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

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Nov 3, 2012

Saturday, Nov 3rd, 2012, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 29

  Always a pleasure when I get a puzzle such as this one, where little by slowly, the pieces fall in to place, and I get that satisfied feeling of having successfully tackled another Saturday crossword.  Mr. Wilber offers us FOUR grid spanners double-stacked today:

15. Solution for repairing snagged nylons : CLEAR NAIL POLISH - I have heard this, and you all know me, so I have to offer up a picture of some nylons~!


17. Fitness-focused parent's purchase : JOGGING STROLLER - this thing

  

44. Spider web's abundance : TENSILE STRENGTH - the ability to bend and return to its original position; it's why steel, also high in tensile strength, is used to reinforce concrete, which is high in compression strength - I'm getting into 37D.

47. Fail to get caught : ESCAPE ATTENTION - no LIPA truck escapes attention right now; we all stood out in the street and watched the guy re-rig the power lines and give us the magic juice back.  Now Long Island has almost NO gasoline at all; coming home tonight, 1am, ONE of about 12 stations I passed had gas, and the headlights were lined up as far as the eye could see; the police monitored the entrances to make sure no one was cutting in

Aaaawnward~!

ACROSS:

1. "An almond in every bite" candy : MARS BAR

8. Magic Johnson's 10,141 : ASSISTS - not a basketball guy, no slam-dunk for me; had to wait until some downs could 'assist' me on this one

18. Rueful exclamation : OH GEE

19. Ecstatic hymn : PAEAN

20. 1950s Reds nickname : KLU - this guy: more from our illustrious baseball blogger, C.C. (From C.C.: I remember we had some blog discussions about Big Klu, searched the blog and had fun reading these comments from two years ago. Creature, Clear Ayes, EddyB (Still in his self-imposed exile days, posting as Dilbert @ 12:32pm, were all there. Creature still solves the puzzle and reads the blog every day, hopefully she'll post regularly once she sells the farm and her life is more settled.)

21. "The Whiffenpoof Song" sound effects : BAAS - sounds like an earworm to me....there's plenty of music to go around in this puzzle

22. Jersey's environs : DAIRY - Jersey cows; moo.

23. Matching : TWIN

24. Paris-to-Vichy dir. : SSE - yeah, uh, I don't make this trip too often; I know the answers are limited to S, N, E and W

25. Post-larval insects : PUPAS - not PUPAE

26. Item with which Osiris is usually pictured : CROOK

27. Clinton's FBI director : FREEH - the Wiki

28. It can have a tail but never legs : SHIRT

29. __ House: Pennsylvania Ave. guest quarters : BLAIR - more here

30. Blowout substitute? : B-TEAM - Sporting blow-out, when one team dominates the competition; sort of like the Dream Team of the US Olympic Basketball team - which I still know nothing about....

31. Cut-up : CLOWN - Not SAAWN - the cut-up with antics

32. Be a Scrooge : HOARD

33. Cassidy who played a Hardy Boy : SHAUN - yeah, grew up with this show

34. Knighted mystery writer who championed the Boer War : DOYLE

35. Enter the pool : BET - the gambling pool, that is

38. Sultry "Mink, Shmink" singer : KITT - Eartha Kitt

39. Coppers in London : PENCE - because POLICE didn't fit

40. Assembled : MADE - So simple, it was hard

41. Ducks' home, on the ticker : ANAheim, one of the NHL's California hockey teams; EddyB was a San Jose Sharks fan; there's also the Stanley Cup champion LA Kings - NONE of whom will be playing anytime soon....greedy bastards

42. Event where lumberjacks get wet : ROLEO

43. Spock specialty : LOGIC - fascinating, captain

48. Red fox of medieval lore : REYNARD - ah, tried MAYNARD first; he's the guy who owned the pawn shop in Pulp Fiction

49. 1993 Kentucky Derby winner sired by Polish Navy : SEA HERO

DOWN:
   
1. They're often filled with teens : McJOBS - My first job, not a common one as the name here implies, was at Grossman's lumber - home office was in Braintree Mass, not far from BarryG

2. Some hellos ... and goodbyes : ALOHAS

3. Marley's music : REGGAE - Bob Marley, link away ~!!!

4. Gurus : SAGES

5. Some French wheels : BRIE - Cheese wheels

6. Novelist Beattie : ANN

7. Incongruous-sounding high-end stationery : RAG PAPER - I had PUPAE, so the "P" gave me a hint that ---PAPER might be the answer

8. Tweaks, say : ALTERS

9. Surf feature : SPRAY - not CREST

10. Directly : SOON - not ASAP, or ANON

11. Down with something : ILL

12. Source of soft fabric : SILKWORM

13. "The Hollow Men" poet : T.S. ELIOT - our poetry person has passed; who will take up the torch - YR?

14. Dwindled : SHRUNK - ah, not shrAnk

16. Old Testament prophet : ISAIAH

22. Expected to land : DUE IN

23. Basic chord : TRIAD - three notes; "power chords" from just about all hard rock/heavy metal songs are triads - these guys were masters at it

25. Tasty crustacean : PRAWN - reminds me of District 9; we've discussed this before

26. Beloved, in Bordeaux : CHERE - ah, not cherI

27. Thumb one's nose at : FLOUT

28. Shopworn : STALE

29. Glaring quality : BLATANCY

30. Stops patronizing : BOYCOTTS - I read this as the 'other' patronizing - being obnoxiously polite

31. Like many a 12-Down : CHINESE

32. Forthcoming : HONEST

33. Button, notably : SKATER - Dick Button, here

34. Remove element #82 from : DE-LEAD - get the LED out - I was jamming this at Mike's by the fire tonight

35. Hefty product : BAGGIE - Hefty, the brand name, that is - didn't fool me

36. One working on drafts : EDITOR

37. Prefix with babble : TECHNO - when someone tries to explain how a wastegate works on a turbo, they might get into "techno-babble"

39. Gondolier, e.g. : POLER

40. Number before a slash, maybe : MONTH - as in 11/03/12

42. Strahan co-host : RIPA - Kelly and Michael of "Live with_"

43. Hyena in "L'il Abner" : LENA

45. Japanese surname addition : SAN

46. Mr. __!: old whodunit game : REE - get it?  Mr. Ree - mystery~!

Splynter


 Note from C.C.:

The Saturday Stud keeps his blogging streak alive! Splynter has never missed a post since he started his regular Saturday blogging on May 21, 2011 (He guest-blogged a few more Saturdays & Wednesdays before that).