Thursday, February 16, 2012 Barbara and Don Gagliardo

Theme: Holy rusted metal, Batman! Each of the theme entries is a crossing of two words that could be "holy", as shown in the Answer grid.

10A. *Jazz devotees : CATS. Holy cats!

crosses:

13D. *Seance contact : SPIRIT. Holy spirit

15A. *Plant need : WATER. Holy water, used for sprinkling on the bedeviled Linda Blair in "The Exorcist"

crosses:

8D. *"Catch my drift?" : SEE. Holy See, from the latin word sedes, meaning "seat".

24A. *Restaurant kitchen workload : ORDERS. Holy orders.

crosses:

1D. *Severe fear : TERROR. We all know what a holy terror is...especially when stuck seated next to one on a plane!

54A. *Vinaigrette ingredient : OIL. Holy oil.

crosses:

47D. *Lake Erie city : TOLEDO. Holy Toledo!

60A. *Touch down : LAND. Holy land.

crosses:

44D. *Clan : FAMILY. Holy family.

61A. *Fire sign : SMOKE. Holy smoke!

crosses:

58D. *Bully : COW. Holy cow! Catchphrase of the former Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.

And the unifier:

35. Massachusetts school...and a description of the two-word meeting that occurs at the intersections of pairs of starred answers : HOLY CROSS, located in Worcester (pronounced "wis-tah"!!)

A whopping 66 theme blocks, and a rare collaboration between Don G and his wife Barbie.

Let's see what else they have to offer us!

Across:

1. USAF NCO : TSGT. Technical Sergeant, E-6 non-commissioned officer.

5. Crème de la crème : A LIST

14. "Tulip chair" designer Saarinen : EERO

16. Crowning : ATOP

17. Some HDTVs : RCAS

18. Hopelessly lost : AT SEA

19. Pasta/rice brand word : RONI. Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat.

20. Basic computer command : RUN, dammit, run!!!

21. "Check, mate" : AYE. Cute clue.

22. Common Cape Cod feature : DORMER. The houses, not the peninsula.

26. Get one's teeth into : CHEW.

28. Bush spokesman Fleischer : ARI

29. Invoice word : REMIT

30. Encourages : PRODS

31. "___ a problem" : NOT

32. Palm tree starch : SAGO

33. Organize, in a way : SORT

34. Incidentally, in IMs : BTW. By the way...(in Instant Messaging) way..

38. Summer setting in in Chi-town : CDT. Central Daylight Time.

40. Off-the-wall response? : ECHO. Great clue.

41. 61-Across curl : WISP. Not sure I liked seeing a non-theme entry cross-referencing a theme entry.

44. Rival : FOE

45. Catchall checkbox : OTHER

46. One point from a service break : AD OUT. Tennis.

48. Football's Parseghian : ARA

49. Thing to cook up : PLOT

50. "Just like that!" : PRESTO

51. To a greater extent : MORE SO

53. Expert in pop psychology? : MOM. Another funny clue.

55. ___ ideal world : IN AN

56. First name in bologna : OSCAR. My bologna also has a second name: M-A-Y-E-R.

59. One-named illustrator : ERTÉ. His real name is Romain de Tirtoff. Self-styled as "er-té", which is the french pronunciation of his initials.

62. Stepped heavily : TROD

63. What some losers have to resist : YENS. Dieters can't just give in to any yen they might have.

64. Cary of "The Princess Bride" : ELWES

65. "___-mite!": "Good Times" catchword : DYNO

Down:

2. Bolts down : SECURES

3. Fictional wolf's disguise : GRANDMA

4. Talking-___: tongue lashings : TOs

5. Somewhat far : AWAYS. "It's quite aways from here..." (Is that regional usage?)

6. Past curfew : LATE

7. Part of TGIF : IT'S. Thank goodness it's Friday! Oh wait, it's only Thursday...

9. Acquired by, in the big leagues : TRADED TO

10. "The Alienist" writer : CARR. Never read it. Hahtool, would I like it?

11. Cartoon hero with antennae : ATOM ANT. Hey, Ant!

12. Twelve-note scale, e.g. : TONE ROW. Even after reading this article, I still don't know what it is...

21. Lovable droid : ARTOO. Mr. Detoo.

23. Clumsy hammerers' cries : OWs

25. Square dance complement : EIGHT. Yellowrocks knows this, for sure!

26. Hobby with hooks : CROCHET

27. 30-Down genre : HORROR

and
30. Classic film involving a split personality : PSYCHO. No way am I going to link that shower scene...

34. A sleeper hit may be on it : B SIDE. Does an mp3 download still have a "B-side"?

36. Went wild : LET LOOSE. Um, I think I'll let someone else link the spring break pics...

37. Bee complex : SWARM. I get a complex whenever I see a swarm of bees let loose.

38. Circles around the sun : CORONAE. Plural of Corona. Best seen during an eclipse.

39. Landers lead-in : DEAR ANN

42. "My sympathies" : SO SORRY... (Dear Ann's reply)

43. Exhortation from a gift giver : PUT IT ON. Didn't you just hate getting those scratchy sweaters from grandma?

45. Chances for photos : OPS

50. Small openings : PORES

52. Fades to black : ENDS...we're getting there!

53. Create : MAKE

57. Tee size letters : SML

59. Flight board abbr.: ETD. Estimated time of departure.

(...fade to black)

Answer grid.

Hugs,

Marti

Don's Note:

My wife, Barbie, and I came up with this puzzle idea on a walk. I think someone said "Holy cow" or something, and it clicked in Barbie's mind. I came up with HOLY CROSS, and a puzzle was born. There was lots of material to choose from. I wonder who started the practice of saying, "Holy ?"

Notes from C.C.:

1) Here is a sweet picture of Don and his wife Barbie.

2) Happy Birthday to CrazyCat!