Saturday, Aug10th, 2013, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 64 (missing J,Q,Y,Z)

Blocks: 32

  I loved the look of this big-blocks-in-the-corners grid, but after getting started, realized that the 6X6 mini-grids would be impossible unless you could get some traction. Ouch. Ultimately, I finished, but I needed red-letters to "8D" the two words I had wrong.  Oh, and the crossing of TWO utter unknown proper names left me with one 'vowel WAG' to close it out.  Low word count today, and one grid climber:

7. "That's a touchy subject" : DON'T EVEN GO THERE - I had enough crossings to fill this in; however, when I hear or use this phrase, it's usually more than just a 'touchy' subject; more like a DF one if you ask me....

O-ring(*)N-test(*)W-beam(*)A-line(*)R-value(*)D-day~!

ACROSS:

1. Froth makers : WHISKS - Whip me up one of those pizza crusts~!(um, no whisk required, actually)

7. Mil. honor : DSM - Distinguished Service Medal - from doing crosswords

10. River that rises in the Vogesen Mountains : SAAR - tried AARE first; ooh, so close with the double "AA"

14. Alert on the road : HONK AT - I like to give a quick double-tap to the person in the car ahead of me that is on the phone while sitting at a green light - a double tap of the HORN; mind you, some days....

15. "Well, it sure beats me" : "OH I DUNNO" - Ugh, tough one; I thought it was I'VE NO IDEA, but it didn't fit; the last "A" came from 13D, and that bugger messed me up

17. Anatolian metropolis : ANKARA - Turkey; map

18. Propose for an office : NOMINATE - I must have read this clue out loud 4 times, and just couldn't get the meaning; then I realized we're talking about running for an office, not the people that work in an  office....

19. "The Joys of Yiddish" author Leo : ROSTEN - WAGged the "O" as "E" first - BZZZZZZT~!

20. Lures with music : TWEEDLES - Got stuck with 'T---S IN' to start - TEASES IN~? Nope. Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee, now those two, I know

21. One may be imaginary : FRIEND - I got lots of these - and I'm NOT on Facebook~!

22. Joy, for one : EMOTION

23. Touchy, as a subject : SENSITIVE

25. "Sons of Anarchy" co-star Katey : SAGAL - I thought it was sEgal, so that slowed me up

27. Bump on a log : NODE - ah, not knot

28. Brand with Ultra Leakguards : LUVS - diapers; we get econo-boxes of these at UPS, and the fragrance they are made with stinks worse than what they're supposed to 'catch'

29. Woman's name derived from an Old Norse word for "holy" : HELGA

33. Moreover : AND

35. "I cast to earth __ ...": Tennyson : A SEED - OK, so an A word; did I just hear you use the F-word?

36. Little redhead on vintage TV : OPIE - Ron Howard's role on "The Andy Griffith Show" - here's a guitar rendition of "The Fishin' Hole"

37. Maven : GURU - Maven is on the Yiddish list, too

39. Occasional presentations? : GIFTS - present(ations)

41. Largely factual entertainment genre : DOCU-DRAMA

46. Have a go at : TEST OUT - meh, not what I mean by "have a go at"

48. __ fever: tween "malady" : BIEBER - Puh-leeze

49. One who can hold her own : NO SLOUCH - Nope, no slouching here

50. Hurly-burly : BEDLAM

51. Rude : IMPOLITE

52. Utterly senseless : INSANE - aw, not WHACKO?

53. Coastal resident : SEASIDER

54. Ball game official : SCORER - ugh, not UMPIRE

55. "Tepper __ Going Out": Calvin Trillin novel : ISN'T

56. End of the block? : ADE - BlockADE

57. Charming people? : HEXERS - Cute

DOWN:

1. Moors at a dock : WHARFS - not this WORF's

2. French cartoonist Daumier : HONORE - and the other name that did me in

3. Finishes, as a cartoon : INKS IN - nailed it

4. Penguins' footwear : SKATES - Pittsburgh Penguins, of the NHL....maybe could have used a "?" at the end; I nailed it, but then again, I am a monster hockey fan

5. Tolstoy heroine : KARENINA - Done with Russians; any single women out there that are "no slouch"? (see above)

6. Assume battle stations : STAND TO

8. "Where?" : SHOW ME - Gimme, HuskerG; famous movie quote?

9. Passé copier : MIMEO - mimeograph, the Wiki

10. Old timers? : SUNDIALS - excellent clue/answer

11. Parkay, to butter : ANALOGUE - by definition, this means 'similar to', from the Greek analogos meaning "proportionate"; I grew up with analog(ue) meaning "NOT digital"

12. Church porch : ANTENAVE - I just could not find an image with this word on it; this was a cool pic with cathedral terminology; you can imagine where the antenave would be

13. Small deer : ROES - This ruined my whole NE; I live on FAWN lane, so that's what I filled in straight away, and it messed me up until I turned red, and then "Dah~!"

16. Fare reductions? : DIETS - HAR-HAR~!

24. The Bitterroot Range runs along its E. border : IDAho, map

26. '60s counterculture substance : LSD - not sold over the counter....

29. Road animal? : HOG - "Road Hog~!"

30. Paragons : EPITOMES - nailed it

31. 100 years or more, for a giant tortoise : LIFESPAN

32. Makes too many wrong turns, maybe : GETS LOST - Two wrongs don't make a right; three lefts do....

34. Parisian peer : DUC - Frawnch for duke, that kind of peer; I actually read this as 'deer', so it's a good thing the perps took care of it

35. Theater group : AUDIENCE - ah, not TROUPE, and ACTORS GUILD didn't fit, either

38. Refuse : RUBBISH - which way to read it?  REH-fuse, or ree-FUSE? Needed perps

40. __ Razberi: flavored vodka : STOLI - A WAG, but then again vodka, so....

41. Conveyed by pipes, as heat : DUCTED - Can you see me gritting my teeth? heat conveyed in pipes is a FORCED hot-water heating system; DUCTED is an AIR system that, well, uses ducts....just sayin'

42. Yankees rival : RED SOX - I can't stand the Yankees, so by default a Red Sox fan; I grew up with the Mets here on Lawn Guyland

43. Like klaxons in action : ABLARE - Klaxon is a brand name of electrically operated horn, and another A-word

44. Not as nice : MEANER

45. Weapons suppliers : ARMERS - Dah~!  Not ArmOrY

47. One-named writer of "Under Two Flags" : OUIDA - her WIki

49. Not finalized, in law : NISI - the Latin word for "useless"; Our resident legal eagles can go into more detail

Splynter

Friday, August 9, 2013, Matt Skoczen

Theme: Clecho Echo

The second Friday in recent memory where we have a single clue for five theme answers; this is a very ambitious offering with three grid spanners and 2 14s. This is my first time blogging one of Matt's works, though he is a regular contributor, with a number of Sunday puzzles, and a few collaborations, such as the recent one with Patti Varol which marti presented. Whenever you have such long fill and only the single, simple clue, you need the perps to get going. I found the theme well thought out, and the rest pretty straightforward, this is one time everyone knows the theme, so let's get to it.

17A. Crash : COMPUTER FAILURE.(15). Nothing more discouraging while writing the blog.

23A. Crash : MARKET COLLAPSE.(14). I was not around for the October 1929 crash, but I was in 1987.

38A. Crash : SHATTERING NOISE.(15). NOISE came easily, the rest did not.

46A. Crash : ENTER UNINVITED.(14). If you want an INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO. (1:25).

57A. Crash : BUNK FOR THE NIGHT.(15). Has to work hard for the BUNK, had the B and Bed at first.

On the the rest of the pieces....

Across:

1. Beachgoer's download : E-BOOK. It is Déjà vu all over again; can you believe we start with two (2) pf marti's LFBAW fill?

6. "Saving Private Ryan" setting : D-DAY.

10. Oz. sextet : TSPS. I was tempted to parse this as T-sps, to keep the game alive.

14. Does a Photoshop task : CROPS.

15. Became frayed : WORE.

16. Heaps : A LOT. An acceptable A word?

20. Cut off : LOP. What you have to do when alot becomes too much.

21. "The Book of ___": Denzel Washington film : ELI.

22. Cook's aid : TIMER. So many choices.

28. Garden tools : HOES. Do we still need Don Imus jokes here?

29. Modern joke response : LOL. Lots of Ls with LOP and

30. Eagerly accept, as praise : LAP UP. Good fill for this feline following.

32. ___ flakes : BRAN. Corn vs. bran.

34. Angle iron : L-BAR. Here we go again, LFBAW.

41. Some code tones : DAHS. Everyone knows this, duh!

42. A line may be drawn in it : SAND.

43. Gift ___ : OF GAB. Nice simple but fun fill.

44. Handle clumsily : PAW.

45. Bibliog. term : ET AL.

53. Reagan's second attorney general : MEESE. Not related to Bullwinkle. LINK.

54. ___ gratia : DEI.

55. Road service org. : AAA.

62. Acronymic French artist : ERTE.

63. Caboose : REAR.

64. One never seen in "Peanuts" : ADULT.

65. French ___ : DOOR. Kiss?

66. Its Old World Style label has a gondola on it : RAGU.

67. Art of verse : POESY. Not really a word I know, kept looking for the "T."

Noun

Poetry: "they were enamored of poesy and the fine arts".

The art or composition of poetry.

Down:

1. "To every thing there is a season" Bible bk. : ECCLesiastes 3:1. I like this VERSION..(3:56).

2. Cleaning tool : BROOM. Brush also fit.

3. Rhythmic song from "Oliver!" : OOM PAH PAH. What FUN. (2:17).

4. Something for nothing?: Abbr. : OPP. Something is the OPPosite of Nothing. (thank you).

5. Sch. near Topeka : KSU. Kansas State University.

6. Resided : DWELT.

7. Greek column style : DORIC. I could write a column on how often we have this fill.

8. Sound from a shelter : ARF. Animal shelter; I have many friends involved in rescue missions.

9. Pro vote : YEA.

10. She was Adrian in "Rocky" : TALIA. First name - first name. Yo!

11. Batter's rough patch : SLUMP. Sadly the Marlins manage to share theirs.

12. Skin features : PORES.

13. Cordwood measure : STERE. This was once a very common fill.

18. Casual shirts : TEES.

19. "___ take a miracle!" : IT'LL.

24. Big wins : ROUTS.

25. Continued, with "up" : KEPT.

26. Chan portrayer : OLAND. All of the Charlie Chan movies are available on You Tube. This oddly cast Swedish gentleman made a bunch of THEM.

27. Like most Michener novels : LONG. Funny way to clue a simple word; but if you read Hawaii or some of the others....

30. '60s hallucinogen : LSD. Speaking of Joe Cocker and Woodstock....

31. "Caught ya!" : AHA.

32. Strength : BRAWN. Loved it crossing BRAN.

33. ___ Tin Tin : RIN. My childhood was more Rin than Lassie.

34. Lite : LO-FAT. No-fat seemed so nice.

35. Foremost : BIG LEAGUE.

36. Mad-hatter connection : AS A.

37. Hardly a Yankee fan? : REBel. Johnny was his name.

39. Old Testament twin : ESAU.

40. "You've got the wrong person" : NOT I. I am grammatically correct and would never have split that infinitive.

44. Bk. intro : PREFace.

45. Songwriter Sands : EVIE. I cannot imagine how I missed this entertainer; I know some of the music. LINK.

46. Add to a website, as a video clip : EMBED. Or to a blog.

47. Prefix with ophthalmology : NEURO. So many choices, again.

48. A bit before the hour : TEN TO. This popped out as TEN OF until I saw our old friend RT.

49. Glacial ridge : ESKER. Every time we see this one, we all say, oh yeah, Last used by John Lampkin on a Sunday. LINK.

50. Conference attendee's wear : ID TAG. I wanted badge.

51. Indian independence leader : NEHRU. And he made cute jackets.

52. Writer Roald and others : DAHLS. If I were a nit picker, I would say gratuitous plural could have been avoided by saying Roald and Arlene.

56. Court fig. : ATTY.

58. "Catch-22" pilot : ORR.

59. Belfast-born actor Stephen : REA. First saw him in the Crying Game.

60. Day break? : NAP. Long fill also means short fill, and this one I find elegant.

61. Words often said in front of a priest : I DO. Or I did,  and I am sorry.

Well we are deep into summer and schools are getting ready in Florida; where does it all go. Hope you enjoyed the journey, look forward to your take.

Lemonade out.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Will Shortz is visiting Minnesota next month. Click here for details. I hope to see some of you there.

2) Regular posters know that CrossEyedDave has been making pizzas in the woods for over 40 years and he's in constant search for a perfect pizza crust. Click here to read his recipe and musings. Please chime in in the Comments section if you have any secret trick to make the crust chewy & fluffy (Papa John's style).