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

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Jun 3, 2017

Saturday, Jun 3rd, 2017, Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,V,X)

Blocks: 34

 Yet another Saturday perplexity from Mr. Fludzinski - the hardest name to spell in the title bar~!  Today's puzzle was slow to start, but then a few spots opened up, and I was able to nearly get it finished without help - one cel was just not making any sense to me, and so I had to cheat with red-letters for that one crossing.  Oh well.  A triple stack of staggered 11-letter fills in the center, and triple 10-letter corners as well;

16a. Conforming phrase : WHEN IN ROME....


30a. Rouen Cathedral series painter : CLAUDE MONET


34a. So-called "Nobel Prize of Mathematics" : FIELDS MEDAL - more here

35a. Event for disabled athletes : PARALYMPICS

Winter 2018 - Korea

 56a. Strong six-pack : ABS OF STEEL


onDElaWARed~!

ACROSS:

1. Pine : ACHE - I had "LONG" to start - so I was on the 'verb' wavelength to start

5. Educational : SCHOLASTIC

15. Lump : GLOB

17. Not like in any way : HATE - filled via perps; I was thinking the opposite of "akin", not the emotional definition of "like"

18. Obsolescent book alternatives : AUDIO TAPES - now it's audio MP3s

19. Off the mark : ASTRAY - my first guess, but I hesitated

21. Like the title girl in a 2014 David Fincher film : GONE - IMDb

22. Further south of the border? : MAS - the Spanish adjective for more, over, beyond, further, etc.

23. Before Phelps, he held the record for most golds in a single Olympics : SPITZ - vaguely recalled his name, threw the "Z" in and that helped bridge the NW corner, literally

24. Govt. leaders : SENators

25. 1969 World Series MVP Clendenon : DONN - the crossing of 25d. led me to either "M", "D" or "R", but only the "R" and "D" worked here - I do not know much about baseball, even if I am from NY and our Mets won the Series that year - his Wiki

26. Rx amt. : TSP - I put in "TER", which is wrong, but got me further in the NW

27. QB's stat : ATTempts - not TDs, and not INT, either....

29. Stumping sites : PODIA - ah.  I knew what we needed here, but this 'plural of podium' had me fooled

36. Fact and fiction and flora and fauna, e.g. : PAIRS - oh, OK. 

37. Part of a chorus line? : TRA-la-la-lala, and so on

38. Include covertly, briefly : BCC - I saw 'covertly' and started thinking "OPS" - just your everyday "Blind Carbon Copy"

41. Calvary inscription : INRI - learned from doing crosswords

42. Cabinet mem. : SEC'Y

45. __ wind : SOLAR

47. Indian bread : NAN

48. Updike title character : BECH - new to me - now I feel like looking for Updike books at my library.  The Wiki

49. View from Tokyo, on clear days : Mt. FUJI - nailed it

50. "Is it safe to talk?" : "ARE WE ALONE~?"

53. Tag line? : FROM - I tried "I'm IT"

54. Fashion VIP : TASTEMAKER - well, that's the word, and the actual definition - one who decides what will be fashionable; my spellcheck doesn't like it, and I'm not much of a fan, either

55. First name in mystery : ERLE

57. Bar array : RYES - rather specific

DOWN:

1. Appalled : AGHAST

2. Necklace holders : CLASPS - my 12-step necklace broke Thursday AM, in my man-cave - the second time it's happened, both times right before I went to UPS - otherwise, if it fell off there, it would have gotten lost forever

3. Lead on a horse? : HOT TIP

4. Pulitzer-winning film critic : EBERT - made me concede that "LONG" may be wrong

5. Clout : SWAY

6. Physics Nobelist Steven in Obama's Cabinet : CHU - filled via perps

7. Equivocate : HEDGE

8. Ring material : ONION - ugh.  Got me.

9. They have their pride : LIONS - I got this one

10. Pay to play : ANTE - no paying, no playing this week - I'm down in Delaware again, for a BBQ and some more game development

11. Title for 25-Down: Abbr. : SRA

12. Tyra Banks reality show, familiarly : TOP MODEL - never watched it, but I did recall the name

13. "No joke!" : "I MEAN IT~!"

14. Wichita-based aviation company : CESSNA - it fit, and it worked, so....

20. Showy shrubs : AZALEAS

24. Burn the midnight oil : STUDY - made me change my "TDs" at 27a.

25. Some European women : DONAS - MONAS would have worked for me, but not with the crossing

28. Starbucks order : TALL - I don't 'do' Starbucks - I'll take 7-11 coffee, thanks

29. Online entertainment : PODCAST

30. Clouds from the Latin for "curls" : CIRRI - I once owned a Dodge Stratus, Plymouth made the "Breeze", and Chrysler's version was the "Cirrus" - yet two distinctly different clouds

31. Mil. decoration : DSM - the Distinguished Service Medal

32. Like some promises : EMPTY

33. Israel's Iron Lady : MEIR

34. Impartiality : FAIRNESS

35. For Mideast unity : PAN-ARAB

36. Thing to bash at a bash : PIÑATA

38. Not sharp : BLURRY - I had CLUMSY in there to start, since I wrongly filled in CC'd instead of BCC

39. Coax : CAJOLE - with the "J" from FuJi in place, I got this

40. Thefts, e.g. : CRIMES - oops, not HEISTS

42. Coal sources : SEAMS - I like these seams better


43. Bravura : ÉCLAT

44. Hold (back), as tears : CHOKE

46. Put forth : OFFER

48. Quarrel : BEEF

49. Crossword legend Reagle : MERL

51. GATT successor : WTO - no clue. I never heard of either (more here), and so it was an alphabet run, and I didn't know if 54a. was a proper name, so I was basically screwed. 

52. Once called : NÉE

Splynter


Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Owen, our talented and hardworking wordsmith. Thanks for being part of our family, Owen!
 
Owen & his wife Brenda (Feb 28, 2009)