10.03 Mon

M O N D A Y
October 3, 2011
Janie Smulyan

Theme: Most important meal of the day — First words of the theme answers create a well-known phrase related to a popular cereal.

Theme answers:

• 17A: "Get a grip!" ("SNAP OUT OF IT!").
• 37A: Crafts technique for an old-fashioned look (CRACKLE FINISH).
• 60A: Connector that completes a phrase made from the starts of the three longest across answers (AND).
• 61A: Get the front of one's bike off the ground (POP A WHEELIE).

My girl Janie is back today with a solid Monday for what I believe is her second published crossword puzzle. Congratulations, Janie! I actually had a little trouble here and there with this one, which is odd for a Monday. I know I can't be the only one who tried TACOS where TAPAS was supposed to go (4D: Noshes in Nuevo Laredo) and then found TACOS in the grid later (35A: Folded Mexican snacks). I guessed the wrong last letter on DECA- (30D: Ten: Pref.) — I tried DECI-, which really caused problems for the crossing RAGED (42A: More than fumed). I misread the clue for SCRAPS as "college materials," not [45D: Collage materials] and assumed there must be a comedian named Badger that I wasn't familiar with (11D: Badger at the comedy club (HECKLE)). Overall, the puzzle put up more of a struggle than the typical Monday, but it didn't take long to figure out all those missteps.

Sparklers for me today include:

• 3D: When presidential elections occur (LEAP YEAR). Great piece of trivia. I'm all "November? … Tuesday? … Huh?"
• 40D: Like some gestures or logic (SYMBOLIC).
• 49D: "I'm so not impressed" event (BIG WOW).

And, finally, I just want to remind everyone that there is no "dot" in the spelling of DOT-COM (30A: Internet company). You're welcome.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 15A: Play-of-color gems (OPALS).
• 16A: Bambi's aunt (ENA).
• 67A: Muse for Browning (ERATO).
• 2D: West ender? (-ERN).
• 10D: Colorado's __ Park (ESTES).
• 50D: Exotic sushi fish (OPAH).

Everything — 1A: What ice cream does in the sun (MELTS); 6A: Mythical weeper (NIOBE); 11A: With it (HEP); 14A: "Terrific!" ("GREAT!"); 15A: Play-of-color gems (OPALS); 16A: Bambi's aunt (ENA); 17A: "Get a grip!" ("SNAP OUT OF IT!"); 19A: Albums kept in jewel boxes, briefly (CD'S); 20A: Dogpatch dad (PAPPY); 21A: Eat like a bird (PECK AT); 23A: Anti-alcohol types (DRYS); 25A: Greenish-blue hue (TEAL); 28A: Room for Renée (SALLE); 29A: Stubbed extremity (TOE); 30A: Internet company (DOT-COM); 32A: Bear's advice (SELL); 33A: Screen partner (STAGE); 35A: Folded Mexican snacks (TACOS); 37A: Crafts technique for an old-fashioned look (CRACKLE FINISH); 42A: More than fumed (RAGED); 43A: Trifled (with) (TOYED); 45A: Green eggs and ham lover __-am (SAM-I); 48A: Scrape, to a tot (BOO-BOO); 51A: __ culpa (MEA); 52A: Pizza's outer edge (CRUST); 54A: Scissors sound (SNIP); 55A: With competence (ABLY); 56A: Cardinal's headgear (RED HAT); 58A: Film idol Greta (GARBO); 60A: Connector that completes a phrase made from the starts of the three longest across answers (AND); 61A: Get the front of one's bike off the ground (POP A WHEELIE); 66A: Bro (PAL); 67A: Muse for Browning (ERATO); 68A: Super Bowl hoverer (BLIMP); 69A: Opposite of NNW (SSE); 70A: Spread widely (STREW); 71A: Big name in foil (ALCOA); 1D: Brit. sports cars (MG'S); 2D: West ender? (-ERN); 3D: When presidential elections occur (LEAP YEAR); 4D: Noshes in Nuevo Laredo (TAPAS); 5D: Passenger pickup point (STOP); 6D: Reply to "Is it soup?" (NOT YET); 7D: Wall St. headline (IPO); 8D: Clumsy sort (OAF); 9D: Radar screen spot (BLIP); 10D: Colorado's __ Park (ESTES); 11D: Badger at the comedy club (HECKLE); 12D: Ultimate goal (END-ALL); 13D: Muted, as colors (PASTEL); 18D: With 62-Down, at a satisfactory level (UP TO); 22D: Othello's lieutenant (CASSIO); 23D: Sot's woe, briefly (DT'S); 24D: Military prep org. (ROTC); 26D: Did something about, as an informant's tip (ACTED ON); 27D: Bread unit (LOAF); 30D: Ten: Pref. (DECA-); 31D: Former telecom firm (MCI); 34D: Overly ornate (GARISH); 36D: Aware of (ONTO); 38D: CIA Cold War counterpart (KGB); 39D: Some summer births, astrologically (LEOS); 40D: Like some gestures or logic (SYMBOLIC); 41D: Cad (HEEL); 44D: Week segment (DAY); 45D: Collage materials (SCRAPS); 46D: Convention sites (ARENAS); 47D: Work clumsily (through) (MUDDLE); 49D: "I'm so not impressed" event (BIG WOW); 50D: Exotic sushi fish (OPAH); 53D: Carton sealers (TAPES); 55D: "Does this ring __?" (A BELL); 57D: Legal wrong (TORT); 59D: McEntire of country (REBA); 62D: See 18-Down (PAR); 63D: Put away at dinnertime (ATE); 64D: Texter's "Here's what I think" (IMO); 65D: Clean air org. (EPA).

Benefits of Not Writing

If you'd told me even a month ago that not writing can be good for you, I'd have scoffed and gone back to slaving away at my MS. I was a firm believer that a writer had to write every single day. I still believe that a writer should write as much as possible, but I don't think there's any need to feel guilty about taking time for yourself to just unwind and get your head out of the work for a while.

I'm just back in the office after a 4-day weekend during which I barely even thought about writing. I got up in the mornings and played some Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I had breakfast with Jen when she got up. Then we went out for a few hours or had people over.

On Saturday night we went to the Batman Live show in the O2 in Dublin, which was fantastic. It was a very well put-together production with excellent multimedia elements and just enough campiness to make it family-friendly, but not so much that anyone over the age of 12 was going to cringe. Highlights include the self-driving Batmobile designed by a Formula-1 engineer, a comic book-style display on the massive bat-shaped screen behind the stage, and some non-show related moments like seeing two parents, one dressed as Robin and the other as Batgirl, with their two sons dressed up as Batman, and one lone child shouting "Batman! Behind you!" at one point in the show.

I've also started reading The Hunger Games and I'm loving it. The first-person present-tense narrative takes some getting used to, but I love Suzanne Collins' writing style. I could learn a lot from her.

I'm feeing quite nicely recharged and looking forward to getting back to work on my writing.

What do you find helps you recharge? What's your most guilty non-writing pleasure?

14 again - Westlife Gravity Tour, live in Hanoi

I’ve had themost amazing weekend, in which the highlight had to be the Westlife Gravity Tour Concert here in Hanoi. Not only the concert breathtakinglywonderful, but it brought back so many memories.

Westlife isan Irish band (just in case you didn’t know) that was (is?) intensely popularthroughout Asia and Europe in the early and mid 2000s. They’re on their eleventhalbum now, Gravity and are doing a world tour to promote it. Strangely enoughthey never made it to the US so hardly anyone over that side of the pondactually know them. But my friends in middle school and I really loved themback around 2002-2004, and back then we were following their moves as much as itwas possible with the technology back then :P. After a few years, the obsessionwore off a bit but Westlife songs still remained as a nostalgic memory that wewould dig out every once in a while. I still smile when I remember about bringour discmans to Art classes to listen to Westlife (back in the days when we still listened to CDs) and spending our IT periodsfurtively (or not so furtively) going on the Westlife website. 

(I don’texactly follow them anymore and I thought they might have lost popularity nowbut considering they’re on their 11^th album, they must be sellingthose albums to someone.)

[[Image and video heavy]]

So it’staken them over ten years of the band being in existence to come to Vietnam toperform. I’ll be honest, I had reservations about the concert when it was firstannounced, not concerns about the Westlife side, but about our end’s ability toorganise a concert like this and not have it end in a sham, like thenot-so-distant-past-experience of Back Street Boys concert proved.

Regardless,I got tickets for myself and my friend Trang, who got me into Westlife in thefirst place. She flew from Ho Chi Minh City out to Hanoi just to see theconcert with me and boy it was worth it!! 

 

It’ssomething about just being there among all those people all waiting for thesame thing that gives you a thrill and honestly it was most fun I’ve had inmonths.

Actually oneof the biggest concern in the days up to the concert was the typical concernfor this time of year in Vietnam: TYPHOON!! It thankfully didn’t come and the weathercouldn’t be more perfect! There were some drops of rain as the concert started,but after about a song or two it let up and it was the perfect autumn night inHanoi – cool amidst the heat of the screaming and excitement and adrenalinerush of the performance. 

Our seatswere the VIP seats so admittedly we were a bit far from the stage, but I thinkin the end we got a a decent view, it was the front row, which meant that wecould stand and our vision isn’t blocked by anything and it was right in thecentre. People standing under the stage apparently said that their neck gottired from looking up after a while, even though they admittedly got muchbetter photos of Westlife than I could have done.  

They startedoff with When You’re Looking Like That and World of Our Own. It’s incredibleand unbelievable to hear songs that my friends and I once loved and sangtogether so many years ago, now sung live. I never thought it was even possibleto be better live than in the studio! I think it was a combination of theexcitement of finally having them in Vietnam, hearing them live for the firsttime and being all around the crazy atmosphere of the stadium that made it so good. I don’t think I’ve screamed somuch…ever!

One of thehighlights has to be the screams that they got when Shane just startedprompting “An empty street, an empty house, a hole inside my heart…” I wasactually so bummed when I didn’t see My Love on the song list in the GravityTour wikipedia page at the beginning…I mean, how could they NOT sing My Love?It’s the song I love and it’s the song fans here in Vietnam love. Herein Vietnam, to think about Westlife is to think about My Love. So you cannot believehow thrilled I was to hear them start singing it and I think literally thewhole stadium was singing along. Here’s the video:  

 Excuse our kind of off-tune singing. Below is a better version and angle from youtube :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dz-EUVv-bs

The thing Ilove about Westlife concerts from videos I’ve seen is that they always have amedley break in the middle where they cover songs from other artists and it’salways slightly goofy and really fun. This time they were dressed in MickeyMouse t-shirts and singing Viva La Vida (Coldplay), Only Girl (Rihanna), TheTime (Black Eyed Peas), Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) and I Predict A Riot (KaiserChiefs). Bad Romance of course got the screams hehe. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAEbUQWYmbI

Some funmoments: They were whipping out their iPhones to take pictures and videos thewhole time, I think Nicky was even Tweeting on stage. They even took videos andphotos for the fans near the stage. I think of the few bands/artists that haveperformed here in Vietnam (there’s been very few – BSB, Super Junior, David Archulettacome to mind) only David had both made the crowd this wild and be this closeand friendly. There’s a breath-takingly beautiful moment where they asked everyoneto take out our phones and shined them up to the sky for You Raise Me Up.

Photo: Dao Nguyen

Ohyeah, there was the mid-concert crowd-control exercise for the guys, exceptthat I doubt they achieved much. Basically everyone standing by the stage waspushing up so people at the front were getting a little crushed and Markstarted off trying to get everyone to take 2 steps back. It didn’t work and hegave up :p and the rest of the guys took over. I wonder whether anyone moved atall. Haha. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOLaGTatHsk

We finishedwith an encore of What About Now and Uptown Girl, which is appropriately upbeatand really great note to end on. What I love about Westlife is that theirstrength might not be in the complicated choreography but they know how tospice up their routines so that it’s fresh and fun. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqzho4mWsq0

My only realcomplaint is that at the beginning, Mark’s microphone apparently had someproblem and that Kian got too little of the limelight. I think the only time Igot a decent photo of him on the LCD screen was when he was not singing, but talking (about his wife and new baby,and got the whole stadium to chant the baby’s nickame – Twinkle – for him torecord on his phone). 

This was the only decent shot of Kian that I got.
 

Actually, strangely the only one who I got most decent shots of was Mark and it wasn't intentional. Shane got close ups on the LCD screens a lot but somehow his shots came out either blurry or all I get is his chin...haha.

I think they should have done You Make Me Feel, onebecause I love that song :P and two because Kian actually has a solo in that. 

Anyway, here's Mark. Trang is happy though :D. 

 

I really like this photo of Nicky

Also, this is a general complaint that I’m sure everyone has: the concert wasway too short!! They started around 8h10 and ended when it wasn’t even 10 yet.It seemed even shorter when you’re actually there because you’re so focused onthem. But it was a fantastic show! All the seats were filled, and there was somuch screaming ^^

It was anamazing night. They should come back. Oh my god, they should have done morethan just one night here and I totally would go to see them again…

In My Mailbox #16

In My Mailbox

IMM is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

I had been looking for Tiger's Curse since ever, I could only seem to find the sequel, in fact I was starting that the first book didn't exist x) but I Found It!! :D! in Marshalls..... which was the  last place I thought I'd find a book, but Yay :D! 

that was all for me but I'd Love to see what YOU Got In Your Mailbox  :))

10.02 Sun (calendar)

S U N D A Y
October 2, 2011
Merl Reagle
[Note: This is the puzzle that appears in the Sunday L.A. Times newspaper. If you don't get the paper, you can find the puzzle here. Scroll down to see today's syndicated puzzle.]

Theme: "Sugar and Spies" — A spy story with cooking puns.

Theme answers:

• 22A: A2: "... WHAT'S COOKING, Chief? Or Chef? Or Boss?".
• 24A: A1: "One of our guys is in HOT WATER ..."
• 28A: A1: "... for POACHING a sensitive document from the Something-or-other Embassy in Copenhagen."
• 35A: A2: "DANISH?" A1: "No thanks, just coffee."
• 37A: A1: "This may sound like SMALL POTATOES ..."
• 49A: A1: "... but it's no PIECE OF CAKE."
• 57A: A1: "Our guy is being held by a couple of tough MEATBALLS ..."
• 65A: A2: "You mean, they're not exactly CREAM PUFFS."
• 69A: A1: "Right. They're a couple of HARDBOILED types."
• 80A: A2: "I hope the plan isn't HALF BAKED."
• 91A: A1: "PUT A LID ON IT already! Sheesh."
• 98A: A1: "Now listen. Just TURN UP THE HEAT on these ..."
• 101A: "... CRUMBS and bring our guy in."
• 110A: A1: "They're probably GRILLING him as we speak."
• 117A: A1: "So, here's hoping for a job WELL DONE."
• 118A: A2: "Say, what's the 'sensitive document' our guy grabbed?" A1: "A SECRET RECIPE, of course." A2: "Ah! Figures."

Everything — 1A: Some hounds (BASSETS); 8A: Asleep, as a foot (NUMB); 12A: Texas hold 'em org. (WPT); 15A: Improve, perhaps (AGE); 18A: Footstool (OTTOMAN); 19A: Sky bear (URSA); 20A: Elyria's state (OHIO); 21A: La-la lead-in (TRA); 22A: A2: "... ___, Chief? Or Chef? Or Boss?" ("WHAT'S COOKING"); 24A: A1: "One of our guys is in ___ ..." (HOT WATER); 26A: Permits (LETS); 27A: Mine extracts (ORES); 28A: A1: "... for ___ a sensitive document from the Something-or-other Embassy in Copenhagen." (POACHING); 29A: Chemical ending (-ENE); 30A: Spill remark (OOPS); 32A: Bird word (COO); 34A: Female bird (HEN); 35A: A2: "___?" A1: "No thanks, just coffee." (DANISH); 37A: A1: "This may sound like ___ ..." (SMALL POTATOES); 44A: Boy of La Mancha (NIÑO); 46A: Hospital section (WARD); 47A: Cross (ROOD); 48A: Se Ri of golf (PAK); 49A: A1: "... but it's no ___." (PIECE OF CAKE); 53A: Female force (YIN); 54A: Indian outfit (SARI); 55A: Intro to "Is Born" (A STAR); 56A: Eastwood in "Rawhide" (YATES); 57A: A1: "Our guy is being held by a couple of tough ___ ..." (MEATBALLS); 60A: With 86 Down, a gun sound (RAT); 61A: Sonora's sun (SOL); 62A: Regional judicial body that hears appeals: abbr. (USCC); 64A: Fine (AOK); 65A: A2: "You mean, they're not exactly ___." (CREAM PUFFS); 69A: A1: "Right. They're a couple of ___ types." (HARDBOILED); 75A: Fabled flyer (ROC); 76A: Flying start? (AERO-); 78A: Ger. neighbor (AUS.); 79A: Simile center (AS A); 80A: A2: "I hope the plan isn't ___." (HALF BAKED); 85A: Veni (I CAME); 87A: Hosni's predecessor (ANWAR); 89A: High cards (ACES); 90A: Enterprise lead-in (USS); 91A: A1: "___ already! Sheesh." (PUT A LID ON IT); 93A: "Scarface" setting: abbr. (FLA.); 94A: He played Elmer (BURT); 96A: With "breve," 2/2 time (ALLA); 97A: Jazzy Getz (STAN); 98A: A1: "Now listen. Just ___ on these ..." (TURN UP THE HEAT); 101A: "... ___ and bring our guy in." (CRUMBS); 105A: Chicago sights (ELS); 106A: Author Talese (GAY); 107A: Hurt (ACHE); 109A: Still (YET); 110A: A1: "They're probably ___ him as we speak." (GRILLING); 114A: Intro to "girl!" (ATTA); 116A: Nautical term (ALEE); 117A: A1: "So, here's hoping for a job ___." (WELL DONE); 118A: A2: "Say, what's the 'sensitive document' our guy grabbed?" A1: "A ___, of course." A2: "Ah! Figures." (SECRET RECIPE); 122A: United (ONE); 123A: Role for Ronny (OPIE); 124A: Fill with cargo (LADE); 125A: Spruce, e.g. (CONIFER); 126A: Elfin (WEE); 127A: Become (GET); 128A: "Disgusting!" ("YUCK!"); 129A: Cups, e.g. (HOLDERS); 1D: Heard pins drop? (BOWLED); 2D: Greek Minerva (ATHENA); 3D: ___ Island (STATEN); 4D: Overindulgers of a sort (SOTS); 5D: Dash lengths (EMS); 6D: Tic follower (TAC); 7D: Nosy Nellie (SNOOP); 8D: Microwave: sl. (NUKE); 9D: "Topaz" author (URIS); 10D: AOL rival (MSN); 11D: Carry-on item (BAG); 12D: Cowboy's command (WHOA); 13D: Face (a batter) (PITCH TO); 14D: Fair-haired kid (TOWHEAD); 15D: Memo abbr. (ATTN.); 16D: Actor Kinnear (GREG); 17D: Ring location? (EAR); 20D: "I see!" ("OHO!"); 23D: Hosp. areas (OR'S); 25D: "___ She Sweet" (AIN'T); 28D: D.C. denizen (POL); 30D: Willow type (OSIER); 31D: "Horrors!" ("OH NO!"); 32D: Loving touch (CARESS); 33D: Like tall redwoods (OLD); 36D: Cuzco dweller (INCA); 37D: Hit hard (SWAT); 38D: ___ of (utilize) (MAKE USE); 39D: ___-dieu (prayer bench) (PRIE); 40D: Ms. O'Neill (OONA); 41D: Aussie gem (OPAL); 42D: First name in tea (EARL); 43D: Vail needs (SKIS); 45D: "Thinking ___" (OF YOU); 49D: Paris picnic site (PARC); 50D: Munich's river (ISAR); 51D: Kitchen ending (-ETTE); 52D: Junior cow (CALF); 53D: Exercise place (YMCA); 54D: H.H. Munro (SAKI); 58D: Bar amounts (TABS); 59D: Scary word (BOO); 61D: Humane org. (SPCA); 63D: Cereal count (CHOCULA); 66D: Pound sounds (ARFS); 67D: Throng (MOB); 68D: They come and go (FADS); 70D: Hindu hero (RAMA); 71D: Sword fights (DUELS); 72D: Yard grass (LAWN); 73D: Actor Morales (ESAI); 74D: Pub missile (DART); 77D: "Believe It Or Not" name (RIPLEY); 80D: Ax handle (HAFT); 81D: Rights grp. (ACLU); 82D: Literary king (LEAR); 83D: Actor Russell (KURT); 84D: Bk. before Job (ESTH.); 86D: See 60 Across (-A-TAT); 87D: "Not on ___!" (A DARE); 88D: Low-class, in London (NONU); 92D: Hankering (ITCH); 94D: Square-jawed pooch (BULLDOG); 95D: Rising ground (UPSLOPE); 96D: "I see!" ("AHA!"); 99D: Singer Young (NEIL); 100D: Quiche need (EGG); 102D: "For Once in ___" (MY LIFE); 103D: Belt clip-on (BEEPER); 104D: Pilots (STEERS); 107D: Had a bite (ATE); 108D: Emulate Berra (CATCH); 110D: Writer Weingarten (GENE); 111D: Progesterone expert and author, Dr. John ___ (R. LEE); 112D: ___ for the long haul (IN IT); 113D: Born (NÉE); 114D: Current choices (AC/DC); 115D: Hard journey (TREK); 116D: Litmus test result (ACID); 117D: "Amazing!" ("WOW!"); 118D: Like some dogs (SLY); 119D: ___ de cologne (EAU); 120D: Aussie leaper (ROO); 121D: Made bigger: abbr. (ENL.).

10.02 Sun

S U N D A Y
October 2, 2011
Jim Leeds

[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]

Theme: "Vintage Humor" — Wine-inspired puns. *hic*

Theme Entries:

• 24A: Wearing a suit made of white-wine labels? (CHABLIS DRESSED).
• 39A: Traditional time to bottle wine? (WHEN THE VAT LADY SINGS).
• 66A: Present from a winery? (THE GIFT OF CAB).
• 72A: Listing on a winery inventory? (SIXTEEN TUNS).
• 75A: French wineries' regulations to assure quality? (CRUS' CONTROLS).
• 100A: Reds handed down from winery founder? (THE ZINS OF OUR FATHERS).
• 118A: Winery owner's autobiography? (ME AND MY CHATEAU).

Hey, crossword fans. Doug here. I had a long day today, so this might be an abbreviated post. We'll see how long I can stay awake. And no, I'm not drinking any wine.

OK, with a punny theme, there are going to be some entries that you love, and some that you don't love. I didn't love WHEN THE VAT LADY SINGS. It sounds funny, but I'm not sure it makes any sense. And CRUS' CONTROLS feels off, because I never see the base phrase, CRUISE CONTROL, as a plural. (A "cru" is a French vineyard, by the way.)

On the plus side, I thought THE GIFT OF CAB & ME AND MY CHATEAU were clever, even though it took me a while to figure out that the last one is a pun on ME AND MY SHADOW. And CHABLIS DRESSED is a fun take-off on SHABBILY DRESSED. I hope a couple of these struck your fancy.

Bullets:

• 60A: Prefix with culture (API). Apiculture, which is the raising and care of bees. To paraphrase a line from Raiders of the Lost Ark: "Bees! Why'd it have to be bees?" My usual reaction when a bee flies too close to me.
• 63A: Post-Thanksgiving Muzak fare (CAROL). I love this clue. They start the Christmas push earlier and earlier every year. Halloween too. I saw costumes and candy at Target in mid-August.
• 64A: Neo- ending (PHYTE). The first rule of Phyte Club is don't put "phyte" in your crossword grid.

• 91A: "Griffin & __": 1991 best-seller (SABINE). Tough one for me. Never heard of it, so let's check Wikipedia: "Griffin and Sabine is an epistolary novel by Nick Bantock. It is the first novel in The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy and was a bestseller in 1991. The story is told through a series of removable letters and postcards between the two main characters and is intended for an adult audience, as some sources describe the artwork as disturbing." So you can actually remove the letters and postcards from the book? I find this confusing, so let's move on...
• 3D: Relaxed, upscale restaurant (BRASSERIE). If you move the "I" backwards two places, it spells BRASSIERE. Interesting.
• 18D: Where the Styx flows (HADES). The Styx flows on this blog too.

Sorry for the short post. I'll be back with the usual amount of nonsense next Sunday.

10.01 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
October 1, 2011
Barry C. Silk

Theme: None

This puzzle put up a pretty good fight, but in the end I was victorious. A couple things I didn't know, a couple bad guesses, some misdirection here and there … good stuff for a Saturday.

Bullets:

• 5A: ___ Sea, off Siberia (KARA). Never heard of it.
• 22A: "1-2-3" singer Barry (LEN). Wow. I haven't heard this guy's name since … Barry Silk's last puzzle. :-)
• 23A: Tracker or Canyon (GMC). I tried SUV first, then thought it might be UTE, but GMC eventually appeared.
• 27A: Brand for which Garfield was once spokescat (ALPO). Okay, I laughed at myself here. I actually thought it might be RAGU.
• 30A: They fall in war films (PARATROOPS). Anyone else try PARACHUTES first?

• 55A: Deadpan features (MONOTONES).
• 2D: London's setting (ONTARIO). Ha! You can't fool me! I've seen this trick too many times!
• 20D: Hockey game clincher (EMPTY NET GOAL). I've never heard this phrase, but I'm not much of a hockey fan. Luckily, it was easy enough to piece together through crosses.
• 23D: Driving problem (GLARE). I thought this was going to be golf-related.
• 41D: Many Suffragette opponents (SEXISTS). At one point, I had penciled in a D at the end of 44A and already had the I and the ending TS in place and, even though it's obviously not the right number of letters, the first word that popped into my head was IDIOTS.
• 45D: Half a legendary bluegrass duo (FLATT).

Everything — 1A: Party leader (HOST); 5A: ___ Sea, off Siberia (KARA); 9A: Short-necked European fruit (ANJOU); 14A: Neutralizer of a sort (ANTI-TOXIN); 16A: Theater name (LOEWS); 17A: Ben Franklin, e.g. (STATESMAN); 18A: City on the Aar (BERNE); 19A: Solutions for unfair situations? (GALOSHES); 20A: Not so tough (EASIER); 21A: Modern address (URL); 22A: "1-2-3" singer Barry (LEN); 23A: Tracker or Canyon (GMC); 24A: Fifth-century date (CDI); 25A: Haberdashery item (TIE BAR); 27A: Brand for which Garfield was once spokescat (ALPO); 28A: Patricia Neal's Oscar film (HUD); 29A: Fountain output (SODA); 30A: They fall in war films (PARATROOPS); 33A: One may go over your head (HAIR DRYER); 35A: Space-saving display (FLAT SCREEN); 38A: Brothers (FRAS.); 42A: Lucy of "Kill Bill" (LIU); 43A: Body protector (SKIN); 44A: Worn out (EFFETE); 46A: Gives a thumbs-up (OK'S); 47A: Antiquity, quaintly (ELD); 48A: Old televangelism letters (PTL); 49A: Burden (TAX); 50A: Adjust at the garage, perhaps (RETUNE); 52A: Composer for whom an annual violin competition is named (PAGANINI); 54A: Nonreactive (INERT); 55A: Deadpan features (MONOTONES); 56A: Suit material (SERGE); 57A: Woman in a tree? (GREAT AUNT); 58A: Suit material (TWEED); 59A: Give away (TELL); 60A: Tablets from docs (MEDS); 1D: Shows nerve (HAS GUTS); 2D: London's setting (ONTARIO); 3D: Conked out (STALLED); 4D: One of the Jacksons (TITO); 5D: Carnegie Deli offering (KOSHER PICKLE); 6D: Dismissive sorts? (AXMEN); 7D: Narrow inlets (RIAS); 8D: "Barbara __": Beach Boys hit (ANN); 9D: White meat source (ALBACORE); 10D: Rejections (NOES); 11D: Bible's City of Palm Trees (JERICHO); 12D: Confessed (OWNED UP); 13D: They get you in (USER ID'S); 15D: Magnetic induction unit (TESLA); 20D: Hockey game clincher (EMPTY NET GOAL); 23D: Driving problem (GLARE); 26D: Currency with King Mongkut on the fifty (BAHT); 27D: "As You Like It" forest (ARDEN); 31D: Secret rival (ARRID); 32D: "O Fortuna" composer (ORFF); 34D: Agreed (ASSENTED); 35D: Wedding arranger? (FLORIST); 36D: Perfectly restored (LIKE NEW); 37D: Stark (AUSTERE); 39D: Attendants (RETINUE); 40D: Done (AT AN END); 41D: Many Suffragette opponents (SEXISTS); 45D: Half a legendary bluegrass duo (FLATT); 48D: Advisory group (PANEL); 51D: Press (URGE); 52D: Minute opening (PORE); 53D: First name in linguistics (NOAM); 55D: Co. heads (MGT.).