Theme: None
Words: 70 (missing F,J,Q,X,Y)
Blocks: 30
Well
it's about time I smoked through a Saturday puzzle; I was starting to
wonder if the difficulty level was ever going to come down. I
recognized the constructor's name, and I sensed that I had struggled
with his grids in the past - but I was wrong. It has been over four
years since he last gave us a Saturday challenge, and that one was a fun
romp, too - my words. Six ten-letter answers in today's grid, with
triple 8- and 6-letter corners;
4. Some breaks in the NFL action : TV TIMEOUTS
20. Biting criticism : ACID TONGUE
12. Fruity chip go-with : MANGO SALSA
29. Contemporary "Be yourself" : KEEP IT REAL - I liked Dave
Chapelle's "when Keeping it Real goes wrong", but due to the "adult
content", I must refrain from posting it here :7))
50. Dark personification : GRIM REAPER
27. Goes wild : WHOOPS IT UP
ON❤ARD~!
ACROSS:
1. Robin on '60s TV : BURT WARD - oh so proud of myself for filling in SIDEKICK, and it worked well with my 15a, too
9. Mischievous kids : SCAMPS
15. What one taking a flight doesn't use? : ELEVATOR - a flight of stairs, and it didn't fool me
16. Mustang rival : CAMARO - I'll take the Mustang every day of the week, twice on Sunday
17. Abomination : ANATHEMA
18. Common soccer result : ONE-NIL - hockey games that end 1-0 are boring
19. Coach Eric Taylor's wife on "Friday Night Lights" : TAMI - perps
22. Hardboard brand : MASONITE - at first I was ashamed that I couldn't nail this one, but then when the crossings filled in, I realized I was thinking Homasote, and not Hardboard. Fake 6-panel doors are made with hardboard, and cheaper
24. William Donovan's WWII org. : OSS
25. Dropped jaws : WOWED 'EM
28. Computer media : DISKS - perps got me all but the "K", and I wondered if it might be "C"
30. Cold sound? : "ACHOO~!"
31. "Star Trek" rank: Abbr. : ENS. - the one I can think of is Ro, from The Next Generation
32. __ St. Louis : EAST - vague, but it's Saturday
35. Exodus pronoun : THOU - THEE or THOU~? Had to wait
36. Liquid diet component : BROTH - my liquid diet of some years ago did NOT consist of broth....
38. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI - Crosswordese
39. Traffic sound : TOOT - dah~! Not HONK
40. Jethro Tull frontman Anderson : IAN - I knew this - but I am not a fan; Iron Maiden covered Cross-eyed Mary
41. Big name in printers : EPSON - CANON~? XEROX~? Ugh. Had to wait
42. Library exchanges : PSSTs - BOOKS fit, but I doubted it was the answer; my last fill was the "S", tho I had "A" there first - hey PSATS sounded reasonable - but no ta-DA~!
44. Drea de Matteo's role on "The Sopranos" : ADRIANA - did not watch the show, filled via perps
46. Sources of remote power : AAs - TV remotes, etc.
48. Balderdash : UTTER ROT - ever play Balderdash~? Great board game
52. Speeds (up) : REVS
56. More affected, in a way : ARTIER
57. More than familiar with : INURED TO - my "SAGAS" at 49d. led me to GEARED TO
59. Arrive copiously : POUR IN
60. Some summer homes : COTTAGES
61. Toll road convenience : E-Z PASS - word is, NY State is going total E-Z Pass and unmanned booths; cameras will catch those who don't play well with others. I already have my tags
62. Site of Napoleon's last exile : St. HELENA
DOWN:
1. Overpower : BEAT
2. Radius neighbor : ULNA
3. Office quantity : REAM
5. Nursery noise : WAH - guitar noise, too, for those who know
6. Base command : AT EASE
7. "Think Like a Man Too," e.g. : ROM-COM
8. Exhaust : DRAIN
9. Terrier type : SCOTTISH
10. Participates in a camp activity : CANOES
11. Grace closing : AMEN
13. Hybrid hatchback : PRIUS
- there are two kinds of Prius owners - either the ones who drive so
slow that they never use the gasoline engine, or the other ones, who
should have never invested in a hybrid in the first place - a Mustang
would have been cheaper for these leadfoots
14. They may leave prints : SOLES
21. "We __ Start the Fire": Billy Joel : DIDN'T - great song; much of the history pre-dates me, and being the curious type, had to find out more
23. Shakespearean title word : ADO
25. Power eponym : WATT - James Watt, who made the first major improvement to the steam engine - the Wiki
26. Dos cubed : OCHO - 2³, in Spanish
31. Great spell : EON - spell as in stretch of time
33. "Are we there yet?" reply : SOON
9. Mischievous kids : SCAMPS
15. What one taking a flight doesn't use? : ELEVATOR - a flight of stairs, and it didn't fool me
16. Mustang rival : CAMARO - I'll take the Mustang every day of the week, twice on Sunday
17. Abomination : ANATHEMA
18. Common soccer result : ONE-NIL - hockey games that end 1-0 are boring
19. Coach Eric Taylor's wife on "Friday Night Lights" : TAMI - perps
22. Hardboard brand : MASONITE - at first I was ashamed that I couldn't nail this one, but then when the crossings filled in, I realized I was thinking Homasote, and not Hardboard. Fake 6-panel doors are made with hardboard, and cheaper
25. Dropped jaws : WOWED 'EM
28. Computer media : DISKS - perps got me all but the "K", and I wondered if it might be "C"
30. Cold sound? : "ACHOO~!"
31. "Star Trek" rank: Abbr. : ENS. - the one I can think of is Ro, from The Next Generation
32. __ St. Louis : EAST - vague, but it's Saturday
35. Exodus pronoun : THOU - THEE or THOU~? Had to wait
36. Liquid diet component : BROTH - my liquid diet of some years ago did NOT consist of broth....
38. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI - Crosswordese
39. Traffic sound : TOOT - dah~! Not HONK
40. Jethro Tull frontman Anderson : IAN - I knew this - but I am not a fan; Iron Maiden covered Cross-eyed Mary
Note the Grim Reaper on the card
42. Library exchanges : PSSTs - BOOKS fit, but I doubted it was the answer; my last fill was the "S", tho I had "A" there first - hey PSATS sounded reasonable - but no ta-DA~!
44. Drea de Matteo's role on "The Sopranos" : ADRIANA - did not watch the show, filled via perps
46. Sources of remote power : AAs - TV remotes, etc.
48. Balderdash : UTTER ROT - ever play Balderdash~? Great board game
52. Speeds (up) : REVS
56. More affected, in a way : ARTIER
Black & White - I'm getting "artier"
59. Arrive copiously : POUR IN
60. Some summer homes : COTTAGES
61. Toll road convenience : E-Z PASS - word is, NY State is going total E-Z Pass and unmanned booths; cameras will catch those who don't play well with others. I already have my tags
62. Site of Napoleon's last exile : St. HELENA
DOWN:
1. Overpower : BEAT
2. Radius neighbor : ULNA
3. Office quantity : REAM
5. Nursery noise : WAH - guitar noise, too, for those who know
6. Base command : AT EASE
7. "Think Like a Man Too," e.g. : ROM-COM
8. Exhaust : DRAIN
9. Terrier type : SCOTTISH
10. Participates in a camp activity : CANOES
11. Grace closing : AMEN
Amen~!
14. They may leave prints : SOLES
21. "We __ Start the Fire": Billy Joel : DIDN'T - great song; much of the history pre-dates me, and being the curious type, had to find out more
I arrived during "punk rock" @ 3:25
25. Power eponym : WATT - James Watt, who made the first major improvement to the steam engine - the Wiki
26. Dos cubed : OCHO - 2³, in Spanish
31. Great spell : EON - spell as in stretch of time
33. "Are we there yet?" reply : SOON
34. Brown of publishing : TINA - no clue, all perps and WAG
36. Marshland waders : BITTERNS - had some of the crossings, and this rose up from the depths of my mind
37. Dreaded figure? : RASTA
41. "__ e Leandro": Handel cantata : ERO
43. "Yup!" : "SURE IS~!" - followed by:
44. "Nope!" : "ARE NOT~!"
45. Longtime "Sexually Speaking" host : Dr. RUTH - had it, took it out with SAGAS being wrong
46. Catching flies, so to speak : AGAPE
47. Pollo partner : ARROZ - Chicken and rice
49. Sweeping stories : EPICS - SAGAS~? Bzzzt~!
51. "Look, amigo!" : "MIRA~!" - rockin' the Spanish today; I need to learn more - it's the dominant language in the kitchens where I work
53. One of a cube's dozen : EDGE - so proud of myself for figuring this out
43. "Yup!" : "SURE IS~!" - followed by:
44. "Nope!" : "ARE NOT~!"
45. Longtime "Sexually Speaking" host : Dr. RUTH - had it, took it out with SAGAS being wrong
46. Catching flies, so to speak : AGAPE
47. Pollo partner : ARROZ - Chicken and rice
49. Sweeping stories : EPICS - SAGAS~? Bzzzt~!
51. "Look, amigo!" : "MIRA~!" - rockin' the Spanish today; I need to learn more - it's the dominant language in the kitchens where I work
53. One of a cube's dozen : EDGE - so proud of myself for figuring this out
54. Engine with a lot of juice : V-TEN - pondered V-tec, from Honda, but V-10 makes more sense; popular in the Dodge Viper - check out this Viper~!
55. Slugger who began and ended his career as a Texas Ranger : SOSA - Good WAG for me
58. Hwy., e.g. : RTE
Splynter
58. Hwy., e.g. : RTE
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Our blog turns 9-year-old today! Among regulars, Argyle is probably with me the longest. Do you all still remember the first time you visited our blog?
