Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 31
Today's offering actually seemed better than the DNF I had yesterday
(NE corner remained blank). I have to say, I did use red-letter help in
the Mid-West to solve Mr. Wilber's solo effort, but only because of a
foreign word, a nick-name and an acronym I was not familiar with.
Something new in the grid - stair-stacked triple 10's off-center, to go
with two 10-letter climbers and the usual triples in the corners. Some
fill from today:
20A. Herodotus and Thucydides, for two : HISTORIANS - I was thinking they might be Titans or Greek Islands, but it's really these Greek guys
45A. Homemade defense against a mind-control ray : TIN FOIL HAT - nailed it - such a great visual
12. Stephen Colbert bestseller subtitled "(And So Can You!)" : I AM AMERICA - I read it; typical TV fame-to-books money maker
25. Pessimistic J. Geils Band hit with the line "It's gonna make you cry" : LOVE STINKS - Music Link
O w r ~!
n a d
O w r ~!
n a d
ACROSS:
1. Many a knockout punch : UPPERCUT - always a good feeling to start out with the correct 8-letter answer~!
9. There's a charge for it : OPTION - I have observed that a LOT of new cars do NOT come with turn signal indicators as standard; must be an expensive option - they were standard on my 2000 Dodge Stratus, and I use them all the time~!
15. Navigator's creator : NETSCAPE - ISP; I was trying to stretch Lincoln to fit - Navigator is their SUV
16. Mind the sitter : BEHAVE - The children, that is
17. Signs at a rally : PLACARDS - Eh, OK - I think of placards as the metal HAZ-MAT plates on trucks
18. Showed signs of being : SEEMED
19. These, in Tours : CES
22. Disk-shaped safety device : SMOKE ALARM - the Town inspector came out to look the apartment over Wednesday; must have been psychic, he left his car running in the driveway....He did point out that the building code requires the smoke alarm in the apartment to be hard-wired to the one in the house, so we could know if there was a fire over there - makes good sense to me
24. Baby shower gift : SLEEPER SET - sounds like Sleeper Cell, but I never saw this show
26. Recordholder's suffix : EST - "World's BiggEST ____" - you fill in the blank....
29. Ridge studied in forensics : WHORL - Fingerprints
30. One with "Esq." on the door : ATTorney
31. Liveliness : BRIO
32. Citrus-marinated South American fish dish : CEVICHE - Total unknown, so it got me; popular with 46D~? More here
35. High-level disagreement? : YELLING - high decibels, that is
37. Not kosher : TREF - Learned doing crosswords
38. Styled after : À LA
40. Deep purples : PUCES - sounds so unappealing
41. Faltering sounds : UMs - OK, who started with ERs?
42. "The Winds of War" actress : ALI MacGRAW - 1983; her IMDb
47. Hotly contested area : SWING STATE
49. Riddle of the Sphinx answer : MAN - What goes on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night? - More here
52. Scratch : CANCEL - Makes me think of dictation - "Dear Sir or Madam...scratch that..."To Whom It May Concern..."
53. Fortifications : BASTIONS - I tried RAMPARTS, but had to take it out because it couldn't cross the "MOAT" at 49D
56. Acid neutralizer : ALKALI
57. Like Buckley's columns, say : LITERATE
58. Close again, in a way : RE-SNAP
59. In orbit : ECSTATIC - I was on this wavelength, but ELATED was too short
DOWN:
1. Insensitive, in a way : UN-PC - Not Politically Correct
2. Mononymous kicker : PELÉ - actually, his, er, "triptonym" is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, so I thought you'd like to know more
3. K-12 fund-raisers : PTAs
4. Backup key : ESC - Escape, top left on the keyboard - In AutoCAD, it is THE go-to key for ending any command; drawing a line, making a selection set, typing text. What irks me is when I switch to Photoshop, it does NOTHING at all....
5. Dave Matthews Band label : RCA
6. Meals-on-wheels worker? : CAR-HOP - Har-Har~!
7. "Rabbit Is Rich" Pulitzer winner : UPDIKE - John, and this novel, one of four
8. Mosaic piece : TESSERA - I had heard this before, but I needed perps first; a small tile of glass, stone, etc.; through Latin, from Greek, meaning 'four'
9. Horse-and-buggy : OBSOLETE - I find drivers on cell phones to be really annoying; I wonder if 100 years ago horse-and-buggy types felt the same way about the 'new' automobile....and neither one is going away
10. Examine closely : PEER AT
11. "... __ finest hour": Churchill : THEIR
13. Roast spot : OVEN
14. Beatty and Rorem : NEDS
21. Scrumptious : TASTY
22. Font flourish : SERIF
23. Sporty Spice, familiarly : MEL C - Melanie Chisolm, from the "Spice Girls"
24. Col. Potter on "M*A*S*H," to pals : SHERMan T. Potter
27. Tough tissue : SINEW - animal tissue, that is
28. Garb : TOGS - a WAG that stayed
29. Pro-prohibition org. : WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union - never heard of it, but then again, I was anti-prohibition for 15yrs (LOL)
31. Spill, with "out" : BLURT
33. Petticoat alternative : HALF-SLIP
34. "Four Quartets" poet : ELIOT
36. Annika Sorenstam's gp. : LPGA - Ladies Professional Golf Association
39. Good-natured : AMIABLE
42. German chancellor Merkel : ANGELA
43. Language family including Turkish : ALTAIC - Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic, sez the dictionary
44. Drawer holders : CHESTS - The furniture, not this chest, ladies
46. Old Peruvian : INCAN
47. Trauma consequence : SCAR
48. Corduroy rib : WALE
49. Zoo trench : MOAT - Dinosaur Parks, too~!
50. Debate side : ANTI
51. One of 60 billion in a min. : NSEC - Nanosecond
54. Three-day festival : TET
55. SS supplement : IRA - Social Security, and Individual Retirement Account - changing it up from Monday level cluing
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Melissa & her friends had their annual Girls Weekend Getaway a few weeks ago. Here are all the fun pictures. She said "there was a friend who was unable to join us this year, that's why we made those pics of her so that we could bring her along with us. it was almost like she was really with us - so funny."
9. There's a charge for it : OPTION - I have observed that a LOT of new cars do NOT come with turn signal indicators as standard; must be an expensive option - they were standard on my 2000 Dodge Stratus, and I use them all the time~!
15. Navigator's creator : NETSCAPE - ISP; I was trying to stretch Lincoln to fit - Navigator is their SUV
16. Mind the sitter : BEHAVE - The children, that is
17. Signs at a rally : PLACARDS - Eh, OK - I think of placards as the metal HAZ-MAT plates on trucks
18. Showed signs of being : SEEMED
19. These, in Tours : CES
22. Disk-shaped safety device : SMOKE ALARM - the Town inspector came out to look the apartment over Wednesday; must have been psychic, he left his car running in the driveway....He did point out that the building code requires the smoke alarm in the apartment to be hard-wired to the one in the house, so we could know if there was a fire over there - makes good sense to me
24. Baby shower gift : SLEEPER SET - sounds like Sleeper Cell, but I never saw this show
26. Recordholder's suffix : EST - "World's BiggEST ____" - you fill in the blank....
29. Ridge studied in forensics : WHORL - Fingerprints
30. One with "Esq." on the door : ATTorney
31. Liveliness : BRIO
32. Citrus-marinated South American fish dish : CEVICHE - Total unknown, so it got me; popular with 46D~? More here
35. High-level disagreement? : YELLING - high decibels, that is
37. Not kosher : TREF - Learned doing crosswords
38. Styled after : À LA
40. Deep purples : PUCES - sounds so unappealing
41. Faltering sounds : UMs - OK, who started with ERs?
42. "The Winds of War" actress : ALI MacGRAW - 1983; her IMDb
47. Hotly contested area : SWING STATE
49. Riddle of the Sphinx answer : MAN - What goes on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night? - More here
52. Scratch : CANCEL - Makes me think of dictation - "Dear Sir or Madam...scratch that..."To Whom It May Concern..."
53. Fortifications : BASTIONS - I tried RAMPARTS, but had to take it out because it couldn't cross the "MOAT" at 49D
56. Acid neutralizer : ALKALI
57. Like Buckley's columns, say : LITERATE
58. Close again, in a way : RE-SNAP
59. In orbit : ECSTATIC - I was on this wavelength, but ELATED was too short
DOWN:
1. Insensitive, in a way : UN-PC - Not Politically Correct
2. Mononymous kicker : PELÉ - actually, his, er, "triptonym" is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, so I thought you'd like to know more
3. K-12 fund-raisers : PTAs
4. Backup key : ESC - Escape, top left on the keyboard - In AutoCAD, it is THE go-to key for ending any command; drawing a line, making a selection set, typing text. What irks me is when I switch to Photoshop, it does NOTHING at all....
5. Dave Matthews Band label : RCA
6. Meals-on-wheels worker? : CAR-HOP - Har-Har~!
7. "Rabbit Is Rich" Pulitzer winner : UPDIKE - John, and this novel, one of four
8. Mosaic piece : TESSERA - I had heard this before, but I needed perps first; a small tile of glass, stone, etc.; through Latin, from Greek, meaning 'four'
9. Horse-and-buggy : OBSOLETE - I find drivers on cell phones to be really annoying; I wonder if 100 years ago horse-and-buggy types felt the same way about the 'new' automobile....and neither one is going away
10. Examine closely : PEER AT
11. "... __ finest hour": Churchill : THEIR
13. Roast spot : OVEN
14. Beatty and Rorem : NEDS
21. Scrumptious : TASTY
22. Font flourish : SERIF
23. Sporty Spice, familiarly : MEL C - Melanie Chisolm, from the "Spice Girls"
24. Col. Potter on "M*A*S*H," to pals : SHERMan T. Potter
27. Tough tissue : SINEW - animal tissue, that is
28. Garb : TOGS - a WAG that stayed
29. Pro-prohibition org. : WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union - never heard of it, but then again, I was anti-prohibition for 15yrs (LOL)
31. Spill, with "out" : BLURT
33. Petticoat alternative : HALF-SLIP
34. "Four Quartets" poet : ELIOT
36. Annika Sorenstam's gp. : LPGA - Ladies Professional Golf Association
39. Good-natured : AMIABLE
42. German chancellor Merkel : ANGELA
43. Language family including Turkish : ALTAIC - Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic, sez the dictionary
44. Drawer holders : CHESTS - The furniture, not this chest, ladies
46. Old Peruvian : INCAN
47. Trauma consequence : SCAR
48. Corduroy rib : WALE
49. Zoo trench : MOAT - Dinosaur Parks, too~!
50. Debate side : ANTI
51. One of 60 billion in a min. : NSEC - Nanosecond
54. Three-day festival : TET
55. SS supplement : IRA - Social Security, and Individual Retirement Account - changing it up from Monday level cluing
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
Melissa & her friends had their annual Girls Weekend Getaway a few weeks ago. Here are all the fun pictures. She said "there was a friend who was unable to join us this year, that's why we made those pics of her so that we could bring her along with us. it was almost like she was really with us - so funny."