google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday May 15, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

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May 15, 2008

Thursday May 15, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: QUOTE

17A: Start of Abram Chasins quote: THE MORE

28A: Part 2 of quote: YOU LOVE MUSIC

45A: Part 3 of quote: THE MORE MUSIC

61A: End of quote: YOU LOVE

Finally a QUOTE! I just get headache when facing a QUIP theme. But what a boring QUOTE! And so many repeat offenders. Stuffy! Nothing melodious and nothing sparkling. In fact, it feels very noisy. Look:

24A: Commotions: ADOS
56A: Uproarious commotion: HOO-HAH
62A: Corrida call: OLE
46D: Cacophony: RACKET

And I always associate 31D: MAORI with the roaring MAORI Haka dance, so this whole puzzle is just too loud for me. As for 32D: Skedaddles: SCATS, why not jazz up the clue musically to fit in your theme? The same with 58D: Soft drink: POP. You don't like POP music?

The only highlight is to see I DOS (24A) parallel LOVE and intersect APPROVE (8D) and CHOOSE (9D). I also like how YES (61D) echoes I DOS.

ACROSS:

1A: Even more saccharine: MUSHIER

14A: Baltic republic: ESTONIA. Do you like Carmen Kass? Dior' J'adore girl perfume girl. She is from ESTONIA.

16A: Actor Torn: RIP. What a strange name, isn't RIP and TORN the same?

18A: "The Bells" poet: POE. I've never read this poem. Lots of bells in the poem. Are you familiar with Poe's "The Fall of the House of USHER"?

21A: Like some humor: IRONIC

25A: Colorful salamander: NEWT

36A: Supermarket passageway: AISLE. I think I prefer "Lover's lane?" clue with today's LOVE MUSIC theme. In fact, I won't complain if it's clued as 2D's lane.

37A: Synagogue singer: CANTOR. No idea. Got it from down clues. It's "the religious official of a synagogue who conducts the liturgical portion of a service and sings or chants the prayers and parts of prayers designed to be performed as solos".

40A: Be part of the cast of: ACT IN. I am happy any time a preposition or a definite article is clued in the grid.

49A: Game point situation: AD IN. Another tennis related clue is 52D: Rod of tennis: LAVER.

64A: Stored fodder: ENSILED

65A: LAX setting: PST (Pacific Standard Time)

67A: Some hunting dogs: SETTERS. Hmm, STREET & TESTER, interesting.

DOWN:

2D: Theater worker: USHER. YEAH, this constructor must be very old. Or he simply could not INTERPRET (34D: Give meaning to) USHER's Confessions.

3D: Inscribed pillar: STELA. Variation of STELE. I did not known before.

4D: Inspirational discourse: HOMILY

6D: Hibernia: EIRE Latin for Ireland. Why did they give such a wintry name to Ireland? I think I am a mild a hibernophile. I have an irrational interest in IRA, and I love listening the Corrs when I am feeling lonely. Where do you go when you are blue?

8D: OK: APPROVE.

9D: Take one from Column B: CHOOSE. Does this clue feel alright to you?

11D: Puts through a procedure: PROCESSES

22D: Indigenous Canadian: INUIT

26D: Novelist Cather: WILLA. Unknown to me. Just found out earlier that she wrote O Pioneers! She got Pulitzer for her One of Ours.

27D: Immune syst. component: T CELL. T stands for thymus. Belong to white blood cells. I don't know this, very gettable though.

31D: Native New Zealand: MAORI. Have you seen MAORI Haka dance in person? Earsplitting! I guess it's OK on the Rugby field, like this one.

47D: Calm yourself!: COOL IT! And 39A: I'm all ears: DO TELL. Very colloquial. I like them both.

53D: Molts: SHEDS. I kind of like the "Drop Down" clue after reading Crockett1947's "When that EIDER duck molts, he certainly drops down" comment.

55D: Man or Dogs: ISLE. Saw this clue before. ISLE of Dogs is in the east of London.

56D: Make a point?: HONE. Nice clue.

57D: Throw out: OUST. Wanted TOSS.

Happy Birthday Mkat & Justin Morneau (Great home run last night)!

C.C.

57 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and the D.F.s - Wow, an absolute snap this morning! Under 5 minutes and never even a slight pause - everything just flowed from the first clue to the last. Bodes well for the day, hopefully.
Hope it's a great one for everybody.

Katherine said...

Good morning everyone. This one was easy today. I liked it.
Looks like Carmen forgot to button her shirt, must have been in a hurry.
I have never read Poe's "Fall Of The House Of Usher", nor "The Bells".
CC, there you go again with the rap,Usher....UGH, LOL. But I LOVED the Corrs/Bono song. That was GREAT! Very cool.

Dr. Dad said...

Guten Morgen!!!
Did not like mushier for more saccharine. Still, this was a 7 minute puzzle. Can't catch Dennis the Sinned. Ensiled made it back tody as did molt/sheds.
Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. was given the name Rip by his father who was also called Rip as it was a family tradition.
Neil Diamond played a cantor/cantor's son in the remake of "The Jazz Singer."
You can "choose" from any column you want. To me it made sense.
T-Cells are HIV's main targets.
With the comments about Poe and The Fall of the House of Usher, I'm surprised no one mentioned the connection between 2D and 18A.

Happy Nylon Stockings Day! Lois will probably love today. Gives her a chance to show her panty hose. And since the puzzle has an artificial sweetener in it today, here's one for the sweet tooths - It's National Chocolate Chip Day.

Have a great one!!

Katherine said...

Drdad, thanks for all the info, that was interesting.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty straightforward puzzle with no roadblocks. Two comments I wanted to make echo what C.C. has already said. First, I really thought the quote was awfully bland. Maybe we should stick with quips after all? Second, I thought the clue for 9D was unnecessarily complicated. Why not simply have "opt" or "decide"? I kept thinking the answer couldn't possibly be "CHOOSE" since that would be too obvious...

Kim said...

Good Morning! It must be way too easy if I have no trouble. I didn't like 1A either. I even picked up on the Usher/Poe connection. Have a great day everyone!

Superfrey said...

I only had problems with the SouthEast, but then solved... for a while I had 56A as Brohah and 56D as Bore...which of course does not work.... nice puzzle though.

Bill said...

Katherine, There were buttons !????
Not really bad but 1a was a little vague.
I guess, now, when a constructor clues a city or a place we must not skip over the "time zones" as an answer !
That, also seems a stretch....at least, to me.
CYA later....Blood work today.
Ah'll be bach.

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

Dennis,
I like the name C. C. and the D. F. s, very cool!

Katherine,
I don't like RAP music either. I would not call USHER a rap singer though. I am glad you like the Corrs.

Drdad,
Thanks for all the information. I am glad you noticed the ties between 2D and 18A. I pointed out that specific Poe's work just trying to make this puzzle a bit sparkling. In fact, 36A can also be clued as "USHER's Lane" (see my comment). Yes, forget about LOVE, I will fall in for Chocolate Chips today.

Barry,
This is the blandest and the most colorless QUOTE I've ever seen.

NYTAnonimo said...

Liked the Corrs and Bono too and the Haka videos(that was a new one for me) as well as your commentary c.c.. Have you tried your hand at crossword construction yet? I bet you'd be good at it.

Katherine said...

I am just testing something here. I lost my log-in, I want to see if this will let my commment show up.....

Anonymous said...

Good morning CC et al: Loved this puzzle, but didn't do it anywhere near 'dennis time'. Thank you for the links, CC.

Thought the theme of Noise coupled with the quote on Music was cute. Didn't like 'mushier' either,drdad and got stuck on 56A Hoohah for a minute. Overall, it 'raise(d)'too much of a 'racket' for me. I'm a quiet,'pieceful' person...ok, except when it comes to sweaty, testoserone crazed rugby players, then quiet is gone! CC that clip was fabulous!

drdad: You are so funny! I can't show off 'panty' hose...don't wear any! But I love Nylon Stockings... esp. black thigh highs for special occassions. I love this day! Have a good one!

Barry G. said...

I lost my login as well, Katherine. Glad to know it's not just me.

Anonymous said...

Hi CC and company!

Well, I have to say I have NOTHING to contribute today because my newspaper was not delivered before I left the house, again. :o( So, today I'll just have to sit on the sidelines w/regard to the crossword.

CC - thanks so much for remembering! That was very nice of you!

Have a great day, everyone!

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and I just wanted to mention that I didn't actually mind the clue "mushier" for SACCHARINE. It made me think a bit outside the box but wasn't totally random or obscure. It really helps, of course, if you know the slang meaning of saccharine.

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MKATESQ!!! HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Dennis said...

Lois, do you come out of a cake?

Anonymous said...

Thank you Lois!!! Pass the champagne, too!!!

And here's to hoping the Pens sweep the Flyers tonight!!! :o)

Dennis said...

mkatesq, you can't give me just one win?
Happy Birthday anyway; hope it's your best ever.

Anonymous said...

dennis - nope. I'm being selfish today cause it's my b-day. :o) thx for the well wishes!

Dr. Dad said...

Happy Birthday To You, Dear mkatesq!!!!

NYTAnonimo said...

Reponse to Nylon Stockings Day.

And this is for you mktesq!

Anonymous said...

Dennis, you are hilarious! As far as coming out of cake? I would have to say 'usually yes', but I'll try anything twice.

Anonymous said...

thx drdad and ny! :o)

Boomer said...

More Saccharin - 1 across - 7 letters - must be sweeter. Off to a great start! I only get 1 across about 10 per cent of the time. Wait a minute, 2 down has to be usher. A theatre worker is always usher - now I have a mess. Never mind, I'll solve it the way I solve most dilemmas. I'm off to the golf course. Bye

Katherine said...

You guys are all too funny. What would I do if I could not get to this blog everyday? It's a great way to start the day.......have a good day to everyone.........I am off to work now............

Bill said...

Mkatesq...Happy, Happy Birthday and many more.
Sorry about your paper. I know when mine is late I start a withdrawal and it ain't pretty.
I ( in my head) call my poor paper girl everything I can think of even tho I know it's not her fault.
This cruciverbalism is quite addictive !!

MH said...

I had a rocky start by putting sweeter for 1A. Once I got that straigtened out I finished in Dennis time. Only a slight bit of confusion in the SE corner because of hoohah. The quote was easy. Didn't like the intersection of usher and mushier. Also I didn't like 11D: the use of "procedure" in the clue for "processes" since they are the same root word.

CC, rent the movie "The Jazz Singer" with Neil Diamond. In it he plays a cantor who wants to be a popular singer. There are some great songs in it

Bill said...

Figured out 1a. Given an equal amount of saccharine and sugar, the saccharine is about 4 times SWEETER than SUGAR and if someone was that sweet to anyone it sure would be MUSHIER. (I guess)

Dr. Dad said...

Does anyone know why a can of diet soda will float but a can of regular soda will sink to the bottom?

Bill said...

No clue...I could look it up but I'll take the easy way ! Tell us...

Dennis said...

Because the diet soda is "lite"?

Anonymous said...

drdad: same as dennis but based on the Budlight commercial...less filling, less fattening...

Ok, another possibility is that there are more carbonation bubbles
in the diet? Why? B/c people on diets shake their 'cans' more often?

Dr. Dad said...

It goes back to what Bill said about saccharine being 4 times sweeter than sugar. Since the artificial sweeteners used are on the order of 4 to 20 times sweeter, only a little bit is needed to get the sweet taste in diet soda and thus the "liquid" and the can will float in water. Regular soda contains A LOT of sugar that adds considerable weight and thus, the "liquid/sugar" and the can sink.

Another tidbit of useless knowledge brought to you by drdad.

Bill said...

The sad part is....It makes perferct sense to me...and, remember I'm the one who failed chemistry!!!!!

Bill said...

I guess I must have flunked spelling, too. PERFECT sense

Anonymous said...

Thx for the well wishes, bill. And yes, this whole late newspaper thing is getting quite tiresome. HOWEVER, it is the dude's fault because everytime I bring it to CS dept., suddenly my paper starts showing up before the guaranteed time (6:30 AM). If they guarantee it, then they better hire deliverers who will hold to that!

Mr. Corcoran said...

Olschwang could use a little bit of schwung in his puzzles...somewhat predictable after previous day's anagram delight...wonder if hoohah is a variant of Fr brouhaha..qui sait?...do not know my maine college towns...prefer hounds (like my rhodesians) to setters but then starting reading quadrants...like "Hoohah, you love ensiled setters!"

Anonymous said...

There must be another clue somewhere in the world for Orono!

Cacophony (46D) is another of my favorite words. It's almost onomatopoeic. One dictionary even says it may be based on "kakka".

Also liked 56D: "Make a point?" for "hone".

Not thrilled with 11D "procedure" in the clue and "processes" as the answer.

I did the Kare-11 on-line crossword yesterday. It actually had "Apple dessert" as a clue and "Apple pan dowdy" as the answer. Fie!

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

i agree this was rather ho hum. thanks c.c. for those links, had never seen a haka dance before .. my my! now i can expand my favorite lois quote to: 'holy hot wick sex bomb haka dance.'

i sorta liked the 1a clue, and even how it crossed with usher, and how ados crossed idos. also liked how racket fit both with 52a rod of tennis AND the musical noise theme. same with adin (a din). hated the quote though. meh.

i love the word hoo-hah. don't know why.

agree about the 11d procedure/process clue, felt the same about 20a replace padding for reline.

whenever i see 'cache' i always think of the oregon trail, and specifically the book 'ordeal by hunger.'

c.c. i adore the corrs and maxi priest (dug the 'that girl' video).

happy happy mskatesq!

melissa bee said...

typo .. mkatesq ...

Anonymous said...

Good morning all. The puzzle was easy for the most part. I did not really like the "quote"...no "kick" to it.
I tested the comment area last night with help from my husband..I have never been part of a "chat room" before but this looked like so much fun, I had to find out how to do it.
I just love all your comments!! Some of you are very bright!!
Could someone explain 49A "adin". I don't play tennis so maybe that is why I didn't get it.
More Later, Carol

Dennis said...

Hi Carol - 'ad in' means advantage to the server; if he/she wins the next point, that's game. If he/she loses, it goes back to 'deuce', which means it's tied again.
Simplified, but you get the idea.

Dr. Dad said...

Going a bit further, ad out is advantage for the one receiving the serve.

Dr. Dad said...

By the way Carol - if you read enough comments (a lot of them from past puzzles) you will find that we are dysfunctional as well. So much so that it has been suggested that we form a rock group called "C.C. and the Dysfunctionals". Welcome aboard.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning everyone. C.C., thanks for the shout out! Yes, the quote is easier than the quip. Aced this one today. The quote helped instead of hindered. Dennis, great time. The Haka was adopted by one of our local high school football teams and caused quite a controversy for a while. The kids were even penalized for "unsportsmanlike conduct" before the game even started. YIKES! Finally cooler heads prevailed and they were able to keep their tradition. Carol, when a game of tennis reaches a tie score (deuce), if the person on serve wins the next point, the ad (advantage) is in his/her favor. If the person receiving serve wins the ad is "out." Nowadays you hear more "advantage (Player name). Confused yet?

Anonymous said...

Melissa bee: great analysis. Never even thought of 'a din'. And I love the extension to the quote...very appropriate. I liked all the tennis terms and esp the reference to Rod (gotta love that name!). He was hot...hot rod!!! Now I'm thinkin' more about Rugby! The scenery was very, very nice.

Loved your last comment last night too. Cracked me up.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dennis, drdad and Crockett 1947 :)
I think C.C.and the Dysfunctionals would be a great name for the "group"!
I am in Oregon, so it is still morning here, but I notice most of your times are in Central or East Coast, what fun to be conversing with the entire country. Our rain and clouds have finally gone on to somewhere else and we have sun, sun, sun!!! We don't know how to act when that first happens each year...kinda like a mole "popping up". Supposed to be 85 today and 90-95 (ouch)tomorrow. Hard to get used to so fast!!!

Dennis said...

I guess I better copyright "C.C. and the Dysfunctionals", lol.
Also, be careful mentioning things like 'popping up' on here; we tend to lose Lois for extended periods.

Anonymous said...

I have "heard" (read) about Lois and think her comments and double-entendres are so funny!!
She sounds like a lot of fun, especially for you "guys" :)
Hope I haven't set her off too far.

Anonymous said...

Hello: A belated comment to the "Drop Down" clue:

An old riddle asks. "Q: How do you get down off an elephant?
A: You don't get down off an elephant, you get down off a duck."

This led to my invention of the self-answering Question pun, of which there only two in existence:

1. "Howdah you get down from an elephant?"
and
2. "Juneau the capital of Alaska?"

lois said...

Anon: Thanks for the compliment. You don't have to worry about 'setting me off' esp 'too far'. Things just keep 'popping up' around here that 'get me off'. In honor of today's title, Nylon Stocking Day, I think it's a black thigh high hose night. And Dennis, you're right. With all this talk about Up and Down, I think the 'extended' period is 'coming' tonight.

Enjoy this wonderful evening!

Mr. Corcoran said...

completement inappropriate but hey lois, have you heard the one about the woman walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a double entendre...so he gave it to her!

Dennis said...

Lois, I'll alert your local teams.

Anonymous said...

Lois, sounds like a "fun" night:)
I had never heard of Nylon Stalking Day, or any other of the cute ones mentioned...I'll have to look at past remarks as I remembered someone wrote about where to find these "days".
Looking forward to tomorrow's puzzle and all the comments, have a great evening all!
(We are going to tip back a few cold ones, and play some golf on the WII)

Dennis said...

Hmmm.....nylon stalking.....sounds like a fun new sport.

melissa bee said...

wow .. stalking is my favorite exercise at tracker school but 'nylon stalking day,' ... i'd definitely sign up for that class.