Saturday, Apr 13th, 2013, John Farmer

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,V,X)

Blocks: 27

   Hey~!  I finally finished a Farmer Saturday without red-letter help, and in a respectable time as well~!  There were many "alternate" answers to clues today, which could have led to a much harder solve, and some clechos, too.  Pretty pinwheel with a staircase center, triple 9's, triple 8's.  Worth a mention at the top today:

15A. Coroner's conclusion : "IT'S MURDER~!" - Frequent segment in TV shows like "Law & Order", "CSI", "Rizzoli & Isles", etc; personally, I like "CUPPI" - Case Undetermined Pending Police Investigation

67A. Something to throw when you're down : PITY PARTY - I was at a birthday party tonight; anyone here been to a "pity" party lately?

14D. Villainous : SINISTER - from being on the left hand side, which in the Latin is Sinistral, and "unfavorable"; right-handedness is Dextral; I am 'sinister' by the way....

36. One of The United States' six : TIME ZONE

                    d~!

               r

          a

     w

  n

o

ACROSS:

1. Trial run for a far-fetched argument, say : LAUGH TEST - not familiar with this phrase; I was trying to get LITMUS TEST to fit

10. Developing areas : WOMBS - had UTERI to start

16. China from Japan : IMARI

17. Escape : STEAL AWAY - an Ozzy Osbourne song, for those who care; speaking of "Escape", I am looking at a 2006 Ford Escape hybrid, $9K, 68,000mi, 36MPG - depending on the UPS outcome

18. Pre-heist job : RECONaissance - I had "SCOPE", as in 'case the joint';  conflicted with my first choice for 53A."...overhead view" = (tele)SCOPE

19. Begin to develop : BUD - they're showing up here~!  I just whacked down much of the apple tree in our backyard; it was literally choking itself, and the inedible fruit attracts wasps

20. Provençal sauce : AIOLI - that 'eh' crossword garlic mayonaisse

21. As a friend, to François : EN AMI - eh, more Frawnch

22. Encumbrance : ONUS

24. Tender cuts : LOINS

26. Familia titles: Abbr. : SRAs

27. Buddha's birthplace, per most scholars : NEPAL

29. Slack : DOG IT

31. Lake of the Woods prov. : ONTario

32. "Hanging __ Moment": 2001 Lifehouse hit : BY A

34. "When pigs fly!" : "NO CHANCE~!"

36. Winter Palace rule : TSARISM - I put in TSARINA to start(?); also could have been CZARISM, too, and thrown you

40. Not so cool : NERDIER - the 'hip' kind of cool

41. Whistling past the graveyard, so to speak : IN DENIAL - or knee deep on a trip to Egypt....

43. May honoree : MOM

44. __-jongg : MAH

45. Pitch indicator : G CLEF and then the "G" moves to the backside in   56A. Cause of a hair-raising experience? : ZERO G - and a clecho with 35D. Pitching specialists : AD MEN - different kind of pitch, tho

47. BB? : BETAS - um, as in two "B"s ??? (Note from C.C.: I don't get the clue either.)

51. Manages somehow, with "out" : EKES

53. Aid for an overhead view : STILT - ah, not SCOPE;  stilts so you can see over heads

55. Nobel Laureate portrayed in "A Beautiful Mind" : NASH

58. Regatta racer : SLOOP - ah, not YACHT

60. Sew up : ICE - ah, not END

61. Philip Glass's "Waiting for the Barbarians," e.g. : OPERA - with a title like that, I can envision the Viking Fat Lady singing

62. Author whose only published novel won a Pulitzer : HARPER LEE

64. Saltpeter : NITER - Every time I see 'saltpeter', my mind says "hey, that's NITER, right~? Or maybe I'm wrong~?"; then the perps fill it in....

65. "Be right with you!" : "ONE SECOND~!"

66. Schoolboy jackets : ETONS - From the school outside London, which is NOT in continental Europe; see 1D.

DOWN:

1. Westernmost capital in Continental Europe : LISBON - (Portugal); I stopped myself before finishing "LONDON"

2. Harmonize : ATTUNE

3. Tapped out : USED UP

4. TV debut of 1975, for short : GMA - Good Morning America, not "SNL" - Saturday Night Live

5. Dance in a raffia skirt : HULA - can't pass up a "skirt" link....

6. Track : TRAIL

7. Title director in a 1994 biopic : ED WOOD - did not see this movie

8. Aquarium attraction : SEA LION

9. Fitting activity : TRYING ON  - and clecho 48D. Fitting employee : TAILOR

10. Spy wear, maybe : WIRE

11. Tarot cards, e.g. : OMENS - I have a deck of TAROT cards; I like them for the art, but I do treat them as having an "aura", so they're wrapped in silk - not Barry Silk, mind you

12. Salad component : MACARONI

13. Modern-day male bonding : BROMANCE - I am just not into the "Hangover"-type movies, and I do not consider any of male friends as part of a Bro - mance. 

23. 1999 Stanley Cup finals competitor : SABRE - from Buffalo; not STARS, the winners in 1999; Dallas made it to the Cup final the next year, too, but lost to the NJ Devils; tonight it's Rangers v. Islanders for 7th place in the Eastern Conference - should be a game worthy of the early rivalry between these two teams that has not had much weight lately, since the Islanders last playoff appearance was 2003

25. Unlikely command to a Chihuahua : SIC 'EM

28. Prone : LYING - we had this discussion recently

30. Beat : THROB

33. Converse rival : ASICS - Sneaker companies

37. Hostile environment : SNAKE PIT - also the name of Slash's band for two albums after Guns N' Roses - the first one was titled "It's Five O'clock Somewhere", Tin~!

38. Follow : ADHERE TO

39. Jukebox setting : MALT SHOP

42. "Sweet __": Oscar-winning song from "Waikiki Wedding" : LEILANI

46. Piece of broccoli : FLORET

49. Rise : ASCENT

50. Ally of the Brat Pack : SHEEDY - I mis-read this on the first pass as "RAT" pack; in the 80's, the "Brat Pack" included these actors/actresses

52. "Either/Or" writer Kierkegaard : SØREN - Also mentioned in the "Types" personality book that I frequently talk about; more here

54. Stowe slave girl : TOPSY - not familiar with her; all perps for me

57. Long-nosed fish : GARS - did the fish(es) fool you?

59. Sound often prohibited? : PEEP - "Not a peep from you, young lady~!"

63. Kelly Clarkson record label : RCA

    I passed my UPS driving test despite stalling at a green light in traffic; I was prepared for the crappiest stick-shift they could find (all the 'good' trucks were out on deliveries) and I actually "delivered" a package, as opposed to 'driving around the block'....now I have to wait for either a really busy Spring/Summer, or the next contract in August, when new terms might lead to more retirements.  Thanks for the kind words~!

 Splynter

Friday, April 12, 2013 Julian Lim

Theme: STNIOJ SDRAWKCAB

17A. Extra effort : WOBLE [ELBOW] GREASE.

21A. "That's rich!" evoker : EENK [KNEE] SLAPPER.

40A. Take on responsibility : REDLUOHS [SHOULDER] THE LOAD.

57A. It usually involves rapping : PIH [HIP] HOP MUSIC.

And the unifier:

64A. Filing option, or what can be found in four long answers? : JOINT RETURN. The first word of each phrase is a synonym for a body part (specifically: joint) that "returns," or goes backward. Nice theme, and appropriate as tax deadline day draws near!

Just missing a Z for a pangram. Thankfully, most of the fill was fairly easy, but I still had a huge blank swath going down the west side of this puzzle for the longest time.  Every time I checked the down answers, it gave me jibberish for the beginnings of the theme entries. I bet I'm not the only one who did that.

Marti here, filling in for our fearless Friday fellow. Thanks for pinch-hitting for me yesterday, Lemony!

Across:

1. Least ancient : LATEST.

7. Some TVs : RCAS.

11. This second, briefly : PDQ. Pretty Da*n Quick.

14. Forward, to Fiorello : AVANTI. Italian. I am going to Italy this summer, and have been brushing up on my rusty Italian, so this was a gimme.

15. City SW of Buffalo : ERIE.

16. Christian sch. since 1963 : ORU. Oral Roberts University. And 61-Down. Kind of exam : ORAL.

19. Shoofly ___ : PIE. Really sweet southern dish made with molasses, and topped with a sugary crumble.

20. Skittish NBC show? : SNL. Saturday Night Live. Full of "skits."

23. Jellied item in British cuisine : EEL. I have linked this dish before. It's not a pretty sight.

25. "Days of Grace" memoirist : ASHE. Arthur finished it just a week before he died.

26. Relaxed : EASY.

27. GRE components : ESSAYS.

30. Doubter's question : IS IT?

32. Note promising notes : CHIT. Hands up for those who wanted IOUs? I read it first as "note-promising" notes, instead of "A" note that promises notes (money.)

33. Letter-routing letters : ATTN.

36. Big-eared flier of film : DUMBO.

43. Finish : USE UP.

44. It may be spare : ROOM.

45. "Progress through Technology" automaker : AUDI.

46. "Awesome!" : NICE. and 50-Across. Awesome, in a way : EPIC.

48. Original Speed Stick maker : MENNEN.

53. Used to be : WERE.

56. Giant of note : OTT (Mel)

60. Rock's ___ Fighters : FOO. THESE ARE MY FAMOUS LAST WOOORRRDS... 4:52

63. Maker of SteeL kitchen products : OXO. I have a lot of the Good Grips items, but didn't realize they also have other lines, including SteeL.

66. Beret, e.g. : CAP.

67. ___ Accords: 1993 agreement : OSLO.

68. Having trouble : IN A JAM.

69. Charles V's domain: Abbr. : HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

70. Light submachine gun : STEN.

71. Forgetful, maybe : SENILE. "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most..."

Down:

1. Murphy's and Godwin's, for two : LAWS. Murphy: "Whatever can go wrong, will." Godwin: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

2. Shakespeare's flower? : AVON. Here's where I started suspecting something goofy at 17-Across. Of course we have seen "flow-er" referring to rivers many times, and I was sure this had to be AVON. But what the heck is WO*** GREASE??

3. Carving area : TABLESIDE. I am a sucker for Bananas Foster prepared TABLESIDE.

4. It's bigger than the neg. : ENL.argement.

5. Unwavering : STEELY.

6. Buster Brown's dog : TIGE.

7. Causes a stink : REEKS.

8. Collide with : CRASH INTO.

9. Where the slain roll? : AISLES. Hahahahahahahaaaaa...you slay me, Julian!

10. "I ___ beautiful city...": Dickens : SEE A. You may be more familiar with the ending of this quote: "It is a far, far better thing that I do..."

11. Dad : POPPA.

12. Preserves, in a way : DRIES. Think "dried fruit."

13. Editor's request : QUERY. Rich only accepts theme queries for Sunday puzzles. For the rest of the the week, he requires a completed grid with clues.

18. Genetic letters : RNA. I really wanted to enter this, but EEN* SLAPPER just didn't seem plausible for 21-Across.

22. Prone to snits : PETULANT. I was getting into a snit by this time...

24. Grab a sandwich, perhaps : EAT LUNCH. This one beat me up and stole my lunch money, so I had nothing left to buy a sandwich with.

27. 65-Down shade : ECRU. And 65-Down. Darken in a salon : TAN.

28. Women : SHES. meh.

29. ___ Miguel: Azores island : SAO. In the North Atlantic. Map.

31. Suffix with ox- : IDE.

34. Like many a brisk 45-minute walk : THREE MILE. I usually do two miles on the treadmill in 1/2 hour. So this is just about right.

35. General on a menu : TSO. Hello, ol' friend!

37. View from Tokyo : MOUNT FUJI. Nice view, with a hat made of lenticular clouds..

38. Wished : BADE. Past tense of "bid."

39. Valhalla chief : ODIN.

41. Reuters competitor : UPI. United Press International.

42. "I wonder..." : HMM.

47. Breakfast cereal magnate : C.W. POST.

49. With 50-Down, when modern mammals emerged : EOCENE. And 50-Down. See 49-Down : EPOCH.

51. "Brave" studio : PIXAR. I vaguely remembered seeing commercials for this movie, so knew it was an animated film.

52. "Fingers crossed" : I HOPE. By this time, I was hoping I would be able to finish the puzzle!

54. Bad sentence : RUN ON. Because "life" is too short.

55. Round no. : EST.imate.

58. Parts of la cara : OJOS. La cara = "face" in Spanish. Ojos = "eyes." Al Martino got it right.

59. 1978 Booker Prize recipient Murdoch : IRIS. Dame Iris Murdoch, for her book "The Sea, the Sea."

62. "I got it" : ON ME. (Sorry, not today. Someone stole my lunch money...)

See you next week in my usual Thursday seat!

Hugs,

Marti