Saturday, Apr 18th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

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

Blocks: 27

  I have to say, I was much in the mood for a Silkie today, having been roughed up over the past few weeks.  Really looking forward to finishing without a cheat, but alas, it was not to be - again.  Had just one, a proper name, but it cleared up the otherwise locked-up, poorly WAGed NW corner.  There's always next Saturday....Bit of a change in our usual grid, having triple 7-letter stacks in the down to start, and the longer, triple 9-letter acrosses over to the right.  Always seems "easier" when the first clue is not a huge span of white.  Some 8-letter circumferential fills in the center, too;

29a. Citizens Bank Park team : PHILLIES - I had the --LIES, and that was enough, considering I am not a big baseball fan.  I was over my buddy Mike's house last night, and he tuned into the Yankee game; sorry, C.C., it just doesn't hold my attention....  :7(  The NY Rangers of hockey are up 1-0 in their series against another Pennsylvania team, the hated Penguins; the Islanders are tied 1-1 with the Washington Capitals.  I plan to play hockey this coming week; the head feels better

37a. Youthful nickname for the 1950 29-Across : WHIZ KIDS - before my time

ACROSS:

1. Chaps : LADS - I sensed this was a 'male buddy' clue, not the leather pants type; went with GUYS, as I was trying some GUN fills for 1d.

5. Measure up : PASS MUSTER

15. "My Country" author : EBAN - dah~!  dah~!! DAH~!!!  Had to look this up; should have rung a bell, it's been a standard crossword clue for some time

16. Busy, in a way : ON THE PHONE - but you don't get a "busy" signal much these days

17. Stellar phenomenon : NOVA

18. Wheel of Fortune and others : TAROT CARDS - I was going to put this in, and thought, no, it's a TV game show thing.  Dang~!  I own a deck of tarot cards; keep them wrapped in silk ( hi, there, constructor~! ) per the book I bought on how to maintain and read the cards

19. Error : SLIP - had FLUB.  That's an error.

20. Oil sources : OLIVES - had O----ES,  so it was not "SHALES"

21. Airport NW of PIT : CLEveland

22. 1975-'76 World Series champs, on scoreboards : CINcinnati; I lived there from '97 to 2000; worked on my first movie set there - as for the baseball team, I recall the Big Red Machine, and I went and looked for my old baseball sticker album - I hope I can redeem myself, C.C.

23. Called, nowadays : SKYPED - my other buddy Mike regularly Skypes with China as he continues to do well with his game company; I present my game to him tonight when we get together for a long overdue bonfire

24. Not abundant : THIN - (sigh) like my hair

25. Recording acronym : ASCAP

27. Piece of Plymouth pizza? : ZED - P-I-Zed-Zed-A

28. Former National Security Advisor Scowcroft : BRENT - I WAGed tRENT

31. Picks up : RAISES

32. Alley group : PINS - Bowling

33. Barber's supply : TALC - Nailed it, but that's not saying much

34. Emotional : MOVING

41. Opposite of après : AVANT - Frawnche after and before

42. Monopoly item : DIE - not HAT; I always played the wheelbarrow, so I had something to carry my "cash" around

43. '30s-'40s Kildare portrayer : AYRES

44. Canada goose relative : NENE
 

45. Kind of acid in red wine : TANNIC - Ha~! I knew this one

47. Canadian sign letters : KPH - Kilometres/hour

48. Indian address : SRI

49. Cleaned up : DUSTED

50. Symbolic dance : HULA - or HORA~? I guessed wrong

51. Jackson 5 song covered by Mariah Carey : "I'LL BE THERE"

53. Sch. whose mascot is Paydirt Pete : UTEP - got this one, too - I can remember some past clues

54. Canadian asset : OIL RESERVE

55. Town near Padua : ESTE

56. Some lucky breaks : NEAR MISSES

57. Slate, briefly : SKED - quick way to schedule

DOWN:   

1. Shooter's protection : LENS CAP - got me; not thinking photography

2. Wipe out : ABOLISH

3. Fictional code name : Da VINCI - I liked the book and the movie

4. Piece of cake : SNAP - Dah~!  SLAB worked with my FLUB

5. "The Chosen" author : POTOK - I knew this one, too, because my friend Ibby gave me the book

6. Breaks down : ANALYZES

7. Road markings : STRIPES - I noticed yesterday that one of the local roads had fresh stripes painted - you'd think the potholes would have been the priority....

8. Left, with "off" : SHOVED

9. Doled (out) : METED

10. Bar IDs : UPCs

11. Oldies syllable : SHA

12. Flashlights, across the pond : TORCHES - parents are English, knew this

13. Court boundary : END LINE

14. Is in high dudgeon : RESENTS - this is the "#1 killer" of AA members; I harbor some resentments, still, even after a decade

23. Support piece : SPLINT - almost a gratuitous self shout-out

24. Requiring delicate handling : TRICKY

26. Skiing category : ALPINE

28. "The Human Comedy" author : BALZAC - the Wiki

30. Big initials in banking : ING - my IRA started out in ING; it's now Capital One 360

31. Italian counterpart of the BBC : RAI

33. Offended outburst : "THE NERVE~!"

34. Kennedy Compound component : MANSION

35. Blanket : OVERLIE

36. Plain-__ : VANILLA

37. Mearth portrayer in "Mork & Mindy" : WINTERS

38. Siberian metropolis : IRKUTSK - got it because I played a lot of RISK when I was a kid

39. Exhaust : DEPLETE

40. Like some curves : S-SHAPED - nice fill

42. Causes for pauses : DASHES

45. Rwandan ethnic group : TUTSI - all perps

46. Inventeur's notes : IDEES - more Frawnche; ideas

49. Judge : DEEM

50. Shades : HUES - I read your warning, Argyle, but couldn't resist; thankfully, HEartRx did not actually post a "hosiery" pic; I was going to go with a hunky guy for the ladies this week, but I have to make up for Thursday's 'tragedy'

52. Hardly a warm reaction : Brr - I officially put my gloves, car window scraper and winter coats away for the season

Splynter