Words: 72
Blocks: 28
I do hope all you Orthorunicans managed to get on Mr. Silk's wavelength
today - my first pass was nearly blank, but once I changed "RIM" to
"FLU", I was off and running - "FORGED AHEAD", if you will. A pleasant
puzzle with little in the way of obscure people, and just a little
misdirection on some of the old standbys - for example, see 54D. Triple
11's and double 10's make up the pinwheel, and some of the notables:
15. 1989 Best Original Song Oscar winner : UNDER THE SEA - From the Little Mermaid
27. Windows alternatives : AISLE SEATS - ah, not "APPLE iPods", or something along one's computer software line; just the regular everyday windows found on airplanes
53. Solos : GOES IT ALONE - we just had "GO SOLO" yesterday~!
onWARD~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Fictional sleepwalker : LADY MACBETH - I am not up on my Shakespeare, did not know this; the perps were enough to try a WAG
12. __ shot : FLU - not RIMshot
16. Seed used in cat grass : OAT
17. Holiday staple : ROAST TURKEY - we are almost there ~!!
18. GRF succeeded him : RMN - Richard Mihous Nixon, who became the POTUS after Leslie Lynch King Jr. - see here
19. "The Memory of Trees" album maker : ENYA - crossword staple
20. Join the cast of : ACT IN
21. 1940s Time film critic James : AGEE - crossword staple, I guessed
22. Head turner : NECK - My first thought, but I didn't actually fill it in
24. Winter warmer : MITTEN
26. Consented : SAID O.K.
29. Soften : MODULATE
31. Firing spots : KILNS
32. Bus stop : DEPOT
33. Exhibits : HAS
34. Home of the Kon-Tiki Museum : OSLO
35. It may be marked : TRAIL
36. Signs of neglect : WEBS - cobwebs, that is
37. Mass garb : ALB
38. Worker, informally : PROLE - short for proletariat
39. Kerosene source : SHALE
40. Product with the slogan "Get What Fits." : LEE JEANS
42. Fair one : MAIDEN
43. Political position : STANCE - no more posturing and prattling~!
44. __ tape : DUCT - yes, it's ducT tape, not ducK tape, but there is a brand that went by that name
45. Paint company with an ursine image in its logo : BEHR
12. __ shot : FLU - not RIMshot
16. Seed used in cat grass : OAT
17. Holiday staple : ROAST TURKEY - we are almost there ~!!
18. GRF succeeded him : RMN - Richard Mihous Nixon, who became the POTUS after Leslie Lynch King Jr. - see here
19. "The Memory of Trees" album maker : ENYA - crossword staple
20. Join the cast of : ACT IN
21. 1940s Time film critic James : AGEE - crossword staple, I guessed
22. Head turner : NECK - My first thought, but I didn't actually fill it in
24. Winter warmer : MITTEN
26. Consented : SAID O.K.
29. Soften : MODULATE
31. Firing spots : KILNS
32. Bus stop : DEPOT
33. Exhibits : HAS
34. Home of the Kon-Tiki Museum : OSLO
35. It may be marked : TRAIL
36. Signs of neglect : WEBS - cobwebs, that is
37. Mass garb : ALB
38. Worker, informally : PROLE - short for proletariat
39. Kerosene source : SHALE
40. Product with the slogan "Get What Fits." : LEE JEANS
42. Fair one : MAIDEN
43. Political position : STANCE - no more posturing and prattling~!
44. __ tape : DUCT - yes, it's ducT tape, not ducK tape, but there is a brand that went by that name
45. Paint company with an ursine image in its logo : BEHR
46. Skiers' aids : T-BARS - crossword staple
48. Rescue team, briefly : EMTs - crossword staple
52. OPEC member : UAE - United Arab Emirates - OPEC is an abbreviation, so...
55. Orch. section : STRings
56. All fuss and feathers : PRETENTIOUS
57. Literary monogram : T.S.Eliot - crossword staple
58. Antipastos, e.g. : ASSORTMENTS
DOWN:
1. Fly in a river : LURE
2. Presently : ANON
3. Time to 6-Down : D-DAY - cross referenced with; 6. See 3-Down : ATTACK
4. Equivocal reply : YES AND NO - well, maybe?
5. Bouncer-turned-actor : MR. T - I pity the fool who didn't get this one
7. Berry of St. Louis : CHUCK - also a WAG, but I was right
8. Game show host Convy : BERT - this guy
9. Klondike bar relative : ESKIMO PIE
10. Cause of screaming and fainting, perhaps : TEEN IDOL - always think of the Fab Four
11. Stable diet? : HAY
12. Progress at a faster rate : FORGE AHEAD
13. Unfortunate : LAMENTABLE
14. __ Reader: alternative media anthology : UTNE
21. Hawks' home: Abbr. : ATLanta, the NBA team
23. Volkswagen model : EOS - this car
25. Subject of a 1922 discovery : TUT - King Tutankhamun - more here
26. "Cheers!" : SKOAL - not SALUT
28. "You can count on me!" : I'LL BE THERE
29. Board : MEALS - as a carpenter, I wanted "WOOD", but this is the college "room and board" version
30. City north of Cologne : ESSEN - map
32. They develop from unfertilized eggs : DRONE BEES - huh
35. Cultivation wheels : TRACTORS - good misdirection, not looking for TILLERS ( yes, it's short one letter )
36. Benign fiction : WHITE LIE - from now on, I am going to tell people it was "a little benign fiction"; sounds acceptable, doesn't it?~??
38. Declaration of Independence writer? : PEN - har-har
39. RBI fly : SACrifice - when you swing for the fence, and give your runner on third a chance to 'tag up' and sprint for home before the relay throw - hey, I know a little baseball
41. Tip holder : JAR
42. Taboo word : MUSTN'T - big block of unruly consonants
44. Paint additive : DRIER - not COLOR
45. Run in : BUST
47. About : AS TO
49. Noyes's "ghostly galleon" : MOON - poem
50. Hardware bit : T-NUT - crossword staple
51. Mtg. : SESSion
53. Credit-weighted no. : GPA - Grade Point Average
54. Balance-reducing equipment, often : ATM - crossword staple, our "20's Dispenser" with a new lease on life, so to speak - the Automated Teller Machine - so let's give it a little time in the limelight