google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, March 21, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

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Mar 21, 2008

Friday, March 21, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: EATHER (I am sorry for the mistake earlier. I did not know that the phrase I put earlier was a slang).

17A: Prop for Al Roker: WEATHER MAP

29A: Recliner perhaps: LEATHER CHAIR

43A: Tommy Roe hit: HEATHER HONEY

59A: Stripper's accessory: FEATHER BOA

Wow, only one letter (Q) away from being a Pangrammatic Grid (Have all the 26 letters at least once).

Yesterday I was Barbaro at the Preakness, shattered my momentum a few blanks from the starting gate. This morning, I was Smarty Jones at the Belmont Stakes. I came, I saw, and I almost conquered the whole field.

I had a crush on NETANYAHU several years ago, so I penned in his name authoritatively. ENYA, AOKI, Shania TWAIN, BORK, BONAPARTE are all gimmes. Thus, the whole grid was opened up to me, and I was able to infer quite a few unknowns.

I spent about 35 minutes on this puzzle, including several short google visits and dictionary checking.

Here we go:

1A: Pipe down! HUSH

5A: Ghana's capital: ACCRA. Ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is from Ghana. Got the wrong idea that Mali musician Ali Farka was born in ACCRA. Wrong.

10A: 21st-century MS product: XBOX

14A: City on the Aker River: OSLO. Is Aker river the same as Akerselva river?

15A: Rights org.: NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

16A: Actor Calhoun: RORY. Did not know him. Got his name from down clues.

19A: 1998 animated movie: ANTZ. Celebrity voice-studded (Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, etc.) animation film. From DreamWorks.

20A: Tanning device: SUN LAMPS

21A: Celtic New Age Singer: ENYA. This is my favorite picture of Enya. Beautiful!

25A: Flap lips: GAB. Ben Allfleck, so gifted at gab. never ceases to overawe me with his nuanced take on American politics. He is going to run for the Senate seat in MA, someday, trust me!

26A: Low mil. letters: PFC (Private First Class)

32A: Actor Sal: MINEO. Enough said about him.

35A: Extra NHL periods: OTS (Overtimes)

36A: Kathryn of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent": ERBE. Have never watched any Law & Order spinoff, so I had no idea who she was.

38A: Dickens moniker: BOZ. Vaguely remember it.

39A: Bill of Microsoft: GATES. He probably bribed the constructor to put his XBOX in this puzzle.

40A: Parks oneself: SITS. Wow, I've never parked myself this way.

41A: __ cit.: LOC. What is this?? (Update: Answer from drdad: "I googled the meaning of loc. cit. and it is used like "ibid." as a footnote. The difference is that ibid. refers to the same book reference while loc. cit. refers to the same book and page reference.)

42A: In plain sight: OVERT

48A: Put to: ASK. The dictionary says that "Put to" means "to overburden with work, blame; or take advantage of, cheat". How is it related to ASK?

50A: False face: ACT

55A: Money on the move?: CASH FLOW. I like this clue.

57A: Comet rivel: AJAX. Or Trojan hero.

61A: Eyelid makeup: KOHL. Never knew this. The only Kohl I know is German's Helmut Kohl.

63A: Isao of golf: AOKI. He was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, together with Tom Kite. I do not remember ever seeing AOKI in PGA or Senior PGA tour.

64A: Flu-like feeling: AGUE

66A: Fed. agents: GMEN. Sometimes it's TMEN (Treasury investigator, like Eliot Ness)

Down entries:

1D: Tell me the reason: HOW SO. Hope you guys are not tired of my HOW SO questions.

3D: Particular bias: SLANT. Bias, whether real or imagined, hurts!

4D: Lear sitcom, "___ Baltimore": HOT L. Nope, never heard of it. Here is Dennis' explanation "Hot L Baltimore was a short-lived TV show; opening frames showed a neon sign with the "e" in Hotel burned out, hence the name."

5D: Blood disorder: ANEMIA. Months of bleak economic growth anemia ahead! I am just so worried about this stupid recession that I don't care whether Hillary was in the White House when Bill and Monica trysted. I have absolutely no interest to peek at those newly released paper.

11D: Napoleons' last name: BONAPARTE

13D: Alphabet trio: XYZ. I can not think of a way to clue Exam Your Zipper, can you?

25D: Stan of Jazz: GETZ. He is another crossword stalwart.

27D: Tissue makeup: FIBER

32D: Dayan or Arens: MOSHE. Knew neither of them. Got it from across clues.

34D: Benjamin of Israel: NETANYAHU. Bibi. He graduated from MIT. He is now the Likud leader. He was/still is adamantly against the Gaza Disengagement Plan. He was so eloquent and persuasive that I bought almost all the ideas he was peddling in 2005.

38D: Supreme Court also-run: BORK (Robert). I really like the verbalized usage of bork. Mark Penn is an expert at borking, and barking.

39D: "Faust" poet: GOETHE

41D: Healthful-food claim: LESS FAT. Nothing tastes as good as full fat. So, eat full fat, just eat less.

45D: Spoke grandly: ORATED. Oh the Reagan oratory charm! My favorite: "We will never forget them in this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God?" (Challenger Disaster speech)

46D: Snacks: NOSHES

50D: "Tuesday with Morrie" writer : ALBOM (Mitch). Unfamiliar to me. Have never heard of the author nor the book/TV.

51D: TV host Alistair: COOKE. No, not a familiar name. Interesting, Wikipedia said that he was only yards away when RFK was assassinated.

52D: Singer Shania: TWAIN. "Man, I feel like a woman!" I actually hate this song.

54D: Hod-rod rod: AXLE. Typo here. Should be Hot-rod rod.

55D: Wag: CARD. According to Dennis, "'card' and 'wag' are rather archaic terms used to describe a jokester.

56D: Kill with a grenade: FRAG

57D: Rap-sheet letters: AKA.

58D: Training run: JOG

I choked on a piece of grape skin earlier this morning while reading yesterday's new comments. Pricelessly entertaining! Oh, by the way, here is what Orange told me about her method in tackling a crossword:

"My own strategy varies depending on the puzzle's difficulty. An easy puzzle, I'll start at 1-A and wind through the grid without stopping. A Saturday NYT, I may be reading a lot of clues, desperately searching for a route into the puzzle (and then trying to build off the entries I've put in the grid by tackling the crossings)."

C.C.

42 comments:

Dennis said...

This one went smoothly for me also, although I had to get 'kohl' from the down clues.
Loc. cit. is a common footnoote abbreviation; google it for the full (lengthy) definition.
Hotl Baltimore was a short-lived tv show; opening frames showed a neon sign with the "e" in Hotel burned out, hence the name.
"Put to" I always associate with "pose" in terms of asking a question.
Hope this helps; have an outstanding day.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Good morning Dennis,

Thanks for the Hot L explanation. I thought "L" was a code name for some girl/guy. You know, HOT L in Baltimore, it just sounds so appealing to me.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

One more question Dennis,

Have you ever heard of the Napoleon Dessert?

Katherine said...

Good morning everyone. I don't have a lot of time in the mornings to do the puzzle, but I got most of this one. I didn't know how to spell Netanyahu. Never heard of Kohl for eyelid makeup. Never heard of card for "wag". I didn't know Dickens moniker was Boz. Have a good day.

Dennis said...

Yes, a great dessert. It's a puff pastry dessert with typically a vanilla cream filling. I've seen it in several different interpretations, but they're all great.
We should create an all-dessert crossword, but I'm afraid my drool would ruin the page.

Katherine said...

CC, I meant to tell you Alistair Cooke used to be host to the PBS show Masterpiece Theater. It was great. A lot of British and "time" pieces.

Dick said...

Good morning and a good puzzle. Took about 18 minutes but caused some of my own problems. Colgate rival got me as I was off to the Ivy League schools but didn't know any that started with T or C. Did not like 56D clue or answer and 25A made me struggle between PFC and PVT. Otherwise I liked todays test.

Dr. Dad said...

Not a bad crossword today. That "loc. cit." threw me for a while until I got Bork. I googled the meaning of loc. cit. and it is used like "ibid." as a footnote. The difference is that ibid. refers to the same book reference while loc. cit. refers to the same book and page reference.

I think Hod Rod is a typo and should be Hot Rod.

Moshe Dayan was Israel's Minister of Defense under Golda Meir and was sort of famous for the patch he wore over his left eye.

Dr. Dad said...

By the way - Happy Easter to all.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Katherine,

Was it kind of the same as current PBS Masterpiece (Jane Austin,etc)?

Dennis,

Why don't you take some initiative and construct one? I will be happy to solve.

Dick,

FRAG is used very frequently in the Iraq/Afhanistan War related news.

Just google: "Was Pat Tillman fragged?", and see what will come up.

AOKI should make you happy, no?

Drdad,

That's what I thought also. But when I googled HOD ROD earlier, there were over 121,000 hits. That's why I was confused, so I posed a question in the blog.

Anonymous said...

I agree w/Dick that 56D clue and answer were in bad taste, and w/Katherine on all her points. Can anyone explain how card and wag are associated? Thank you, Dennis, for the Hot l Baltimore explanation. I was thinking it was a brothel derivation. Guess I haven't gotten over the "crowning stone" yet. Have a good day and a very Happy Easter.

Dennis said...

When I was in VietNam, 'fragging' was a term used to denote killing a superior - I heard of small units that killed, say, their squad leader if they perceived he was constantly doing something stupid that set them up for ambush, etc.
Not at all common, but it happened.

Dennis said...

Lois, 'card' and 'wag' are rather archaic terms used to describe a jokester.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

When I saw HOT L Baltimore, I was really thinking of Danial Craig (the current Bond) or Paris Hilton style HOT.

I was not aware of the slangy meaning of HOT until I read Lois' comment.

Dennis,

I've updated the blog re CARD & WAG, thank you.

Also, I don't understand what's the fuss about FRAG here. FRAG means killing somebody with a grenade, why bad taste?

Anonymous said...

Kathryn Erbe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Erbe


Career:

While an undergraduate student at NYU, Erbe was cast as Lynn Redgrave's daughter on the sitcom Chicken Soup. Following the series, she became a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and has starred in many of their productions, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Curse of the Starving Class, My Thing of Love, and The Grapes of Wrath, which ran for six months and won the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play. Erbe earned a Tony Award nomination in 1991 for her portrayal of Mary in Speed of Darkness by Steve Tesich. She has also performed in many world premiere productions by playwrights such as Tom Donaghy and Alex Gersten.

Erbe has starred in many films, including What About Bob?, Stir of Echoes and the independent films Dream with the Fishes, Love from Ground Zero and Entropy. Erbe also portrayed Shirley Bellinger on the HBO series Oz to wide critical acclaim, including an episode featuring her full frontal nudity. She has also made a guest appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1997.

Filmography:

Speaking of Sex (2001)
Law & Order: CI (2001 - )
The Runaway (2000)
Stir of Echoes (1999) (with Kevin Bacon)
Entropy (film) (1999)
Oz (1997)
Love From Ground Zero (1998)
Naked City: Justice with a Bullet
(1998)
George Wallace (1997)
Dream with the Fishes (1997)
The Addiction (1995)
Kiss of Death (1995)
D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
Breathing Lessons (1994)
Rich in Love (1993)
What About Bob? (1991)
Runaway Dreams (1989)
Chicken Soup (1989)

NYTAnonimo said...

Kohl is "A cosmetic preparation, such as powdered antimony sulfide, used especially in the Middle East to darken the rims of the eyelids." from answers.com. Did you know that if you google a word you will see the word "definition" show up highlighted on the right hand side. You just have to click on definition and "voila"-there it is. Try it if you aren't already familiar with it. It is a great tool. Cannot help on the "hod rod rod" question. My eyes play such tricks on me I didn't even notice it was a "T" instead of a "D" it until you pointed it out. Liked this drawing of the HOT L BALTIMORE. Didn't know Kathryn ERBE but got it from the down clues. Mitch Albom's books are nice easy reads-you might want to check them out c.c.. I did not know loc. cit. either. Hope you all have a good Easter too.

Dick said...

CC I guess with frag it was more of an ego thing that I did not know this word therefore I did not like it because it seemed so simple. After Dennis wrote about killing your leader I remembered hearing the word used in that context.

Anonymous said...

This one went pretty well. I finished it, but not as quickly as some others. I got a little stuck on the top right and the middle left. Once I figured out "XRAY", the top corner came together.

I saw the theme of "EATHER" pretty quickly, but it never occurred to me that it was "EAT HER." I wish they published the theme in our paper.

Anonymous said...

The first long word contains weather, the others rhyme with weather. As I look outside upon the first day of Spring, I see 2-8 inches of snow falling on my lawn. I watch CNN and see film of homes flooding in Ohio, Missouri, and other parts of the the midwest. So whether your weather is good or bad, it will not be a factor in whether or not you solve this puzzle.
boomer

Anonymous said...

Good morning all (a little late)

Not to terrible today, I was happy to see there were no roman numerals for me to contend with!

"Tuesdays with Morrie" was a good read, CC, and a short one as well. I'd recommend the book . . . not the movie.

Have a great day and Happy Easter!

Stellita said...

All went OK except I didn't know ERBE and for some reason I couldn't get FIBER even though I had everything except the B. I even ran through the entire alphabet twice and still didn't get it! Got the theme early enough to change EATUP to USEUP based on the E as the common letter between WEATHERMAP and USEUP. Never heard of HEATHERHONEY but inferred it from the theme and the other clues. All in all a satisfying puzzle. Also I got CASH^^OW and couldn't get CASHCOW out of my mind. Had a block there until I finally got FRAG.

BTW, does anyone else ever experience this: if I'm stuck I usually can leave the puzzle (go work on a Sudoku or Jumble) and then come back and quickly solve the crossword. Somehow working on something else frees up my brain.

CC: Netanyahu and not Moshe Dyan? He was a colorful figure in Israeli history with his eye patch and take no prisoners attitude.

MH said...

oops - using my daughters computer and left my comment as "Alison" instead of MH.

nana said...

You really should read the book. My children got me this computer, after I had a stroke a year and a half ago. I do not even type, but I have been everywhere on it ,seen and read so much. I thank God for Bill Gates and now all of you. I help my husband when he needs help with his crossword puzzel. When I found your site I was overjoyed. I come to it when I can not find an answer, and I so enjoy all your comments...You bring sunshine and a smile to my heart quite often.. May you all have a great day, and a beautiful Easter as I ask God to bless you with the blessings you need most. love, nana

jimhllrn said...

Interesting piece of work. I had no idea who TOMMY ROE was,or what KOHL was. When I saw 'PUT TO I immediately thought of ASK. Don't ask me why, but in the past 30 years of doing these things, I have found that often the first word that comes to mind when I read a clue turns out to be the correct one, e.g. When I read EDIBLE TUBER today, the first word that came to me was YAMS; not PEAS as it usually would have.

Katherine said...

CC. yes it is on the order of Jane Austin, Upstairs, Downstairs, etc.

Dennis said...

Nana - my compliments on overcoming your adversity & having such a positive attitude. And you're right - this blog has been just a wonderful addition -- it's so nice to share your trials & conquests with others on here. C.C.'s the best.

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone for starting my morning off on a good note. It's nice to go to a page and not see people griping and being mean!
Happy Easter!

I really think Hod Rod rod was a typo.

Anonymous said...

Just found your blog, and I'm looking forward to keeping up with it.

Re: 48A. I thought of it as "put to the question" as in "we put him to the question". Archaic, and redolent of thumbscrews, but that's what popped to mind.

MH said...

Hod Rod was definitely a typo. I've seen this clue before and I got it immediately (in fact I didn't know it was a typo until I read the blog and checked my paper). However, being a hot rodder myself, no one in hot rodding would ever refer to an axle as a "rod". In fact, in the hot rod world a "rod" is a connecting rod which is the part of the engine that connects the piston to the crankshaft (I know, too much information). I find that, in general, crossword puzzle authors are not good at using slang that is associated with a specific field which leaves you at a disadvantage if you happen to be an expert in that field.

Anonymous said...

What did you get for 47A and/or 33D? Where they intersect is my only blank box! You guys are good! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

glad to see everyone is in a good mood today (except me) I pretty much blew the puzzle today I got about 50 percent without help the rest was awfull 55 across completly threw me had about two hours invested oh well take care everyone (even that evil allan parrish) lol the whoo

Anonymous said...

hey anonomous 47 a is ern short for erne me thinks 33 d is icier
yep struggled there too t/c the whoo

Dennis said...

anonymous @1:33 - ern/icier

Anonymous said...

I always associate kohl eyeliner with the heavy eye makeup (ostensibly) worn by Cleopatra.

Anonymous said...

Thank you both for the help with ern/icier. My first thought was "R", for erne but I didn't think they were looking for an abbreviation. Thanks again!

Little Lj said...

Fairly easy today no? Compared to yesterday anyway!

I'm surprised to see so many people stumbled over KOHL. I've been using kohl eyeliner everyday since I was about 15 so that was a gimme for me!

Got the theme early which helped!

Nana, I loved your comment, isn't the internet a wonderful thing? I moved to the USA from Britain six months ago, and if I didn't have the internet to keep in touch with my friends and family I don't think I could have done it!

Happy Easter everyone!

x

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Dennis,

谢谢你! No English words can express how grateful I am for your generous help and support. Thank you so much for being here for us.

Anonymous at 8:26am,

A link to Kathryn Erbe Wikipedia is enough. You do not need to paste all those information. It takes too much space.

Ellie,

I made a mistake on the theme. Sorry. To my knowledge, no TMS or NY Times syndication Paper titles their theme from Monday to Saturday.

MH/Alison,

I have to solve the puzzle in one sitting. But this could be a good poll question in the future. I agree with your take on the hot rod clue also.

Attitude aside, Dayan is not my type. Only Alon Pinkus & Netanyahu!

Nana,

I am so moved by your message. Thank you.

And everybody else, thanks for leaving a comment. I am sure that my ignorance will continue bubbling up from time to time. Please bear with me. I am making the mistakes now so that I won't make them again in the future.

Anonymous said...

With all due respect to all that you've never heard of, but how is it possible you have never heard of Tuesdays with Morrie. Either you are scamming us, or you really must read more or go out more often.

Dennis said...

anonymous @9:11 - From the safety of your anonymity, you're judging someone you know nothing about? Someone who comes here from another country is supposed to know everything about our culture, books, slang, etc? What's the difference anyway?

Unknown said...

I remember the "Hot L Baltimore" open - I also seem to remember it was dreadful.

Unknown said...

Greetings all,

With regard to 48A, I have also heard "Put to" used in the area of sporting contests, especially in boxing or wrestling matches, as in "He really put it to his opponent."

This puzzle fell neatly into place except for one space, at the intersection of 36A: Kathryn of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and 27D: Tissue makeup." I didn't know "Erbe" and "Tissue Makep" did not register with me as "What is a tissue made of?" I thought it referred to some sort of makeup that a woman or an actor/actress might wear, and then, of course, I was completely at sea (to borrow a familiar crossword phrase), and could not right the ship.

Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara would say: "Tomorrow is another day." I hope you all have a fine Easter weekend.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Anonymous @9:11am,

I've replied to you at today (March 22 Saturday)'s puzzle, look at 3D.

Dennis, thanks.

William,

You were not alone in your reasoning of the Tissue makeup clue.