google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 Philip J. Anderson

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Mar 5, 2008

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 Philip J. Anderson

Theme: All About Eve (Update: Forget about what I wrote about the Rapper Eve. I made a mistake in connecting the dots.)

17A: Eve's address on her rap sheet: The Garden of Eden

35A: Notation on Eve's rap sheet: First Offender

52A: 17A, on Eve's rap sheet: Scene of the Crime

I nearly aced this one. Made 2 mistakes only. I filled in DETERS (rather than DEFERS) for 23A: Postpones, and I put TAROS rather than TOROS for 41A: Some lawnmowers. So my 25D Feudal lord's domain became TIEFDAM (rather than FIEFDOM). OK, that's 3 mistakes, but technically only 2 wrong fills.

I am not a fan of Rap Music, too gangster/angst driven. My realm of RAP knowledge is limited to Dr. Dre, Ice T, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Eve, and the phrase they coined "Bling Bling".

Eve, the so-called Gangster Goddess, made news early last year when she was ordered to wear an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet after her DUI. And she (and Lindsey Lohan) made the bracelet monitor a fashion necessity for the summer of 2007.

Terry Gross of Fresh Air had an interesting interview with Rapper Ice Cube last year. I was amazed by the tough life he went through. All those rappers seem to have a very hard childhood.

OK, here are the Across Entries

4A: Unbroken: SOLID. Don't like the clue. Unbroken means "whole" or "intact" to me.

9A: Aromatic Wood: CEDAR

15A: Eccentric: OUTRÉ. Hmm, that's Kim Jong Il of North Korea. He carded 34 on his first round of golf.

16A: Pain pill brand: ALEVE. Or Tylenol. Or tough it out.

20A: Paramount: MAJOR

21A: Fountain of Rome: TREVI. It's located at a junction of 3 roads (Tre Vie).

22A: Art sch. course: ANAT (Anatomy)

23A: Postpones: DEFERS

26A: OSS successor: CIA. OSS is Office of Strategic Services (WWII intelligence Agency).

29A: Napoleon's marshal: NEY (Michel). Got his name from down clue.

30A: Fanatical: RABID

31A: Indonesian island: BALI. Sometimes it's Java.

32A: Literary category: GENRE. For your information, there is a publication called GENRE magazine.

33A: Hang around: LOITER

38A: Lavishly showy: ORNATE

39A: Knight's wives: DAMES

40A: Noblewoman: LADY

41A: Some lawnmowers: TOROS. I shouldn't have botched this one. I used to have a Toro Promotional bobblehead.

42A: Bell and Barker: MAS. I knew Ma Bell and Baby Bells, never heard of Ma Barker.

45A: Indigo or woad: DYE. Both are blue dyes. By the way, the rock band Indigo Girls duo are Crosswords fans.

46A: Bizet opera: CARMEN. I lucked out on this one. Got it from down clues. I know nothing about opera.

51A: Eagle's nest: AERIE

48A: Welsh dog: CORGI. Cute.

58A: More inadequate: LAMER. Lamer, Solider, I don't know, you tell me.

61A: Parisian school: ECOLE. Its student is Eleve.

Down entries:

1D: Robin's partner: BATMAN. Who still has their original Batman lunch box (1966)?

2D: Constituent of natural gas: ETHANE

3D: Record player?: DEEJAY

5D: James Coburn movie, "___ Man Flint": OUR. I dodged the bullet once again. Never saw this movie.

8D: Pockmarked: DENTED

10D: Hgt.: ELEV (Elevation). Hgt stands for Height.

11D: Name an inspiration: DEDICATE

12D: Old Roman greeting: AVE. Ave Caesar!

13D: Stimpy's pal: REN. The Ren and Stimpy Show.

19D: Hockey defensive great: ORR. Boy, who paid over $100,000 for his nude picture?

23D: "Divine Comedy" poet: DANTE

24D: Spanish river: EBRO. If it's three letter, then it's RIO.

25D: Feudal lord's domain: FIEFDOM. Tough for me to pronounce this word.

27D: Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER. He is "A. J. Soprano". He seems to be a very troubled actor.

28D: Melodic tune: AIR

32D: Go-with-anything color: GRAY. Also Botanist Asa.

35D: Ravel: FRAY

36D: "___ Proposal": INDECENT. Demi Moore and Robert Redford movie. The plot is very similar to Nicolas Cage/Sarah Jessica Parker's Honeymoon in Vegas. Don't you think so?

37D: Cabby's customer: FARE

41D: Triviality: TRIFLE

42D: Docking facility: MARINA

44D: Precipitous slopes: STEEPS. Never knew "Steep" can be a noun.

46D: Salad green: CRESS. I never put cress in my salad. But I also never put garlic in my pesto, and I never eat cheddar cheese with apple pie.

50D: SSS classification: ONE A. It's the only SSS (Selective Serve System) classification I know.

51D: Lot of land: ACRE

54D: Tic-toe tie: TAC

55D: Med. grp: HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)

56D: Lamprey or moray: EEL. The worst offender.

So, Hillary won both Ohio & Texas, Brett Favre decided to retire, all too shocking for me. I need to rewind and chill out. And Learn my American Anthem.

C. C.

18 comments:

  1. C.C. - you're right, "solid" is really weak for "unbroken".
    Also, you'll see "fourF" used as an "SSS classification" occasionally; it means unfit for service.
    Easier than yesterday, confirming your belief that these don't get harder during the week.
    You should google "Ma & Pa Barker" sometime - quite the team.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lamer . . . solider - I think the creators were struggling.

    I think I finished today's in record time. Lucked out with 15A as I had no idea, but got it from the down clues. Also thought 23A was DETERS.

    Possible that CIA (26A), LTD (6D)and ORR (19D)are repeat offenders? And seriously, how many different clues will the creators come up with for EEL? ;o)

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dennis and Mkatesq,

    This theme is about the Rapper Eve, not the Biblical Eve, right?

    I saw rap sheet, then I automatically connected it with the rapper.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I suspect that the theme is more related to the Biblical Eve. The obvious is 17A - her address. Given that she ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which she was instructed NOT to do, she was the first offender (35A) - the cause of "Original Sin". She and Adam were cast out of the Garden of Eden and part of the consequence to Eve and women to follow was to bear children in pain.

    Sorry to be so verbose . . .

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mkatesq,

    My bad. I did not really understand the meaning of "Rap Sheet". I took it as Rapper's Sheet.

    So my brain was filled with the picture of the Rapper Eve being arrested at the crime scene for the car accident.

    Ignorance once again prevails.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Never heard of "Rapper Eve". I hope I don't ever have to "hear" her either. LOL I aced this one today. It's nice to get them all once in a while. Till tomorrow..........

    ReplyDelete
  7. Katherine,

    You, Dennis and mkatesq (congrats on your record) all aced this one. I almost did, though I made a serious mistake in drawing the wrong theme. Wednesday has to be the easiest.

    Mkatesq, I think eel is the worst of the bunch, 4 times since Jan 21.
    I've yet to see it clued as Conger, or Slippery as __, or Unagi. The smell of Japanese grilled eel( Kabayaki) is intoxicating.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  8. checking in late (hey, west coast time). I also aced it in record time. agree on lamer & solider. Never heard of rapper Eve so I assumed biblical. On 52A I was able to fill in "Scene of the crime" when all I had was the first two letters and the clue - oops, just dislocated my shoulder trying to pat myself on the back.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I giggle every once in awhile-- you have to be a lot younger than I (74) because some of the answers "go back away"....."Ma Barker" for instance!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This one was definitely the easiest of the week so far. Does the Star Tribune announce the theme? We don't get it in The Oregonian. We do have the NYT as the other puzzle, always hidden somewhere in the classifieds, LOL! Have you TRIED cheddar cheese on your apple pie?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Two other SSS classifications are: Two S for student & Two A for employment(such as teaching)I was both.

    Also I used to work for the OSS(Office of Special Services a division of the Phila School District)I used to kid them and asked when we were changing our initials to the CIA. They never got it...

    ReplyDelete
  12. This puzzle appears in our Reading PA paper which is pretty sorry compared to the Phila Inquirer. Front page story is usually current marble champion and the election is on page 7 .. oh wait the paper only goes to 6 There is usually no theme listed for the puzzle and it is always edited by Wayne Robert Williams. The paper has a second smaller puzzle by NEA INC which has many of the same words as the Tribune one.

    ReplyDelete
  13. mh,

    That's a feat to pull off with only 2 letters. Good job!

    Anonymous at 11:03pm

    I googled Ma & Pa Barker after Dennis suggested earlier in the morning. Could hear your giggle.

    Crockett1947,

    The cheddar cheese & apple pie... not yet. If I see them both in one puzzle someday, then I will try.

    As for the theme, no, it's not written in any paper. As a rule, only Sunday puzzles are titled.

    Anonymous at 2:07pm,

    Thanks for the SSS information. I like your OSS-CIA story. They probably did not do crosswords.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous at 2:17pm,

    I sent an email to Williams regarding our Crossword Pattern Poll, never got any reply. He probably junked my mail. This guy probably edits 10 puzzles every day.

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  15. i though the colour grey was spelt with an E...not an A.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey, everyone! Happy Wednesday!

    I agree with all who have remarked so far about:

    4A. SOLID
    58A. LAMER
    44D. STEEPS

    Questionable usage at best.

    Thought it was a cute theme, but not much else of note. Very easy puzzle today.

    Hopefully, more difficult tomorrow.

    SJ

    P.S. Heard the Twin Cities had some snow last night or today. I'm roasting at 67 degrees in the mid-Atlantic. Brought the wrong clothes. Time to go shopping? :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous at 7:00pm,

    I think both are right.

    The same color, but it's gray in America, and grey in Britain.

    Sallyjane,

    Stay where you are! -4 for a low today (Thursday).

    C. C.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Never heard of Pryor.. He was greeaatttt!!! Here is what Wikipedia has to say...

    Pryor was a storyteller known for unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was well-known for his frequent use of colorful language and vulgarities. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations, although public opinion of his act was often divided. He is commonly regarded as one of the most important stand up comedians of his time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession";[3] Whoopi Goldberg cited him as her biggest influence, stating "The major influence was Richard - I want to say those things he's saying." Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years." [4]

    His body of work includes such concert movies and recordings as Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor: Here and Now. He also starred in numerous films as an actor, usually in comedies such as Silver Streak, but occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film Blue Collar and epic roles like Gus Gorman from Superman III (1983). He also collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. He won an Emmy Award in 1973, and five Grammy Awards in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982. In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award. In 2004, Pryor was voted the greatest stand-up act of all time by Comedy Central.

    ReplyDelete

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