Saturday, Jan 31st, 2015, Ned White

Theme: 

Words: 70 (missing Y,Z)

Blocks: 32

Phew~!  This one drained me mentally.  The proper names and biology just did me in ( I counted 17 in all ).  First I had to switch to red-letter, then Google, and finally to a straight up cheat.  Oh well.  Still, I enjoyed the challenge, and I was thrilled to get a "mini-theme" on Saturday~! The last time I had Mr. White for a constructor, I was in the middle of the summer bench project (that's 41a.) - while I'm not interested in the hostess from there anymore, I'm still hopelessly in love with the blue-eyed hostess.  Anyway, one spanner crossing one climber:

36a. School hallway warning : USE INDOOR VOICES

8d. Highway warning : CLICK IT OR TICKET - The national highway traffic safety admin's campaign to get you to wear your seatbelt; I always do.  Some male driver humor here

And the "reveal";

62a. Things to obey, like 36-Across and 8-Down : THE RULES

ACROSS:

1*. Plant reproductive structure : SPORE SAC - I got the "C", which led me to "sac", and on from there

9. Sharpens : WHETS - D'oh~! Not HONES

14*. Lindbergh nickname : LONE EAGLE - name - His Wiki

16. Goat __: chaotic situation, in slang : RODEO - Never heard of this; around here, we call it a clusterf**k

17. European travel pass : INTERRAIL - One of their itineraries lets you stop at Neuschwanstein Castle

18. "You Must Love Me" musical : EVITA - Total WAG - but then again, a 5-letter musical....

19. NYC travel org. : MTA

20. Trig function : ARCSEC - Cosine worked, too, but the abbr. "trig" meant otherwise

22. West end? : ERN - Western

23*. Internal walls : SEPTA - Biological term - as a carpenter, I was baffled trying to figure out what interior walls are called ( as opposed to 'bearing' walls, i.e. )

26*. Lizard that can shed its tail : SKINK - OK, so I threw in GECKO to start - Bzzzt~!

27. Passing event? : FAD - Dah~! I had to cheat the "D", but that finally opened up the NE

28. Book ending : ISH - Bookish

30. Like 23 of Haydn's symphonies : IN D - I put the "IN" part down, then waited....

31. Standing losses? : LAPS - when you stand up, you lose your lap - that's a kindergarten joke

32. Signifies : ADDS UP TO

35. "What have we here?!" : "HELLO~?!"

38. Fingers : NAMES

39. Media section : PRESS BOX - Dah~!!! My mind was stuck in the library, trying to get "Children's" to fit

40. Anthologies : ANAS - I goofed and put in ADAs, but that was 75% correct

41. Project : JUT - the verb, not the art/construction/school kind

42. Number of single-syllable U.S. states : ONE - Which one?  I know the answer~!

43. Cosmo, for one : MAGazine

44*. One Direction singer Zayn __ : MALIK - name

46*. Kirkuk native : IRAQI - name

50. "Every Moment Counts" gp. : USO - I pondered "REM", the music group

51*. 1965 Nobel Peace Prize recipient : UNICEF - I thought it might be this man, who just passed away, but his Nobel Prize was 1964

53. Vow taker : NUN

54. 8-Down and others : SIGNS - I have to admit, I have not seen "click it or ticket" as a sign; just the TV spots

56. A carve turn may be taught in one : SKI LESSON - Dah~! Dah~! Dah~!  First, I read it as "Caught", and not Taught, so I was stuck in the mental rut of carving wood, thus I was trying to get "WOOD KNOT" to work - or something like that. 

59. Bring forth : EDUCE

60. S-shaped sofa : TÊTE À TÊTE - aww, a kissing bench

61. Company with antlers in its logo : DEERE

DOWN:       

1. Diets, with "down" : SLIMS - Ooops, went with TRims first

2. Bridge overseas : PONTE

3. Slated : ON TAP

4*. R&B artist Des'__ : REE

5. "As wicked dew as __ my mother brush'd": "The Tempest" : E'ER

6. 1979-'80 Fleetwood Mac hit : SARA

7. Food stabilizers : AGARS

9. Highway closer, perhaps : WRECK - yup, that'll do it

10. Highway lane, for short : H.O.V. - High Occupancy Vehicle; I think it's a colossal waste here on L.I.; a better solution would have been a zipper wall

11*. Four-time Emmy-winning actress : EDIE FALCO

12*. Four-stranded DNA structure : TETRAPLEX - uh, OK - the Wiki

13. Scoundrels : SO-AND-SOs - ugh; just wasn't coming to me

15. Where "Hamlet" opens : ELSINORE - there's a castle there, too - more here

21. Object : END - the noun, not the verb

24. Spruces (up) : TIDIES

25. Like-minded orgs. : ASSNs

29*. __ Bannon, Paul Newman role : HUD - I've heard of it, but never seen it - IMDb

31*. Jerry who wrote lyrics for many Presley songs : LEIBER - ugh, please

32. How a stage line might be spoken : AS AN ASIDE - I got this, and it gave me some hope in the SW

33. Rabble-rouser : DEMAGOGUE

34. Champion of the common man : POPULIST

35*. Successor to Anwar : HOSNI

36. Not laughing : UNAMUSED

37. Brandy designation : VSO - Very Superior Old

41. 31-day mo. : JAN - on the first pass with no perps, could have been MAR, JUL, AUG, OCT, & DEC as well

44. Beaux-arts venue : MUSÉE - Frawnche

45*. Sports commentator Olbermann : KEITH

47*. Adams who shot El Capitan : ANSEL - ah, but I know this guy~!

48. Repeat exactly : QUOTE

49*. Novelist Hammond __ : INNES

52. Run : FLEE

55. Big name in bar code scanners : NCR

57. Tin __ : EAR

58*. Tommy Pickles' dad in "Rugrats" : STU

Splynter

Note from C.C.: 

  

Happy Birthday to dear Bill G, who has brought us lots of fun and uplifting links since he joined our blog. Whenever he sees a feel-good story via Barbara's Facebook or other sites, he shares with us immediately. Bill's posts are always cheerful and lighthearted, even his comments to those mean anons are polite. My heart aches with him for the tragic loss of his son Dan. I'm also very grateful for Bill's steady presence on our blog the past few years. The Comments section just does not feel complete without Bill's late night posts.

Barbara & Bill