Saturday, Sep 26th, 2015, Don Gagliardo

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 28

Don G returns for the last Saturday puzzle of the month for the second time in a row for the LATimes.  No theme this time, although we have three of four long answers that are food related.  One Natick, which I had to use red-letters to solve, but what can you do~? Likewise, there were a few 'meh' answers that made me grit my teeth, but it's Saturday, so I've come to expect them.  Threw caution to the wind on a few clues, and glad to see they were solid WAGs.  Two 12-letter spanners, and two 11-letter climbers;

19a. Telltale facial mark : MILK MUSTACHE

54a. Picnic piece : CORN ON THE COB

3d. It's often chosen from a map : AIRLINE SEAT

24d. Arbitrary experimentation variable : FUDGE FACTOR

"one of these things is not like the other...."

Donwar~!

ACROSS:

1. Go gaga over : STARE AT - you know what I go gaga over....

8. Put into motion : ACTUATE

15. Bride of Dionysus : ARIADNE - Once the "-NE" appeared, this dawned on me

16. "This can't wait!" : "DO IT NOW~!" - Reminds me of Ahhhnold in Predator

17. "Gilligan's Island" ingénue : MARY ANN - much more appealing to me than Ginger

18. How some things are written : IN STONE

21. The clink : STIR - meh.  Never heard this, but if you consider stir-crazy, then it fits

22. Field : LEA

23. Scolding : EARFUL

27. Japanese food item sold in sheets : NORI - oops, went with noKi first

29. Dept. head, e.g. : LDR - leader.  meh.

31. Selene's Roman counterpart : LUNA - I am pretty good with my mythology

32. El __ : GRECO

34. Barely make waves? : SKINNY-DIP - hand up for NOT having done this - yet

36. Some RPI grads : EEs - I attended one semester - Spitzboov stayed longer

37. Medium-dry sherry : OLOROSO - we've seen this in puzzles before - the Wiki

39. Political initials since 1884 : GOP

40. Wonder Girl or Kid Flash : TEEN TITAN - new to me; SIDEKICKS fit, too

42. Quiet spots : GLENS - I had NOOKS to start

44. Twin seen in a thesaurus? : ESAU - clever; th-esau-rus

45. Abs, pecs, delts, etc. : BOD - meh.  I get it, but....meh.

46. Place for a shoe : HOOF - horseshoe

47. Grit : METTLE

49. First bk. of the Latter Prophets : ISA

51. 1988 N.L. Rookie of the Year Chris : SABO - the "B" was my only blank; and with the next clue, DonG is making up for the lack of baseball from C.C. last week

57. Situation after the first out, in baseball lingo : ONE AWAY

60. John or Paul : APOSTLE - solid WAG

61. Astronomical measures : PARSECS - parallax second; the Wiki

62. Knee-slapping : RIOTOUS

63. Original McDonald's mascot : SPEEDEE

64. Stand behind : ENDORSE

DOWN:

1. "Dynasty" actress Emma : SAMMS - it took a moment to remember her

2. Character-building unit? : TRAIT

4. '70s-'80s San Diego Padres owner : RAY KROC - more McDonald's - his Wiki

5. Red-coated wheel : EDAM - cheese

6. Trees' age indicators : ANNULI - because RIINGS didn't work; today is my brother's B-day; he has 42 rings now

7. Strained : TENSE

8. Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA

9. Companies : CONCERNS - think late 1800's

10. "My Wife & Kids" co-star __ Campbell-Martin : TISHA - mostly perps

11. Completely : UTTERLY

12. Year abroad : ANO

13. Lot : TON

14. Common rebus pronoun : EWE

20. You won't hear any hits on it : TALK RADIO

25. Dues collector : UNION - UPS is trying to collect back dues from me - not my fault

26. People now known as Sami : LAPPS - WAG

28. Square __ : ROOT - I had KNOT first

30. "Falling Into You" Grammy winner : DION - Celine - not my thing

32. "Chase those guys!" : GET 'EM

33. Piece maker? : REESE - Reese's Pieces

34. __ speak : SO TO

35. Canceled : NO-GO - think NASA and the Apollo missions

38. Ring-wearing pianist : LIBERACE

41. Colorful helmet brand : NUTCASE - clever name; their web page

43. Is blitzed by : LOSES TO

46. Millinery accessory : HAT PIN

48. Called from a field : LOWED

50. Drum kit item : SNARE

52. Big pill : BOLUS - never heard of it; the definition is "a round mass of medicinal material, larger than an ordinary pill"

53. Like one contemplating bariatric surgery : OBESE

55. Where KO means Coca-Cola : NYSE - nailed it

56. Place for an ornament : HOOD - reminds me of a vulgar joke - email me if you care to hear it

57. Short missions? : OPs

58. Power __ : NAP - I take a power nap from about 11am - 1pm everyday between UPS and the restaurant work

59. "Take heed, __ summer comes ... ": Shak. : ERE

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Dennis, who was often the first to post on the blog before he moved to Florida.  I have fond memories of talking to him frequently about baseball cards (He has a Bowman Mickey Mantle 51), American slang and various blog comments. Rich's acceptance of the puzzle I made with Dennis is one of the highlights of my puzzle career. How's everything, Dennis?