Theme: None
Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X)
Blocks: 34
Another
new constructor for our Saturday - Jim Quinlan has 2 other LA Times
puzzles under his belt, a Friday and a Sunday. A very satisfying
puzzle, I must say - no Google, no red-letters, and when I didn't get my
ta-DA~!, I had the patience to go through the grid to find my error. A
spiral grid with a lot of three-letter words, triple 10-letter corners
in the across, 8-, 9-,10-letter stacks in the down, and a group of three
answers with a central 15- letter spanner;
34. Samoa or Caramel deLite : GIRL SCOUT COOKIE
15. Offer a libation (for) : POUR ONE OUT
- The winery/vineyard I
now work for offers bottles, of course, but also boxes, and recently
kegs - next year, they introduce wine in a can; my thought was that it
sounds like this 'cheapens' the whole wine thing. We'll see.
12. Pot without speed : SLOW COOKER - oh, that kind of pot. Somehow, I managed to think of a joint not laced with speed....
26. Sometime substitute for bread crumbs : CORNFLAKES
57. Experience for Marty McFly : TIME TRAVEL - right up my alley
WARD~!
ACROSS:
1. Floors : ASTONISHES - ah, then verb, not the noun
11. Beliefs : ISMS - Crosswordese
16. Polar explorer's concern : FLOE - I figured SNOW was too easy
17. President leaving office, perhaps : END OF AN ERA
18. Commercial name abbr. : CORPoration
19. Redden, say : DYE - I pondered "IRK" here, but waited; then it appeared at 53d.
20. William Tell Monument city : ALTDORF - I know of the "apple on the head" shot, but didn't know the whole story - here's the Wiki on it
22. Venus is in it: Abbr. : WTA
- I went with ATP, the Association of Tennis Professionals, but that's a
"men's club"; we're looking for the Women's Tennis Association
23. "S" on an invitation : S'IL - Frawnche; réspondez s'il vous plait, or RSVP
24. Vehicle-sharing company : ZIPCAR - I know about Uber, but never heard of this; their website er, explains it all
26. "Born on the Bayou" band, briefly : CCR
27. __ bar : WET
- there's a Tasting Room at the front of the vineyard office/warehouse,
but really it's a wine bar - it's like upscale happy hour
30. It's tuned an octave higher than a cello : VIOLA
31. 1988 noir remake : DOA
32. Unconcealed enmity : NO LOVE LOST
36. Certain baron : LANDHOLDER
37. King's value, at times : TEN - as in cards
38. Gather : INFER - D'oh~! Not AMASS
39. Sch. period : SEMester
40. Backwoods preposition : FER
41. Combined : MELDED
43. King or queen : BED - ah, good clue, since the previous 'regal' clue (37a.) had me thinking along the lines of "REX"
44. Chinese military gp. : PLA - filled via perps
45. Grew : WIDENED - my only bad cel; I had WIDE FED
49. Pipe in a song : COB - corn cob, Frosty the Snowman
52. Pen name that sounds like a drink : SAKI - technically, Sake IS a drink
54. Cry at the craps table : COME TO PAPA
56. U.S. dept. with a bolt on its seal : ENERgy - nailed it
58. Classroom fixture : DESK
59. Unable to continue : AT A DEAD END
DOWN:
1. Did : APED
2. Pioneer in portable music : SONY - and the company who gave us Betamax; see 33d.
3. Arrogant manner, slangily : TUDE
4. Top medalla : ORO
5. "You peeked!" : "NO FAIR~!"
6. Totally : IN ALL
7. Heaven-__ : SENT - I'll let you know if this one ever stops in for a glass....
8. Helped make a bed : HOED - a garden bed
9. Mark's replacement : EURO
10. Premium movie channel that dropped its "!" in 2005 : STARZ
11. "Portlandia" airer : IFC
13. Serious transgression, in Catholicism : MORTAL SIN
14. Split : SEPARATE
21. Coppers : FIVE-O - one of my top TV show themes; I'm glad the re-make of the show didn't go with something different
23. Burned with steam : SCALDED
25. Led : PILOTED
27. Some sweaters : WOOLS - I tried KNITS
28. Get by : ELUDE
29. Venerated symbol : TOTEM
31. Martha Kent portrayer in recent Superman films : DIANE LANE - I had no idea, tried a total WAG, and it worked
32. Barracks VIP : NCO
33. Betamax player : VCR - at first I thought this was a huge gaffe, but then I realized the fierce (according to Wiki) format war was between VHS and Betmax; both tape formats played on a "Video Cassette Recorder"
34. Barely caught : GLIMPSED
35. Mole-like mammal : SHREW
40. Hat for Indiana Jones : FEDORA - Raiders of the Lost Ark might be my favoritest movie of all time
42. Decrees : DICTA - argh~! I threw "S" in there for plural, and tried WRITS
43. 2017 Dolly portrayer on Broadway : BETTE
46. "Finish the job!" : "DO IT~!"
47. "Handsome, clever, and rich" Austen character : EMMA
48. Food or water : NEED - I had fEED, which made sense to me if you "feed" a plant with water....
49. Finally give : CAVE
50. Tournament format : OPEN
51. Likely to skid : BALD
- I need to get tires before the end of the month in order to pass
inspection; however, I'd like to get white letter tires, and the only
way to do that on my vehicle is to buy larger rims for that particular
size tire - I'm willing to go sporty on the minivan~!
53. Get to : IRK
55. Enhance, as a résumé : PAD - no need to pad my résumé, there was barely space to list my qualifications for the new job - but I listed enough
Thanks for all the positive support - I especially appreciate those who know me and are 'concerned' about the "vocation" of my new employer~!
Splynter
Splynter