Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)
Blocks: 30
Eerie - I sensed we were getting a Mark Bickham puzzle yesterday....and
he did not disappoint~! This one was another white-wash to start (and
hopefully not an omen to us NE dwellers come Monday), but in the 'hunt
and peck' style of crossword solving, I got through to the "Ta-DA~!" in
just over my allotted time. Two grid-climbers paired with two 11-letter
climbers, two triple-10 corners, and two inner triple 10's, to boot~!
Phew~! Some of our longer fill:
1a. Title puppet dragon of '60s-'70s kids' TV : H.R. PUFNSTUF
- a children's show just before my time, from Sid & Marty
Krofft; they also produced the Krofft Supershow, which IS what I watched
on Satuday mornings; it featured a segment called Wonderbug, which featured a character named C.C.~! (OK, it was a guy, but....)
3d. Chevrolet Camaro cousin : PONTIAC FIREBIRD
- the Flaming Chicken, and one of my all-time favorite cars - the '77
version - I think it had the coolest rims, ever. And I grew up with Knight Rider, not Smokey and the Bandit~!
12d. To summarize : IN A NUTSHELL
22d. It precedes the late news : PRIME-TIME TV
29d. Fictional threat to secret-keeping : X-RAY VISION - I did not give enough weight to the "fictional"
part of the clue; I stared at -RAY-ISION (and in the down, it's even
harder) for way too long; it's only when I tried TEX at 28a. that the
V-8 can nearly clubbed me
63a. Highly rated individuals? : LOAN SHARKS - HAR-HAR~!! - I've seen enough TV crime drama to know that the interest is usually usury
63a. Highly rated individuals? : LOAN SHARKS - HAR-HAR~!! - I've seen enough TV crime drama to know that the interest is usually usury
ONWARD rabbit ONWARD rabbit ONWARD rabbit ONWARD
bunny bunny foot foot ONWARD
bunny bunny foot foot ONWARD
ACROSS:
11. Trading place : PIT
14. Supercilious : ABOVE IT ALL
15. Angular : BONY - I was going to link a picture of a skinny model, but they're too disturbing, even for me
16. Ristorante offering : MINESTRONE
17. Words after take or gain : A LAP - my first guess, but "take a lap" didn't seem right to me
18. Experience slightly : TASTE
19. Senseless : ASININE
21. Bee: Pref. : API - as in APIarists, also known as a beekeepers
23. One-eighties : UIES - short for U-Turns, but oh, which spelling to go with? I tried UEYS to start - BZZZT~!
25. Back porch luxury : HOT-TUB - I have been in a back porch hot tub; the porch was part of a house on a ski resort; quite an experience to relax outside at night surrounded by snow AND in your swim suit
26. Lady's love : TRAMP - the Disney movie
28. Bandleader Beneke : TEX - I went down the alphabet list; teD, tiM, toM, but stopped....
30. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT
31. Tiny parasites : LICE - nice - the plural got me; I went with NITS, but that's a crossword parasite
32. Alarms : SCARES
34. Oshkosh hrs. : CST - Winnebago county, Wisconsin and Central Standard Time - for another week, that it's CDT
36. Alternative to satellite : AM/FM
37. Name of eight popes : URBAN - and one New Zealand-born country music star
38. Lionized actor? : LAHR - Bert Lahr, who portrayed The Cowardly Lion
39. 30% of venti : SEI - A WAG, but I did know it was foreign numbers
40. Characteristic of some jacks : ONE-EYE
41. Zeno's home : ELEA
42. Hunter's setting : TRAP
44. "Slumdog Millionaire" star __ Patel : DEV - the "V" was my last fill
45. Comeback : RALLY
46. Frank : WIENER
48. In __: unmoved : SITU
50. 2002 British Open champion : ELS
51. Words spoken while stretching, perhaps : I'M BORED - ah, that type of stretching; I do healthy stretches before work and playing hockey
53. Old Toyota model : SUPRA
55. Tara of "American Pie" : REID - I thought it was this girl, but she's Alyson Hannigan
56. Great Plains dweller : PRAIRIE DOG - all I needed was the "G" at the end to make an 'educated' WAG
60. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE
61. Historical transition point : END OF AN ERA
62. Movie format : DVD
DOWN:
1. Omelet ingredient : HAM - Mark BickHAM~?!?
2. Diamond stat : RBI - for some reason, I was looking for a pitcher's stat on this clue, but diamond refers to anything baseball; I know there are a few of you out there who are keyed up for the new season
4. Iris holder : UVEA - DAH~!!! The eye part, not a VASE for the flowers (and that's fl-OW-ers, not Fl-OH-ers)
5. Spill the beans : FESS UP
6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role : NITTI - all PERPS
7. Rep in the city : STREET CRED - REPutation, and CREDibility
8. Eastern path : TAO
9. Prismatic bone : ULNA
10. Bygone Crayola shade : FLESH
13. Laid-back : TYPE-B - I'm OK with NOT being "Type-A"
15. Xhosa's language group : BANTU - complete WAG; well, I did have the "T"
20. Accelerator particles : IONS
21. Country album? : ATLAS - cute; no music here
24. "Can Do!" group : SEABEES - from the US Navy's Construction Battalion, or "CB"s
32. Overhead light? : SUN - D-oh~!!! This took WAY too long for me to fill
33. From Okla. City to Tulsa : ENE
35. Airline conveniences : TRAYS
38. Pastoral place : LEA
40. Letters under TUV, perhaps : OPERator, on the old dial phones
43. Battery post : ANODE
45. Indonesian currency : RUPIAH - OK, I cheated - I have a MONEY table in my dictionary, and since I had R-P--H, I looked, and there it was - and yes, from Indonesia, no less~!
46. Condé Nast technology magazine : WIRED
47. Sicken : REPEL
49. Bailiwicks : TURFS - my one 'meh' answer for the day; I would have preferred some vague clue about artificial grass
52. Popular 1958 spy novel : DR. NO
54. "General Hospital" Emmy winner Sofer : RENA
57. Nabokov novel : ADA
58. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse : ORK - from the TV show Mork & Mindy
59. Natural __ : GAS
14. Supercilious : ABOVE IT ALL
15. Angular : BONY - I was going to link a picture of a skinny model, but they're too disturbing, even for me
16. Ristorante offering : MINESTRONE
17. Words after take or gain : A LAP - my first guess, but "take a lap" didn't seem right to me
18. Experience slightly : TASTE
19. Senseless : ASININE
21. Bee: Pref. : API - as in APIarists, also known as a beekeepers
25. Back porch luxury : HOT-TUB - I have been in a back porch hot tub; the porch was part of a house on a ski resort; quite an experience to relax outside at night surrounded by snow AND in your swim suit
26. Lady's love : TRAMP - the Disney movie
28. Bandleader Beneke : TEX - I went down the alphabet list; teD, tiM, toM, but stopped....
30. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT
31. Tiny parasites : LICE - nice - the plural got me; I went with NITS, but that's a crossword parasite
32. Alarms : SCARES
34. Oshkosh hrs. : CST - Winnebago county, Wisconsin and Central Standard Time - for another week, that it's CDT
36. Alternative to satellite : AM/FM
37. Name of eight popes : URBAN - and one New Zealand-born country music star
38. Lionized actor? : LAHR - Bert Lahr, who portrayed The Cowardly Lion
39. 30% of venti : SEI - A WAG, but I did know it was foreign numbers
40. Characteristic of some jacks : ONE-EYE
41. Zeno's home : ELEA
42. Hunter's setting : TRAP
44. "Slumdog Millionaire" star __ Patel : DEV - the "V" was my last fill
45. Comeback : RALLY
46. Frank : WIENER
48. In __: unmoved : SITU
50. 2002 British Open champion : ELS
51. Words spoken while stretching, perhaps : I'M BORED - ah, that type of stretching; I do healthy stretches before work and playing hockey
53. Old Toyota model : SUPRA
55. Tara of "American Pie" : REID - I thought it was this girl, but she's Alyson Hannigan
60. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE
61. Historical transition point : END OF AN ERA
62. Movie format : DVD
DOWN:
1. Omelet ingredient : HAM - Mark BickHAM~?!?
2. Diamond stat : RBI - for some reason, I was looking for a pitcher's stat on this clue, but diamond refers to anything baseball; I know there are a few of you out there who are keyed up for the new season
4. Iris holder : UVEA - DAH~!!! The eye part, not a VASE for the flowers (and that's fl-OW-ers, not Fl-OH-ers)
5. Spill the beans : FESS UP
6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role : NITTI - all PERPS
7. Rep in the city : STREET CRED - REPutation, and CREDibility
8. Eastern path : TAO
9. Prismatic bone : ULNA
10. Bygone Crayola shade : FLESH
13. Laid-back : TYPE-B - I'm OK with NOT being "Type-A"
15. Xhosa's language group : BANTU - complete WAG; well, I did have the "T"
20. Accelerator particles : IONS
21. Country album? : ATLAS - cute; no music here
24. "Can Do!" group : SEABEES - from the US Navy's Construction Battalion, or "CB"s
27. Part of an org. : MEM
32. Overhead light? : SUN - D-oh~!!! This took WAY too long for me to fill
33. From Okla. City to Tulsa : ENE
35. Airline conveniences : TRAYS
38. Pastoral place : LEA
40. Letters under TUV, perhaps : OPERator, on the old dial phones
43. Battery post : ANODE
45. Indonesian currency : RUPIAH - OK, I cheated - I have a MONEY table in my dictionary, and since I had R-P--H, I looked, and there it was - and yes, from Indonesia, no less~!
46. Condé Nast technology magazine : WIRED
49. Bailiwicks : TURFS - my one 'meh' answer for the day; I would have preferred some vague clue about artificial grass
52. Popular 1958 spy novel : DR. NO
54. "General Hospital" Emmy winner Sofer : RENA
57. Nabokov novel : ADA
58. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse : ORK - from the TV show Mork & Mindy
59. Natural __ : GAS
Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter
Note from C.C.:
There are still spots left for the Cru Dinner on Friday March 7, 2014. Please click here for more information. The dinner traditionally kicks off the ACPT and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers.
There are still spots left for the Cru Dinner on Friday March 7, 2014. Please click here for more information. The dinner traditionally kicks off the ACPT and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers.
I think you can still attend the dinner without being a ACPT competitor, right, Mike Alpert? Can our Splynter go there? (Mike is the organizer of the Cru Dinner.)
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| Brendan Emmett Quigley, Mike Alpert, Tyler Hinman |
