Theme: Saturday Silkie
Words: 70
Blocks: 27
Words: 70
Blocks: 27
Welcome to the June 2012 edition of the Saturday Silkie ~! Today's offering has a geometrically pleasing grid pattern, with two 12-letter spanners, one that is both a seed entry and a shout-out to our constructor, and triple spirals of 8- and 6-letters. Firstly, let us say this one was ->
33A. Without a hitch : SMOOTH AS SILK - well, it's about time Barry gave himself a little credit; this one did go easily for me, ironically, once I got this answer....
41A. Reality cooking show with a pitchfork in its logo : HELL'S KITCHEN - Gordon Ramsey's cooking show; I used to watch regularly with my (now Ex-) wife, because she liked his raucous "it's rubbish~!!!" dish reviews; now I can't get into it anymore.
ONWARD -!-!-!
ACROSS:
1. Crams : JAM PACKS - I goofed with "WaLk up" & "St Etna" to start, left me with W_S PACKS (?)
9. Tool that requires steering : JIGSAW - this one took a minute, but it is true
15. Credit union offering : AUTO LOAN
16. Lab subject : AMOEBA
17. Buffet platform : CREDENZA
18. Evidence of a choice : BALLOT
19. Kit __ : KAT - can't stand the commercials for this candy
20. Physicist Ohm : GEORG
22. Stick in a percussion section : CLAVE - huh - as a drummer, this is new to me....but I know the sound they make
23. __ Reader : UTNE - I must be getting better at crosswords - I nailed this one, and who could say that? (alright, no bragging....)
25. Dixieland jazz highlights : SOLOS - somehow, I did not think it was "ARIAS" - JazzB, show us more ~!!
27. North Sea feeder : YSER - which four-letter European river did you try?
28. Rings : PEALS
30. Encouraging word? : ATTA - as in "Atta Girl/Boy ~!"
32. EuroBonus frequent flyers' airline : SAS - had this on Thursday
37. Riding a train, say : ON BOARD
40. Begin, for one : ISRAELI - Such a great mis-direction~! not BEE-gin, but Bay-GEEN - this guy
43. Displeased reaction : BOO
44. Slice and dice : HASH
45. Sticker : DECAL
49. Austrian river : ENNS - map; lots of good CW fill to be found in them rivers....
51. Event monitored by the CIA : N-TEST - nuclear detonations
54. Caramel candy brand : ROLO
55. Couldn't not : HAD TO
57. French toast : SALUT
59. NCAA athlete's eligibility factor : GPA
60. Top performers : A-TEAMS
62. Like one who can't hit a pitch? : TONE-DEAF - sorry, C.C., no baseball today
64. Depression : VALLEY
65. Fame : EMINENCE
66. Page and others : ELLENs - Don't know her; I recognize her from "Juno"
67. Frontman, often : ROCK STAR - for me, the ultimate "Frontman" was David Lee Roth, as exemplified here; honorable mentions go to Vince Neil, of Mötley Crüe ( although he was emulating DLR ), and of course, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin
DOWN:
1. Hike, in a way : JACK UP - ah, like prices, not 12 flights of stairs
2. Salt containing gold : AURATE - considered Pyrite, which is fool's gold
3. Eur. peak mentioned in the "Aeneid" : MT. ETNA - yeah, not SAINT Etna
4. Okra unit : POD
5. Shake __ : A LEG - show me your legs~!
6. Dairy Queen supply : CONES
7. Instrument honored in a Beaufort, South Carolina, museum : KAZOO - and here it is~!
8. Speak angrily to : SNARL AT
9. Poke : JAB
10. Jobs creation : IMAC - Steve Jobs, Apple computers; I'm a PC; too many problems with editing software when I used any Apple product, and my ex-wife's iBook crapped out regularly, too.
11. "Wow!" : GOLLY - we just talked about Gomer Pyle, too
12. Rasta's messiah : SELASSIE - frequently mentioned in Thievery Corporation tunes; this guy, from the WIki
13. Most important : ABOVE ALL
14. Sports item usually seen in pairs : WATER-SKI
21. Literature genre : GOTHIC
24. Common Latino newspaper name : EL SOL
26. Cache : STASH; and 29D. Big hit : SMASH - funny, but going through the clues, I did not see this semi-clecho
31. Start of an embarrassment simile : AS RED as a beet
34. Sitcom spender of brandels and grebbels : ORKAN - here's the Mork from Ork dictionary
35. Some lyrical writers : ODISTS
36. More stable : SANER
37. Austin Powers catchphrase : "OH, BEHAVE~!" - I liked his "shagging-ness" - and his arch enemy, Dr. Evil even more....
38. Like some nurses : NEO-NATAL
39. Joan nominated for an Oscar in "The Blue Veil" (1951) : BLONDELL - from IMDb
42. Play area : THEATER
46. Effective, as an argument : COGENT
47. Fleece source : ALPACA - WAG, but then again, I had all the "A"s
48. Good-for-nothing : LOAFER
50. Passé : STALE
52. Certain reviewer's tool : SLO-MO - sports reviews, mostly in NFL football, though in the NHL, any goal ( or "non-goal"; we had one in this year's play-offs, and it was overturned ) may be reviewed "by Toronto"
53. Belted ancient garment : TUNIC
56. Sign : OMEN
58. Endurance race, for short : TEN-K
61. Part of Mac OS: Abbr. : SYS - Operating SYStem
63. Bouvier __ Flandres: herding dog : DES - total WAG, but then again, Des Frenche has shown up in DES plaines, and DES moines....
Answer grid.
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Click here to see a few beautiful pictures Kazie took during her anniversary trip to Spain, where she and her husband Barry first met. Such an interesting looking hotel. Love the last picture. What's the color of Kazie's sweater? Cranberry?
