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

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Apr 27, 2013

Saturday, Apr 27th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Z)

Blocks: 29

  This one started out well enough, but the NE corner did me in - some answers were just not in my wheelhouse, so I had to switch to red-letter.  Oh well.  A little something for everyone today, myself included (see 19D.).  A rare grid pattern, nothing too intimidating, with just the triple 8's in two corners.  Worth mentioning:

7A. Dupe : CAT'S PAW - Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember something about this, but I didn't get this reference at first; it's also a 54A.


41A. City where the first koala sanctuary opened : BRISBANE


58. Underwater escape mechanism : SQUID INK - I just found out it's an ice cream flavor

O    n    w    a    r    d    ~    !

ACROSS:

1. Protocol : RUBRIC - First line from Blue Öyster Cult song

14. Where seals are their least graceful : ON LAND

15. Script used to transcribe foreign words into Japanese : KATAKANA - more here

16. Low-tech calculator : ABACUS

17. Modeling job? : EPOXYING - Loved making scale models when I was a kid; still have some kits waiting to be finished

18. Drop shots, in badminton : DINKS

19. Nearsighted one : MYOPE

20. Was into : DUG - My first thought, but it didn't sit well with me; then the "U" showed

21. Low : SAD

22. "Daniel Deronda" (1876) was her last novel : ELIOT - the Wiki

24. Regatta racer : SCULL - ARGH~!!  Second time in two weeks that my "YACHT" was wrong

26. Osiris' sis : ISIS - ssssssss....and they had a kid, Horus, together

28. Speculate : INFER

30. Choir section : APSE - DAR~!!!  I tried ALTO, BASS - no, the actual place

31. Wielding absolute power : DESPOTIC

33. Legal extremes? : ELs - LegaL - the two "L"s on the ends of the word; didn't fool me

35. He plays Andy Bernard on "The Office" : ED HELMS

36. Tool that's swung : CLEAVER - HAMMMER was too wrong

40. Letters in a prof's email address : EDU

42. Term paper abbr. : IBID

45. Wild outing : SPREE

47. 14-time A.L. All-Star : A-ROD - Alex Rodriguez - baseball for C.C.

48. Collection of plates : ARMOR - I like Knights and Castles; I dressed in chain mail for my now-defunct wedding  (From C.C.: Very cool, Splynter!)
 

50. Isn't industrious : LOAFS - not LAZES

52. Tag for some as-is mdse. : IRRegular

53. Legend site : MAP

54. Get one's goat, e.g. : IDIOM - Argh~!!! I had "IRKED", going with the figurative, not the literal English reference

56. It was once called Mission San Antonio de Valero : ALAMO - W.A.G.

60. Stories on stands : ALIBIS - Court of Law stands, that is

61. Enhances : AUGMENTS

62. Slim and trim : SVELTE - sounds sexy; I once knew a Russian girl named Svetlana; she was svelte

63. Ritual candelabrum : MENORAH

64. Cutie pies : HONEYS

DOWN:

1. Farm stand spot : ROADSIDE - Yep, the Cidiots will be arriving soon, with their "ooh, look, a farm stand~!" rubberneck driving skills

2. Neutral : UNBIASED

3. Flatter in a cajoling way : BLANDISH - straight up definition; new word for me, tho I did consider this "BLAND - ISH"

4. Pool convenience : RACK - No, Dennis, THIS kind of rack

5. Taken : IN USE

6. Some investments, briefly : CDs - Certificates of Deposit

7. Writer who said "All literature is gossip" : CAPOTE

8. Perched on : ATOP

9. Campaign hot button : TAXES - I had MONEY, since it worked with my YACHT

10. Word with jack or box : SKY - Skyjack, Skybox

11. Settled : PAID UP

12. Cancels : ANNULS - my wedding has not been "annulled" yet

13. Part of some golfers' pre-shot routines : WAGGLE - do any of our blog golfers "waggle?"  Do you address the ball~? "Hello, ball~!"

15. It has an all-white scale : KEY OF C - Great clue/ans.



19. They show a lot of leg : MINIs - another gratuitous Splynter link

23. Chem test paper? : LITMUS - The paper's color changes depending on pH level

25. Fruit named for a Turkish town : CASABA

27. Maker of small suits : SPEEDO - a link for the ladies~!

29. A pitcher may appear in it : RELIEF - Bet C.C. nailed this one, too

32. Unlike spring chickens : OLD - "that A-Rod, he ain't no spring chicken"

34. Porter's "__ Girls" : LES

36. Stationery shade : CREAM

37. Algebraic uncertainty : VARIABLE

38. Unfathomable size : ENORMITY - Cream - Variable - Enormity; sounds like, um, how many inches of snow we might be getting....

39. Wooer's buy : RED ROSES

41. Tolerates : BROOKS - I have heard this before, but it was the perps that filled it in for me

42. Penn movie with a Seussian title : I AM SAM - IMDb

43. Cubism pioneer Georges : BRAQUE - some of his work

44. Call into question : IMPUGN - love the spelling of this; "im-pyoon"

46. Statue base : PLINTH - because PEDESTAL was unfathomably sized

49. Straphanger : RIDER - Subways

51. 21-gun salute, e.g. : SALVO

55. Actress Merrill of "Operation Petticoat" : DINA

57. Bank security : LIEN

59. Bit of blogger shorthand : IMO - In My (sometimes Humble) Opinion

60. It may be tapped off : ASH - cigarette reference; I went with KEG

Splynter