google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday April 26, 2020 Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman

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Apr 26, 2020

Sunday April 26, 2020 Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman

Theme: "Undercover Work" - Seven different type of service are hidden in each theme answer.
  
22A. *Rejects, in a way: SWIPES LEFT. Self service.

113A. *Journeys that aren't fun: GUILT TRIPS. Lip service.
  
7D. *"Landslide" group: FLEETWOOD MAC. Food service.

13D. *Revere: PUT ON A PEDESTAL. Postal service.

15D. *Nissan Leaf, e.g.: ELECTRIC VEHICLE. Civic service.

42D. *Inverts: TURNS UP SIDE DOWN. Turndown service.

50D. *Farmers' market find: HEIRLOOM TOMATO. Room service.

61D. *Dish commonly made with cod: FISH AND CHIPS. Fan service is new to me.

Reveal:

33. President's protector ... and a hint to the circled letters: SECRET SERVICE.

Great to see Hoang-Kim Vu back. He gave us this puzzle last year.  Congrats, Jessica, on your LA Times debut.

For  this type of "Secret" or "Hidden" theme, we normally we get the key words fully embedded in each theme entry. This is a variation.

Heavy themage. I like how two of the Across themers intersect two Downs. This grid can be flipped and then we'd have a normal Sunday grid with theme entries mostly in Across.

Across:

1. Features of many beds: SLATS.

6. Curly coif: AFRO.

10. Evite request: RSVP.

14. Like half a towel set: HERS.

18. Cliff dwelling: AERIE. It's also the name of American Eagle's underwear line.


19. Place at the pier: SLIP.

20. World's smallest island nation: NAURU.

21. Lamb pen name: ELIA. Charles Lamb.

24. "... but maybe I'm wrong": OR NOT.

25. Took off: WENT.

26. Rest, in Rioja: SIESTA. Alliteration.

27. Nutmeg State Ivy Leaguer: ELI.

28. Social media movement since 2017: ME TOO.

29. Movie SFX: CGI.

30. Fashion monogram: YSL.

31. Speeds up: HASTENS.

34. Carolina quarterback with a Heisman Trophy: CAM NEWTON. And 37. Kneeling quarterback Tim with a Heisman Trophy: TEBOW.


38. Mount: GET ON.

40. State to be true: AVER.

41. Part of CDC: Abbr.: CTRS. Never paid attention to who the CDC director was until the virus hit us. Dr. Robert  Redfield at the helm now.


43. How some like it?: HOT.

45. NFL sportscaster Collinsworth: CRIS.

46. Green film on bronze: PATINA.

49. Down in the dumps: BLUE.

50. Style of earrings: HOOP.

51. Kylo in "The Rise of Skywalker": REN.

52. Commonly misplaced camera part: LENS CAP.

53. Run, as a museum: CURATE.

55. Sees: DATES.

57. Features of many 48-Down: ADS. 48. Phone downloads: APPS.

58. Celeb, say: VIP.

59. Dojo instructor: SENSEI. Literally "born before". Japanese and Chinese have the same characters. The second character here means "born".


60. Visibility reducer: MIST.

61. Enemy: FOE.

62. Comes together: GELS.

63. Rise to an exalted level, as spirits: SOAR.

64. Early Southwestern natives around the Virgin River: ANASAZI. New word to me. The Smithsonian says "Their descendants are today's Pueblo Indians".

67. Persian for "king": SHAH.

69. Rode teacups, say: SPUN.

71. Inc. relative: LLC.

73. Squeezes (out): EKES.

74. "Fiddler" toasting song: TO LIFE.

77. Dadaist Jean: ARP.

78. __ the line: TOE.

79. Chart with lines: GRAPH.

80. Largest U.S. federation of unions: AFL- CIO.

81. Aerospace task: MISSION. And the Mars-obsessed 86. Musk in the news: ELON.

83. Head, for short: LAV.

84. Cloud of gloom: PALL.

87. Dre protégé: EMINEM.

88. Gp. that looks to the stars?: SETI.  OK, the real stars.

89. Soul mate, with "the": ONE.

90. Salon colors: DYES. What's the first thing you'll do when this virus is over? Haircut for me.

91. Pub flier: DART.

92. Dog: POOCH.

94. Reps' pitches: DEMOS.

96. Peels out: STEPS ON IT.

99. Have humble pie: EAT CROW.

101. Side dish piece: FRY.

104. Taken in: HAD.

105. Chinese gambling mecca: MACAO. Macau is more common. Love their egg tarts and pork chop buns.



107. Informal rejection: NAH.

108. Dish: ENTREE.

110. Scores: A LOT.

112. Bitter: ACERB.

115. Christchurch native: KIWI. Wiki says Christchurch is the "largest city in the South Island of New Zealand."

116. Lands like a rock: THUDS.

117. Like some inappropriate comments: UN-PC.

118. Navel variety: OUTIE.

119. Pull hard: YANK.

120. "My bad!": OOPS.

121. Combat vet's affliction: PTSD.

122. Highlighter hues: NEONS.

Down:

1. Fresh: SASSY.

2. Narnia creator C.S.: LEWIS.

3. Disney mermaid: ARIEL.


4. Check additions: TIPS.

5. Boils: SEETHES.

6. Syst. with hand signals: ASL.

8. Search through hastily: RIFLE.

9. Selecting: OPTING.

10. Numismatist's prize: RARE COIN.

11. Basking goals: SUNTANS.

12. Big engine sound: VROOM.

14. Take down: HEW.

16. Jewelry-inspired pop nickname: RINGO. Wow, it has a ring connection?

17. Lustrous fabric: SATIN.

20. Happy eating word: NOM. Looking forward to making this, as soon as I receive my Amazon salted kelp. Amazon is soooo slow these days.


23. Swedish auto: SAAB.

32. NYC or London area: SOHO.

35. Captain America portrayer Chris: EVANS.

36. Waters: WETS.

37. Quisling's crime: TREASON.

39. "__ bien!": TRES.

41. Idea: CLUE.

44. "Rappa Ternt Sanga" artist: T PAIN.


47. Stick, as a landing: NAIL.

49. Former NCAA football ranking sys.: BCS. Bowl Championship Series. Replaced by College Football Playoff.

52. Vientiane people: LAO.

54. Important Kenya export: TEA. Mostly black teas.

56. Flight safety org.: TSA.

62. Proofreaders' proofs: GALLEYS.

65. Pseudonym letters: AKA.

66. One of the Marx Brothers: ZEPPO.

68. Where stars are honored: Abbr.: HOF. Boomer is in this Hall of Fame. Ha ha. Our hallway is full of his plaques and patches.


69. "Ditto": SAME.

70. Kat's sister in "The Hunger Games": PRIM.

72. Novelist Deighton: LEN.

75. Verizon bundle: FIOS. Acronym for Fiber Optic Service.

76. Long time span: EON.

78. Fancy cake feature: TIERS.

79. Felino doméstico: GATO. Domestic feline.

82. Digital sound?: SNAP. Hand!

83. Ballet garb: LEOTARDS.

85. Discomfiting look: LEER.

88. Add zest to: SPICE UP.

90. Dear Abbey for many?: DOWNTON.

93. Emotional problem: HANGUP.

95. Bubbly brand: MOET.

96. Unreliable: SHAKY.

97. __ al Ghul: daughter of a Batman enemy: TALIA. Learning moment for me.


98. Salsa holder: NACHO.

100. Bleachers' dig: TAUNT.

101. Crunchy snack: FRITO.

102. Adjust on a lapel, perhaps: RE-PIN.

103. Ayes: YESES.

106. Birthing room docs: OBS.

109. Loyal: TRUE.

111. __Tok: video sharing service: TIK.

114. HDTV choice: LCD.


Kazie (Kay) kindly sent me this lovely picture with below note:

"I'm attaching a recent photo if you'd like it--Lea's school beginning last August, which the whole family attended. The large school bag, an item of pride to her that day, distinguishes schoolkids from the Kindergartners, and the huge cone called a Zuckertüte in Saxony, is filled with candy and gifts. In most German states, they have a huge ceremony to introduce the 1st graders to real school, after they're done with kindergarten. In Lea's case, she had been going to kindergarten since she was about a year old.  She just turned 7 this January, but of course has been home with her sister and mom since the virus closed everything down."


Here's Lea with Grandpa Barry in 2013.


C.C.

41 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Guess who missed the reveal? Again. But guess who got the theme, anyway? Yup. D-o prevailed. Didn't understand FIOS (Thanx, C.C.), and went from CLAP to SLAP to SNAP digitally. C.C., I believe that one theme answer is CIVIL Service. Here's another hand up for not understanding FAN Service. This turned into a quick solve for a Sunday. Thanx, Hoang-Kim (or should it be Vu?) and Jessica.

ANASAZI: Dw and I spent lots of time exploring in the four-corners area -- Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Casa Grande, Tuzigoot, Wupatki, etc. As a result, "Anasazi" is very familiar. We were told it meant the "old ones."

Nice photos, Kazie. Too bad that Lea's first day of "real" school has been postponed.

TTP said...




Thank you, Hoang-Kim Vu and Jessica Zetzman. A fun solve.

Me too, C.C. FAN service was new to me as well.

And yes, the hair yearns to be shorn. Thinking about letting DW trying to trim it. It's getting to the point that I could be considered for a role in The Passion Play in Oberammergau. It has been postponed until 2022.

The N in in TPAIN and ANASAZI was the last fill. Two unknowns intersecting. TALIA was unknown but the perps were solid.

Couldn't immediately remember if Verizon's service was FIOS or vIOS, but guessed F for FIber Optic Service. C.C. confirmed that is correct.

Rich foreshadowed the Fiddler's toasting song with his Friday clue of "English "L'chaim!"

MACA_ and then let the perp decide if it should be O or U.

FLEETWOOD MAC was a no-brainer for this FAN.

Berry G would have liked the clue for SETI this time.

"Side dish piece" stumped me for a few seconds until the perps helped, but then I got it.

GALLEYS for "Proofreaders proofs" is new to me. Looked it up. DNK.

Also DNK that RINGO's moniker was jewelry inspired.

NAURU - Thank you perps.

jfromvt said...

Got through this one mostly unscathed. But so many circles cluttered this up, detracted from the puzzle IMO.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-_AURU/_OM is not a “Y” - one bad cell
-A nice Sunday puzzle with Dear/DOWNTON Abbey my favorite fill
-GUILT TRIPS – An unfortunate component of a nursing home visit
-Many #METOO advocates would not be, uh, fans of UNPC FAN SERVICE or T-PAIN lyrics
-A very famous PATINA
-EAT CROW – Menu item for pollsters in 2016. That’s why I don’t give them credence now
-Neighbor’s daughter flies out of Christchurch today a month late after COVID-19 extended her stay
-My wife loves CUTIE navel oranges and so it took a while for OUTIE to fill _ U T I E
-A lovely 16-year old girl introduced me to TIK TOK. The fact that she did that surprised me when I saw the content. Times, they are a-changin’
-Lovely pix, Kazie!

Anonymous said...


78. Fancy cake feature: TIERS. This is a foul: The clue is singular; the answer, plural.

desper-otto said...

A singular cake may have multiple tiers. A feature of that cake is that it has tiers.

Hungry Mother said...

Was it mAURU or NAURU, mOM or NOM? Lots of heavy lifting in this puzzle to get to this Natick. I still have no idea what NOM is.

Yellowrocks said...

Fun, but challenging. I found this more difficult than yesterday's puzzle. I liked all the long, fresh fill. I had A LOT for 110 A but wondered why. AHA! SCORES = sets of 20.
I knew ANASAZI. I enjoy reading about the Native Americans.
TPAIN was all perps. I missed the C and the N in COIN unnecessarily because I confused philatelist with numismatist and kept looking for a rare stamp. Duh! I didn't know CAM or REN, so I didn't have the C or N in CoiN. 2 empty cells.
I wrote too large, so except for TURN DOWN, I couldn't see the circles to find the services.
I like heirloom tomatoes best. Last summer I complained to the garden center owner that modern tomatoes do not have that old fashioned taste. He said that is because people insist that the tomatoes look perfect. He said most tomatoes these days are bred for looks instead of taste. He recommended heirloom tomatoes. Much better taste. If I don't get my tomatoes planted by the second half of May, I will have none of my own.
I think of Kenya for coffee rather than tea.
We had church on Zoom. Finally I am getting used to it and enjoyed talking to my friends.

Hungry Mother said...

The slang term nom is used to convey the enjoyment of eating something tasty, or even just thinking about it. It's often seen in phrases like “nom nom” and “om nom nom”. There are variant spellings, such as “nyom” and “nyum”, but nom (give or take an om and some extra noms) has become the norm.Feb 2, 2011
www.macmillandictionaryblog.com › ...
Nom | Macmillan Dictionary Blog


IS A SLANG TERM A WORD?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

I once had a singular cake with 4 tiers. I'm sure CED can find one with many more.

Did the puzzle to help tolerate my confinement. Easy enough for a Sunday; particularly the long downs. Except for 2 ltrs in the SW, I got it all so I'm happy. Not much to add to others' comments.
OUTIE - I used to have one, but then my ventral hernia was repaired, so now I have an innie. Probably TMI but since we're on the subject ……….
MOËT - Odd French spelling with the dieresis over the 'E'. LIU'd and Moët was originally Dutch circa 1700.
GATO - Our favorite cheap red wine is GATO Negro from Chile.
HEAD - Marine toilet. In its original form, toilet facilities were found right forward in the bows, so that the smell would be blown downwind and away from the ship (since sailing ships could not lie directly into the wind when underway). The extreme fore part of a ship was known as the "beakhead," which may have been shortened to "head" over time.
HOF - Sorry Boomer. As the good Book says: "A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household."

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Thanks, H-KV & JZ for a challenging puzzle. Thanks, C.C. for an interesting commentary.

The theme was gettable and interesting, I thought, but took a lot of perps to get the long ones. I did find them all, but FAN SERVICE is not one I had known. Made me wonder whether I can get the AC tech out soon in the current crisis. For some reason my unit leaks out the refrigerant every winter and must be replaced the past three years.

Tried Palau before Nauru which I'd never heard of. Also tried Macau before Macao. NOM, not yuM. Still don't know what that is.

Anasazi was a gimmee since I've been to Mesa Verde several times and have always been fascinated by the place.

As usual, a lot of proper names I didn't know. Had a lot of white in the north after the first several passes. Ended up having to red-letter to fill NE & NW last. Couldn't come up with SLATS among other things. Duh! Been a while since I got down that far in my bed-making.

desper-otto said...

PK, good luck with the A/C Tech. Older systems require R22 (Freon) refrigerant. That stuff is $$$expensive$$$ -- system recharge can run several hundred bucks plus labor.

NaomiZ said...

FIR without much trouble. As others have said, experience in the desert Southwest made Anasazi easy. So much of the solving depends on personal experience! I used to think the sound of happy munching was "num num num," but along came YouTube with videos of hamsters going "nom nom nom." My daughter confirmed it. There's a right way to say it. That was over a decade ago, so I'd say it's well established.

PK said...

D-O: My a/c was new in 2006 which is post-Freon, I think. However, last spring it cost me $187. I tried to get the guy to go ahead and put in a new unit, but he didn't want me to have that expense. I'd prefer to pay more for a better unit and not to have the annoyance every spring, if possible.

Anonymous said...

Desper- I lived on the Navajo Reservation for two years. Been to Canyon de Chelly dozens of times. Next to Yosemite National Park, it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

By the way... I wish everyone had the heart and soul of the Navajos. The world would be a much better place.

Jerome

Yellowrocks said...

I had an old fashioned AC unit years ago before I moved here. One of the bolts that secured the fan snapped. A friend shimmed it up with a block of wood. When I called the AC tech he said I needed Freon. I said no I didn't, the unit was cooling fine. I just needed the fan fastened securely. The tech was very angry and told me not to tell an experienced tech what to do. I paid him for coming out and didn't get the Freon. The unit continued to cool well for years, shimmed up by a block of wood.
In those days women were thought to know nothing. Now I get respect from doctors, service people, car repair people, etc. My car service rep is a woman.

Steve said...

Thanks for the write-up, C.C.

The circles in my puzzle disappeared half-way down, but I had enough to go on to figure out the theme.

Regarding "fan service", I'm more familiar with the in-jokes, especially in animated movies, being called "easter eggs" as you have to hunt for them.

I'd never seen the MACAO spelling, so my birthing room Docs were "UBS", I just assumed it was a term I'd not seen before!


SwampCat said...

Jerome, I so agree! ANASAZI was a gimme for me too.

Lovely puzzle today with just the right amount of hard work needed for a Sunday. Thanks. all.

D-O and Spitzboov thanks for explaining that cake to our Anon friend. One cake can have many tiers (Doberge typically has seven). But it’s still just one cake. Sheesh...

It was fun to see GALLEYS. I haven’t seen one in real life in years.

Shankers said...

Got 're done without too much trouble. The few unknowns were easily filled with perps. A tad less difficult than yesterday I thought. The heat is on in Phoenix and so is the AC. After a most pleasant winter and spring we went from the first 90° to the first 100° in no time flat. Not to worry though. As I always remind my nuclear physicist brother, "You cannot shovel heat. It's a scientific fact."

Misty said...

Well, I got the northwest and northeast corners right at the start, and so was hopeful that I might actually get a Sunday puzzle. But 'twas not to be. Things got tougher in the middle, and then a bit better in the south. But still a lot of fun--many thanks, Hoang-Kim and Jessica.

One exciting moment came when I got the entire TURNS UPSIDE DOWN. This was helped by getting BLUE and CURATE, and ARP and MISSION and DART (couldn't imagine what would fly in a pub--oh, a DART). Also got ELECTRIC right away, thanks to HERS and ELIA, and LENSCAP. The VEHICLE took a bit longer, but was eventually helped by VIP and GELS. I was so sure that the "Fiddler" toast was going to be L'CHAIM, but couldn't remember how to spell it (thank you, TTP). But once I decided on EON, I had to go with TO LIFE.
In the end, my favorite clue was the 'Jewelry inspired pop nickname': RINGO popped right up.

And so it went, fun and interesting, and a pleasure to see your write-up in the end, C.C.

What a sweet picture of happy LEA, Kazie. Thanks for posting it, C.C.

Have a good Sunday, everybody.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Need some help from my smart Cornerite colleagues. We don't get the Sunday LAX puzzle just a two week old NYT CW. I was lucky to finish but don't understand one clue and answer.

Constant stress or heavy drinking. ans. AGER. It must be obvious because none of the websites even bother to explain.

I'm sure I will convert from a head scratch to a head slap.

Thanks.



waseeley said...

The Beatle's drummer was noted for wearing a lot of rings.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

OIC ...heavy drinking and constant stress causes "aging"...obvious ...head slap

Thanks

Sandyanon said...

D-O:

Thumbs up!

JD said...

Katie, such a sweet picture. My how she has grown up.

CrossEyedDave said...

You didn't know Ringo wore rings?
I guess you have never seen the Movie Help!

True, it was no Hard Days Night, too much tongue in cheek I think...

In the pursuit of Trivia:

The entire movie plot of Help was that a Beatle fan & virgin was
scheduled for a sacrifice in some far off Eastern country, but the
ritual required that she be painted red, and wear the sacrificial ruby ring...
Trying to avoid her death, she mailed the ring to Ringo, who wore it, but could not get it off...

The next 2 hours were pure chaos...

Oh, & for more trivia, here is a freebie...

Lucina said...

Hola!

Thank you, Hoang-Kim Vu and Jessica Zetzman! This puzzle was not difficult but took a long time. I got all but TALIA and GUILT. By that time it became tedious and I stopped. Otherwise there is A LOT of amusing fill.

ARIEL was one of my granddaughter's favorite films and she watched it several times a day. We've seen NAURU before but not for a long while.

Amazingly I knew CAMNEWTON from watching the news.

Yes, it was fortunate that we discussed TO LIFE was just a few days ago.

Those long downward phrases easily filled in once I had a few letters. In fourth grade it was required to teach the origins of our state and the ANASAZI featured largely in our ancient civilization.

I did not check on the circles so thank you, C.C. for showing us that and for your always insightful commentary.

Also thank you for posting that photo of Kazie's family. Lea looks lovely!

I hope you are all safe and healthy! Yes, we will likely reach our first 100 degrees
today. Yesterday the high was 99.

CrossEyedDave said...

Rainy day & 40 degrees,
(unlike Arizona...)
& I was looking for more clips from Help to show you,
& I came across something astonishing (to me...)

I must watch the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise again!

Did you know Paul McCartney was in it?

The actual Scene... (I missed it!) (Uncle Jack???)

& Keith Richards played his Dad?
(watch till the end for a close up of Mum...)

Wendybird said...

I was filled with dismay when I saw all the proper names. Then the sun came out as the intersecting words slowly solved all my problems. Very clever puzzle, even though I disagree with NOM. In my world, we say YUM. Loved Dear Abbey/DOWNTON.

I envy the folks buzzing around the harbor in their boats on this gorgeous day. We sold ours several years ago, but I’m ready to re-up!!

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Hoang-Kim Vu & Jessica Zetzman, for a fibne puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

Puzzle went through in fine fashion. Liked it. Got SECRET SERVICE right away. That helped with the circles. Even the long downs were pretty easy.

LENS CAP jumped out at me. I use a camera a lot. It has a LENS CAP. I still have the cap. However, it is a miracle. I have constantly dropped it, set it down and forgot it. Stuck it in a pocket and forgot it. My only saving grace is that when I put the camera up for the day or afternoon, I ALWAYS put the lens cap back on. ALWAYS. Yes, I have had to go find it a few times but I always have.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO caught my eye. I like to plant a vegetable garden. Last year a could not due to my health problems. This year I plan on it. I have 200 seedlings growing in my kitchen and dining room as we speak. Tomatoes (heirloom and hybrid), green peppers (heirloom and hybrid), eggplant. I am trying many more Heirloom seeds now. And I plan on saving some for next year. One big plus for heirloom is that the seeds produced will grow the same plant and fruit. Hybrid seeds saved will not. You will get a plant, but not the same. You may get fruit, but not the same. I am really high on heirloom seeds now.

67A SHAH caught my eye. Another SHAH was the leader of Afghanistan, until he saw what was coming, and abdicated to Italy, I think. Many years ago. Og if you go way back to the old testament Cyrus and Darius, as well as Xerxes were all Persian kings. Not sure what the exact title may have been back then. Maybe it was SHAH.

Anyhow, have to run.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Jayce said...

I once got into big trouble for talking about the quality of journalism and journalists. Apparently discussing journalism is the same as discussing politics and discussing journalists is the same as discussing politicians.

Anyway, the puzzle. I liked it but struggled more than usual to solve it. Looking back on it I appreciate the high level of skill and/or talent to have constructed it.

I think the LA Times crossword website is massively cluttered with junk, or maybe there is something wrong with it. Here's why I think so: As I work the puzzle my browser becomes more and more bogged down. Heavily bogged down. A quick look at the Windows Task Manager reveals that, this morning for example, my Edge browser was using 25% of the CPU power and had filled up 4,375 MB (that's 4.375 Gigabytes) of the computer's memory. That makes me think there's a bug in the code or else the many ads that are loaded and reloaded on that page are going NOM NOM NOM as they eat up resources.

Thanks to all for the pics and comments.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Jayce, I haven't noticed any performance degradation using Chrome at the LAT site. I often leave the site up all day, since that machine is about 10 years old and has been relegated to being my Office 2010 lab machine (I still teach that version occasionally) and hosting my trusty HP Laserjet 1300 printer. With the type of data transfer you are experiencing I would expect to see performance degradation in my home network, but I haven't noticed any.

Sorry to sound like a level 1 help desk tech, but have you tried rebooting your machine, checking to make sure your virus software has the latest updates, and making sure you have the virus software set to run every day with the most in-depth analysis setting?

Jayce said...

Jinx, yes I have done all the things you suggested in your second paragraph. As for the Edge vs Chrome browsers, I understand that Edge is, at its core, based on the Chrome engine. I might download and try Chrome or Opera I used to use Firefox but it jumped the shark and became a massive mess. Thanks for your reply.

CrossEyedDave said...

I use the LATimes website for the puzzle
when I am away from my ink on dead tree,
& I can tell you, Safari, or Chrome
the further into the puzzle you get,
the more bogged down it becomes.

On Sundays, it is not even worth trying,
as it is just too big. It seems like every word you add
is like adding a penny to a sinking paper boat...

They did recently improve the LA puzzle site,
then took a step backwards with the across/down clues
no longer being side by side & out of view if you have a keyboard
on the screen. But even with the improved version,
it always (& I mean ALWAYS) crashes towards the end but reloads
your 3/4 completed puzzle minus the setting changes...

Until Friday, when it came back with a stuck keyboard,
but that might have been my Ipad...

Michael said...

If I recall correctly -- subject to the usual quibbles -- "nom" originated with the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street long ago, repeated, as a sign that CM was devoutly turning cookies into crumbs.

Wilbur Charles said...

NOM??? I thought MOM was a happy eating word. Best cook ever. I forgot to recheck TALIA. A LOT can certainly be scores. And that Indian tribe crossed with Rappa… three boxes today.

Jinx, I feel for you as in I know you're sincere, but…. You're METOO post was blatantly political. Best of love anyway.

I actually finished about 11 am. And here it is 1015 pm.

WC


Bobbi said...

I only have time to do Fri,Sat,Sun Times puzzles in the papers. Wish I could do them on line but failing eyesight doesn't allow it. Therefore I put a lot of effort into those puzzles each week. Today's slog started at 3 p.m. and it's now ,7:15. Definite not a pleasure! Too many "themes" to cover made this entry and example again of making the words fit the themes rather than making the fill words match the defs (or vice versa). Never heard that "swipes left," meant "to reject! Where? WHEN? Looked up in three dictionaries to find "UNPC" --nada!! Where is it used? When? And remind me how the circledbletters. Fit into this jumbled mess! HUH???? Again, too many twists and turns for this veteran of the puzzle wars for MANY MANYi years. And please don't again suggest I seek out simpler puzzles. I dislike condecention as much as I hated this puzzle! But I got all but three entries today!!

Lemonade714 said...

Speaking of Star Wars and FAN SERVICE THIS LINK

Have a good week all

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk say....

How many times
must a man must link
Cookie Monster
for ones to think
Nom, Nom
not's just a coincidink...
//with apologies to Dylan

Spitz - So true that prophets get no respect at home. [Books - FFW @3:18 for Jesus]

YR & Abejo - The kids today... most won't know what a what a wild tomato tastes like if we threw it at them (and why would we do that - save it for us!!)
I've a few heirlooms but... Abejo - send me a seed or two next fall; I'll get fruit in May [it's gooda live in Houston].
For what it's worth - Eldest is stealing my San Marzano as they ripen - she's worse than the Cardinals!

Fan service - when I read this I was thinkin' of the swamp fans we had in Louisiana. They break & someone's gotta service 'em :-)

Media and politics, politics, politics... [more Brooks] - there's those trying to find truth and err and then those sycophants spinning it to fit the new narrative.
I've read Animal Farm.
Shiiiii [goly!]...
Shore got to be...
[see Jive translation]

C.C. - I LOL'd at 'Amazon is so slooooow...' knowing from where you came, welcome to 1st world problems. :-)

Boomer - Your fame is right down the Hall. And all of us Salute.

Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

The choice of CIVIL or CIVIC (15D) seems like a MIS SERVICE (60A)
otherwise a good puzzle.

NaomiZ said...

A day late, but hopefully useful. On dating apps, young people look at images of potential mates, and swipe right to make contact, or swipe left to reject the candidate. If what I've said is not politically correct, it's "un PC."