Theme: "Rough Diehl"
Words: 66 (missing J,K,Q,W,Z)
Blocks: 22
Phew~!
I solved it. Did not look good. Admit to one "post-fill Google", and
two red-letter cheats. Ran over my personal allotted time in less than
two minutes. I am calling this one a win. The fateful double whammy of
chunky corners tied into two double stacks of 15-letter spanners, and
this one was going to be a total blank, or at best a slog, as far as I
could tell - and the only reason I was able to get through this brutally brilliant construction was due to the fact that I had a streak of proper names that I knew were definitively correct; I put "*"s
next to those clues. The lowest block count I have ever seen in a
15x15 grid, with 26 being the next closest; add to that the fact that in
my opinion, there was no 'meh' fill, and I have to admire this one from
Mr. Diehl. The four spanners, and the bonus 13-letter central climber;
15. Loaded : AS RICH AS CROESUS - my Google; I had the name part via crossings, and I checked to see if there was a "financial" connection to this person - the Wiki
17. Side dish in a sauce : CREAMED POTATOES - my small family decided on ordering Thankgiving dinner, and we got creamed potatoes instead of mashed - I liked them, but mom and bro did not
17. Side dish in a sauce : CREAMED POTATOES - my small family decided on ordering Thankgiving dinner, and we got creamed potatoes instead of mashed - I liked them, but mom and bro did not
50. Cub, for one : NATIONAL LEAGUER - and World Series winner after 108 years
53. Saint-Exupéry classic : THE LITTLE PRINCE - asteroids are involved - the Wiki
53. Saint-Exupéry classic : THE LITTLE PRINCE - asteroids are involved - the Wiki
16. Sushi bar selection : SPICY TUNA ROLL - not a fan of uncooked fish, but I am familiar with the selections being some type of "roll", which helped
ACROSS:
1. Renewable fuel source : BIOMASS
8. Licorice-flavored liqueur : SAMBUCA - I had "FIRST DOG" for 8d., which made this hard to see, but I am rather "familiar" with this cordial
18. Rashness : HASTE
19. Came across by chance : LIT ON - I had HIT ON
20. Sch. that moved from the Mountain West Conf. to the Big 12 in 2012 : TCU - all perps
21. Prefix with analysis : META - meta-analysis, but in this case, a hyphenated prefix
22. Odd page, normally : RECTO - nailed it; I also know what the frontispiece is
23. Critter with tusks : BOAR
24. Barley wine, e.g. : ALE - argh~! How did I not get this~!? I had no clue
25. First child of Henry VIII to survive to adulthood : MARY I
26. Rummy : SOUSE - the second definition of the word is "drunkard"
27. Leaf producer : NISSAN - oh so clever misdirection; the ECO-friendly car
29. Like stucco : TEXTURED
31. Lavish supply : PROFUSION
33*. Gateway Arch designer : SAARINEN
36*. Author Huxley : ALDOUS
40*. "The Empire Strikes Back" director Kershner : IRVIN - seen here to the right of Geroge Lucas on the "Dagobah" set
41*. "Tell It to My Heart" singer Taylor __ : DAYNE
43. One abroad : UNE - oh, the number one, missed the misdirection
44. Béchamel base : LAIT - Frawnche for milk
45. Easing of govt. control : DEREGulation
46. Bingo call : B TEN - oops, I tried "TWO B" and "B TWO" first
47. Nature-nurturing org. : EPA
48. State of Österreich : TIROL
49. California's __ Bay : MORRO - perps, and a Natick with Marv at 59d.
54. Caustic solution : SODA LYE
55. Sells off : DIVESTS
DOWN:
1*. King pen name : BACHMAN - this is the name that appears on the novel "Thinner", the first one I ever read from "him"
2. Beersheba native : ISRAELI
3. Euripides tragedy : ORESTES
4. Japanese two-seater : MIATA - another car
5. Top : ACME
6. Miss : SHE - Dah~! I had "ERR", that kind of "miss"
7. British potter James known for Brown Betty teapots : SADLER
8. FDR's Fala et al. : SCOTTIES - not FIRST DOG; took a while to realize we needed a breed here
9. Film beeper, familiarly : ARTOO - Detoo, R2-D2, also a part of the Empire Strikes Back - and other films....
10. Complaint : MOAN
11. Jump in the pool? : BET - my poker game moved up one day this week
12. Bob Hope venue : USO TOUR - I figured it was "USO-", but 'venue' threw me
13. Mark of a shark : CUE CASE - a hustler, a pool hall billiards shark; I have two cases myself
14. Guaranteed : ASSURED
22. Didn't stop talking : RAN ON
23. Destined : BOUND - I suppose I was destined to finally find a new vehicle - here I am at the restaurant with my new old Dodge Caravan
25. Muir Woods' county : MARIN
26. It's a wrap : STOLE
28. Sail-extending pole : SPRIT
30. Yangtze tributary : XIANG
32. Form a political union : FEDERATE
33. Solo pianists often provided music for them : SILENTS - my new old Dodge Caravan came with a cassette player, and I have been listening to myself and friends who've made and sent me audio tapes, and this piece was on one of them;
34. Cheyenne allies : ARAPAHO - half filled via perps
35. Worked with props? : AVIATED - har-har~!
37. Beats to the finish line : OUTRUNS
38. Stoop-shouldered, say : UNERECT - OK, a little "meh"
39. Many in España : SEÑORES
42. Raised the roof : YELLED
45*. __ Moore: Hormel brand : DINTY
46*. '30s-'50s filmdom nickname : BOGIE - Humphrey Bogart - and featured in the song Key Largo, a song that got a lot of "muzak" air time, and I did not know who the singer was
49. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Levy : MARV
51. Waterfront gp. : ILA - International Longshoreman Assoc.
52. Prefix with Pen : EPI
8. Licorice-flavored liqueur : SAMBUCA - I had "FIRST DOG" for 8d., which made this hard to see, but I am rather "familiar" with this cordial
18. Rashness : HASTE
19. Came across by chance : LIT ON - I had HIT ON
20. Sch. that moved from the Mountain West Conf. to the Big 12 in 2012 : TCU - all perps
21. Prefix with analysis : META - meta-analysis, but in this case, a hyphenated prefix
22. Odd page, normally : RECTO - nailed it; I also know what the frontispiece is
23. Critter with tusks : BOAR
25. First child of Henry VIII to survive to adulthood : MARY I
26. Rummy : SOUSE - the second definition of the word is "drunkard"
27. Leaf producer : NISSAN - oh so clever misdirection; the ECO-friendly car
and a romper image, too~!
29. Like stucco : TEXTURED
31. Lavish supply : PROFUSION
33*. Gateway Arch designer : SAARINEN
36*. Author Huxley : ALDOUS
40*. "The Empire Strikes Back" director Kershner : IRVIN - seen here to the right of Geroge Lucas on the "Dagobah" set
41*. "Tell It to My Heart" singer Taylor __ : DAYNE
43. One abroad : UNE - oh, the number one, missed the misdirection
44. Béchamel base : LAIT - Frawnche for milk
45. Easing of govt. control : DEREGulation
46. Bingo call : B TEN - oops, I tried "TWO B" and "B TWO" first
47. Nature-nurturing org. : EPA
48. State of Österreich : TIROL
49. California's __ Bay : MORRO - perps, and a Natick with Marv at 59d.
54. Caustic solution : SODA LYE
55. Sells off : DIVESTS
DOWN:
1*. King pen name : BACHMAN - this is the name that appears on the novel "Thinner", the first one I ever read from "him"
2. Beersheba native : ISRAELI
3. Euripides tragedy : ORESTES
4. Japanese two-seater : MIATA - another car
5. Top : ACME
6. Miss : SHE - Dah~! I had "ERR", that kind of "miss"
I won't miss this kind of miss
8. FDR's Fala et al. : SCOTTIES - not FIRST DOG; took a while to realize we needed a breed here
9. Film beeper, familiarly : ARTOO - Detoo, R2-D2, also a part of the Empire Strikes Back - and other films....
10. Complaint : MOAN
11. Jump in the pool? : BET - my poker game moved up one day this week
12. Bob Hope venue : USO TOUR - I figured it was "USO-", but 'venue' threw me
13. Mark of a shark : CUE CASE - a hustler, a pool hall billiards shark; I have two cases myself
14. Guaranteed : ASSURED
22. Didn't stop talking : RAN ON
23. Destined : BOUND - I suppose I was destined to finally find a new vehicle - here I am at the restaurant with my new old Dodge Caravan
26. It's a wrap : STOLE
28. Sail-extending pole : SPRIT
30. Yangtze tributary : XIANG
32. Form a political union : FEDERATE
33. Solo pianists often provided music for them : SILENTS - my new old Dodge Caravan came with a cassette player, and I have been listening to myself and friends who've made and sent me audio tapes, and this piece was on one of them;
the dexterity really starts at the 5:00 mark
35. Worked with props? : AVIATED - har-har~!
37. Beats to the finish line : OUTRUNS
38. Stoop-shouldered, say : UNERECT - OK, a little "meh"
39. Many in España : SEÑORES
42. Raised the roof : YELLED
45*. __ Moore: Hormel brand : DINTY
46*. '30s-'50s filmdom nickname : BOGIE - Humphrey Bogart - and featured in the song Key Largo, a song that got a lot of "muzak" air time, and I did not know who the singer was
oh, so tacky
48. Hard labor : TOIL49. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Levy : MARV
51. Waterfront gp. : ILA - International Longshoreman Assoc.
52. Prefix with Pen : EPI
Splynter
Notes from C.C.:
1) Cool picture, Splynter, Nice to see you again.
2) Here are a couple great photos from Lemonade's Asheville Family Vacation. You can see more here.
3) Here is Jayce's Yam/Apple recipe. I already tried last night. I used two medium-sized Asian sweet potatoes like below. Very dense & sweet. One big Honeycrisp & one medium Fuji. Coconut butter instead of regular button. It was fantastic. The kitchen smelled amazing.
Notes from C.C.:
1) Cool picture, Splynter, Nice to see you again.
2) Here are a couple great photos from Lemonade's Asheville Family Vacation. You can see more here.
3) Here is Jayce's Yam/Apple recipe. I already tried last night. I used two medium-sized Asian sweet potatoes like below. Very dense & sweet. One big Honeycrisp & one medium Fuji. Coconut butter instead of regular button. It was fantastic. The kitchen smelled amazing.
