google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, August 22, 2011 Kelly Clark

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Aug 22, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011 Kelly Clark

Theme: Look! Up in the sky... - it' a bird. And bird related things start our theme entries.

1A. Sound from a tree : CHIRP. It's short and there is no symmetrical entry so we'll consider this a bonus.

20A. *Resolve once and for all : LAY TO REST

38A. *Savings for later in life : NEST EGG. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

56A. Lyric in a Porter song that ends "Let's fall in love," and a hint to the starts of the starred answers (and 1-Across) : BIRDS DO IT. "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" is a popular song(3:01) written in 1928 by Cole Porter. It was introduced in Porter's first Broadway success, the musical "Paris" (1928).

11D. *Like unreliable short-term businesses : FLY BY NIGHT. Don't put any of these eggs in yor basket.

27D. *Do some scheming : HATCH A PLOT

Argyle here. I hope you had your stars but they weren't really necessary. The unifier was pretty clear. It is similar to Kelly's puzzle , back in June. The grid even resembles a nest, especially if you highlight the theme entries. I picture CHIRP as the mama bird sitting on the edge of the nest.

Across:

6. Range between soprano and tenor : ALTO

10. Cpls.' underlings : PFCs

14. Flamboyant evangelist __ Semple McPherson : AIMEE. Clip(1:23) from an upcoming show at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

15. Boston Bruins or Chicago Bears, e.g. : TEAM

16. Inter __: among others : ALIA

17. Baseball's Nolan and actress Meg : RYANs

18. Bath towel word : HERS

19. Natasha's no : "NYET!"

22. Many an October baby, astrologically : LIBRA

23. A __ alfa : AS IN. Phonetic alphabet spelling of Alpha.

24. Nairobi native : KENYAN. Map.

25. Satirical Mort : SAHL

28. Arrive after a tough trip : MAKE IT IN. Thru Kenya?

31. Schoolroom group : CLASS

33. Travelers' lodgings : INNS

34. Hypotheticals : IFS. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

37. PC key : ALT

41. Miracle-__: garden brand : GRO

42. B'way setting : NYC

43. Slender woodwind : OBOE

44. Reacted to fireworks : OOHED

46. The Beatles' George : HARRISON

50. Salt Lake City college team, aptly : UTES

51. "Happy I can oblige" : GLAD TO

53. Cop's route : BEAT

55. Lassos : ROPES

61. "__ well that ends ..." : ALL'S. Shakespearean play.

62. Rani's garment : SARI

63. Cease-fire : TRUCE

64. Coagulate, as blood : CLOT

65. Treater's words : "ON ME"

66. Levels, as a building : RAZES

67. Italian noble family : ESTE

68. Fava or lima : BEAN

69. Illegally off-base GIs : AWOLs

Down:

1. Poet Sandburg : CARL

2. Breezy greeting : "HI YA"

3. "__ be wrong, but ..." : I MAY

4. Avis offerings : RENTALS

5. Cuban cash : PESOs

6. Zeus' daughter : ATHENA

7. Popular jeans : LEEs

8. Small fruit pie : TART

9. Mantric syllables : OMs. Ommm... Ommmm...

10. Italian sandwich : PANINI

12. Olds Cutlass model : CIERA

13. The devil : SATAN

21. Canyon edge : RIM

22. "Come on, we're late" : "LET'S GO"

24. Goal in checkers : KING

25. Read, as a bar code : SCAN

26. Treaty partner : ALLY

29. Flying toys : KITES

30. U-turn from WSW : ENE

32. Stable sounds : SNORTS. Pigs, horses...Farmer John up in the haymow.

35. Available for a date : FREE

36. Puts in a lawn the fast way : SODS

39. River of Spain : EBRO. OMG, it's a gimmee for me now. Map.

40. "... or __ thought" : SO I

45. Beat in a Western showdown : OUTDRAW

47. "__ Fideles": carol : ADESTE

48. Conan of "Conan" : O'BRIEN

49. Simpsons neighbor Flanders : NED

51. Pre-meal blessing : GRACE

52. Lounges around : LOLLS

54. Stars, in Latin : ASTRA. ASTRO is the common prefix.

56. Undoing : BANE

57. Cookbook writer Rombauer : IRMA. Her book.

58. Greek liqueur : OUZO. Better know what you're doing if you drink this stuff.

59. Its cap. is Reykjavik : ICEL.and

60. Tracy's Trueheart : TESS. Comic's Dick Tracy.

62. Cry out loud : SOB


Argyle

47 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Monday:

Another different view of the crossword puzzle, with many theme answers and an interesting asymmetrical look. I now have the song BIRDS DO IT in my head, and I guess AWOLS would be my nit. Thanks A. and Kelly, hurricane Irene heading our way. Coming to visit?

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. This was a fun and easy Monday puzzle. Just what I needed to start off the workweek.

I was amused by seeing FLY BY NIGHT.

I'm not sure I see your Nest, Argyle.

QOD: A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Argyle said...

Did you check the aswer grid?

Hahtoolah said...

Yeah, but I just don't quite see the Nest.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

Thanks for the write-up, Argyle. Very interesting link for AIMEE Semple-Mcpherson. She was quite a character!

I “flew” through this one, and got the theme early on. I was waiting to find the unifier and expected it to be something like, “For the birds”. The actual reveal made me chuckle.

Lucina, from last night, If I come over right now, do you think I might have a shot at getting some of tonight’s dinner? LOL

Dodo, I love your new avatar. What an adorable kid you are!

Hope your week gets off to a great start, everyone!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Ayup, easy breezy Monday puzzle for sure. A few missteps on my part (LEVI for LEES, PUT TO REST instead of LAY TO REST), but nothing too bad. And I can't say as I knew (or remembered) who AIMEE Semple McPherson was, but the perps took care of her so quickly it didn't really matter.

I'm off to NYC with the family, so I'll see y'all next week!

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thanks, Kelly Clark, for the swell week opener. Thank you, Argyle, for the write-up and comments. I am not sure I see a nest, but I work on it after this message and my next cup of Earl Grey.

This puzzle went real quick. No problems except I put PVTS before PFCS became obvious.

Enjoyed the link to AIMEE.

OBOE sure is a common Xword answer. Seems to be used a lot.

Got OMS with perps.

Our local Italian Restaurant has a sandwich in the panini column of the menu called a Submarino. I love it.

See you all tomorrow.

Abejo

Grumpy 1 said...

Wake up, everyone! It's Monday! Oh, wait, I'm retired. I don't care what day it is, but if the puzzle is smaller than yesterday's and easier it must be Monday.

I must have been looking over Barry's shoulder on this on. Same temporary goofs.

Time to batten hatches and all that stuff. It looks like Irene will probably miss our side of the state, but too early to predict with any degree of certainty. Best to be prepared though.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Only screw up was OUtDREW instead of OUTDRAW for "Beat in a Western Showdown." Razes corrected my errant tense.

Otherwise, I thought the cluing for this puzzle was "for the birds." Easier then most Monday's and that in itself is an accomplishment.

For those of you who may be in Irene's path, I wish you well. May it turn out to be nothing more then a good rain.

Anonymous said...

I don't see the nest either. oh well....

didn't know Aimee the evangelist either but thanks to the other words around it I was able get it right.

Fun Facts by Dave Letterman

Thanks to a 1971 Motown stint, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the only person who's been a member of both the Supreme Court and the Supremes.

When life hands you lemons, in addition to lemonade, you could consider making a delicious lemon meringue pie.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Good write-up, Argyle.

I "flew" through this one, too. Quite a change after the meat grinders of the last few days. Barely paused along the way to verify perps. Sort of 'saw' the theme, but didn't really focus on it. No problems, no searches, no erasures. Lemon, AWOLS seemed fine to me. Perfectly plausible as stated.

Enjoy your day.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Is this theme a flight of fancy? At any rate it was the best part of the puzzle.

SATAN GRACE is an odd symmetry.

BANE - BEAN is an interesting cross.

Cheers!
JzB

Husker Gary said...

Ice from the sky at 4 am but thankfully not much damage! No fuss, no muss with the puzzle this morning as I am missing only the second starting day of school since 1950!

Musings
-I CHEEPed before I CHIRPed and LOAFed before I LOLLed and had PVT’s before PFC’s and PROS before TEAMS – minor annoyances
-Hens do LAY eggs and being in a chicken coop on a 100F August day is a true sensory experience!
-Let’s LAYTOREST the idea that Obama is KENYAN
-Miracle GRO is big at our house
-Will LEE’s famous pitchman play again?
-Don’t we all remember the pre-barcode days where clerks had to actually push buttons to enter prices and made many mistakes?
-Was “carol” necessary after “fideles”?
-CONAN was the worst interviewer I ever saw and I haven’t been back. Some of his shtick is clever!
-IRMA my only unknown
-Barn raising and barn razing – hmmm…

Avg Joe said...

Easy stroll today. My only hangup was LEvi....and I wear Lees.

If you're only going to have one cookbook, it should be "The Joy". The 70's version is better than the current one, but both have their merits.

kazie said...

Nice and easy today. I also put OUTDREW until RAZES appeared, and I wanted HATCH A PLAN before CLOT turned it into PLOT. Otherwise no serious hitches.

I did wonder about the sound from a tree at first, before attempting other clues. Thought of whispering leaves etc., but nothing like that was going to fit, so just came back to it after perping a few.

I also can't see the nest in your grid, Argyle. Must need more imagination, I guess.

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you Ms/Mr Clark for a wonderful puzzle, which I completed ;-). It was a fun and delightful exercise. Aren't Mondays greeaat ?

Thank you Argyle for a wonderful blog - and some interesting links.

One little nit ( ala Marti - ) the starred clue/answer 'Make it in' ... well, I know, we all make it in somehow, but a better answer for the birds would have been 'Make out' ... wouldn't you think, ? IMHO.

Alternate QOD:- What do you tell a man with two black eyes ? Nothing. He's already been told twice. ~ Elmore Leonard.

Fun Letterman facts:- As a result of the brawls, in China, by the Georgetown 'Hoyas', each member of the team will henceforth be required to take atleast a semester's worth of courses at the Georgetown Univ's school of International Law and Diplomacy.

Have a great week, everyone.

Nice Cuppa said...

Thanks Argyle

No nest for me either - although I did appreciate the perfect symmetry of the theme answers.

Like Anony-Mouse, I was briefly expecting (hoping?) the theme to be a little racier, given it's title.

My favorite line from the song is:

"They say that roosters do it
With a doodle and cock"

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means, but is sure sounds interesting.


NC

Nice Cuppa said...

.....And on another theme, although NATASHA may say NYET, it looks as if VALENTINA is about to say DA. Could be interesting.....

NC

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, OUZO revealed the nest.
Enjoy enough of it ... you can see anything.
I OOHED (and then aahed) when I saw it.

Unknown said...

Great blogging for an otherwise regular Monday puzzle!
Theme? Nah, I never get those. Seeing words and smaller puzzles (corner fills) is what I see. Is that some sort of brain malfunction? Of course, my brain is a malfunction junction! It shouldn't be left alone nor let out to wander at will.
Woohoo! Off to "do" a Monday! The cleaning crew will be here soon, so I need to pick-up and straighten beforehand. What is that about?
BTW, I did see "The Help" this weekend. Yes, I did like it, but didn't love it. Does anyone care?

Warren said...

Hi gang, I started out with creak instead of chirp for 1a but my wife got the theme quickly and we actually finished today's puzzle without help.

RE: Ouzo; we're fan's of the Iron Chef America show. Cat Cora isn't on the current year's version but I still remember her toasting Ouzo with her sous chefs after the contest was over.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, After a break, I can appreciate this Monday offering from Kelly Clark and Argyle's write-up.

Yes, with a little squinting, I can see/imagine the little NEST EGGS tucked down into the middle of the nest. I just hope Mama CHIRP gets some twigs to fill in that ES- gap down by 56A.

I loved the theme. Cole Porter's "BIRDS DO IT" was my quartet's song during our latest chorus concert in May. We did the Alanis Morissette lyrics from the movie "De-Lovely".

Sorry Argyle and C.C., the early Billie Holliday version first line is racially offensive. It is rather faint, but "Chinks do it, Japs do it," is right there. I know you didn't realize those were the words. Porter changed it for later versions.

I loved seeing 3D)I MAY_ "be wrong, but ...". That brought to mind another old 1929 song . This version has been updated by Doris Day in the movie "Young Man With a Horn". (Hi, to Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall too.)

carol said...

Hi gang, Hooray for Monday! Finally a puzzle I can finish :)

Enjoyed this one even though there were some tough spots: 10 and 12D, 16A. 14A was also an unknown.

Argyle, I cannot see any birds nest either.

I do remember hearing the theme song, but all the words escaped me and I wanted to put "Let's do it" in for 56A but it wouldn't fit...took me some time before I figured it out :)

We were in the 90's this weekend for the FIRST time this year. I can easily wait til next year for those temps! I am NOT a hot weather fan, but I am glad for our central A/C. The house is very comfortable.

lois said...

HI YA Argyle, CC, et al., Love Monday puzzles and this one was singing my song. Cute theme and interesting, thanks to Argyle's wonderful efforts and links. Excellent job, Argyle. Great start to this last Monday of FREEdom for me. CLASS starts soon. I might be one of those AWOLS if I don't MAKE IT IN. Won't be SARI either. I'm too busy falling in love..but like the fickle bluebird of paradise, I don't stay there...N-YET so GLAD TO do it - "even Boston BEANs do it."

NC: funny! Another fav part is about "Moths in rugs do it ...so what's the use of Moth balls?" Something about that just strikes me funny!

Tinbeni: LOL...I'm seeing anything!

Wish those in Irene's path safe passage.

Enjoy this gorgeous day.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Avg Joe: When my family lived in Vienna for a year, "Joy of Cooking" was the only cookbook I took (I like that phrase), and it had everything I needed for the year.

I do love Monday puzzles because I can do them! My only pebble was misspelling IRMA (Erma) and not viewing The Simpsons, so I stared at BER_SDOIT for a time. Finally figured out the theme and voila.

Cheers

Argyle said...

Re: Bird's nest. Nest egg in the center, theme twigs all around it and CHIRP sitting on the the upper left. Like Kelly's boxing ring back in June.

Re: Lyrics. In fact, "Birds do it, Bees do it" is what replaced the offensive lyrics.

Lucina said...

Happy Monday, Argyle er ALIA.

Re: nest If you say so, Argyle.

I pecked my way right through this and was GLADTO see OUZO as I love the stuff.

Miracle-GRO feeds my plants and keeps them green and healthy.

CLASS starts for me tomorrow though for a time I feared I wouldn't have one as tuition tripled this year.

Marti:
Of course, come on over, but I have no idea about tonight's menu. I assure you it won't be from the Joy of Cooking, though. Don't have it.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone!

eddyB said...

Hello.

Don't remember Aimee. Do remember Katherine Kuhlman tho. Mother used to take me to the Masonic Lodge in Pittsburgh to hear her.

Imagine one could see all kind of things after drinking ouso. Never had any.

Expect to see another like this on two's day.

Nap time. Been up long enough.

Argyle said...

Well, I see a resemblance. Nest.

Bill G. said...

That was a pleasant start for a Monday. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Re. the origin of that expression, I found this online.

In the UK in the 1960s, there did exist a dishwashing detergent named SQEZY. The big selling point was that SQEZY was easy to apply because it came in a plastic squeeze bottle so all you had to do was turn it upside down and squeeze.

A little girl complains to her aunt that the dishes are greasy. Her mother admonishes her and then produces the Lemon Squeezy. The results are of course astoundingly successful and the girl says “easy peasy lemon squeezy”.

Apparently, it went from there to a common UK schoolyard chant.

Marge said...

Hi all,
This was a fun puzzle again. Had some help but it went well.

I knew Aimee but forgot the spelling but it came easily. That NW corner was easiest.

Argyle, I liked your maps. The one of Kenya, next to Somalia, makes me think of the hundreds of thousands of people starving on the borders of both countries due to the Somalian government.What a sad place.

Sallie, I did the same thing with Erma/Irma and birds.

I thought the fact of the original songs racist words was really interesting. I only remember the Birds, etc.

My son has a daily music web site
that he sends to several thousand people every day. He always has a thought for the day. Todays was:

"You can't please all of the people all the time but chocolate helps!"

Marge

Tinbeni said...

Argyle;
The more OUZO I drink ... the clearer the nest I see.

(Though, I'll admit, the NEST EGGs I see ... seem to be tinted red).

Bill G. said...

Are you familiar with Wordies?

For example, frie|just|nds is just between friends. TALKTALK is double talk.

Here are three more that are similar to each other. ROOD, REVIRDTAES and AKOOLNGER.

If you get them, how about giving only one answer at a time so others can try also.

Spitzboov said...

backseat driver

Husker Gary said...

Look Back In Anger

Grumpy 1 said...

back door

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, Finished the puzzle at lunchtime, and found it to be easy. I like Monday puzzles because I usually finish them without help. Today was no exception.

Hatool, no nest for me, either. Sorry Argyle, great writeup though. My only missteps were to put in e's where there should have been i's in Alia and Irma.Thanks Argyle for clearing that up.

Abejo, Oboe has three vowels so we see it often.

Today was the first day of school for our district, so JD and I went out for coffee. I caught up with her Tahoe trip and saw some adorable pictures of adorable boys!

Have a great evening everyone.
For those of you in the Hurricane's path, stay safe. We'll wish for just a lot of rain to come your way.

eddyB said...

Hello again.

Believe Billie Holiday recordered
her version in the late thirdies or early forties, hence, her first lines. Lester Young played the tenor sax solo. Love some Lady Day.

My three disc set of the Maltese
Falcon came today. Will be up late
tonight. Rozzoli and Castle first.

dodo said...

Hello everybody,
Nice easy puzzle today. It felt soothing after last week's drill!

Argyle, thanks for a great workup. No nest for me, either. Sorry. Do you also lie on the grass and make pictures out of the clouds?

Nice Cuppa, "Cock-a-doodle doo!" Get it?

I'm sorry for all you friends who are having disagreeable weather. We in CA are enjoying cloudless azure skies and temps around 90.
Bragging aside, be safe, all of you!

Thank you, Marti. I was bald until about age 3 so that hairdo wasn't voluntary.

Lucina said...

Dodo:
What was your age in that darling photo?

creature said...

Dear little puzzle. Thanks, Kelly; and yes Argyle , I see the birds nest! So sweet

I found a tiny nest today on the ground up near the barn. It has to be a wren's nest, but I felt special about it, because of our puzzle.

Mowing and trimming and on and on and on. I do love this time of year, but when winter comes, my life is not so filled with outside chores. By then, I'm usually relieved, but I'm still enjoying it, now.

Dodo, you are a precious little girl. Is that your sister? I still love your wonderful, smiling face that you usually have. You look so happy in it.

Have a nice rest, you all.

Clear Ayes said...

Dodo, here's a quick check-in to tell you how cute you were in those rompers. Where do those years go???

Annette said...

Dodo, what an adorable picture!

I used to look for pictures in the clouds, but lately I've found myself looking for pictures in stucco on the walls of doctor's offices. Boy, that makes me feel old! I saw a lot of pictures in the stucco while getting physical therapy last year.

The first victim of Hurricane Irene? The project I was supposed to be promoting to Production Friday night will have to be rescheduled, after all the planning, cajoling and coordinating that was done...

dodo said...

Lucy, as near as I can guess I must have been going on four at that time. The girl with me , Betty Petersen, was a year or so older. I must have been tall for my age. Not after junior high. My tallest was 5'4". I've been shrinking (lengthwise)for the last 20 years. I do wish people had been a little better about dating pix. I found that picture in a box with several thousand (?) others, most of them with no dates, or IDs!
My job for the rest of my life, I guess!

Thank you, CA.

Anonymous said...

I had never heard of that evangelist before. And I didn't know someone besides Aimee Mann spelled her name that way.

I just saw Aimee Mann at the Hollywood Bowl. It was a jazz tribute to Joni Mitchell's "jazz period." Herbie Hancock was the MOC's. He's 70 and looks 45! Wayne Shorter, Chaka Khan, Cassandra Wilson, and Tom Scott were among the notables along with Aimee. Took my sis and niece. It was a nice evening of music. (if Joni was there, she didn't make an appearance)

It was a fun puzzle to get us started on the week. Thank you,

dave

Paul Miller said...

The only problem I have with the puzzle is clue # 10 down "Italian sandwich" It should be "Italian sandwiches" for "panini"
Panino = sandwich
Panini (pl.) = sandwiches.

Argyle said...

Wow, Paul, you are really late to the party!

Good point though.