Saturday, May 24th, 2014, Alan Olschwang

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing F,G,J,K,X)

Blocks: 28

    I was pretty sure this one was not only going to beat me up and take my lunch money, but it was planning on giving me a wedgie and stuffing me in my locker, too.  The whole grid remained blank after a full across and downs pass, save for one or two, and after the second run, it didn't get much better.  My break through was at 26a, because I "knew" who it referred to, but couldn't recall the name.  After that, it was only the PNW ( for shame, I like that part of the world ) that refused to budge until I changed one letter in 25a.   Triple 9-letter corners, one grid spanner; 

 39a. '60s pro-war words : LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT

32a. Ram : CRASH INTO - I like getting 9-letter fill from only two crossings; this one I got from just the "C" and the "H"

42a. Northwestern legend : SASQUATCH - Nailed it~!  Big Foot - can you spot him in the blog today?

Ah-ah-ah-aaaaaahnward~!

ACROSS:

1. Chewed the fat : SCHMOOZED - ooh, such a great word~!  Although around here, it's not so much chewing the fat as stroking someone's ego with words

10. Aristophanes satire, with "The" : WASPS

15. Obligatory joke response : WHO'S THERE - Knock knock

16. Buddhist who has attained Nirvana : ARHAT - one of two 5-letter "A-r" words I did not know

17. Pellet shooter : AIR PISTOL

18. Informal qualifier : SORTA - It's kinda slangy

19. ER needs : IVs

20. Bowls, e.g. : STADIA - Ah, those kinds of bowls; I was thinking 'games', but not arenas

22. Boglike : MIRY - the "meh" fill for the day

23. Start to do well? : NE'ER - Ne'er do well

25. Suffix with malt : OSE - DAH~! Went with "E"SE first

26. One of a fictional trio : ARAMIS - Here's my cheat point; Knew we might be talking about the Three Musketeers, but I can never recall these names

28. Road Runner, e.g.: Abbr. : ISP - Internet Service Provider

30. Beantown tower, with "the" : PRU - not from 'BAHston', but this sounded familiar - The Prudential Tower - they have a place called the "5-Napkin Burger"~?  Sounds like something I need to try

31. Fight sound : POW - Batman taught me all I need to know

37. "La Strada" co-producer : PONTI - All perps

41. Idaho's Coeur d'__ River : ALENE - Got this based on last week's puzzle

43. Divinity sch. : SEMinary - I tried ORU to start

44. Follow : SEE - Stared at this way too long;
 "Do you follow what I'm saying?"  "Do you SEE what I'm saying?"

46. Final: Abbr. : ULTimate

47. Common sense : SMARTS - I'm writing a satirical book about Common Sense, and how it's not that common anymore

49. Pujols' team, on scoreboards : LAA - L.A. Angels - C.C. has more on this guy

51. Holliday companion : EARP - Ah-HA~! DOC Holliday, that is....I missed the second "L" in there.  A friend at UPS just got me interested in this group - Love this song~! (yes, spelled wrong)

55. Seconds : MORE - "Please, sir, may I have some seconds?"

56. Silicon mineral : QUARTZ - I figured why not, it fit, and it stayed

59. Long, on Lanai : LOA - Hawaiian

60. Hillside entrances : ADITS - BANG~!  I threw this in, and it was right; learned from doing crosswords, though during the week it's usually "Mine entrances"

62. Convinced of : SURE ABOUT

64. Sad : TEARY

65. Bronson film with four sequels : DEATH WISH - Never saw any of them - IMDb

66. Spanish heater? : EL SOL - Total WAG that totally stayed - didn't realize it til I started on the write-up

67. Illegal heaters? : ARSONISTS - Ah. Clever.

DOWN:

1. Beau : SWAIN - straight up definitions....uh, pun intended~?

2. Leek relative : CHIVE - Anyone go with ONION to start?

3. Game sometimes played near a garage : HORSE - I've played this before, but basketball is just not my thing; the first person to spell HORSE loses

4. Twin Cities airport, on luggage tags : MSP - Gah~! C.C. will be so disappointed - I knew where we were talking about, but I didn't know the three-letter airport & Airport code for Minneapolis/St. Paul

5. Milo's pug pal, in a 1989 film : OTIS

6. "Enough already!" : "OH, STOP IT" - Yesterday I rolled a BBQ off a pallet at the Home Depot and the asst. store manager said "don't break it before you build it~!";  I responded "Oh, stop it~!", which was pretty bold - I wouldn't have said that a month ago

7. Frat letters : ZETAs

8. Diminish, in a way : ERODE - I tried ABATE

9. Sub base? : DELI - Good one

10. Common word in history texts : WAS - I tried ERA; this was my last fill, crossing Buddhist and Aristophanes - and an educated WAG

11. Food court lure : AROMA

12. Gulf Coast trawler's gear : SHRIMP NET - Pretty sure we were looking for a "net"

13. Like some anthems : PATRIOTIC

14. Doesn't give up on : STAYS WITH

21. Lake Thun feeder : AAR

24. Taken off : RISEN - ah, like airplanes

27. "You can call me he. You can call me she" speaker : RUPAUL - More here

29. Least extroverted : SHIEST

30. Campaign pros : POLS - Politicians

32. Yearbook signer : CLASSMATE - another 9-letter fill I got from just the two "A"s

33. Great teacher, often : ROLE MODEL

34. Some prayers : AVE MARIAS

35. Barely beat, with "out" : NOSE

36. Lilted sound : TRA - Um, OK

38. Like aspen leaves : OVATE

40. Be virtually the same as : EQUATE TO

45. Office suite door abbr. : ESQuire

48. Derivative of the past : RETRO

49. '80s "PM Magazine" host : LAUER - Matt

50. "Behind the __ I'll convey myself": Polonius : ARRAS - Learning moment; The other "A-r" - I did not know this was a 'tapestry'

52. Schwarzenegger's middle name : ALOIS - I liked him best in "Predator"

"If it bleeds, we can kill it."

53. Get up : ROUST - Tried ARISE, AROSE, etc

54. They may be winding : PATHS - sounds romantic

57. Approval letters : USDA - USDA approved for your consumption

58. 1984 Hugo Award winner Timothy : ZAHN

61. One has one: Abbr. : SYLlable

63. The Bahamas were once part of it: Abbr. : BWI - British West Indies

Splynter