08.13 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
August 13, 2011
Barry C. Silk
 

Theme: None

Tough Saturday, right? We've got interesting entries, tough cluing, not much crosswordese …what more could we ask for in a late-week puzzle? There weren't too many things today that I just flat-out didn't know:

• 65A: Goalie Dominik who won the Vezina Trophy six times (HASEK). I'm not much of a hockey fan (nothing against it, just never got into it). So if it's not ORR or ESPO it's pretty much beyond my knowledge base.


• 66A: He came out of retirement to play Winston Churchill in "Inglorious Basterds" (ROD TAYLOR). From the clue, I thought for sure this would be someone I've heard of. But no.


• 39D: Singer with the 1965 hit "1-2-3" (LEN BARRY). This entry has Barry Silk written all over it. He's a big fan of 1950s-60s music and LEN BARRY is from Philadelphia. (You can pretty much bet on something from Philly in Barry's puzzles.) The name didn't ring any bells for me at all, but I'm pretty sure I've heard this song before.

Bullets:
• 10A: Group whose name contains a deliberate misspelling inspired by the Beatles, whom they ardently admired (BYRDS). Awesome trivia.


• 16A: Web search option (YAHOO). Most of the time I forget that alternatives to Google even exist.



• 17A: Augustine St. Clare's daughter, in an 1852 novel (LITTLE EVA). Okay, this is funny. This clue refers to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. But the woman who sang "Locomotion" is also called LITTLE EVA. So when I was trying to think of a good guess for the "1-2-3" singer, with the L in place I thought it might be LITTLE EVA. It wasn't. But here she is! Andrea Carla Michael's calls that a "malapop." Love it when that happens.


• 22A: Strategic math game (NIM). I hope you were paying attention to Crosswordese 101 this week!!


• 53A: Windows icon (MY COMPUTER). This is a great entry, and I don't see it in the Cruciverb.com data base as having been used before. Awesome.


• 61A: Place for pitchers? (SALESROOM). Okay, I knew this clue couldn't be about baseball — that would be too obvious and wouldn't require a question mark. My first thought was that "pitchers" must mean, like, "ewers" (ha!), but when nothing came to me I did eventually figured it must be referring to a sales pitch.



• 29D: Keyboardist's support (PIANO STOOL). This entry caused my only real problem in the puzzle. I started with PIANO BENCH. Then when the ST became clear, I thought PIANO STAND(?) which, well, sure I've played piano since I was four and never heard of this but, hey, it's Saturday. It eventually worked itself out.


• 34D: High air? (YODEL). "Air" in this clue means "tune" or "melody."


• 43D: Beefy hybrid (CATTALO). Never heard of it but okay.


• 47D: __ Brothers, who sang "Black Water" (DOOBIE).



• 53D: Speed-of-sound name (MACH). Yep, the measure of speed known as the MACH is named for a person. Ernst Mach to be exact. I learned this fun fact from crossword puzzles.


Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 22A: Strategic math game (NIM).


• 48A: "My Country" author (EBAN).


• 57A: "__ girl!" (ATTA).


• 12D: Three-toed bird (RHEA).


• 62D: Place to get a tkt. (STA.).


Everything — 1A: Way to measure brightness (I.Q. TESTING); 10A: Group whose name contains a deliberate misspelling inspired by the Beatles, whom they ardently admired (BYRDS); 15A: Pressing need (STEAM IRON); 16A: Web search option (YAHOO); 17A: Augustine St. Clare's daughter, in an 1852 novel (LITTLE EVA); 18A: Immune system component (T-CELL); 19A: Grand-scale poetry (EPOS); 20A: Largest living toothed animal (SPERM WHALE); 22A: Strategic math game (NIM); 24A: Nixon attorney general Richardson (ELLIOT); 25A: __ asada (CARNE); 27A: Black-and-tan tans (ALES); 28A: Tuber with eyes (SPUD); 32A: Schedule (SLATE); 33A: Tot's tea party guest (TEDDY); 35A: Like Brahms's Piano Trio No. 1 (IN B); 36A: Some reds (PINOTS); 38A: "Hubba hubba!" ("OO LA LA!"); 40A: Fielder's fig. (AVG.); 41A: Render speechless (SHOCK); 45A: Thinker Diderot (DENIS); 46A: Aid criterion (NEED); 48A: "My Country" author (EBAN); 49A: Cybermemo (-NOTE); 50A: "Swan Lake" princess (ODETTE); 52A: Abbr. for dumbbells (LBS.); 53A: Windows icon (MY COMPUTER); 57A: "__ girl!" (ATTA); 60A: Slide presentation (AMEBA); 61A: Place for pitchers? (SALESROOM); 63A: Mormon Tabernacle feature (CHOIR); 64A: Conductor in a circuit (ELECTRODE); 65A: Goalie Dominik who won the Vezina Trophy six times (HASEK); 66A: He came out of retirement to play Winston Churchill in "Inglorious Basterds" (ROD TAYLOR); 1D: Archipelago part (ISLE); 2D: Stick in a medicine cabinet (Q-TIP); 3D: Mountains containing the Cathedral Group (TETON RANGE); 4D: Erodes (EATS INTO); 5D: T selection (SML.); 6D: Pairs of even numbers? (TIES); 7D: "Once more ..." ("I REPEAT …"); 8D: It's longer than a Kurzgeschichte (short story) (NOVELLE); 9D: Knotted up (GNARLED); 10D: How one must sometimes win (BY TWO); 11D: Blue blood vessels? (YACHTS); 12D: Three-toed bird (RHEA); 13D: Tot's tea party guest (DOLL); 14D: Seafood selection (SOLE); 21D: Bungle (MISDO); 23D: Sits (MEETS); 25D: Political junkies watch it (C-SPAN); 26D: Breathing (ALIVE); 29D: Keyboardist's support (PIANO STOOL); 30D: Off (UNLIT); 31D: Early statistical software (DBASE); 34D: High air? (YODEL); 37D: They may be counted (SHEEP); 39D: Singer with the 1965 hit "1-2-3" (LEN BARRY); 42D: Not as quick on the uptake (OBTUSER); 43D: Beefy hybrid (CATTALO); 44D: Used a prayer rug (KNEELED); 47D: __ Brothers, who sang "Black Water" (DOOBIE); 51D: 100 pfennigs, briefly (D-MARK); 53D: Speed-of-sound name (MACH); 54D: Jewish youth org. (YMHA); 55D: Corp. bigwigs (CEO'S); 56D: A sq. is one (RECT.); 58D: List heading (TO DO); 59D: NAFTA part: Abbr. (AMER.); 62D: Place to get a tkt. (STA.).