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

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Jan 12, 2013

Saturday, Jan 12th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70

Blocks: 34

  Well, it certainly looked intimidating, and if it weren't for a few long answer WAGs, I think I would have never gotten a foothold; as it turned out, I still had to red-letter one cell in order to complete the grid, but still, a good mental workout from our regular Saturday constructor.  The big spanners:

29A. Study of change? : NUMISMATICS - the study of collectible coins, or "change"; also paper money and medals, according to the dictionary - might be a wheat penny in my pile....

35A. 1971 crime thriller with four sequels : DIRTY HARRY - "Well, do ya, punk~?" - and a clecho  8D. 35-Across, e.g.: Abbr. : DETective Harry Callahan

40A. Some annual victims : APRIL FOOLS - the best one on me was when someone, who will remain nameless, rubber-banded the sprayer on the faucet; I went to make coffee, and....

44A. Rookies : NEW RECRUITS

And two 10-letter climbers;

12D. Show with jumping : FLEA CIRCUS

28D. 1954 film based on the short story "It Had to Be Murder" : REAR WINDOW - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; strangely, in looking up Farmer's Wife (see 11D.), that, too, was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, too, 1928

On~ward~!

ACROSS:

1. One who heads south for the winter : SNOWBIRD - there are a lot of snowbirds in my 12-step program; most of the ones I know are in Fla right now

9. Try to reach : AIM FOR - started with ATTAIN, then ASK FOR

15. 1959 Mystics song title word repeated before "Oh my darlin' don't you cry" : HUSHABYE - it really is repeated, but not nearly as much as the "oh"s at the beginning

16. Legendary Irish princess : ISOLDE - clued different from what you'd see mid-week

17. Modern means of connecting : ETHERNET - I threw in INTernet, and that was good enough to get going

18. Attach, in a way : GLUE ON - I tried GRAB on, until I got "fleas"

19. Job follow-up? : PSALMS - ( OK, I cheated, sort of; I have a list of Bible books, and I caught on to the misdirection "J-oh-B", not "J-ah-B", but can't remember one book from the 'next' - literally

20. Unvarying : SAME - Had SANE; well, it could be....

21. Pinkish yellow : PEACH

24. "Island in the Sun" novelist Waugh : ALEC

26. ATM initials : NCR

33. Steams : IRES

36. Defunct defense gp. : SEATO

38. Cultural prog. funder : NEA

39. Reduces to bits : RICES - not Dices

43. Romance novel emotion : LUST - what, not "LOVE"~?

46. P and Q, in D.C. : STs - Map, North of the White House

47. __-Z: collectible Camaro : IROC

48. Govt. issue : T-NOTE - not T-BOND

50. Last Stuart queen : ANNE

52. Full-bodied : ROBUST

56. United : WEDDED - not JOINed

59. Shimmer with color : OPALESCE


61. Get excited : AROUSE - been reading those "romance novels" again~???

62. Novelist Chinua Achebe, by birth : NIGERIAN

63. Southern legume : COWPEA - Learning moment

64. Rock from a sock : SEE STARS - Nice rhyme; took me a minute to grasp the idea of rocking from being socked by a punch

DOWN:

1. Old-time bandleader Fields : SHEP

2. "Dang!" : NUTS

3. Org. concerned with whistleblower laws : OSHA

4. Whippersnapper : WHELP

5. They mix well : BARMEN

6. 1930s-'50s Arabian monarch : IBN SAUD

7. Sourdough alternative : RYE

9. Bailed-out insurance co. : AIG - right after the '08 collapse, my investment club bought into these guys, and when they got their bail-out money, we benefited, too.

10. Easter, for one: Abbr. : ISLand - I knew this, but my ATTAIN was messing me up

11. Souvenir for the farmer's wife? : MOUSE TAIL - I did not know this - the Wiki

13. NBA forward Lamar __ : ODOM

14. Actress Russo : RENE

22. Key of Beethoven's Fifth : C MINOR - I didn't need "the rules" for this clue; I had -MIN-- to start; still had to wait on the "C", though

23. Work for a fee : HIRE OUT

24. March of fiction : AMY

25. "If I Were King of the Forest" singer : LAHR - The Wizard of Oz

26. Month after Adar : NISAN - Hebrew calendar

27. Party paper : CREPE

30. Yalta conferee : STALIN

31. Wave peak : CREST

32. Methods: Abbr. : SYSTemS

34. Agitated : STIRRED UP

37. Dairy case item : OLEO

41. TV monitor : FCC - Good misdirection; technically, TV is an abbreviation for TeleVision

42. Flash drive function : STORAGE

45. Wraps : STOLES

49. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism : EBERT - Roger, the "thumbs up" film critic; more learning for me

50. "Never Wave at __": 1953 film : A WAC - IMDb

51. Poppaea's husband : NERO

53. Former VOA overseer : USIA - United States Information Agency, and the Voice of America - more here

54. Lingering sign : SCAR

55. Second place? : TENS - as in 142,857

57. -speak : ESE

58. Traffic reporter?: Abbr. : DEA - Drug traffic, and the Drug Enforcement Agency - reminds me of this video, which tells a pretty good story

59. Switch positions : ONs

60. Bake-off entry : PIE

Splynter