Words: 72
Blocks: 30
A fun romp of a
Saturday, missing just the "Q", with some good fill, lots of references that I could identify
with, and enough perps to cover the obscure answers. Neville is the
young man who was on Jeopardy ( see this from C.C. on the blog ) and has a blog of his own, with a weekly crossword offering - see here - and - gave himself a bit of a shout-out today with 42D.~!!! One grid climber:
7. "Perform This Way" parodist : WEIRD AL YANKOVIC - oh, what song to link? "I'm Fat", "Smells Like Nirvana"?, "Amish Paradise"?
and some other long fills I liked -
36. Of the 48 states, it has the largest island : NEW YORK - YEAH~!!! A shout-out to my home on Long Island~! ( the "r" in Port Jefferson is painted on my roof....)
5. It was dissolved by the Belavezha Accords : SOVIET UNION - I did not know there was an accord to officially dissolve the union.
25. Teleportation device for chocolate, in a 1971 film : WONKA-VISION - "TV Mike's" demise when he decided to become the first kid to be beamed into TV; from the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the film version of Raold Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Loved this song done by Gene Wilder ( who I thought was great as Wonka, too ).
ONWARD, quickly, I have to go to work this AM~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Confusing places : MAZES
6. Unfaithful : TWO-TIMING - How DARE you?!?!
15. Matter of faith : CREDO
16. "Huh?" : BEG PARDON?
17. When Othello says to Desdemona, "... would thou hadst ne'er been born!" : ACT IV - HA~! I filled in ACT II, and was almost right....
18. "The Birth of a Nation" period : SILENT ERA - nice to see more than just ERA in a puzzle
19. Clarifying words : THAT IS....
21. Black's opposite, financially : RED - How many of you are going into the "red" this holiday season? - and I don't mean that red colored dress....
22. Brewer's need : OAST - aw, I almost filled this in, but waited
23. 1972 Eastwood title role : JOE KIDD - funny how this is followed by the next clue, and "Outlaw Josey-" (from 1976)
25. Country with a dragon on its flag : WALES
26. Medieval poem about fate set to music in Orff's "Carmina Burana" : O FORTUNA - ya know, it does sound 'medieval' - I think Monty Python used this piece as a basis for their Holy Grail score (and other films used it straight up, I believe)
28. Whiting cousin : COD - something's fishy with this clue....
29. Cutting-edge brand since the '70s : GINSU - "But WAIT~! There's more~! Act Now ~!"
30. Highway through Whitehorse : ALCAN - I tried "US One", and was wrong - wrong side of the world, that is - the Alaska-Canadian Highway
32. Show co-hosted by Robin Roberts, briefly : GMA - Good Morning America
35. "The Facts of Life" actress : RAE - Charlotte
38. __-en-Provence, France : AIX - took a moment to remember the "X" ending in French
39. Martians, e.g. : ETs - Aliens~!
40. Clarifying words : I MEAN....
41. Pianist Watts : ANDRE
43. Bossy remark? : MOO - the Muppet Cow, HAR HAR
44. Weapon outlawed by a 1993 agreement : NERVE GAS - eh, I tried UZI RIFLE, even though I know it was wrong
46. __ renewal : URBAN
49. Perform a long jump : SKYDIVE - um, yeah, that's pretty long
50. Street light : NEON
51. Sgt., e.g. : NCO
52. If nothing changes : AS IT IS
55. Friend of Uncle Tom : LITTLE EVA - I have had this in a Saturday puzzle before
58. Parting words? : I LEFT
59. Branch of chemistry : INORGANIC
60. Brand of imitation fat : OLEAN
61. Big 12 football team led onto the field by The Masked Rider : TEXAS TECH - here
62. "Crud!" : "NERTS~!"
DOWN:
1. Future doc's test : MCAT - Medical College Admissions Test
2. Keystone site : ARCH
3. "Chicago" Oscar winner : ZETA-JONES - Catherine, all legs ~!
4. Life sentence reducers? : EDITORS - Life, the magazine, and written sentences
6. Conan's network : TBS - I like Conan, I have said this before
8. Took a good look at : OGLED - Oh, I'll take a good look at it...
9. Adorned mischievously : TP'ed - toilet papered ~!!!
10. First name in spy fiction : IAN - Flemming, of James Bond books
11. "The Wind in the Willows" amphibian : MR. TOAD - my younger brother liked this book
12. Optimal : IDEAL
13. Old language that gives us "geyser" : NORSE
14. Airborne pests : GNATS
20. UPC cousin : SKU - the store's 6- or 7-digit Stock-Keeping Unit reference number; Grossman's 2x4x8 stud was 204-208
24. Blown away : IN AWE
26. Meanie : OGRE
27. Royal decree : FIAT - ah, not WRIT
28. Ride : CAR
31. __ Island : CONEY
32. One with the latest gizmos : GADGETEER - it's a word, at least in the online dictionary
33. Actress Sorvino : MIRA - Paul Sorvino's ( Goodfellas ) daughter - do you think Neville likes blondes or brunettes?
34. Graph references : AXES - that's AXIS plural, the X- and Y- (and sometimes Z) planes
37. Expressive rock genre : EMO
42. Early WWII prime minister Chamberlain : NEVILLE - well, there you have it, Mr. Fogarty~!
43. It's repeated a lot : MANTRA - Om....
45. Dietary no. : RDA
46. Dark : UNLIT
47. Roi's wife : REINE - Frawnch
48. Head shot? : BOTOX - yep, botulism injections for beauty....
49. Tantrum result, maybe : SCENE - "get off the floor~! you're making a scene~!"
51. In order : NEAT
53. "__ first ..." : IF AT
54. Planned stops: Abbr. : STNs
56. Some linemen: Abbr. : LGs - Left Guards, in football - he's in yellow, here
57. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
Splynter
