Words: 70
Blocks: 32
Lots of proper names*, and only six 3-letter words today, but enough clues where I found a foothold, and then gradually worked the puzzle from there. Very little in the way of vagueness, and just a couple of write-overs, for me, as well.
One 15-letter grid spanner;
36A. "Got it?" : DO YOU UNDERSTAND? - I had an inkling about where this was going; just had to wait on a few perps - forced me to change my shirt from a POLO to a "KNIT" (see 34D.)
and one 15-letter climber;
8D. Frustrated cry from an experienced pro : I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS - a five-word answer, (well, 6 technically), and like our Thursday "C", "E" and "T" puzzle, we had a run of 3 "O"s. Like Indiana Jones said in Raiders of the Lost Ark - "It's not the years, it's the mileage".
On w-a-r-d-s ~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Military motto, familiarly : SEMPER FIdelis, the US Marines
9. '90s-'00s Lifetime sitcom in which viewers chose the name of the title character : OH BABY - never heard of it, but easy enough to get; not a "Lifetime" person, you could say
16. Country estates : VILLAS - Not MANORS
17. Making with difficulty : EKING OUT - I tried winging this by filling in ------ING, but I was wrong
18. Slip away : ELAPSE
19. Chat up : COME ONTO - How come no women ever try to chat me up? - oh, that's right, I don't go to bars anymore....
20. Breakfast serving : RASHER - new word for me; had to look it up - both my parents are born and raised in England, but we always had BACON, never "rashers" - bangers and mash, that's different
21. That, to Teresa : ESO - Spanish
22. Many a S.A. miss : SRTA - and again - or is this Portuguese?
23. Adjective often used with skepticism : LIKELY - Tried RARELY first; turned out it was not LIKELY the answer
28. Do as expected : OBEY
30. 38-Down, e.g. : SCHool
33. Its production ended in 2004 with a Final 500 Edition : ALERO - Oldsmobile's last car
34.* "Around the Fish" artist : KLEE - Paul, with a little about the painting here
35. Time spent : STAY
39. Dismayed utterances : YOWs - not really a "dismayed" sound for me; more of a startled response
40. Baking instruction : SIFT
41. Mum : MATER - I am guessing that this is "Brit-speak" for mom - "mum" I get, but I had to look up Mater. If you ask me, Mater is this guy
42. Winter track maker : SKI
43. Pi opening? : OCTO - Ugh ( that's dismayed ) OCTOPI - more than one octopus. The "?" needed....
44. Oscar night sight : TUXEDO - not TROPHY
45. Staples array : TAPE - Strange - I tried PENS again, two weeks in a row. I was in Office Max a month ago - they DO have an array of pens to choose from, I must say
49. Opt for home cooking : DINE IN
51. Sin : TRESPASS - Growing up, I knew that I was not allowed to "trespass" on Selden campus property, but I never quite understood why GOD was unhappy about this....
57. Swatch Group products : OMEGAs - Watches - found here
58. Vote : HAVE A SAY
59. Undisturbed : IN SITU
60. What you might get from a jerk : ICE CREAM - Tried BACK ACHE, but we are looking for a soda jerk, a malted, and so on....
61. Flings : TOSSES
62. Reel from a shot : SEE STARS
DOWN:
1. What some build on : SPEC - this discussion came up earlier in the week
2. "The Heart of Northeast Nevada" : ELKO - More here
3. Do mayhem to : MAIM - meh on this
4.* In-your-face '50s-'60s talk show host Joe : PYNE
5. Hence : ERGO
6.* Longtime "60 Minutes" regular : ROONEY
7.* Hall of Fame Chargers quarterback Dan : FOUTS
9. Superintendent : OVERSEER - this week I have been the "overseer" of nine (9~!) cats, and they have spent most of the time hiding in the closet - I slept on the couch tonight, and caught them all coming down to eat late - Jack, Jill, Patch, Luna, Superstar, Ben, Mr. T, Tommy-boy and Tres~!
10.* Swank of Hollywood : HILARY
11. Siren sound : BLAST
12. Meditation goal : ALPHA STATE - I have a meditation group Wednesdays at 11am
13. General headquarters? : BASE - not sure about the "?"
14. Belgian river : YSER - four letters....
23. __ man : LADY'S
24. "__ to You": Whitney Houston's last album : I LOOK
25. Case maker : KEY WITNESS - I was looking for someone who "makes" cases; not this legal version of the person who takes the stand in court
26. Bow wielder of myth : EROS
27.* Journalist Dobbs : LOU
29. Root vegetable : BEET - huh - I WAGed this, and never looked back
31. Like rattan chairs : CANED
32. Plane opening? : HYDRO - Hydroplane, doesn't need the "?", I think
34. Golf shirt, e.g. : KNIT - not POLO
35. Pringles-like Lay's product : STAX
37. Decennial govt. activity : U.S. CENSUS - I knew this, but the "U.S." part messed me up
38. Home of the NCAA's Mustangs : SMU - Southern Methodist University team
43. Relaxant : OPIATE
44. Rabbit ears sporter, once : TEE-VEE - the long abbreviation for Television
46. Zeus' shield : AEGIS
48. Slight sign : TRACE
49. "Now!" : DO IT~!- Makes me think of AHHHnold in Predator
50. "__ expert, but ..." : "I'M NO..." - two answers with "I'm" in them
52. "Just a coupla __" : SECS
53. Split : PART - Irony is that today marks what would have been my 5-year wedding anniversary - but we did 53D three years ago....
54. Like Columbus, much of the time : ASEA
55. Moselle tributary : SAAR - those four-letter Euro rivers; map
56. R. Schumann wrote four : SYMS - as in Symphony? eh, OK - I checked to be sure here
Answer grid.
Splynter
