Theme: Play Ball! - Four blocks of black squares signal first
base, second base, third base and home plate. Circled letters spell out
BLOOP, STEAL, ERROR, HOMER.
Revel entry:
32A. With 37-Across, what the circled words (shown in the appropriate direction) are capable of doing : ADVANCING
37A. See 32-Across : THE RUNNER
A few more baseball entries:
6D. Baseball commissioner under whom interleague play became a reality : SELIG (Bud)
25D. Ones getting lots of Bronx cheers : YANKEES. And 58A. 25-Down div. : AL EAST
59D. Mike Trout's team, on scoreboards : LAA. Angels.
C.C. here. No draft from Marti in our blog folder. I'll get the Clue/Answer list up and will fill in more comments later.
Theme involved diagonals is tough to pull off. Don did all the hard work.
Across:
1. Lab shelfful : FLASKS
7. Many a chalet : A-FRAME
13. Nielsen of "Airplane!" : LESLIE
14. Purple Label designer : LAUREN (Ralph). Was this a gimme or tough fill to you?
15. Open, as a fern frond : UNCURL
16. Relieving : EASING
17. Olfactory detection : ODOR
18. Rumor starter : I HEAR
22. Spanish pronoun : ESTA
23. Vintage auto : REO. Never heard of Flivvers you guys talked about yesterday.
24. Ballerina's asset : AGILITY
26. Dress nattily, with "up" : TOG
27. Wrinkle-resistant synthetic : ORLON
29. Alternative to gravel, perhaps : TAR
30. Humiliate : ABASE
35. Poker variety : STUD
36. Golfer Isao : AOKI. Just remember AO is featured in both his given name and surname.
39. Part of a process : PHASE
42. "Bartender, make __ double!" : IT A
43. Tie the knot on the sly : ELOPE
47. LBJ's antipoverty agcy. : OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Nose-wrinkling fill. You'll see a few more compromises in this grid.
48. Sierra __ : NEVADAS
51. "Papa-__-Mow-Mow": 1962 novelty hit : OOM
52. Suffix with school : MARM
54. Former "The View" co-host : BEHAR (Joy)
55. Conglomeration : OLIO. Most common subject line in my SENT emails.
56. '30s-'50s British Labour Party leader : ATTLEE. He's back.
60. One on a ladder, to a kitten up a tree : COAXER
61. Property recipient, in law : BAILEE
62. Join up : ENLIST
63. Garden sides : SALADS
Down:
1. Prefix with scope : FLUORO. Not an easy fill for me.
2. Shark, maybe : LENDER
3. Comparable to a cucumber : AS COOL
4. Hurtful remark : SLUR
5. Cocktail with cassis : KIR. Never heard of cassis, French for blackcurrant.
7. Wake-up call, say : ALERT
8. Pilot-licensing org. : FAA
9. Red herring : RUSE
10. __ Nashville: country record label : ARISTA
11. "Stay Fresh" candy : MENTOS. They have a big factory in South China.
12. Mesh, as gears : ENGAGE
19. Tee off : HIT A DRIVE. Hi there Gary!
20. Joie de vivre : ELAN
21. Carrier with a Maple Leaf Lounge : AIR CANADA. Our blog has quite a few Canadian readers. But most of them are quiet.
24. "Here's what happened next ..." : AND THEN
28. Hops driers : OASTS
31. Speakeasy employee : B GIRL
33. Saturn SUV : VUE
34. Physics class topic : ION
38. Bryce Canyon state : UTAH
39. Cider press leftovers : POMACE. Learned from doing xwords.
40. Patricia of "Everybody Loves Raymond" : HEATON
41. Of a blood line : AORTAL
44. "Va-va-voom!" : OO LA LA. I think "Ooh la la" is more common.
45. Self-assured : POISED
46. Gushes on a set : EMOTES
49. His last blog post ended, "I'll see you at the movies" : EBERT (Roger)
50. Most Iraqis : ARABS
53. Mid-11th century year : MLXI (1061). Bad fill. But we could not get anything cleaner here.
55. Eye, at the Louvre : OEIL. Trompe l'oeil.
57. Some RPI alums : EEs. For two of my favorite people on the blog!
C.C.
