Friday, October 19 - Frederick J. Healy

This is the kind of themeless puzzle I like to see...stacks in the four corners, and a few more eight-letter words scattered around the grid.

In the northwest corner:

1A: Windshield wipers (squeegees). We've had this before, but I didn't get it as quickly as I'd have liked...not until I had the final EES in place.

15A: Darwin's home (Australia). I didn't have a clue where he was from. This time I recognized 7D: Comic Boosler (Elayne), so I had the L in place. A good guess that IA should follow, then the answer came to me. I should have left my original answer at 1D: Not as touched (saner), but I thought it sounded almost cruel...therefore, not the right answer.

17A: Zip (none at all). I loved this one.

The southeast stacks consisted of:

61A: Freshening naturally (airing out). Amazingly (to me), that was my first guess.

64A: Park gathering place (concourse). I think of concourse in relation to an airport, not a park.

66A: Garb symbolizing youth (knee pants). That must have been in a puzzle in the last year...otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten it so easily. I wear them, although I call them capris. If they symbolize youth, though, I'll wear them all the time...including fall and winter.

In the northeast:

12D: "Hang on!" (wait a sec). I was thinking along the lines of "Hang on for dear life." And what word was going to end in C...which I had from 40A: Hardly humble homes (palaces), although I wanted mansions there at first.

13D: Eager (on tiptoe).

14D: Things that may be shot in stages? (westerns). I had the answer, but it took some time before I got it.

The southwest corner was my favorite:

36D: South Pacific island (Bora Bora). I'd happily go there tomorrow if I thought I could get away with it.

37D: Cry before storming out (I've had it). Well, I didn't storm out, and maybe I didn't say it aloud, but I sure thought it once today. Not about work or Don...the two things that hold me together.

38D: "Lighten up, will ya?!" (get a life). I thought that in the same conversation. That's why Bora Bora sounded so inviting.

Other eight-letter entries appear at:

9D: Toasted triangle topper (salsa dip). I have a slight problem with this one, and I think it's been mentioned here or at another blog. No one calls it salsa dip...it's just salsa...and my tortilla chips are strips, not triangles. Neither of those is a big deal.

39D: Hiking aid (knapsack). For me, a knapsack is more of a hindrance. My idea of a hiking aid is a walking stick.

34A: Clam (simoleon). I have never heard this word in my life. Just looked it up...it's slang for a dollar. I thought it was referring to a clam that you'd eat. I'll take mine deep fried.

41A: A bit much (overdone).

There were some clues that I thought were especially clever.

18A: They stand for something: Abbr. (inits)

26A: Lock changer? (dyer). Normally I don't like the -ER answers, but this one was better than most.

45A: Bombards with junk (spams). You would not believe the subject line on a piece of junk mail I got today. Seriously...it was that bad.

65A: Starters (A team). Not that it fits here or anything, but I haven't yet said that I'm pretty excited that the Rockies made it to the World Series. If I lived closer to Denver, I might even try to get tickets for one of the games.

42D: Hate, say (emotion).

59D: Mar makeup (agua). I just this second got that one. I was trying to think of something that would mar (i.e., destroy) one's makeup.

Some names that I wasn't totally familiar with...got them from the crosses.

16A: Superrealist sculptor Hanson (Duane). Never heard of him.

3D: James Forrestal was its last cabinet secy. (U.S. Navy).

8D: Astronaut Collins and others (Eileens). If they're asking about an astronaut from the sixties or seventies, I'm good. Any later...not so good.

24D: "La Reine Margot" novelist (Dumas). If I ever knew that, I've forgotten.

That's it for this one. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G