google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, July 19, 2012 John Lampkin

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Jul 19, 2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012 John Lampkin

Theme: Race ya! What a treat to blog a JL puzzle. He is always a treat to solve, and this one was no exception. Plus, his pictures are a sight to behold!

17A. *New skier's area : BUNNY SLOPE. HA!! Nailed this one (although it has been many decades since I have used one...) Let's LOPE along to the next one:


38A. *Hug : EMBRACE. HUGS!! My specialty, and my heart RACEs when I do JL crossword puzzles!

59A. *Freebie from the hygienist : TOOTHBRUSH. I just went to the dentist last week, and not only did I get a free TOOTHBRUSH, but I got some dental floss and mouthwash "for free". (Only a $185 bill, but they really were "free", right???). (Did I get the Bum's RUSH?)

11D. *Small collectible : OBJET D'ART. There are some in this famous painting. You can DART out to do some shopping using the Dallas Area Rapid Transit!

33D. *Paper for the paper : NEWSPRINT. Defined as a "low-cost, non-archival paper". SPRINT is also a telephone company...wonder why they named it that?

And the unifier is split between
1A. See 67-Across: RUN
and
67-Across. With 1-Across, a football play, or an apt description of what's hidden in the last part of the answer to each starred clue : END.

So, we have an END RUN. At the ENDs of the starred clues, we have various forms of "RUN". Right now, I feel as if I were running on empty, but I will try to explain the rest of the entries...

Thursday and Marti here. Whoo boy! When I saw John Lampkin's name on this one, I knew we were in for a fun RUN! So let's see what else he served up for us.

Across:

4. A loose one may activate the "Check engine" light : GAS CAP. Deja Vu, Anony-Mouse???

10. Home of the Mongolian wild ass : GOBI. I'd be an ass if I didn't link these guys.

14. One of the Gabors : EVA. With Eddie Albert, priceless!

15. Rocket sound : WHOOSH

16. Clutch hitter's stat : RBIS. "Runs Batted InS"

19. Resort near Ventura : OJAI. In California.

20. Weather-affecting current : EL NINO. It is a "quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years." Sounds like something Sheldon would say on TBBT...

21. Judicial hearing : INQUEST

23. Apply, as healing hands : LAY ON

24. Loser's demand : RECOUNT

26. Doozy : BEAUT. This was a doozy of a puzzle!

28. Interfere : MEDDLE

31. Undoing : BANE. It was almost he BANE of my existence! But, I "got it" in the end...

34. Chatted via MSN Live Messenger : IMED. Instant MessagED.

36. Amer. help to allies : U.S. AID

37. Savored a serving of : ATE. With a clecho at 45A. Serve a serving of : DISH UP

40. Country mail service : RFD. Rural Federal Delivery. (Correction: It is Rural Free Delivery.)

41. Lose-lose : NO WIN

43. Landers and Richards : ANNS

44. "Boston Legal" extra: Abbr. : ATTY. Attorney. Or a Crossword Corner extra in our own Lemonade714.

47. Etcher's etchers : ACIDS

49. Teaching story : PARABLE

51. Covent Garden staging : OPERA. The Royal Opera House at the Covent Garden. Starting Friday, you can see "Metamorphosis:Titian 2012". Not an opera, but a unique collaboration.

55. Nouveau riche : PARVENU. In English, literally "come by".

57. Chalk cube's target : CUE TIP. Lois, you use chalk on your tips?

58. "That's ___!": "No way!" : A LIE

62. Actress Anderson : LONI. Now, that's ageless!

63. Put on a throne : ENSEAT

64. Vox populi, vox ___ : DEI. "The voice of the people is the voice of G-d"

65. Baltic resident : LETT

66. Intimidates : DAUNTS


Down:

1. Fight against authority : REBEL


2. Throat projection : UVULA. That little thing-y that hangs down in the back of your throat when you say "Aahhhh".

3. One with charges : NANNY. Fun clue!

4. Fred of "The Munsters" : GWYNNE. I typed in "g-w-y-n..." and then just kept going!

5. "Oh, of course!" : AH SO

6. Costa del ___ : SOL. Resort area in Spain.

7. Squab's sound : COO. I'll send you the bill...

8. Jelly used in molds : ASPIC. I can't top King Crimson from yesterday! But what cat could resist BFF Tuna and Salmon in Aspic? (At eight dollars A CAN???)

9. Wunderkind : PHENOM

10. Keepers keep them : GROUNDS. Great clue!

12. Journalist's concern : BIAS. I wanted "Fact" at first. But that is not a concern, it is a "need". Beware the crossword clue word!

13. "Really?" : IS IT?

18. Mythical weeper : NIOBE. Sad story here. She lost 7 daughters and 7 sons, and wept until she turned to stone...

22. Line : QUEUE. I always loved that word.

24. Cuban 35-Down : RUMBA. and 35 Down. Twist, for one : DANCE

25. Like the minutes before recess, seemingly : ETERNAL. Or, like the minutes before 5:00 on Friday...

27. Sight : AIM

29. Boost : LIFT

30. Fly fisherman's concern : EDDY. Like this.3:53 Wonderful moment in film!

31. Cigar collectible : BAND. Really? People actually collect these?



32. Yours, in Tours : A TOI. French. Sorry, Abejo!

38. Make used (to) : ENURE

39. CBS drama since 2000 : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. Not one of my favs...

42. "Oh, of course!" : I HAVE IT. "I got it" was too short.

44. According to : AS PER

46. Reacted after a race : PANTED. After this theme, you had me panting, John L. !!

48. Second thoughts : DOUBTS

50. "___ sera": Luigi's "Good evening" : BUONA. I always thought it was "buena"...

52. Scriabin piano piece : ETUDE. Yay! Music! 2:30 Interesting and "quirky" Russian composer.

53. Up : RISEN

54. Ladybug's lunch : APHID. I love seeing ladybugs in my rose garden. Such eco-friendly pesticides!

55. Gloomy covering : PALL. At Murphy's funeral, Danny got drunk and tripped over the casket and broke his leg. Threw a pall on the whole evening!

56. Flowering succulent : ALOE. Allo, crossword friend!

57. Chinwag : CHAT. New def for me.

60. The Beavers of the Pac-12 : OSU. Oregon State University. Football. They are 19-11, only behind UCLA and Arizona.

61. Pin in the back : TEN. Bowling pin. I bet Boomer never misses that one!

Answer grid.

See y'all next Thursday!

Hugs,
Marti

From C.C.:

Here is beautiful picture from John Lampkin. He said:

"This pic may be appropriate for 54 down. It is a beetle larva consuming an adult aphid. It's adult because it has wings. Most aphids we see are larvae and lack wings. Aphids are at the bottom of the food chain and are a crucial part of the diet of many insects. Larvae such as this beetle consume an average of 17 aphids each day, according to one study. For more about aphids and how they are "born pregnant," see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid"

79 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Sadly, I wasn't quite as enamored with this puzzle as Marti was. Partially, that's because I never did manage to figure out the theme even after completing the puzzle. I also wasn't crazy about starting the whole thing off with a cross reference, but that's just me.

PARVENU was completely new to me and I could have done without ENSEAT.

On the bright side, I loved the clue "Pin in the back" for TEN. Took awhile to get it, but what a wonderful *AHA* moment when I did.

Lemonade714 said...

JL and marti, what a fun combination. It seemed this one was perfect with BUNNY SLOPE and HUG being right up marti's alley (10 pin included) and a shout out to EDDY B and the hidden KZ reference by leaving those letters out.


The grid with the theme both across and down was a challenge,SCRIABIN was new for me, and I had forgotten about NIOBE, but it all fell in place.

It is amazing how words like GAS CAP and BUONA SERA appear when we talk about them. My hardest moment was when I had NOW IN and could not understand how it related to Lose-lose.

After m.'s PALL humor, I guess today we will all be PALL BEARERS, take care all.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Marti and friends. I have to agree with Barry on this one. It didn't inspire me as much as some puzzles. Still, I appreciate some fun clues.

Second Thoughts = DOUBTS was my favorite clue.

ASPIC must be the word of the week. My mom used to make a delicious tomato aspic. Actually, she probably still makes it on occasion, just never when I am visiting.

More rain is on the agenda today.

QOD: Cats have it all - admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it. ~ Rod McKuen

grams said...

Adapt at 38d derailed me for a while. Not my best day.

Rain has cooled us a bit, but enough already! Other side of Houston has been flooding. happy Thursday!

Seldom Seen said...

Let me guess re: OSU clues

Monday: Buckeye's school
Tuesday: Columbus campus
Wednesday: Cowboy campus in Stillwater
Thursday: Beavers of the Pac-12
Friday: UM rival
Saturday: SUNY's new initialism

Anonymous said...

4th Time Poster

Ditto w/ what Barry said about PARVENU and ENSEAT

BUNNYSLOPE aka BUNNYhills except for the plurality.

Lemonaide714, I saw that same connection. I'll use the word schuss in a sentence, as in, "It's hard to schuss on the BUNNYSLOPE."

I did like have an error code show on my dash panel that was due to a loose GAS CAP.

I liked the 57A CUETIP homonym for recent qtip fills.

Marti, I was raised in the sticks. I believe that 40A definition RFD is Rural FREE Delivery. Am I splitting hairs ?

Feel free to correct my use of homonym to homophone.

All, BUONA giorno and BUONASERA

Yellowrocks said...

This puzzle was a speed run for me. Doing across and down together, I was able to proceed without a stop. I started with a quick 1,2,3 Down which gave me RUN and BUNNYSLOPE and an accurate guess as to the theme. END at the end was not needed.

GWYNNE, a trip down Memory Lane
Link Car 54, where are you

I have always liked the word PARVENU. It described many of my students' families and the cultural dissonance of their changing station in life.

Although I never heard of Scriabin, a piano piece starting and ending with E had to be ETUDE.

The only odd answer was ENSEAT, odd but legit. I thought of enthrone which required only a small leap to ENSEAT

I liked NIOBE and TENpin.

Lovely butterflies, John
.

HeartRx said...

YR, I used to love that silly show. . I remember Toody saying "Oooh, Oooh..." Thanks for the link down memory lane.

Anon. @7:48, thanks for RFD. I lived in the sticks growing up and we also had an RFD address until the early 60s. It was a big deal when they finally assigned actual house numbers on our street!!

desper-otto said...

No problems today. I enjoyed the encore performances by GASCAP and OJAI. I Knew what PARVENU meant, but wasn't aware that it was an accepted English word now.

Learning moment: Ladybugs eat aphids. I thought they chewed leaves.

Nice pictures, nice puzzle, Mr. Lampkin. Always enjoy your humor, Marti.

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you Marti, for a lovely blog.... so witty, so charming and utterly delightful. Solving the puzzle itself reminded me of the time when I read Bertrand Russell's 'Inquiry into Meaning and Truth' ... somewhat dense for my brain. On the other hand, his butterflies are gorgeously enthralling.

I always thought 'parvenu' had some pejorative, sexual connotation .... I am relieved to know, (that ) it only refers to somebody who has 'entered' the coveted 'one' percent ! (lol)

So, 'Que sera, sera' actually means 'whatever happens in the evening, stays in the evening' ?? ... vis-a-vis Las Vegas. ( Now I wonder what Doris Day was upto, that evening.... )


ALT QOD:- Congressmen never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. ~ Thomas`Reed ( Former Speaker of the House ).

Spitzboov said...

Good morning Marti and all.

Got END & RUN right away but had a hang fire at 10a with Asia ⇔ GOBI. The perps settled it. Lots of good fun-cluing. Particularly liked those for NEWSPRINT and GROUNDS and 'yours in Tours' - À TOI. Nice mix of easy stuff like EL NIÑO and tougher fill like NIOBE. When I saw John's name I knew it was going to be an interesting run and it was. Thanks.

Enjoy the day.

Mari said...

No BUNNY SLOPE for me. DNF in the NE.

My nit was 16A: Clutch Hitter's Stat: Shouldn't have been Clutch Hitter's Stats since the answer was RBIS (not RBI)? No matter, I still probably would have had a DNF.

Great clue for Pin in the Back!

And some gret words: PHENOM, PARABLE, ETERNAL, WHOOSH and BEAUT. And a special shout-out to Chinwag!

Mari said...

I plan to see 31A this weekend. This Bane, not This Bain.

desper-otto said...

Wow, I've often complained that the Houston Chronicle doesn't print the name of the crossword constructor. I just noticed that they've started including it. It's in an itty-bitty font at the bottom left of the grid. I'm happy to see that. It'll give me a leg up knowing whose constructor brain I'm attempting to pick?

CED (from yesterday): Just watched your Two Ronnies crossword clip. Hilarious. I used to enjoy watching them on our local PBS station back in the day.

Anony-Mouse: Great Alt QOD! So true.

PK said...

I always like John Lampkin, but the NE corner had me stumped until Marti came to my rescue with OBJET D'ART. Then everything flowed into place in my mind. Great links, too.

I was hung up on GASket, thinking since the blog talked about a CAP yesterday, that would be too easy. And I was thinking small collectibles were Matchbox cars, since I have 6 young grandsons. Then I never got the P for ARVENU.

My computer was offline for over a week with a message that I wasn't hooked up to the internet. I finally spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with four different techs from my service provider.

Finally, stumbled on the one step I was missing: correctly shutting down the machine and booting back up. I was just turning it off. I have no idea what expelled me from the internet in the first place. Did my yard men carrying branches clip my lead-in wire? Nope!

Boy, did I have a bad case of blog withdrawal.

Anony-Mouse said...

Oh, thank you Marti, for the Deja Vu on the 'gas cap' incident. You guys were kind and considerate enough, yesterday, not to excoriate me on the ethics of the whole thing ....

Actually, I am an optimist, sort of. I have no doubt that there will be an eventual climate change, but, with my medical problems, .... not in my lifetime, and ( hopefully- ) not in my back yard. (NIMBY). Meanwhile I see the new EPA rules will mothball 12 thermal power plants in Ohio, and 88,000 coal miners are out of work in W. Virginia, whose only 250 year resource (coal) is now pretty much useless. On the other hand 'developing' economies like India and China are burning coal, like nobody's business, .... like carbon was going out of style. India, in particular, is still merrily using banned Freons ... as if the Ozone layer was only a pie in the sky.

Enough of my rant ... on with the crosswords.

I have about half a Kg. of Niobium, mostly as anodized jewelry and I swear, if you look, real carefully, at an angle from the suns rays, you can see a couple of tear drops, where She has been weeping for her children .... (lol)

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, John Lampkin, for a very good puzzle. Thank you, Marti for the very good review.

Yes, Marti, I did get 32D ATOI, right after I got BANE, ATE, NO WIN, and DISH UP. Piece of cake! They can't fool me.

This puzzle went much easier than I thought it would. The words just keep appearing. Lots of perps and wags to help, but it worked.

The theme unifier was easy. The theme itself a little tougher, but I did get it after I finished and stared at the words for a while.

I wanted BUNNY HILLS at first, but SLOPE became obvious.

Saw a few RBIS last night at the Cubs game. They actually won. Game was called for rain in the top of the eighth. Cubs 5, Marlins 1. I got home at 2:45 AM.

ENSEAT and DAUNTS were slow in coming in the South.

Did not know OBJETDART. All the crosswords looked good so I let it fly. French again.

Got plenty of rain last night, so maybe our weather is changing, finally.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Anonymous said...

Is this Martie McVeigh?

kazie said...

I had fun doing this one too. A few unknowns, but in general no problems. The last to fall was the NE corner, but I finally remembered OJAI from not too long ago, and figured GROUNDS out because I remembered my uncle was a greens keeper for a golf course. After that it was a short leap to OBJET D'ART, et voilà!

I didn't "get" the TEN until I came here. Also didn't know OSU, GWYNNE or NIOBE, but perps rescued those.

We had an RFD address where we built in 1976, until some time in the 90's when they switched to using fire numbers and the county road names instead of route numbers.

A BEAUT CW, Lammy!

Unknown said...

Glad I wasn't the only one to have trouble with the NE corner. The rest of it went quickly.
Didn't like ENSEAT and never heard of PARVENU.
TEN pin was a DOH moment. I'm a Duck fan not a BEAVER fan.

Just a note off subject-
ANONY-MOUSE mentioned mothball. Did you know it's illegal in all 50 states to use mothballs in your attic to get rid of critters? It's a felony in 5 states.
I Googled the info after an unfortunate choice at church to use them to get rid of bats. It's been 2 weeks since they were removed and some of us still can't breathe in there. The real kicker-a pest control company told them to do it. Go figure.

IRISH MISS-sent you an email, hope you got it.

Husker Gary said...

John’s puzzles are always a delight but Marti’s style of blogging also reminds me that it is Thursday and I am in for a enjoyable write-up.

Musings
-My last free TOOTHBRUSH was a little more pricey than that Marti
-At one time we had to use NEWSPRINT to run off materials for kids. Not good.
-Penny, from TBBT, has had her Check Engine light on since she bought the car
-Some pastures are starting to like the GOBI around here but irrigated fields look good
-RBI is now used for Runs Batted In since it is already plural but some of us old guard still say RBI’s
-We still give massive US AID to countries that don’t like us. Hmm…
-Lose/lose - playing competitive golf with a cheater. Call him on it and he’s upset, don’t call him on it and you seethe inside.
-LONI was part of one of the best comedy ensembles ever at WKRP
-VOX POPULI takes center stage here in November.
-What was Fred GWYNNE’s fabulous film role of just a few years ago?
-Grounds keepers around here are watering everyday to keep golf courses playable. Our guy does a great job but the guy at the mall has a lot of everbrowns on his hands.
-Vive la RUMBA! Did she have a partner in that video?
-Two guys I golf with smoke cigars and throw them down on the fungicide, insecticide laden grass between strokes.
-Grandson is a frontrunner and loves the OSU Beaver’s until they start to lose
-Hahtoolah, that cat’s life looks pretty good to me.
-We right handed bowlers absolutely hate seeing that 10 pin left staring at us after a good pocket hit.

Qli said...

I enjoyed this puzzle, and Marti's usual wonderful commentary. Paper for the paper was my favorite clue.

Husker, with any luck the golfers who put their cigars on the grass are the same ones who cheat. Payback.

Mari, some will say that the guy in your BAIN link would be the BANE of this country! I also thought of Barbara Bain from the original Mission Impossible show.

Being in a QUEUE sounds much less boring than merely standing in line.

It seems I am seeing the world from a snarky vantage point today....too much heat here on the prairie must be frying my brain.

Qli said...

Husker again:

Did you mean Fred Gwynne's role as a judge in "My Cousin Vinny" where he says " did you say 'ute'? What's a 'ute'?"

HeartRx said...

Anon @ 9:38, not Martie McVeigh and not Marty McFly, either. Marti DuGuay-Carpenter: regular poster, Thursday blogger and occasional constructor...

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

I was so glad to find out how to spell BUONA since I was sure I spelled it wrong yesterday.

Was able to get most of this puzzle, which is unusual for a Thursday for me. It was fun and surprising to have both GASCAP and SERA from yesterday again today.
Isn't que sera,que sera Spanish? And BUONA sera is Italian, isn't it?

My big trouble was insisting upon finders for Keepers keep them. Loused up the whole NE corner.

Cheers

Husker Gary said...

Musings 2

-Of course you are right Qli. Here is the two utes(:46) scene from that movie. The three movies I quote from most often in normal conversations are My Cousin Vinny, Godfather and Caddyshack. Any other fav’s out there?
-Being in a QUEUE at Disney in this weather is brutal!
-Marti, you don’t own a DeLorean? BTW, for what year would you set it?
-Car 54 wasn’t exactly great TV but it was fun for the times (it was no Downton) and a reminder of when we were UTES.
-Does anyone out there know what bowlers call it when they seemingly throw a perfect first ball but leave a single pin? 1 Across - Leaving one pin after a good bowling hit 1_ _ _

Husker Gary said...

p.s. MIL, who will be 90 next week, called last night worried about running out of cash while living in a fully paid for house. A reverse mortgage seems like a great solution for her. Any advice from the solons of this site?

Sfingi said...

As a grouchy old f--t, I believe words like PHENOM should be indicated as abbrevs. Although, I did get it.

So, I know PARVENU, but can't get IS IT. Kept staring at I SIT. Wha?

Didn't know OJAI. Pronounced Oh hi?
Looks nice. A lot of Spanish architecture.

@Sallie - Buona sera is Italian and Que sera Spanish. In Italian, you can also have bouno - masculine ending if the noun is masculine, and plurals, also. There was a song, Buona sera signorina, and a movie Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell.

@Qli - queues are so much more polite.

NIOBE was turned to stone in exchange for her children's lives. There are some beautiful statues of her - mostly funerary.

lois said...

Good afternoon Marti, CC, et al, Not a free run but a fun one. Like Kazi, I didn’t get 10 pin until I came here. Agree with Charlette basically, except about not being a Beaver fan, actually prefer Longhorns to them, Hokies moreso and Sooners most of all. Learned pervenue, enseat, and how to spell Buona with Sera. Was wondering that the other day. Excellent write up, Marti. Loved the links, the comments and the pix of JL and his butterflies. That small coral hairstreak looks like a moth to me. What’s the difference?

LOL Marti: To answer your question: yeah, my tips get chalk, my hands get powder, and my balls get gently but firmly racked then put away, one at a time, two at a time, gently, roughly, with or w/out English, but always with finesse. I almost need a cigarette after every game, except I don’t smoke…I guess I don’t . Never looked.

The BANE of my existence was washing socks. The dryer monster would eat one and then another one from a different set. Mismatched sets were all that’s left. Some kids were picky, some weren’t. I should’ve bought stock in socks…socks ‘n trade. Never discovered how that happened. Glad it's over.

Eddy B, welcome home. Hope your recovery is a speedy one.

Enjoy your day.

Misty said...

I love a challenge, if it finally works for me in the end--and this one surprisingly did! So many thanks, John, and you too Marti, for clearing up what TEN was all about. And to think I was actually on a bowling league many eons ago!

I remember that one used to be able to order live ladybugs from gardening catalogs to help with APHID problems.

Have a great Thursday, everybody!

Mari said...

Qli @ 10:43 am: A classic! I just read this online: "The misunderstanding between Vincent Gambini and Judge Haller regarding the two "utes" was in fact a real conversation between Joe Pesci and director Jonathan Lynn, who then decided that it should be added to the movie's script."

HeartRx said...

HG, hmmm....that's a hard one. Which year would I set the clock in the DeLorean?

I know which ones have already passed that were absolutely terrific, but would I want to re-live them?

And the future is so questionable...what if I set it for, say, 2030 and found out that I had died in 2012? Or worse, what if this planet had been wiped out with all the pollution and nuclear radiation?

So I guess I would set it for July 19, 2012 at exactly 12:12 P.M. CST, and go from there!

Mari said...

I'd set the clock in the DeLorean to 1920. I was meant to be a flapper, but was born about 70 years too late. (And then I'd set it back before the Great Depression hits!)

Anonymous said...

Husker Gary,

We watch My Cousin Vinny any time it's on. Ditto w/ Uncle Buck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZMWgW6QNuw

Golf and bowling were the bane of my my lumbar.

If the single pin that is left after a buried pocket hit is the 9 pin for a right hander, or the the 8 pin for a left hander, it's a "true" TAP. Generally though, most bowlers refer to any single pin that's left standing on the first ball as TAP.

Anonymous said...

reverse mortgage info. A good thing to check out thoroughly before you sign.

Yellowrocks said...

I sympathize with all those posters who were speaking of the pain and cost of dental implants yesterday. My son had extremely soft teeth, every one filled and refilled, many root canals, extractions, etc. Over three years he had to have all of his teeth removed and replaced by implants. Those 20 implants cost us $54,000 (dentist and oral surgeon combined) That came to $2700.00 a tooth, a volume discount. LOL

I have two implants myself. Not a piece of cake. My poor son! Now he goes to the dentist only once a year for cleaning and X-rays. No more problems and no more continuous costly repairs.

Brainiac said...

I didn't realize what the theme was until I got to the blog. Thanks for all the info.

OSU is 19-11? In what sport?

desper-otto said...

HG: Scott Burns, syndicated financial columnist, wrote an interesting article about Reverse Mortgages back in April. He recommended it for people early in retirement rather than late, though.

Lucina said...

Good afternoon, Marti, and friends. Always enjoy your witty blogging Marti.

Late to the DANCE today as I overslept a bit but my heart RACEd when I saw John Lampkin's name. The top was a speed run though had to change BUNNY TRAIL to SLOPE then on to EMBRACE this BEAUT!

New to me, IMED but it perped and surprise! I knew ATOI!

ALOE is rarely seen in bloom but with JL's patience and experience in photography I imagine he has seen one. Gorgeous pic by the way.

Had an almost Natick at the bottom as chinwag was unfamiliar, didn't know the Beavers but finally DAUNTS slipped in then ENSEAT revealed all. Strange word, ENSEAT.

Thank you John L and Marti for today's fun!

Enjoy your Thursday and BUONA sera, everyone!

Lucina said...

Since Spanish and Italian are so close in meaning it is possible to have a conversation, at least superficially, with speakers in each language. That happened to me more than once in Italy and it's quite fun.

Unknown said...

Perfect ball with one pin left may be a tap-but the words I used when I left one can't be printed here.

Hubby used to drop his little cigar on the ground before hitting his golf ball. He quit doing that when he got Giardia from the waterfowl on the course. (It took 2 weeks to run its course.)

Enjoying the animal pix. Great one Hahtoolah. Think I might post one of my own.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Great puzzle from John today. Just right for a Thursday. Interesting to see SERA and ASPIC again today.

We had 10-Yr-old Samantha overnight, and through the morning. Delightful child. Then I had to cut the grass.

We had some rain yesterday, and hours of continuous rain this morning. No fun cutting wet grass, but it had to get done.

Rain seems to be over, so we might be able to get our concert in tonight.

Tigers up 5-1 over the Angels in the 7th. Scherzer has his good stuff today. Eight K's so far.

Cool regards!
JzB

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, John Lampkin is always a little intimidating, but after yesterday's discussion about gas caps, and another puzzle I did yesterday with End Run in it, I was off to a flying start.

Being on the same wavelength as Mr. L. I did this puzzle in very good time today. I even caught on to the theme! Woo Hoo!

I thought the Cuetip answer was fun as we see Q-tip in many puzzles, but not usually the end of a Cue as the answer.

Enseat and Parvenu per Barry were also new to me. Enseat is a bit obscure to my thinking. Both were doable, though, with the perps.

Have a great day everyone. I have a memorial service to attend for a long time friend and college group member.

Bill G. said...

That was my usual experience with a John Lampkin puzzle; fun and clever. Thank you to Marti too.

Charlette and others: It's a pleasure to have you guys here as contributors. Speaking for myself, I would enjoy it if you would flesh out your resumé a little. I always like it better when I know a little about the people I'm talking with; location, job, interests, etc.

"They don't make 'em the way they used to." Right. In the case of cars, I think they make them a lot better. My relatively new Camry is rock solid. I remember driving cars back in the 50s and 60s that would take a long time to warm up, especially in the winter. I can see the temperature gauge start to move on my newer Camry by the time I've driven one or two blocks depending on the outside temperature. Amazing!

John Lampkin said...

Hi all,
Thanks Marti for the upbeat and positive write-up, and thank all you posters for your feedback.

I had envisioned this for the start of the NFL season, or the Super Bowl so Rich jumped the gun by a couple of weeks since the first preseason game is August 5th. Let the season begin!

GAS CAP - Beano?
CUE TIP - Prompter's gratuity?

Happy solving,
John

Lemonade714 said...

JL;

Nice to see you, as always. The My Cousin Vinnie info was fun; Lorraine bracco would have been wrong for the part; I am surprised we do not see GWYNNE more often, such an interesting letter group. Mari, maybe you will bring back the flapper. Did you like Midnight in Paris ?

Braniac, are you new? Hey PK....

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Enjoyed the puzzles yesterday and today. Learning how to appreciate construction better.

Interesting that we had SERA yesterday and BUONO today.

Some neat-o fill.

Best wishes to you all.

Irish Miss said...

Hi everyone:

I'm late to the dance as I was out all day and didn't get to the puzzle until about 4:00 p.m. And what a puzzle it was!

I did finish without help but perps, wags, patience, and perseverance were desperately needed. I thought it was a little tougher than a normal Thursday but enjoyed the cluing and some cute misdirection.

Thanks, JL, for a good brain workout and also for the truly beautiful pictures and thanks, Marti for your scintillating review. I, also, love the word queue,
especially when I can use it playing Scrabble.

Enjoy the evening.

HeartRx said...

JL, thanks for stopping by. "GAS CAP - Beano?" Hilarious!

I loved the picture that CC posted for us. I amazes me how you manage to get those beautiful shots.

Jayce said...

Er, that would be BUONA.

Isn't there a Rossini aria (Barber of Seville?) where some people sang "Buona sera" over and over and over again to each other?

Manac said...

Husker Gary
So many of my favorite lines came from
this movie that included " would you object to naming a child Vladimir? Even
if it's a girl?" and " Susan, your such
an A##h###."
Anyone?

HeartRx said...

Jayce, yes, you a right. I tried to find a version with English subtitles, but no luck. Here is the German version – you can hear the repeated phrase starting around 5:06

Jayce said...

HeartRx, thanks. I remember it now. The men are saying (singing) "buona sera" in hopes that the *other* guy will leave so he can be alone with the woman.

Pedant the Brit said...

So, if an opera singer sang "Buena Sera" as an encore, would that be a Buena Sera bonus aria?

Thank for a great CW, JL, and I like your alternative clues. However, if I was trying to solve them I might not be so charitable.

@Sfingi - Phenom isn't an abbreviation, it's a bona fide word. (But, one may ask, is Buena Sera a bona fide aria?)

As a relative tyro to this blog I have to ask a newbie question. I sussed that the flue answer in the grid is (usually) the unifier, but what does the yellow square signify?

Pedant The Brit said...

flue answer?

No blue answer!

Jayce said...

A couple of cannibals were chowing down on a comedian. One cannibal turned to the other and asked, "Do you think he tastes funny?"

Jayce said...

Pedant the Brit, maybe it would be a bonus aria! Good one!

I think the yellow square signifies nothing more than where the person left the cursor.

Bill G. said...

Manac: From the same movie as, "I'll alert the media"?

Manac said...

Bill G.
I still use that one all the time, along with Oh! your a hedge!!
Too to list.

Manac said...

Sorry.
Too many to list.

HeartRx said...

Bill G. and Manac, yes - that's a great line that I also use. But my all time fav movie line is "I'll have what she's having!"

Pedant the Brit, Jayce is correct. The colored squares usually are highlighted purposely by CC to show the theme unifier. The yellow square is where she left her cursor before posting the puzzle file. It is not necessarily the last answer she filled in, though.

Manac said...

Marti
Diner scene "when Harry met Sallie"
Never did care for Crystal's style of
humor thou. Just me I guess.

HeartRx said...

Manac, yep! That's it.

Spitzboov said...

Katz's Deli

Hahtoolah said...

I was listening to Marketplace on NPR this evening and one of the stories mentioned Objet's d'Art! Not a term one hears everyday!

Husker Gary said...

Musings redux

-Arthur is another great one for quotes. I have used, “You have a wonderful economy of words!” and “Usually one has to go to a bowling to meet a woman of your stature.”
-The 2011 sequel was miserable; all I had to do was see the trailer to see how odious it was. It was a big flop.
-Bill G., I agree, today’s cars are great. My pickup just turned 70,000 and all I’ve bought are new tires.
-Marti, yup, you would pick today’s date. You’re a play it where it lies kind of gal. I wouldn’t mind going back to 1962 armed with my current knowledge to have some high school do-overs.

Bill G. said...

“I’m not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work there, Lou.”

Draw (or imagine) a four by six rectangle divided up into 24 one-inch squares. There are 16 squares around the perimeter (outside) and eight interior squares (24 squares altogether). How many rectangles can you find where the number of perimeter squares is equal to the number of interior squares?

Lucina said...

If you haven't seen today's Jeopardy! yet you'll recognize some of crossword's favorite rivers and popes.

The movie dialogues are really funny, everyone.

The Real Braniac said...

"Your a Hooker?? I just thought I was
doing great with you."

Anonymous said...

(RE: the ring )
This is to marry one girl?

Bill G. said...

I certainly agree with Gary about do-overs in high school regarding girls. I was so insecure then.

Manac said...

Ok bill G. & Husker.
"If you knew then what you know now...
Well I know now." "I hate that Kid"
May not be exact word for word.

Anonymous said...

Hey Bill G. TTP'er here again. Yes, there were great lines between Marge and Lou in that movie. Even my friends in the north woods were impressed with accuracy of the accents and caricatures. Give Frances an A +.

Ok, back to your question. It's been way too long. But I'll wag at 19.

Avg Joe said...

Two of my favorite movie quotes:

The first from The Big Chill. It describes in one sentence what most people don't figure out in a lifetime. The first line sets it up:

"Hey, Nick? You know, we go back a long way, and I'm not gonna piss that away 'cause you're higher than a kite."

"Wrong, a long time ago we knew each other for a short period of time; you don't know anything about me."

The second line is from North Dallas Forty. Nothing of socially redeeming value, but it's just terribly funny in context. I'll cut it short for obvious reasons:

"I just love your legs......."

BTW, Great puzzle John. Enjoyed it a lot. Too busy lately to chat.

Avg Joe said...

And speaking of old movies, we happened upon "Big Hand for the Little Lady" last Saturday on one of the classic movie channels. A wonderful movie!!! Wish I'd seen it back in the 60's. Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward were incredible.

Bill G. said...

Jayce, I forgot to say that I enjoyed your cannibal joke.

You need to find the length and width of the rectangles in question.

I found this photo on a slideshow on MSNBC. Wow! The one I especially like is number 18.

CrossEyedDave said...

Ah John! i woke up late, & when i saw "Lampkin" i knew i had to do this in pen, on paper. My 1st thought was "butterflies." But the day got busy, & i started the puzzle online, thinking, I'll just do the across & downs, & then start sussing in ink. Well the whole NW fell easily, but then it got so hard i could not go back!

65A Baltic resident,,, i wanted Serb. Parable gave me fits... & 24D Rumba,,, i wanted Salsa! (Sorry, my stomach wins out over my brain every time.)

Then came life, & i could not return until now. All i remember is it was a very enjoyable puzzle, & my 2 pages of notes do not make any sense at all! Except, (& i think it was the write up) 30D fly fishing (awesome!) & Twist ( the only dance i could do!)

So, thank you John, & so i do not waste a post, I wanted you all to know that i discovered why Cats have 9 lives...

Anonymous said...

I finished a Thursday puzzle
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hooray

Argyle said...

Congratulations!