Saturday, January 27, 2018, Andy Kravis

THEMELESS SATURDAY

Andy's very challenging but fair Saturday puzzle left me playing a mental edition of this game:

The puzzle came down to an obvious vowel for the crossing of these two words:

10. Official cocktail of New Orleans : SAZERAC - Made with SAZERAC Rye Whiskey and assorted goodies

27. Court dance : PAVANE - A slow, processional dance of 16th century Europe. I wonder if Cole Porter could have written When They Begin The PAVANE if he were alive in 1588.

Suffice it to say "I" made a bad pick but had a good time. Two stacks of nine-letter words and twin ten and eleven letter stacks looked very impressive to this humble blogger!  Well let's see what other treats Andy has for us:


Across

1. Longtime employer of 26-Down : ABC SPORTS and 26. "Miracle on Ice" commentator : AL MICHAELS - As I posted recently, the Choral Part of Beethoven's 9th raises the hair on the back of my neck, so does this incredible call in the 1980 Olympic game against the 46. "Miracle on Ice" loser : USSR

10. Double shot? : STUNT - Fabulous clue! Here's Johnny Depp with his STUNT Double

15. "Geek sighting!" : NERD ALERT - Name calling abates when you really need one!

16. "Mad TV" alum Lange : ARTIE - You might know troubled ARTIE better as this guy's sidekick if you go for that type of entertainment

17. Runway-ready : DRESSED UP - Models properly adorned taking off down the runway


18. Boarding pass data : ZONES - Seating areas like this flight from Jeddah to Cairo

19. Pay stub abbr. : YTD - Year To Date

20. Kid gloves, so to speak : CARE - Parents have to know when to treat their child with kid gloves.

21. Turn down : REJECT

22. City on Lake Michigan : GARY - Or your humble Saturday blogger

23. African capital formerly called Salisbury : HARARE - Salisbury, Rhodesia became HARARE, Zimbabwe as the British Empire continued to shrink

24. "Cool, dude!" : GNARLY - Beach lingo

28. Hard-to-count quantity : PILES - PILES are much harder to count than stacks

29. Emit a powerful magnetic force? : OOZE CHARM - Delightfully phrased by Alan Jay Lerner and wonderfully sung by Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady describing a pompous Turkish man who dances with Liza

32. It's all downhill from here : ACME

33. Hoofed it : HIKED

34. Comics pooch : ODIE - Here with his best friend

35. They're matched by foundations : SKIN TONES - Foundation/SKIN TONE match chart

37. Take forcibly : WREST

38. Like milk of magnesia : CHALKY - Mg(OH)₂

39. "You Gotta Be" soul singer : DES'REE

40. Old-time feature film preceders : SHORTS - "One-reelers"

41. Corduroy feature : WALE - The "ridges" in the material that can make that swoosh sound when walking

42. Rose __: reddish mineral : QUARTZ

43. Big name in hair trimmers : WAHL - I bought one because Paul Harvey was pitching them. Meh... 

44. Big Ten sch. that competes for the Paul Bunyan Trophy : MSU - Naturally enough, the other team is Michigan

47. Singer __ Marie : TEENA - Claimed to be a black artist with white skin

48. Exposes to public scorn : PILLORIES

50. Goldbrick : IDLER - Is Beetle Bailey the most famous one?

51. Ruins things? : ARTIFACTS - Pompeii is nothing but these

52. Pains : PESTS

53. 1790s political powder keg : XYZ AFFAIR - Our young country refused to pay a bribe

Down

1. "Honey, I'm Good" singer Grammer : ANDY - Not on my playlist but I think I've posted enough pictures of singers I don't know

2. "Sesame Street" roommate : BERT - He of the paper clip collection

3. Street __ : CRED - Short for credibility which can be gained by some overt act

4. '60s protest org. : SDS

5. Units of pressure : PASCALS 

6. Owner of a legendary lantern kicker : O'LEARY - Most say her cow did not start the Chicago fire but it makes for a good story

7. Put through the wringer again? : REDRY

8. "Can't argue with that" : TRUE

9. Brand sold at Pep Boys : STP

11. Agent that undermines from within : TROJAN HORSE - Modern day application 

12. "Cure Ignorance" magazine : UTNE READER - I only know this from crosswords. My ignorance is probably incurable anyway. 

13. Victoria, to William IV : NIECE - Yup! William IV had a brother named Edward and Edward's daughter was Victoria 

14. One of many taken in school : TEST

21. Rhapsodized : RAVED

22. Britt Reid's alter ego : GREEN HORNET - See alter egos below

    Chen Zhen       Britt Reid      Bruce Wayne      Dick Grayson

23. Shore weather phenomena : HAZES 

24. Med school admissions data : GPA'S

25. __ of time : NICK - When the superheroes above appear 

27. Cooler : POKEY - Colorful name for a jail

29. Hog calls : OINKS - For calling hogs at this school  it's SOOIE!

30. Obey a court order : RISE - When Officer Byrd says RISE for Judge Judy, you'd better or he will 31. Parcel (out) : METE out a big time glare

33. 1980s-'90s Notre Dame football coach Lou : HOLTZ - A great coach and speaker but a horrible TV football analyst

36. Medieval Turko-Mongol settlers : TARTARS

37. Comfortable : WELL OFF

39. National flower of Mexico : DAHLIA

40. Jacket material : SUEDE - Jerry Seinfeld muses about why water can hurt Suede when it comes from cows who stand out in the rain.

41. Strauss piece : WALTZ - Treat yourself to a beautiful Strauss WALTZ in this docking scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey

42. Common applicator : Q-TIP

43. Like an Irish Terrier's outer coat : WIRY

44. Flaky mineral : MICA

45. Long-distance calling org.? : SETI - The best movie about Search for Extra  Terrestrial Intellligence scientists 

48. __ Romana : PAX - Sometimes it was PAX Romana or else!

49. Battle of Britain gp. : RAF - Royal Air Force

Your take?


DA GRID