google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Advertisements

Apr 9, 2016

Saturday, Apr 9th, 2016, Ed Sessa

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing G,K,Q,X)

Blocks: 30

  Normally it's hit or miss for me with Ed Sessa's puzzles, but today I couldn't enter the answers fast enough.  I just happened to be in a WAGing mood, and threw in what I thought was the most logical solution, and quite a few were good.  No Google, no red letter, and got my ta-DA~! in less than half my personal allotted time.  Triple 10-letter Downs, and nearly triple 10's in the Across, and another pair of 11-letter climbers towards the center;

5. Catkin bearer : PUSSY WILLOW - the Wiki

I found this, too

25. Went ballistic : LOST CONTROL


 o o o o o O O O ONNN WA A A aa aa rr dd d  d   d  ~ ~ !!

ACROSS:

1. Heart : CORE - A Wild-Ass Guess ( tho educated ) to start; all my other W.A.G.s are "*", whether they were good or bad

5*. JFK Library architect : PEI


8. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer : J.S. BACH - I knew this, but failed to consider the "J.S." part

14. "C'mon, be __!" : A PAL

15. In abundance, in slang : UP THE WAZOO

17. Data lead-in : META

18. Flowerlike marine creature : SEA ANEMONE

19*. Latin 101 word : ERAT - ah, not AMAS

20*. Bear's call : SELL - stock market reference

21*. Worked on the road : PAVED

22*. Nowadays : LATELY - I went with "AS LATE"

24. Mine yield : SALT - rather specific

26*. Tails : SHADOWS - dah~! Not FOLLOWS

28*. Most lemony : SOUREST - dah~! Not TARTEST

33. Word with air or bed : HOT - I could only think of BUG and PAN, and neither worked with air

34. Ammo for Moe : PIES - Three Stooges reference

36. Peloponnesian War side : SPARTA - about the only WAG I did not throw in; the Wiki

37. One on a lot : AUTO

39. Didn't reach logically, with "to" : LEAPT

41. "Downton Abbey" title : EARL - a gimme for those commenters that watch

42*. "City of the Beasts" author Allende : ISABEL - a semi-WAG since I had "I--B-L"

44. Dissenting group : SECT

46. Tommy Pickles' younger brother on "Rugrats" : DIL - shows up often in crosswords, and I can never recall the name right away

47. Vitamin A form : RETINOL

49. Infect with the T-virus, in "Resident Evil" films : ZOMBIFY

51. Things that come in pairs : TWOS - like these~!


53*. Melody and Millie, to Minnie Mouse : NIECES

54*. Earth pigment : OCHRE

58. Jargon : CANT - new to me; straight definition (3) - here

60*. Wood strip : LATH - a WAG only because I thought SLAT might work, too

61. Focus of 1972 environmental legislation : CLEAN WATER

63. Stub __ : A TOE

64. "Yikes!" : "HOLY TOLEDO~!"


Die Hard with a Vengeance

65. No more than : MERE - ooops, went with LEST

66*. Bad temper : SPLEEN - I tried RANCOR

67. High-speed letters : DSL - internet service

68. Ain't right? : ISN'T - the correct pronunciation/spelling

DOWN:

1. Clothing material for John the Baptist : CAMEL'S HAIR

Heavy Metal Camel

2. Marx Brothers setting : OPERA HOUSE

3. Rapping sound : RAT-A-TAT-TAT - I wasn't sure of the spelling this time

4. Carried away : ELATED

6. Near-pointless swordplay? : ÉPÉE - fencing weapon

7. Romans and countrymen: Abbr. : ITALianS

8. Brad's ex : JEN - Pitt and Aniston

9. Suddenly involved (in) : SWEPT UP

10. 2016 College Football Playoff champ : 'BAMA - don't watch, don't follow, but this is a common abbreviation in crosswords

11. Sea of __, south of Ukraine : AZOV - dah~! Not KIEV; my green-eyed friend lives in a town w-a-y north and east of Moscow; we've been sharing emails for three weeks now; she's 1372 miles from this sea; it is one vast country....













12. Ice cream parlor purchase : CONE

13. Worked in a bed : HOED - oh, uh, a garden bed, I knew that....

16. Immortal Bears coach : HALAS - filled in via perps

23. Prune : LOP

27. Get it : SEE - ah.  "Now I get it (see)."

29. Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE - and a semi duplicate at; 57D. Comical Martha : RAYE

30. Uproots : ERADICATES - I think of 'uproots' as having to move abruptly; I don't necessarily think it means to utterly eliminate

31. In a state of endless conflict : STRIFE-TORN

32. You can count on it : TALLY SHEET

35*. Flier to Sundsvall : SAS - seen this Scandinavian airline enough to guess

38. Eastern sash : OBI - sort of too easy for Saturday

40. Loadable confections : PEZ


43. International accord : ENTENTE - I had DEtente

45. "More than I care to know" : TMI - textspeak for Too Much Information

48. Subway option : LOCAL - vis-à-vis express; I pondered TOKEN, but 'local' made more sense

50. Guy de Maupassant novel : BELAMI - again, filled via perps

52. Stuffed : SATED

54. "Draft Dodger Rag" folk singer : OCHS

55. Western sound effect : CLOP - my soon to be "eradicated" marriage featured my ex-wife's son clopping two coconut halves together, as I rode in on an imaginary Monty Python horse

I am about 60lbs lighter today

56. Inferno : HELL

59. "__ Declassified School Survival Guide": 2000s Nickelodeon sitcom : NED'S - never heard of this show; crossing "Jargon" at 58A., the "N" was a complete unknown/natick

62. Persuaded, with "over" : WON

Splynter