Words: 72 (missing V, X, Z)
Blocks: 33
Man, I thought this one was going to crush me. In the end, I had to
cheat - two items, but it was worth it. The SE corner had some genuine
screw-ups on my part, which slowed me down something fierce.
Lots of white-wash in the top half as well, which left me discouraged -
but then, a glimmer of hope~! Triple 9-letter corners made up the
longest answers;
15a. Spider producer : ALFA ROMEO
- lots of car manufacturers make a "spider", but this company seems to
be most closely associated with the style. Did you hear about the UK
Top Gear presenter getting fired~? I'm not sure I'm watching next year....
17. 54-Down cause, in modern jargon : FAT FINGER - Funny. This should have clued me in that my 54d. "MEMO" was wrong
58a. Little League game ender, perhaps : MERCY RULE - Some "baseball" for C.C.; I had "--- BUNT", and that wasn't making any sense - the Wiki
32d. Where billabongs flow : AUSTRALIA - not the clothing line - a new word for me; the Wiki
oh, and -
44a. What some authority figures wear? : THE PANTS - "Let me tell you, I'm the one who wears the pants around here~!
Game - ON -ward~!
ACROSS:
1. Discouraged : SCARED OFF
10. Father of Reuben, in Genesis : JACOB - OK, I cheated. I had to look this one up.
16. __ Bowl: Boston College won the last one in 2000 : ALOHA
10. Father of Reuben, in Genesis : JACOB - OK, I cheated. I had to look this one up.
16. __ Bowl: Boston College won the last one in 2000 : ALOHA
18. Samurai without a master : RONIN - I recalled this from an "X-Files" episode
19. Sell the scene : EMOTE
20. __ Air : BEL
22. Have more than enough : O.D. ON
23. Mtge. application datum : SSN
24. Hayek of "Frida" : SALMA
26. Meld : FUSE
27. Shafts, so to speak : RAW DEALS - as in "they gave me the shaft"
30. Court pos. : CTR - meh.
31. Hillshire Brands predecessor : SARA LEE
34. "Bad idea" : "NAH"
35. Skosh : TAD
36. High-protein grain : QUINOA - OK. I cheated here, too - I was pretty sure "QUINCE" was wrong, but the "OA" was not coming to me
37. Great Plains tribe : LAKOTA - oops, not Dakota
39. Sch. whose marching band played on Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" : USC
40. Spray-making co. : FTD - ah. I did not know these arrangements were called "sprays"
42. Golden Globe nominee for "Tommy" : DALTREY - Roger, from The Who
43. Second-most populous Afr. country : ETHiopia
43. Second-most populous Afr. country : ETHiopia
46. God in 56-Across : ARES
48. Past : OF OLD
49. K.C. setting : CST - OK, I thought Kansas City was in MDT; sorry, my mid-west friends, I thought you were further west....
52. Item on a carhop's tray : MALT
53. Fox's leg? : GAM - my kind of clue~!
54. Reno-__ Intl. Airport : TAHOE
56. It concludes with Hector's funeral : ILIAD
61. __ mentality : SIEGE - I am familiar with "herd" mentality, but I have not "heard" this phrase
62. Yosemite attraction : EL CAPITAN - Old Faithful did not fit; besides, it's in Yellowstone....
63. "Blade Runner" actor Rutger __ : HAUER
64. "Days," for one : SOAP OPERA - my mom calls her favorite daytime drama "Days", in reference to "Days of Our Lives"
DOWN:
1. Gun holders : SAFES - ugh, took W-A-A-A-Y too long to figure out the "F"
2. Bucks : CLAMS - money slang
3. River in a Burns poem : AFTON - mostly perps
4. Great quantity : RAFT - r-aft and aft-on
5. City with a Penn State campus : ERIE - educated WAG
6. Get into : DON - Pondered "DIG" here, but we're talking clothes, not 'style'
7. Surprise letters : OMG - Text-speak for "Oh My God~!"
8. Ineffective : FEEBLE
9. Court leader : FOREMAN
10. Shake up : JAR - I got jarred in my hockey game this past Wednesday; I made the save on the guy who crashed the net, but I still have the headache
11. Hard to reach : ALOOF
12. Copper, notably : CONDUCTOR - the "T" from TAD led me to try "---- METAL" - bzzzt~!
13. Jack Nicklaus Museum campus : OHIO STATE - I WAGed "STATE" from TAD as well, and this worked
14. Time to celebrate : BANNER DAY - WAGed "DAY" from TAD, too~!
21. Dream state? : LA-LA LAND - shout-out, Linda~!
24. Misfit '70s sitcom character : SWEATHOG - Mista Kotter~!
25. Power chaser? : ADE - Powerade, the sports drink
27. Bolted : RAN
28. Up : ALOFT - ugh. RISEN~? AWAKE~? ALIVE~? Nope.
29. Old will? : SHALT - Thou will not covet...
31. Easily appalled : SQUEAMISH - BANG~! Got it with just "---M--H"
33. "The Three Musketeers" antagonist : RICHELIEU - mostly perps
38. Ring concerns: Abbr. : KTS - dah~! I had KOs, the boxing kind of ring, not the engagement type
41. Vilifies : DEFAMES - ooops, not ASHames
42. Indian lentil dish : DAL - all perps; last week, we had VORTEX cross with TEX; this week, it's DAL and DALtrey
45. Asian citrus fruit : POMELO
47. Part of a process : STAGE
49. Drag racing safety feature : CHUTE
50. __ system : SOLAR - DAH~!! Put in HONOR, and that blew up the whole corner; I was 40% correct
51. "Lovergirl" vocalist __ Marie : TEENA - WAG & perps
54. Paper slip : TYPO - Dah-dah-dah~! Not MEMO; should have known it was wrong with the cross-referenced 17a.
55. "What __!": "I've been swindled!" : "A RIP~!"
57. Aachen article : DER
59. Onetime Hertz owner : RCA
60. Tube top : CAP - ah, not the clothing
51. "Lovergirl" vocalist __ Marie : TEENA - WAG & perps
54. Paper slip : TYPO - Dah-dah-dah~! Not MEMO; should have known it was wrong with the cross-referenced 17a.
55. "What __!": "I've been swindled!" : "A RIP~!"
57. Aachen article : DER
59. Onetime Hertz owner : RCA
60. Tube top : CAP - ah, not the clothing