Saturday, Oct 11th, 2014, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 29

 The last time we saw a Saturday from Tom Heilman was back in July 2013, and we ended up in an extended discussion on the difference between hay and straw....today's puzzle did look intimidating, but once again a series of WAGs got me enough of a toehold to make the necessary adjustments and finish the grid within my personal time limit.  I will admit to a keyboard run to get my "ta-DA~!" at 42a - proper noun crossing an abbreviation.  Triple nine corners, a pair of stacked tens and two 12-letter climbers;

6d. "Sit" : TAKE A LOAD OFF

21d. Person with a warped mind, in slang : ONE SICK PUPPY

Drawno conclusions....

ACROSS:

 1. Most unwavering : STRICTEST

10. "Forget about it!" : "NO HOW~!" - Started with "NO WAY"

15. Canine issue : TOOTH ACHE - CAVITIES was too short

16. Previously in print? : ABOVE - took a minute to "get" this; e.g. "see above"

17. Standing guard : ON LOOKOUT

18. Pronged : TINED - educated WAG

19. __ roast : WEENIE - meh

20. Grandstand group : ROOTERS

22. Celebrated : RANG IN - I had a great time when I "RANG IN" the New Year for 2014; I am hoping it leads to something special, still

25. "Danny and the Dinosaur" author Hoff : SYD 

26. Marathon rtes., perhaps : AVEs

30. Botched (up) : LOUSED

32. Christmas catalog item : TOY - I loved the Sears catalog this time of year - I'd sit down and make my "list" complete with page numbers for Santa - do you still have my old lists, Argyle~?

34. Restaurant convenience : MEN'S ROOM - whereas a LADIES ROOM is a necessity....

36. Evening affair : SOIREE

38. Readily assuming different forms : PROTEAN - straight up definition; Dictionary says it's from the Greek sea god Proteus, who could change form

39. Like original Matchbox cars : DIE-CAST - I still have a case full of Hot Wheels; my original Matchbox cars are long gone

40. Got a chuckle out of : AMUSED

41. Rickety : DECREPIT

42. Ruman of "Stalag 17" : SIG - Yeah, the "S" was a letter run

43. Krona : öre :: ruble : __ : KOPECK - 1/100th of a "dollar" equivalent; Swedish & Russian currency

45. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO

46. 2008 Soderbergh biopic : CHE - I tried "ALI" first - bzzzt

48. Shooting ratios : F-STOPS - Camera settings, that kind of shooting

50. Immobilize, as with fear : PETRIFY - My sponsor's suggestion back in July petrified me; found out this Tuesday that he did NOT have all the facts, because he wasn't paying attention, so I fired him - first time in almost 9 years I had to do this; I am extremely happy I went with my gut instinct and did not follow through on the suggestion, but the issue is still unresolved.  Now I need a new sponsor to help me try again

52. First NFL Man of the Year Award recipient (1970) : UNITAS - Here's Johnny~!

57. Savannah sighting : ELAND - Total WAG, and it stayed

58. Chukka boot feature : CREPE SOLE - Learning moment for me - the Wiki

61. Actress Kemper of "The Office" : ELLIE - Did not watch much of the show; this girl

62. Small cookers : HOT PLATES

63. Enjoyed : LIKED

64. Stretch, say : STAY LOOSE

DOWN:

1. Pack : STOW

2. Mood indicator : TONE - Pondered "RING" at first

3. Something to fill : ROLE - HOLE and HOLD were not good enough

4. "Put __ my tab" : IT ON

5. Loft user : CHOIR - I had the "H" and the "R", and this was the only word that worked

7. Car starter? : ECO - eco-car

8. Moo __ pork : SHU

9. Game for shapeshifters? : TETRIS - Har-Har~!  You have to 'shift' the shapes in order to perpetuate the game - I play 3-D Tetris at UPS every morning, shifting 250+ parcels to fit in a van that only holds 200....

10. Defense gp. : NATO

11. Passing thoughts? : OBITs - This type of clue is filling in immediately for me now

12. Espionage strategies involving seduction : HONEY TRAPS

13. Goes too far : OVER DOES IT

14. Forms a union : WEDS

23. Morning's end : NOON

24. Orbit, for one : GUM - you lint licker~!

26. Oscars org. : AMPAS - New one to me; I thought "ASCAP", but that's music...then AFTRA, then the perps left me with AM-A-; I got the "P",   but....   the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

27. Food that's Italian for "little worms" : VERMICELLI - ewww~!

28. "Time to do something about this" : "ENOUGH TALK"

29. Former fliers : SSTs

31. One who acts : DOer

33. "... __ come" : YET TO

35. Really smell : REEK - There was a band that used to play the nightclub I worked at and they went by the name "REEKING HAVOC" - yes, they got it wrong, but it seemed to fit all the same....

37. Frozen treat : ICEE

39. Like New York's Chrysler Building : DECO

41. Case worker: Abbr. : DETective - that kind of case

44. Inspires, with "up" : PSYCHS

47. Orange Muppet : ERNIE - My brother is going as Ernie for one Halloween party, and then Barney Rubble for another - guess what I am going to wear....now all I need is a place to go - oh, if only someone would join me....   ;7(

49. Matt who scored the Jets only touchdown in Super Bowl III : SNELL - The Wiki

50. Spa option : PEEL - Tried PEDI first

51. Named : IDed

53. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO - The crossword friendly golfer

54. Movie pooch : TOTO - dah~! Not ASTA

55. Draft choices : ALES - ugh, I thought we were talking military here, and went "A ONE"

56. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE - We have "se-seen" this before on Saturday

59. Break down : ROT

60. Flight stat : ETA

 Splynter

Notes from C.C.:

I'd like to share with you the "Border States" puzzle I made for the Chronicle of Higher Education. You can click here (the first one) for the puz file, or here to print out a PDF file. To solve on line, click here . 

I'm eager to see what area gives you the trouble and when you grok the theme. 

Spoiler alert: once you're done, you can go to Amy Reynaldo's blog for the write-up.  Those nice clues Pannonica mentioned are all the brainwork of editor Brad Wilber, our regular LAT Saturday constructor. When I first proposed the idea to Brad, the theme is quite thin. Brad helped me muscle up the core concept and build a grid I'm quite proud of.

Mark the CHE site. Next time you see my name (probably early next year), I'll be accompanying a blog regular, D-Otto (Tom), who's super efficient and fun to work with.

Saturday, Jul 20th, 2013, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing -) Pangram~!

Blocks: 27 (second lowest total I have seen)

   I came up with very little on the first across pass to work with, but a few Wild Ass Guesses got me enough perps to finish this one, and in a pretty good time, considering.  Intimidating corners with triple 8's crossing triple 9's, but then again, nothing bigger than those - and not much to say about them; pretty straight forward.

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Busted : FLAT BROKE - about how I'm feeling lately; two weeks to the new UPS contract, and possibly a FT position doing what I do right now; at the very least, I get a union scale raise.

10. Jag : SPREE

15. One who may confuse cees and zees : LIP READER - I can "see" that

16. Extinguish : QUELL

17. Torn to bits : IN TATTERS

18. Non-union? : UNWED

19. Architect awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993 : PEI - I.M., designer of several well-known structures

20. Angels Landing's national park : ZION - Anyone care to visit Utah?

21. Latin case : DATIVE - nailed it - 4 years of Latin in high school

22. The Panthers of the Big East : PITT

24. At all : ONE BIT - Did I give up on this puzzle? Not ONE BIT~!

26. Apt., e.g. : RESidence

27. Holders of notions : ETUIs - Saturday level attempt to obscure "needle case"

29. Slight : SLUR

30. Provide an outlet for : VENT

31. Sale indicator : RED TAG

33. Cubic measure : STERE - a cubic meter, 1.3cubic yards, about 35.3 cubic feet - for cordwood

35. Dragged through the mud : SMEARED

37. Send to the bottom : SCUTTLE - Reminds me of "Hunt for Red October"

41. Drew in books : NANCY - Didn't fool me; Nancy Drew, the proper name

43. Where the heart is : THORAX

44. Quick hits : JABS

47. Markers : IOUs

49. Volleyball great Gabrielle : REECE

50. Surfer's destination : URL - ah, not WEB

51. Trip with a per diem, perhaps : JUNKET - def #3:

a trip, as by an official or legislative committee, paid out of public funds and ostensibly to obtain information.

53. Suffix for some lotions : DERM - Lubri-DERM, e.g.

54. Floors : AMAZES

56. Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," e.g. : IDYL

58. Better : TOP

59. Brought down : RAZED

60. Whatever it takes : AT ANY COST

62. Small-capped mushroom : ENOKI

63. Reassure : PUT AT EASE

64. Quick reads? : ZINES - abbr.  for magaZINES, hence the "?"

65. Like some questions : OPEN-ENDED

DOWN:

1. Seal features : FLIPPERS

2. Budget entry : LINE ITEM - tried MORTGAGE first

3. It's tested in school : APTITUDE - nailed it

4. Melodic bit : TRA - more Saturday obscurity

5. Carl who played Donna Reed's TV husband : BETZ - WAAAY before my time; IMDb

6. Currency exchange market listing, e.g. : RATIO - total WAG here

7. Classic theaters : ODEONS - with a modern take in the next clue...

8. Movie concession stand remnants : KERNELS - Corn, scuttled in the popping machine....

9. Hosp. areas : ERs

10. Position behind the plate : SQUAT - the physical position, not the player's

11. Football option : PUNT - PASS, KICK, RUSH; had to wait

12. Replace the old connections : REWIRE - been there, done that - now that that apartment remodel is over, I am stepping away from carpentry/construction for a while; gonna try something new

13. Ones seen side by side? : ELEVEN - 1 and 1 = 11~!

14. First in line : ELDEST - that's me~!

21. Nonstop : DIRECT - Ah, not RED-EYE

23. Cronus and Hyperion : TITANS

25. Objections : BUTS

28. Actress Gilbert of "The Big Bang Theory" : SARA - lots of fans of "TBBT" here, but count me out; just can't get into it

30. Shot down : VETOED

32. Brainiac : GENIUS - most of the cast of "TBBT"

34. One of Duisburg's rivers : RUHR - I had R--R; guess what?  I got it

36. Anti-rodent brand : D-CON

38. Arboreal hopper : TREE TOAD - 'round here, we have tree "FROGS", but they're insects; speaking of what we call things here on Lawn Guyland, I had to find out why "straw" is not the same as "hay"

39. Wisconsin city on the Mississippi : La CROSSE

40. Given a pass, in a way : EXEMPTED

42. Bust a gut : YUK IT UP - either you got it, or you didn't

44. Eponymous 1850s-'70s Mexican president : JUAREZ

45. Snazzy suit : ARMANI - some day I will sport an Armani suit

46. Embellish showily : BLAZON - my high school denim jacket was emBLAZONed with Iron Maiden patches

48. Tranquilize : SEDATE

51. "A __ Fury": "Star Wars" DVD segment : JEDI'S

52. English critic Kenneth : TYNAN

55. The Cowardly Lion, back in Kansas : ZEKE - worked on the farm in "The Wizard of Oz" - he knew the difference between the two~!

57. Suffix with electro- : LYTE - ElectroLYTE - like you'd find in Gatorade - I frakkin' needed fluids this past week, let me tell you; finally got a massive thunderstorm midday Friday - aaaaaah

60. G.I.'s address : APO

61. Fivescore yrs. : CENtury; 5 X 20

Splynter

Sunday Dec 9, 2012 Tom Heilman

Theme: "In and Out" - "In" can proceed the first part of each theme entry, "Out" the second part.

 23A. Wolfing down burgers and fries while driving? : A BAD WAY/ TO LUNCH. In a bad way. Out to lunch.

 38A Rocky road from fad to fashion? : FITS AND STARTS /OF STYLE. In fits and starts. Out of style.

 57A. Solidarity among commoners? : UNISON/OF THE ORDINARY. In unison. Out of the ordinary.

 79A. Reenactment of a memorable scene from "The Exorcist"? : FULL SWING/ OF ONE'S HEAD. In full swing. Out of one's head.

 95A. "Dismount" or "settle"? : OTHER WORDS/LIKE ALIGHT. In other words. Out like a light.

 

  117A. Food-fight evidence at the picnic? : A PICKLE/ ON A LIMB. In a pickle. Out on a limb.

When did you get the theme? I was feeling dense this morning and did not grok the gimmick until I was done.

4 of today's 6 theme entries are very long. Personally I found grid spanners or near grid spanners make 21*21 challenging to fill. I do like 1 or 2 grid spanners in a 15*15 grid, but not 4, which immediately take 60 theme squares.

 

Across:

1. Inn option : RAMADA

7. Assigned in spades : PILED ON

14. Sources of some stadium images : BLIMPS

20. Spanish novelist Blasco __ : IBANEZ. Never heard of this guy.

21. Monster with both a lion's and goat's head : CHIMERA

22. Piano brand : YAMAHA

25. Like corn in the kettle : HUSKED

26. Tibetan priest : LAMA

27. Rough talk : RASP

28. Meryl Streep's alma mater : VASSAR. What a talented actress.

30. Pasture parent : EWE

31. Depilatory cream : NAIR

33. Plus-size supermodel : EMME

36. Suffix meaning "living substance" : PLASM. Good to know.

45. "Speed-the-Plow" playwright : MAMET (David). He also wrote the script for "The Untouchables".

46. Many millennia : EONS

47. Kind of bran : OAT

48. Port of Yemen : ADEN

49. "__ Wiedersehen" : AUF

50. Personnel list : ROTA

53. Whomp relative : THUD

55. To-do list item : ERRAND

62. Vents frustration toward : RANTS AT

63. Offscreen friend in "Ernest" films : VERN

64. Professor 'iggins : 'ENRY

65. On the safer side : ALEE

66. Former Indy champ Bobby : RAHAL. 1986 Indy 500 champ. He looks cool, EddyB. Can you hear me?

68. Kid's comeback : CAN SO

70. Jefferson Davis's sch. : USMA

74. Brief court plea : NOLO

75. Actor whose voice is emulated by Snagglepuss the Lion : LAHR (Bert). Very helpful "Lion" in the clue.

77. Put to shame : ABASHED

83. "Reservoir Dogs" actor : KEITEL (Harvey)

85. Polar sheet : FLOE

86. Radio host John : TESH

87. Ironically, he composed the "Microsoft sound" on a Mac : ENO (Brian)

88. Drying oven : OAST

89. Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE. He was born in Korea. Dae = Big. Daewoo = Big Universe. Korean "Dae" is the same as Chinese "Da".

90. Utterly : OH SO

93. Washing station : BASIN

101. Sipped uncertainly : TRIED. I bet our Foodie Steve has tried Jicama before. How about you, Bill G? I tasted a few raw strips yesterday.

102. Contrary current : EDDY

103. __ cava : VENA

104. Gone by : AGO

106. Ripped off : STOLEN

109. City near Anaheim : BREA. Tar city.

111. Daughter of Darth : LEIA

115. What opinions often do : DIFFER

121. Proofer's finds : ERRATA

122. Sing unlike Bing : BELT OUT

123. Golf shoe brand : ETONIC. I'm having difficulty picturing Dennis plays golf. Just weird. He said he's straight in the driving ranges. No matter. I'm certain he is not the kind that slows down the play by looking for the damned ball.

124. Shifty sort : SLY DOG

125. Blows up : SEES RED

126. Hinge (on) : DEPEND

Down:

 1. Iranian currency : RIAL

2. "Dancing Queen" band : ABBA

3. Respectful address : MA'AM

4. Not as slow as adagio : ANDANTE

5. Lawn beads : DEW

6. Hank who voices some "Simpsons" characters : AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period.

7. Chance-of-rain nos. : PCTs

8. Optimistic reply : I HOPE SO

9. Small, aptly? : LIL. "Apt" indeed.

10. Leggy runner : EMU. "Leggy" always makes me smile and think of Splynter. Here's an image for him, leggy & from Australia.

11. John who loved Colorado : DENVER. Boomer likes him.

12. Ocean predator : ORCA

13. Offhand turndowns : NAHs

14. To a large degree : BY HALF

15. Actress Linney et al. : LAURAs

16. Online exchanges, briefly : IMs

17. Memorable Eastwood line : MAKE MY DAY. "Go ahead. Make my day".

18. "Close call!" : PHEW

19. "Marat/__": 1963 play : SADE. Learned this from constructing crosswords.

24. Tale : YARN

29. Tie concern : SPOT

32. Team moving to the American League in 2013 : ASTROs. So now every division has 5 teams now. Inter-league everyday.

34. McKinley, e.g.: Abbr. : MTN

35. Learn all aspects of : MASTER

37. Packer with a strong arm : STARR (Bart). Great clue.

38. Relating to regional animal life : FAUNAL

39. "Don't worry about me" : I'M FINE

40. Unheeding : DEAF

41. Performing trip : TOUR

42. Get down? : SADDEN

43. Seinfeld's Uncle Leo portrayer __ Lesser : LEN. "Hello, Uncle Leo!"

44. Cut off : END

45. Tierney of "NewsRadio" : MAURA. I watched a few episodes.

51. Winning like crazy : ON A ROLL

52. Smashes beyond repair : TOTALS

54. Top dog : HONCHO

55. Dresses : ENROBES

56. Sign of hope : RAY

58. Riesling giant Chateau __ Michelle : STE

59. FDR project : TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). Since 1933.

60. "__, we won't go!": '60s antiwar chant : HELL NO. China also had a "Vietnam War", which happened in 1979.  The border skirmishes continued until 1989.

61. Like some nuts : INSANE

67. To what length : HOW FAR

69. Woofer's sound : ARF

70. Work the aisles, in slang : USH. You can comment with the next answer.

71. "Oh, come on!" : SHEESH

72. Avoid waffling : MEAN IT

73. Accompaniment : ADD ON

74. Marlins' div. : NL E (NL East)

76. Ancient : AGE OLD

78. Cinder receptacle : ASH BIN

79. Issues requiring attention : FISH TO FRY

80. Absolute : UTTER

81. Quebec's __'Orléans : ILE D'

82. Chiwere speaker : OTOE

83. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie __": 1974 hit : KOO

84. Clean off plates? : EAT. As Jayce mentioned before, the most common greeting phrase in China is "Have you eaten yet?" Makes sense if you know that food scarcity was a serious problem in the old days. I did not need to worry about my next meal until 1981.

89. Dimwit : DODO. I miss our witty Dodo.

91. Kept under wraps : HID

92. Color in large Crayola packs : SKY BLUE

94. Running swiftly : AGALLOP. This is a word? OK, then!

96. Equal, as expectations : RISE TO

97. Cleaning basic : WET RAG

98. Declining in later years : SENILE. This should cover men only, since there's an ANILE.

99. Chevy subcompact : AVEO

100. Tilted : LEANED

104. Food truck drinks : ADES

105. Lass : GIRL

107. Report generators : LABS

108. Foil relative : EPEE

110. Pensioned: Abbr. : RET'D. Poor Petraeus, he should have stayed with the military.

112. Berlin article : EINE

113. Participation declaration : I'M IN

114. Preschool song opener : ABCD

116. Short-lived diet, perhaps : FAD

118. Sm. change : CTS

119. Land div. by the 38th parallel : KOR. Did you watch the "60 Minutes" interview about that North Korean prisoner?

120. Absorbed, as a cost : ATE

C.C.

Saturday, May 26th, 2012, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 28

Wow - cruised through this puzzle, rare on any given Saturday, but I just got back from the bars and hanging with the guys, and I am really tired~! It always helps when you score the first word of the grid, though - real confidence booster. Triple stacks of 7's in the corners, and a grid spanner;

36A. Is having unending bad luck : CAN'T CATCH A BREAK - most likely the seed entry;

and two 10-letter climbers;

12D. Take too far : OVEREXTEND - see 29A

28D. Feature of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" : CANNON FIRE - I love this composition, the way it builds and subsides; I have this version; the cannons are powerful enough to blow out matches if you hold them in front of the speakers (so you know now what I did one semester in college)....if you care to, here's a link to the 15+ minutes with chorus and cannons

Onward ~!

1. Exchanged : SWAPPED

8. Hiking hazard : DROP OFF - we talked about this last week

15. Caesar salad basic : ROMAINE - CROUTON fit, too

16. "Grease" in the '90s, say : REVIVAL

17. Small cinema, nowadays : TRIPLEX - what if you parsed this as Triple X ~???

18. Tree-lined walkway : ALAMEDA - I know of the city; here's an image of the actual definition

19. Adams with a Hasselblad : ANSEL - photographer, and his camera - a page of his spectacular images

20. Mrs. Fields brand : TCBY - The Country's Best Yogurt

22. Game to pursue : PREY

23. Places to see buckjumpers : RODEOS - none for me, thanks

25. Brewers, e.g., briefly : NLers - Baseball, the teams here - C.C., did they move from the AL~? (C.C.: Brewers was in American League until 1997. They were called Seattle Pilots when first created, then Selig bought them and moved the team to Milwaukee.)

26. Geometer moth caterpillar : INCHWORM - there was one on my sheets just the other day

29. Final crossing? : STYX - I was going to put this in, thought "nah", and then I got 12D

30. Three-division sports gp. : NCAA

31. Family reunion attendees : NIECES - WAG

33. Builder of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft : TRW - yes, the same as the credit company

39. Royal son of comics : ARN - Prince Valiant

40. Surgical tool : STYLET

41. Certain Caltech grad: Abbr. : ENGineeR

42. Little TV redhead : OPIE

44. Balanced : EVENED UP

46. Gals : JANES - Dah~!! This one had me going - I have never heard of 46D

48. Set : HARDEN

49. Graceless sorts : OAFS

50. Possibility that's not an option : NO-NO - this was "meh" for me

51. Bar basic : LAGER - not Vodka - I had neither tonight - I left the sloppy drinking to the others, and drove them all home safely

55. Examined the look and feel of : TRIED ON

57. Toscanini was its music director in the 1920s : LA SCALA

59. Waiting, to some : TORTURE - it is for me - traffic lights, shopping lines, getting a little "somethin', somethin' " - alas, not tonight....that is, no lass for me....or is that L'ass because it's me~???

60. Inward journey? : EGO-TRIP

61. Dosage specification : ONE A DAY

62. Pair of fins : TEN-SPOT - fins is slang for five dollar bills

DOWN:

1. Eur. title : SRTA

2. No longer mint : WORN

3. "The Anti-Death League" author : AMIS - More here

4. Party topper : PAPER HAT - not the rare fill I thought it was....

5. Where one might have a sinking feeling : PILLOW - the perps got this; otherwise, it would have been an "ugh" moment

6. Storm hdg. : ENE

7. Skill : DEXTERITY

8. Dull shades : DRABS

9. Depend : RELY

10. Biological duct travelers : OVA

11. Spotted in a troubling way : PIMPLY - Acne, har-har

13. Recording device applied to applause : FADER - I guess; as a musician who records, I know what this is - but my car stereo has one, also

14. Castigates : FLAYS - hey, now, let's not get DF here....

21. Tell the truth, finally : COME CLEAN - or here, for that matter....

24. Give away : DONATE

25. Federal org. with a "Safety Recommendations" Web page : NTSB - here's the page~!

26. Old empire builder : INCA

27. At 6,684 ft., Mt. Mitchell is its highest point : N. CARolina



29. Taken to a table : SEATED

32. Volt maker : CHEVROLET - all electric car - I prefer the Fisker, with it's gas engine designed to charge the batteries only

34. Prego rival : RAGU

35. Sitcom call letters : WKRP - I had -KR-, and was totally lost until I remembered what "call letters" were - radio station IDs

37. TV's Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle, briefly : CSIs - Crime Scene Investigators

38. Stages as it happened : RE-ENACTS

43. Pre-euro currency : PESETA

45. Author DeMille : NELSON - I like his stuff - especially his cop character John Corey

46. Word game : JOTTO - new to me - PHEW~! Dare to try ~!

47. John Carradine's role in "The Ten Commandments" : AARON - Dah~! I had -ARON, and was going through the alphabet - and skipped "A" altogether....

48. Colony's concern : HONEY - Bee colony

50. "A Doll's House" wife : NORA

52. Irving title writer : GARP

53. Film director Petri : ELIO

54. Mesmerized : RAPT

56. Fizzler : DUD - My NY Rangers hockey team turned out to a be a "DUD", losing to the NJ Devils tonight - and so Eddy, we are down to 4-7 games in the 2012 season. I will be rooting for the East coast, since my West coast choice, Vancouver, was eliminated in the first round.

58. __ limit : AGE

Answer grid.

Sadly, I must report that the opportunity to move to Las Vegas has fallen apart - but I have not given up on my plans to move out West - it's just going to have to wait a bit - I thank all of you who offered me a place to stay, and dinner ( AJ, HG ); I am still holding you to that offer~!!!

Splynter