google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, April 10, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

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Apr 10, 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: QUIP

17A: Start of a quip: PROVIDENCE

24A: Part 2 of quip: GIVETH AND

40A: Part 3 of quip: THE

52A: Part 4 of quip: INCOME TAX

63A: End of quip: TAKETH AWAY

And America giveth and Murdoch taketh away. This guy is a genius. He knows so well that Grove giveth and Gates taketh away (Bob Metcalfe's quip on Wirth's Law). He swallowed MySpace, gobbled up Wall Street Journal, and now ready to wolf down Yahoo as desserts. America is beautiful, isn't it?

A LA Mr. Olschwang, however, France is more glamorous (total 7 French words). MANET's "Olympia" is more seductive, CLAUDE Debussy's music is more captivating, even the gelatin ASPIC is more tantalizing on a French menu. The ugly Sartre and his existentialistic NAUSEA are probably not BETE-noires to French ÉLÈVES. To me, they are intolerable!

David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day) will probably enjoy this puzzle very much. He is an avid crossword solver, and I think he does Chicago Tribune Puzzle on line, from Paris.

I would have finished this puzzle unassisted if not for the stupid "J" in the upper right corner. I had F_ORDS (10D) and _ILT (16A) sitting there staring at me forever. I have never heard of "JILT". In fact, I wanted it to be RILT, as FRORDS looked like a sensible word to me. I would NEVER put a "J" there. FJORDS just looked so ridiculously wrong. Had to flirt with Mr. Google to get this letter, a very expensive visit.

Grid: Total letters filled: 189. Total blank squares: 36

Across clues:

1A: __ firma: TERRA. Do you know where the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum is?

14A: Projecting bay window: ORIEL. Here is a picture for you.

16A: Leave at the altar: JILT. Julia Roberts' The Runaway Bride is too much of an overkill. Don't like it.

19A: Earthen ware crock: OLLA. Native American Pottery OLLA can be breathtaking. Look at this one.

20A: Erhard' s program: EST (Erhard Seminars Training). Werner Erhard. Unknown to me. I got it from down clues.

21A: _ noire (bugbear): BÊTE

22A: Entryway: PORTAL

26A: St. Francis' place: ASSISI

29A: Way back when: AGES AGO

34A: Antiseptic pioneer: LISTER (Joseph). Hence the brand name Listerine.

41A: Part of a flight: STAIR

43A: Ames inst. : ISU (Iowa State University).

44A: Composer Debussy: CLAUDE. Impressionist composer (La Mer). Of course, CLAUDE can also be clued as Painter Monet.

47A: Ruffle feathers: RILE

48A: Commuter's lane: CARPOOL

55A: Sartre novel: NAUSEA. La Nausée. Again, I don't understand, how come the translation is not "The Nausea"? Why is his "Le Mur" translated as "The Wall" then? I am very confused about English article "the".

58A: Arab garments: ABAS

62A: Force out: OUST. Ugh, pay attention to this small details please! Try "Supplant" next time.

66A: Eins, zei, __: DREI. I suppose this is German one, two, three.

67A: Continuously: EVER

68A: Ecole attendee: ÉLÈVE. French for pupil.

69A: English title: EARL

70A: Pub projectile: DART

71A: Took the plunge: DARED

Down clues:

1D: Shark type: TOPE. Here is a picture.

4D: Gun it in neutral: REV

5D: Cover stories: ALIBIS. Good clue.

6D: Narrow mountain ridge: ARETE

7D: "Olympia" painter: MANET. So serene & sensual & defiant. I don't think this picture is in Musée D'Orsay though. Lunch on the Grass is there. The audacious, unabashed nudeness, "come on and dare me"!

9D: Amount of ooze: SEEPAGE

10D: North sea inlets: FJORDS. Also spelled as Fiord. "A long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between steep slopes".

11D: Happy song: LILT. Don't like it's intersection of JILT.

23D: Lulus: ONERS

24D: Pith: GIST

25D: Despised: HATED. Are they the same? I thought "despise" means "scorn".

26D: Meat stock jelly: ASPIC. I have to show this picture again. I just love it. It has wasabi & pistachio in it.

27D: Chip dip: SALSA. ASPIC tastes very good with SALSA too.

28D: Scrub extra hard: SCOUR

30D: With one's might: AMAIN. No idea, got it from across clues.

32D: Jury's determination: GUILT. I wanted GUILTY or VERDICT, but neither fit.

32D: Baddies: OGRES

35D: Author Calvino: ITALO. Never heard of him.

36D: Old Chinese kingdom: SHU (蜀). Technically there was never a SHU kingdom, only Former SHU ( 前蜀) and Later SHU (後蜀). Both located in today's Sichuan Province. Hot, spicy food there.

39D: Tea treat: SCONE. American BISCUIT (mostly sweet). British BISCUIT is American COOKIE. I think British also call crackers are biscuits. Not very sure. Maybe our fellow solver Littlelj (British) will jump in later today to confirm (Hi there, great cherry blossom pictures by the way!).

42D: Chicago's Sue: T REX. Plenty of photos here.

45D: Placed: LOCATED

46D: Bother: EAT AT

49D: Flower part: PISTIL. No idea. I got it from across clues. It's "the ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting when complete of ovary, style, and stigma."

51D: Cut deeply: GASHED

54D: Chicago movie critic: EBERT (Roger)

55D: Protuberance: NODE

59D: Water vessel: EWER

60D: Church section: NAVE (sorry for the mistake earlier).

61D: Soaked in anil: DYED

C.C.

30 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. - this was another smooth one, save for the fact that I'd never heard of a tope shark; got it from the across clues.
Despise and hate have always been synonymous to me.
That picture of aspic - why did that remind me of a fruitcake? Is that really good? Looks like someone ate it already...
Hope it's an outstanding day for everyone.

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

Dennis,
I misled you. Ha ha. That's a veggie version of Aspic. With carrots and tomatoes. Kind of resembles a fruit cake I guess. A true version with meat looks like this. My grandma used to make it for me, but she never put any nuts in it.

Dennis said...

C.C. - that one doesn't look any better - nothing personal, but I'd rather eat my socks than that thing.

Anonymous said...

Good morning, CC

Not too hateful this morning. Funny you should mention the upper right hand corner as I thought I was losing my mind when I saw the down clue starting with "FJ". I had no idea there was even a "tope" shark.

All I have to say to "aspic" is: ewww. Looks too gross for me to eat! I think I may have just lost my appetite to grab some breakfast! ;o)

Looking forward to hitting 70 degrees today. Hope you have a great day!

Katherine said...

Good morning all. I had trouble with this one. I did get the "fjord". I never heard of a TOPE shark, or author Italo Calvino. Did you know what Chicago' Sue was? I had NO IDEA! I loved all the links with the pictures. And I agree about the aspic.....EEUUWWWW. NOT for me.
Till tomorrow.........

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning! Another easy one. Et.al. was back by a different clue as well as aspic and another reference to "painting." Interesting piece - a "tope" also refers to a Buddhist Stupa (remember that answer?). How about "AGes AGo"? Never heard of "amain." We now know why the antiseptic is called Listerine.

I was in China last October and went to the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum in Xian, Shaanxi Province. It is west of Shanghai and southwest of Beijing. Speaking of China - technically, Shu is one of the three classic kingdoms, the other two are Wei and Wu. Most of the time it is called Shu Han so as not to confuse it with other small states with the same name. The mistranslation of kingdom arises because they were headed by emperors so in a sense they were empires, not kingdoms.

Dick said...

Good morning everyone. I struggled a bit on this one. 31D just had to be guilty but it sure did not fit with agents. cc it looks as if you remembered 4D Rev for guns the engine. Also, 63A I had takeitaway in lieu of takethaway. I never heard of Italo Calvino and would not have kow this except I got it from the other clues. Otherwise not too laborious. Hope you all have a great day. It is rare but it looks like another golf day in the Berg.

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

drdad,
Yes, I remember last time you tried to explain the difference between STUPA and PAGODA to me. I had to check the dictionary and then bumped into TOPE. That's how I nailed it today. Thank you.

The three kingdoms are Cao Wei, Han Shu & Dong Su (Eastern Wu) in Chinese. We do not normally call Han Shu as Shu. Former SHU and Later SHU (both belonged to the 10 kingdoms) could be possibly interpreted as SHU I think.

I am very impressed by your knowledge on China. And so happy that you visited my hometown. How come you know so much about China?

Dick,
You seem to have good golf weather every day! Mind telling me your handicap?

Re: ASPIC
You guys are completely hopeless!

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

Oh, I forgot, drdad,
I don't mind AGES AGO at all, in fact, I like it because of the alliteration.

NYTAnonimo said...

Lots of crosswordese in here-how many repeat did you count c.c.? I remember AMAIN being used and objected to as archaic in another puzzle. When you google it the word does not show up on the right highlighted so that you can click on it for a definition but you do get this in the search results. Did not realize it was T REX until I read your post c.c.-never knew it was called Sue! Also did not know that Sarte wrote Nausea but I was able to solve without looking anything up. Hope you all have a great day too!

Anonymous said...

Today I put Loge and messed up again.LOL. Tough puzzle today. Didn't quite get the quip.

Dr. Dad said...

C.C - I started a new job last year that involves travelling to China, India, and soon to be Japan. Had not travelled when younger. Visited factories in China that make our products - Hangzhou, Shanghai, Penglai (up by Yantai - supposed home of the Eight Immortals), Anshan, Xian, and Longkou. I had a lot of time before going to learn about the places we were going and the people I met were very helpful in explaining alot of things. I was able to purchase a replica set of some of the Terra Cotta Warriors which is displayed in our hutch at home. Got quite good with chopsticks. As I understand it, they just had the Qing Ming Festival (a memorial day type of event) April 4th through the 6th. Hope to see more things when I go back sometime this summer. Thanks for asking.

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

nytanonimo,
I read a Chinese translation of "A Transatlantic Love Affair" (Letters to Nelson Algren) by Simone de Beauvoir a few years ago.

In her letters, she mentioned NAUSEA several times. And it seemed that Sartre was always having another affair with another woman during the whole creating process. So I formed this very negative attitude towards Sartre.

She also lashed out on Camus' The Plague though.

drdad,
Wow, you even went to Penglai. I worked in Yaitai for a short period of time in 1994. I like their ugly pears there, so sweet. Good seafood too. I've never been to Anshan and Longkou. Did spend sometime working in Shanghai. Hangzhou is very scenic.

Yes, Qing Ming Jie has passed. Now Duan Wu Jie (Dragon Boat Festival) is approaching.

Anonymous said...

I had nave for 60d.
Feste

Anonymous said...

Good morning.

Couldn't get this one. Too tired this morning, I guess. Once I got INCOME TAX from here, the rest was easy. Oh, well, try again tomorrow.

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

Feste,
Mea Culpa! Did not know what I was thinking. This is second day in a roll that I keyed in wrong entries.

Dick said...

cc 21

prider said...

60 down is nave---not apse-right?

Anonymous said...

Good morning CC, et al, I love that aspic and nausea are in the same puzzle. I agree with Dennis, Katherine and mkatsq...ewww. I struggled today. I was looking for a measurement for 9D for amt of ooze. I appreciate all the links, CC. The tope shark pic was great...the pic of the fish wasn't bad either. Manet on the other hand is definately fixated. What a picnic! Have a good day.

prider said...

60 down is nave-not apse

MH said...

I liked this one. I was challenged but was able to complete it without help. The quip helped - I was able to figure it out. I had amat instead of amas which lead to teepage. I had problems with fj*** since I was able to figure out flee and jilt - I just couldn't imagine a word starting with fj - but I actually knew the word once I read the clue. Didn't know claude, lister, or italo and had to get them from the surrounding words. Also I've never heard the word amain.

jimhllrn said...

Is there a secret web page for creators where someone puts in the word of the month??? I do several Xwords, although not all of them daily, and seem to notice the same word pops up with regularity and then are not seen for a long time. ASPIC is the latest.
I knew that FJORD had a 'J' in it, but I didn't know where til I read 16A.
I wondered who in hell Susan TREX was until I saw C.C.'s photo. If that hadn't been there I still would not know.
I had to cheat on 41D & 55A for one letter per and after that, I cruised.
This was really an enjoyable one for me. Thanks Alan O.
MH - - Remember the words, APACE, ATILT and AMAIN. They will come in quite handy.

Razz said...

Can't believe all of the ewwwws about aspic! Unless y'all are vegan (there is a tomato aspic)you regulary eat all of the elements of aspic when you consume meat. Savory does not mean yuk! and the fact that it is gelatinous is no big deal. Put is on something warm and it will melt just like gravy...Yum!

Anonymous said...

Being raised in Minnesota, land of Norwegian immigrant descendants, I am very familiar with the word fjord. We probably spent more time learning about Scandinavia than those in other parts of U.S. It is a Norwegian word. Refers specifically to inlets along a mountainous coast where the mountains plunge right down in to the sea. The one that stumped me was the Latin I lesson word, as well as the tope shark.

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

Jim,
The repetition of certain clues you've detected is not the fault of the constructor. Rather, it's the poor editing job by our Editor.

He changes as much as 50% of the originally submitted puzzle to fit his eyes/fancy/whim. If he is in the mood for ASPIC, or EWOK or EMIR, he will keep foisting it on us, like it or not.

Dennis said...

How could anyone ever be "in the mood for aspic"? It'd be like eating eyeballs...

Little Lj said...

Hahahaha re: Dennis' eating of eyeballs

I have to say, im not a fan of aspic either… I don't even like jello, so I plead it’s the texture I have a problem with.

Big fat EW at today. CC, it's funny you say the section that stumped you the most was the top right. That was the part I filled in first! I think it's because I'm from Britain - which is so close to Norway, which is famous for it's fjords - as soon as I saw the clue and 'FJ---' I knew what it was straight away. Also, has anyone read the book 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams.. It has a cult following in the UK, and I always remember the part where the character Slarty Bartfast describes designing Norway and its fjords as the 'lovely crinkly little edges'. Haha! I guess if you havent read it, that will make no sense.

However quickly the top right fell, I couldn’t make headway on my own for much of the rest of the puzzle and had to resort to Google.

Oh and to clarify the British/American biscuit issue…

In the UK, generally:

Biscuits = all types of cookie - soft, hard
Cookies = more recently come into use to describe only soft chewier cookies, but these can be called biscuits too
Crackers = I guess a savoury cookie, usually salty or cheesy…
Scone = small bread-based biscuit but can be savoury OR sweet. You can get cheese scones, or my favorite which is scones with tea, and clotted cream (so bad for you but sooo good) and jelly (or as you would say in the UK, jam).

Man that’s confusing.. You have no idea how long it took me to ask for the right thing in restaurants here!!! But hope that helps anyone planning a trip to London any time soon haha!

NYTAnonimo said...

little lj you're making me hungry-I love scones!

Would you recommend reading Simone De Beauvoir then c.c.?

Little Lj said...

haha sorry! all this talk of food today...

aspic and scones and biscuits.

emeril?? want to create something outta that??!

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

Littlelj,
Thank you for the explanation. Now I am craving for a sweet scone! Yes, Emeril!!

nytanonimo,
No! I will not. I read De Beauvoir's book during a special period in my life when I was very lost. Not much substance in it.