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
