Saturday, Jul 29th, 2017, Mary Lou Guizzo

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,X)

Blocks: 30

 I did not recognize the constructor's name until I reviewed the list on the blog, and discovered we had Mary Lou twice on Saturday last year, both with Jeff Chen - and my success with those puzzles was mixed.  This week, she is flying solo, and I did fairly well, tho I did cheat and gave myself the "M" at 43a&d because my "ESE" corner was a mess.  Quite a few "quote" answers, and just a few too many proper names (* - 17~! - and I left out the geographic names) to make this really fun, yet I did get through them, and in my personal time.  Triple 10-letter across corners, and paired 10 and 11-letter downs crossing two nines;

17*. George Washington in New York, e.g. : TOLL BRIDGE - funny how recent events can alter one's perception; I was watching "The Story Of US" on History, and they discussed George Washington as a general in New York during the Revolution.  Totally missed the link to a bridge I regularly traveled over.  I crossed the new Goethals bridge from Staten Island a month ago - at a cost of $15, the same as the George - geez.  At least it's only one way.

It was supposed to be faced in granite

 30. Audacious : BALD-FACED - oops - I had bOld, but that's acceptable, too

36*. 2013 Nelson Mandela portrayer : IDRIS ELBA - WILL SMITH fit, too - but I was wrong

50. California Raisins ads production technique : CLAYMATION - like Gumby

O Drawn~!

ACROSS:

1. Two-sided : BIPARTISAN - pondered something like JANUS FACED, the Roman god

11. Shows one's hand, in a way : GINS - I considered "TELL", since I have been following the World Series of Poker

15. "Is anyone else here?" : "ARE WE ALONE~?"

16. "My turn" : "I'M UP"

18. Middle of a classical trio : VIDI - ah, not AMO, AMAS, AMAT, but VENI, VIDI, VICI, Caesar's boast of "I came, I saw, I conquered."

19*. Tolkien character : ENT - the walking talking trees

20*. Pindar works : ODES

21*. 2,000-year-old portrayal for Eden : GENIE - oh, Barbara Eden.  Got it.

22. Word with steel or square : TOED - steel toed I got; I had to look up square toed - can you tell I don't own a pair of high-end men's footwear~?

23. "Semper Fidelis" group : MARINES

25. Baseball statistic : AT BATS

28. Tuscan treat : GELATO - oops, had an "I" at the end

29*. Model Cheryl : TIEGS - I knew the name, not sure of the spelling, but got it right

33. React to dizziness : REEL

34*. Kazantzakis title character : ZORBA - filled via perps

35. HR dept. concern : RELOcation - I have an appointment with my HR guy at UPS on Wednesday next week to discuss opportunities within the company - and I am not opposed to being re-located if it means I can get paid from the neck up; not sure I am willing - or able - to put in another 18yrs doing what I do today

38. Strained : TENSE

39*. Voice of Magoo : BACKUS - I remembered the name Thurston Howell the third....and I just found out he was in "I Dream of Jeannie", too

40. Shade-tolerant foliage : HOSTAS

41. Busts, e.g. : STATUES

43. The better part : MOST - ah.  I was on the wrong wavelength here

44. Took the trouble : CARED

45*. Fashion designer Jacobs : MARC

46*. Arctic coast explorer : RAE

49. Fling : HURL

53*. Pitcher Hershiser : OREL - the one proper name I did know

54. Cylindrical stuffed pasta : CANNELLONI - knew the name, got the spelling wrong

55. River in Rwanda : NILE - well, now, I didn't think of that river....

56. Not taken : UNSELECTED

DOWN:

1. Subside : BATE - dang, I had EASE

2. Pressing agent : IRON - at first I thought there'd be a "?" here, but an iron really is a pressing agent

3. Skin : PELT

4. Its point is often boring : AWL - oooh, I went with BIT

5. Completes an installation, perhaps : REBOOTS - last week I had to install a printer on the network at the restaurant - what a chore, with all the rebooting and connectivity, but I succeeded

6. "Buenas __" : TARDES - considered DIOS and AIRES, both too short, and I needed buenOs for the second try - this answer translates to "good afternoon"

7. Jaw-dropping courtroom admission : I LIED

8. Does lawn work : SODS - dah~! Not MOWS

9*. Director Lee : ANG - OK, I knew two names

10. Born : NÉE

11. "Enough already!" : "GIVE IT A REST~!"

12. "It wasn't me!" : "I'M INNOCENT~!"

13. Film with few costumes? : NUDIE - new term for me.  My generation calls it 'porn'.  I went Googling, and I kept getting this; when I forced Google to connect the word with film, the original term was "nudie cutie", and I found this website

14. Infiltrators : SPIES

21. German count : GRAF - I shoulda known this - I am reading the "Bernie Gunther" novels from Philip Kerr, mostly set in WW II Germany

22. Pasta commonly served with Bolognese sauce : TAGLIATELLE

23. Peach __ : MELBA - interesting history

recipe~? It's ice cream, syrup and fruit....

24*. Pierce portrayer : ALDA - Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce, portrayed by Alan Alda

25. Abruzzi bell town : ATRI - dah~!  Took too long to recall this crossword staple

26. Even : TIED

27. It might be tapped : BEER BARREL

28. Costumes : GARBS

30. Hard pill to swallow : BOLUS

31*. "Frozen" queen : ELSA

32. Impersonates : DOES - argh~! Not APES

34*. Cowardly Lion's farmhand alter ego : ZEKE

37. Skim along, as clouds : SCUD

38. Built like models : TO SCALE - oh, those kind of models, the ones I used to build in my "ute"

40. Spam source : HORMEL - the "other" kind of SPAM

41. "Danke __" : SCHON

42. Alpha __: Bull constellation star : TAURI - Aldebaran, the red eye of taurus the bull - we should get some data from Pioneer 10 in about two million years....

43*. ESPN journalist Kenny : MAYNE

45. Operates : MANS - ugh.  Not RUNS

46. Fracas : RIOT

47. Excellent : A ONE

48*. Lover of Geraint : ENID

50. Ward for heart patients, briefly : CCU - the Coronary Care Unit

51. PC connection : LAN - Local Area Network, like the one at the restaurant

52. Attention in a 50-Down : TLC

Splynter