Saturday, Jul 20th, 2013, Tom Heilman

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing -) Pangram~!

Blocks: 27 (second lowest total I have seen)

   I came up with very little on the first across pass to work with, but a few Wild Ass Guesses got me enough perps to finish this one, and in a pretty good time, considering.  Intimidating corners with triple 8's crossing triple 9's, but then again, nothing bigger than those - and not much to say about them; pretty straight forward.

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Busted : FLAT BROKE - about how I'm feeling lately; two weeks to the new UPS contract, and possibly a FT position doing what I do right now; at the very least, I get a union scale raise.

10. Jag : SPREE

15. One who may confuse cees and zees : LIP READER - I can "see" that

16. Extinguish : QUELL

17. Torn to bits : IN TATTERS

18. Non-union? : UNWED

19. Architect awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993 : PEI - I.M., designer of several well-known structures

20. Angels Landing's national park : ZION - Anyone care to visit Utah?

21. Latin case : DATIVE - nailed it - 4 years of Latin in high school

22. The Panthers of the Big East : PITT

24. At all : ONE BIT - Did I give up on this puzzle? Not ONE BIT~!

26. Apt., e.g. : RESidence

27. Holders of notions : ETUIs - Saturday level attempt to obscure "needle case"

29. Slight : SLUR

30. Provide an outlet for : VENT

31. Sale indicator : RED TAG

33. Cubic measure : STERE - a cubic meter, 1.3cubic yards, about 35.3 cubic feet - for cordwood

35. Dragged through the mud : SMEARED

37. Send to the bottom : SCUTTLE - Reminds me of "Hunt for Red October"

41. Drew in books : NANCY - Didn't fool me; Nancy Drew, the proper name

43. Where the heart is : THORAX

44. Quick hits : JABS

47. Markers : IOUs

49. Volleyball great Gabrielle : REECE

50. Surfer's destination : URL - ah, not WEB

51. Trip with a per diem, perhaps : JUNKET - def #3:

a trip, as by an official or legislative committee, paid out of public funds and ostensibly to obtain information.

53. Suffix for some lotions : DERM - Lubri-DERM, e.g.

54. Floors : AMAZES

56. Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," e.g. : IDYL

58. Better : TOP

59. Brought down : RAZED

60. Whatever it takes : AT ANY COST

62. Small-capped mushroom : ENOKI

63. Reassure : PUT AT EASE

64. Quick reads? : ZINES - abbr.  for magaZINES, hence the "?"

65. Like some questions : OPEN-ENDED

DOWN:

1. Seal features : FLIPPERS

2. Budget entry : LINE ITEM - tried MORTGAGE first

3. It's tested in school : APTITUDE - nailed it

4. Melodic bit : TRA - more Saturday obscurity

5. Carl who played Donna Reed's TV husband : BETZ - WAAAY before my time; IMDb

6. Currency exchange market listing, e.g. : RATIO - total WAG here

7. Classic theaters : ODEONS - with a modern take in the next clue...

8. Movie concession stand remnants : KERNELS - Corn, scuttled in the popping machine....

9. Hosp. areas : ERs

10. Position behind the plate : SQUAT - the physical position, not the player's

11. Football option : PUNT - PASS, KICK, RUSH; had to wait

12. Replace the old connections : REWIRE - been there, done that - now that that apartment remodel is over, I am stepping away from carpentry/construction for a while; gonna try something new

13. Ones seen side by side? : ELEVEN - 1 and 1 = 11~!

14. First in line : ELDEST - that's me~!

21. Nonstop : DIRECT - Ah, not RED-EYE

23. Cronus and Hyperion : TITANS

25. Objections : BUTS

28. Actress Gilbert of "The Big Bang Theory" : SARA - lots of fans of "TBBT" here, but count me out; just can't get into it

30. Shot down : VETOED

32. Brainiac : GENIUS - most of the cast of "TBBT"

34. One of Duisburg's rivers : RUHR - I had R--R; guess what?  I got it

36. Anti-rodent brand : D-CON

38. Arboreal hopper : TREE TOAD - 'round here, we have tree "FROGS", but they're insects; speaking of what we call things here on Lawn Guyland, I had to find out why "straw" is not the same as "hay"

39. Wisconsin city on the Mississippi : La CROSSE

40. Given a pass, in a way : EXEMPTED

42. Bust a gut : YUK IT UP - either you got it, or you didn't

44. Eponymous 1850s-'70s Mexican president : JUAREZ

45. Snazzy suit : ARMANI - some day I will sport an Armani suit

46. Embellish showily : BLAZON - my high school denim jacket was emBLAZONed with Iron Maiden patches

48. Tranquilize : SEDATE

51. "A __ Fury": "Star Wars" DVD segment : JEDI'S

52. English critic Kenneth : TYNAN

55. The Cowardly Lion, back in Kansas : ZEKE - worked on the farm in "The Wizard of Oz" - he knew the difference between the two~!

57. Suffix with electro- : LYTE - ElectroLYTE - like you'd find in Gatorade - I frakkin' needed fluids this past week, let me tell you; finally got a massive thunderstorm midday Friday - aaaaaah

60. G.I.'s address : APO

61. Fivescore yrs. : CENtury; 5 X 20

Splynter

Friday, July 19, 2013, Alan DerKazarian

Theme: Where have you BEAN hiding?

Examples of this confusing PLANT, are hidden within six sets of consecutive answers using 14 of the 15 squares available in rows, starting in row 1 and ending with row 15, with the a central reveal telling you what are hidden are types of beans, and they are "jumping" across the black square. It is not common to have a reveal on Friday, but without it, this might have been too hard. A variation on the overlapping fill revealing a hidden word, as here the overlap is between to different answers. A total of 95 squares in the theme, yet in a format that looks like a Saturday themeless, with triple stacks of 9's in the corners. I think the challenge to put this together was amazing, and while I am really confused by 22A and 44D, I think this what appears to be the debut puzzle by, I am guessing, a Dentist from New England who coincidentally went to Tufts, and went to the ACPT this year,  captured your attention and was a bumpy but satisfying ride.

1A. *Seat often against a wall : DIVAN. with  6A. *Antsy : ILL AT EASE. and VANILLA (bean) us revealed. There are many multiple word answers like ILL AT EASE which made the solving harder.

15A. *Microscopic menace : E. COLI. with 16A. *The economy, in many debates : MAIN ISSUE.= :LIMA (bean).

29A. *100 centavos : ONE PESO. with 31A. *River spanned by the Three Gorges Dam : YANGTZE= SOY.  (Or SOYA). Both clues required some knowledge.

43A. *Forage plant also called lucerne : ALFALFA. with 47A. *Garlic avoider, traditionally:  VAMPIRE.= FAVA. I did not know Alfafa (not from little rascals) had another name.

63A. *Cultural artifacts : AMERICANA. with 64A. *Struggling : VYING.= NAVY. Again like Saturday, no gimmes.

65A. *Game piece that can stand on either end : CANDLE PIN, with 66A. *Sycophant : TOADY= PINTO. Another hint to the New England tie, as this form of bowling is popular in few places, though it was a TV regular when I was a child. ARTICLE.

and the reveal

36A. Seed containing moth larva, and what is aptly hidden in each puzzle row whose clues contain asterisks : JUMPING BEAN. Is it un-pc to say Mexican Jumping Bean?

Across:

17. Music genre : METAL. One of my favorites. LISTEN.(3:26).

18. It's not always met : POTENTIAL. Ah, wasted.

19. Cow-horned goddess : ISIS. I like the Brazilian version LINK.

20. Emma of "Dynasty" : SAMMS. One of my favorites.

21. Co-star of Ingrid in "Autumn Sonata" : LIV. ULLMANA.  A 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter. It was Ingrid Bergman's last performance in a major theatrical feature film, and the film won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1979 Golden Globe Awards. (per wiki).

22. Bean cover? : HAT. Man, this clue confuse the hell out of me; eventually I thought it was accepted as not conflicting with the theme because it did not relate to vegetable life but an expression for the human head.

25. Long in films : NIA. Very actress intensive. Another LINK.

26. U-boat, e.g. : SUBmarine.

33. Rod Stewart's first wife : ALANA. Another female; Alan where was your mind. Also married to George Hamilton.

35. Subvert : RUIN. She did not ruin his career.

40. Ship's spine : KEEL. Let's keep ours even.

42. Ziggurat features : TIERS. Pyramid like structures built in ancient Mesopotamia and coming to the FUTURE.(1:25)

51. Overtime cause : TIE.

52. Portugese pronoun : ELA. Similar to Spanish and French.

53. Common ___ : ERA.

54. Considerable amount : TON.

55. Work with, as clay : KNEAD. If you need to relax it is good to knead.

57. Cole Porter's alma mater : YALE. An obscure New England fact 41D. 57-Across grad : ELI.

58. UMass athlete : MINUTEMAN. Another one.

62. With 38-Down, Arctic denizen : POLAR. and  38D. See 62-Across : BEAR.

Down:

1. Venus ___ : DE MILO. Poor girl lost her arms. The back STORY. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite.

2. Strands in winter, perhaps : ICES IN. My meh of the day in an otherwise awesome creation.

3. Offered for a special intention, as a Mass : VOTIVE. You buy the candles.

4. Pained cry : ALAS. Another near ALAN word (like Alana).

5. Zippo : NIL. Zilch, nada, bubkis.

6. Rambunctious sort : IMP.

7. Vientiane's land : LAOS. A remnant of the French influence in Indochina, LINK.

8. Long account : LITANY. She had a litany of complaints.

9. Lack of vigor : ANEMIA. Well the cause of a lack of vigor.

10. Heartless guy? : TINMAN. A shout out to our prodigal son, who is loaded with heart.

11. Neighborhood figures?: Abbr. : ESTS. It cost me something in the neighborhood of $200.00.

12. Faulkner's "___ Lay Dying" : AS I. many think this was his best novel.

13. Latin possessive : SUA. In the law, when a judge does something on his own accord, it is called SUA SPONTE.

14. New Zealand longfin, e.g. : EEL.

22. Bridge position : HELM. Sulu on Star Trek.

23. "Stat!" relative : ASAP.

24. Singer Basil or Braxton : TONI. More women.

26. Sci-fi setting : STUN. "Set phasers to stun, Sulu, Spock."

27. Israeli arm : UZI.

28. Son of, to an Israeli : BEN. An odd sort of clecho.

30. Golfer Creamer : PAULA. Is this a sub-theme for the men or what!?!?

32. Apprehend : GRASP. I grasped where he was headed.

34. Picnic pest : ANT.

36. Barcelona boss : JEFE. Also, in the Mexican and Colombian cartels, the chief.

37. Buckle : GIVE. When Shaq sat down the chair....

39. Aretha's singing sister : ERMA. Rough to be Aretha's  SISTER. They say she did this song first.

40. Kit ___ : KAT.  Candy bar of choice in one of the offices where I work.

44. Soup bean : LENTIL. Really?????

45. Take for a ride : FLEECE.

46. TripTik, notably : AAA MAP.

48. Roma's home : ITALIA.

49. WWI French aviator Garros : ROLAND. They named the tennis stadium where they play the French Open after this man.

50. Einstein's "E" : ENERGY=   mc²  

55. Southeastern Turkey native : KURD.  They know whey?

56. "___ California": Red Hot Chili Peppers hit : DANI.

57. It has its ups and downs : YO YO. Fun clues.

58. Bub : MAC.

59. The Beatles' "___ Loser" : I'M A. Someone else can link.

60. Three-time All-Star reliever Robb : NEN. He was one of the many All-Stars the Marlins gave away. His father Dick Nen was a major league first baseman.

61. Bread served with chicken tikka masala : NAN. Love the placement, nen nan.

62. Cpl.'s inferior : PVT. Well I wonder what Alan's private thoughts were when he built this entertaining Friday foray. Mine are: it is time for me to head to the hills, until the next time. I leave you with these two classic BEANS.(0:56) and BEAN.(2:29).

Lemonade peace out. Thanks all.