Theme: None
Words: 68 (missing J,X)
Blocks: 38
OK,
that's better - after two rough weeks, this puzzle was almost a breeze
to finish - in about half my personal allotted time. Mr. Agard was on a
three-month roll, missed August, but he's back for September.
Hourglass grid with a triple 11-letter staggered stack in the center and a 15-letter climber;
31a. Event with a caller : SQUARE DANCE - oops; I put in "-AUCTION" at the end; Bzzzt
34a. Fruit on a veggie pizza : BLACK OLIVES
- ah. I buy the 'supreme' frozen pizzas, and always pull off the black
olives, but sprinkle on some bacon bits. I got me a Pizzazz pizza
wheel which fits nicely in my kitchenette
35a. Justin case? : BIEBER FEVER - har-har
7d. Standard procedure : A MATTER OF COURSE
2d.~!
ACROSS:
1. Directions home : MAP
4. Slow : DELAY
9. Key of Elgar's "Symphony No. 1" : A FLAT - filled in the "FLAT" part and waited
14. San Antonio Spurs' 1993-2002 home : ALAMO DOME
16. Employer of a lizard and a pig : GEICO - the gecko, and the hog who goes "wee~!"
17. Author of the 2011 memoir "My Father at 100" : RON REAGAN
18. Greek leader? : ALPHA - beta, gamma, etc.
19. "I __ it!" : KNEW - I tried WANT first
20. National League athlete : MET
- from the NY Met(ropolitan)s, to be precise - the irony here is that
this was one of my clues nixed by the editors for being too difficult
for a Wed. puzzle
21. Equilibrium : STASIS
22. Dale relative : GLEN - not CHIP - we had CHIP N' DALE last week - this is the the valley definition
24. Weapon in some supernatural movies : STAKE - Vampires~!
26. Thus far : YET
27. Ship mover : SAIL
29. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY
30. One of the deadly sins : ENVY - LUST would have fit as well
36. Undesirable descriptor for makeup : CAKY
37. ___-A-Fella Records : ROC - cute. I thought it might be roK
38. Thus : ERGO
40. "Correct, cap'n" : "AYE."
41. Currently airing : ON NOW - I would recommend watching "Garage Rehab" because my good friend Russell is "the muscle" on the show
The "other" guy is Richard from Gas Monkey Garage
43. Hamilton notes : TENS - dollar bills
45. Fight like sticks figures? : RASSLE - Wrestle in the boondocks, the "sticks"
47. Sch. with a Providence campus : URI - dah~! I put in RIU to start
49. __ Vogue : TEEN
51. Thins, e.g. : OREOs
52. Three-book Newton work : PRINCIPIA - the Wiki
54. Paper for a letter? : LEASE - think let-ter, one who 'lets'
55. Shun : OSTRACIZE
56. Tried to contain : SAT ON
57. Zero out : RESET
58. 1980s gaming release : NES - Nintendo Entertainment System
DOWN:
1. Annotate : MARK
2. Onward : ALONG - a shout-out~!!
3. Symposium groups : PANELS
4. Big name in anonymity : DOE - John or Jane, not the local trolls
5. Cheese town : EDAM
6. Upscale tiers : LOGES
8. Japanese cabbage? : YEN
9. Quartz type : AGATE
10. Afrobeat star __ Kuti : FELA - filled via perps - never heard of him - his Wiki
11. Mouths : LIP SYNCS
12. Realize : ACHIEVE
13. Pleasantly warm : TOASTY
15. "Harry Potter" father figure : Mr. WEASLEY - the Harry Potter Wiki
With daughter Ginny, the future Mrs. Potter
21. Parachute : SKYDIVE
23. Arabian Peninsula veil : NIQAB
25. "Hello" singer : ADELE
28. City in central Switzerland : LUCERNE
30. Alive : ENERGETIC
32. LeBron's birth city : AKRON - basketball is not my thing. His Wiki; interesting how his first playoff run ended in a loss to the team at 14a.
33. Turn away : AVERT
34. Schwinn component : BIKE SEAT
35. Redwood City locale : BAY AREA
36. Door-to-door offerings : CAROLS - VACUUMS didn't fit
39. First to fall in most strikes : ONE PIN - nobody leaves the FIVE pin
41. Elizabeth who plays the Scarlet Witch in Marvel movies : OLSEN - filled via perps
42. Legal orders : WRITS
44. Wrest : SEIZE
46. "Meh" : SO SO - crosswordese
48. Concerning : IN RE
50. Turndowns from the tartan-clad : NAEs
52. Iberian land, to the IOC : PORtugal, according to the International Olympic Committee
53. Batter of balls? : CAT - sorry, C.C., no baseball here....
Splynter
