Words: 70 (missing X,Z)
I expected a Saturday Silkie, and was not disappointed. Today's
offering was pretty straightforward, at least for me. Not too many
obscurities, and enough 'easy' crossings to take a healthy stab at the
longer fills. Interesting middle stack of a spanner and two offset
14-letter words, and triple 8's and 6's in the corners. For today:
33. Sirius B, for one : WHITE DWARF STAR
- I knew we were looking for a "STAR" here, but on my first pass, I
thought it was a BINARY, um, something-something STAR. I am a huge fan
of "Ancient Aliens", and the show repeatedly mentions how this star
system has something to do with extra-terrestrials
38. Food safety aid : MEAT THERMOMETER
39. They included Chopin's "Prelude in E Minor," in a film title : FIVE EASY PIECES - funny, but now that I know the movie has a character who was once studying piano, the title makes much more sense....
39. They included Chopin's "Prelude in E Minor," in a film title : FIVE EASY PIECES - funny, but now that I know the movie has a character who was once studying piano, the title makes much more sense....
!~DRAWNO
ACROSS:
1. Some legal cases : ATTACHES - DAH~! Right off the bat, I got "43A", thinking this was a court 'case', not a brief 'case'
9. Its results commonly fall between 70 and 130 : I.Q. TEST - I was tested in high school; care to guess what my number was?
15. Take inventory? : SHOPLIFT - "Marriage is a punishment for shoplifting in some countries" - What movie~!?!?!?
16. Shade : NUANCE - ooh, good Saturday clue for this word
17. Nurturing : MOTHERLY
18. Shilling spender : KENYAN - I threw in BRITON, but was pretty sure it was wrong - a Kenyan shilling is worth about .012 US dollars as of yesterday
19. O or A, e.g. : ALer - ARGH~! Got me again~! The Athletics and Orioles of MLB; I went with "TYPE", because they're both blood types; it wasn't until Aphrodite showed up (alas, only in today's puzzle ) did I give it up
20. Bottom topper : TALC - Ah, yes, a quick pat on the bum with the baby powder
22. Old-school lament : EGADS~!
23. Discharged British soldier : DEMOB - to be demobilized - got it
25. Electronic music genre : TECHNO - I like the electronic genre - odd, coming from a kid who grew up on Iron Maiden. An electronica sample
9. Its results commonly fall between 70 and 130 : I.Q. TEST - I was tested in high school; care to guess what my number was?
15. Take inventory? : SHOPLIFT - "Marriage is a punishment for shoplifting in some countries" - What movie~!?!?!?
16. Shade : NUANCE - ooh, good Saturday clue for this word
17. Nurturing : MOTHERLY
18. Shilling spender : KENYAN - I threw in BRITON, but was pretty sure it was wrong - a Kenyan shilling is worth about .012 US dollars as of yesterday
19. O or A, e.g. : ALer - ARGH~! Got me again~! The Athletics and Orioles of MLB; I went with "TYPE", because they're both blood types; it wasn't until Aphrodite showed up (alas, only in today's puzzle ) did I give it up
20. Bottom topper : TALC - Ah, yes, a quick pat on the bum with the baby powder
22. Old-school lament : EGADS~!
23. Discharged British soldier : DEMOB - to be demobilized - got it
25. Electronic music genre : TECHNO - I like the electronic genre - odd, coming from a kid who grew up on Iron Maiden. An electronica sample
27. Cologne article : DER
29. Sign of summer : LEO - Astrological sign; I've been reading my horoscope a lot lately - it seems to be a day behind, instead of ahead....
30. Roxy Music alum : ENO
29. Sign of summer : LEO - Astrological sign; I've been reading my horoscope a lot lately - it seems to be a day behind, instead of ahead....
30. Roxy Music alum : ENO
40. Princeton Review subj. : GRE - Graduate Record Examinations, follwed by -
41. MIT Sloan degree : MBA - Master of Business Administration
42. Wheels : CAR - I'm going to have to wait on new wheels - I am officially "cut" as a driver on Jan 15th, and then all trainee drivers will be brought back s-l-o-w-l-y
43. Took in : MISLED - not the sewing/altered took in, not the "movie" took in
46. Staircase support : NEWEL - Meh - this is more of a stair handrail support, but I'm a nit-picking carpenter
53. Salts : TARS - Slang words for sailor
55. "The Diana Chronicles" author Brown : TINA
56. Fulfills a need : AVAILS
58. They get high on occasion : SOPRANOS - Har-har~!
60. More futile : VAINER
61. Ring : ENCIRCLE - the verb today
62. Makes hot : ANGERS - ah, not ANNOYS
63. 2012, e.g. : LEAP YEAR - partial hybrid solar eclipse tomorrow AM
DOWN:
1. Equally hot : AS MAD - ah, the same kind of "hot" found in 62A
2. Oarlock pin : THOLE - sticking up from the gunwales
3. Tribal emblem : TOTEM - this is what I wanted to fill in, but it was not agreeing with my "TYPE"
4. Venus counterpart : APHRODITE - sheesh~! Check out from whence she was born....
5. Indians' home, on scoreboards : CLEveland - always a little baseball for C.C.~! (BTW, "Major League" was on the other night - still funny, IMO )
6. "Cotton Candy" musician : HIRT - I'll let you link away
7. Key for some clarinets : E FLAT - fill in "FLAT", and wait....
8. Panache : STYLE
9. Newspaper supply : INK
10. Nickname for Leona Helmsley : QUEEN OF MEAN
11. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO - see below
12. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin : ENYA - crossword staple, and pretty much an educated WAG
13. Whole lot : SCAD
14. Place for an adder? : TENS - one who 'adds' uses ones, tens, hundreds, etc., columns to line up for summing
21. Wood shop device : C-CLAMP - great for doing you brake pads, too - which is on my to-do list this weekend
24. Author of the children's book "The Saga of Baby Divine" : BETTE MIDLER
26. Valiant : HEROIC
28. Therapy goals : REHABS - sober house goals, too
30. Major finale? : ETTE - majorETTE
31. Highland rejections : NAEs
32. Bruin great : ORR - Hockey; the NY Rangers are starting to improve; EddyB's Sharks are 10-1
33. Small dam : WEIR
34. Eat : HAVE - ah, not DINE
35. Make potable, as seawater : DESALT
36. Like some humor : WRY - minor change from Dry to Wry
37. Cabinet part : SECRETARY - Government cabinet, that is - I was in carpentry mode; stile, rail, panel, shelf, etc.
38. Plant activity: Abbr. : ManuFacturinG - industrial plant, that is
43. Bates College locale : MAINE - Oddly, I WAGed ORONO, because of the "O" from ANNOYS; HEY - I was in the right state~!
44. Oil holder : EASEL - ooh, a bit of a stretch, but yes, an oil painting can be supported by an easel
45. Go (on) dully : DRONE
47. Recoil : WINCE
48. Name on a WWII flier : ENOLA - Gay, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
49. Surgery tool : LASER
50. Language of software engineers : JAVA
51. Novelist Turgenev : IVAN
52. White House chief of staff after Haldeman : HAIG
54. Humane org. : SPCA
57. Yearbook sect. : SRs - Here's my senior pic, 24yrs ago
4. Venus counterpart : APHRODITE - sheesh~! Check out from whence she was born....
5. Indians' home, on scoreboards : CLEveland - always a little baseball for C.C.~! (BTW, "Major League" was on the other night - still funny, IMO )
6. "Cotton Candy" musician : HIRT - I'll let you link away
7. Key for some clarinets : E FLAT - fill in "FLAT", and wait....
8. Panache : STYLE
9. Newspaper supply : INK
10. Nickname for Leona Helmsley : QUEEN OF MEAN
11. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO - see below
12. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin : ENYA - crossword staple, and pretty much an educated WAG
13. Whole lot : SCAD
14. Place for an adder? : TENS - one who 'adds' uses ones, tens, hundreds, etc., columns to line up for summing
21. Wood shop device : C-CLAMP - great for doing you brake pads, too - which is on my to-do list this weekend
24. Author of the children's book "The Saga of Baby Divine" : BETTE MIDLER
26. Valiant : HEROIC
28. Therapy goals : REHABS - sober house goals, too
30. Major finale? : ETTE - majorETTE
31. Highland rejections : NAEs
32. Bruin great : ORR - Hockey; the NY Rangers are starting to improve; EddyB's Sharks are 10-1
33. Small dam : WEIR
34. Eat : HAVE - ah, not DINE
35. Make potable, as seawater : DESALT
36. Like some humor : WRY - minor change from Dry to Wry
37. Cabinet part : SECRETARY - Government cabinet, that is - I was in carpentry mode; stile, rail, panel, shelf, etc.
38. Plant activity: Abbr. : ManuFacturinG - industrial plant, that is
43. Bates College locale : MAINE - Oddly, I WAGed ORONO, because of the "O" from ANNOYS; HEY - I was in the right state~!
44. Oil holder : EASEL - ooh, a bit of a stretch, but yes, an oil painting can be supported by an easel
45. Go (on) dully : DRONE
47. Recoil : WINCE
48. Name on a WWII flier : ENOLA - Gay, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
49. Surgery tool : LASER
50. Language of software engineers : JAVA
51. Novelist Turgenev : IVAN
52. White House chief of staff after Haldeman : HAIG
54. Humane org. : SPCA
57. Yearbook sect. : SRs - Here's my senior pic, 24yrs ago
59. Criticize : RIP - and yes, you can "RIP" into my photo all you want~!!!
SierraPapaLimaYankeeNovemberTangoEchoRomeo
Note from C.C.:
I'd to share with you this poem our regular poster Own wrote earlier this morning. If you click on the Comments button at the end of this post, you'll be treated with a daily puzzle poem from him.
Daily Challenges
Really, can you cheat on a crossword?
The fine line of what's cheating is blurred.
You alone are the judge
Of how much you can fudge,
Therefore being too harsh is absurd.
On Monday, the puzzle is easy.
The effort it takes will be breezy.
If you do it on line
Level "Master" is fine.
Ink's unlikely to make you feel queasy.
Tuesday is a little bit harder.
Some words will be puzzlement fodder.
After most clues decode,
Switch to red-letter mode,
You'll finish up like a marauder.
Wednesday a few entries get tough.
We'll see if you've got the right stuff.
From red level don't shrink;
Switch to pencil from ink.
This is where things just start to get rough.
Thursday is building up strong.
The wordplay is coming along.
Misdirection's in play,
Tricky clues rule the day.
A simple dictionary wouldn't be wrong.
Friday's the day tyros dread.
The brains seem to fly from their head.
You can sit there and doodle
Or call upon Google;
Else the end that you reach might be dead.
Saturday's grid is the worst.
Your skill will seem like it's cursed.
There's no theme to guide
Where solutions might hide.
The whole Web only helps when coerced.
Sunday's a modicum of relief.
It's not easy, but shouldn't cause grief.
The need for a reference
Might just be your preference.
Larger size is its difference in chief.
