Saturday, Jun 20th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

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

Blocks: 29

   It looked pretty grim for me in the SE today, but it eventually came together.  I concede that I cheated, but it was never "43a."  I used my dictionary for one clue, and then Googled the seventh largest state just to get me some traction in that corner.  11-letter triples in the across, and 9-letter triples in the down, with two 10-letter climbers framing the center;

16a. Graphic with three-digit numbers : AREA CODE MAP - you can zoom in

Area Code Map

 54a. Spotted cat : EGYPTIAN MAU - had to give up on "COCO" for 53d.

 9d. Best-selling 2011 comedic autobiography : BOSSYPANTS - Tina Fey - I get a free gratuitous leg image out of it~!

 27. Picture frame feature : MITER JOINT

onDErd~!

ACROSS:

1. Cowboys, on scoreboards : DAL - always good to start out right; Dallas of the NFL - granted, it was only 3 letters....

4. Some field hands : DAY LABORERS

15. N.Y. campus that's home to the Engineers : RPI - a shout-out to Spitzboov and myself, tho my time there was not worth the cost

17. Msg. after an escape, perhaps : APB - All Points Bulletin; I tried S.O.S. - hey, if I got out, I'd want someone to come get me

18. 40-member California group : STATE SENATE - healthy WAG on my part

19. Overweight : FLESHY

21. Surprise fictional visitors : ETs

22. Mother of Sam and Charlie Woods : ELIN - Tiger's Ex

23. A bit sour : TARTY - meh

24. Law order : STAY - tried WRIT

25. Suffix with poly- : GLOT - Polyglot; 1. - a book containing versions of the same text in several languages /2. - composed of numerous linguistic groups (my dictionary is still open)

26. Adorable : CUTE

27. Hearty pastry : MEAT PIE

29. Patient of Dr. Liz : ODIE - from Garfield, the comic strip

30. Ready to roll : IN GEAR

31. Org. with a Retirement Estimator web page : SSA - dah~! Not IRS

34. Eye : PEER AT - would this be considered an ansecho~?  46d. Nobility : PEERS

36. Put in order : NEATEN

38. Furlong's 220: Abbr. : YDs - a healthy guess here, too

39. Hikes : LEGS IT - ah, not RAISES

43. Time to give up : LENT

44. Acts by those who won't give up : HEROICS

45. Slalom opening : GATE

46. Child: Pref. : PEDO - so what's a pedometer~? 

49. 7, often : JULY - Nailed it

50. Trap : HEM IN - did NOT nail it

51. Switch attachment? : EROO - Switheroo - this is one of "those" clues/answers that keeps me going sometimes

52. World Cup chant : OLÉ

53. Connecticut town in which some "Stepford Wives" scenes were filmed : DARIEN - I am familiar with this town only because 99.1 WPLR has traffic reports for CT, but we hear them on Long Island

57. Bio subject : RNA

58. 1950 Muddy Waters song : ROLLIN' STONE

59. Calendar abbr. : OCT - ugh - when the corner's blank, that leaves 12 choices

60. Brand of protective clothing : STEALTHWEAR - their website

61. Seventh-largest st. : NEVada - I did not know that IOWA is bigger than NY~!!! Wiki list

DOWN:   

1. Developmental version : DRAFT COPY

2. Praised : APPLAUDED

3. What a screenwriter may take with a novel : LIBERTIES - Off the top of my head, I know that things worked out better for John Hammond in the script of Jurassic Park than they did in the book

4. Stylish : DASHY - Y one

5. Pretentious : ARTY - Y two

6. Bit of support : YEA - Y oh Y

7. Reason for a baseball manager's challenge : LATE TAG - Remember this commercial~?

"He missed the tag~!!"

8. Overlay material : ACETATE - FORMICA®  fit, too

10. Dedicated work : ODE

11. Fail to deliver : RENEGE

12. Online shopping mecca : eMALL - ah, not one specific website

13. Pi, but not rho : RATIO

14. Drained : SPENT

20. Direct : STEER

24. 1/100 of a Cambodian riel : SEN - here's where I busted out the dictionary - it's got a cool "MONEY" table from all over the world

28. Hot condition : IRE

31. One sitting on a board : STEAM IRON - extremely clever

32. Consciousness : SENTIENCE

33. Airer of classic shows : ANTENNA TV - never heard of it, but some perps and an educated WAG....

35. Bass, for one : ALE - dah~!  The beer, not the instrument

37. "Ragged Dick" author : ALGER - Perps - the Wiki

40. Hodgepodge : GOULASH - took a moment to get the spelling correct

41. Wreck initiator? : SILENT W - har-har~!  W-R-E-C-K; more spelling

42. Like some stares : ICY - ah, not SLY

44. Fuss : HOOPLA

47. Grain disease : ERGOT - spelled it A-rgot first

48. Watson's creator : DOYLE - another one of "those" clues

50. "Crossworlds" actor Rutger __ : HAUER - another one of "those"; can't think of too many Rutgers....

53. Tabu creator : DANA - did not know what to put in after COCO went bad; the Wiki

55. Word after "open," in store signs : 'TIL

56. Animated barkeep : MOE - The Simpsons

Splynter - (( I can't talk right now - I'm in Delaware ))

Note from C.C.: 

Our dear Husker Gary felt sick on Wednesday and had to be rushed into the emergency room. He's still in the hospital. Please let's send him our thoughts and prayers. We need you and your musings back as soon as possible, Gary!

Joann, Granddaughter Elise & Gary