google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Oct 11, 2014

Saturday, Oct 11th, 2014, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 29

 The last time we saw a Saturday from Tom Heilman was back in July 2013, and we ended up in an extended discussion on the difference between hay and straw....today's puzzle did look intimidating, but once again a series of WAGs got me enough of a toehold to make the necessary adjustments and finish the grid within my personal time limit.  I will admit to a keyboard run to get my "ta-DA~!" at 42a - proper noun crossing an abbreviation.  Triple nine corners, a pair of stacked tens and two 12-letter climbers;

6d. "Sit" : TAKE A LOAD OFF

21d. Person with a warped mind, in slang : ONE SICK PUPPY

Drawno conclusions....

ACROSS:

 1. Most unwavering : STRICTEST

10. "Forget about it!" : "NO HOW~!" - Started with "NO WAY"

15. Canine issue : TOOTH ACHE - CAVITIES was too short

16. Previously in print? : ABOVE - took a minute to "get" this; e.g. "see above"

17. Standing guard : ON LOOKOUT

18. Pronged : TINED - educated WAG

19. __ roast : WEENIE - meh

20. Grandstand group : ROOTERS

22. Celebrated : RANG IN - I had a great time when I "RANG IN" the New Year for 2014; I am hoping it leads to something special, still

25. "Danny and the Dinosaur" author Hoff : SYD 

26. Marathon rtes., perhaps : AVEs

30. Botched (up) : LOUSED

32. Christmas catalog item : TOY - I loved the Sears catalog this time of year - I'd sit down and make my "list" complete with page numbers for Santa - do you still have my old lists, Argyle~?

34. Restaurant convenience : MEN'S ROOM - whereas a LADIES ROOM is a necessity....

36. Evening affair : SOIREE

38. Readily assuming different forms : PROTEAN - straight up definition; Dictionary says it's from the Greek sea god Proteus, who could change form

39. Like original Matchbox cars : DIE-CAST - I still have a case full of Hot Wheels; my original Matchbox cars are long gone

40. Got a chuckle out of : AMUSED

41. Rickety : DECREPIT

42. Ruman of "Stalag 17" : SIG - Yeah, the "S" was a letter run

43. Krona : öre :: ruble : __ : KOPECK - 1/100th of a "dollar" equivalent; Swedish & Russian currency

45. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO


46. 2008 Soderbergh biopic : CHE - I tried "ALI" first - bzzzt

48. Shooting ratios : F-STOPS - Camera settings, that kind of shooting

50. Immobilize, as with fear : PETRIFY - My sponsor's suggestion back in July petrified me; found out this Tuesday that he did NOT have all the facts, because he wasn't paying attention, so I fired him - first time in almost 9 years I had to do this; I am extremely happy I went with my gut instinct and did not follow through on the suggestion, but the issue is still unresolved.  Now I need a new sponsor to help me try again

52. First NFL Man of the Year Award recipient (1970) : UNITAS - Here's Johnny~!

57. Savannah sighting : ELAND - Total WAG, and it stayed

58. Chukka boot feature : CREPE SOLE - Learning moment for me - the Wiki

61. Actress Kemper of "The Office" : ELLIE - Did not watch much of the show; this girl


62. Small cookers : HOT PLATES

63. Enjoyed : LIKED

64. Stretch, say : STAY LOOSE

DOWN:

1. Pack : STOW

2. Mood indicator : TONE - Pondered "RING" at first


3. Something to fill : ROLE - HOLE and HOLD were not good enough

4. "Put __ my tab" : IT ON

5. Loft user : CHOIR - I had the "H" and the "R", and this was the only word that worked

7. Car starter? : ECO - eco-car

8. Moo __ pork : SHU

9. Game for shapeshifters? : TETRIS - Har-Har~!  You have to 'shift' the shapes in order to perpetuate the game - I play 3-D Tetris at UPS every morning, shifting 250+ parcels to fit in a van that only holds 200....

10. Defense gp. : NATO

11. Passing thoughts? : OBITs - This type of clue is filling in immediately for me now

12. Espionage strategies involving seduction : HONEY TRAPS

13. Goes too far : OVER DOES IT

14. Forms a union : WEDS

23. Morning's end : NOON

24. Orbit, for one : GUM - you lint licker~!


26. Oscars org. : AMPAS - New one to me; I thought "ASCAP", but that's music...then AFTRA, then the perps left me with AM-A-; I got the "P",   but....   the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

27. Food that's Italian for "little worms" : VERMICELLI - ewww~!

28. "Time to do something about this" : "ENOUGH TALK"

29. Former fliers : SSTs

31. One who acts : DOer

33. "... __ come" : YET TO

35. Really smell : REEK - There was a band that used to play the nightclub I worked at and they went by the name "REEKING HAVOC" - yes, they got it wrong, but it seemed to fit all the same....

37. Frozen treat : ICEE

39. Like New York's Chrysler Building : DECO

41. Case worker: Abbr. : DETective - that kind of case

44. Inspires, with "up" : PSYCHS

47. Orange Muppet : ERNIE - My brother is going as Ernie for one Halloween party, and then Barney Rubble for another - guess what I am going to wear....now all I need is a place to go - oh, if only someone would join me....   ;7(

49. Matt who scored the Jets only touchdown in Super Bowl III : SNELL - The Wiki

50. Spa option : PEEL - Tried PEDI first

51. Named : IDed

53. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO - The crossword friendly golfer

54. Movie pooch : TOTO - dah~! Not ASTA

55. Draft choices : ALES - ugh, I thought we were talking military here, and went "A ONE"

56. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE - We have "se-seen" this before on Saturday

59. Break down : ROT

60. Flight stat : ETA

 Splynter


Notes from C.C.:

I'd like to share with you the "Border States" puzzle I made for the Chronicle of Higher Education. You can click here (the first one) for the puz file, or here to print out a PDF file. To solve on line, click here . 

I'm eager to see what area gives you the trouble and when you grok the theme. 

Spoiler alert: once you're done, you can go to Amy Reynaldo's blog for the write-up.  Those nice clues Pannonica mentioned are all the brainwork of editor Brad Wilber, our regular LAT Saturday constructor. When I first proposed the idea to Brad, the theme is quite thin. Brad helped me muscle up the core concept and build a grid I'm quite proud of.

Mark the CHE site. Next time you see my name (probably early next year), I'll be accompanying a blog regular, D-Otto (Tom), who's super efficient and fun to work with.