Words: 68
Blocks: 30
Triple tens and triple nines make up the corners of today's challenge from two of our regular constructors; their last duet was on the fourth anniversary of this blog, back in January. One grid spanner -
35A. Poet's liberty : ARTISTIC LICENSE
and two 12-letter entries -
27A. "M*A*S*H" dramatic device : GALLOWS HUMOR - never heard of it, but then again, it does make sense when you create a comedy with the Korean War as your setting
42A. Left nothing in the tank : WENT WHOLE HOG - I found this on the origins
ACROSS:
1. Eugene O'Neill character? : APOSTROPHE - This " ' " character, in his name
11. Without gaps in coverage : A TO Z
15. Orbital position nearest the sun : PERIHELION - Speaking of orbits, Science Channel had "Moon Machines" on last night - I knew the LEM was made right around the corner from my house by Grumman; I plan on watching the Neil Armstrong tribute tonight
16. Capture, in a way : TAPE - Like this - it's quick~!
17. Commercial identifiers : TRADE NAMES
18. "The Tourist" author Steinhauer : OLEN - Not the Tourist I thought it was
19. Run like the wind, e.g. : SIMILE
20. More than equaling : UPPING
22. Strike setting : LANE - ah, bowling - Boomer knows....
23. Confused : AT SEA
26. Oldies syllable : SHA
30. Graphic designer's deg. : BFA - The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
33. Spurious : FALSE
34. King Faisal's brother : SAUD
39. Passing remarks? : YEAS
40. "__ Plays Fats" (1955 jazz LP) : SATCH
41. R.I.'s Sheldon Whitehouse, e.g. : SENator, Rhode Island
46. Brown, for one : IVY - the university
47. Paul or Lloyd of Cooperstown : WANER - as always, I defer to our baseball fanatic, C.C. (From C.C.: Paul Waner was nicknamed "Big Poison". His younger brother Lloyd was nicknamed "Little Poison". Wiki said they hold the career record for hits by brothers (5,611), outpacing the three Alou brothers (5,094) & the three DiMaggio brothers (4,853). No wonder the "Poison" nicknames.)
48. Hebrew letter before shin : RESH - for those who care for a "cheater" link....51. Mythical Aegean Sea dweller : NEREID
53. Short drop-off? : CAT-NAP
55. Farm hauler : DRAY
56. Not blown up : ACTUAL SIZE
60. Bone: Pref. : OSTE
61. Cleese role in "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" : GRIM REAPER - see below
62. Work on a bed : WEED - like one's 14D. Zen Garden - shoulda used some Weed Stop©....oh, that's one of those 17A's
63. Picasso medium : OIL PASTELS
DOWN:
1. Complex gp. : APTS - apartment complex - nailed it
2. Thin ice, say : PERIL - now this is what I remember John Cleese for; @6:05
3. Slangy advertising suffix : O-RAMA - here on LI we have Sign-O-rama, and Windowrama - uh, well, that's not quite it....
4. Short stretch of track : SIDING - Railroad track, sometimes called a "spur"; I love to design model railroads, I just don't have any space to get to building one
5. Air Canada Centre team, informally : THE LEAFS - Toronto, of the NHL; we are now less than a month from pre-season - gets my 39A~!!!
6. Peace Nobelist Cassin : RENE
7. Ipanema greeting : OLA
8. Milne's "Mr. __ Passes By" : PIM - This mister missed this Tuesday's treasure
9. Earth mover : HOE
10. Results : ENSUES
11. Overlying : ATOP - A to P~??? No, wait atop, I get it....
12. Curse repellers : TALISMANS
13. Realtor's come-on : OPEN HOUSE
14. Where gravel may represent water : ZEN GARDEN
21. Tuba note : PAH - the other note it can play is Oom....
23. NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby : ALLISON
24. How most maps are drawn : TO SCALE - or AutoCAD drawings
25. Bake : SWELTER
28. Map coordinate: Abbr. : LATitiude
29. Exhaust : USE
30. Balcony alternative : BAY WINDOW - I could spend all morning looking at cool structures for such a construction, but I stopped at this one
31. Like playing tennis with the net down, to Robert Frost : FREE VERSE - I was not sure exactly what this meant, so I went Wiki-ing
32. "Be that as it may ..." : "AT ANY RATE..."
36. Novel conclusion? : IST - novelIST
37. Frankfurter's pronoun : ICH - seen below in the title
38. Bach hymn arrangements : CHORALES - interesting take on a musical visual....
43. Four-yr. conflict : WWI - World War One, the "Great War", and the "War to End All Wars" - if only....
44. Tried it : HAD A GO
45. Doesn't quite reveal : GETS AT
49. Marsh bird : SNIPE
50. Light golden brown : HAZEL - followed by....
52. Watched : EYED
53. "Flashdance... What a Feeling" lyricist : CARA - we usually see IRENE in puzzles. Earworm~!
54. Head of a PIN?: Abbr. : PERSonal Identification Number - great clue/answer~!
57. Dernier __ : CRI
58. Shop sign word after open, maybe : TIL - "Open til midnight or later", e.g.
59. One stationed at a base : UMP - how fitting, to close with a baseball clue for our host - thanks for the great NY Rangers find, C.C.~!
Answer grid.
Splynter
Answer grid.
Splynter
