Words: 70
Blocks: 31
I was expecting a Barry Silk puzzle this week~! A deceptively simple-looking grid with nothing longer than these two 11-letter entries;
6D. Whiteout cause : SNOW SQUALL - well, I knew it was a winter weather wonder, but SNOWSTORM wasn't long enough
26D. Patriot who led the capture of Fort Ticonderoga : ETHAN ALLEN - like most of the proper names in today's puzzle, I WAG-ed this one - but it made sense, and fit, so....
- and some other 8- and 9-letter fill worth a mention;
32. Ellis Bell, to Emily Brontë : PSEUDONYM - just a great word, and unique to the world of orthorunic construction; I had the 'Y' down at the end, and thought "that has to be wrong", but then the 'PS' arrived, and the V-8 can came flying
39D. Guitarists' buys : B-STRINGS - well, I had a one-in-five chance at this, so I filled in "STRINGS" and waited ( there are two E-strings on a standard tuned guitar )
18A. Maryland beach town : OCEAN CITY - also unique, which seems odd, due to its collection of friendly letters - hey - WHAT'S the name of that body of water~!?!?! (map)
OnwarD ~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Buckle : CLASP - Two lines of thought - a bridge buckle, or a buckled bridge ~???
6. Countertop section : SLAB - yep, overthought this one - I had LEAF, which made sense to this carpenter, but....
10. Biodiverse habitat : REEF - I had the ---F at the end, but this didn't come to me right away
14. Funnyman with a horn : HARPO - before my time - I was stuck on Henny Youngman, even though I knew his prop was a violin
15. Spot of wine? : NAPA - cute; wine region of California
16. Pioneering pollster Roper : ELMO - all perps for me
17. Listing : ATILT
20. Press and such : MEDIA
21. Good location for a fault finder? : WEST COAST - who here at the blog lives closest to the San Andreas fault?
22. Paula of "He & She" : PRENTISS - another "Wild-Ass Guess"; TV before my time as well, but I find this kind of thing interesting
24. Carol opener : HARK - usually we see "ADESTE" and "O COME"; this is from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" which did not start out as "lilting" as we know it today - Wiki
25. Rotational force : TORQUE - the guys on Top Gear UK are prone to cutting corners by referring to the 'pounds-foot' rating of an auto's engine as "torques"
27. Saw : ADAGE - despite being a carpenter, I did not fall for the 'tool' definition here
30. Mobile __ : APP
33. Loses control : ERUPTS - I had DRIFTS to start; guess I was thinking of my 42D watercraft after the engine has died
35. Book before Nehemiah : EZRA - Ha-HA~! Did not have to cheat using my "Bible Book" web page link~! Thank you perps~!
36. Waters near the South Pole : ROSS SEA - S, S, S - and three vowels, too - map
38. Like the Talmud : HEBRAIC - well, OK, I figured as much, but hesitated filling this in
40. Wingless parasite : FLEA
41. Dances in the end zone, maybe : GLOATS - and penalties are issued on the kick-off; hockey celebrations are usually accepted, unless you "shoot the goalie" (@2:19) - or this one
43. Ultimate : NTH - crosswordese
44. __ cabbage : SKUNK - for the green thumbs of the blog - link
46. Woolly : LANATE - straight from the Latin; covered in wool
48. A lot of noise : DINS
50. Stressful lifestyles : RAT RACES
54. Brightness detector : PHOTOCELL
57. 1986 rock memoir : I, TINA - Tina Turner, never read it
58. Uncovered, in a way : AU NATUREL - loved this fill; I had the "-UREL" and thought 'huh?' - but then it "revealed" itself to me; in the buff, stark naked, wearing the birthday suit....
59. Santa-tracking org. : NORAD - Keep this link as a future reference for kids and grand-kids; Santa is busy at work right now - got less than half a year to go...
61. Low : BASE
62. Fashion giant with headquarters in Florence : GUCCI
63. "Lost in Space" child actor Billy : MUMY - another WAG; had to plug in some vowels before my "Ta-Da~!" moment arrived; again, just before my time - I am a Star Wars child
64. Common-purpose gp. : ASSN
65. Aver : STATE
DOWN:
1. Contender's target : CHAMP
2. "Hasta la vista!" : "LATER~!"
3. Bad thing to be taken for : A RIDE - not "A FOOL"
4. Support piece : SPLINT - a semi-shout-out to yours, truly~??? My buddy Bob, who is going to be my apprentice on an upcoming job, usually refers to me as "Splynt"
5. Fries, say : POTATOES
7. Prepares to take the ice : LACES UP - I am a deck-hockey goalie; I lace up my bowling booties ( yes, Boomer, I have an alternative use for the smooth soled shoes~! ) for better side-to-side movement on the "Sport Court" tiles
8. Barbary beasts : APES
9. Party whose name means "renaissance" in Arabic : BA'ATH - political party; Wiki for those who care to read more
10. TiVo, e.g. : RECORDER
11. Co-founder of the Actors Studio : ELIA KAZAN - full name is always good to see; plus we get a "K" and a "Z"
12. Lifesavers, briefly : EMTs
13. Four-time Indy 500 winner : FOYT - another WAG; can't think of any other 4-letter racer names
19. Nonprofit sports org. with $846 million in revenue in 2010-'11 : NCAA - I had the --AA, so....
23. Discount rack abbr. : IRREGular
28. Moxie : GRIT
29. Every partner : EACH - Each and Every time I do the Saturday blog, I learn something new~!
30. Lab sounds : ARFs - again, not fooled by this reference to Labrador dogs
31. President who oversaw the issuance of the first U.S. postage stamp : POLK - yet another WAG, but I surmised that the idea of postage arose somewhere in the 19th century, so I just went down my mental list of 4-letter presidents - so it wasn't "TAFT", "FORD" or "BUSH"
34. Assailed : SET AT
37. Antiseptic : SANITARY - ah, the adjective, not the noun....
42. Like a motorboat : OARLESS
45. Massage target : KNOT - not ACHE
47. Avoid dishes, in a way : EAT OUT
49. Gear for shipwreck hunters : SCUBA
51. Dating qualifier : CIRCA
52. Pass : ENACT - more vagueness: the mountain route? the sporting move? the driving maneuver? oh, the political performance
53. "Sexy" Beatles woman : SADIE - a little song history - some strong language
54. Where to get a date : PALM - not the internet, for socializing, but the tree, for the fruit
55. Rwanda native : HUTU - new to me; I had HUT_, so maybe Jabba the HUTT and his race were from somewhere near the area....
56. They may span decades : ERAS
Answer grid.
Hey ~! I finally got the first check for a huge new project, which should afford me the ability to start the Home Inspection business; it's a handicap ramp for a church in Riverhead - check out my blog to see the progress~! (From C.C.: Huge congratulations! Click here to see Splynter's progress.)
Splynter
