Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 27
I have done well with Mr. Lieb's puzzles in the past, but today it was
looking pretty bleak. The first across pass yielded only about 5
answers, and then on the down run, little more. Caught a break with a
few well-placed W.A.G.s, and I happened to know a few of the proper
names, too. Alas, I did cheat - one look-up, and one verification - so I
have to admit to a DNF. Drat. Two spanners, two 10-letter movie
reference* climbers, and triple 9-letter corners made up the long fill;
17a. Donkey in "Shrek" et al. : ANIMAL SIDEKICKS - when one "ponders" other animal sidekicks, one might recall a TV show from '79-'81;
13d. 2014 A.L. MVP : MIKE TROUT
Down-ar~!
ACROSS:
1. Franchise spawned in the '60s : STAR TREK - my personal favorite of the show's variations was "The Next Generation", which was my
generation's version; the original was a bit too dry for me, and the
latest version of the franchise, the "young" original crew, just doesn't
do it justice, IMHO
9. Away for the summer, maybe : AT CAMP - nailed it; felt like I was off to a good start
15. White Sox nickname, with "the" : PALE HOSE - I thought this might be a specific person, but it's a reference to their uniform - white socks = pale hose
16. Longtime Ottoman Empire territory : BOSNIA
9. Away for the summer, maybe : AT CAMP - nailed it; felt like I was off to a good start
15. White Sox nickname, with "the" : PALE HOSE - I thought this might be a specific person, but it's a reference to their uniform - white socks = pale hose
16. Longtime Ottoman Empire territory : BOSNIA
19. Dedicate : DEVOTE
20. Lug : TOTE
21. Worked (up) : HET
22. They're just looking : EYERS - oh, those 'socket sets'
23. Cries for attention : "HEYS~!"
24. NFLer Ronnie for whom a defensive award is named : LOTT - the Wiki
25. Remote power source : AA CELL - almost got me thinking "distant", and not TV/DVR
27. Land overseas : TERRE - I had terrA to start; good enough for me
28. Univ. staff : FACulty - not TAs; made the SW very slow in solving
31. Prevent from going to seed : MOW
32. Organization level : ECHELON
34. Sam Samudio's spoken opening in "Wooly Bully" : UNO DOS - link away~!
36. Sea-dwelling Greek god : NEREUS - Poseidon didn't fit; neither did NEPTUNE, the Roman version
37. Most populous OPEC nation : NIGERIA - OK, I cheated - sort of....I went and found a list of OPEC nations, because I had ---ERIA; ALGeria would have worked, too, but only 23% the population
39. Ask to be excused, with "off" : BEG
40. It merged with Sprint in 1983 : GTE
41. Command before a click : SMILE - dah~! Stuck in computer, not camera mode
42. Treated for traction, in a way : SALTED - Did anyone else think of this traction~?
45. Cocktail party fare : PÂTÉ - ya know, I have always heard this word in jokes, on TV, etc., but never actually knew what it was
46. Securely : FAST - as in "the bolt held the door fast"; there's quite a few homographs for 'fast'
47. Overseas denials : NEINS - Ach~! German~!
51. Taxonomic suffix : OTA - what I found was that this guy is of the subclass "pterygota"
52. "The Secret of __": 1982 animated movie : NIMH - I remembered the name, but not the movie - IMDb trivia
53. "Working Class Hero" songwriter : LENNON
57. "Brighton Rock" author : GREENE - I was missing the first letter, and "G" seemed to make the most sense, but I did Google to check
58. Doing a lawn job : AERATING
59. Lamb treats : ESSAYS - oh, so crafty - Charles Lamb, not "KEBABS" as I first tried
60. Hoodwinks : MISLEADS
DOWN:
46. Securely : FAST - as in "the bolt held the door fast"; there's quite a few homographs for 'fast'
47. Overseas denials : NEINS - Ach~! German~!
51. Taxonomic suffix : OTA - what I found was that this guy is of the subclass "pterygota"
52. "The Secret of __": 1982 animated movie : NIMH - I remembered the name, but not the movie - IMDb trivia
53. "Working Class Hero" songwriter : LENNON
57. "Brighton Rock" author : GREENE - I was missing the first letter, and "G" seemed to make the most sense, but I did Google to check
58. Doing a lawn job : AERATING
59. Lamb treats : ESSAYS - oh, so crafty - Charles Lamb, not "KEBABS" as I first tried
60. Hoodwinks : MISLEADS
DOWN:
1. Garden aid : SPADE - I tried "STAKE" off the "S" in Star Trek
2. Second-longest-serving Chief Justice : TANEY - perps
3. Not out of the game : ALIVE
4. Suckerfish : REMORA
5*. Song featured in "Moonstruck" : THAT'S AMORE
6. Break for a certain wannabe : ROLE - ah. Crossing the "Sox" clue, this was way too vague for me; now I get it - an actor wannabe
7. Mariner cap insignia : ESS
9. Disables the alarm, say : ABETS - cute
10. Tip in Vegas : TOKE - seen this in crosswords before; not the 'toke' I grew up with
11. TV franchise since 2000 : CSI
12. Relay part : ANCHOR LEG
14. Acceptable form of back talk? : PAST TENSE - Har-har~!
18. His epitaph includes "knight" and "man of letters" : DOYLE - Sir Arthur Conan
23. Fell : HEW
24. Creepy look : LEER
26. Mozart title starter : COSI
27*. 1927 Buster Keaton film : THE GENERAL - totally not my generation - IMDb
29. Some film artists : ANIMATORS - q.v. 52a
30. Ponders : COGITATES
33. "For a life gone digital" news source : CNET
35. Editor's mark : DELE - or STET~? I can't tell with these crossings~!
38. "Same here" : "AS AM I"
39. Deli order : BLT
43. Hindu community : ASHRAM - dredged this one up from the depths
44. Represent : DENOTE
46. High winds : FIFES - ah, not like "zephyr", but high-pitched musical instruments
48. Bhopal locale : INDIA - well, the spelling should have clued me into a 'general' idea of where to find it
49. Continuously : NO END
50. Makes out, across the Pond : SNOGS - learned from "Harry Potter"
52. Part of a Fifth Ave. address : NY, NY - I'm here in LI, NY
53. A and P, e.g.: Abbr. : LTRS - More deceptive if it had been clued A & P - as in the mrkt
55. Apology opener : MEA - culpa
56. Dante's half-dozen : SEI - Italian "six"
Splynter
