google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: August 2013

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Aug 31, 2013

Saturday, Aug 31st, 2013, Doug Peterson & Brad Wilber

Theme: DP+BW

Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

   Doug and Brad combine again for a tough, but do-able, challenge this week.  For me, it was a hit....and then a miss; a hit....and then a miss.  A near perfect symmetry to the grid; two more black squares and it would look the same even if you rotated the puzzle through 90°.  Two 13-letter climbers in sequence;

14D. Currency printed on only one side : MONOPOLY MONEY - I landed on BANDO - need $200


15D. Rued years : MISSPENT YOUTH - I spent my youth well; it was after missing out on film school that I could say I 'rued' the next 15 years

And a pair of hard-to-work-into-a-grid 14-letter spanners;

30A. "That's the pot calling the kettle black!" : YOU'RE ONE TO TALK

35A. London arena that Pelé dubbed "the cathedral of football" : WEMBLEY STADIUM - Nailed it - but not too difficult for me, since my parent's were born in England, and my father was a HUGE (football) soccer fan - he wanted his ashes scattered at  midfield there; we may still....

~!

ACROSS:

1. Hits the dirt? : SCRUBS - not a good start to this one; my whole NW corner was either blank or filled in with the wrong answers

7. Window in many loft conversions : DORMER - better; carpentry is my thing; I like this one

13. Prepared to fire : TOOK AIM - DAH~!  I filled in "AIMED AT" - right, but wrong

15. Tool for hackers : MACHETE - who else was on a computer hacker train of thought?

16. Name on "The Name of the Rose" : UMBERTO - not a clue


17. Spoke like an uninspired lecturer : INTONED

18. Smartphone component, for short : CPU - DAH~!  I put in APP - and only one "P" was good.

19. Soothes, in a way : SINGS TO

21. Mars, for one : ORB - DAH~! I went with the "GOD" version

22. Throw : CAST - DAH~!  I put in TOSS ( and thought it was too easy, too )

24. Old language that gives us "berserk" : NORSE - WAGed it

25. Home of the Czech Republic's Supreme Court : BRNO - I got down to one cell, and it was the second here, fifth in the down clue - both foreign places, and the "R" was a total WAG - and when I got "Ta-Da~!", I still didn't like Brno - but I do like their advertising campaign....

26. Second to none : ON TOP - DAH~!  I had ELITE

28. Spot in a casino : PIP - the dimples on dice


29. Crème de __ : CACAO - MENTHE did not fit, even with the "E" being silent

33. Hose holder : REEL

34. Indoor football name : NERF - not the league, just the toy

41. Fauvist painter Dufy : RAOUL

42. 5, spelled out? : MAY - The FIFTH month

43. Rayed bloom : ASTER - Crossword staple, Saturday cluing

45. Tendon attachment? : ITIS - tendonITIS

46. Pamplona runners : TOROS - Da Bullz

48. Green opening : HOLE - Second time the guys threw me this week; instead of getting crafty with a prefix like "ECO-" or "AGRI-", we are looking for the a plain old cup in the grass of a golf course....

49. Mdse. : GDs - Goods

50. Like many consonants : LINGUAL - I tried "GLOTTAL"

52. Cat's batter : PAW - Did anyone else think of cake mix at first?

53. Ancient Syrian : HITTITE - Learned from watching Ghostbusters

55. First golfer to win the U.S., British and Canadian Opens in the same year : TREVINO

57. Overly sentimental : TREACLY

58. Side effect of a bike helmet : HAT HAIR - this is NOT what YOU were thinking....

59. Pet : STROKE - hwwwwsh - I had CARESS; so close....

60. Disrespected outwardly : SASSED

DOWN:

1. Masonry finish : STUCCO - here's where I could tell my first ACROSS pass was a 'fail'; I knew what masonry finish the guys were looking for;  I did one for a customer on her porch, my shed is getting the treatment, and my future home will definitely be stucco

2. Firm : COMPANY - noun? adjective? verb? had to wait

3. Humidor item : ROBUSTO - I likes me a cigar; I prefer a Tatiana flavoured cigarillo over a robusto; refers to the ring size of the smoke

4. Island entertainment : UKE

5. Places to see a lot of spirits : BARS - yep, tis where I spent those 15 years....

6. March alternative : SIT-IN - I was on a toccata, fugue, corale wavelength

7. Poet translated by Longfellow : DANTE

8. Pi preceder? : OCTO - octopi, the plural of octopus....gritting my teeth

9. Pi follower : RHO - Greek letters

10. Mediterranean island, to locals : MENORCA - I guess everyone else refers to it as M-I-norca, as opposed to the other island in the area, Mallorca (MAJORca)

11. Like amaranth flowers, in myth : ETERNAL - from the Greek, for unwilting; I have taken inspiration from Yellowrocks, and found this poem

12. Magazine in which "The Thin Man" first appeared : REDBOOK - I have heard of it; more here from Wiki

20. Put on a happy face : GRIN

23. Sightseers can be seen on one : TOUR BUS

25. Spade-shaped reef swimmer : BATFISH


27. Alberto VO5 rival : PRELL - hair care products

29. Una __: using the soft pedal : CORDA

31. Brogan classification : EEE - shoe size

32. High __ : TEA

35. Pair commemorated on North Carolina's state quarter : WRIGHTS - the bicycle brothers who designed and built the first flying machine

36. Humble oneself : EAT DIRT

37. More likely to win the bakeoff, maybe : MOISTER

38. '33 Chicago World's Fair puppeteer : SARG - Fascinating; I found this clip - watch the king (sultan?) hitting the hookah (@6:55), and then it gets a bit DF about 8:15.  If you want to see a modern take, there's some more marionettes in the movie "Still Breathing"

39. Beauty spots? : UTOPIAS

40. One-named singer/songwriter of the 1970 Woodstock-inspired hit "Lay Down" : MELANIE - link away~!

44. Paraphrase : RE-WORD

46. Safe-deposit box document : TITLE

47. Author Paretsky and others : SARAS

50. Defeat : LICK - Well, the guys could have gone the other way with the cluing

51. "Why, then, __ soldier drink!": Iago : "LET A"

54. Confucian path : TAO

56. Old Beta rival : VHS - Video Home System; definitely the winner in the consumer market, but the news shows I worked with swore by Beta.

Splynter