A rare 6-letter partial.

64. Start of something big? : MACRO. Prefix for "big". Microsoft = Microcomputer & Software

66. Dirt road feature : RUT

68. Jeans giant : LEE

74. Poetic body : ORB

77. E. Berlin's Cold War home : GDR (German Democratic Republic)

78. Chapel topper : SPIRE

79. Some Great Lakes natives : MIAMIS. Is this related to Miami?

83. Bit of salon artistry : COIF

85. "Gross!" : EEW. I use EWW.

87. Dirty : SOIL

88. Sun Bowl city : EL PASO

89. It merged with Molson in 2005 : COORS. Now Molson-Coors.

91. With 97-Across, like many catalogues : MAIL. 97. See 91-Across : ORDER. Do you use "catalog" or "catalogue"?

96. Recess retort : AM TOO

99. Sigma preceder : RHO

100. Music rights gp. : ASCAP

104. "__ it get to me" : I LET

106. Surprised cries : OHs

107. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. Learned from doing xwords.

108. Makes impure : TAINTS

110. Madonna, according to the stars : LEO. Not the stars I had in mind.

112. Boorlike : CLODDISH

116. Actress Headly : GLENNE. Unknown to me.

119. Dazzling duo in Dover? : ZEDS. Two Z's in Dazzling.

123. Pub-crawl : CAROUSE

127. Enigma machine user : ENCODER

128. Rapidly : IN A SNAP

129. Heavenly helper : ANGEL. Argyle is my Angel.

130. Most prized : DEAREST. And Dearest.

131. Enjoys a few ribs? : BANTERS. Jazzbumpa would love this clue.

132. Gaggle members : GEESE

Down:

 

1. Serious service : MASS

2. Setting for Camus' "The Plague" : ORAN. Gimme for veteran solvers.

3. It's taken after an order is given : MENU. Big "D'oh"!

4. Fast ballroom dance : MAMBO

5. Simile center : AS A

6. Branch of Islam : SHIA

7. Salon services : TANS

8. Civil disturbances : RIOTS

9. Stops at the Sorbonne? : ARRETS. French for "stops".

10. Opens, in a way : UNWRAPS

11. "__ of Love": 1989 film : SEA

12. Porker's place : STY

14. Paris-based cultural org. : UNESCO

15. Reasoned : RATIONAL

16. Archaeologist's finds : FRAGMENTS

18. Renaissance faire word : OLDE

19. "Anything __?" : ELSE

24. Change places, briefly? : RELO

28. Regis University city : DENVER. What are they famous for?

30. Aftereffect of an overlong run, maybe : WHEEZING

32. Cote sounds : BAAS

33. Light tune : LILT

35. Computer code acronym : ASCII

36. Minorca's capital : MAHON.  Oh, look, it's also called Mao (Below Shangri-La). Never heard of it.

37. Lithograph, e.g. : PRINT

39. Co-star of Richard in "The Night of the Iguana" : AVA (Gardner). Richard Burton.

40. Distinguish from the original, as a corrected file : RE-NAME

42. "Casino" star : DE NIRO

43. "Love Story" author : SEGAL (Erich)

44. 2011 East Coast hurricane : IRENE

45. History Channel owner : A AND E. Tricky to parse.

47. Philanthropist Yale : ELIHU

49. Flip out : GO MAD

53. Other than : BESIDE

54. Minor furniture damage : NICKS

59. Dullards : DRIPS

61. Pound : PUMMEL

65. Often sautéed veggie : ONION. I made Apple & Sage pork the other day, Jayce. Recipe here. I used one Honeycrisp. We have lots of foodies on the blog: Steve, D-Otto, Marti, TTP, Lucina, Anon-T, Pizza Dave, Irish Miss & Dudley. Barry G seems to cook a bit. Never heard of Lemonade talks about cooking. Argyle does not cook at all.

67. Pregame party site : TAILGATE

70. Quake follower : TREMOR

71. Rosey of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome : GRIER. From Wiki: "After Grier's professional sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was guarding the senator's wife, Ethel Kennedy, during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Although unable to prevent that killing, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan."

72. Oracle site : DELPHI

73. Mullets hide them : NAPES

74. William of __, logician known for his "razor" : OCCAM

75. Not at all tight : ROOMY

76. Organisms of a region : BIOTA

80. First name in medieval traveling : MARCO (Polo)

81. Basketball Hall of Famer Thomas : ISIAH. He always stumps some on our blog.

82. They're sold in bars : SOAPS. What's your favorite soap brand?

84. Knocking spot : FRONT DOOR

86. Friendliness : WARMTH. Made me think of Creature & LaLaLinda. They don't post often but they read us every day.

90. "This guy ..." : SOME DUDE. Cool!

92. Notion : IDEA

93. Director Riefenstahl : LENI. Also learned from doing xwords. She did some propaganda films for the Nazi.

95. Common letters in an email address : AOL

98. Auctioneer's helper : RING MAN. New term to me also.

102. Wakes up : ARISES

103. "About time!" : AT LAST

105. Grades K-5: Abbr. : ELEM

109. La Rive Gauche locale : SEINE. The Left Bank.

111. Imperiled layer : OZONE

112. Sent an email dupe to : CCed

113. Penny or passing follower : LANE

114. Aquatic predator : ORCA

115. Barcelona-born architect : SERT. José María Sert. Known for his murals at 30 Rock.

117. Tar Heel St. : N. CAR

118. Siestas : NAPS

120. Lawn border : EDGE

121. Peters out : DIES

122. Rep's goal : SALE

124. Three-sided sail : JIB

125. California's Santa __ : ANA

126. Major interest, slangily : BAG. Oh, hockey is not in my bag then, Splynter.

Speaking of Splynter, here is a new photo of the Stud with his UPS truck.

C.C.

Thursday September 12, 2013 Peter A. Collins

Theme: TOSSED SALAD (62A. Light lunch (and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters)) - Six different kinds of salads are anagrammed (Or jumbled, to be exact) in the grid. TOSSED is an anagram indicator in Cryptic puzzles.

17A. Scrooge's underpaid clerk : BOB CRATCHIT. Cobb salad.

23A. Frighten off : SCARE AWAY. Caesar salad.

37A. Reading in an unruly class? : RIOT ACT. Taco salad.

56A. Forest shade : DARK GREEN. Greek salad. I see a "Green salad" too.

11D. Divas have them : BIG EGOS. Egg salad.

42D. Beach acquisitions : SUN TANS. Tuna salad.

C.C. here again. Cruciverb did not have the puzzle ready at their regular time last night, so Marti could not blog the puzzle. She'll be back next week. Please email her (HeartRx@me.com) if you want to join the Corner New England gathering next Monday.

Peter Collins never ceases to amaze me with his creativity & craftsmanship. Notice all the salad words span across two words? And there are 7 theme entries. I'd be happy with 5. That's why Peter is Peter, and there's only one Peter Collins.

Across:

1. Meter site : CURB

5. After Chicago, the most populous Illinois city : AURORA. Gimme for our Chicago crowd. In case you missed, TTP posted this hilarious ad yesterday. Jordy Nelson is from Kansas.  Wisconsin is indeed pretty in fall.

11. Cave dweller : BAT

14. Atlas section : ASIA

15. Adds excitement to, with "up" : SPICES

16. Syr. neighbor : ISR

19. Fed. property manager : GSA (General Services Administration). GSA, GSA, they need to have some kind of scandal for me to remember it.

20. Lotto-like game : KENO. Saw it at Treasure Island.

21. Take down a few pegs : DEMEAN

28. First host of "America's Got Talent" : REGIS. Look here, the box on the right. Another Simon Cowell creation.

29. __ the cloth : MAN OF

30. Senseless : NUMB

32. Piano concerto highlights : SOLI. Plural of Solo.

33. Not impressed : UNAWED. Never used this word in my life. Unimpressed, yes.

35. Lab subj. : SCI

36. Entry-level pos. : ASST

40. Morse's rank: Abbr. : INSP. Inspector Morse.

44. 30-day mo. : APR. Very general clue.

45. Combed (through) : SIFTED

50. Toi et moi : NOUS. In Chinese, Ni + Wo = Women (We). Strange, isn't it?

51. Time, in Germany : ZEIT. No idea, though I do know Zeitgeist, literally "spirit of the time"

53. North of Mexico : NORTE

54. Hit __: run into trouble : A SNAG

58. Shape of Michigan's Lower Peninsula : MITTEN. OK, please link in the Comments section. Let me see the MITTEN.

60. Reversals, slangily : UIEs. Or UEYs.

61. Memorable period : ERA

68. Hill VIP : SEN

69. For hire to sire : AT STUD

70. Tibetan priest : LAMA. Tibetan's main dish is Tsampa, roasted barley flour. The accompanying drink is of course Yak butter tea. You won't survive there, D-Otto.

71. His, to Henri : SES

72. Bottom-of-the-line : CHEAPO

73. Learning experience? : EXAM. This is hard for me.

Down:

1. Part of a pickup line : CAB. Great clue.

2. Troupe for troops: Abbr. : USO

3. Bone in a cage : RIB

4. Auditorium late-comers' seating : BACK ROW

5. Yoga pose : ASANA. This refers to any pose, right, Marti, Lucina and J.D.?

6. Above Manhattan's 59th Street, say : UPTOWN

7. Ocasek of the Cars : RIC

8. Glaswegian's "Gee!" : OCH

9. Tim or Tara of Hollywood : REID. I only know Tara Reid.

10. Fall flower : ASTER

12. Goes after : ASSAILS

13. It may be rapid : TRANSIT

18. Illegal smoke, quaintly : REEFER

22. Southwest sight : MESA

23. Rice rival, briefly : SMU

24. Axe : CAN

25. Collection of literary odds and ends : ANA

26. "The Sound of Music" setting : AUSTRIA

27. Interactive party song : YMCA

31. Some lighters : BICs. Pens too.

34. "In Her Shoes" co-star : DIAZ (Cameron). In the movie, her workaholic sister has lots of expensive shoes in the closet. Shirley MacLaine is the grandma.

38. Page with views : OP-ED

39. Trace amounts : TINGES

40. Really botched up : IN A MESS. Speaking of mess, thanks for the link on "important" in CSS,  TTP. I was just fiddling with various Advanced buttons in the new Template to make the blog color and layout more like the old Template. All was fine until I decided to mess with the Header. Boom! Everything cascaded and I couldn't see. All was just blank.

41. "Not on your life!" : NO SIREE!

43. Hurdle for a jr. : PSAT

46. Lawn sign : FOR SALE

47. Roman numeral? : TRE. OK, I know it has a ? mark, but TRE is a number, not a numeral.

48. Le Tour de France time : ETE

49. Kit's home : DEN

52. Make even, to a carpenter : TRUE UP.  Marti is a Carpenter, of course.

55. Pass, but not with flying colors : GET A C. Crossing A SNAG. This is a tough area for Peter: stacked 6's connected with stacked 7's.

57. Buddy : KIDDO

59. Chris of "The Good Wife" : NOTH. The guy in black suits. Gimme for JD.  She likes the show. NOTH is Jerry Orbach's first "Law & Order" partner, if I remember correctly.

63. Flint-to-Detroit dir. : SSE

64. Depot: Abbr. : STA

65. SoCal destination : LAX

66. Marcus Welby's gp. : AMA. Marcus Welby, M.D..

67. Block : DAM. Verb!

C.C.

1) There are still tickets left for "An Evening with the Puzzle Master" tonight. Click here for details. Her is a Minnesota Daily interview with Will Shortz, editor of NY Times crossword. Please come and join us. It'll be fun.

2) Happy Birthday to dear Steve, our witty and efficient puzzle sherpa. Steve is always ready to pinch-hit whenever one of our blogging member needs help, despite his heavy traveling demands. Thanks for your time and commitment, Steve!

Saturday, Jun 8th, 2013, Peter A. Collins

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing F,Q,Z)

Blocks: 32

  Alas, I was done in not by the proper names in this one, but by phrases I have never heard before.  For the second week in a row, we have had a "non-Saturday" grid, with the long answers "inside" the edges.  Some 'eye-rolling' fill today, I thought, and some words just don't look right, either.  Eight 10-letter and two 11-letter fills, so we have:

26A. To the max : AS ALL GET OUT - well, it makes sense, I guess, but I have never heard or said this - might be regional

41A. Horseshoes, e.g. : LUCKY CHARMS - I tried "TOSSING GAME", since it fit; there's a horseshoe taped up over the 8line sorting station at UPS

31A. Sleight-of-hand swindle : PIGEON DROP - I "know" of this con, but never its name

38A. Shot protection : GOALIE MASK - mine's on top of my head here

Od Warn~!

ACROSS:

 1. General transportation? : JEEP - ah - I did try "TIRE" first, since there is a General Tire company, and a LOT of transportation rides on tires....

5. Like some whiskey : IRISH - can you get an alcohol "buzz" from smoking an Irish Whiskey cigar~???

10. Accident initials : EMS - Emergency Medical Services

13. __-Free: contact lens solution : OPTI

 

14. Bollywood princess : RANEE - clued as "Indian" in the week; Bollywood is a step further

15. Passes, in a way : LAPS

17. 2000s Korean compact : KIA SPECTRA - I don't know why I put in "Electra" at first

19. Hip to : IN ON

20. Transcendent joy : ECSTASY

21. Focus of a historic New Orleans museum : VOO-DOO - once the ---OO was there, I got it

23. "__ shall live your epitaph to make": Shakespeare's Sonnet 81 : "OR I..."

24. Worrying about : SWEATING - ah, not FRETTING

30. Teachers' degs. : BEs - Bachelor of Education, but it's usually B.Ed.(s)

32. Start to charge? : SUR - surcharge, which strangely means the cost AFTER the initial

33. '70s TV character name whose original Broadway spelling had an "a" instead of an "e" : UNGER - That would be "The Odd Couple"

34. Kenan's TV pal : KEL - all perps, no clue on this show

35. Item under glass, perhaps : RELIC - when I started working at Winn-Dixie in Fla 1n 1995, I was the oldest person on the grocery staff (at 24yrs old) - so the kids called me "Relic" - and I liked it

37. Spot warning : Grr - yeah, "ARF" seemed a bit weak

40. The Tribe, on scoreboards : CLEveland - The Indians, and featured in "Major League", and I still dig the movie

42. 1980 hit with the lyric "It took a long time to know him" : 'HE'S SO SHY' - The Pointer Sisters, and a music link

44. End for Caesar : EAN - CaesarEAN, as in Section

45. Scrub in, say : ASSIST - I watch "House, M.D." in syndication, from my DVR

46. Service providers : PASTORS - ah, that service; and a semi-clecho 8D. Father's talk: Abbr. : SERmon

50. Where to find an expiration date? : OBIT - HA~!  I tried TOMB first, 'cause I was on that wavelength

51. Curator's event : ART EXHIBIT - I had ---BIT, and that seemed wrong, then the light bulb....

54. Put on a thumb drive, say : SAVE

55. Frost bit? : VERSE - Poetry from Robert Frost - didn't fool me, either

56. Name in a footnote : CITE

57. Bench, once : RED - A-ha~!  I got this one, as well - I knew Johnny Bench was a Cincinnati Red

 

58. Splits : EXITS

59. Strike one as being : SEEM

DOWN:

1. Routine element : JOKE - In a stand-up comedy routine

2. Many a miniseries : EPIC

3. DFW postings : ETAs - Dallas/Ft. Worth, the airport

4. Wild Bill Hickok, notably : PISTOLEER - this does not look right

5. Parting words : "I RESIGN"

6. Ribald : RACY - ribald; "vulgar", from the German "riben" to copulate - and  a chance for Splynter to post a gratuitous leg image

7. S&L figure : INTerest - Savings & Loan

9. Lift, as an anchor : HEAVE UP

10. Economist Janeway : ELIOT

11. Lower jaw-related : MANDIBULAR - phew, that's a mouthful~!

12. Hated the book, perhaps : SPOONERISM - Baited the Hook being the "alternate" phrasing

16. Busses in Birmingham : SNOGS - Watch Harry Potter - there's snogging going on there

18. Beauty spot? : PARLOR

22. Bit of fodder : OAT

24. Hot-and-cold : STREAKY

25. Fuzzy : WOOLLY - the two "L"s seem 'wrong' to me - must be the down-ness of the answer

26. Toon shopkeeper voiced by Hank Azaria : APU

27. Where business is always picking up? : SINGLES BAR - I am trying to "pick up" one of the female associates at Home Depot - I don't do the bar anymore

28. Pushy : AGGRESSIVE

29. '90s judge on "The People's Court" : ED KOCH - a WAG - I could not remember the name of the first guy who did the spot; "W-something....ah, "Wapner"; I did not know Ed was a judge there, just the mayor of NYC - the Wiki

32. Linguist's concern : SEMANTICS

35. Belabor : REHASH

36. Most ATM deposits : CKs - Checks, and, meh.

38. Novelist Flaubert : GUSTAVE - I had everything but the "G", since my first "shot protector" was "KEVLAR VEST"

39. Tools for those on the way up : ICE AXES

40. Bedlam : CHAOS

41. __ Altos, California : LOS

43. Positioned : SITED - mostly in terms of where a house sits on its plot, in terms of solar gain, views, etc.

46. Bother : PEST - the Pittsburgh Penguins were SWEPT out of the playoffs by Boston tonight - and they are an NHL pest to me

47. Stage presentation? : OBIE - the award for stage performances

48. Observance : RITE

49. Stalk in the garden : STEM

52. Excitable dinosaur in "Toy Story" : REX - I could not think of his name - but when the perps filled it in, I got a smack upside the head from myself

53. TNT part : TRInitrotoluene - usually we get the TNT part as the answer; I was curious, so I read the Wiki - it was first prepared by a German named Julius Wilbrand - as a dye - now that's what I call "ribald"

Splynter