google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Sep 29, 2012

Saturday, Sep 29th, 2012, Barry C. Silk

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 33

Saturday Silk~!  This one was 'overdue' according to my schedule, but always a pleasure to see.  Deceptively "easy" looking grid without that "whitewash" look to it, with what I would call manageable 6- and 8-letter corners, and two 14-letter near spanners,  sort of related:

27A. Rocket scientist's calculation: ESCAPE VELOCITY - Husker Gary probably nailed this one; the thrust needed to overcome gravity; since the passing of Neil Armstrong, AMC  has been showing Apollo 13 frequently, and I love that movie

44A. 1979 Einstein Medal recipient: STEPHEN HAWKING - we just had a "PH" Steve on Thursday.  This one became  obvious after I got the "K" from the Star Trek clue

 Lots of proper names had me worried, but in the end, they filled via perps~!

 On-WORD ~!

ACROSS:

1) Heavy D, e.g.: RAPPER - I am familiar with the name, but my crossings weren't cooperating at  first

7) Herb related to oregano: MARJORAM - Did not know this, but then the "J" appeared, and strangely, the last tenant in my apartment put up 'herb' wallpaper in the kitchen, and marjoram is on there - so I am glad I still haven't gotten around to painting over it~!

15) 1960s-'70s San Fransisco mayor: ALIOTO - filled with perps; this guy

16) Natural soother: ALOE VERA - good to see the whole thing; got it right away

17) Suit portmanteau: HAZMAT - I keep forgetting what portmanteau means; once I had ---MAT, I figured it out.  Short for "HAZardous MATerials" - we have a department at UPS dedicated to coming around to collect damaged packages; so far, all I have ever seen are  leakers, and it's usually Mop N' Glo - the containers are a bit flimsy....

18) Scraps: REMNANTS - the noun, not the verb

19) French naturalism pioneer: ZOLA - this guy; once I read this I said "yeah, OK....I'll get back to it"

20) Fury: IRE

21) Without hope: LOST - FUTILE didn't fit

22) Withdraw: WEAN

24) Philosophy that influenced Buddhism: TANTRA

32) Acre's land; Abbr.: ISRael

33) Burst of bad temper: HISSY - usually seen with "FIT", and usually seen at bedtime with 5-yr olds....

34) 2012 Angels rookie standout Mike: TROUT - See here.

36) Purple Label designer: LAUREN - Ralph

38) React when the brass walks in: SNAP TO - not  SALUTE; we have some military here at the blog; probably did both with a "snap to and salute"

39) Janitor's supply: LYSOL - brand name, was not looking for that

40) Invention credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori circa 1700 - PIANO - a lot of clue for a little answer, I had --ANO, and the light came on....

43) Block: BAN

47) Infected: SEPTIC

48) 10th-century Russian Orthodox saint: OLGA - I WAGed OLAF, just because....

49) Modern code letters: HTML - once I had HT--, I confidently put in HTTP, and BZZZZT~!!

53) Make fun of: APE - not RIB

54) Big name in music compilations: K-TEL - oh yeah, I remember them ; - Wow~!!! that's a bargain~!

56) Principal McGee portrayer in the "Grease" films: EVE ARDEN - never watched it all the way through; just not my thing

58) Five-time all-star catcher Santiago: BENITO - C.C., anything to add? (From C.C.: I was surprised to find out that he's National League's Rookie of the Year in 1987.  Mark McGwire for American League the same year. Jose Conseco AL 1986? Wow. * & *.)

61) Suppresses: SMOTHERS - and I had FIRE HOSE at 63A to start, too....

62) Put in a row: ALINED - it's a word, and I wanted the "G" in there, too

63) Crowd-control device: SAW HORSE - oh, uh, yeah, that, too - not what I use them for

64) Ska kin: REGGAE - nailed it

DOWN:

1) Stadium backing: RAH - oh, not the company that owns the place....

2) As per: Á LA

3) Place for toppings: PIZZA CRUST - was thinking Ice Cream parlor

4) City mentioned in the 1964 hit "G.T.O.": POMONA - OK, so I cheated and went to the lyrics on Google to verify that PEORIA was wrong

5) Citation ender, perhaps: ET AL. - Latin, et alia (alii) for "and other(s)" 

6) Gradually substitute: ROTATE IN - used to rotate stock at the hardware stores I worked at, too.

7) "Battle Cry" squad members: MARINES

8) With awareness: ALERTLY

9) Guitarist Ángel or Pepe: ROMERO - I know Cesar....

10) Actress famous for "The Rachel" hairstyle, familiarly: JENnifer Aniston - one of my personal favorites


11) Cricket infield shape: OVAL



12) Western city with an annual balloon race: RENO - just missed it; next September

13) NEA part: ARTS - we've had this discussion before; it's either the National Endowment for the Arts, or the National Education Association

14) Spar: MAST - meh, I know this was intended to be a misdirection, but I always thought of a 'spar' as a cross-member TO a mast....image

22) 1947 Tony-winning composer for "Street Scene": WEILL (Kurt) - I had "-EILL", and I put in "N" which made sense, but then I had "NEAN", and that couldn't be right....

23) Lamb treats: ESSAYS - HA~!!! Did not fool me - looking for this guy, not the meat

25) Colorado skaters, in sports reports: AVs - who? what? come again?...not familiar with this organization....oh, those people

26) Ad directive: ACT NOW ~!!! - see 54A

28) Impossible Missions Force leader Jim: PHELPS - earworm~!!! dun dun dun da da

29) After-work plan, for short: IRA - I missed the "-" in the clue, so I was thinking about "a toast to all at sunset"

30) What starts get: TOP BILLING

31) Chinese author Lin ___: YUTANG - this guy

35) Kingdom called the Friendly Islands: TONGA - travel guide

37) Sturgeon yield: ROE - hey~! I got one~!

38) Theater feature: SNACK BAR

40) 3-Down topping: PEPPERS - I prefer meat toppings, but not lamb....

41) Strong: INTENSE

42) Hawaiian tuna: AHI

45) Shot from the top?: HEADER - as in soccer, knocking it home with one's noggin

46) Chekov portrayer in "Star Trek": KOENIG - Walter, the Russian character who, along with Uhura and Spock, were part of Gene Roddenberry's vision of a 'unified' future - although the "bad guys" in the original series, the Klingons, were clearly a variation on the 1960's "Commie" threat

49) Name on a collectible toy truck: HESS - I pretty much got one every Christmas, until they started getting silly with jet fighters and such; I still have the '30s tanker truck that was also a coin bank - I'll have to go look and see where I put it

50) "Rescue Me" rating: TV MA - Mature Audiences, along with L, S, D & V - can you name them without looking them up?  ( the "D" is the odd one ).  I know ferm was a big fan of this show

51) "Got milk?": MEOW - cute

52)  Wood strip: LATH - messed up my FIRE HOSE

55) Marketing leader?: TELE-marketing

57) Density symbol, in physics: RHO - I had -HH from my HOSE, so I was thinking lead pencil hardness, which could be HHH - although it is referred to as 3H

59) Party serving: TEA - not KEG

60) Dedicated work: ODE

Answer grid.

 Did not have the website to download the puzzle, and subsequently had no way to "properly" analyze it - sorry for any screw ups ~!

Splynter