google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday November 17, 2010 Fred Piscop

Advertisements

Nov 17, 2010

Wednesday November 17, 2010 Fred Piscop

Theme: WURST PUZZLE EVER. Add "WURST" to the first part of the theme answers, and you get some variety of sausage. Vegetarians might find this the WURST PUZZLE EVER, but to an omnivore like me, it's quite tasty.

17A. Lennon had one : LIVERPOOL ACCENT. The fab four hailed from LIVERPOOL (nasty image if you think about it.) LIVERWURST, from the German Leberwurst, is liver sausage, obviously. Love it or hate it, this staple of northern and eastern Europe is spreadable, high in fat, and contains pig's liver. In Hungary, my ancestral home, it's used with cheese as a filling for baked pancakes. The things you learn . . .

25A. Go from pillar to post : KNOCK ABOUT. This is not a great correspondence. KNOCK ABOUT means travel widely or wander aimlessly. To "go from pillar to post" is to search widely or be driven by circumstances beyond one's control. KNOCKWURST is a soft sausage made of pork and beef spiced with garlic and other seasonings. And, lest you BARQUE up the wrong tree, here is another KNOCKABOUT.

50A. Josephine Tey title orphan : BRAT FARRAR. "BRAT FARRAR is the story of a young man who takes part in a swindle, and suddenly finds himself the champion of the missing heir that he is impersonating against his victim's conceited twin brother." Tey was a Scottish author of mystery novels. BRAT FARRAR might be her best and most famous. BRATWURST is a sausage made of veal and pork. To a purist, it is made with veal only. I guess I'm not a purist.

And the Unifier:
66. Based on the starts of 17-, 25- and 50-Across, what this crossword might be? : WURST PUZZLE EVER. Reminds me of this.

Hi, gang, it JzB, your Hungarian, pig-devouring, Toledo trombonist. I have to repost Dennis's "Did you know?" from yesterday. "The average American eats the equivalent of 28 pigs in his or her lifetime." We could do WURST, I suppose.

ACROSS:

1. Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist : BORAT. High achievement in low comedy.

6. Dickens alias : BOZ. As the story goes, BOZ was the nickname of his younger brother, Augustus.

9. National Guard challenges : RIOTS. The challenge is to avoid either injuring or being injured.

14. Publicist's concern : IMAGE. When perception trumps reality, IMAGE is all.

15. Bettor's note : IOU. Shortened from "I owe you." Very early textese.

16. Art film, often : INDIE. Independent - not associated with a major studio.

20. Undying : ETERNAL. Forever, and ever. Not an INDIE.

21. Bring to light : UNEARTH.

22. Handle clumsily : PAW. Not to be confused with 62 D.

24. Wallet items, briefly : IDS. Identification, like a driver's license.

31. Rodgers's partner : HART. Lorenz HART was Richard Rodgers's lyricist, before Rodgers teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein. Here is my favorite R&H tune.

35. Part of a TV feed : AUDIO. the sound portion. The Vidio portion is the . . . ah - video

36. Nasty boss : OGRE. Ever have one? My two WURST bosses were really decent people who didn't know jack about how to be a boss.

38. Sigma preceder : RHO. Greek letters. All together now: Rho, rho, rho your beta, gamma down the sigma . . .

39. Eggy bun : BRIOCHE. I'd like one with my BRAT.

42. Vibraphone virtuoso Lionel : HAMPTON. He lost a great deal of memorabilia and recordings when his apartment burned a few years ago. He was a wonderful person, and a terrific musician. He, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman broke the color barrier in American Music. Here, they also break the land speed record.

44. CIA forerunner : OSS The office of Strategic Services.

45. Chuck : HURL. Throw, not a roast. Remember, we're doing pigs today.

47. "All in the Family" spinoff : MAUDE. MAUDE, played by Bea Arthur, was Edith Bunker's outspoken, liberated, rather overbearing cousin.

48. One of Alcott's women : BETH. And one of my daughters-in-law. She is bringing the kids to our house next week for Thanksgiving. We'll all be giving thanks when Tom returns from Afghanistan, some time in January.

53. Old Gremlin maker : AMC. Why anyone would want to make an old gremlin remains a mystery. I guess they mean American Motors Corporation, which at one time made Jeeps in Toledo. Then it was Chrysler, which, more recently, was purchased with Fiat money

55. Fannie follower? : MAE. The Federal National Mortgage Association, or, Freddie Mac's girl friend. They both have debt issues.

56. Not surprisingly : AS USUAL

60. Esteem : RESPECT. Let's all show just a little bit.

68. "South Pacific" hero : EMILE. Here is his song. Also, see 31 A.

69. Museum-funding org. : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts.

70. Origami bird : CRANE. Why not an albatross?

71. Gave a shot, say : DOSED.

You lucky people get another of my poems, based on a real life experience. It gave me the opportunity to moon a comely lass.

FIFTH DAY DOWN

For four straight days I've been flat on my back.
Prospects for tomorrow -- not too bright.
But first I have to face another night
Of nose-runs, insomnia, and cough attack.

Day two they put a needle in my hip,
Pumped in some paste, a substance that is not
The amber liquid I would call a shot:
That lovely Malt, imported in green glass.

When morning comes I'll rise to face tomorrow,
Without a Scottish gift to ease my sorrow,
And if some comely lass of nursely station
Approaches from behind with medication

I'll demure, and if you get my drift,
If she insists, then I will plead the fifth.

-- Jan. 28, 1999, 11:00 pm

Copyright Jazzbumpa. All rights reserved

72. "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)" author Coulter : ANN. Here, I will practice restraint.

73. Ready to snap : TESTY. If President Coolidge had been irascible rather than taciturn, would he have been TESTY Cal?

DOWN

1. Ill temper : BILE. The cluster of the last three answers restores my faith in a benevolent deity.

2. Jump over : OMIT. The quick brown fox omitted the lazy dog.

8. Pilot's alphabet ender : ZULU. Alpha, Bravo . . . or is it Able, Baker . . . Somebody here will know this, fer sure.

9. Reduced to bits : RICED. If you put boiled potatoes through a ricer, the little bits look like grains of rice - until you stir in the butter, etc.

10. Like bill payments? : IN CASH. Very retro answer. Even checks are passe, now. Put it on plastic, pay it on line with 100% recyclable electrons.

11. Wroclaw's river : ODER. Smell something fishy?

12. Sunroof feature : TINT. Tinted glass or plastic, to keep your car from turning into an oven.

13. Adam's third : SETH. The forgotten son, except in crosswords.

18. Bearded Smurf : PAPA

19. "Peer Gynt Suite" dancer : ANITRA

23. Romance : WOO. See 31 A.

25. Barbecue fare : KABOB. Shish kabob is lamb. Pork - I dunno - pig kabobs?

26. Sip : NURSE. As in nurse a beer. Similar to nursing a baby, I suppose. Not to be confused with someone who does 71 A.

27. Praiseful poet : ODIST. Like me, I suppose. C. A. to the rescue, please.

28. Gp. in a 1955 labor merger : C.I.O. Note Abrv. The Congress of Industrial Organizations merged with the American Federation of Labor. All together now: John L. Lewis had a union, C-I, C-I-O . . .

29. "How'm I Doing?" mayor/author : KOCH. I might ask the same question.

30. "This is awful!" : UGH. Hope that's not the answer.

32. Pianist Rubinstein : ARTUR

33. Ida Morgenstern's daughter : RHODA. A mid 70's spinoff from the Mary Tyler Moore show starring Valarie Harper. Nothing Bazarre about it.

34. Office machine supply : TONER.

37. "Bone Dance" sci-fi author Bull : EMMA. This novel was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

40. One may be thrown at a pothole : HUBCAP. Do cars have hub caps any more?

41. Drop a brick, so to speak : ERR. To drop a brick is human. Anybody know anything about this expression?

43. It's often two, in mini golf : PAR. the designated number of strokes for a hole.

46. Hotfoot it : LAM. I only know this from the phrase "on the lam," meaning "at large." So, if Sasquach is on the LAM, that's an at large Bigfoot hot foot. Of course, LAM is also in Shish kabob, which is best served hot.

49. Give grief to : HASSLE. I had the first letter as S for a while, and wondered what language I was using.

51. Burroughs swinger : TARZAN. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the Tarzan novels. Tarzan was a swinger, but not like Edna St. Vincent Millay.

52. Have a hunch : FEEL. Hence the sympathetic expression, "I have a hunch about your pain."

54. Softened, in a way : MUTED. A Harmon mute is common on trumpet, but rare for trombone. I have one, and it gives a pretty nice sound.

56. Blown away : AWED. Like a trombone in a windstorm.

57. Heavyweights' ring contest : SUMO. Japanese SUMO wrestlers.

58. "Topaz" author : URIS. Leon URIS also wrote Exodus and Redemption.

59. Moon goddess : LUNA. Also, my most favoritest Harry Potter Character.

61. Shiites, e.g. : SECT. Shia and Sunni dissected Islam in the first generation following the death of the prophet in 632.

62. French pop : PERE. Daddy, not soda.

63. NASA "walks" : EVAS. Extra Vehicular Activity.

64. Euro fraction : CENT. One one-hundreth part. Just like our penny, which is also properly called a CENT.

65. Long basket, in basketball lingo : TREY. A shot from beyond the three point line, which is worth (AS USUAL) three points!

67. Path to enlightenment : ZEN. Not so much a path, as a way of thinking and perceiving the universe. ZEN is a Japanese word derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which means "meditation" or "meditative state". ZEN also originated in the 7th century. Thank you, Wikipedia.

Answer grid.

Time for me to HURL myself into bed. I have to get up in five hours.

Cheers!

Jazzbumpa

66 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Jazz, C.C. and gang - boy, I was on such a roll in the north, but came to a screeching halt as I moved south. I was impressed that 'brioche' popped out for 'Eggy bun', but I had too many unknowns, 'Anitra', 'Brat Farrar' and 'Emile'. I also didn't know that Euros were divided into cents, as with the dollar. Loved the theme unifier, really enjoyed the puzzle.

Jazz, nice job with the blog. Hopefully I'll get time to go back and look at the links. I had a friend whose parents had a Gremlin back in the day; they told him he could use it on weekend nights. He chose walking 'cause he knew he'd be driving alone.

Today is Electronic Greeting Card Day, Homemade Bread Day, World Peace Day and Take a Hike Day.

Did You Know?:

- The Great Salt Lake in Utah is six times saltier than seawater,

- For all couch potatoes -- melting an ice cube in your mouth burns about 2.3 calories.

- The ancient Romans dyed their hair with bird droppings.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

This was another one of those puzzles that went from speed run directly into a train wreck. The train wreck in question today was where all the unknown proper names were lying in the middle of the tracks in the eastern quadrant. HAMPTON (never heard of), BRAT FARRAR (never heard of), EMMA (never heard of), ARTUR (heard of, but thought it was ARTURO) and RHODA (heard of, but couldn't get from the clue). Thank heavens I knew that Rodger's partner was HART or I would have been stuck there forever! As it was, it took quite awhile to fill in everything via a series of wild and semi-educated guesses.

Some other proper names threatened to derail me elsewhere in the grid, but fortunately I remembered both ANITRA (from past puzzles), EMILE (from watching "South Pacific") and BORAT (from all the publicity surrounding the movie, if not from the movie itself, which I never saw).

As for the rest of the puzzle, I loved the theme. I'm a big fan of both sausage and puns, so this was right up my metaphorical alley.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, JazzBumpa and Friends. Wow! I thought this was a difficult puzzle, especially for a Wednesday, but I ultimately sussed out the clues. I got the word PUZZLE in the first pass. After getting BRAT and KNOCK, I figured out LIVER. I thought Sausage might be the theme. but couldn't figure out how that could fit in the unifier. Then the light went on! WURST! What a clever theme.

I had forgotten about HART, only knew that Rodgers had a partner named Hammerstein. The first letter worked, but way, way too many letters. LOL.

I also wanted Tried instead of DOSED for Gave a Shot, Say. That was a good clue.

I had a "wurst" boss once, and her name could fit in the spaces provided!

BORAT is a horrible movie. If you haven't seen it, you can skip it.

Your write-up was very informative. Thanks, JazzB.

QOD: Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at a tempting moment. ~ Benjamin Franklin.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C. Jazz and all,

Guessed the 'wurst'- Loved the rest.
{3} Look- ups: Borat,Anitra,Oder; perps and wags got me to the end.

Fav. was 'Burroughs swinger'.

Took much longer than usual Wednesday fare. Lots of unknowns that perped and wagged out, a letter at a time.

Also, lots of fresh fill and clues. Thanks, Fred.

Jazz, great job! Mucho Gusto! Liked your poem-very talented!

Have a nice day everyone.

Tinbeni said...

Jazz, Thanks for the write-up.
I'm AWED ...

Now I'm ready for lunch and dinner.
BRAT & KNOCK sound great. I'll pass on the LIVER.
It could be WURST ...

Learning moments, ANITRA and ARTUR, always a plus.

ANN needs to meet her TARZAN ... though I doubt she is a swinger.

Had bah for "This is awful" ... UGH!
Boy did this slow me down in the middle for the lllooonnggneeesssttt time.

Always like WOO as a ref. for Romance.
Hopeful romantic age thingy.

Dennis, I'll burn my calories later at the gym ... way more than 2.3 (plus, I abhor ICE, I like things NEAT).

Cheers to all at Sunset with a SIP of Avatar!!!
Yeah, I NURSE it ... really.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning JazzB, C.C. et al.

Thanks for the informative and entertaining write-up JazzB ! I think now I will be able to remember John L. Lewis, thanks to your "mnemonic" song, LOL!

I struggled through the north, but got traction in the south, starting with BRIOCHE HAMPTON OSS HURL MAUDE and BETH. So my experience seems to be the opposite of many other's. Worked my way back up and sussed LIVERPOOL ACCENT (great answer!), which helped fill in the rest of the north.

Then, when I finally got the "WURST" piece, I had to groan at the pun. But very clever, and a wonderful Wednesday experience.

My fav clue was "Pilot's alphabet ender" ZULU. Mainly because it allowed me to reveal "LIVERPOOL..." I had been on a "LIVERProblem..." sort of track for a while in that area!

For anyone who is interested, here is the most widely used phonetic alphabet from NATO.

Now it's off to make peace with my DH by sending him an e-card and baking him a loaf of bread so that he doesn't tell me to take a hike!

Have a happy hump day, everyone.

kazie said...

Jazz,
Congrats on getting through this one feeling as much under the weather as you seem to! I hope you feel better through the day.

I gather from the small number of comments that others are having as much trouble with this as I did.
In short, it gave me a lot of HASSLES,I ERRed many times, and had to g'spot most of the literary references and many others as well. Who's heard of EVAS? Probably the hardest Wednesday CW in memory.

I don't even know what a vibraphone is, much less the name of one of its virtuosos. I agree about KNOCK ABOUT, it conveys something totally different to me. I wanted THRASH or TOSS, neither of which would fit.

To "drop a brick" in my vernacular is to take a dump. I guess that could be erring in some circumstances, and then its crossing with HURL could take on a totally new meaning.

BRIOCHE is something that would never pass my lips, so of course I didn't think of it. I tried BLINTHE but I guess that doesn't exist either.

I concur that this could be construed as the WURST/WORST Wednesday for me.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. JazzB - great commentary.

WURST PUZZLE EVER - I hardly think so. It was a moderate challenge and fun to do. Only unknowns: ANITRA, and BRATFARRAR, came from the perps, brat from the theme unifier. Liked the cross of RHO and RHODA. WAGS included KABOB and BETH. KOCH and to some extent, ODER, were gimmes.

Enjoy the day.

JD said...

Good morning JzB, C.C., and all,

Kazie put into words everything I wanted to say. I usually LOVE the Wed. xwd, but this one kicked my arse.The UGH right in dead center was superb!!!Too many unknowns, but I sure enjoyed your write up, Jazz..and always,your poems.

Besides "wurst puzzle ever", my favorite was chuck= hurl.

My coffee is starting to kick in,;maybe I should give it another try....not

Have a great day!

fermatprime said...

Dear fellow solvers,

thanks to JzB for great write-up and poem.

Puzzle definitely was a long haul. Took forever to get WOO. No cheating, just slog, slog, slog.

Am on banner case of insomnia. Perhaps because a friend finked out on bringing dinner. I do wish that my best girl friend was not in Pittsburgh for two more weeks! She is trying to take care of 90 year old aunt who has very little short-term memory and eats an unhealthy diet (e.g., 4 ounces of strawberry jam on toast for breakfast).

Had several disasters overnight. WURST was dog knocking over toilet paper role and chewing it into itty bitty pieces all over my room.

Happy hump day all.

carol said...

Happy WURST WEDNESDAY!
As they would say in LIVERPOOL, "this puzzle kicked my arse".

Kazie, I agree with you 100% and you said it better than I ever could have.

Too many proper names for me. When it starts out with one I don't know, it makes the going very rough. I slogged through as much as I could, but had to give it up as there were just too many unknowns crossing too many unknowns :0

Did love 7D (new pedometer reading)

Word of warning about SOME electronic greeting cards...they can have malware, worms, virus', and other nasties in them, then your computer is really sick!!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning!

JazzB, your're writeup has to be one of the most entertaining ever. Whatever was in that shot didn't dull your wit and humor. Fiat money and debt issues? Very clever comments and in keeping with the punny theme. Testy Cal?... excuse me while I go hurl.

There were far too many obscure (to me) proper names for a Wednesday. I ended up consulting Mr G for a couple of answers so that I could complete the puzzle.

Fermatprime, it doesn't sound like you had a very good night. I sure hope everything improves quickly.

Happy hump day, all.

Nice Cuppa said...

Good Morning Jazz at al.

The Wurst of all possible constructions....except for all the others.... (apologies to WC).

Timely too. After 10 years of legal wrangling, or perhaps the realization that no-one actually buys CDs anymore, you can now download your fill of the Luvly Liverpudlian lads' accents from ITUNES. My wife just downloaded the lot - 150 bucksworth!

Jazz - your write-up was terrific. I even enjoyed your poem - the second half sounded distinctly Betjamin-esque to me.

NC

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c., jazzbumpa, and all,

a notch or two up from our average wednesday, i'd say, and such a clever theme. what's not to love about sausage?

never heard of ANITRA, or BRAT FARRAR, and had no idea what a vibraphone was. also never knew dickens' alias BOZ - only know boz skaggs. OOO was easily getable, but i don't know if i love using the letter O in place of the number zero - then again there's not too many ways to clue OOO.

fermatprime and mh, glad to see you're both back home and healing. barry g., best to your father; CA, welcome home - beautiful pictures; and lucina - 72 dozen?? how long does that last?

dennis, that gives new meaning to the term 'bird brain.'

MH said...

Wow! After two days of real easy ones we get a real tough one! Took me lots of time and a little bit of Google to figure this one out but I thought the them was great. Even with the theme I would not have finished without doing some looking up.

Good blog - I haven't read the comments yet but I expect everyone will say that this was one of our tougher Wednesday puzzles in recent memory.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Jazz thanks for all the great comments and links.

Just loved the punny WURST PUZZLE EVER theme.

There were lots of musical and showbiz names today. I didn't have problems with many of the proper names....except (50A) BRAT FARRAR. I'd never heard of Josephine Tey, but Jazz's link says she was a good mystery writer. Maybe I'll try to find BRAT at the local library.

That cross with unknown author (37D) EMMA Bull didn't make it any easier.

I would have gotten (30A) BRIOCHE more easily if it had been clued as Eggy bread, rather than roll. I love it, the taste is similar to challah, although brioche is loaded with butter.

I hope that those of whatever political view will hold off commenting on ANN Coulter. Not easy, but doable.

Kazie, your willingness to share your venacular with us always makes me laugh.

NC, I don't have an iPod and I still buy an occasional CD to play in the cars, so they aren't quite dead.

I've got some overripe bananas that are calling out to be included in Homemade Bread Day, so I'd better get the pecans chopped up and ready to go.

daffy dill said...

Thanks, Jazz. Mornin' all.

I knew it was going to be a slog when I started with a blank NW that didn't fill in until the end. I always access the online puzzle on this site and I try not to look at the theme. Today I saw the theme before I worked it. Helped a (very) little bit. I had to 'G' ANITRA and BRATFARRAR. I knew BOZ but it wasn't in my immediate memory, so I went to 'G' for that, too. BRIOCHE was a given because one of the TV cooks was making it yesterday - lots of eggs. It seems as if every other time we have a 4-letter river, it is ODER, so I typed it in on the first pass.

In honor of "Take a hike day" I'll go walk on the treadmill for a while, which I try to do at least 4X/wk.

Nice Cuppa said...

CA

I meant pre-recorded CDs. Most people download music to their computer and then burn it onto a blank CD when needed.

NC

Argyle said...

Here is a picture of the cast of Rhoda. Rhoda (Valerie Harper) is center front. Her mother, Ida Morgenstern (Nancy Walker) is in the lovely teal dress with faux pearls. (She wouldn't wear real ones just for a group photo with her daughter.)

Rhoda's sister, right, Brenda, is Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge Simpson. In back is Harold Gould, who plays her father, Martin, and, left, Joe Gerard (David Groh), who marries Rhoda.

Quiz next week.

Husker Gary said...

Jazz, et al, the weather and the puzzle took a turn for the worst today. I had to earn my 100% today and I am writing this just after "dropping a brick".

Some of the names seemed very obscure (BOZ, ARTUR and BRATFARRAR).

I Museum-funding org as Muslim-funding org for a minute and wanted Rodgers partner to be Fred. I liked Burrough's clue after I figured out it wasn't the 5 in NYC. I don't think of a KABOB as a barbecue item but RIBS didn't cut it.

Hopefully I get a day off tomorrow after working two whole days in a row! Whew!

Clear Ayes said...

NC, Yup. I meant prep-recorded CD's too. If I'm going to give them as a gift, (which I did just yesterday), I headed over to Target and bought a couple for an even older friend who is still on a modem and doesn't have the speed for downloading. There is still a need out here in the retired folks sticks.

Argyle, OK for next week's RHODA quiz....oops there goes the brain cells deleting my daughter's phone number to make room!

BTW, the new avatar is Clear Ayes first look at a lamb brains appetizer. It was quite tasty with that glass (or two) of good NZ Saugignon Blanc.

kazie said...

Ca,
Glad you are brave enough to try lamb brains. You're a much better woman than I am!

On the topic of music equipment, I don't know what I'll do if CD's ever do die out. I still have a turntable, tape player and CD player combination in our living room. Not that the turntable gets much use, but I still have our LP collection and thought for nostalgia's sake I should keep the player for them. I don't know if I have the patience to download music, or the need to carry an I-pod. I like music in the car (6-disc player) or in the evening, but I can't concentrate on anything I'm working on at the computer with music going. This is someone who used to have the radio on all the time when studying at college. It was connected to a reel-to-reel recorder, so if something I wanted came on I could catch it and I still have a couple of those tapes too--somewhere.

Lucina said...

Greetings, all. Jazz, GREAT blogging and lovely poem. Lucky lass, that one.

I liked this puzzle! Yes, it kicked me, HURLed me and KNOCKed me but it was fun! At first I balked at the number of names, however, there were enough knowns, RHODA, BETH, ANN and HART that the unknowns just emerged.

ANITRA was my first fill as I love Grieg. We discussed him recently.

Then the bottom filled and revealed the theme unifier; that helped with LIVERPOOL and KNOCK as I had ABOUT. It all seemed doable.

The NW was the last to fall and once I saw ACCENT the rest, ODER, TINT, SETH, etc. filled in.

I'm sure ANN and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum but my motto is "Live and let live."

Many learning moments in this one, Josephine Tey and BRATFARRAR, EVAS, BORAT (never saw the movie). Thank you for the explanations, JZB; I shall return for more links.

Today was the last of my physical exams, the dreaded Mammogram; yesterday was vision and discovered that a cataract is starting to grow. Heopefully, it will grow slowly.

Melissa:
We make that many tamales because they are taken to holiday parties, dinners, etc. by any family members who participated in the process.

One of our traditions is also a white elephant party, which is great fun, for friends and family and we serve them at that time, too.

I hope your Wednesday is very special!

Anonymous said...

LAM kabob? is that kabob on the lam ?
I always thought it was LAMB kabob

Lucina said...

Kazie:
You are not alone! Very likely most of us have some of that equipment. My turntable no longer works, but I have the LPs, 8 track tapes, even, and probably a couple of hundred CDs. I play them in the car, too, and when I clean house.

Lucina said...

Oops, Melissa, by New Year's Day they are all gone.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I always enjoy doing these. This one, for some reason, was even more fun than usual.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. That's what keeps me coming back.

I wrote that poem back in 1999, at the tail end (so to speak) of the WURST sickness I ever experienced as an adult. The Doc told me it was acute pharyngitis, which sounds like medic-speak for really bad sore throat. It's a kid's disease, and they gave me kid's medication, where a kid gets it.

It was about the viscosity of oatmeal, took at least a full minute to inject, and left a lump for about a week. The nurse - who was really cute, and looked to be about 16 - was all apologetic. I told her there was nothing she could do to make me feel worse than I already did. It was true.

Anon at 12:56 -- Sheesh!

N C - Thanks for the lead on John Betjeman. Never heard of him before.

If I tried to get drunk enough to eat lamb's brains, one way or another, I HURL.

Cheers!
JzB

thehondohurricane said...

Jazz, Great write up and the poem had me chuckling throughout my reading it.

Count me in as getting my arse kicked today. Managed to finish the middle and southern sections without assistance. But the North was another story. Never got started. Riots the only successful fill. Borat and Boz were unknowns, Liver(pool) never entered my mind, and I had razed instead if riced. Everything else was a mystery.

Try again tomorrow, can't be any "wurst", can it?

Hope everyone is having a pleasant day.

Jeannie said...

Jazz, I enjoyed your write up much better than my solving experience today. I laughed right out loud over “testy Cal”. Once again I am on the same page as Kazie and Carol. Too many names for me. I hit the g-spot for Brat Farrar, Anitra and Artur. I got all kinds of red letter help with Boz, NEA, OSS, Evas, and Uris. I never knew a three-point shot was called a trey. I don’t watch any basketball. I have never heard of a vibraphone (sounds DF to me) but took a WAG for Hampton. Unlike Hahtool, I thought parts of Borat were hilarious. Must be my twisted sense of humor.

The only music in my house is all vinyl played on a refurbished 1965 Capehart console.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone. This wasn't easy today. I had several unknowns that crossed each other so those areas were difficult to fix. Looks like just about everyone else had some of the same difficulties.

The crossing of Vibraphone Virtuoso and "Bone Dance" author Bull had to be Googled, but once I had those two names in the Mid-East section fell into place.

I also had trouble with the NE corner. I wanted vent for Sunroof feature, and it took me a long time to erase that and start over. I also couldn't decide on whetehr to put in Diced or Riced for Reduced to bits.

I started out very slowly, but got a toe hold in the Mid-west section and worked my way to the bottom. Once I had the Liverpool and Knock answers in I thought the theme was about sausages or sausage meats. This helped a lot with the Theme unifier, Wurst puzzle ever.

A clever theme, and just hard enough to be really challenging.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. JazzB, thank you SO much for such a fun writeup. I truly love your sense of humor.

Loved the puzzle today, too. Fun sausages. Got it all done without having to look anything up. Wanted to spell KABOB as KEBOB, so couldn't get AUDIO or VIDEO for a while.

Best wishes to you all.

Chickie said...

I knew Artur Rubenstein as I had seen him in concert when I was in High School. I enjoyed the concert then, but would had loved it even more with a bit more education under my belt. Sometimes you don't appreciate something until much later in life.

JzB great blogging today, and also another great poem. You have a gift.

I like all the new avatars. Melissa Bee, and CA, I love your new pictures. Also, I've just noticed Nice 'cuppa's teapot.

Time for another 'cuppa.

kazie said...

Argyle,
Thanks for that pic of Rhoda's family. I had completely forgotten the existence of her father and sister.

Maybe some of you have seen this before, but I got it in an email recently and loved it. If you remember Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire", and always wondered what all the lyrics referred to, this is for you. A visual rendition with captions of 40 years of history headlines in under 5 minutes. Go full screen (left top corner) and be quick off the mark if you use the pause (top right hand corner). Clicking anywhere else on the right side will get you a pause, but the screen leaps to the Wiki entry on the topic you're up to. Turn the sound on first!

Mainiac said...

Good Afternoon All,

Rain storm has kept me busy today. Finally inside drying out and I don't think I want to put my wet boots back on.

This puzzle didn't treat me too well. Lot of names I didn't know and I had problems in the north more than the south. First few times through were miserable. The unifier was my first footing. Knock About and Liver Pool Accent led me to Brat. Red letters were needed to complete the rest. Artur, Rhoda, Maude, Brat Farrar and Hampton were a wicked block.

Nice to know melting ice cubes burns some calories. Adding whiskey to it evens it out, eh!!?

Happy Hump Day!

Mainiac said...

Jazz,

Excellent write up and links. I nearly fried my key board shaking my boodie to Respect. Needed some today but my hair is still wet!

Jazzbumpa said...

Here is Rubenstein playing Chopin.

Those who don't know Lionel Hampton, please check the link in the main post.

Here are some technicals on the puzzle, with their NYT daily equivalents.

Blocks 37 (Thus)
Words 78 (Mon)
Open squares (Wed)
Avg word length 4.82 (Mon -)
Freshness 58.5 (Thus)
Missing J, Q, X
No cheater squares.

Cheers!
JzB

HeartRx said...

Kazie,
I loved the link you provided to "We Didn't Start the Fire" - it had me dancing on my desk !

After reading everyone else's comments, I realize once again what a different wave length we get on sometimes. I knew most of the names after a couple perps, but got hung up on the simple words like TINT (wanted vent) and RICED (wanted diced). BRAT FARRAR and ANN Coulter were also gotten through perps, after a few eraser crumbs.

Only one word "bugged" me : ODIST. Hunh...I've seen it many times in xwords, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!

And when I read the clue for 45A "Chuck", and HURL filled in, I had to go back and make sure the clue wasn't really "UP-chuck" (chuckle, chuckle...)

melissa bee said...

lucina, that's fantastic, what a fun way to spend a day, and remember it all year long.

jazz, great job today as always - your efforts and humor are most appreciated.

Jayce said...

Artur Rubinstein was my favorite pianist for years, until I discovered Stephen Bishop Kovacevich, Valentina Lisitsa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Angela Giulini. They knock my socks off. If you like a lot (too much) razzle-dazzle, check out Fazil Say; he's wild but weird.

Clear Ayes said...

Jazz, I loved Rubenstein playing Chopin, and I was bouncin' to Kazie's Billy Joel link. 40 years of photos and I could identify about 90% of them. What a century that was!

About those lamb brains...I always try to sample something local when we travel. That's how I tasted haggis and blood sausage (didn't like) and escargot, eel (did like) and now lamb brains which I would eat again.

I did make banana bread which will come with me on Friday on a visit to see a cousin. While I was in the kitchen I slapped up an apple pie with Jeannie's recommended Vodka pie crust. (It really is one of the best crusts I've ever had.) That one isn't going anywhere. I can hardly wait for dessert.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - Hand up for finding the puzzle challenging. It was. Somehow I got a bit here and a bit there and finished, but had to fix two oopses for a Ta-Da.

I was lucky enough to see Lionel Hampton in a live concert in Stratford, Ct. in the late 70's. That guy could move!

Jeannie and others unfamiliar with Vibraphones: they are simply Xylophones with an extra feature, a rotating "paddle" or "baffle" just underneath the tuned bars. It acts just like the baffle on world-famous Leslie speakers, adding a gentle wah-wah-wah sound to the otherwise plain xylophone sound.

Of Alcott's Little Women my favorite is Joe, at least as portrayed by Winona Ryder. A lovely young woman I sez.

Speaking of young actresses: I see that others agree that the one chosen to portray Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) in Harry Potter is just right for the role.

Phonetic Alphabet: this has gone through some changes over the years. Old versions such as able-baker-charlie are pretty much unheard of in civilian aviation these days. In the interest of promoting useful worldwide standards, the US belongs to the Intl. Civil Aviation Org. (ICAO), which has settled on the alpha-bravo-charlie style that HeartRx linked earlier. Lots of things have changed in US aviation, most particularly the weather dissemination format, to comply with ICAO standards. Luckily for Americans the standard worldwide language for air traffic is English.

Of course, French-speaking Quebec pilots are famously stubborn about using English in ordinary aviation communications while in Quebec airspace. At some airports there are special radio frequencies set aside for communications in French.

Anonymous said...

To CC: This is the first time that I have ever published a comment although I have been viewing this site for some time. I sincerely hope your soldier (Tom ) does come home from Afghanistan in January. My nephew did not this past summer. I want all the soldiers to come home safe and soon.

Jayce said...

I like your new photo, melissa bee. Thanks for using it. You too, ClearAyes.

dodo said...

Good afternoon, friends,

Jazz, thanks much for the entertaining commentary! You're good!

Funny how we misread things: I must apologize, Lucina, for reading your tamale output as only 72. Wasn't till I read MB today that I realized it was 72 dozen! Wow! And they're all gone by New Years? I notice somebody today interpreted Jazz's poem to mean he's sick right now. But he straightened that one out nicely!
Guess I'm not the only one who tries to get going too fast!

Speaking of poems, I'll bet there isn't one poet, dead or alive, who would call him/herself an "odist"! I hate that word, too, Heart8! It really seems contrived. Or maybe it's because it sounds a lot like "odious".

I thought the puzzle today was really very clever. I got the theme but only after I read the clue, which was after the second theme answer. Even then, I wasn't sharp enough to get help from it for "Brat Farrar". I haven't read that book but for some reason the name rang a bell. Was there ever a movie? I love Josephine Tey but have only read one or two. She died too soon.

Heart8, I'm with you on the names, too. I knew most of them, except for the above mentioned Brat. I did have trouble remembering "Boz". I knew it ended in 'z' but that was all. Thank goodness for the perps there. I also wanted "vent" for 12D and when "riots" appeared, I changed the 'v' to 't' but didn't have the sense to realize it was an 'i' that should be in the middle! Left me wondering "why tent". Odd how the mind works, some times.

CA, such energy! Banana bread and a pie, as well. Aren't you supposed to be retired? That reminds me that I never did return the salted pecans for raw ones. And I went to Trader Joe's yesterday, too. Well , maybe I can rinse off a cup or so for the pie! That's lots easier than making an apple pie, having to pare the apples. What am I thinking? I'm the only person here to eat a pie! Then I wonder why all my winter clothes are a teeny bit tight!!

dodo said...

Jayce, what about Alicia de la Rochas? Is she still alive? I heard her with the LA Symphony some years ago and she was pretty old even then. But what a pianist!

Jayce said...

dodo, I agree, she was damn good. I heard her with the San Francisco symphony years ago. I don't know if she's still alive or not. Her playing was very classy, not overblown.

Bob said...

This one took me 31 minutes and still I missed three of them (RICED, ODER, and EMMA.) Not the WURST puzzle ever, but maybe one my WURST showings. I'll attribute my ineptitude today to the fact that I'm still suffering from flu, although it is receding, and I was able to get back to work today. To paraphrase Stan Laurel, it's my story and I'm stuck with it.

Anonymous said...

This was more like a Fiday puzzle to me. Was very hard

trav said...

I found this blog today after google searching the puzzle's title. I needed confirmation that this truly was a fairly difficult puzzle for a wednesday, and confirmation I've got! I've noticed, however, that in reading this blog, I now have another question... can anyone tell me what is meant by the terms 'perps' and 'wags'? I don't get it. :)

Dennis said...

trav, read C.C.'s "Notes for Solvers" on the main page for several definitions. 'WAG' is just 'wild-ass guess'. Good of you to join us.

Clear Ayes said...

fermatprime@9:46, I meant to comment about the 90 year old lady who eats 4 oz of strawberry jam on toast for breakfast. Maybe, if she has gotten to 90 eating that way, it is we who are missing the boat.

Dodo, I was surprised by my energy today too. Usually, the day after chemo, I am very wishy-washy. No complaints today. In addition to the bread and pie, I made a batch of whole wheat fettuccine noodles (love that food processor!), broiled 2 lbs of bacon (I lay it between paper towels and freeze it for later use in BLT's and for chopped bacon pieces) and made a taco salad for dinner. Phew, just typing that makes me tired.

Hi trav, welcome to the mix.

MR ED said...

hi all

Jazzbumpa said...

Anon @ 4:57 -

Thank you for commenting today. Feel free to get an ID, go blue, and join the fun. I am very sorry to hear about your nephew.

Tom is my step son, not C.C.'s. Though this is her blog, there are several of us who guest post here, with varying degrees of regularity.

In looking through some archives today, I got a reminder that Tom arrived home from his previous tour in Afghanistan just after Thanksgiving last year.

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Cheers!
JzB

Anonymous said...

Good morning all.

This is the best-named puzzle ever.

I am in awe of anyone who got close to finishing it.

Good write up, Jazz, for such a Wednesday puzzle. Should have been a Saturday, IMHO.

End of rant. Off to get a pedicure to make me feel more cheerful.

I posted this AM, but it's gone. So I'll try again. Enjoyed my pedicure.

Cheers

Unknown said...

So many unknowns in today's puzzle! Until I read this blog, I thought that I might be an idiot.
I was glad to see that others had a bit of trouble with it as well.
It's late so I am off to beddie-bye.

creature said...

Forgot to mention that I found
'rave'not the definition of 'all-night bash'.{3D}

Did anyone else feel that way?

Sorry,I'm so late. Busy around here today.

Love Melissa's and CA's avatar.

Jeannie's vodka pie crust sounds heavenly.

Have sweet dreams.

kazie said...

Jazz,
I also hope that Tom is safe and gets home on time.

CA,
I had the same thought on the 90 year old lady. She probably knows what she's doing --either way--maybe she decided it doesn't matter any more.
And I wondered, your burst of energy today--do you find after a really active day like that, the next day is much slower and you feel more needy?

Glad you and HeartRx liked the Billy Joel thing.

Melissa,
Your avatar is a lovely clear photo of you. Good to have you back a bit more lately.

Jeannie said...

Dudley, "paddle" took me to another direction you weren't going...

@Anon 4:57, I am so sorry for your loss. I really am.

Do-Do, you can find that recipe for the pie crust on the blog...see the search engine. Surely you have some friends to come over for a slice.

Kazie, here's to you "laying a brick" tomorrow. You too MH, as you are recovering from what I read is a nasty and painful disease.

BTW, I have never read a Harry Potter book or seen a movie. I must be out of the loop.

My favorite Counselor, where are you today?

Lo-li-ta.

Argyle said...

Jeannie, I never took you to be a Muggle. I'm shocked.

Clear Ayes said...

I almost did a spit take, laughing at Jeannie's "brick" comment @ 10:37.

BTW, the pie is delicious. The crust was perfect.

Kazie, When I get overtired, I don't get needy, I usually just want to be left alone to rest. I've got a busy day tomorrow. Lunch with some women friends and then chorus practice in the evening. So I won't have a lot of time to be tired. That's a good reason to go to bed early....like right now! Night, all.

Jeannie said...

@Argyle...a muggle? Is that a good thing, or bad?

Argyle said...

it is what the wizard community call people that don't have magical powers.

I believe you have the gift; you just haven't realized it yet.

Argyle said...

Here is a look at Emma Watson new hair cut, now that she doesn't have to portray Hermione Granger any more. I saw her on Letterman, her hair is red.

Jeannie said...

Argyle, any inside info to that "so called gift"? You seem like an intuitive guy. I thought my gift was my rapier wit and cooking...do you see something else? Not being sarcastic here...just wonder...

Lucina said...

Clear Ayes:
All I can say is, you are wonder woman!

Kazie:
I had received that Billy Joel video before and really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it. It's terrific.

Good night, all.

Argyle said...

Jeannie, I'd say your ability to take ordinary ingredients and make a spellbinding gourmet banquet qualfies you to be a potions master to rival the best witches and wizards out there.