Words: 70
Blocks: 37
Another Silkie in June ~! Today's puzzle was easier than both Wed and Thu as far as I am concerned - but then again, I was on the right wavelength with clues that I felt confident about when giving it the WAG - ( Wild Ass Guess...not so Wild today ). Odd grid today, too, with triple drops of 8's in the NW and SE, plus quads of 6's in the other corners; 4 10-letter answers -
21A. How waiters take orders : ONE AT A TIME - ever have a waiter/waitress take your table's order withOUT writing it down~?; impressive, especially when they get it right
52A. Best Picture of 1995 : BRAVEHEART - Better times for Mel Gibson; Have not actually sat through the whole movie, and I don't plan to, either - just came back from seeing Prometheus - ***spoiler alert ~!*** ( just my blog only, though....)
8D. Nutritious intake : SQUARE MEAL - I have discovered Greek yogurt; trying to eat better now that I am 'getting older'....
28D. It's tested using the scientific method : HYPOTHESIS
OnWARD Orthorunicans~!!!
ACROSS:
1. Lose focus : BLUR
5. Ones arguing about diamonds: Abbr. : MGRs - Managers - I recall the days of Billy Martin of the Yankees; tried UMPS first, since I WAG-ed this as a baseball diamond reference
9. They may help you find seats : STUBS - ticket stubs
14. Race assignment : LANE - Swimming, e.g.
15. Major oil exporter : IRAQ - IRAN, OPEC, any other 4 letter places?
16. Principle : TENET
17. Press : URGE - not IRON
18. In __: unmoved : SITU - straight Latin
19. Between, overseas : ENTRE
20. Mild oath : EGAD
23. Floral accessory : LEI - Aloha
24. Musical membrane : DRUM HEAD - Here I am in my little studio, and my Ludwig '65 Blue Sparkle set
25. Stridex target : ACNE - ah, yes, I remember the days....
27. "Golly" : "OH GEE"
29. Some IDs : SSNs - Social Security Nos, and also; 64A. Old political divs. : SSRs - Soviet Socialist Republics
30. Marsupial that may be no larger than a rabbit : WALLABY - Image
32. Wyo. hours : MST - Wyoming is on Mountain Standard Time - do they skip Daylight Savings??
34. Cold War deal : SPY SWAP - One of the better James Bond 007 moments, IMHO, from "Die Another Day", where he spent 14 months in captivity, then got "swapped"
35. Cityscape feature : EDIFICE - not SKYLINE, but then again, that's redundant, again
40. Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO
41. Remote pair, often : AA CELLS - Remote control batteries
42. Govt. investigative org. : NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board
46. Olympics host of 1956, 1960 and 2006 : ITALY - Considered TOKYO, but with 40A in the clues....
48. Lesage novel "Gil __" : BLAS - meh, French; the Wiki
49. 24 between Berlin and Hamburg, e.g. : AUTOBAHN - never been, but I would like to, one day, take a speed drive down such a road - is this a "route number"? ( there's two rt24 roads here on Long Island; one in Nassau, the other Suffolk County )
51. Tax shelter initials : IRA - common crosswordese
55. Black : INKY - not EBON
56. 2005 A.L. Hank Aaron Award winner : ORTIZ - a little help, C.C.~?? (From C.C.: David Ortiz. "Big Papi". Linda can tell you more about him. He was lousy when he was with the Twins. On the DL often. Alas! )
57. Swing around : SLUE
58. Where a stud might be found : LOBE - ear, not WALL
59. Get back together : REUNE - is this slang for Reunite? I could not find it in any online dictionary (!?!)
60. They're charged : IONS
61. One may be habitual : LIAR
62. __ guitar : STEEL - Like this one on the cover from Dire Straits
63. Friday et al.: Abbr. : SGTs - Sergeant Friday, Dragnet fame
DOWN:
1. They're rarely enforced : BLUE LAWS - like not being able to work or buy liquor on Sunday; back when I was sixteen, and working for Grossman's Lumber ( based in MA, do you remember them BarryG~? ), Sunday was DOUBLE time - and I worked an 8-hr shift every time
2. Stock designation : LARGE CAP - if you say so; perps got this one for me
3. Bungling : UNGAINLY
4. Swamp thing : REED - tried FERN to start
5. Protein-rich paste : MISO
6. Alfred E. Neuman feature : GRIN
7. Like "Toy Story" : RATED G
9. Cook, in a way : STEAM
10. They can follow points : TENTHS - as in .10
11. Loosens : UNTIES
12. Sportscaster Len who wrote "Spanning the World" : BERMAN
13. Mounts : STEEDS - horses, the noun
22. Super __ : TUESDAY - election fodder
26. Some transit lines : ELs - Elevated trains
27. Shortest book in the Hebrew Bible : OBADIAH
31. Dazzle : AWE
33. Personal quirk : TIC
36. 2, at times: Abbr. : FEBruary, as the months go - my B-day is 2/9/71
37. The Ohio River forms its southern border : ILLINOIS - Map
38. Candy once touted by a giraffe : CLARK BAR
39. Trying ones : ESSAYERS
42. "Return to Mayberry" actor : NABORS - Jim, who went on to his own "Gomer Pyle" TV show
43. Tank top : TURRET - nice deception, but I nailed it - not T-SHIRT
44. Phidias' "Zeus at Olympia," e.g. : STATUE - One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
45. Ox, say : BOVINE
47. Like old recorded music : ANALOG
50. Chisel's edge : BEZEL - tried BEVEL first; makes more sense; I think of a watch face when I hear BEZEL; Google feels the same way - try 'chisel bezel'....
53. Squirt : RUNT
54. Hardy's "Pure Woman" : TESS
55. Maladies : ILLS
Answer grid.
Splynter
