Saturday, August 29, 2020, Gail Grabowski

Saturday, August 29, 2020, Gail Grabowski

Today's constructor is our former MS English teacher Gail Grabowski. Her puzzle is another pinwheel style like Joe Deeney's from last Saturday and has only 27 blocks

Once I got a toehold in the NE, I was sailing along and then some major speed bumps in the SE had me struggling to finish. Gail's cluing was just abstract enough to keep me searching for fill but that is what makes Saturdays so challenging.

Let's see what Gail has for us today:

Across:

1. Followed: ADHERED TO

10. Charlie Parker genre: BEBOP - My grandson is named Parker in Charlie's honor 

15. Carpenter's accessory: NAIL APRON - Nail guns make these pockets less full today

16. Not in the dark: AWARE.

17. "Perhaps": I'M NOT SURE - My thoughts as I use the new blogger site

18. Convene again: RESIT.

19. Wild: MAD - I'm just WILD/MAD about golf

20. More than a little: SOME.

21. Language class subject: TENSES - I blog this puzzle, I blogged this puzzle, I will have blogged this puzzle. Very appropriate for our English teacher 

22. Changed by time: AGED - Coopers making barrels to produce AGED whiskey

24. Took in slowly: NURSED - Many whiskey drinks need to be NURSED if you are going to be able to drive home safely and legally

26. Volatile letters: TNT.

27. Sports artist Neiman: LEROY - Husker coach Bob Devaney in LEROY's distinctive style

29. Comics socks: POWS - This took me a while

30. Start to fill?: AUTO.

31. Green: NEW

33. Diner's grazing spot: SALAD BAR - These may never come back 

35. Checked out: SCANNED.

39. Bass product: PALE ALE - Shoes? No. Fish? No. Music? No. Oh, it's ALE

40. Southwestern state symbol: LONE STAR.

42. It sells in advertising: SEX.

43. 11-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop Vizquel: OMAR - Making plays like this

44. Bring (out): TROT.

46. Instrument with an end pin: CELLO - Now it makes sense

50. Noir sleuth: TEC - Private eye, P.I., sleuth, deTECtive, etc.

51. Frequent fliers: JET SET.

53. Be overly sweet: CLOY - I'm more used to hearing it as a participle as in, "The cloying movie made it hard for me to stay to the end."

54. Did some course work: COOKED - Somebody COOKED that soup. Fun clue, Gail.

56. Release: EMIT.

58. Shuttle __: BUS - Here comes a Disney Shuttle BUS to pick us up at All Star Sport Resort

59. Douze mois: ANNEE - French - Douze (twelve) mois (months) is a ANNEE (year) The double EE made me uneasy for a while

60. Now: AT PRESENT.

62. What a hitchhiker aspires to be: RIDER.

63. Enclosure for dangerous underwater cinematography: STEEL CAGE - That's all that protects this diver from an 18' Great White

64. Clothes closers: SNAPS.

65. One who won't give: HARDLINER.

Down:

1. __ shelter: ANIMAL.

2. Crash or crush: DAMAGE.

3. Get in the way of: HINDER.

4. "Don't Bring Me Down" gp.: ELO - The 3-letter house band for crossword puzzles

5. "Aw, nuts!": RATS.

6. Japanese electronics giant: EPSON.

7. Devise: DRUM UP - We've all seen this way to DRUM UP a Mouse Trap

8. Capa wavers: TOREROS - Three TORREROS with the Matador

9. Gender-neutral pronoun: ONE.

10. Revealed: BARED.

11. Bremner of "Black Hawk Down": EWEN.

12. Low-pitched wind: BASS TUBA.

13. Avenue after Reading Railroad: ORIENTAL - Even on this earliest known version if you look carefully

14. Seller of Lab supplies: PET STORE - Not for my science lab but for a Lab dog

21. Model 3 autos: TESLAS.

23. "Conspiracy Theory" director Richard: DONNER.

25. Trade: SWAP.

28. Aches: YENS.

30. Commercial bigwig: AD EXEC - Do you know the unusual wife of this TV AD EXEC? (*answer below the write-up)

32. Soaked: WETTED.

34. Co-star of Meryl in "It's Complicated": ALEC - Meryl did star with ALEC Baldwin in that movie but this is a picture of our cousin, and my former student ALEC Bohm, whose first MLB homer was a 443' shot for the Phillies last week.

35. Toys that run on tracks: SLOT CARS - The SLOT CARS here are being propelled by bikers!

36. "Door's open": COME ON IN.

37. Amazon predator: ANACONDA.

38. Projectile with a flight: DART - It always seemed funny to me that the bullseye is not highest possible score on a throw

41. Nile home of a historic stone: ROSETTA - Rosetta Stone

45. State of mind: TEMPER - Effective teachers have a more easy-going TEMPER

47. New England retailer since 1912: LL BEAN - The flagship store in Freeport, Maine

48. Room for leisure activity: LOUNGE.

49. Bed occupant: OYSTER.

51. Shows disapproval, in a way: JEERS.

52. Ready to pack it in: TIRED.

55. Stay fresh: KEEP.

57. Snitch: TELL - Should I snitch on that guy who snitched a candy bar?

60. Shade of gray: ASH.

61. It may be natural: Abbr.: SCI.

* AD EXEC Darren Stevens was married to Samantha Stevens who happened to be Bewitched 

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