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

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Mar 11, 2017

Saturday, March 11, 2017 Bruce Haight

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 27

We are witness to Bruce Haight's hitting for the cycle - this is his first Saturday construction for the LA Times, and has now been published every day of the week. Congratulations to Bruce, but I gotta say, too many proper names(*) in this one made it a fun sponge - can't win them all. 10x6 in two corners and triple 8-letter stacks in the others, with two more 8-letter fills as well. 

15. Fizzled : PETERED OUT - what do you call a guy who tires easily~? Peter; how about the guy who's creative~? Art; The guy who stirs up trouble~? Buck - or - Russell; The wealthy one~? Rich; The one who's brutally honest~? Frank. I can go on....

14. Displaying polish, perhaps : OPEN-TOED


52. Symbol of ancient Egypt : SACRED IBIS - dah~! I had ICON, IDOL, and knew it wasn't correct - took a moment to remember the sacred bird - and also the God Thoth


31. "Brava!" : ATTA GIRL - I had the "G", and the "a" at the end of the clue helped me nail this

atta girl~!

Spring ON forWARD~

ACROSS:

1. Participated in a movie gunfight, say : SHOT BLANKS

11. Symbol of purity : HALO - not DOVE

16. Junket : TRIP

17. Really hot : EXTRA SPICY

18. Bud : MATE

19. Passes : ENACTS

20. Getaway car driver : WHEELMAN

22. Comforter : DUVET - I have such a resentment for this word, only because my friend's wife used it in a Scrabble game, and I challenged - it's Frawnche - and yet it counted.  Ugh, ugh, ugh.

23. Metered lines : POESY

24. Rudder location : AFT

25. "Now!" : STAT - not ASAP

26*. "Buddenbrooks" author : MANN

27. Farm follower? : E-I-E-I-O - not "STEAD"; this was almost funny....

29. Moolah : GELT - not CASH

30. Pop-up producer : ADWARE

31. How many games are won : AS A TEAM - the NY Rangers finally figured out their Power Play, and still managed to lose on Thursday

35. Cuddled : SPOONED - yeah, one of these days I'll get around to this again

36. Wine flavor component : TANNIN

37. Compact __ : DISC

38. Jerks : TWITS - my mother's affectionate name for the NY Rangers

39. "No __!" : DICE

40*. Inventing middle name : ALVA

44. Six-pack to be proud of : ABS - the 'other' six-pack produces the exact opposite

45*. Big name in '50s-'60s civil rights : EVERS

47. Take turns? : STEER - got it, but pondered DRIVE, too

48. Cuts to a roving reporter : GOES LIVE - Ha~! Nailed it

50. Introductory language class : LATIN I

51. Digging : INTO

54. Shipping hazard : REEF

55. Wary : ON THE ALERT

56. Exam for some college srs. : LSAT

57. Tourist attraction : RESORT AREA

DOWN:

1. Radar pickups : SPEEDS

2. Threaded fastener : HEX-NUT - this is the crenellated version


3. Interval for Rossini : OTTAVA - musical reference, octave

4. Three-line stanza : TERCET

5*. Benjamin of "Law & Order" : BRATT - was never a big fan of his character - I think cutting out Chris Noth's "Mike Logan" was not a good move for the show - tho he did return on "Criminal Intent"

6. Frequency modulation word? : LESS - filled via perps; not sure I "get it"

7. Payroll service initials : ADP - I see this on the UPS truck daily

8. "Forget it!" : "NO I WON'T~!" - I had YOU WISH to start, and it was working for a while

9. German coffeecake : KUCHEN - OK, I'll take das word for it....

10. Optical maladies : STYES

11. Webmaster's code : HTML

12. Ancient Syrian : ARAMAEAN


13. Got ready to grill : LIT A FIRE

21. Focus group member, casually? : EYE DOC - ah.  Clever

23. Date provider : PALM - the tree, not the singles website

26. Average : MEAN

28. WWII battle site, for short : IWO - Jima

29*. Theodor whose middle name was Seuss : GEISEL -even guessing this was "Dr Seuss" did not help at all

30. It adjoins the altar : APSE

Awesome

32. Surgeon, slangily : SAWBONES

33. Aromatic brew : ANISE TEA - been popular in crosswords lately

34. Blaster : TNT - oops, not GUN

35. Unleashes : SICS

37. Runs : DIRECTS

39*. William of "24" : DEVANE - I liked him as Carter in "Payback"

40*. Fifth-century invader : ATTILA - just read a true "science fiction" novel from Bradbury and Baxter where Genghis Khan meets Alexander the Great in battle

41*. Elvis Presley lyricist Jerry : LEIBER

42. __ facias: jury pool (from the Latin for "make come") : VENIRE - all my Law & Order watching did not get me this

43. Grain bristle : ARISTA - mostly perps

46. Sun block : VISOR

47*. '70s-'80s Egyptian president : SADAT - an another, but I knew this one

49. Permissive : SOFT

50. Suggestive gander : LEER

53. Letter after pi : RHO

Splynter