google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, March 27, 2014 Pancho Harrison

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Mar 27, 2014

Thursday, March 27, 2014 Pancho Harrison

Theme: "Paradise Lost" in the the middle of the theme entries.

17-Across. Specific gravity : RELATIVE DENSITY. I used to measure the specific gravity of urine when I worked in the lab, so that was all I could think of when I read the clue. Your experience may vary...

29-Across. Publicly traded investment company with a limited number of shares : CLOSED END FUND. I'll let my financial manager deal with the boring details...

45-Across. Mad man? : ALFRED E. NEUMAN. Cover boy of Mad Magazine, with the tag line "What, me worry?"

And the reveal:
58-Across. Classic children's novel, and what to look for in this puzzle's three other longest answers : THE SECRET GARDEN. EDEN is split differently in each of the three theme entries: E-DEN, ED-EN and ED-E-N. I like that in a puzzle. Here's the rest -

Across:

1. Gp. co-founded by Victor Herbert : ASCAP. No clue about Victor Herbert, but a couple perps gave me a WAG at the answer.

6. Bonkers : LOCO. and 67-Across. A bit daft : DOTTY. Not to be confused with a Mad man.

10. Harbinger : OMEN. I think of "harbinger" as foretelling something positive (like spring - is it ever going to get here?) and OMEN as something negative.

14. Cheri of "Scary Movie" : OTERI. Thank goodness I memorized this one long ago. It has saved my bacon in many a tough puzzle.

15. "... __ the dreadful thunder / Doth rend the region": "Hamlet" : ANON.

16. Gossipy Barrett : RONA. See # 14-A comment.

20. Vietnamese observance : TET. See # 14-A comment

21. Hitch : SNAG. and a semi-clecho with 34-Across. Do a hitch in the military : SERVE.

22. Vintage cars : REOS. See # 14-A comment.

23. Onetime Kenny G label : ARISTA. See # 14-A comment.

25. Play with robots : RUR. See # 14-A comment.

26. Linebacker Manti __, 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist : TEO. I guess I'll just have to memorize this one as well. (OK, I'll stop now!) (From C.C.: This guy's fake girlfriend incident must have escaped Marti. Read here.)

33. Wagner works : OPERAS. I could use my music link on this one, but I have something better in mind.

35. Put away : STOW.

38. Dove competitor : CAMAY.

40. Slangy turnarounds : UEYS. UIES is another spelling we see.

41. Settings for Manet : CAFES. Like this one.



43. Finished a flight-training requirement : SOLOED. Hi, Dudley!

48. Agnus __ : DEI. "Lamb of God" in Latin.

49. Auction ending? : EER. Auctioneer.

50. Take out : DELETE.

53. 1977 medical novel : COMA. This was Robin Cook's first major novel. I was working at the VA Hospital when it came out, and everyone had their nose in a copy during lunchtime.

55. Time of jour : SOIR. Anyone else want "heur"?

57. Baa maid? : EWE. Cute.

62. __ of Sandwich : EARL.

63. "This can't be happening!" : OH NO.

64. Script parts : LINES.

65. Additionally : ALSO.

66. E or G, e.g. : NOTE.


Down:

1. Angiogram image : AORTA.

2. Take the helm : STEER.

3. Irish musical ensemble __ Woman : CELTIC. We just watched one of their concerts the other night. But, I'm still holding on to my musical link...

4. Altar constellation : ARA.

5. Road trip refresher : PIT STOP.

6. __ lamp : LAVA.

7. Universal donor's type, briefly : O NEG.

8. Food fish : COD. It's also what you mail to your friend in Boston on their birthday.

9. Successful squeeze play result : ONE RUN. Boy, did I need an education for this one. I thought a squeeze play was when two fielders trap a runner between bases. Bzzzt!  It's actually a bunt when there is a runner on third, forcing the outfielder to throw to first, while allowing the runner to make it to home plate…10-Down. "... __ they say" : OR SO.

11. What humidity measures : MOISTURE. Um, isn't it measured by a hygrometer?

12. Forest friend of Frodo : ENT. Even though Frodo himself never met them, they acted as his friends and allies.

13. Dissenting vote : NAY.

18. "Hold your horses, I'm coming" : IN A SEC.

19. Unhip types : NERDS.

24. Like right-lane traffic, usually : SLOWER. I'm a left-lane kinda girl, myself...

25. Goodwill store transaction : RESALE.

27. Green condition? : ENVY. and 44-Down. Green shade : EMERALD.

28. Laudatory verses : ODES.

30. Helpful tip for a puzzle solver? : ERASER. Cute misdirection.

31. "Behind the Candelabra" co-star : DAMON. The story of Liberace, it also starred Michael Douglas and received rave reviews.

32. Like the Middle Ages : FEUDAL.

35. Large quantity : SCAD.

36. Account : TALE.

37. Company bigwigs : OFFICERS.

39. "Get it, daddy-o?" : YOU DIG?

42. Note next to a red F, maybe : SEE ME. Uh-oh...

46. Church VIP : DEACON.

47. "You __ worry" : NEEDN'T. Let Alfred E. Neuman do that for you...

51. "Rockin' Robin" chorus word : TWEET. At last, something worth linking!  Tweedle-lee-dee-dee-dee, tweedle-lee-dee-dee, tweedle-lee-dee-dee-dee, tweedle-lee-dee-dee, tweedle-lee-dee-dee-dee, tweedle-lee-dee-dee, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet (Aren't you glad I didn't waste my musical link on OPERAS or CELTIC Women?)

52. Itty : EENSY.

54. Peace Prize city : OSLO.

55. On its way : SENT. "The check is in the mail…"

56. Platte River tribe : OTOE.

58. Leaves in a bag : TEA.

59. Kubrick's out-of-control computer : HAL. In "2001: A Space odyssey."

60. Sigma preceder : RHO.

61. 2016 Olympics host : RIO. And they plan to hold sailing events here? Ewww...


That's it from me for this week!

Marti


69 comments:

OwenKL said...

If today were the SECRET GARDEN of EDEN,
When the snake claimed the fruit was good eatin'
Eve would still misbehave,
But in his wired man-cave
Adam only allows beer and chips in his E-DEN!

Fairly easy run. A few write overs, all solved by perps: UEES before UEYS, LOAD before SCAD, REMOVE before DELETE, HEUR before SOIR, TEENY before EENSY, ROLES before LINES. The only one that caused me problems was that I had CLOSE HELD FUND before CLOSED END FUND.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Got the theme pretty easily once I made it down to the theme reveal, which is a good thing since I otherwise never would have figured out CLOSED END FUND. Never heard of it and wouldn't have guessed it otherwise. I had CLOSEDE_DFUND and just couldn't come up with anything that made sense, and the crossing OWERU_ wasn't helping much (yes, I had ANOW at 15A for no apparent reason).

Middletown Bomber said...

Nice puzzle for a Thursday. saw the theme word fairly quickly. took a while to figure out the reference to the book. Did not like Mad Man for Alfred E. Neuman as he was (a boy) more like a Mad Mascot.
great write up by Marti as per usual.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Marti and friends. I enjoyed this romp in the Garden of EDEN. Lots of great clues and misdirections.

I especially liked Baa Maid = EWE

Leaves in a Bag = TEAS also made me smile.

I confidently wrote in Parcs for Manet settings. I guess I was thinking of THIS MANET PARC, which has become a crossword staple.

Hand up for thinking of Heur instead of SOIR for the Time of Jour.

I initially tried Heart instead of AORTA for the Angiogram Image.

Irving Berlin was Victor Herbert's co-founder of the ASCAP.

QOD: Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things. ~ Edward Steichen (Mar. 27, 1879 ~ Mar. 25, 1973)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

This was a quick solve for a Thursday. Whenever the across answer didn't immediately come to me, its perps were obvious. The theme was not obvious, however. I never did see it.

I remember Liberace flouncing around from the B&W TV days of my ute. Mom said he was OK, so long as you didn't watch, and he didn't talk.

Personally, I think of HAL, the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, as belonging to Clarke rather than Kubrick.

So Marti, how's life in the fast lane? And, yes, I'll take Bobby Day over Wagner every time.

Yesterday I had to prove I wasn't a robot at Cisco's Linksys website. Each captcha contained a dark cloud, and the letters turned white wherever the cloud was behind 'em. I couldn't read 'em. DW couldn't read em. Finally, on the 19th or 20th try, I think the system had mercy and just let me pass.

thehondohurricane said...


Good morning one and all,

No problems today, got through it without any delays or dilemmas. Marti, your usual fine write up, but one correction. On a squeeze play the outfielder is AWOL. An infielder or pitcher will field the bunt. The outfielder is probably checking out the fans sitting in the stands,

DOTTY made me grind my molars! EENSY was a Meh. Wanted Noir before SOIR. Never read Mad. ALFERD E NEUMAN. he always looked LOCO (DOTTY() to me. Can't recall CAMAY. Is it still being marketed?

As far as I'm concerned, Tuesday's puzzle was still the toughest so far this week.

Al Cyone said...

Another smooth run. After yesterday's Tolkien discussion ENT came easily (thanks buckeye bob!).

SEE ME came so quickly I figure I must have repressed memories of red Fs.

Favorite clue: "Baa maid?"

There's a slim chance that last night was the last one with temps below freezing here in the soon-to-be-beautiful-again mid-Hudson valley. I need to feel the warmth of the sun so badly my teeth hurt.

[9:59]

Mari said...

Good morning everybody. Nice puzzle today. The "secret" Eden's were easy to spot. No mention of Barbara Eden though.

Some really fun clues included:
- 25A: Play with robots: RUR
- 57A: Baa maid? EWE
- 30D: Helpful tip for a puzzle solver? ERASER
- 58D: Leaves in a bag: TEA

Cold and rainy in Chicago today (ugh!)

Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

desper-otto @7:04

I always assumed that HAL's name was obtained by backing up one letter from IBM.

TTP said...

I often find the same answer in different daily puzzles. Today it was HAL.

Breezed pretty quickly through today's offering, albeit not in Al Cyone or Desper-otto time.

Two mistakes on the first pass. My Dove competitor was ivorY based solely on proving the Y in YOU DIG. That was a quick fix second time through.

No heur here. My first pass Time de jour was entered as nOIR.

Parsed everything else in short order, including THE SECRET GARDEN. I never heard of it, but will look it up.

TTP said...

Anon@ 7:49

Origin of name HAL

Anonymous said...

Fairly quick and easy for a Thurs. Found it enjoyable. Heur, here. RUR and Hal, interesting. Alfred E Neuman was a surprise. He creeped me out as a young kid, my big brother was a regular subscriber. Have a great day!

HeartRx said...

Anon @ 7:49, that origin of the name has often been speculated, but both Clarke and Kubrick deny it. In an interview, Dr. Clarke once said that suggestion was "[u]tter nonsense! [...] I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic."

HeartRx said...

TTP - you beat me to it...

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Hand up for heur before SOIR. But otherwise, WEES. Many interesting, more obscure, clues for common crossword fill. No searches were needed.
Enjoyed Marti's intro. Thanks.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Hello, Marti and all. You are up to your usual sparkle, Miss M. Thank you. I didn't see the theme until you commented on it.

However, THE SECRET GARDEN was a favorite for my fourth graders and they often wondered what a "moor" was.

SOIR? All perps.

And CAMAY hasn't been a competitor for a very long time.

Mari:
You nailed all the clever clues and I agree.

My ERASER got very little workout on this grid. After writing STOW I had second thoughts, erased it, but then OFFICERS confirmed it and it went back in place.

I also recalled ENT thanks to yesterday's discussion.

Thank you, Pancho Harrison. This was quick and fun.

Have terrific Thursday, everyone!

Yellowrocks said...

Fairly easy run. I didn't see or need the EDENs.
I enjoyed the puzzle and Marti's blog.
Marti, I misunderstood squeeze play, too, and was surprised that ONE RUN fit. Live and learn.
I thought of HEUR before SOIR, but was sure of the O in OTOE, so I waited.
I liked Alfred E. Neuman, a taste acquired in my youth. Otherwise I would probably pass it up if I first saw it today.
DOTTY is a very useful word for a kindly but a bit off, not really LOCO person. It reminds me of AUNT CLARA on Bewitched.
Link Dotty Aunt Clara
Click on the arrow to see more.
I don't think of Alfred E. N. as dotty, but mad cap.
I always thought of HARBINGER as positive, but now I see that it is value neutral. OTH OMEN has always seemed value neutral to me. The rainbow is considered a good omen. From a NYT headline, "A good omen? Chief executives are holding on to their options." We all know examples of ill omens.
I read that Camay soap is discontinued, but I see that you can buy it on Amazon.

unclefred said...

Loved the puzzle! First time I experienced what I've read comments about: being "on the wavelength". Top half of puzzle just flew; even my WAGs were all right! Bottom half, not so much, but felt really good about knowing "closedendfund" right off the bat. Must admit, I didn't get the theme until I came to the blog, but I seldom get the theme, I seem to be a bit dense that way.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Some new problem with Cruciverb today. Had to do the puzzle on that lame Arkadium setup instead. Easy solve, though, and a nicely executed theme. I like that detail that Marti mentioned, about how Eden is differently broken up in each theme answer. The Soloed fill was an easy one - that's a high point in any student pilot's life.

What Al Cyone said, about baa maid for fave clue, and desperately needing some Spring. By the way Al C, how about dropping me or HeartRx a line? We're planning a gathering, and maybe you're within range.

Anonymous said...

TTP @ 8:06

Thanks for the link. I stand corrected. You just got to love this blog!

Husker Gary said...

I saw an E exactly in the middle of all the long answers but that was nothing on this fun puzzle so ably decoded by our lovely Miss M. Hand up for Bobby Day too!

Musings
-Every physics teachers have made one of these RELATIVE DENSITY columns
-LAVA lamps work because materials change in density when heated and rise
-We love the RONA’S who can tear down the people we have built up. TMZ’s carrying that ball today
-I went through a lot of uses for HITCH before I struck pay dirt (Ore?)
- 400+ men in the Omaha area who did SERVE in Korea got this got this well-deserved trip this week
-Teo is said to have gotten ”catfished” at Notre Dame
-I never read nor saw COMA but remember this memorable promo scene
-To be or… LINE? LINE? Ever see this Keith? ;-)
-Kids loved/hated putting a finger into the AROTA of a dissected cow heart
-Our tour busses made frequent PIT STOPS as the avg. age was north of 65
-That trapped player on the base paths is said to be in a “pickle” Marti
-Every episode of Aerial America devotes much time to how states dealt with it OTOES or other indigenous people. It ain’t pretty.
-Mine too Mari.

Northwest Runner said...

I'd offer a slightly different explanation of a squeeze play in baseball. There are two varieties. In the suicide squeeze the runner on third heads home with the pitch. If the batter bunts successfully, the runner will score before the catcher or an infielder can get to the ball at all. If the batter misses or if the pitcher anticipates the ploy and offers an unhittable pitch, the runner is dead. The other is the safety squeeze in which the runner waits for the bunt before running and decides whether he can make it home safely. Neither involves an outfielder though.

Magilla Go-Rilla said...

33A: Since the word opera is already plural (of opus) can you really pluralize an already plural word? Operas?

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was one of the easiest Thursday offerings that I've ever solved. Just breezed right through with only one hiccup at noir/soir. Fav clue was baa maid. Got the theme after filling in the unifier.

Thanks, Mr. Harrison, for an enjoyable romp, and thanks, Miss Marti, for your fun review, although I would have preferred an aria to a "tweet." :-)

We have a bright, sunshiny day so maybe, just maybe Spring is finally going to make an appearance. Have a great day.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Even with the unifier I couldn't suss the theme. Got the DEN part of GARDEN, and missed the E, so it was quite mysterious. [sigh]

Lots of back and forth and perp help got me through the rest of it.

Victor Herbert was an important early 20th century American composer of operettas, stage music, and even a couple of grand OPERAS. Two of his most famous works are "Babes in Toyland," and "Naughty Marietta."

Here's a different musical interlude you NEEDN'T skip.

Cool regards!
JzB

C6D6 Peg said...

Seemed like a Wednesday level.... pretty easy, and didn't get the theme until all was filled in.

Got SOIR immediately. NOIR means black, and HEURE is the correct spelling for hour for your future reference :)

Thanks to Mr. Harrison for a fun puzzle, and a great expo by Marti!

buckeye bob said...

Thank you for the puzzle, Pancho. Thank you for the review, Marti. And thanks for saving that music link!

I agree this was easier than a typical Thursday puzzle, more like Wednesday. I got 2 theme answers, and then the unifier. That helped me put 2 more letters in the partial ____ED EN_ FUND, and from there the light bulb came on. I never read Mad Magazine, but I do know ALFRED E NEUMAN. Liked that clue!

It seems like where I didn’t know answers, I did know the perps, so that helped a lot. Again!

I know very little French, so I didn’t fall into the HEUR / SOIR trap. The perps gave me 3 of the letters, and I got SOIR from there.

CanadianEh! said...

Quick visit before I run off to appointments. Finished this fun puzzle in good time (better than yesterday and Tuesday). Loved the theme.

Smiled at clues for TEA, EWE and ENVY. ERASERs for CW solvers who use paper not online. LOL.

Hand up also for HEUR before SOIR.

I'll return later to read all the comments.

Martin said...

I finished the puzzle but I didn't understand the theme until I came here.

Misty said...

Delightful Thursday puzzle--many thanks, Pancho. And lovely pic of Manet's Cafe, Marti.

It's been a great puzzle week for me so far (this will change Friday and Saturday, sadly) and I even got all the EDENs on my own this morning.

I did have another one of these items where I got it but didn't 'get' it: thought 7D was ONE G rather than O NEG and wondered what that might mean.

Lots of fun clues, and I think Mari listed them all.

Have a great day, everybody!

Lemonade714 said...

So nice to see Pancho Harrison so soon after the 5th anniversary of his introducing us to the LAT.

Lots of fun, and BAA MAID is perfect especially if you grew up near Boston, as I did.

Hahtoolah, it is always good to see you, but I have no clue what the QOD is saying.

Glad the HAL controversy was resolved.

Bernie Brewer said...

Here is an example of a safety squeeze.

The runner on third takes an unusually large lead on the pitch but doesn't commit fully to racing home until the batter bunts the ball successfully. If the batter had missed the pitch the runner should have been able to get back to third before the catcher could throw him out. Also, if the bunt were to be popped up, the runner may have made it back to the third base bag before getting doubled up. However, if the bunt was hard directly back to the pitcher, the runner would have been a dead duck, regardless of his 'safety' actions.

Many say the squeeze is their favorite play in baseball because of the movement of the players, both offensive and defensive. a great view of this occurs @ 0:20 in the video.

HeartRx said...

Magilla Go-Rilla @ 9:46, I can do anything I want to!
(^0^)

C6D6 Peg, you are correct, of course. I just ran out of spaces. NUIT would have fit, too.

Hahtoolah said...

Lemonade: Edward Steichen was a photographer. The quote was in the context of his art.

Hank the dog said...

Here is a suicide squeeze play.

The batter does a fantastic job of getting the bunt down to the ground on a very difficult pitch. If you pause the video @ 0:36, you can see the runner on third running home while the ball is still in the pitchers hand.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Great one, Pancho! Many thought this was easier than usual. Shucks, I thought I was getting smarter! The long answers were all new terms to me but perped okay. Took a lot of looking after the puzzle was filled, but I finally saw EDEN! Yay!

Learned two new French words today: SOIR & Heure. With all the discussion, hopefully they're tamped into my brain.

The last time I saw CAMAY was when I moved. My Mexican exchange guests left a wrapped bar of CAMAY in my bathroom when they left in 1982. The wrapper was printed in Spanish so I kept it as a souvenir sachet on my towel shelf. I tossed it because it was dried out and no longer smelled good in 2003.

"Note next to a red F" had no meaning for me. I've been out of school too long. Only got an "F" on one paper for the mechanics. She hated run-on sentences, but she didn't say "See Me". The next paper got an "A".

I read COMA but didn't know what year.

Didn't know DAMON or who else was in that movie.

Hamlet said that? Do tell...! Did ANON's give Shakespeare snarky feed back too?

I think I am getting DOTTY rapidly.

PK said...

Marti, forgot to thank you for the expo. I danced a lot of jitterbugs to that song. The only TWEETing I have done in my lifetime.

My husband had angiograms every year for ten years, but I didn't think of AORTA until it was half filled. I tried "groin" first because that is where they make the incision.

Tinbeni said...

Marti: Nice write-up ... but that TWEET ear-worm is driving me LOCO!
(It's a short drive. lol!)

This s/h/b Tuesday's puzzle & vice-versa. JMHO

OH, NO! Nothin' to drink, Prohibition has taken over!
(BTW, TEA is never "a drink" at Villa Incognito!)

Just curious, but did HAL's "Mother-Board" call him Harold?

BTW ... if I ever take up painting ... my Settings will be Pubs.

Cheers!!!

Lucina said...

PK:
LOL about the CAMAY wrapper! That sounds like something I would do.

I wrote "SEE ME" many times on some D and F papers.

Steve, RiverDoc, anyone:
How do you combat jet lag after your many travels? It's driving me LOCO.

Anonymous said...

PK - Not only would Shakespeare have appreciated the snarky ANONs here on the Corner, he frequently wrote such asides and snide remarks into his own plays.

With that said, I would imagine a CAMAY on the shelf would have been better served under the arms, milady.

JJM said...

Agree with Irish Miss…EZ/PZ.
Barry G.- A closed end fund is one that is not open to public investors except at special times. The most famous closed end fund was started right there in your home town of Boston. In fact, Peter Lynch, the Fund's manager for a number of years, basically put Fidelity on the map with it. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. It's called the Magellan Fund. In it's early years, it made a ton of money for those who owned it.They open it up very rarely.

CrossEyedDave said...

Wees regarding the fun clues, however I never saw the word Eden. I fail to understand how Eden is associated with a secret garden, Eden, one of the most discussed gardens in literature can hardly be called secret. Now of we only knew where it was...

(Oh nuts! I hate it when I answer my own questions...)

Re: Mad Man... (Sorry, I do not like to discuss the competition...)

Edens dirty little secret...

OwenKL said...

A belated thank you to the volved but not Evolved Anon-T for the inspiration for today's limerick. It seemed so perfect that noting else could be added to it.

HAL, the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer? Of course Kubrick & Clarke (whom I respect immensely) aren't going to admit to something that might get them sued by a megacorp. But if anyone was really acronymizing that phrase, it would be HePAC. Heuristic ALgorithmic? Two adjectives needing Computer as a noun? HAC or HeAlCom.

Baa maid? might have been my favorite clue except that it was too easy to figure out, so Helpful tip for a puzzle solver? was my V-8 worthy fave.

Lemonade714 said...

JJM close; closed end funds are open to the public, just like a new stock offering but only for a set amount of shares. The open end, can keep accepting more money and issues new shares forever. Once a closed end sells out it trades like a stock.

River Doc said...

Happy Thursday everybody!

Have to agree that this puzzle was easy for a Thu, while the early week puzzles seemed a tad diff, relatively....

Favorite clue = Mad Man. Nailed it, which helped immensely. Many fond memories of Spy vs Spy, The Lighter Side of...., fold-ins, marginal drawings, Arthur the plant, etc....

Regarding squeeze plays, I always thought the difference between safety and suicide squeezes was if the bunt was directed up either the third base line or the first base line. Never too old to have a learning moment. That being said, YEAH for the Real baseball opening days this weekend...!

Finally, Lucina, the best cure for jet lag is sleep. I remember the first time I went to Europe I slept for the better part of a day and a half....

john28man said...

I got the theme early but still got stuck in the 39,40,44 area but when I open the puzzle on my computer, I say my problem pretty quickly. This seems to happen to me on late week ones.

My father loved operettas, Victor Herbert and Sigmund Romberg, especially. We were fortunate in that WGN, the radio station owned by the Chicago Tribune, put on an operate every Saturday evening. This was probably because Col. McCormack, the owner and publisher of the paper apparently was a frustrated soldier and read a paper during intermission on various war subjects.

Bill G. said...

Thanks Pancho and Marti. Good stuff!

I feel so dense sometimes. I finished the puzzle, got the reveal and began searching for the secret garden. I found DEN, then another DEN and finally another. I kept asking myself, "Self, OK a den is maybe an out-of-the-way room but not really a secret garden." Geez, they should take away my access privileges to the Mensa puzzle site.

Lemon, you asked a while back about the new Nero Wolfe stories. I got the newest one about a murder at a baseball game. I am about 75 percent finished and am whelmed so far. It certainly doesn't measure up to the best of the original ones.

PK said...

Anon at 1:26: I bought a well-known deodorant soap for use under the arms. LOL! I just couldn't bring myself to tear open this unexpected keepsake from my delightful Mexican guests.

Anonymous said...

This is the fourth great puzzle this week for me! Thanks for the fun, Pancho! I enjoy your blogs, Divine Miss M!

Lots of fun clues/answers today as others have mentioned. My favorite is 51D: :Rockin' Robin" chorus word: TWEET. My daughter used an instrumental version for her floor exercise music in high school gymnastics one year. (Vocals are verboten. Using them is an automatic deduction, maybe 1/2 point)

Have a great rest of your day!

Pat

Unknown said...

Thank you Pancho Harrison and Marti.

I agree with what several of you said. It was really easy.

For you dog lovers among us, I'm currently reading my book club's selection for this month: "A Dog's Purpose" by W. Bruce Cameron. You my have already read it since it was first published in 2010. If not, I recommend it.

Have a great rest of your day.

Nancy

TTP said...

Anon@ 8:43, You're welcome.

C6D6 Peg @ 10:14, true, NOIR is black. And the sad part is I know that but entered it anyway.

Doc, ditto on your thoughts about Mad Magazine. IMHO, best mocking and satirical mag until I discovered National Lampoon mag...

Husker Gary said...

Take the time
-I saw a man with a KOREAN VETERAN hat on while grocery shopping today. I thanked him for his service and asked if he took the honor flight back to DC from Omaha this week to see the new Korea Memorial. He said no because he had been back last year on his own. However, he was eager to tell me his story, which he did very elegantly. Moral: Take time to listen. Everyone has a story and wants to tell it. And, oh yeah, thank a veteran!

Travellers Aid said...



Lucina, regarding jet lag ...

Take it from a well traveled old dog. At first, take plenty of short naps ... for say, the first 3 days.

Then, stop, stop, stop all daytime naps ... force yourself awake, do something useful and active. But do NOT sleep during the day, especially during the afternoons.

Force yourself to sleep during the night time hours ... Cover yourself with a dark, thin sheet, if you have to - but keep eyes firmly closed, and the mind completely blank.

You have to force your body's circadian rhythm to synch with the daylight progression sequence.

And you are lucky - its much worse if you go from the Western hemisphere to the Eastern hemisphere, instead of the other way around.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Loved CED's cartoon!

A pleasant pzl today -- 100% successful with no lookups and only a few rewrites. Quite satisfying although I couldn't "see" EDEN even after solving it all. It took Marti's write-up to point out the obvious. Sometimes we can feel spanking smart and dumb as a brick all at once.

I gather EDEN became SECRET after the original tenants lost the padlock combination.

Manac said...

Evening Everyone,

Like the rest of you, I found this easy going. Of course a perp here and there always helps.

For 45A I misspelled the name as Newman.

But I soon corrected it to Neuman.









OOPS! That's Kira.... Maybe they're related?

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Fun puzzle, Pancho! Great expo, as usual, Marti! (But that link thing…)

Same comment as Jazz and Bill…

Have become so addicted to the game THREES onm the iPad, I have been neglecting puzzles. Shame on me!

Went to the Green Thumb Nursery in Van Nuys and bought the most beautiful tomato plants with tomatoes and gobs of flowers! Can't wait for ersatz gardener to come to put them in. Just have to make slits in fiber pots!

Still struggling with taxes. Harvey supposed to come to help me file receipts today.

Glad to be here. Must get rid of addiction! Enjoy your posts immensely!

Cheers!


Qli said...

I'm with you Marti, I thought "urine" for specific gravity!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Husker Gary,

Happily, I never had to call "LINE" in performance, only in rehearsal.
The funniest recent example of the convention was when Patrick Stewart appeared on the Colbert Report a few weeks ago. He pretended to be a guy named "Chuck" doing a man-on-the-street interview, a famous actor claiming to be a "non-actor." Chuck was commenting negatively on Obamacare. It was in the middle of a searingly honest moment denouncing "the Affordable Care..." that he called, "Line" before he could go on!
Check it out at Colbert interviews Chuck.

Yellowrocks said...

“Opus from the Latin, literally meaning "opera" or musical work. Basically, it's just a musical composition by a particular composer that has been cataloged or listed in some musical reference for convenience.” The plural is opuses or opera. An opus can be from any of a variety of musical genera.
This is not the same as what we commonly mean by opera in English, for example, the works of Verdi and Wagner.
“Opera (English plural: operas; Italian plural: opere) is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting.” In all writing about these works you see the plural “operas” used, such as The 12 Most Famous Operas.

Husker Gary said...

-That was a very funny clip, Keith! I was playing John Dickinson in 1776 once and another actor got lost and skipped ahead two pages instead of yelling “line” and some of my best lines went into the dumpster!
-I loved the Newman clips, Manac. My mother threw out all my original Mad Magazines with my Superman comics and complete baseball card collection.
-I definitely feel some of my iconoclasm comes from reading that magazine!
-BTW, the man I talked to in the grocery store has written a $3.99 ebook about his experiences in Korea
-I’m subbing for Home Ec. tomorrow. I emailed my former colleague if it’s okay to wear jeans tomorrow when I teach that class and she replied, “Yes, Gary, you can wear jeans under your apron!” God, I miss her!

buckeye bob said...

The University of Dayton just beat Stanford. UD is going to the Elite Eight in the NCAA March Madness tournament for the first time in 30 years. Go Flyers!

Lemonade714 said...

Bill G. It and the other recent continuation of the Nero Wolfe saga were sad for me.

Lucina said...

Nancy Murphy:
Our Book Club read A Dog's Purpose and everyone loved it. You might also like The Art of Racing in the Rain if you haven't already read it.

Traveler's Aid:
Thank you. As much as I've tried, it's really hard to avoid sleeping in the daytime but I believe I'm slowly readapting. Usually by now (8:53 our time) I'm nodding off but so far so good.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Pancho Harrison, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for a fine review.

I pretty much skipped the NW corner. Could not get started. Headed East and South.

Caught a few here and there. Got a foothold in the bottom. Got THE SECRET GARDEN after a few seed letters appeared. I read that book several years back. Pretty good.

The other themes came easily.

SOIR was all perps. I noticed many of the bloggers mentioned this word in their posts, but no one ever said what it meant. The other word they mentioned was HEUR. No idea what that means either. Any help?

Remembered HAL. Been in puzzles before.

Liked EWE. Good clue.

30D was a good one, ERASER. I do all my puzzles in ink, so I have smudges and inkblots all over. Either way, that was a good Clue/Word for crossworders.

1D AORTA is a little confusing. I have never had an angiogram, however, from what I have read and heard, an angiogram looks into the arteries that feed blood to the heart muscle, not the systems that feed blood to the heart chambers and the entire body, as the AORTA does (I think). Any help here?

With that, I am ready for bed.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(35656549 51)

Anonymous T said...

Hi all - too late to add anything except to say thanks to everyone for your posts. Pancho's pzl, and Marti's expo.

Abejo: I do mine in ink too and today a few bad answers led to more and more and more and finally a grid of ink to dense to read through. To recap my week so far: Monday, done; Tues NE mess, Wed SW mess, Thu central mess (and IVORY is to blame!)

Cheers, -T

Anonymous T said...

And OwenKL - sorry my DOOTY attempt at verse affected your muse. :-) C, -T

kjinkc said...

Abejo - in re: The other word they mentioned was HEUR. No idea what that means either. Any help?
Heure is the French word for hour, such as the hour is 3AM (for anyone who cares, that's also a reference to one of my fav songs by MB20)...

And your other inquiry about aorta: An angiogram is an X-ray test that uses fluoroscopy to take pictures of the blood flow within an artery (such as the aorta) or a vein

Argyle said...

In my best Frawnch, BOHN-swah!
(bonsoir - good evening)

Abejo said...

kjinkc: Thank you for your response. However, and I will say I am not a medical person at all, but I always thought the Aorta was involved in feeding blood to the heart which is pumped to the rest of the body. And, I always thought the problems people have with their hearts, ie: blockages, did not involve the Aorta, but involved the smaller arteries that feed blood to the heart muscle itself, not the blood that is pumped through the heart to the rest of the body. I never heard of anyone having an Aorta bypass to fix blockages.

But, thanks again for helping. I may look this up today via the internet, just for grins.

Abejo