Total blocks: 33
Total words: 68
There are exactly 34 Across and 34 Down fills. Very balanced. We don't often see an equal number of across and down entries.
Hey - it's Dennis. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Not just because it's a Silky, but also because a) there's no three-letter answers, a real construction feat (probably the reason why this puzzle is not a pangram), and b) there's a pair of stacked ten-letter entries in each of four quadrants, and I love the longer answers. Also several of the clues and answers hit home personally, as you'll see as you go through the write-up.
Barry said his seed entry was Cole Hamels. He had released 2008 Phillies Championship Tribute on our blog in Jan 2009. HAMELS was part of the theme answer, clued as "MVP of the 2008 Phillies". C.C. mentioned that the puzzle eventually made it into Phillies' organization.
Hey - it's Dennis. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Not just because it's a Silky, but also because a) there's no three-letter answers, a real construction feat (probably the reason why this puzzle is not a pangram), and b) there's a pair of stacked ten-letter entries in each of four quadrants, and I love the longer answers. Also several of the clues and answers hit home personally, as you'll see as you go through the write-up.
Barry said his seed entry was Cole Hamels. He had released 2008 Phillies Championship Tribute on our blog in Jan 2009. HAMELS was part of the theme answer, clued as "MVP of the 2008 Phillies". C.C. mentioned that the puzzle eventually made it into Phillies' organization.
Across:
1A: Dr.'s calendar item: APPT (Appointment).
5A: Arizona's southwesternmost county, or its seat: YUMA. Do you remember '3:10 to Yuma'? I remembered the 1957 version, with Glenn Ford & Van Heflin, but not the 2007 remake with Russel Crowe & Christian Bale.
9A: Narrow one's brows (at): SCOWL. Look displeased/angry.
14A: Tigger's pal: POOH. Just vaguely remember the characters of "Winnie The Pooh" in Hundred Acre Wood.
5A: Arizona's southwesternmost county, or its seat: YUMA. Do you remember '3:10 to Yuma'? I remembered the 1957 version, with Glenn Ford & Van Heflin, but not the 2007 remake with Russel Crowe & Christian Bale.
9A: Narrow one's brows (at): SCOWL. Look displeased/angry.
14A: Tigger's pal: POOH. Just vaguely remember the characters of "Winnie The Pooh" in Hundred Acre Wood.
15A: "Stop pouring now!": WHEN. Think our DFettes ever say 'when'?
16A: NFL commentator Long: HOWIE. He was a great defensive end.
16A: NFL commentator Long: HOWIE. He was a great defensive end.
17A: Prefix with marketing: TELE. Telemarketing. We all love telemarketers.
18A: Phillies pitcher who received the 2008 World Series MVP Award: COLE HAMELS. Obviously, one of my favorite clues. Cole got us only our second World Series Championship in over 120 years. He's married to Heidi Strobel from Survivor.
20A: Car roof with removable panels: T-TOP. Here's an example.
28A: Elvis's swivelers: HIPS. But not everyone got to see them initially. Early TV shows kept the camera above his waist when he performed. Watch this example from the Ed Sullivan show.
18A: Phillies pitcher who received the 2008 World Series MVP Award: COLE HAMELS. Obviously, one of my favorite clues. Cole got us only our second World Series Championship in over 120 years. He's married to Heidi Strobel from Survivor.
20A: Car roof with removable panels: T-TOP. Here's an example.
21A: Instants of revelation, as for puzzle solvers: AHA MOMENTS. Who doesn't love that moment when the light comes on?
22A: Easier version, in music scores: OSSIA. From the Italian for 'alternatively'. Was originally spelled o sia, meaning "or be it".
24A: Iditarod destination: NOME. A great test of endurance for both people and dogs.
25A: Sports intermission: HALF TIME.
22A: Easier version, in music scores: OSSIA. From the Italian for 'alternatively'. Was originally spelled o sia, meaning "or be it".
24A: Iditarod destination: NOME. A great test of endurance for both people and dogs.
25A: Sports intermission: HALF TIME.
28A: Elvis's swivelers: HIPS. But not everyone got to see them initially. Early TV shows kept the camera above his waist when he performed. Watch this example from the Ed Sullivan show.
32A: Co-proprietor: JOINT OWNER. Scrabbly J.
34A: French 101 verb: ETRE. I was expecting 'amas' or 'amat' (Latin) from force of habit.
35A: Existing independent of experience, in logic: A PRIORI. Deductive or presumptive. Opposite a posteriori. Buckeye has given us several long lectures on A PRIORI.
36A: Libya neighbor: TUNISIA. It's at the very top of Africa. See it? Capital city is Tunis, which was gridded in our puzzle on Thursday. An intentional ALGERIA trap.
35A: Existing independent of experience, in logic: A PRIORI. Deductive or presumptive. Opposite a posteriori. Buckeye has given us several long lectures on A PRIORI.
36A: Libya neighbor: TUNISIA. It's at the very top of Africa. See it? Capital city is Tunis, which was gridded in our puzzle on Thursday. An intentional ALGERIA trap.
38A: Pimples: ZITS. Almost put a picture here but didn't, 'cause it wasn't pretty.
39A: Photographer known for his black-and-white American West scenes: ANSEL ADAMS. I love his photographs. This is my favorite of his works; I want that road.
41A: Citrus peel: ZEST. Only the colored portion of the rind. The white pith is bitter.
42A: Emits, as pheromones: SECRETES. I love how it perps 29D, 'It's a secret'.
43A: Part of MSG: MONO. Monosodium glutamate. The Chinese restaurant next to my hobby store is always filling our dumpsters with empty MSG drums.
44A: Snow coasters: SLEDS.
47A: Angler's item: FISHING ROD
53A: Bra size: B CUP. A bit smaller than this one, and a LOT smaller than this one.
54A: Carefully entering: EASING INTO. Ah, the images...
55A: Cube maker Rubik: ERNO. We should all have this guy memorized by now.
56A: Goaded, with "on": EGGED. Wanted 'urged' initially.
57A: Fiddling tyrant: NERO. He fiddled while Rome burned.
58A: Flat fee?: RENT. Good clue. British call apartment "flat".
59A: Hotsy-__: TOTSY. We have many on this blog.
60A: Dutch export: EDAM. Named after the town in the Netherlands where the cheese was first made.
61A: Souped-up Pontiacs: GTOS. My favorite muscle car. This is identical to one of the ones I had.
Down:
1D: Is __: probably will: APT TO.
2D: Meter experts?: POETS. Poetic meter. Very clever.
3D: Golfers' tops: POLO SHIRTS. I was initially going for something involving a visor.
4D: 2002 film about a musician who survived the Holocaust: THE PIANIST. Remember Adrien Brody's liplock on Halle Berry at the Academy Awards?
4D: 2002 film about a musician who survived the Holocaust: THE PIANIST. Remember Adrien Brody's liplock on Halle Berry at the Academy Awards?
5D: Girls' rec. center: YWCA. Since 1858. YMCA was established in 1844.
6D: "Here comes trouble": UH OH.
7D: Skin pigment: MELANIN. Albinos are not able to produce melanin.
8D: Wind-speed measurer: ANEMOMETER. From the Greek 'anemos' (wind); measures wind speed. Here is a simple one.
9D: Humiliate: SHAME. I was expecting 'abase'.
10D: Arrive: COME. Nope. Not touching it. Lois, any comments?
11D: Wilson of "Marley & Me": OWEN. He's been here in Philly lately shooting a movie.
12D: Droop like aging flowers: WILT. Any time I see 'wilt", I think of Wilt Chamberlain -played for Philly and the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game. He claimed in his book to have "slept with 20,000 women". Must've been a narcoleptic.
13D: Not so much: LESS.
19D: Self-government: HOME RULE.
23D: Range below soprano: ALTO.
26D: Dirt-cheap: FOR A SONG.
27D: Like some remote-control planes: TWIN ENGINE. We sell quite a few R/C planes, and about 90% of them are single engine. Twin engines add a whole new level of complexity, just as they do in real thing.
28D: German university town: HEIDELBERG. HEIDELBERG University is one of Europe's oldest educational institutes.
29D: "Don't tell anyone": IT'S A SECRET
30D: Schoolmarmish: PRIM.
31D: Sailors' milieus: SEAS. Was expecting 'bars'...
32D: Cool cat's music: JAZZ. JAZZ typifies Barry's hallmark scrabbliness.
33D: Mayberry tyke: OPIE. An old friend who visits often.
37D: Washington team: NATS. Washington Nationals. The doormats of the National League.
40D: Treated with disdain: SCORNED. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I speak from experience.
43D: Mork's friend: MINDY. Played by Pam Dawber.
45D: Slangy "Beats me!": DUNNO.
51D: Other, in Oaxaca: OTRA. Feminine. OTRO is masculine.
52D: Dire Destiny: DOOM. Nice alliteration.
Answer grid.
Should you have time, try to solve Barry's Newsday Stumper today. It's quite the hammer.
Dennis
Note from C.C.: Happy Birthday, Dennis! Thanks for the fun, knowledge and words of wisdom you bring to us every day.
10D: Arrive: COME. Nope. Not touching it. Lois, any comments?
11D: Wilson of "Marley & Me": OWEN. He's been here in Philly lately shooting a movie.
12D: Droop like aging flowers: WILT. Any time I see 'wilt", I think of Wilt Chamberlain -played for Philly and the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game. He claimed in his book to have "slept with 20,000 women". Must've been a narcoleptic.
13D: Not so much: LESS.
19D: Self-government: HOME RULE.
23D: Range below soprano: ALTO.
26D: Dirt-cheap: FOR A SONG.
27D: Like some remote-control planes: TWIN ENGINE. We sell quite a few R/C planes, and about 90% of them are single engine. Twin engines add a whole new level of complexity, just as they do in real thing.
28D: German university town: HEIDELBERG. HEIDELBERG University is one of Europe's oldest educational institutes.
29D: "Don't tell anyone": IT'S A SECRET
30D: Schoolmarmish: PRIM.
31D: Sailors' milieus: SEAS. Was expecting 'bars'...
32D: Cool cat's music: JAZZ. JAZZ typifies Barry's hallmark scrabbliness.
33D: Mayberry tyke: OPIE. An old friend who visits often.
37D: Washington team: NATS. Washington Nationals. The doormats of the National League.
40D: Treated with disdain: SCORNED. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I speak from experience.
43D: Mork's friend: MINDY. Played by Pam Dawber.
45D: Slangy "Beats me!": DUNNO.
46D: Windex targets: SPOTS
47D. Word after bare or square: FEET
48D: "Othello" traitor: IAGO. Another frequent visitor. No Moor!
49D: USMC rank: SSGT. Staff Sergeant (E-6). Would've been my next rank had I stayed in.
50D: Goes quickly: HIES
47D. Word after bare or square: FEET
48D: "Othello" traitor: IAGO. Another frequent visitor. No Moor!
49D: USMC rank: SSGT. Staff Sergeant (E-6). Would've been my next rank had I stayed in.
50D: Goes quickly: HIES
51D: Other, in Oaxaca: OTRA. Feminine. OTRO is masculine.
52D: Dire Destiny: DOOM. Nice alliteration.
Answer grid.
Should you have time, try to solve Barry's Newsday Stumper today. It's quite the hammer.
Dennis
Note from C.C.: Happy Birthday, Dennis! Thanks for the fun, knowledge and words of wisdom you bring to us every day.
