Words: 72 (missing Q,U,Z)
Blocks: 31
What,
no baseball~!?? How can this be a puzzle from our blog founder and
host without ANY reference to baseball~? I am concerned. Wait; what,
no "U"~? - there is no "I" in TEAM, but there is a "ME" - what about
"U"~? None here. C.C.'s last Saturday puzzle was in May this year, and
upon reviewing that grid, found I had the same result then as I did
today - a few too many 'fun sponge' proper names (*; I count 12, not including place names and brand names) to make this enjoyable, even though I did finish within my personal
time - and yes, with one Google, and red-letter help on two entries. Oh
well. Two 12-letter spanners, that may be related, but I will leave
that up to you to decide;
44. 1994 Ben Stiller comedy : REALITY BITES
Dr. No Wa~!
ACROSS:
1*. 2003 documentary set in the Philippines : IMELDA - starting off with a vague clue, and a proper name to boot
7*. Emulates Cassandra : PREDICTS - no clue, but I had -ICTS, and so I WAGed it. We're talking about this Cassandra, not this Cassandra; she's up next month
Elvira ( Cassandra Peterson )
15. Studio technicians : MIXERS - music studio
16. '70s "SNL" parody : BABA WAWA - Barbara Walters parody from Gilda Radner
17. In-demand groups : A-LISTS
18. Late order? : STEP ON IT
19. Trading ctrs. : MKTS
20. Reserved : TAKEN
22*. Tenor Carreras : JOSÉ
23*. Name meaning "young warrior" in Old Norse : SVEN - Dah~! Not ODIN
25. Finished : DID - like, say I "finished" my homework
26. Money maker : MINT - straight up
30. Coll. supervisors : RAs
31. Misses at the hoedown : GALS - misses as in ladies, not stray gun shots
32. Saws : ADAGES
36. Dossier shorthand : A.K.A. - Also Known As
37. Bass, e.g. : ALE
38. Magic, on scoreboards : ORLando - we did get some basketball, but....
39. Meal opener : OAT - oatmeal, took way to long to dawn on me
40. Plagues : BESETS
42*. Artist who wrote "Diary of a Genius" : DALI - the image associated with the actual book has a theme that is probably inappropriate for this forum; I personally like surrealism
Galatea
of the Spheres
43. "__ seen worse" : I'VE
47. Corrosive fluids : LYES
49. Kyrgyzstan province : OSH
51*. Pianist Templeton : ALEC
52. Mucho : LOTSA
54. Toronado, for one : OLDS - there's a picture like this hanging in my auto parts store
58. Let slide : IGNORE
60. Adds to the database, redundantly : ENTERS IN
61. Key of Beethoven's Ninth : D MINOR - so I did the usual, - M - - OR
62. Nerve condition? : COLD FEET
63. Take : ACCEPT
DOWN:
1*. Saudi Arabia's Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, for one : IMAM - dah~! Not EMIR
2. Parlor cooler : MILKSHAKE
3. Permits to leave : EXIT VISAS - 'DISMISSES' was not working, since I felt "CHINESE" was correct. Turned out to be the noun, not the verb, in this case
4. Taper off : LESSEN
5*. 2000 Richard Gere role : DR T.
6. Little help? : ASST - har-har, abbr assistant
7. "Curious George" media brand : PBS KIDS - my Google; I did not know George had 'sold out' for the money. I recall reading his book that showed how to make a paper boat;
9*. "Proof of Heaven" author Alexander : EBEN
10. Fist bump : DAP - huh~?? The urban dictionary definition - I only know this DAP
11. Battle site commemorated on a 3-cent stamp : IWO JIMA - I am so proud of myself - I WAGed this off the "A" only
12. Vixia camcorder maker : CANON
13. Plot thickener : TWIST
14. Fill up : SATE
21*. "Skyfall" singer : ADELE - Gratuitous James Bond Daniel Craig image
24. Cancels out : NEGATES
26. Improvisational game : MAD LIBS - played it as a kid; "34a." led to the name per Wiki
27. __ cake : CRAB
28. Hot stuff : SALSA
29. Like some retirements : EARLY
33. Solo : GO IT ALONE - GuITAr jam was looking like a possibility, but I was gritting my teeth
34. Show unwelcome interest : EAVESDROP
35. Notre Dame figs. : STEs
38. Courtroom procedures : OATHS
41. Put up : ERECTED
42. Cold : DISTANT
45. Canadian dollar coin : LOONIE - we've seen this before; the loon featured on the face
47. Peruvian prairie : LLANO
48*. Tovah Feldshuh Broadway role : YENTL - I knew this actress from her days as a defense lawyer on Law & Order
51. "Wait __!" : A SEC
52. Use a beam on : LASE
53*. Radamès' love : AIDA - not sure if we were looking for the person, or the synonym
55*. Rockefeller Center muralist : SERT
59. Safari maker : GMC - I had the "M", so that left me very few choices; we shot the downtown bus chase scene at the 48hr film festival from a GMC Safari; I was 'rocket-launcher guy'