Words: 68
Blocks: 28
Oh Wilber~!!
Another solid offering from one of our steady Saturday constructors,
with little in the way of obscure proper names, places and foreign words
(OK, one), and LOTS of hyphenated words/phrases. Triple 10's in
the across, and triple 8's in the down corners with a couple of
climbers of note:
28D. "Act naturally" : BE YOURSELF - which reminds me of this song, with the lyric at 1:35
33D. Italian Baroque painter known for ceiling frescoes : GUIDO RENI - A proper name and foreign, too~! Some history, here at the Wiki
And one spanner:
34A. Alloy used to make knives : MOLYBDENUM STEEL
- Oddly, Tungsten Carbide fit, too; anyone who has bought a circular
saw blade or drill bit is familiar with the latter; guess what I put in
first....
o-N^w-A-r_D ~!~!
ACROSS:
1. Scrapped, at NASA : NO-GO - because "aborted" didn't fit
5. Way to get in : ACCESS CODE
15. Zipped through : ACED
16. Like the cap worn by Annette : MOUSE-EARED - nailed it; Annette Funicello
17. One piggy's portion : NONE
18. Reducing : CURTAILING
19. Big blast : N-TEST - paired with 44D
21. Come down hard : TEEM
22. Smidge : IOTA
23. Sound from your favorite toy? : YIP - small dogs, referred to as "toys" by the AKC
24. Beguile : AMUSE
26. Less clumsy : ABLER
27. Trounce : CLOBBER
29. Unoriginal : TIRED
30. Botanical balm : ALOE
31. It may make honeymooners a bit misty : NIAGARA - HAR-HAR, but
I wasn't misled; one of the most famous honeymoon spots is Niagara
Falls, here in NY (OK, and Canada, too) where the air is constantly
misty; even the tour boats are in on the appeal
39. Throw money around, in a way : OVER-TIP - are you an over-tipper? I am when we go to eat out as a family
40. Jane Austen's aspiring matchmaker : EMMA
41. Gives kudos : LAUDS
43. Hard to read : DEADPAN
45. Becomes disillusioned : SOURS
46. Jumper cable connection point : ANODE - nipple didn't fit
48. "Moreover ..." : AND
49. A passel : TONS - a passel is an indeterminate amount of
something, sort of like a small "gazillion", as in "I have (insert
here) of paperwork to do~!"
50. Lead : STAR - that's l-EE-d, not LeD
51. Navigational aid : CANAL - so is part of your ear an "auditory navigational aid"?
53. Net : AFTER TAXES
56. "Ciao!" : TA-TA
57. Some 19th-century industrialists : RAIL BARONS - I watched
"Ultimate Guide to the Presidents" this week; fascinating how the stuff I
was taught in high school bored me then, and intrigues me now.
58. Picked out of a lineup : IDed
59. "They've rigged this whole thing!" : "THE FIX IS IN~!"
60. Cushy : EASY
DOWN:
1. Device hidden by a concerned parent : NANNY-CAM
2. Red-flowering desert shrub : OCOTILLO
4. Tributes in verse : ODES
5. Old Gremlin maker : AMC - I had the Sportabout Wagon that my father gave me in 1988; it had huge potential that I couldn't see at 17yrs old; 258 straight six
6. High-end fashion designer : COUTURIER
7. Fixes : CURES
8. Name on many compacts : ESTEE
9. Baseball feature : SEAM
10. Twice tre : SEI
11. Fine-tuned : CALIBRATED - I did some searching on the origin; seems to be from the Arabic "qalib", the cast for a bullet
12. Bird that builds hanging nests : ORIOLE - and the bird in Baltimore, too
13. Subject to a trade-in reduction : DENTED - I think the 227,800 miles on my car will put a "dent" in my trade-in value
14. Guest in a library : EDGAR - Nice misdirection; this man, here, and not "user", "reader", "student" - I couldn't think of a 5-letter word
20. Q's neighbor : TAB - on the keyboard, not the phone pad
25. Brasil '66 leader : MENDES
26. What social climbers may put on? : AIRS
29. Patted down : TAMPED - tamped to me sounds "heavier" than
patted; I usually tamp the ground before a concrete pour. What would
the cement guy say if I told him I "patted" it down???
32. Tiny colonist : ANT
35. Briefs not seen in court, hopefully : BVDs - tightie-whities~!
36. Mexican stuffed pastry : EMPANADA
37. Gives off : EMANATES
38. Mrs. Hudson, to Sherlock Holmes : LANDLADY
41. Bath scrubber : LOOFAH
42. Em's title : AUNTIE - Wizard of Oz
44. Erstwhile 19-Across overseer: Abbr. : AEC - Atomic Energy Commission; I know it as Architecture, Engineering, & Construction
45. "Boo!" reaction : START
46. Space Invaders platform : ATARI
47. Largest island in the Cyclades : NAXOS - map, in the middle
50. Pringles competitor : STAX - I have had this one on Saturday before; workable "X"
52. "__ is like kissing your sister": sports chestnut : A TIE
54. You usually don't get one when you ground into a DP : RBI -
by grounding into a double play for the first two outs of the inning
with a man on third who crosses home and scores does not get you a "run
batted in" - uh, right, C.C.?? (From C.C.: Right! The worse thing a player can do is to ground into a double play when bases are loaded.)
55. Nine-digit fig. : SSN - Crossword standard, the Social Security Number
Splynter
