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

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Jul 14, 2012

Saturday, Jul 14th, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72

Blocks: 34

I have to admit, I turned on red-letter assistance for today's Silkie - I usually do OK with Friday, the 13th - it's Saturday, the 14th that always "gets me" - known as tetradekaphobia; OK, I am making this up, but there is such a thing as tetraphobia, and quite common in Asian (4D.) countries. (C.C., do you have a fear of the number 4?). (From C.C.: 4 has similiar pronunciation as "death" in Chinese, 14 is similiar to "Going to die", hence Chinese do not pick a wedding date on 4th or 14th. Big hotels do not have 14th floor. When I buy apples/pears, I never pick up 4. Always 3 or 5.) Tough way to start this one, but I was able to fix my mistakes on the first pass. Lots of Chicago references*, too....

One 15-letter spanner:

39A. 1960s music phenomenon : BRITISH INVASION - Grew up with English parents, and I remember they had a 4-LP box set of the popular tunes, including this one

and two 11-letter entries:

23A. Justin Timberlake nickname : PRINCE OF POP - I like his solo stuff, including this one; probably have to skip an ad first

47A. "Casino" Best Actress nominee : SHARON STONE - I have linked the "other" scene she was famous for once before

OnwarD~! (10pts)

ACROSS:

1. Rakes : CASANOVAS - all the way down in the online dictionary: rake(2) a dissolute man, esp one in fashionable society; roué

10. Speedy : RAPID

15.* Chicago university founded in 1945 : ROOSEVELT - had enough perps to WAG this one

16. Participate in a secret joint venture? : ELOPE - had the 'goalpost' "E"s, and got it

17. Bag material : ALLIGATOR - this was a V-8 moment for me, then it made me guess incorrectly at half the crossings

18. Orange __ : PEKOE

19. Prefix meaning "beyond" : META - Greek, like the "phobia" I made up

20. Comfort, say : AID

22. Marked simply : X'ed

28. ER workers : RNs

30. SALT topic : ABM - Anti-Ballistic Missile, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

31. Tank top : GAS CAP - well, I knew it couldn't be "TURRET", same clue/answer we had not too long ago; this was a great alternative

33. Party at the shore : CLAMBAKE

38. Sixth-century pope : JOHN I - I tried "LEO VI" to start, then changed to LEO XI - only my "I" stayed

41. "Alice" star : LAVIN - Linda, the main character

42. Tourist information center handouts : AREA MAPS

43. Heavy weight : ONE TON

45. Fjord cousin : RIA - nailed it, but went too far and spelled it RYA

46. Cal. units : WKs - 7-day periods of a calendar

54.* Windy City travel org. : CTA - I am figuring the Chicago Transit Authority

56. Japanese veggie : UDO - not very appealing - image

57. A part of : IN ON

58. Ruth's mother-in-law : NAOMI - Biblical reference; the "AO" connection seemed wrong, then add to that the fact that I had another "A" from "ALI" as the flame lighter; see 59D.

60. Trademarked name for epinephrine : ADRENALIN - had about 4 letters and totally WAGed this one; sounded good to me

64. Stickpin target : ASCOT

65. Popular pie topper : PEPPERONI - DAH~!!! I was locked into dessert pie, not pizza

66. Gordon __: "Wall Street" role : GEKKO - played by Michael Douglas, who starred with Sharon Stone in that "other" movie

67. Campers' tools : TOMAHAWKS - my first try was --AX, so I filled in ESSEX for 53D.

DOWN:

1. Writer's problem : CRAMP - not BLOCK

2. Many an online shopper : AOLer

3.* Longtime Chicago Symphony leader : SOLTI (Georg)

4. Cuisine category : ASIAN

5. Pic source : NEG - I tried JPG after getting my ALLIGATOR

6. Tiny tube travelers : OVA

7. Old Philly stadium, with "The" : VET - Veterans Stadium, and the Wiki

8. "Half __ ..." : A LOAF - an idiom; it's better than 'none'

9. Remove : STRIP - had SCRAP here, as in 'ideas' or 'missions'; I like this answer better - skip the POKER CHIPS and....

10. Workout unit : REP

11. Familiar game show address : ALEX - "I'll take Barry Silk clues for $1200, Alex" - Mr. Trebek, of Jeopardy fame

12. It's often seen in a stack : POKER CHIP


13. Apple products : iPOD NANOs - full answer, unique

14. Two-point Scrabble tile : DEE - filled in "-EE" and waited....actually, it can only be "D" and "G" - "B", "C", and "P" are all 3-points; see here

21. Ball game treat : DOG - Hot Dog, which I figured

24. Spanish roads : CAMINOS - oh, so now I understand this car - cute history

25. Drops off : EBBS

26. College World Series setting : OMAHA

27. Bed threads : PAJAMAS - nice, it rhymes

29. Quick trip : SPIN

32.* 1998 N.L. MVP : SOSA - anything to add, C.C.? (Not really!!!)

33. Engine block component : CRANKCASE - got it from the "A" in LAVIN alone - but then again, there aren't many parts to an engine block

34. County fair sight : LIVESTOCK

35. Fighting : AT IT

36. White wine apéritif : KIR - learned by doing crosswords; now it's my "go-to" answer for apéritif clues

37. "1" in Spain, perhaps : ENERO - also crossword knowledge for me; January on the calendar

39. Leave, in slang : BLOW - "let's BLOW this joint"

40. Fruitless : VAIN

44. Vietnam's Ngo Dinh __ : NHU - for those interested, this guy

48. Conform : ADAPT

49. Clown's employer : RODEO - looks painful - image

50. Item of royal attire : TIARA

51. Just about off : ON LOW - ah, like the stove or toaster oven

52. Printer problem : NO INK

53. County seat of County Clare : ENNIS - Ah, not Essex, but I was close; map; in the middle

55. Without restraint : AMOK

58. Noodge : NAG - new word for me; variation on nudge, says my online dictionary

59. Nagano Olympic flame lighter : ITO - strangely, Google goes to that "other" blog site when I typed this in. Midori Ito - this entry was 6 slots down the page

61. Washing machine meas. : RPM - sure, but doesn't the machine swish back and forth? Oh, OK, the spin cycle does get going pretty good....

62. MPG determiner : EPA - Miles per Gallon, tested by the Environmental Protection Agency

63. Bk. after Ezra : NEH - I finally bookmarked a page that links the KJV names, so I can "cheat" in the future

Answer grid.

Splynter