Thursday, February 16, 2012 Barbara and Don Gagliardo

Theme: Holy rusted metal, Batman! Each of the theme entries is a crossing of two words that could be "holy", as shown in the Answer grid.

10A. *Jazz devotees : CATS. Holy cats!

crosses:

13D. *Seance contact : SPIRIT. Holy spirit

15A. *Plant need : WATER. Holy water, used for sprinkling on the bedeviled Linda Blair in "The Exorcist"

crosses:

8D. *"Catch my drift?" : SEE. Holy See, from the latin word sedes, meaning "seat".

24A. *Restaurant kitchen workload : ORDERS. Holy orders.

crosses:

1D. *Severe fear : TERROR. We all know what a holy terror is...especially when stuck seated next to one on a plane!

54A. *Vinaigrette ingredient : OIL. Holy oil.

crosses:

47D. *Lake Erie city : TOLEDO. Holy Toledo!

60A. *Touch down : LAND. Holy land.

crosses:

44D. *Clan : FAMILY. Holy family.

61A. *Fire sign : SMOKE. Holy smoke!

crosses:

58D. *Bully : COW. Holy cow! Catchphrase of the former Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.

And the unifier:

35. Massachusetts school...and a description of the two-word meeting that occurs at the intersections of pairs of starred answers : HOLY CROSS, located in Worcester (pronounced "wis-tah"!!)

A whopping 66 theme blocks, and a rare collaboration between Don G and his wife Barbie.

Let's see what else they have to offer us!

Across:

1. USAF NCO : TSGT. Technical Sergeant, E-6 non-commissioned officer.

5. Crème de la crème : A LIST

14. "Tulip chair" designer Saarinen : EERO

16. Crowning : ATOP

17. Some HDTVs : RCAS

18. Hopelessly lost : AT SEA

19. Pasta/rice brand word : RONI. Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat.

20. Basic computer command : RUN, dammit, run!!!

21. "Check, mate" : AYE. Cute clue.

22. Common Cape Cod feature : DORMER. The houses, not the peninsula.

26. Get one's teeth into : CHEW.

28. Bush spokesman Fleischer : ARI

29. Invoice word : REMIT

30. Encourages : PRODS

31. "___ a problem" : NOT

32. Palm tree starch : SAGO

33. Organize, in a way : SORT

34. Incidentally, in IMs : BTW. By the way...(in Instant Messaging) way..

38. Summer setting in in Chi-town : CDT. Central Daylight Time.

40. Off-the-wall response? : ECHO. Great clue.

41. 61-Across curl : WISP. Not sure I liked seeing a non-theme entry cross-referencing a theme entry.

44. Rival : FOE

45. Catchall checkbox : OTHER

46. One point from a service break : AD OUT. Tennis.

48. Football's Parseghian : ARA

49. Thing to cook up : PLOT

50. "Just like that!" : PRESTO

51. To a greater extent : MORE SO

53. Expert in pop psychology? : MOM. Another funny clue.

55. ___ ideal world : IN AN

56. First name in bologna : OSCAR. My bologna also has a second name: M-A-Y-E-R.

59. One-named illustrator : ERTÉ. His real name is Romain de Tirtoff. Self-styled as "er-té", which is the french pronunciation of his initials.

62. Stepped heavily : TROD

63. What some losers have to resist : YENS. Dieters can't just give in to any yen they might have.

64. Cary of "The Princess Bride" : ELWES

65. "___-mite!": "Good Times" catchword : DYNO

Down:

2. Bolts down : SECURES

3. Fictional wolf's disguise : GRANDMA

4. Talking-___: tongue lashings : TOs

5. Somewhat far : AWAYS. "It's quite aways from here..." (Is that regional usage?)

6. Past curfew : LATE

7. Part of TGIF : IT'S. Thank goodness it's Friday! Oh wait, it's only Thursday...

9. Acquired by, in the big leagues : TRADED TO

10. "The Alienist" writer : CARR. Never read it. Hahtool, would I like it?

11. Cartoon hero with antennae : ATOM ANT. Hey, Ant!

12. Twelve-note scale, e.g. : TONE ROW. Even after reading this article, I still don't know what it is...

21. Lovable droid : ARTOO. Mr. Detoo.

23. Clumsy hammerers' cries : OWs

25. Square dance complement : EIGHT. Yellowrocks knows this, for sure!

26. Hobby with hooks : CROCHET

27. 30-Down genre : HORROR

and
30. Classic film involving a split personality : PSYCHO. No way am I going to link that shower scene...

34. A sleeper hit may be on it : B SIDE. Does an mp3 download still have a "B-side"?

36. Went wild : LET LOOSE. Um, I think I'll let someone else link the spring break pics...

37. Bee complex : SWARM. I get a complex whenever I see a swarm of bees let loose.

38. Circles around the sun : CORONAE. Plural of Corona. Best seen during an eclipse.

39. Landers lead-in : DEAR ANN

42. "My sympathies" : SO SORRY... (Dear Ann's reply)

43. Exhortation from a gift giver : PUT IT ON. Didn't you just hate getting those scratchy sweaters from grandma?

45. Chances for photos : OPS

50. Small openings : PORES

52. Fades to black : ENDS...we're getting there!

53. Create : MAKE

57. Tee size letters : SML

59. Flight board abbr.: ETD. Estimated time of departure.

(...fade to black)

Answer grid.

Hugs,

Marti

Don's Note:

My wife, Barbie, and I came up with this puzzle idea on a walk. I think someone said "Holy cow" or something, and it clicked in Barbie's mind. I came up with HOLY CROSS, and a puzzle was born. There was lots of material to choose from. I wonder who started the practice of saying, "Holy ?"

Notes from C.C.:

1) Here is a sweet picture of Don and his wife Barbie.

2) Happy Birthday to CrazyCat!

Comments Section Abbreviations

Here are some of the common abbreviations in the Comments section:
  
Clecho: Clue echos. Same clues for different entries in the grid. 

CSO: A Shout Out is a reference to someone you know but here it is usually a Coincident

DF: stands for dysfunctional, often suggestive of sexual innuendo

DH: Dear Husband
 
DNF: Did Not Finish

DW: Dear Wife
  
FIR: Finished it Right

FIW: Finished It Wrong

FLN: From Last Night

LIU: Look It Up

Natick (D-Otto): Natick is small town in Massachusetts that no one (except locals) have ever heard of. Used here, it means the crossing of two names that a normal person wouldn't know -- might know one, but not both. Rex Parker created the Natick Principle years ago. 

Perps, short for Perpendiculars, refer to the crossing answers that help you fill in letters of the word you don't know or you are not sure of.

Red letter: When you solve the puzzle on line in Regular Skill Level, your incorrect entry will be marked in red color.

WAG: Wild Ass Guess

WBS: What Barry Said. Coined by Dudley.

WEES: What Everybody Else Said. Coined by Jayce. 

WMOS: What Most Others Said

W _ _ S:  What a person Said    If it were Husker Gary the abbr. would read WHGS