Theme: None
Words: 64 (missing J,X,Z)
Blocks: 30
Our
last construction from Mr. Donaldson was one co-authored with Brad
Wilber in October last year; prior to that, he had a Saturday dating
back to 2009. No hang-ups during the solve for me, a few proper names
and some odd 'rare' words, but overall a fun puzzle. Chunky corners,
only 4 three-letter words, and a friendly "get-there-from-here" grid
which included single nines, paired nines and a couple of 10-letter
answers;
30a. Riding in the far-left lane, perhaps : CARPOOLING
Check out the next door neighbor over the fence
37a. Producer who developed "The Jeffersons" : NORMAN LEAR
EARWORM~!
12d. "No need to be scared of me" : I DON'T BITE - hard. Or maybe you like being bitten....?
29d. Big storm : NOR'EASTER - where I live today, this type of storm and a full moon could lead to flooding. Scary.
StO(n)p WA(rd)ffling~!
ACROSS:
1. Gone for the summer, perhaps : AT CAMP - Figured it was school related, and started with AT HOME, which was close
7. Elegant pool entrance : SWAN DIVE
- I was thinking we were looking for a noun like 'diving board', not
the 'action' of entrance; I had a diving board go out on one of my
trucks yesterday - there's no limit to what we will ship these days....
15. Jet Ski competitor : SEA-DOO - I knew SKI-DOO would not fly, but I was close
16. NFLer from 1982-'94 : L.A. RAIDER
17. Trick : TRIP UP
18. Last of Sophocles' Theban plays : ANTIGONE
19. Off-base : ERRANT
20. Post-sunburn phase : PEELING
21. Midway game : RING TOSS - ah, not SKEE BALL
23. Number of hills di Roma : SETTE - knew the answer was "seven", but spelling it was....
24. "30 for 30" documentary series airer : ESPN
25. Touch with gauze : DAB AT
27. They may be fake : TANS - my favorite fake tan look
34. NYSE debut : IPO - New York Stock Exchange, Initial Public Offering
35. "Ciao Italia" chef Esposito : MARYANN - perps
36. Cable co. acquired by AT&T : TCI
39. Ocean hazard : REEF
40. Unalaska native : ALEUT
41. Blocking action : VETO
43. Performs surgery on, in a way : LASES
45. Braised chicken dish : COQ AU VIN - we've seen this before on Saturday
49. Runner with big eggs : OSTRICH
51. Final syllable : ULTIMA
52. Lobster sensors : ANTENNAE
53. Otis of elevators : ELISHA - I did not know his first name - his Wiki
54. Men's department fixtures : TIE RACKS
55. Forwarded : SENT ON
56. Decorative herbs : PARSLEYS - spell check is not happy, but it's OK with me
57. Training aids : TREATS - ah, dogs
DOWN:
1. Michaelmas daisy : ASTER
2. Country singer Gibbs : TERRI - filled via perps
3. Memorial rocks : CAIRN - oops, not STELE
4. Much magazine content : AD PAGES - well, I knew it was AD 'something', or 'something' AD(s), but PAGES took a while
5. Goes up : MOUNTS
6. Coke holder : POP-TOP CAN
- "Coke" seems a little too specific - I can get Diet Dr. Pepper in a
pop-top can, too - or is the author trying to throw us off with the
"gram" type of coke~?
7. High-fives, e.g. : SLAPS
8. Ebb : WANE
9. Crafts in Cancún : ARTES
10. Attached by pounding : NAILED ON - I was close, had NAILED TO
11. Technology catchall : DIGITAL
- I'm not a huge fan of all these companies that jumped on the Apple
bandwagon and offer their products with "i-something" names; did you hear about Apple's new make-up line~? It's called iShadow.
13. Retaliation : VENGEANCE
14. Word of relative time : ERE - I had ERA, and did not get my "ta-DA~!"
22. Jam : SNARL
26. "What a long week!" : TGIF - Thank God It's already past July 4th, as far as I am concerned
27. Turner of music : TINA
28. Michael Corleone's first wife : APOLLONIA
31. Reuben setting : RYE - ah, had me confused at first
32. Finnish distance runner Nurmi : PAAVO - OK, I cheated - I Googled this answer to get a foothold in the middle
33. For the asking : ON REQUEST
35. __ instinct : MATERNAL
38. Summons (up) : MUSTERS
39. Dancer's program : ROUTINE
42. Like one looking down on his neighbor? : TALLER
44. On account of : SINCE
45. Musical whose plot involves a two-person tournament : CHESS
- I had "-HE--", and this seemed like a logical WAG. The game I
conceived went with me again to Delaware last weekend and I worked out
the details with Mike as a two-player version; now I need to get some
people together and try it with four players
46. Windows 7 precursor : VISTA
- I'm still with XP, and content - but Firefox has stopped supporting
the software. Gonna have to cave at some point to the "future"
47. Cry from one on a streak : I'M HOT - also got lessons from Mike on how to really play Texas Hold'em, since he gets out to the Dover casinos once in a while
48. Asian breads : NAANS
50. Like dried mud : CAKY
52. Novak Djokovic's org. : ATP - sounds like a tennis name to me
Splynter
Note from C.C.:
I'm sad to let you know that Leah (Chickie on our blog) lost her husband Bill on July 6th. Chickie was very active on our blog for many years. She and Bill just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last month. You're in our thoughts, Chickie.
