Saturday, Feb 11th, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,V,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

   First things first - I wanted to say thank you for all the Birthday comments on Thursday - I had the time to review them because I was buried under 8" of snow - I always get snow on my Birthday~! And I have an answer to a question from one of the comments at 5d today.  Anyway, on to today's puzzle - another from our gracious host, C.C., and for the second week in a row, a pretty easy one for me.  I did not get my "ta-DA~!" because of one crossing, but I found it without having to cheat.  Odd looking grid with two black corners, leaving us with triple 10s in the Across, and almost triple 9s in the Down;

 1. Bar line : "WHAT'S ON TAP~?" - because "What's your sign~?" didn't fit

12. Poker telecast equipment : POCKET CAM - none of these at our table 

32. They're high on the Scoville scale : HABANEROS - nailed it.  The pungency 'hotness' scale of chilis

63. "That'll never work!" : "ROTTEN IDEA~!"

oh, it'll work alright....

lONleyWARD~

ACROSS:

11. They're sometimes black : OPerationS

14. Question at an alumni gathering : "REMEMBER ME~?"

15. Word with leg or elbow : ROOM - planes and trains

17. "Looking at all sides ... " : "IN FAIRNESS..."

18. Real estate unit : ACRE

19. Tijuana addr. : SRA

20. Nada : Nogales :: __ : Reims : RIEN - some alliteration, too

21. Phone user : TALKER - oops, not CALLer

23. County in Ulster : TYRONE

in the middle of the yellow

25. Some broken pegs, or where they're found : TEES - clever; I had no clue to start with

27. Multi-purpose shortening : ETC.

28. Cooler tenant : CON - cooler as in jail, the clink, ETC. - although ICE was a good thought; straight clecho with 31. Cooler tenant : THIEF

29. Crew tools : OARS - got it

30. 4-Down in France : THE - circumreferential with; 4. 30-Across in America : TEA

34. Pot addition : ANTE - two weeks in a row I'm in the black at the poker table~! I pulled four 6's in one hand - and nothing wild

35. Patriot target : SCUD

36. Went berserk : HAD A FIT - oops, I filled in HAD AT IT

38. Sushi bar appetizer : EDAMAME

40. "... crafty seer, with __ wand": Pope : EBON

41. "__ Yankees" : DAMN - such language~!

43. Feet in a meter? : IAMBS - I tried BEATS

44. Title of respect, in Tokyo : SAN - ah, yes, Daniel-san

45. Bug zappers? : SERA - the stomach and flu kind of bugs

46. Ed. basics : RRR - the three "R"s; reading, (w)riting, 'rithmetic

47. "Major Crimes" network : TNT

48. Green Smoke product : eCIG - I think I'll get one with the money from my B-day; the new car stinks of cigar with the windows closed in the winter

49. Misbehaves : ACTS UP

53. Take back : RECALL - here's my mistake; I had recaNT, which messed up my SW

55. Mark for good : ETCH

57. Old televangelism letters : PTL

58. Second-largest Middle East country : IRAN - behind Saudi Arabia, but I was surprised to see Yemen at #3 - I guess Turkey is not considered part of the area

59. Wipe out : ANNIHILATE

62. Scrapple ingredient : PORK

64. Waves home : SEA - and another pure clecho with; 24. Waves home : OCEAN

65. Cell notice : EMAIL ALERT - my first thought, but I hesitated

DOWN:

1. Slap spot : WRIST

2. Edsel's father : HENRY - Ford Motor Company men

3. "Making AIDS History" org. : amfAR - american foundation for AIDS Research

5. Brand in many a Moscow mule : SMIRNOFF - I got it, but I didn't know why - turns out, it's a drink
Hey - Wilber Charles, that's "Sloth", from Bill W., St 6, 12 & 12~!

6. "The Barefoot Contessa" Oscar winner Edmond : O'BRIEN

7. Island goose : NENE - official bird of the state of Hawaii

8. 1776 battleground : TRENTON - got it from half perps

9. Morning hrs. : AMs - my AM yesterday was not a good one - my 'private' road did not get plowed, and I could not get to UPS. 

10. Bugged : PESTERED

11. Like some wills : ORAL

16. Car in a King title : MERCEDES - Ah, this book, from Stephen King.  I thought it was a reference to "Lord Won't You Buy Me", but that's Joplin

22. Biblical beast : ASS

26. All gone : EATEN

31. Busy Las Vegas area : THE STRIP

33. "Whatever" : "I DON'T CARE."

34. Arcade giant : ATARI - I had two memorable Birthdays - the first one being back in Fifth Grade, when I had just two friends come over - but it snowed as bad that night as it did this year; thought it was canceled, but the moms brought them over in the storm, and we played Atari 2600 all.  night.  long.

35. Sting : SMART

37. "Well, well!" : "I DECLARE~!"

39. Carrier to Beijing : AIR CHINA - semi-shout out to our host~!

42. Fuchsia cousin : MAGENTA

45. Pommes frites seasoning : SEL - salt

46. Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" : RACHEL - I liked her in "Constantine"

50. Soil mover : SPADE

51. Absolute : UTTER

52. Kilt fold : PLEAT

54. "My Way" lyricist : ANKA

56. Arboreal Amazon monkey : TITI

This is what I did on my Birthday

60. Georges, par exemple : NOM - Frawnche, name

61. Tiny, in a tiny way : LI'L

Splynter