Words: 70
Blocks: 33
I am guessing Mr. Silk and Mr. Norris were expecting today to arrive
after all....or at least hoping so~!!! I enjoyed working this offering
from our regular constructor - most of it did not come easily, but I had
the time to ponder, since I am working again today, but not until late
AM. A string of names and places*
today, which made it that much harder, but then again, I had heard of
them. Twin 10-letter answers paired in each pinwheel corner, including
-
18. Layer on many pies : MOZZARELLA - ah, I got fooled again, for a moment - was thinking "OREO CRUST", and dessert pies, not pizza pies; and with the next across;
21. Frequent flier's distraction, maybe : PUZZLE BOOK - made for a block of ZZZZ, giving us soZZled and piZZa.
47. Rodeo highlight : CALF ROPING
- see, now, BULL RIDING fit, too, which perplexed me for the longest
time - then the clue for 48D finally hit me, and the V-8 can sailed....
54. Mariana Islands region : MICRONESIA - map; I knew it was in the Pacific....
o-n-w-a-r-d ~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Org. Indonesia left in 2008 : OPEC - yeah, I was gonna fill this in to start, but waited til I had the "-P-C"
5. Lid fastener : HASP - lids on hatches, I am thinking
9. Either of two "Matter of Fact" columnists : ALSOP - Joseph and Stewart. Before my time, a column from the 40's and 50's; the former would have participated with 52D.
14. Galileo's birthplace : PISA - I knew this, but again didn't hit me til I had "-I-A"
15. Weena's people, in a Wells novel : ELOI - new way to clue our old favorite
16. Dickensian holiday meal : GOOSE - not FEAST, not ROAST
17. Spade et al., briefly : TECS - Detectives, that is -we've seen it before
20. Letters from Athens : ETAs - the Greek alphabet letters
22. Was plucky enough : DARED
24. How workaholics often work : LATE
25. "Hallelujah!" : "PRAISE BE~!"
28. Dutch engineering feat : DIKE
32. Break room postings : MEMORANDA
- where I work, the break room has a framed set of pictures of the construction
of our UPS facility, which was finished in 1991, I believe, but the
pictures look like they were taken with a 60's camera - I was 'shocked'
to find out the place was that "new".
34. More balanced : SANER
35. Sweet girl? : ADELINE
36. Close in on the answer : GET WARM - I had the "M" from Erma, and knew that was right, but couldn't think of a word that ended in "M"
38. Closet stuff : LINEN
39. Edward VII's queen : ALEXANDRA - I was curious, went looking
41. Permits : LETS - the verb, as in allows
42. Hot tub site, maybe : SKI LODGE
- I threw in BATHROOM, since that's where I want my hot tub to go; I
have had the pleasure of sitting in a hot tub at a ski lodge when I was
in college - after skiing, we came back to the house, got 7D., and
enjoyed the jacuzzi - which was located OUTSIDE on the porch~!
43. 1977 ELO hit : DO YA - cool, a laser show~!!
44. Chef's wear : TOQUE - the hat
53. Bee's address? : AUNT - I tried "HIVE", since it's the bee's home....but this is something else
55. City on the Brazos : WACO
56. Not standard : ADD-ON - like car accessories
57. Upscale : TONY - British, like here
58. __ impasse : AT AN
59. Eponymous trailblazer Chisholm : JESSE - more on the trail here
60. 1961 space chimp : ENOS
DOWN:
1. Was decisive : OPTED
2. Artistic representation of the Lamentation of Christ : PIETA
3. Cliff : ESCARPMENT - nice fat word
4. Potluck array : CASSEROLES - 'tis the season
5. Environmentally friendly crop : HEMP - um, yep, the fibers are quite useful (too).
6. Giants manager before Bochy : ALOU - crossword standard, with Saturday cluing
7. More than buzzed : SOZZLED - how many adjectives can you come up with? Don't ask me, I used ALL of them prior to 8 years ago....
8. Toaster oven treat : PIZZA BAGEL - so good, I wolf them down. I have even made my own, not the frozen treats you can get.
9. Line up : AGREE
10. Singer with the children's album "Camp Lisa" : LOEB - She's cute
11. Big moment on stage : SOLO - and its anagram; 12. Kon-Tiki Museum city : OSLO
13. Optimum selling point : PEAK - which creates peak UPS volume....
19*. Der __: Adenauer epithet : ALTE - the "Old Man"
23*. Singer portrayed by Spacey in "Beyond the Sea" : DARIN
26*. "Sweet Tooth" writer McEwan : IAN
27*. Cheap wine : SNEAKY PETE - I have only heard of the cue stick - I have one; for the drink, there's Night Train, Mad Dog 20/20, Thunderbird....
28*. 4 Seasons title line preceding "I'm no good for you" : DAWN GO AWAY - Dawn is my senior supervisor's name
29. Not up to snuff : INADEQUATE - another $5 word in the grid; left us with just the "V" missing for a pangram
30*. LPGA star Cristie : KERR
31*. Humorist Bombeck : ERMA
32. Washington attraction : MALL
33*. Falco of "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE
34*. German town : STADT
37. Skeleton opening : EXO - Exoskeleton; I had to think for a while, because I really, really wanted "KEY"
40. Tryst : LIAISON
42. Delaying tactic word : SOON
43. He bee : DRONE - har-har
45. Open, in a way : UNCAP
46. Waist-length jackets : ETONs
47. Key of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 : C MAJ - fill in the "M" for Major/Minor, and wait....
48. Lieutenant : AIDE - tough cluing, but it makes sense; had to wait until I had -IDE, which made me change my BULL RIDING
49. Some TV screens : LCDs - mine is an HDTV, but not the Liquid Crystal Display type
50. Big dos : 'FROS - "I.M. Fletcher, 6'-5", with the 'Fro 6'-9"...."
51. El __ : NINO - the ocean phenomena
52. Some civil rights activists : GAYS
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Misty! Have a lovely stacation.
