Saturday, Feb 23rd, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 34

 This was a tough one, with a lot of proper names that threatened to undo me, but then some common sense crept in.  With a few changes to early WAGs that threw me off-course, I was able to get through this Silkie....but just over my personal allotted time....oh well.  How did you all do?  A rare "spotty" grid from Mr. Silk, without the usual chunky corners. One grid-spanner:

35A. Former name of the bonobo : PYGMY CHIMPANZEE - Did myself in by pre-filling the last three squares with "-APE", figured I was being smart....there's also a DJ/musical act called Bonobo - check this out, gang~!!

And some other unique fill:

3D. Structure damaged in a 1989 earthquake : BAY BRIDGE - I watched "Strip the City" on Science Channel, San Fransisco (they also did Sydney, London, Toronto, and are finishing up with Rome and Dubai); there was a a clip of this bridge's upper section that collapsed onto the lower; now they are in the process of building a new bridge right next to the original

32D. Fair color? : AZURE BLUE - Fair skies, that is; I love these eyes, too

 

14A. Score in a rare way : STEAL HOME - first time in a published crossword; can you remember a televised home stealing event, C.C.? (From C.C.: Here is one iconic moment in baseball history.) - Also - 50D. 2005 World Series player (his team's only appearance, and they lost) : ASTRO

ONWRAD~!!!

ACROSS:

1. Infect : IMBUE

6. Downs : EATS

10. Derisive exclamation : HAH~!!!

13. Should have said : MEANT

17. "I totally had you going!" : PSYCH - I had PS---, thought my MESA was wrong; then I had PS-CH, and figured I was totally wrong, then the V-8 can came flying....my last letter

18. Drum, say : CONTAINER - ARGH~!!! When you're a drum-MER, then you get caught up in BEAT TIMER, and all sorts of phrases that have nothing to do with container drums....

19. Luxury garb : SABLES

21. Johnny Friendly portrayer in "On the Waterfront" : LEE J. COBB - I had LEE- COBB, couldn't think of a FOUR-letter first name; crossing the CA city didn't help; I'm on the wrong coast

22. It hasn't released a U.S. model since 1987 : RENAULT - Stylish~!!!  Yes, I remember the Renault Alliance, which was probably the last to been seen in America.

24. Edible pods : OKRAS

25. Make two cuts in, maybe : TRISECT - Nailed it

27. Literary monogram : RLS - Robert Louis Stevenson

28. Said three times, a story shortener : YADA - Seinfeld

29. Benefit : AVAIL

32. "Head and Shell" artist : ARP - Jean, and the piece seen here

39. Nationality suffix : ESE - Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese

40. Night time : TEN P.M.

41. Anise-flavored apéritif : OUZO - it was in, it was out; TEEN for PEON made me change it early

42. Some PD officers : LTs

43. Low-cost carrier owned by Southwest : AIR-TRAN - didn't we just have this clued as a Florida-based carrier?

46. Inflexibility : RIGOR

49. Irish omen of death : BANSHEE - nice; I just thought they were screaming ghosts

51. Hunks : ADONISES - also unique fill

53. Eponymous astronomer : HUBBLE - Edwin Hubble, and the orbiting telescope that bears his name

56. Foreman's dramatic phrase : NOT GUILTY - This took a while to come to me; I got thrown by the capital "F" of Foreman, thinking it was a proper name, not the jury foreman who stands and reads the verdict.

58. Place for a crown : MOLAR - ah, the tooth; don't have one (crown, that is; I did lose a molar to a cyst, tho....or is that a 20A. SAC?), so it didn't immediately come to mind

59. Common reimbursement requirement : CLAIM FORM - also unique fill

60. Fights : BOUTS

61. Korean War pres. : HST - Harry S Truman

62. Old draft category : TWO A - Well, we always see ONE A, so I suppose there is a TWO A; is there a NINE Z~???

63. Game with a disk operating system? : SKEET - Hmmm, hockey didn't fit, nor shuffleboard - AH~!!!

DOWN:

1. Rascals : IMPS

2. Flat formation : MESA

4. Guy giving you a pointer? : UNCLE SAM - He wants YOU to go blue on the blog....

5. Fruit-ripening gas : ETHENE - Um, OK, all perps, sounds good

6. Key for backups? : ESCape - the top left key that works in AutoCAD, but not Photoshop; can I tell you how annoying it is to switch between programs? - also -  25D. Use keys : TYPE

7. Eniwetok, for one : ATOLL - I had the "A" early; tried ALEUT; screwed myself

8. Holding : TENET

9. Quench : SATE

10. Word in many oaths : HONOR - I had "NOT~!"  for the Derisive exclamation, so I tried NEVER here

11. Lab subject : AMEBA

12. "Scarborough Fair" quartet : HERBS - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Marti linked the Beastie Boys for me, so here's the Beatnik Boys

15. Home to California's Torrey Pines Golf Course : LA JOLLA

16. Some country folk : HICKS

20. Fluid holder : SAC

23. Many a Mormon : UTAHN - one from UTAH - let it go....

26. Beams : RAYS

27. Tear : RIP

30. Skybox guest : VIP

31. Mideast capital once called Philadelphia : AMMAN - An Egyptian name for this Jordan city - Wiki

33. Iran's Shah Mohammad __ Pahlavi : REZA

34. McJob holder : PEON - not TEEN

36. Element no. 39 : YTTRIUM - I cheated, I cheated~!  I have a periodic table app on my Android - OK, you can read that "nerd", but hey, it's fascinating

37. French "these" : CES

38. Student's purchase : NOTEBOOK

42. Night sound? : LONG I - the sound in the word Night, Niiiiiite

44. Nationality suffix : ISH - English, Irish, Spanish, um, French

45. Compass points : RHUMBS - a loxodrome; it's....well....it's technical - here

46. Spread with hands : RANCH - DAR~!!!  I got this, but stared at it for a bit; oh, THAT kind of spread, and those guys called "hands"

47. Fan faves : IDOLS

48. Insinuated : GOT AT

49. Under : BELOW

52. Smooth out lumps, in a way : SIFT

54. __ fee : LATE

55. While opening : ERST - erstwhile

57. Vocalist Sumac : YMA - crossword standard

Splynter

Friday, February 22, 2013, Ed Sessa

Theme: Time to catch some zzzzs.

A very tight Friday, with some very challenging fill from one of our old pro constructors, for the newbies, here is his INTERVIEW. Today he has a letter/sound substitution where SSes, or the S sound is replaced with a double ZZ to create a new and rib tickling phrase. There was totally unknown fill but some nice ones like, DEN DAD,  DOTE UPON, I SEE YOU, O'LEARY'S, TROJANS, WIZENED and I clearly learned some new things like AGENA and HUTU, no to be confused with HULU. Anyway, enough, on to the show.

18A. North African prison wear? : CON FEZZES (9). (Confesses). Cute visual, though I doubt they really are given out in jails there; and I am not sure they call their convicts cons.

37A. Lint depository? : FUZZ POT.(7). (Fusspot). Another word broken in two to when the S sound is replaced with Z. We also call them fuss-budgets, but I do not know why. When my mother got her first washing machine, she thought the lint filter was some kind of cloth and kept putting it back. With the CON on top it would have been nice to have a police clue here.

59A. Really short haircut? : MICROBUZZ. (9). (Microbus). A very short haircut, or the vehicle of my generation.

3D. Dogcatchers? : MUZZLE MEN.(9). (Muscle men). Very conflicted visual of the mean dogcatcher muzzling the poor puppies.

33D. Ride a Russian statesman? : RAZZ PUTIN.(9). (Rasputin). The famous Mad Monk. Also a shout out to our own RAZZ who was an early contributor to the corner and does stop by now and then. RAZZ from Raspberry. Put your tongue back in.

Across:

1. Foxx who played Ray : JAMIE. I had the pleasure of meeting Ray Charles when he came and played at the music hall, but never met this ACTOR (1:33)  who won the Oscar for this role.

6. Place for shades : LAMP. Some cute deception for a simple fill, as I fist was thinking of glasses.

10. Hard-hitting sound : WHAP. So many choices...

14. Look embarrassed, maybe : BLUSH. "Man is the only animal which blushes. Or needs to." Mark Twain.

15. "Metamorphoses" poet : OVID. The poet of love, who put together this 15 book mock-epic poem which features Cupid rather than the other Roman gods. Not to be confused with Kafka's The Metamorphosis, the meaning of which still bugs me.

16. He helped get Cassio demoted : IAGO. I do love my Shakespeare, but this character really bugs me, especially when I played Cassio in high school.

17. Carving tools : ADZES. Our first Z, but not the last.

20. Bring down to earth : RAZE. Literally down to the ground, as in tearing down a building.

21. "Rats!" : DANG. A good Southern US word.

22. Nancy Drew books pseudonym : KEENE. You might want to check out this LINK which tells you all you wanted to know and more. I had a Ned reference recently.

23. Disinfectant brand : LYSOL. This product has been around since the early days of Downton Abbey, where if only Ethel Parks had known of its other USES she might still be working there.

25. Scout leader : DEN DAD. Reminds me of our own Dr. Dad. Are these with the Cub Scouts? And, 36A. Rapper who founded Aftermath Entertainment : DRE. Another Dr. D.

26. Went on a date, perhaps : ATE OUT. Speaking of Lois' recent birthday, her DF comment on this almost salacious clue would be wonderful.

28. Soft material : SUEDE.  The original

30. Affectedly reserved : DEMURE. What a great definition.

31. Rugrat : IMP.

32. Trifle : DRIB. I found this clue a bit drab.

40. Bustle : ADO. Shakespeare again?

41. ___-Indian War : SINO. Of or relating to Chinese. This was likely a response to the grant of asylum to the Dalai Lama by India, and was fought in the Himalayan mountains.

43. It has some crust : PIE. Another fun clue for simple fill.

44. Makes more elegant, with "up" : RITZES. Not the crackers, but basis of this SONG.(2:03).

46. Pillages : LOOTS.

48. Storied swinger : TARZAN. Did you go ape over this clue, or think about Lois again?

49. Spot for a belt : TAVERN. Another nice one, I hope you did not waist time on any other answer.

52. "The Fox and the Crow" writer : AESOP. The fabled moral man, not the morel one..

53. Fugitive's invention : ALIAS. I think creation is more accurate.Oddly, AESOP is an alias.

54. Helper : HAND. All hands on deck.

56. Begin to dive : JUMP. Off the diving board or out of the plane, or off the boat?

61. "Today" anchor before Meredith : KATIE. Couric. This anchor. Thumbs up, or down?

62. Nasty : ICKY. Gentleman, do you remember the shuffle?

63. Case for pins and needles : ETUI. No not Brutus.

64. Chilling : ON ICE. Honey, is the champagne chillin'?

65. Take away : LESS. Not fish and chips but subtraction.

66. Capital of Estonia : EURO. Money honey; The Capital City is Tallinn which I bet very few knew.

67. Grant player : ASNER. Lou from Mary Tyler Moore comedy, who went on to his own serious show.

Down:

1. Old ski lift : J-BAR. Also a place in Davie where you drink, and a rare J for me.

2. Bisset's "The Mephisto Waltz" co-star : ALDA. This MOVIE (2:27)which I never heard of.

4. Phrase in a tot's game : I SEE YOU. Peek-a-boo.

5. Questioning utterances : EHS. Eh, exsqueeze me?

6. Nearby : LOCAL

7. Viva by Fergie fragrance maker : AVON. The power of the mighty dollar. She and hubby Josh Duhamel announced she is carrying their first baby.

8. Big name in artifacts : MING. Was this a much studied DYNASTY in China, C.C.? (From C.C.: Probably because of the porcelain. But Tang Dynasty garners  more interest. More than any other dynasty, Tang had the most influence on Japanese culture, esp architecture, tea custom and clothing.)

Tang Costumes

9. Adobe file format : PDF. Portable Documnet Format., this was on Jeopardy Champions and they all got it wrong, the backbone of my profession.

10. Old and wrinkled : WIZENED. But I earned every wrinkle!

11. Made indistinct : HAZED. I went away to prep school, so this word had a very different meaning.

12. Gemini docking target : AGENA. I did not know most of this LINK.

13. Sat : POSED. Has any of us worked as a painter's model? You don't have to say if you posed nude, but of course we want to know.

19. Barely got (by) : EKED. For those of us who barely eked out a living to survive college, a few dollars to be a still model, nude or not made sense.

21. Spoil : DOTE UPON. You can bet little Miss Charlotte will get lots of spoiling from me.

24. Turf mate : SURF. Love the rhyme.

25. Banished, in a way : DEPORTED. Immigration reform is not a good topic.

26. Counts (up) : ADDS. Simple and elegant.

27. Garr of "Mr. Mom" : TERI. One of my favorite comic ACTRESSES.(1:31).

28. Shoe store array : SIZES. Am I the only who thought of Al Bundy?

29. One crying foul : UMP. A baseball reference for C.C. and spring training which has begun.

34. Notion : IDEA. I had an inkling you found this easy.

35. Cap'n's mate : BOS'N. Also know as the BOATSWAIN..

38. Skin cream target : ZIT. Not to be confused with our earlier ZOT.

39. Tijuana relatives : TIAS. Spanish Aunts, not Spanish Flys.

42. Mrs. ___ cow : O'LEARYS. The scapegoat for the Chicago FIRE.

45. Insidious malware with a classically derived name : TROJANS. From the Trojan horse used to trick Troy by the Greeks. Not sure how they became the name of  condoms which keep things out rather than sneak them in.

47. Thereabouts : OR SO.

49. ___ Tigers: Sri Lankan separatists : TAMIL. Do you read this NEWS.?

50. Mrs. Kramden of Chauncey Street : ALICE. Most remember Audrey Meadows, "to the Moon Alice."

but she was the second actress to play the part.

51. NyQuil manufacturer : VICKS. I loved the TBBT with Sheldon, Amy and Vaporub.

52. WWII Italian beachhead : ANZIO.

54. Rwanda native : HUTU. This corner was really hard for me. I did not know any of this LINK.

55. Bleu shade : AZUR. French lesson of the day.

57. Chuck E. Cheese et al. : MICE. And Mickey and Minnie.

58. Review target : PEER. The process in graduate schools where the department members look over each other's shoulders.

60. Opie's great-aunt : BEE. Standing for B., not Beatrice.

61. Camping org. : KOA. Kampground of America.

Well, time to fold my tents and let you have control of your computers; I hope you enjoyed our time together with Ed and his handiwork. Thanks Dr. Sessa, and thank you all, and a continuing welcome to all the newbies who keep the rest of us on our toes, which for someone not ballet trained is hard.

Lemonade out.