Saturday, Jul 11th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 26

Dammit~!  I can't remember the last time I solved a Saturday puzzle without red-letters, and it's starting to annoy me.  I got stumped in the NE corner this time, with bad fills on my part.  Ugh - oh well.   I was really looking forward to finishing this Silkie unassisted - it did have some great fills.  Triple 10-letter corners, with triple 7-letter corners in the down paired to a pair of 11-letter climbers;

24. Cutting, as a thick steak : SLICING INTO

11. Dynamic : HIGH VOLTAGE

onweirrrrrrd....

ACROSS:

1. Band conductor? : COPPER WIRE - I got it, but it's not Mr. Silk's most wittiest; since most electric guitar, mic cables, etc., are copper wire....

11. Burlap source : HEMP

15. Kindle owner, often : AVID READER

16. Logical introduction : IDEO - ideological

17. Shipped out : SENT ABROAD

18. Beaufort scale word : GALE - here's my first cheat; I Googled the scale; could have been "CALM" as well, with 50% still correct

19. Half of sei : TRE

20. Briefly, with "in" : SUM - "in sum"

21. Drying convenience : BATH MAT - ah.  All I could think of was "towel rack"

23. Proposal figs. : ESTs

25. Head makeup : SUDS - Beer heads, that is

27. Grand Prince of Moscow, 1328-1340 : IVAN I - I tried "PETR I", figuring it would be Russian and Latin combined

28. Sphere : REALM - ah, not ARENA

30. Harpo Marx or Carrot Top : PROP COMIC - was pondering something about red-heads

32. Soap, e.g. : SERIAL - the TV soaps, that is

34. Cen. parts : YRs - centuries and years

35. River through Yakutsk : LENA - perps

36. Eye-catching link designed to generate ad revenue : CLICK BAIT

39. Sith foe : JEDI - Star Wars

42. Thanksgiving follower: Abbr. : FRI - true; it is always followed by Friday, and a Black one at that

43. Rogues : SCAMPS

47. "Beats me" : I CAN'T TELL

50. The same, in Sauternes : EGALE - our weekly dose of Frawnche

51. "In the Summertime" rock group __ Jerry : MUNGO

52. Biol. branch : ANATomy

54. Company name based on a passage from Hosea : EL AL - learning moment; Saturday cluing for "Israel airline" - Wiki says it's Hebrew for "To the Skies"

55. Most suggestive : RACIEST

57. 21st Greek letter : PHI - yeah.  I had to wait on perps

59. "Rugrats" infant : DIL - OK, cheated here, too; didn't know the last letter

60. God in both Eddas : ODIN

61. Doesn't wait one's turn : CUTS IN LINE - gives me a chance to link this Paul Simon song, third verse

The Afterlife - "no one here likes a sneak"

64. __-Tremblant, Quebec : MONT - Frawnche, deux

65. Unauthorized underground city explorer : URBAN CAVER - there was a Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode that opened with a young man into something similar

66. "And so ..." : ERGO

67. Deli counter customers, as a rule : MEAT EATERS

DOWN:   

1. Moving aids : CASTERS - I stripped off the casters of an old BBQ last week to mount them on a refrigerator at one of the restaurants.  Also building a new 'side stand' for water and a computer terminal - I hope to get done before vacation next week; off to Delaware to scout out UPS, the tech school, and apartments - my friend Mike is officially a Delawarian.

2. Supervise : OVERSEE - too bad the supervisor at my UPS is a micro-managing moron; maybe they're better in Dover (actually, Harrington - hey, Bluehen, where are the other terminals~?)

3. Subject of a 1983 incident in which a George Brett homer was originally nullified : PINE TAR - ah yes, I recall this incident, and Brett thundering out of the dugout

4. L.A. summer setting : PDT

5. Big times : ERAs

6. "Concentration" feature : REBUS

7. Throw in a pen : WARM UP - ah, more baseball

8. ''Yes'' : I DO - [sigh] some day

9. Take in again : REABSORB

10. Mother of the Valkyries : ERDA

12. Sushi bar appetizer : EDAMAME

13. Albino's lack : MELANIN - argh~!  Not PIGMENT

14. Horace's "Ars __" : POETICA - all I could think of was 'ars gratia artis'

22. Mannerism : TIC

26. Lumber processing equipment : DRY KILN - meh.  dryING kiln works better for me

29. __ du pays: homesickness : MAL - trois Frawnche

31. Free spots, briefly : PSAs

33. Pick up : LIFT

37. Animal : CREATURE

38. It may be shaved : ICE - Run away, Tin~!

39. CBS Sports Radio host : JIM ROME - his show was called "Jim Rome is Burning" - har-har

40. Gran Colombia successor state : ECUADOR - half perps

41. Like the queen in a 1977 #1 hit : DANCING - ABBA

44. __ Islands: former name of an Indian Ocean republic : MALDIVE

45. Less pretentious : PLAINER

46. Bears, often : SELLERS - Stock Exchange lingo

48. Nail holder : TOE

49. Washes against : LAPS AT

53. Biblical possessive : THINE

56. Pond problem : SCUM

58. Pachacuti, for one : INCA - perps; didn't see this until I was working on the write-up

62. TV Guide abbr. : TBA

63. Small muscle? : LAT - dah! Not PEC

One for the ladies

Self portrait ( NOT~!!)

Splynter