google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

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May 6, 2008

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

THEME: TV DAD (X-RATED)

17A: Robert Reed role: MIKE BRADY

61A: John Goodman role: DAN CONNER

10D: Reed Foxx role: FRED SANFORD

25D: Hugh Beaumont role: WARD CLEAVER

26D: Ed O'Neill role: AL BUNDY

The SUSPENSE: X

21A: One Ritter: TEX

36A: PlaysStation competitor: XBOX

64A: Nasal spray brand: SINEX

6D: Trojan War hero: AJAX

23D: "Das Kapital" writer: MARX

28D: Wheel shaft: AXLE

46D: Response to "Who's up?": I'M NEXT

RATE:

11D: Be worthy of : RATE

15A: Shipping box: CRATE

29A: Not for kids: R RATED

The REASONS:

14A: Reach rival: ORAL B

41D: Gary Lewis's backup: PLAYBOYS

26A: Diarist Nin: ANAÏS (Erotica author)

52D: Boredom: ENNUI. L'ENNUI (An erotic French film about sexual obsession)

53D: Lustful look: LEERS

Is this the fruit that rots on the tree? Are these trees that every day leaf anew? Oh poor sorry Devil, forget what I said yesterday, I am NOT going to sell my soul, not even for one day. I don't desire this kind of useless knowledge. Bring me back my OMEGA watch and my HERMÈS Birkin.

The difficulty of this puzzle will put USGA to shame! Omigod, so many unknown hazards and traps, so intimidating a rough, so narrow a fairway. I've never played a golf course as tough as this one. I've never seen any green with such breaks and slopes. I could not even see the tee boxes, let alone the doglegs. What a Titanic struggle! Except OMAR Sharif, I know none of those actors and their TV roles.

Heavy flirting with Google this morning, and it's not an enjoyable experience. Fun to see YOU'RE and ET TU, I'M NEXT in the same puzzle. Again, I like how XBOX anchors the whole grid.

ACROSS:

1A: "Moll Flanders" writer: DEFOE (Daniel). Not an easy name to fish out of my brain. He wrote "Robinson Crusoe".

6A: Abbr. for Edwards or Andrews: AFB (Air Force Base)

9A: Zimbalist, Jr. of "The F. B. I.": EFREM. No, I've never heard of the actor or the TV series.

15A: Shake up: JAR. Hmm, I like how the clue sounds.

19A: Riga populace: LETTS. Ugh, I only knew LATVIAN.

22A: Mozart movie: AMADEUS. Oscar best picture 1984.

24A: Beagle passenger: DARWIN. DARWIN's ship is HMS Beagle.

27A: What to make with Monty?: A DEAL. No idea. Have never heard of Monty Hall or "Let's Make a Deal".

33A: Extra: SPARE

38A: __ contendere: NOLO

40A: Abner's old-time-radio pal: LUM. No, I've never heard of this radio show.

41A: Actress Jo Ann: PFLUG. No, no, no. What a strange name!

43A: Sofer of soaps: RENA. Vaguely remember her name.

44A: Kicks back: LOLLS. Really? Is it the same?

45A: Soccer position: GOALIE

47A: Bleak, to Blake: DREAR

49A: Clear out: EMPTY

51A: "Wild one" singer: RYDELL (Bobby). Unknown to me. Is the song good? Is it wild?

55A: Winter Palace name: ROMANOV. They ruled until 1917.

59A: Marshal under Bonaparte: NEY (Michel). "The bravest of the brave". Nailed it this time.

65A: "___ So Vain": YOU'RE. Who on earth are you singing about?

67A: Centerpiece: HEART. Will miracle happen if you love something/someone with all your heart?

69A: Holey cheese: SWISS

DOWN:

1D: Like some stadium: DOMED

2D: Actress Slezak: ERIKA. Total stranger to me.

3D: Sick-day abuser: FAKER

5D: Oceanic flows: EBB TIDES

8D: William Jennings __: BRYAN. No, I've never heard of him.

9D: French pastry: ÉCLAIR. Want some? Like the coffee ÉCLAIR? That cherry macaroon looks so delicious.

31D: Hebrew month: ELUL. The 12th month of the Jewish calendar. The others are: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, and Av.

33D: Smelting waste: SLAG

43D: Bank take-back: REPO

44D: Village Voice award: OBIE

48D: Actor Stoltz: ERIC. Unknown to me.

55D: Impulsive: RASH

57D: Poet Van Duyn: MONA. Is this a gimme for you?

C.C.

43 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - a real bear of a puzzle today, and not just because my c.d.m. hangover is making even breathing difficult.
C.C., Charles Darwin's ship was the H.M.S. Beagle. You're So Vain was supposedly about Warren Beatty. Lolls does work for "kicks back"; both mean to take it easy. And "Wild One" was one of the early rock and roll songs from my era; great dance song.
Hope everyone has a better day than I'm gonna have.

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

Dennis,
I'm glad you struggled too. I've updated the blog re DARWIN. But what does H.M.S. stand for? I was actually thinking of "Wild Thing" when I read 51A.

Dennis said...

C.C., H.M.S. stands for "His/Her Majesty's Service."

Dr. Dad said...

Yup! Dennis got here before me because my browser wouldn't bring up the darn Tuesday blog site. #@@!!!!**. This was a pretty easy one - only 10 minutes. Got a bit hung up in the lower left but only about a minute after I got Romanov. I always think of Erika Eleniak, not Slezak. Sinex and Oral B in the same puzzle. I didn't notice the "X" rated theme but now that it has been pointed out I bet Lois gets excited, if she isn't already. The FBI - ranks right up there with Felony Squad, Streets of San Francisco, Adam-12. Charles Darwin was a passenger on the ship HMS Beagle that traveled to several places, including the Galapagos Islands. While on this trip, he formulated his ideas for "On The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection." Monty Hall - "Is it behind door number one, two, or three? Let's make a deal!!!" One of the all time great game shows. JoAnn Plug played Lt. Dish (the nurse) in the movie MASH. I would've liked to have been John Shuck playing Painless Pole Waldowski.

Dr. Dad said...

I thought it was His/Her Majesty's Ship, especially since we are talking about an oceangoing vessel.

Dennis said...

drdad, yeah, you're right; both are correct, but yours is probably more appropriate since it is a ship.

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

Drdad,
Thanks for the DARWIN's Origin of Species information. Good to know. Is PFLUG a popular surname? It just sounds so made-up to me. The PLUG in your comment is easier.

Katherine said...

Whew, this was a rough one today. Mr. Google helped with all the TV dads. Bobby Rydell was a "teen idol" back in the day CC. The song was "ok". I think I'll pass on the eclairs, but they looked good. I heard the song You're So Vain was written about Mick Jagger, but Warren Beatty could be it! I guess we'll never know, unless Carly tells us someday!
Have a good day everyone.

Dick said...

Good morning gang. I used my full yearly allotment of Googles on this one puzzle. I don't have much interest in movies or TV so I really struggled with this one. Guess I am not the only one to struggle based on your comments. The Beagle passenger was a total mental block because the first thing I thought of was a flea and could not get that out of my mind. Superfry haw is the knee coming along?

Anonymous said...

Good morning CC et al, Not a 10 min one for me...drdad, I bow at your feet! I got the X rated theme right away...I was on THAT!Mozart and Gary Lewis in the same puzzle, I had to laugh. I enjoyed the memory trip w/the names of the TV Dads, but wonder why w/mother's day coming up they didn't do mothers. This would've been cuter for June. I had to laugh at the Monty Hall entry. He could make a deal! And Pflug? Never heard of her.

Dennis: hope you can 'loll' around today and recover quickly. A little bite of the snake that bit you is a good remedy. I left Margaritaville standing. Acquired a sombrero and a real cute mariachi band along the way. No tequila sunrise though.

Enjoy this quiet but beautiful day. It will be a long one.

Bill said...

Hey All,
Not real bad but still had to casll Mr. Google a few times.
NW corner was a bear 'cause I couldn't remember MIKEBRADY and didn't know "Moll Flanders".
"Monty" threw me because I could not get Python out of my head but when WARDCLEAVER and RENE Descartes came up the light bulb finally flickered and I remembered HALL ans "Let's Make A Deal"
So, in the grander scheme of things, I guess it wasn't too bad except for my failing memory !!

Barry G. said...

*phew*

I did managed to make it all the way through, but I had a lot of false starts and my eraser got quite the workout. Thank heavens I don't do these in pen!

It helps that I grew up watching American TV in the 70s and used to watch reruns of "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Brady Bunch". I couldn't remember the names of many of the actors right off the bat, but I was at least familiar enough with them to know when the cross clues were correct (including Jo Ann PFLUG -- what an odd name!)

Not my favorite puzzle, since it relied so heavily on pop culture references. I mean, "Abner's old-time radio pal" followed by "Actress Jo Ann" followed by "Writer Waugh" followed by "Soler of soaps"? I got about 3 or 4 clues in before I started thinking, "Hmmmmm... something tells me c.c. is going to have a wee bit of difficulty with this one..."

Bill said...

Lois,
The WHOLE band ???
My goodness woman you DO have a strong constitution. If I may ask, Where did they put there instruments ??
And if that's too personal to deserve a reply I'll understand.

Bill said...

there ? instruments.......How about "their"
Like I said, the light bulb came on very weakly !

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

Barry,
I don't believe you are the only one who had "a lot of false starts". This whole puzzle is a Sisyphean task!

Lois,
"Mozart and Gary Lewis in the same puzzle, I had to laugh". Why? I don't get it.

Anonymous said...

Bill: since the 'lock box' was too small, we used the 'tool' shed.

CC: First of all, the style of music between Mozart and Lewis is polarized, and then in Amadeus, Mozart frequently acted like Gary's father Jerry with his childish and zany behavior. I adore Mozart but to put him anywhere near Gary Lewis...who I also liked... but the extremes struck me funny.

Dr. Dad said...

William Jennings Bryan - U.S. Secretary of State 1913-1915; Democratic and/or Populist nominee for President - 1896, 1900, 1908; member of the House of Reps from Nebraska (my home state) from 1891-1895. Against Darwinism/evolution (ironic that they are both a part of today's puzzle) and was a witness for the prosecution in the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925 that tried to uphold a law banning the teaching of evolution in public schools (in this case it as a school in Tennessee. A parody of this trial was done in the movie "Planet of the Apes" starring Charlton Heston.

Anonymous said...

Letts just say this was an "x"cellent puzzle.

We partied hard for c.d.m. and now we can't find our sinex!! We were Wild Ones!!!!

What the pflug ??!!

Kim said...

Hey Guys, I was out here at 5:30 this morning, but no one was here! I breezed through this one today! I loved the TV Dad, got them all! Guess it shows my age, but thats ok.

Carly Simon was on Fox News and someone paid $50,000 to have lunch with her and she told this person and swore them to secrecy. I'm sure, one day, it'll come out...

Have a great day today!

Superfrey said...

Xcellent puzzle.... got all but Pflug (never heard of her) and the down clue Playboys....Got all of the TV dads though...a one google puzzle

Anonymous said...

annon 8:49: Your comments cracked me up. Good job! Great use for pflug!

Dennis said...

Lois, how does one get 'taken to the tool shed'?

MH said...

Most difficult puzzle in a long time. I don't watch sitcoms so I didn't know any of the TVDADs. The other actors also didn't register in my memory. The SW corner eluded me completely. Even oralb got me. Lots of Google required to complete. I'd say I got less than 50% of the words, a new all-time low for me.

Anonymous said...

Dennis: just depends on the size of the instrument.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning everyone. C.C., what a clever ferreting out of sub themes today. Amazing. I didn't care for all of the TV/movie/entertainer references today, but I was able to infer all of them. Loved the 24A clue -- very clever. I also thought 6A was a good clue. I figured there would be American entertainment references that would be totally foreign for you. I don't begrudge you the Google visits at all. Dennis, remember that your pain is self-inflicted. PFLUG is a German surname; don't know about how "popular" it is. Mixing ultra classical genius Mozart with Rock 'n Roll genius Gary Lewis would be cause for a smile. Lois, you are bad, bad, bad, LOL! (And that's Good!)

Anonymous said...

JRF SAYS I'm surprised at most of you I read these comments every day and wonder how you can say they were easy when i struggled so. todays I thought was easy but as someone else alluded to I guess I'm showing my age. have a great rest of the day.

Mr. Corcoran said...

Oy vey--i phlug the coop before i had a chance to finish this one...your comments were a great antidote to the ennuis of clewing TV shows that were not available in Sweden's 2 channel 3 hrs of educational programming each day BC (before cable).
Lois you must be a mensa graduate!

Dr. Dad said...

Eric Stolz - played Rocky Dennis in "Mask" with Cher; played Martin Brundle (son of Seth Brundle/The Fly) in The Fly II; was chosen before Michael J. Fox to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future. He can, however, be seen in the opening scenes at the Twin Pines Mall driving the DeLorean just before it goes back in time to 1955. Rather than reshoot with Fox, they left those takes in the movie.

Dennis said...

Interesting....a 'mensa graduate'. Never knew that you could graduate from them. Or is that what happens when you're too smart for Mensa?

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

Crockett1947,
Remember your yesterday's "Nothing for Lois today?" comment? Look at what happened today! This Editor Mr. Williams obviously knows what a spicy girl like Lois wantS EXactly. After Dennis explained Beagle & DARWIN to me this morning, I liked 24A immediately.

Lois,
How many members are there in a typical mariachi band?

Drdad,
Thanks for the BRYAN & ERIC information. Very appreciated!

Thomas,
R U in Sweden now?

melissa bee said...

morning all ..

i caught on to both themes pretty quickly, which helped alot. still got hung up on a few. same problem as dick with the beagle passenger .. kept thinking flea.

caused myself a problem by misspelling goalie (goalee) and defoe (dafoe). can usually spot a playboy a mile away but didn't see that one coming.

also have always heard that you're so vain refers to jagger, who actually sings on the recording. but after reading this:
http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.html
i gotta go with beatty.

lois - you're right, hope we'll see a tv mom theme soon.

dennis - wishing you a gentle seis de mayo.

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

Melissa,
I read the article you posted. Very interesting. Didn't Annette Bening also claim that the Colombia Picture Logo was modeled after her? What a couple!! By the way, are you into skating?

Boomer said...

Having viewed my share of old sitcoms, I didn't have much trouble with the TV Dad clues. One thing that occurred to me is that XBOX is one of only two answers with 2 X's in a four letter word. The other is FOXX, Jimmy (double x) who is in Cooperstown, or Redd, who happens to be a clue in this puzzle.

Anonymous said...

CC: that waS EXtra funny!!!! You cracked me up. As far as members in a 'typical' mariachi band? I have no idea. That varies as does the size of their instruments. In Mexico, I saw upwards of 8-10 great members. Then here in the little restaurants, I've seen 2-4. There are always stringed instruments but sometimes there are also brass ones. Guess it depends on where you are. Regardless, it makes for a good time.

Katherine said...

Kim, I can't believe you breezed through this one! I really had a hard time. Sometimes I am here real early too, and CC has not done her commentary yet!

melissa bee said...

c.c. - i like to watch ;-)

Anonymous said...

I got all the TV dads right away...it wasn't even a challenge. I guess I watch too much tv. I remember Joann Pflug because she was in M*A*S*H and was married to Chuck Woolery who was the first host of The Wheel of Fortune.

Yeah, I watch too much tv.

Crockett1947 said...

C.C., maybe the number of members in a mariachi band depends upon how many female players there are.

Anonymous said...

Boomer: Great observation on the double x theme. How did you make out on the Derby? We came out on top, which is always a good thing. Just wondering how you did. Col John came in 6th and Big Brown is who we went with all the way. He was remarkable! Great race!

Boomer said...

Lois, I came out great on the Derby. I would have bet on Colonel John, but since we didn't get to the track, I had no wager, so I figure I'm 20 bucks ahead. Other than the occassional lottery ticket, I only bet on bowling now. But the USBC is in Las Vegas next year so I better start saving.

Anonymous said...

Ugh-- got stuck middle right. Too many actors and characters for me. I bet my husband would have finished it no sweat, though.

Oh, well, on to tomorrow.

Crockett1947 said...

Lois, remember that the best is underneath (actual name of a very nice lingerie shop that we used to have in Portland run by a lady named Best in the basement of a beauty salon).

Anonymous said...

Hi all,
Enjoyed all the comments. I'm showing my age, too, since I breezed through this one. Usually get hung up on about the same things as all of you.

How about Jamie Foxx? Played Ray Charles in the biopic. Terrific actor. Don't know who Jimmy Foxx is. Redd Foxx of Sanford and Son was a very funny man.

I always heard "You're So Vain" was about Warren Beatty. Could Mick possibly be vain with that face, those lips, etc.???