Saturday, Jan 26th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 28

  Oh Wilber~!!  Another solid offering from one of our steady Saturday constructors, with little in the way of obscure proper names, places and foreign words (OK, one), and LOTS of hyphenated words/phrases.  Triple 10's in the across, and triple 8's in the down corners with a couple of climbers of note:

28D. "Act naturally" : BE YOURSELF - which reminds me of this song, with the lyric at 1:35

33D. Italian Baroque painter known for ceiling frescoes : GUIDO RENI - A proper name and foreign, too~!  Some history, here at the Wiki

And one spanner:

34A. Alloy used to make knives : MOLYBDENUM STEEL - Oddly, Tungsten Carbide fit, too; anyone who has bought a circular saw blade or drill bit is familiar with the latter; guess what I put in first....

o-N^w-A-r_D ~!~!

ACROSS:

1. Scrapped, at NASA : NO-GO - because "aborted" didn't fit

5. Way to get in : ACCESS CODE

15. Zipped through : ACED

16. Like the cap worn by Annette : MOUSE-EARED - nailed it; Annette Funicello

17. One piggy's portion : NONE

18. Reducing : CURTAILING

19. Big blast : N-TEST - paired with 44D

21. Come down hard : TEEM

22. Smidge : IOTA

23. Sound from your favorite toy? : YIP - small dogs, referred to as "toys" by the AKC

24. Beguile : AMUSE

26. Less clumsy : ABLER

27. Trounce : CLOBBER

29. Unoriginal : TIRED

30. Botanical balm : ALOE

31. It may make honeymooners a bit misty : NIAGARA - HAR-HAR, but I wasn't misled; one of the most famous honeymoon spots is Niagara Falls, here in NY (OK, and Canada, too) where the air is constantly misty; even the tour boats are in on the appeal

39. Throw money around, in a way : OVER-TIP - are you an over-tipper?  I am when we go to eat out as a family

40. Jane Austen's aspiring matchmaker : EMMA

41. Gives kudos : LAUDS

43. Hard to read : DEADPAN

45. Becomes disillusioned : SOURS

46. Jumper cable connection point : ANODE - nipple didn't fit

48. "Moreover ..." : AND

49. A passel : TONS - a passel is an indeterminate amount of something, sort of like a small "gazillion", as in  "I have (insert here) of paperwork to do~!"

50. Lead : STAR - that's l-EE-d, not LeD

51. Navigational aid : CANAL - so is part of your ear an "auditory navigational aid"?

53. Net : AFTER TAXES

56. "Ciao!" : TA-TA

57. Some 19th-century industrialists : RAIL BARONS - I watched "Ultimate Guide to the Presidents" this week; fascinating how the stuff I was taught in high school bored me then, and intrigues me now.

58. Picked out of a lineup : IDed

59. "They've rigged this whole thing!" : "THE FIX IS IN~!"

60. Cushy : EASY

DOWN:

1. Device hidden by a concerned parent : NANNY-CAM

2. Red-flowering desert shrub : OCOTILLO

3. Heredity source : GENE POOL

4. Tributes in verse : ODES

5. Old Gremlin maker : AMC - I had the Sportabout Wagon that my father gave me in 1988; it had huge potential that I couldn't see at 17yrs old; 258 straight six

6. High-end fashion designer : COUTURIER

7. Fixes : CURES

8. Name on many compacts : ESTEE

9. Baseball feature : SEAM

10. Twice tre : SEI

11. Fine-tuned : CALIBRATED - I did some searching on the origin; seems to be from the Arabic "qalib", the cast for a bullet

12. Bird that builds hanging nests : ORIOLE - and the bird in Baltimore, too

13. Subject to a trade-in reduction : DENTED - I think the 227,800 miles on my car will put a "dent" in my trade-in value

14. Guest in a library : EDGAR - Nice misdirection; this man, here, and not "user", "reader", "student" - I couldn't think of a 5-letter word

20. Q's neighbor : TAB - on the keyboard, not the phone pad

25. Brasil '66 leader : MENDES

26. What social climbers may put on? : AIRS

29. Patted down : TAMPED - tamped to me sounds "heavier" than patted; I usually tamp the ground before a concrete pour.  What would the cement guy say if I told him I "patted" it down???

32. Tiny colonist : ANT

35. Briefs not seen in court, hopefully : BVDs - tightie-whities~!

36. Mexican stuffed pastry : EMPANADA

37. Gives off : EMANATES

38. Mrs. Hudson, to Sherlock Holmes : LANDLADY

41. Bath scrubber : LOOFAH

42. Em's title : AUNTIE - Wizard of Oz

44. Erstwhile 19-Across overseer: Abbr. : AEC - Atomic Energy Commission; I know it as Architecture, Engineering, & Construction

45. "Boo!" reaction : START

46. Space Invaders platform : ATARI

47. Largest island in the Cyclades : NAXOS - map, in the middle

50. Pringles competitor : STAX - I have had this one on Saturday before; workable "X"

52. "__ is like kissing your sister": sports chestnut : A TIE

54. You usually don't get one when you ground into a DP : RBI - by grounding into a double play for the first two outs of the inning with a man on third who crosses home and scores does not get you a "run batted in" - uh, right, C.C.?? (From C.C.: Right! The worse thing a player can do is to ground into a double play when bases are loaded.)

55. Nine-digit fig. : SSN - Crossword standard, the Social Security Number

Splynter

Friday, January 25, 2013, Kurt Krauss

Theme: What the Yell?

Each of the theme answers concludes with a word which is synonymous with YELL, and is used to replace a sound alike second word of an in the language phrase in a punny fashion, creating a new and visually humorous phrase, all clued with the clecho CRY.  This is a more traditional four theme answer grid, though still using 46 spaces. This is Kurt's fifth effort at the corner, and the last two have been Friday features.I really enjoyed the combining of the pun and the synonym to create the theme. The rest of the fill was fine with some solid  6, 7, and 8 letter words like CLASS ACT, SOURPUSS, RAMPARTS, COCKER, and even one J, jest one.  I found it to be a reasonable Friday, so let's do this.

17A. Cry from a duped investor? : PONZI SCREAM.(SCHEME) (11). Sadly So.Fla. know all too much about the schemers, and the many who were ruined did scream.

24A. Cry just before dozing off? : SLEEPY HOLLER.(HOLLOW) (12). A LEGENDARY (0:32) clue.

46A. Cry from a superfan? : BOOSTER SHOUT, (SHOT) ((12) Appropriate for this flu season.

56A. Cry from a Jeddah native? : SAUDI SHRIEK.(SHEIKH) (11). The shriek was SILENT.(3:24).

Across:

1. Fair share, maybe : HALF. Split it down the middle, extremely fair.

5. Polite denial : NO MA'AM. You do not look fat in that dress.

11. Pro-___ : AMS. One of my thrills was playing with Champion Tour professional golfers and being on the practice tee with Palmer, Nicklaus and so many other greats.

14. Arch type : OGEE. Oh Gee not again.

15. Commensurate (with) : ON A PAR. More golf invading our lives.

16. Soaked : WET. Dennis, your thoughts? Maybe we need 50A. Hose : RINSE.

19. Brother : FRA.

20. "I" strain? : EGO. Freud's mental triumvirate with the super-ego.

21. Where to find Ducks and Penguins: Abbr. : NHL. National Hockey League. A moment of silence for Eddy B.

22. Eyes : OCULI. An eye reference on a Friday.

28. Eschewed the backup group : SOLOED. Many have failed when they left the nest.

31. Mrs. Gorbachev : RAISA. I will call your Michelle Obama and ...well you get the idea.

32. Influence : CLOUT.

33. Took in : ARRESTED. It is good to be back even with the anons who exposed themselves in their anxiety to irritate me; the last time I was blogging the Corner disappeared. Makes me nervous.

37. Lab medium : AGAR. This always reminds me of this CORPORAL.(2:53).

38. Thinking out loud, in a way : ASIDE. From Shakespearean theater days when the characters address the audience.

40. Farm father : SIRE. Not the Earl of Grantham, but the horse he rides on.

41. Anthem fortifications : RAMPARTS red glare, the bombs bursting in air....

43. Cupid's boss : SANTA. Deliciously tricky clue, not a horse, but the reindeer Cupid!!!

44. Free : UNTIE.

45. Dog named for the bird it hunted, familiarly : COCKER.  The were named for their hunting of the WOODCOCK, which makes the thought of splinters scary!

51. Dig in : EAT. How appetizing.

52. John, Paul and George, but not Ringo: Abbr. : STS. Saints, not Beatles you heretic!

55. Electees : INS. As opposed to the OUTS, not belly buttons but politicians.

61. Iron ___ : AGE. Which Iron(ically) was a time of

62. Troubled state : UNREST.

63. Vronsky's lover, in Tolstoy : ANNA. Karenina. CLIP. (1:28).

64. "Balderdash!" : ROT. We have had so many nice contributions from the Brits, like Steve.

65. Some aces : PILOTS. My cousin was a pilot; he worked in a warehouse unloading trucks. He would  pile it here and pile it there.

66. Kid : JEST. Can u text JJ? LMAO!

Down:

1. Clinton's birthplace : HOPE. I hope you all recalled this one.

2. Bug-eyed : AGOG.

3. Jay related to a peacock? : LENO. The NBC Peacock. We are clearly not going off half-cocked with this puzzle.

4. Casbah headgear : FEZ.

5. Had a little something : NOSHED. One of many Yiddish words which have become part of the language.

6. Frère de la mère : ONCLE. My mother's brother, en francais.

7. Dent, say : MAR.

8. Big lug : APE.

9. Travel org. since 1902 : AAA. American Automobile Association.

10. "Captain Kangaroo" character who told knock-knock jokes : MR. MOOSE. Never watched this Clara-belle the clown refugee.

11. Really bad : AWFUL.

12. Haggard of country music : MERLE. A little TUNE?

13. Flight part : STAIR. Not up in the air, but up the down staircase.

18. Ocean-bay connector : INLET. Rhymes with 48D. Start : ONSET.

23. Someone to admire : CLASS ACT. Perfectly matched with

24. Grouch : SOURPUSS. For our crowd.

25. Sung approval? : PRAISES. For some reason, PSALMS came to mind but it did not fit.

26. Prison area : YARD.

27. Bring on board : HIRE.

28. Injury reminder : SCAR. To B or to R? That is today's question.

29. '70s Olympics name : OLGA. All you need to know. LINK.

30. Good earth : LOAM. We have no dirt here in So.Fla. which is why our tomatoes have so little taste. Yes, it is our dirty little secret.

34. Pixie dust leaver, to Peter : TINKerbell. to the young master Pan.

35. Deco designer : ERTE. R.T. and close by 38D. Uffizi hangings : ARTE. Uffizi is the art gallery in Florence (Firenza).

36. Beloved : DEAR. Really, I need to be more careful of my use of dear. Otherwise I might

39. Hubbub : STIR. up trouble.

42. Pays to play : ANTES UP.

43. Into a state of decline : SOUTH. This is not a condemnation of all below the Mason-Dixon line, but a common phrase.

45. Ocean borders : COASTS.

46. Patch plant : BRIAR. Uncle Remus, ou Oncle Remus.

47. Rock's ___ Boingo : OINGO. This CLASSIC. (3:33).

49. One may follow a casing : HEIST.  We all know from TV that criminals case the place they plan to rob.

52. Trig function : SINE.

53. XXX, at times : TENS. XXX is on whiskey and in porn.

54. Three-handed game : SKAT. I will let Kazie speak of this national card game of Germany.

57. Singer DiFranco : ANI. She say she is not a PRETTY GIRL (3:42).

58. Bookmarked item nowadays : URL. Uniform Resource Locator.

59. "Gloria in Excelsis ___" : DEO.

60. British rule in colonial India : RAJ. The HISTORY

Well we have made it through the entire write up without the site disappearing; great to see all the lurkers commenting here and with HG. Lemonade signing off wishing you all a great day and week end.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Please email me (crosswordc@gmail.com) if you encounter "Dangerous site" warning when accessing this blog.

2) Please bookmark my Ginger Roots blog. In case the Corner blog has trouble again, we'll discuss puzzles there.