google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Feb 11, 2012

Saturday, Feb 11, 2012, Peter Wentz

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 29

Yes, I believe this is my first Peter Wentz puzzle, and according to my search, his last Saturday LAT grid was Aug 2009 - before my time. Scrabbly, with just the "X" absent. A nearly perfect spiral of a layout, with a "+" in the middle, only six 3-letter entries, and triple 9/5 and 8/7 stacks going around. Heavy on the music, and sports, too, with;

34A. Five-time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner : GRETZKY - Wayne, one of the best forwards to ever play hockey; this is the award for best sportsman - I am not up to speed on my trophies; I know that the best goalie gets the "Vezina" trophy; also 31A. 34-Across's realm : ICE

19A. Hoops legend : DR J - Julius Erving, but I do not care for basketball

39A. Only Dolphin quarterback to win a Super Bowl : GRIESE - Not Marino, this guy

33D. Common Sunday NFL game time : ONE PM

36D. Events after coin tosses : KICKOFFS - and now it's all over, until September

So ONWARD~! to the rest of today's fill~!

ACROSS:

1. 2001 OutKast chart-topper whose title refers to Erykah Badu's mother : MS. JACKSON - I like "Roses" better

10. Dover souls : BRITs - slang for British; Dover is on the channel - has a CASTLE, awesome

15. High seas shout : AHOY THERE

16. __ acid : BORIC - not AMINO, not FOLIC

17. Dogs first bred in Thuringia : DOBERMANS - nice fill; these "1D's"

18. Out of place : QUEER

20. Allow to go after : LET AT

21. It may be fixed : STARE

22. Buckwheat's "You betcha!" : "OTAY~!" - Eddie Murphy did a pretty good Buckwheat

24. Holy orders and extreme unction, e.g. : RITES

27. Ashram leaders : GURUs - some more here about Ashram

29. Geographical name from the Hebrew for "dry" : NEGEV - as in the desert

32. Choke up : CLOG - I don't think sinks "choke up", people do - either crying or batting

36. Original name of Whiskas cat food : KAL-KAN



40. Words after a rhetorical "Is this a good idea?" : I SAY YES

42. "Just the facts" Jack : WEBB

43. Hack : CAB - #3 of the 3-letter words across

44. Reckon : S'POSE - bit of Southern, Redneck speak

46. "Like a Rock" singer : SEGER

50. Tae __ do : KWON

52. "Dude, Where's __?": 2000 film : MY CAR

54. Wander : ROVE

55. Laura's classic cry on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" : "OH ROB~!"

57. Peabrain : MORON

59. Shared ride to wk. : H.O.V. - High-Occupancy Vehicle - a colossal waste here on Long Island; the problem? No Long Islander cares to let someone else drive, and no one is ever going back to "Levittown" the same time as you are....

60. Four-page sheet : FOLIO

61. "I'm serious" : IT'S NO JOKE

63. Instant : FLASH

64. Circus chairperson? : LION TAMER

65. Culvert : SEWER

66. Rapper with the multi-platinum debut album "The College Dropout" : KANYE WEST - not a fan to begin with, and just an ass after his video awards obnoxiousness

DOWN:

1. Rabies victim : MAD DOG - liquor, too, in the same category as "Nighttrain", and "Thunderbird"; while I did drink to get drunk, I never "sank" this low

2. Puzzling sound? : SHORT u - nice mis-direction; the "uh" in pUzzling

3. Chore assignment simplifier : JOB JAR - never heard of it - but a great idea

4. High seas okay : AYE - this is #5 of the three-letter words; two were up top

5. PC key : CTRL

6. Cambodia's official language : KHMER

7. Theater arrangement : SEATING

8. Showy : ORNATE

9. Retirement fund : NEST EGG

10. Smoking parties, briefly? : BBQs - and 26A. Side at 10-Down : SLAW

11. Beats the pants off : ROUTS

12. "It's clear to me ..." : I REALIZE...

13. Closet organizers : TIE RACKS

14. Fastener with a loop : SCREW-EYE - popular on gates; this thingy

23. Gross : YUCKY - I had the "Y", so I tried "YIELD", which works, too, in economic terms

25. Twilled fabric : SERGE

28. More than amuses : SLAYS

30. Hide and seek, e.g. : VERBS

35. Vatican City's river : TIBER

37. Taken together : AS A WHOLE

38. Attorney's specialty : LABOR LAW

41. Coffee additive for vegans : SOY MILK

42. Starts to get to : WEARS ON

45. Nova __ : SCOTIA - Off Canada's East coast - image

47. Yankee follower? : GO HOME - Anti-American; some more here

48. Conjures up : EVOKES

49. Go back : REVERT

51. Electric interference : NOISE

53. Cox of "Deliverance" : RONNY

56. Father or son physics Nobelist : BOHR

58. Quick reminder : NOTE

62. Argue : JAW - and we end on the last of the 3-letter words

Answer grid.

Splynter