Saturday, Mar 25th, 2017, Greg Johnson

Theme: None

Words: 66 (missing J,Q,U,X)

Blocks: 32

   This is Saturday puzzle number three from Constructor Greg, and I looked at my review from his last contribution, and fared better this week than on that one back in Oct of last year.  As usual, it did not look good on the first Across pass, but there were some winning moments in the Down run, and then little by slowly the rest filled in, with a few missteps, and a few WAGs.  Though I did notice a healthy lack of proper names - the ones that were in the crossword I knew.  Odd looking grid with a low word count, crossing 11- and 9-letter words with two 10-letter words in there, too;

10d. Conventional : STEREOTYPIC - I'm looking for the "-AL" on the end, still

28a. Firebrick cooker : PIZZA OVEN - there's a stack of  two sitting out back of the restaurant waiting to get cleaned up for sale

24d. When needed : AS NECESSARY

40a. Points at and yells, perhaps : THREATENS

O N (W) bo A R D game S ~ !

ACROSS:

1. Hot-button subject in journalism : MEDIA BIAS - it's all biased, as far as I can tell - I don't watch the news

10. It may be on a dog : SLAW

14. Sacred Aboriginal landmark : AYERS ROCK - knew what we were looking for, took a moment to remember the name of the "rock"

15. Tendency : TIDE

16. Like a meeting of the minds? : TELEPATHIC - har-har

18. "__ so ... " : EVEN

19. Jefferson Davis' org. : CSA

20. "Barefoot Contessa" host Garten : INA

21. Still : AT REST - I got caught in a "still....(and yet....)" loop, so I went with "AT BEST"

23. Best Director between Soderbergh and Polanski : HOWARD - once "-OW---" filled in, I took a guess;  he won for "A Beautiful Mind" in 2001 (or 2002, depending on the source)

25. Unnatural register : FALSETTO - the Bee Gees, and this group's lead singer....caution; "raunchy~!"

 I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness

27. Remove : ERASE - I hesitated, thought this was too easy
 
29. "Nebraska" star : DERN - filled via perps

30. Become twisted : CONTORT

31. "Told you" : "SEE~?"

32. Bygone : OLDEN

33. Congressional approval : YEA

36. Ceremonial cup : CHALICE - Stanley fit, too

38. Settled : PAID

43. Petrol purchase : LITRE

44. White wine grape : RIESLING - dah~!  I see this enough at the restaurants to have gotten it without crossings, you'd think

45. Looked good on : BECAME - yes, the sweater  looks good on her

very becoming

46. Attaches, as a new deck : ADDS ON
 

47. Costumer's suggestion : WIG

48. Edge : LIP - or RIM~?

49. Land shaped by erosion : MESA

50. Fall behind : GET IN A HOLE

54. It sticks out in the water : PIER - FIN was too short

I can hear the music....

55. Model rocket components : NOSECONES

56. Order to stop : STAY - not HALT

57. Common college consequence : EMPTY NEST

DOWN:       

1. __ set : MATCHED - the "C" was in there from CSA, and so I proudly entered ereCtor.  Bzzzt~!

2. Demolition candidates : EYESORES

3. Its only counties are Kent, New Castle and Sussex : DELAWARE - well, this is embarrassing - I was thinking somewhere in Britain, and it turns out to be the US state I just visited last weekend....I was, uh, in, uh, New Castle, I think....

4. Steaming state : IRE - ah, state of mind, not US state

5. Hopeful's term : ASPIRE

6. Ford or Chevy : BRAND - SEDAN~?  Too many "wait and see" clues today

7. Ninth in a series : IOTA - figured it was Greek, good WAG

8. Cry over spilled Milch? : ACH - Das German for milk

9. Waxed sports equipment : SKI - equipment and singular 'ski' doesn't quite jibe for me

11. NFL games, e.g. : LIVE TV

12. Holiday hymn opener : ADESTE - Fidelis

13. Took place : WENT ON - as a show/performance

17. Folded Italian fare : CALZONE - spell check does not like this word....

22. Pre-revolution bigwig : TSAR - oddly, this one, too

25. Bit of successful research : FINDING - used as a noun in this case - I believe that's called a gerund

26. Ancient pyramid builders : AZTECS

28. Wind-borne grains : POLLEN

30. An inch of snow, e.g. : COATING - oops, not DUSTING - that's being from NY, I think

34. What one might do after a broken date : EAT ALONE - I always eat alone - don't need a broken date for that

35. Credit card bonus : AIR MILES - I drove to Delaware - 239 miles, and at one point was getting 26.1mpg in the Dodge Grand Caravan - I didn't think the computer could calibrate that high....

37. Light ring : HALO

39. Superior, of all five : DEEPEST - I had one of the "E"s, so a good WAG

40. Walks heavily : TRAMPS

41. "Quick, get that out of sight!" : "HIDE IT~!"

42. Indian Ocean arm : RED SEA

43. What's left : LEGACY

45. Stanford-__ test : BINET - the Wiki

47. Fleeting puff : WISP

51. Storm dir. : ENE - healthy WAG - can only be a certain grouping of N,E,S,W

52. Pig thief of rhyme : TOM

53. Sweetie : HON

Splynter 

Saturday, Mar 18th, 2017, Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing F,J,Y,Z)

Blocks: 34

 Two constructors in a row named Bruce - a little over one year since our last Bruce Venzke Saturday puzzle, and another tough start to for me, but with only one cheat, I was able to get it finished, and within my personal allotted time.  Got deceived by the "easy" four-letter NW corner, and was unable to get any traction there - though I did have an inkling about what 1a was supposed to be.  My down run in the NE was quick, and that helped open up the grid.  Just the triple 10-letter corners and two 8-letter fills for the long answers today;

18a. Sharper : SCAM ARTIST - ah, new definition for me

25a. Showman named Phineas : P.T. BARNUM

47a. Disgruntled fans, slangily : BOO BIRDS

ahh, hockey fans....

65. Windows alternatives : AISLE SEATS - ah, planes, not computers.  Firefox has dropped support for Windows XP, which is tragic, since I think it was the best version of the software - now I have to buy a new computer....

onwarDE~!

ACROSS:

 1. Cleaning up a mess? : ON K.P. - I was thinking KP, but duty, not the other way around

5. Overcomes, as adversity : RISES ABOVE

15. River to the Laptev Sea : LENA

16. Beset by dire circumstances : IN EXTREMIS

17. Reach new heights : GROW - I am in Delaware this weekend to work out the details of getting three board games into production with my buddy's games company - I hope to reach new heights with them

19. Publication for pitchers? : ADWEEK

21. Paid : REMITTED

22. "I have a lady in the balcony" old radio/TV quiz show : Dr. I.Q. - the Wiki

24. Binge-watcher's aid : TiVO

29. Butterflies : NERVES

33. __ room : CHAT

34. Largest Italian lake : GARDA - my cheat

36. __ Valley, Calif. : SIMI - or NAPA~?

37. Court judgment : LET - tennis, not legal

38. Metaphorical social barrier : ICE - yeah, I need some work on my "ice breakers"

39. Salon substance : GEL - or DYE~? had to wait

40. They might be about nothing : ADOs

42. Gather in a mass : CLUMP

44. Self-named 1954 or 1964 jazz album : MONK - good WAG.  Thelonious

45. Expel : BANISH

49. Novelist O'Flaherty : LIAM

51. X-Ray __: U.K. punk band : SPEX

52. Socrates or Plato : ATHENIAN

56. Meditative discipline : TAI CHI

60. Agenda : THINGS TO DO - my list of 'things to do' is way too long - and I still haven't had the chance to wash and wax the new caravan~!

62. Kennebunk-based personal care products brand, familiarly : TOM'S - new to me; here's the website

63. Old crate : RATTLETRAP

64. Noodle bar order : UDON - filled via perps

66. Shady time, for some : PAST - mine contains 15 years of "wreckage": W. Charles - I know what the L.E.B.F.T. stands for~!

DOWN:

1. Wife of Igor of Kiev : OLGA - yeah, not too vague....

2. Socially awkward type : NERD

3. Recognize : KNOW

4. Handled carelessly : PAWED AT

5. Putting in jeopardy : RISKING

6. Like many beginners' piano pieces : IN C - all white keys, no sharps or flats

7. Burn slightly : SEAR

8. Keith Hernandez, e.g. : EX-MET - this one was in my wheelhouse

9. Marathoner's need : STAMINA

10. Succeed big-time : ARRIVE

11. Pool habitués : BETTORS - like football boxes, not swimming

12. Leave off : OMIT

13. It has two jaws : VISE

14. Storefront sign abbr. : EST'D

20. Miss an easy spare, say : ERR - ah, bowling....

23. Bobwhite, e.g. : QUAIL - a gimme once the "Q" appeared

25. Classroom with mice : PC LAB - computer mouse, that is

26. Old-time screen vamp Bara : THEDA

27. Track bar : BATON

28. Ernie Banks' sobriquet : Mr. CUB

30. Intensity : VIGOR

31. Fix, as copy : EMEND

32. Track apparel : SILKS - horse racing; I was thinking about running - sweats or sneak(er)s

35. Teaching methods : DEMOS

41. A quarter of a half? : SILENT L - clever

42. Some recliners : CHAISES - another kind of "recliner"

43. Beer openers : POP-TOPS

44. Scrap : MIX IT UP - ah, the fighting and not recycling kind of scrap

46. One of Pete Rose's record 3,215 : SINGLE

48. '80s-'90s co-star with Betty, Rue and Estelle : BEA

50. Far from shiny : MATTE - I refinished the floors at one of the restaurants - in gloss, not matte - came out great, but need to go back and do a buff and re-coat this coming week

52. First razor with a pivoting head : ATRA

53. Chiang Mai native : THAI - semi dupe with "Tai-Chi"

54. Battleship goals : HITS - "you sank my battleship~!"

55. Myrna's role in "The Thin Man" : NORA

57. Musical closing : CODA - and the title of Led Zeppelin's last album

58. Managed care gps. : HMOs

59. Exists no more : ISN'T

61. Brooklynese pronoun : DAT - oops, not "DEM"

Splynter 

Saturday, March 11, 2017 Bruce Haight

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 27

We are witness to Bruce Haight's hitting for the cycle - this is his first Saturday construction for the LA Times, and has now been published every day of the week. Congratulations to Bruce, but I gotta say, too many proper names(*) in this one made it a fun sponge - can't win them all. 10x6 in two corners and triple 8-letter stacks in the others, with two more 8-letter fills as well. 

15. Fizzled : PETERED OUT - what do you call a guy who tires easily~? Peter; how about the guy who's creative~? Art; The guy who stirs up trouble~? Buck - or - Russell; The wealthy one~? Rich; The one who's brutally honest~? Frank. I can go on....

14. Displaying polish, perhaps : OPEN-TOED

52. Symbol of ancient Egypt : SACRED IBIS - dah~! I had ICON, IDOL, and knew it wasn't correct - took a moment to remember the sacred bird - and also the God Thoth

31. "Brava!" : ATTA GIRL - I had the "G", and the "a" at the end of the clue helped me nail this

atta girl~!

Spring ON forWARD~

ACROSS:

1. Participated in a movie gunfight, say : SHOT BLANKS

11. Symbol of purity : HALO - not DOVE

16. Junket : TRIP

17. Really hot : EXTRA SPICY

18. Bud : MATE

19. Passes : ENACTS

20. Getaway car driver : WHEELMAN

22. Comforter : DUVET - I have such a resentment for this word, only because my friend's wife used it in a Scrabble game, and I challenged - it's Frawnche - and yet it counted.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

23. Metered lines : POESY

24. Rudder location : AFT

25. "Now!" : STAT - not ASAP

26*. "Buddenbrooks" author : MANN

27. Farm follower? : E-I-E-I-O - not "STEAD"; this was almost funny....

29. Moolah : GELT - not CASH

30. Pop-up producer : ADWARE

31. How many games are won : AS A TEAM - the NY Rangers finally figured out their Power Play, and still managed to lose on Thursday

35. Cuddled : SPOONED - yeah, one of these days I'll get around to this again

36. Wine flavor component : TANNIN

37. Compact __ : DISC

38. Jerks : TWITS - my mother's affectionate name for the NY Rangers

39. "No __!" : DICE

40*. Inventing middle name : ALVA

44. Six-pack to be proud of : ABS - the 'other' six-pack produces the exact opposite

45*. Big name in '50s-'60s civil rights : EVERS

47. Take turns? : STEER - got it, but pondered DRIVE, too

48. Cuts to a roving reporter : GOES LIVE - Ha~! Nailed it

50. Introductory language class : LATIN I

51. Digging : INTO

54. Shipping hazard : REEF

55. Wary : ON THE ALERT

56. Exam for some college srs. : LSAT

57. Tourist attraction : RESORT AREA

DOWN:

1. Radar pickups : SPEEDS

2. Threaded fastener : HEX-NUT - this is the crenellated version

3. Interval for Rossini : OTTAVA - musical reference, octave

4. Three-line stanza : TERCET

5*. Benjamin of "Law & Order" : BRATT - was never a big fan of his character - I think cutting out Chris Noth's "Mike Logan" was not a good move for the show - tho he did return on "Criminal Intent"

6. Frequency modulation word? : LESS - filled via perps; not sure I "get it"

7. Payroll service initials : ADP - I see this on the UPS truck daily

8. "Forget it!" : "NO I WON'T~!" - I had YOU WISH to start, and it was working for a while

9. German coffeecake : KUCHEN - OK, I'll take das word for it....

10. Optical maladies : STYES

11. Webmaster's code : HTML

12. Ancient Syrian : ARAMAEAN

13. Got ready to grill : LIT A FIRE

21. Focus group member, casually? : EYE DOC - ah.  Clever

23. Date provider : PALM - the tree, not the singles website

26. Average : MEAN

28. WWII battle site, for short : IWO - Jima

29*. Theodor whose middle name was Seuss : GEISEL -even guessing this was "Dr Seuss" did not help at all

30. It adjoins the altar : APSE

Awesome

32. Surgeon, slangily : SAWBONES

33. Aromatic brew : ANISE TEA - been popular in crosswords lately

34. Blaster : TNT - oops, not GUN

35. Unleashes : SICS

37. Runs : DIRECTS

39*. William of "24" : DEVANE - I liked him as Carter in "Payback"

40*. Fifth-century invader : ATTILA - just read a true "science fiction" novel from Bradbury and Baxter where Genghis Khan meets Alexander the Great in battle

41*. Elvis Presley lyricist Jerry : LEIBER

42. __ facias: jury pool (from the Latin for "make come") : VENIRE - all my Law & Order watching did not get me this

43. Grain bristle : ARISTA - mostly perps

46. Sun block : VISOR

47*. '70s-'80s Egyptian president : SADAT - an another, but I knew this one

49. Permissive : SOFT

50. Suggestive gander : LEER

53. Letter after pi : RHO

Splynter

Saturday March 4, 2017 Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 28

Another Saturday struggle from Pawel, but unlike his construction from Jan of this year, I did not succeed without a fair amount of cheating - but then again, I am also in the middle of a lot of projects, so my mind was not entirely focused on the puzzle.  One too many proper names, normal for the author, as well.  Today's grid, somewhat like a snake, is another example of how to make it difficult to work one area with no hope of getting in to another - for me, I could not get anything going in the NW.  Triple 9- and 10-letter corners, the longest answers in the grid;

15. Land across the Baltic from Sweden : LITHUANIA - OK, cheated - I looked at a map of Europe

14. Federal subsidy : GRANT-IN-AID - never heard the term before

53. Crash and burn : HIT BOTTOM

26. Nevada's Area 51, notably : OPEN SECRET

The

Files~!

ACROSS:

1. Picture with a surprise ending? : PHOTO BOMB

10. Cheaply, with "for" : A SONG

16. Organ __ : DONOR 

17. Burden to bear : ALBATROSS - Iron Maiden turned a classic poem into a 13minute song;

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

18. Lead-in for here or nowhere : OUTTA - outta here, outta nowhere

19. Much data: Abbr. : NOs - technically, it's just "two" numbers; 1, and 0

20. River of Tuscany : ARNO

21. Oliver Twist, for one : ORPHAN

22. Architectural molding : OGEE - I have not seen this in a Saturday puzzle for a while

23. Cut twice, perhaps : TRISECT - I was thinking someone measured wrong in the first place....

24. Clear of snow : PLOWED - my "private road" does not get plowed

27. The King's middle name : ARON - Elvis, thank you, thank you very much

28. McBride of "Draft Day" : CHI

29. Metz meal : REPAS - too much Frawnche for me today

30. __ vote : SWING

31. Wi-Fi relative : LAN

32. Eisner's successor at Disney : IGER - filled via perps

33. Org. formed in Manila in 1954 : SEATO - good WAG

34. Pulitzer poet Van Duyn : MONA - filled via perps

35. With 22-Down, immortal 20th-century racer : MAN circumreferential to; 22. See 35-Across : O' WAR - dah~! I was looking for someONE, like Richard Petty, not a horse....

36. British county : SHIRE - generic, not specific

37. Spherical bacteria : COCCI - perps got me --CCI

38. Racing Unsers : ALs

39. Make sound : MEND

40. Quenched : SLAKED

41. Downwind current : LEE TIDE

43. Improvisational style : SCAT

44. Aspects : FACETS

45. Sainted pope called "the Great" : LEO I - LEO (Roman numeral), JOHN or PIUS~? Had to wait

46. Masterpiece : GEM

49. Heron relative : EGRET

50. Product announced but never produced or canceled : VAPORWARE - I finally caved in to peer pressure and bought a vaporizer, so I can hang with the "cool" kids at UPS - they're all half my age anyway, so I find it all amusing.  I do however, think there's a chance I might quit smoking with this thing - I like the ash-less,no-more-stank-in-the-car 'just like smoking candy' aspects of the thing....

52. Coeur d'__ : ALENE

54. Treat again, as leather : RE-TAN - my preferred kind of "tan"

55. Relax : STAY LOOSE

DOWN:

1. Work on one's vacation, say : PLAN - oh, like booking a room and a flight - I am on "vacation" from UPS, but for me, it meant putting in 40+ hours at both restaurants to get them back into shape - one from the fireproofing mess, the other for grand re-opening in two weeks

2. Hawaii's __ Bay : HILO - good WAG

3. Places with indoor windows, briefly : OTBs - ah.  Filled via perps; clever, though

4. Rap article : THA'

5. Storm problems : OUTAGES - SURGES was too short

6. Kept out : BARRED - dah~! Not baNNed

7. Two __: fast-break advantage : ON-ONE - love them in hockey; I finally saw a three-on-three OT game - and I like the fact that a 2-on-1 or breakaway is always imminent

8. Protein-rich paste : MISO - not TOFU

9. Humanities degs. : BAs

10. Like most grandparents : ADORING

11. Stock options? : SOUPS

12. Facing a deadline : ON THE CLOCK

13. "In your dreams!" : NOT A CHANCE

21. College town about 100 miles NE of Portland : ORONO - seen this in enough crosswords

23. Hackneyed : TRITE

24. 1993 William Diehl thriller on which a 1996 film was based : PRIMAL FEAR

25. Formidable court figure : LEGAL EAGLE - also a movie, but it was "eagleS"

27. Agatha or Edgar : AWARD - nailed it, but then again, I had A-A--

30. The Pont Neuf spans it : SEINE - Frawnche

33. Molts : SHEDS

34. Defense that may be all wet : MOAT - my dream home has a moat

36. Gaga : SMITTEN

37. "Does she ... or doesn't she?" brand : CLAIROL

40. Part of a fictional dog name inspired by Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" : SCOOBY

42. R&B singer __ Marie : TEENA

43. Dividing walls : SEPTA - biology

45. Café supply : LAIT - Frawnche, again

46. León relative : GATO - Frawnche, encore

47. Piccadilly Circus statue : EROS

48. Hand raiser's attention-getter : ME~! ME~!

50. Beta rival : VHS

51. Org. that complements the IMF : WTO - oh.  The International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization - I was stuck on "Impossible Mission Force....

Splynter

Saturday, Feb 25th, 2017, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q)

Blocks: 29

I always cringe when I see Julian Lim as the constructor for Saturday's puzzles, and it was looking pretty bleak at the beginning.  I did manage to get some solid fill in all the corners, was able to work through this challenge with only a half-cheat (I have the periodic chart app on my phone, so I looked that one up) and then it was just a matter of some healthy Wild-Ass Guesses.  Just a few too many proper names in the puzzle for me, but then again, they all filled with the crossings.   Not a terribly intimidating grid, two 9-letter fills on the inside and 8-letter corners

16. One way to serve fowl : À L'ORANGE - We have a duck farm near my place, and it's a stop on my UPS "Q" truck ( the town is Aquebogue )

 39. Herbal beverage : ANISE TEA

65. Name on many bars : HERSHEY'S

 3. Pepper with punch : JALAPEÑO - D'oh~!! Spelled it with an "H" to start

 And there you have a four-course meal....

Vay-Cay-ShON-WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Muslim veils : HIJABS

7. Curly's dad on "Sesame Street" : PAPA BEAR - I don't remember him

15. "For unto us a child is born" source : ISAIAH

17. "See?!" : "TOLD YA~!"

18. Counterbalanced, say : WEIGHTED - I had all but the first two letters, and tried "AR-ighted"....

19. Penn., for one : STA - I passed through Pennsylvania Station last weekend; came this close to staying for the Rangers/Capitals game in the Garden right above.  I love going in to New York City.

20. Thing to do with your fingers : SNAP - my first thought, but I hesitated

22. Attain, as great heights : SOAR TO

23. Brewmaster's need : HOPS

25. Plenty of horn? : KLAXON - got it off the "X", but went with a "C" and not a "K"

27. Payless box letters : EEE - Saturday cluing for a common fill

28. It often follows 12 : ONE PM - nailed it, tho I had AM, not PM

30. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" poet Wilfred __ : OWEN - the "W" was my last fill

31. Thirsts : YENS

32. Structure from the Arabic for "lighthouse" : MINARET - learning moment

34. Low bar? : DIVE - I was in one on Thursday to see a friend do her stand-up routine, but she went on too late - UPS comes early.  I did get to shoot some pool with a guy from one of the restaurants - man am I out of practice

36. Green machine : ECO-CAR - PRIUS did not fit

37. Some timeshares : VILLAS - I am friends with the nuns in my area, and they live at a "Villa"; there's usually a 12-step retreat there each spring and fall

41. Poet friend of author Ernest : EZRA - filled via perps

43. Point of view? : EYE LINE

44. Downtime? : FUNK

47. Like some ukuleles : OVAL

49. Many a group vacation photo, in slang : WEFIE - the expanded "Selfie"

50. 2008-'09 Japanese prime minister Taro __ : ASO - perps

51. __ chief : TRIBAL

53. Urquhart Castle's loch : NESS - four letters~? Good WAG

Hey, what's that in the lake~?

54. Created with : MADE OF

56. Ran : BLED

58. Cool : HEP

59. Rule broken by deities? : I BEFORE E - nailed it

61. Target of a whacking : PIÑATA

63. "Mad Men" actor John : SLATTERY - half perps, half WAG

64. Elicits : EDUCES

66. Acknowledge subtly : WINK AT

DOWN:

1. Strikes a chord : HITS HOME - ah, not a guitar clue; I love the chords of this song

And for the guitar players, a lesson

2. Kind of muscle contraction : ISOTONIC

4. First __ : AID

5. Canine sounds : BAYS - not ARFS

6. Osso buco cut : SHANK

7. Tree with green-skinned fruit : PAWPAW

8. Maugham's "Cakes and __" : ALE

9. Irritating growth : POISON IVY - oh, it's irritating alright

10. Chlorine's periodic table follower : ARGON - cheatcheatcheat

11. __ Men: one-hit wonders of 2000 : BAHA - vague recollection of this band

12. Carte part : ENTRÉE

13. Tatum O'Neal received her Oscar at it : AGE TEN - got it off ----EN

14. Overhauls : RE-DOES

21. Seas : A LOT

24. Best Actress after Field : SPACEK - made me change my AM to PM @28a.

26. Struck (out) : X-ed

29. "Yes!" singer Jason : MRAZ - another one up from the dredges

31. #3 on the 2016 Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list : YELLEN - of the Federal Reserve - her Wiki.  There's a Ms. Yellen on one of my UPS trucks who gets at least a box a day; Hey - we're going drone~!

33. Like 100 on most tests : ERROR FREE

35. Mountaineer's expectation : VIEW

Hey now....

38. Productivity-increasing trick, in modern parlance : LIFE HACK

40. Overlooks, as a fault : SEES PAST

42. Prefix with fauna : AVI

43. Airline to Eilat : EL AL

44. Starve, to Shakespeare : FAMISH

45. Worth keeping : USABLE

46. Tender turndown : NO, DEAR

48. Some retreats : ABBEYS

51. Sweet __ : TOOTH

52. Toon pursuing l'amour : Le PEW

55. Small salamanders : EFTS

57. Conn of "Grease" : DIDI

60. Trick ending? : ERY - trickery

62. One in an order : NUN - and a villa~!

Splynter

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

Saturday, Feb 11th, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,V,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

   First things first - I wanted to say thank you for all the Birthday comments on Thursday - I had the time to review them because I was buried under 8" of snow - I always get snow on my Birthday~! And I have an answer to a question from one of the comments at 5d today.  Anyway, on to today's puzzle - another from our gracious host, C.C., and for the second week in a row, a pretty easy one for me.  I did not get my "ta-DA~!" because of one crossing, but I found it without having to cheat.  Odd looking grid with two black corners, leaving us with triple 10s in the Across, and almost triple 9s in the Down;

 1. Bar line : "WHAT'S ON TAP~?" - because "What's your sign~?" didn't fit

12. Poker telecast equipment : POCKET CAM - none of these at our table 

32. They're high on the Scoville scale : HABANEROS - nailed it.  The pungency 'hotness' scale of chilis

63. "That'll never work!" : "ROTTEN IDEA~!"

oh, it'll work alright....

lONleyWARD~

ACROSS:

11. They're sometimes black : OPerationS

14. Question at an alumni gathering : "REMEMBER ME~?"

15. Word with leg or elbow : ROOM - planes and trains

17. "Looking at all sides ... " : "IN FAIRNESS..."

18. Real estate unit : ACRE

19. Tijuana addr. : SRA

20. Nada : Nogales :: __ : Reims : RIEN - some alliteration, too

21. Phone user : TALKER - oops, not CALLer

23. County in Ulster : TYRONE

in the middle of the yellow

25. Some broken pegs, or where they're found : TEES - clever; I had no clue to start with

27. Multi-purpose shortening : ETC.

28. Cooler tenant : CON - cooler as in jail, the clink, ETC. - although ICE was a good thought; straight clecho with 31. Cooler tenant : THIEF

29. Crew tools : OARS - got it

30. 4-Down in France : THE - circumreferential with; 4. 30-Across in America : TEA

34. Pot addition : ANTE - two weeks in a row I'm in the black at the poker table~! I pulled four 6's in one hand - and nothing wild

35. Patriot target : SCUD

36. Went berserk : HAD A FIT - oops, I filled in HAD AT IT

38. Sushi bar appetizer : EDAMAME

40. "... crafty seer, with __ wand": Pope : EBON

41. "__ Yankees" : DAMN - such language~!

43. Feet in a meter? : IAMBS - I tried BEATS

44. Title of respect, in Tokyo : SAN - ah, yes, Daniel-san

45. Bug zappers? : SERA - the stomach and flu kind of bugs

46. Ed. basics : RRR - the three "R"s; reading, (w)riting, 'rithmetic

47. "Major Crimes" network : TNT

48. Green Smoke product : eCIG - I think I'll get one with the money from my B-day; the new car stinks of cigar with the windows closed in the winter

49. Misbehaves : ACTS UP

53. Take back : RECALL - here's my mistake; I had recaNT, which messed up my SW

55. Mark for good : ETCH

57. Old televangelism letters : PTL

58. Second-largest Middle East country : IRAN - behind Saudi Arabia, but I was surprised to see Yemen at #3 - I guess Turkey is not considered part of the area

59. Wipe out : ANNIHILATE

62. Scrapple ingredient : PORK

64. Waves home : SEA - and another pure clecho with; 24. Waves home : OCEAN

65. Cell notice : EMAIL ALERT - my first thought, but I hesitated

DOWN:

1. Slap spot : WRIST

2. Edsel's father : HENRY - Ford Motor Company men

3. "Making AIDS History" org. : amfAR - american foundation for AIDS Research

5. Brand in many a Moscow mule : SMIRNOFF - I got it, but I didn't know why - turns out, it's a drink
Hey - Wilber Charles, that's "Sloth", from Bill W., St 6, 12 & 12~!

6. "The Barefoot Contessa" Oscar winner Edmond : O'BRIEN

7. Island goose : NENE - official bird of the state of Hawaii

8. 1776 battleground : TRENTON - got it from half perps

9. Morning hrs. : AMs - my AM yesterday was not a good one - my 'private' road did not get plowed, and I could not get to UPS. 

10. Bugged : PESTERED

11. Like some wills : ORAL

16. Car in a King title : MERCEDES - Ah, this book, from Stephen King.  I thought it was a reference to "Lord Won't You Buy Me", but that's Joplin

22. Biblical beast : ASS

26. All gone : EATEN

31. Busy Las Vegas area : THE STRIP

33. "Whatever" : "I DON'T CARE."

34. Arcade giant : ATARI - I had two memorable Birthdays - the first one being back in Fifth Grade, when I had just two friends come over - but it snowed as bad that night as it did this year; thought it was canceled, but the moms brought them over in the storm, and we played Atari 2600 all.  night.  long.

35. Sting : SMART

37. "Well, well!" : "I DECLARE~!"

39. Carrier to Beijing : AIR CHINA - semi-shout out to our host~!

42. Fuchsia cousin : MAGENTA

45. Pommes frites seasoning : SEL - salt

46. Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" : RACHEL - I liked her in "Constantine"

50. Soil mover : SPADE

51. Absolute : UTTER

52. Kilt fold : PLEAT

54. "My Way" lyricist : ANKA

56. Arboreal Amazon monkey : TITI

This is what I did on my Birthday

60. Georges, par exemple : NOM - Frawnche, name

61. Tiny, in a tiny way : LI'L

Splynter