google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008 Allan E. Parish

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Feb 12, 2008

Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008 Allan E. Parish

Theme: Rhyming "ole"

21A: Royalty of rhyme: Old King Cole
37A: "One Soldier's Story" author" Bob Dole
55A: Star part: Leading Role

This puzzle is impossible, simply impossible for me. I feel so bloodied and battered. Never heard of those drugs: DEMEROL (23A: Morphine-like narcotic), NO DOZ (11D: Vivarin rival). Our local TV Stations keep playing Ambien sleeping pill ads.

This constructor did Feb 1, Friday's Robin William movie role puzzle, with the tricky Politico Perot (HROSS) clue.

The right lower corner is brutal, I am just not a football fan, never heard of WEEB (67A: Hall of Fame coach Ewbank), never heard of ESPN football analyst Merril (HOGE). Have no idea what was the word for 52A: Fastened, nautically (BELAYED).

Mythical crier (16A) NIOBE? "The Wayward Wind" singer Grant (GOGI, 6D)? Way too much for me.

My hats off to you if you complete this puzzle without googling.

Across Clues:

1A: Letters before www: HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

5A: Computer image file format: JPEG (digital image in a disk, short for Joint Photographic Experts Group.)

9A: Old lab burners: ETNAS. It's a gas burner in a lab. I always thoughts ETNA is the volcano in Sicily.

14A: MP's target: AWOL (Absent Without Leave). MP here refers to the Military Police.

16A: Rice-like pasta: ORZO

16A: Mythical crier: NIOBE. Greek mythology character. Here is who she is: "The daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion of Thebes. She provoked Apollo and Artemis to vengeance by taunting their mother, Leto, with the number and beauty of her own children; Niobe's children were slain and Zeus turned her into stone, in which state she continued to weep over her loss."

17A: 2002 AL Cy Young winner: ZITO (Barry). Gimme for me. He is not that good any more. right now, Johan Santana is the best.

18A: Uncommon blood type: B NEG

19A: Directory: INDEX

21A: Royalty of rhyme: OLD KING COLE. Celtic nursery rhyme. I never heard of it.

23A: Morphine-like narcotic: DEMEROL. Anna Nicole Smith would have filled this one easily. Oh, I just found out that Robert Kennedy's 4th son David actually died of this Demerol overdose in 1984.

25A: Thunderstruck: AMAZED

26A: Surveyor's map: PLAT. I thought of "PLOT".

27A: Backless sofa: DIVAN

29A: Turn bad: SPOIL

31A: Flow oh-so-slowly: OOZE.

32A: Rip off: SCAM

36A: D. C. Figure: POL.

37A: "One Soldier's Story" author: BOB DOLE. Gimme for a political junkie.

40A: Ms. Thurman: UMA

41A: Chopped down: AXED

43A: Part of FDA: FOOD. China executed its FDA head for bribes last year. Our ex-head of FDA joined a big lobbying firm. Who knows if he was corrupted or not?

44A: Shady spot: ARBOR

46A: __ Park, CO: ESTES

48A: Tot holder: CRIB

46A: Abrasion: SCRAPE

52A: Fastened, nautically: BELAYED, unknown to me.

55A: Star Part: LEADING ROLE

58A: Turn left!: HAW

59A: Milk dispenser?: UDDER

60A: Sheep output: WOOL

61A: ESPN football analyst Merril: HOGE. Sorry, sir, I never heard of your name. The only ESPN guy, or rather ex-ESPN guy I know is Keith Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown.

62A: Pine Tree State: MAINE

63A: Writer Ferber: EDNA

64A: French pronoun: ELLE

65A: Goads: PRODS

66A __-do-well: NEER

67A: Hall of Fame coach Ewbank: WEEB. Forgive my ignorance. He had an incredible career.

Down clues:

1D: Initiated fraternity pledges: HAZED.

2D: Packing cord: TWINE

3D: Indian post: TOTEM POLE

4D: Middle East org.: PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Just think of Arafat & Abbas.

5D: Merchandise unit: JOB LOT

6D: Gearshift letters: PRNDL (Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Low).

7D: O. T. bk: EZEK (EZEKIEL). Tricked into EZRA first.

8D: "The Wayward Wind" singer Grant: GOGI. She is still alive.

9D: Conumdrum: ENIGMA

10D: Destroyers, casually: TIN CANS. Navy slang term for destroyer.

11D: Vivarin rival: NO DOZ. I learned a few brands this morning: No Doz, Alert, Stay awake and Vivarin). Coffee is sufficient for me.

12D: White poplar: ABELE. I only knew Aspen.

13D: H. S. course: SEX ED

21D: Reach dental rival: ORAL B. Stared too long at this clue. I am using a Oral B toothbrush, yet I could not figure out what the heck is Reach competitor. My mind is fixed on Reach Floss.

22D: Type of Orange: NAVEL

27D: Bygone birds: DODOS

28D: Alligator shirt maker? IZOD. Izod Clothing.

30D: Chicken __: POX

31D: Hautboy: OBOE

33D: Storage spot: CUBBYHOLE

34D: Latin lesson word: AMO. To love. Amo, Amos.

39D: Singer Steve: EARLE. Here is more detailed information about him.

42D: Cul-de-sac: DEAD END

45D: Small inlet: RIA

47D: Steeple toppers: SPIRES

48D: Basement: CELLAR

49D: Losing streak: SLUMP. I can not wait for the baseball season to start. I truly enjoy seeing Torii Hunter in a slump.

50D: Fragrant wood: CEDAR

51D: Brit's wireless: RADIO. (Update: British call radio wireless, they call TV telly. )

52D" "Have Gun Will Travel" star": BOONE (Richard). Too old a TV star for me. If it's clued as baseball family name, I would have nailed it. Bret Boone was with the Twins for less than 3 weeks in 2005, and he was awful.

53D: Philly gridder: EAGLE

54D: Nerd: DWEEB

56D: Singer Stefani: GWEN. She has a style. No Doubt about it.

61D: Cut with an ax: HEW

OK, now I need my breakfast, and lick my wounds.

C. C.

27 comments:

  1. Re: your comment about "Brit's wireless" - many in England still call radios that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anonymous at 6:54,

    Thanks for the help. My brain did not think straight this morning.

    I filled in "RADIO" for "Brit's Wireless" quickly, but somehow when I typed in the answers for the blog, I kept reading the clue as "Brit's radio", and I was so baffled.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What's life without a challenge, Bud. Don't let yourself get belayed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 7 down was O. T. on 2/8/2008 xword puzzle, so I generally think of an abbreviated answer. Ezra is a full name and I thought right: EZEK. An abbreviated question generally requires an abbreviated answer and I'm not trying to be "dweeb". He, he...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous at 10:51am,

    I was simply not prepared for a tough war on Tuesday. I had expected Aloe, Olio, Eerie and a few conquerable enemies, but was overwhelmed by the mythical crier and her cohorts.

    Complained to my husband after he woke up, did not get much sympathy. Weed, Gogi & Hoge were gimmes to him.

    Lots to learn.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Flyinggears,

    You are so right. Next time I won't make this mistake again. This is a self inflicted wound.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  7. WOW, just 'found' you this morning when I typed in "Mythical Crier" NIOBE?! I can usually do the daily crosswords where I don't have to look up much especially on a Tuesday. Boy do I have a lot to learn! Thanks for being here!

    ~from Seattle, WA where the sun is finally shining and it feels warm this morning! Exciting!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, One more thing...

    58A. Turn left? HAW? Can anyone explain this to me? This is the second time I've seen this on a crossword puzzle in the last week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alohaspirit,

    Lots of solvers came here for the stumper Niobe today.

    Enjoy your sunny day.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those are interjections when you order a horse to turn left (HAW) or right (Gee).

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  11. are you here everyday??? wow, this is easier than what I normally do when I get stumped!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sailing ships had belaying pins to fasten the ropes to. Pull the pin out of the hole and the ropes and sails were freed.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Alohaspirit.
    Terms from driving horse teams. HEE is turn right, HAW is turn left.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the explanations on "belaying pin" and "haw/gee", anonymous at 1:27pm & 1:29pm.

    Shadeofgrey, I have been blogging here since Jan 21, pls come here often. I feel so comforted that many readers offer help to me, and I am happy that I can be of help to others.

    It's fun.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  15. When I was a boy on the farm, my Grandpa guided his horses with

    Gee "go right"

    Haw "go left"

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for all your help today! This is fun! I agree that today's puzzle was exactly that....very puzzling!Especially so early in the week.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you! Great help, I couldn't get upper right corner. Re: 21A
    Old King Cole was a merry old soul and a merry old soul was he. He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl and he called for his fiddlers three.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oy, dazed and confused on this one today. Nice work.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like reading your comments, very educating. I appreciate that you guys take the time to comment here.

    C.C.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Brit's wireless? I thought of Mobile Phone.

    OLD KING COLE

    Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he;
    He called for his pipe in the middle of the night
    And he called for his fiddlers three.
    Every fiddler had a fine fiddle, and a very fine fiddle had he;
    Oh there's none so rare as can compare
    With King Cole and his fiddlers three.

    http://www.rhymes.org.uk/old_king_cole.htm

    ReplyDelete
  21. Happy Birthday Abe! Great job, is there a prize for the 10,000th visitor? Your clue about H.S. subject being SEX ED is the kind the crawler on Google ads finds to give you the undesirables.

    Old King Cole was a Merry old soul and a merry old soul was he.
    He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl, and he called for his shapetails three:
    Oh don't be late for the dance said the shapetails,
    HUP TWO! said the sergeants
    We want a ten day pass said the corporals,
    Beer, Beer, Beer, said the privates, happy men are we. There's none so fair as can compare with the fighting infantry.

    Fort Campbell, KY 1968

    ReplyDelete
  22. The theme was rhyming, "-ole". "Old King Cole", "Bob Dole, "Leading Role".

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous at 11:35pm,

    I really did not spot theme. I've amended my original post. Thank you.

    The 21A should give me a hint I suppose.

    CC

    ReplyDelete
  24. Antiwar Democrat,

    My old boss is British. He never called his mobile phone wireless. But wireless is indeed a cell phone.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi!

    Found you from googling clues today also! I am also a huge fan of rex parker!

    Just wanted to say, I am british and I have never once called my radio a wireless... very old fashioned term!

    I found today's tough too!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for stopping by little lj.

    When I grow up, I want to be just like Rex, or Orange... except I am already a big grown-up.

    C.C.

    ReplyDelete
  27. interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter.

    ReplyDelete

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