google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday May 26, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

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May 26, 2008

Monday May 26, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: LEISURE TIME (Rhyme)

20A: An easy crossword puzzle, say: SIMPLE PLEASURE

36A: After-school detention, e.g.: REMEDIAL MEASURE

57A: X on a map, perhaps: BURIED TREASURE

Isn't PLEASURE a MEASURE of our TREASURE? Can money buy us PLEASURE?

This is a very interesting puzzle. I am sure it's pure coincidence, but I do like the slight Cannes Film Festival tilt in the grid.

Let's start with 65A: French classful: ÉLÈVES (Update later: ÉLÈVES is French for students). French film The Class (ENTRE les Murs) won the Palme d'Or yesterday. All the cast are real teachers and ÉLÈVES. Very authentic yet artfully done docudrama. The best actor went to Benicio del Toro, who played the title role in Steven Soderberg's CHE (27A: Fidel's comrade). And the best director was awarded to a Turkish guy for his Three Monkeys (TRE: 19A: Uno e due). Very surprised to see audience & critics DERIDE (68A: Ridicule) and hiss La Frontiere De L'Aube though.

I did not finish the puzzle. I simply forgot ARTURO & BARRIO, and I could not hit the slope at 27D: SCHUSS. I've never heard of ASSE the fox either.

ACROSS:

1A: Writer Dinesen: ISAK. Out of Africa author.

5A: Soft stroke: CARESS

11A: "Washboard" muscles: ABS. Go to the gym if you want these Abs!

14A: Moon goddness: LUNA And 15A: Female grad.: ALUMNA. I like the feminine touch in this puzzle.

17A: __'acte (intermission): ENTR. ENTRE Less Murs literally is "Between the Walls", hence The Class.

18A: TV classic, "___ Room": ROMPER. Unknown to me. Inferable.

23A: Bundle of grain: SHEAF

24A: Brandy letters: VSO (Very Special Old)

25A: Temporary money: SCRIP

29A: Attention-getting shouts: YOO-HOOS

31A: "Undercover Angel" singer: O'DAY (Alan). Sorry about Anita Day mistake earlier. (Thanks, Melissa Bee)

33A: Altar constellation: ARA. I would not have gotten this one if not for ALB (34D: Priest's vestment). I only know coach ARA Parseghian.

35A: A/C measure: BTU (British thermal unit)

45A: Side by side: ABREAST

51A: Barge puller: TUG

53A: Esq. affixer: ATT. Why affixer instead of affix?

61A: Record keepers: NOTERS

62A: Skedaddles: GITS. Didn't I just see you yesterday?

66A: "___" Baltimore: HOT L. Nailed it this time.

69A: "South Park" co-creator Parker: TREY. Here is more information about him. He is a stranger to me. I only know low card.

DOWN:

2D: Parasol, e. g. : SUNSHADE. Here is Monet's Lady with a Parasol.

3D: 1862 battlefield: ANTIETAM. Is it very famous?

4D: Destiny: KARMA

5D: Sagan or Perkins: CARL. I know neither of them. Pieced the name together from across clues.

6D: Medicinal houseplant: ALOE VERA

7D: Hindquarters: RUMPS

10D: Circus Hall of Fame location: SARASOTA. This appeared on a March TMS puzzle.

11D: Conductor Toscanini: ARTURO. Wikipedia says he was one of the greatest conductor of all times, renowned for "his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority..."

12D: Latino quarter: BARRIO. Ugh, how can I remember this word? I only know bodega.

13D: Ratings' week: SWEEPS

21D: USA rank: PFC (Private First Class). Thank you for the service. And to those who died fighting for this country, to those who returned home safely, and to those who are still standing in harm's way, thank you.

22D: Hit the slope: SCHUSS. Have to commit this word to my memory.

23D: Restaurateur Toots: SHOR. Have not seen him for a while.

32D: Man of Sana'a: YEMENI

37D: Soundproofed: DEADENED

38D: Gathered, as volunteers: MUSTERED

39D: Like some motives: ULTERIOR

40D: Casino game: ROULETTE

41D: Faberge collectibles: EGGS

46D: Sultanate on Borneo: BRUNEI. I am so proud I got BRUNEI this morning. Lots of oil there I suppose.

50D: British sports cars: MGS. MG came from "Morris Garages", a dealer for Morris cars according to Wikipedia. I am not familiar with this at all. MGS appeared on a TMS Jan 31 puzzle.

54D: Fountain of coins: TREVI. The three-coin fountain.

56D: Anything whatever: AUGHT. It means nothing to me.

59D: African fox: ASSE. Cape Fox. It "inhabits dry areas of southern Africa and has large pointed ears, silvery gray coat, and a bushy tail with a black tip". Look at here. It's also called bat-eared fox. Have you heard of it before?

63D: Slightly shifty: SLY. Good alliteration.

C.C.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Answer to your Antietam question (known to us down here in the deep south as Sharpsburg) - Civil War battle - it's the bloodiest day in American military history with almost 23,000 casualties.

Anonymous said...

...and a very appropriate Memorial Day clue

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

Anonymous,
Thank you so much for the ANTIETAM information. Wow, I completely missed this nice Memorial Day tribute touch.

Katherine said...

Good morning CC and everyone!
I never in all my 60 years heard of Antietam. I got most of the puzzle today except that one, and 3D and 31A. I did not know and "asse" was a fox either, that was a cool picture of it CC. I don't know how you figure out what you said in your comments. I could never "get" that. That's all way over my head.
I've tried the gym, but I will never look like the model in 11A! LOL
Monet's painting is beautiful, thanks for that CC.
Looks like we are going to have rain here today. I hope I can get my flowers in before it comes.
Hope you all have a good day.

Katherine said...

Oops, I hate it when I make a typo. I meant to say I did not know "an" asse was a fox........

Argyle said...

Good morning,
You will find most Civil War battles have one name in the North and another in the South.

Anonymous said...

The winner of the battle always got to name it for the ages.

Dr. Dad said...

Good Morning and Happy Memorial Day. Remember our service men and women today - don't just remember the cookout activities.
I am sure there were "abs" in that picture somewhere but I was having problems seeing them.
Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Then the magic mirror. The days of Romper Room. One big controversy was connected with the show. Miss Sherrie Finkbine was the hostess of the show and wanted an abortion because she had taken thalidomide and made an announcement about the dangers of the drug. A U.S. hospital refused to do the abortion because of the announcement and she went to Sweden where the operation was performed. Sadly, the baby was deformed (no legs, one arm). It became a movie, "A Private Matter" in 1992 with Sissy Spacek playing "Miss Sherrie."
Affixer because an attorney (att.) is the one who affixes esquire (esg) to their name.
The use of it in a sentence escapes me but the term "aught else" is a fancy, and maybe outdated, term for "anything."
Some foxes have great asses (oops, I mean are great asses)!

Again, remember those who serve(d) and sacrifice(d).

Dr. Dad

Katherine said...

drdad, I remember Romper Room, but did not know that information. Thanks, that was interesting.

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

Argyle,
Are you the Anonymous @ 5:52/5:55/6:48am?

If not, Anonymous,
Please adopt a name for yourself. You can still remain anonymous. I am interested in what you have to say.

Katherine,
I like that Facing Right painting the most. "The Woman with a Parasol" Facing Left and Walking are pretty good too.

Dr.Dad,
Thank you for the Private Matter. When are you going to Bollywood? Aishwarya Rai should be back from Cannes to meet with you I think. Also, who is the most mysterious woman in Greek Mythology?

NYTAnonimo said...

Went through this puzzle pretty fast. The few words I did not know I got from the perpendicular clues or guessing. They were VSO (Very Superior Old) on vodka , ASSE , TREY Parker and AUGHT. Googled PLEASURE, TREASURE and MEASURE and came up with this. Here is a something to think about this Memorial Day.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - thought this was a nice little puzzle this morning, not a 'blow-through', but not google-worthy either.
For those of you who don't read the Sunday blog, please take a moment at 3:00 today to pay tribute to the men/women who are standing in harm's way for us, today and every day, and for those heroes who are no longer with us. Forty-three years ago, my best friend was killed not 5 yards from me, and I think so often about a nineteen-year-old's life cut short and all that he could have become. There's thousands and thousands of stories just like that, and we should never, EVER forget.
Sorry for the rant - I do hope it's a great day off for everyone.

Dr. Dad said...

C.C. - leaving for Bollywood on Wednesday at 4:40 p.m. EST. Not going to do a "Richard Gere" when I am there but I would like to meet Aishwarya Rai.

Is that a trick question? I know several but can't tie them into the most mysterious woman. Circe? Definitely not Athena - she was too wise to be mysterious, Helen was beautiful but is she also mysterious? One of the Danaids or the Naiads? I just don't know. I give. Who?

Argyle said...

c.c., No, I'm not Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

11D is Arturo --- not Arturoa.

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

20A was the perfect description for today's puzzle. I'm not sure why, but everything just fell into place for me. I remember watching "Romper Room" as a kid, I know who Arturo Toscanini was, I remember learning about Antietam in history class (albeit many years ago), etc.

The only minor hiccough (or hiccup, if you prefer) that I encountered was when I put NOTARY instead of NOTERS for 61A and ended up with AYSE for 59D. That just didn't look right for some reason, and then I noticed that 61A was supposed to be plural.

I was actually surprised to find the puzzle so easy, since weekend puzzles are normally much harder than weekday puzzles. Of course, I eventually remembered that it's not actually a weekend; it just feels like one because it's a holiday and I didn't have to go to work this morning...

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

Dennis,
You were late this morning, did you go biking again?

NYTanonimo,
I'll take love too! Thank you for the links.

Dr.Dad,
When I saw LUNA (14A: Moon goddness), I could not remember what's the Greek equivalent. So I googled, then I found SELENA, ARTEMIS, PHOEBE, RHEA and this strange HECATE which is seen in phrases of the moon. She has three faces and is called Goddess of Crossroads. I thought that was very mysterious. I just wanted to know what's your take. No trick here. Isn't SIREN also enigmatic?

Anonymous @8:10am,
I've corrected my mistake. Thanks.

Barry,
TMS puzzles are random, they do not mirror NYT's more-difficult-as the -week go pattern.

Anonymous said...

HELP HELP!
I've looked and looked and cannot find anything that matches the clue with the answer.
The clue: 65A - French classful
The work: ELEVES
I had a hard enough time finding ASSE as the fox.
Can anyone explain tome the relation of the clue to the answer?

P.S. C.C. My identity disappeared again. This is jimhllrn

Anonymous said...

What happened to the link for today's puzzle?? I like to do it before I read your comments/answers!! During the winter I get the puzzle in the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Tx. I found your blog and was delighted to get the puzzle through you. I live in VERY rural New York State.

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

Jim,
ÉLÈVES means students in French. Here is the ASSE Fox.

Anonymous @ 11:26am,
Bookmark this please!

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all ..

a PLEASURE today. i liked seeing sly and asse (fox), the crossing of rarest with buried treasure, romper with rumps, and sunshade with hat.

i know lois will like caress, rumps, and abreast .. (another simple pleasure) perhaps that has something to do with why she hasn't checked in yet.

undercover angel was sung by alan o'day, not anita.

okay i know it's a stretch (you know how i am).. but raw, eggs, dole (pineapple), sheaf (wheat), mustered (mustard) .. all that will make one's abs more than tubby, affirmative? especially if you don't get up.

a shout out to all the troops on this memorial day.

carol said...

Hi C.C. and gang, I had a little trouble with some of the words but all in all, not too bad.
C.C.- thanks for the explanation of "VSO"(I did not use Google today). I remember seeing these initials in a puzzle quite a long time ago.
"Abs" (11A),"rumps" (7D) and "abreast" (45A) are all fodder for Lois...can't wait to read her comments!!
Hope you all enjoy this Holiday, and remember what it means.
Katherine- I planted my tomatoes Sat. and some annuals in my baskets that hang on my back fence but it has been raining ever since and the rest will just have to wait.

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

Melissa,
Thanks for pointing out my O'Day mistake. Your twisted stretch has a perfect OBESE (30D) match. I like your observation on SLY/ASSE, TREASURE/RAREST, etc. Did you see
how Plushenko helped Dima Bilan win Eurovision on Saturday?

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

Jim,
I should add that most of the students are called ÉTUDIANTS in French universities. But students in those complicated French Collèges and Lycées are still called ÉLÈVES.

Mr. Corcoran said...

dr dr thanks for explaining esq att to me--missed that entirely but now it makes sense. didn't know romper either...could only see french rompre haha...hey even i have heard of antitem and c.c. you would have no problem fixing barrio in your mind with a trip to socal! Although we don't celebrate a memorial day in Sweden since there haven't been any wars there for hundreds of years I think we can all agree "Ad commilitonum memoriam qui pro patria mortui sunt"

lois said...

Good morning...afternoon CC, et al
Yeah, X marks the spot all right. Being a graduate of kindergarten and therefore an alumna of Romper Room, I'm all too familiar w/remedial measures. "Do it again until you get it right!" Ok, Mel. Practically 'raw' from too much of a 'simple pleasure' and 'buried treasure'. But I'm UP for de-ride. 'Karma' is going to kick my asse one day. But what an 'asse'! With ears like that, he can hear anybody 'comin'.

Here for a touch and go. Party on! and on! and on!

Enjoy this gorgeous day! God Bless the Military and all the Vets.

Anonymous said...

ANTIETAM

The Bloodiest One Day Battle in American History. Also known as the battle of Sharpsburg.

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

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

Dennis said...

Lois, there is no greater honor than to give one's life for one's country, and we'll all be forever indebted to your husband, who made the supreme sacrifice as a result of the Vietnam War. And of course to you as well, for all that you must've gone through. I salute you both.

Anonymous said...

I believe VSO stands for "Very SPECIAL Old," (not "Superior").

lois said...

Dennis: Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. It's a bitter-sweet day for sure...on several levels.

One bitter aspect is that tomorrow is going to be a painful one I can tell already! One sweet aspect is that it's ok. It's been and will continue to be so much fun for about another 4 hours or so! Here's to you....yet again!

Barry G. said...

I believe VSO stands for "Very SPECIAL Old," (not "Superior").

Actually, when I was working as a waiter in a fancy restaurant many MANY years ago, I was told that VSOP stood for "Very SOFT Old Pale". Can't guarantee it's true, though...

Anonymous said...

VSO defined here-Very Superior Old

lois said...

What a day and what a puzzle! Just want to chime in with Carol and Melissa bee on a few of the choicest words today. At one point today, went to the beach for some simple pleasure and found a sheaf of rumps, great abs, and one guy totally consumed in caressing abreast...two actually. He must've graduated romper room magna cum! Quite the morel fellow! Competition for you guys for sure! With 19A & 69A, I see we're back to the threesome. No problem! Found 'em too. Not mine, not-'ers (61A), so I-sak(ed)((1A)) 'em with VSO(Va Style Obliquity)...vodka?..
...not! A good time was had by all. I'm a little sunburned though. VA is definately for lovers! (state motto) What a day!

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