Words: 72 (missing Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 32
I was about to throw in the towel on this one, as the north refused to
turn any color other than white....so I cheated; I changed to red-letter
and discovered I had the wrong "Arabic word". Figures. But it at
least gave me a chance to rethink the NE, and then it was a matter of
Wild-Ass Guessing to get the NW to cooperate. All in all, I thought the
puzzle was a good challenge, though the proper names did throw a bit of
a fun sponge into the mix. I finished at exactly my personal allotted
time, too. Paired 9- and 10-letter corners, and two 11-letter spanners;
33. Quadrennial winter event since 1976 : PARALYMPICS - made me change some DOWN answers when "-LYMPICS" seemed more logical; more from the Wiki
40. Metaphorical target of a fruitless pursuit : SHINY OBJECT
- the more I looked, the more it seems this is less of a "pursuit" and
more of distraction; the reference is more like the phrase "curiosity
killed the cat"; see the psychology here
ACROSS:
1. "... and hid his face __ a crowd of stars": Yeats : AMID - starting off with a relatively vague quotation seems cruel and unusual
5. Farrier's tool : RASP - I know what a farrier does, but anvil and hammer didn't fit; SNIP did, tho
9. Word derived from the Aramaic for "my father" : ABBOT
- dah~! I figured it might be RABBI - and the "BB"s were right, but
only one in the correct location - what is that, 20% or 40%, D-Otto~?
14. Whirl : PIROUETTE - thankfully, the letters the perps filled in made the spelling of this easier - I had --R-UE--E
16. Place, as cloth before surgery : DRAPE - I did consider this at first, but this is a really round-about clue for a 5-letter word
17. Talk big : BLOW SMOKE
18. Zealand natives : DANES - I tried MAORI
19. "Candy-colored clown" in Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," with "the" : SANDMAN
20. Butler, e.g. : SERVANT - the household position - not the character from Gone With The Wind
22. Cézanne's "Boy in __ Vest" : A RED - um, sure, OK
24. Isn't quite neutral : LEANS - different from yesterday's definition
25. Business : AFFAIR
29. Manchego sources : EWES - I was 100% positive about "WIRY", so this made for a sensible WAG
31. Copacetic : A-OK
5. Farrier's tool : RASP - I know what a farrier does, but anvil and hammer didn't fit; SNIP did, tho
14. Whirl : PIROUETTE - thankfully, the letters the perps filled in made the spelling of this easier - I had --R-UE--E
16. Place, as cloth before surgery : DRAPE - I did consider this at first, but this is a really round-about clue for a 5-letter word
17. Talk big : BLOW SMOKE
18. Zealand natives : DANES - I tried MAORI
19. "Candy-colored clown" in Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," with "the" : SANDMAN
20. Butler, e.g. : SERVANT - the household position - not the character from Gone With The Wind
22. Cézanne's "Boy in __ Vest" : A RED - um, sure, OK
25. Business : AFFAIR
29. Manchego sources : EWES - I was 100% positive about "WIRY", so this made for a sensible WAG
31. Copacetic : A-OK
35. "Piano is not my forte," e.g. : PUN - har-har
36. Orgs. with class issues? : PTAs
37. Command ender : EER - commandeer
38. Meter starter : PERI - I had PEDO-, and that was definitely 50% right; perimeter
39. Wi-Fi relative : LAN
44. Wapiti : ELK - knew this from doing crosswords
45. Dick Grayson, to Bruce Wayne : WARD - I grew up with the 60's campy version, but I did like the re-makes with Christian Bale; well, the first two
46. Sites of some runners : AISLES - I did consider SLEIGHS, but it didn't fit
47. Goaded, with "on" : EGGED - had it, changed it to URged, changed it back
49. '60s-'70s Japanese leader : SATO - perps
51. Prepare for baking : PRE-HEAT
53. Jeopardize : IMPERIL
58. Nirvana attainer : ARHAT - straight up definition; new word to me
59. Ace : HOLE-IN-ONE
61. Blue books? : PORNO - if this is the case, I like my entertainment to be "navy"
62. Opening numbers? : AREA CODES - very good; should have figured it out sooner
63. Indo-__ languages : ARYAN
64. Pastoral poem : IDYL
65. Indianapolis-to-Springfield direction : WEST - were you shocked to see FOUR letters in the answer~? Narrowed down the choices, tho
1. They may include yrs. and models : APBs - took too long to make the connection, but I was thinking about cars. An "All Points Bulletin" - although I think a "BOLO" is more appropriate - "Be On the Look Out for a 2000 Dodge Status, license plate XYZ-1234~!"
2. "__ 18": Uris novel : MILA - I have seen this before, but my head was stuck on "Stalag 17" - both are stories of people and their Nazi Germany foes
3. Food Network's "__ Chef America" : IRON
4. Columnist Maureen : DOWD - 50% perps, 50% WAG
5. Emulate Liz Taylor ... regularly : REMARRY - Ironic that DIVORCE fit, too
6. Square things : ATONE - ah, the verb, not the adjective
7. NASDAQ unit : STK - meh.
8. Pepper trio? : PEES - PePPer
9. Deal with : ADDRESS
10. Price support? : BRAVA - the only thing that makes sense is this person; "BRAVO~!" for females
11. Stereotypical slipper? : BANANA PEEL
12. Like some software : OPEN SOURCE
13. Measuring device : TEST
15. FedEx competitor : US MAIL - OK, I did a UPS shout-out last week
21. What a conductor may conduct: Abbr. : ELECtricity - I wanted "ORCH"
23. "We'll see" : DEPENDS
25. Brandy flavor : APPLE
26. A virus may cause one : FATAL ERROR - in the world of computers
27. Walt Disney Concert Hall architect : FRANK GEHRY - I am familiar with this name, so the spelling did not bother me
28. Small power sources : AAs - batteries
30. Like an Irish wolfhound's coat : WIRY
32. Furrows : KNITS - think eyebrows
34. Israel's Iron Lady : MEIR
38. Retirement outfit? : PJs - good clue; I was in "IRA" mode
40. Smitten with : SWEET ON - I am still smitten by the blue-eyed girl; some day....
41. Words with baby or bad day : HAD A - I regularly have the "bad day" version - hopefully the "baby" part is in my future
42. Breakfast choice : OATMEAL
43. "Ed Wood," e.g. : BIOPIC
48. Kofi Annan's birthplace : GHANA
50. 1976 Spingarn Medal recipient : AILEY - never heard of this award, nor this person
51. Literary sobriquet : PAPA - that author dude, uh, what's his name, Ernest
52. Golden Triangle native : THAI
54. "There are liars ... __ to beat the honest men": "Macbeth" : ENOW - poetic "enough"
55. Tormented : RODE
56. Supermodel Sastre : INÉS - hey, two birds with one stone - her image and her legs - or is that one bird with two stones~?
ooh~! shiny~!
57. "__ we forget" : LEST60. Chicago airport code : ORD - O'Hare, which was originally Orchard Field Airport; now I can see where they get code