google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Norma Steinberg

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May 7, 2008

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: BASEBALL JARGON

17A: Cosmetics biz?: MAKE-UP GAME

61A: Where picketers march?: STRIKE ZONE

10D: Hugging?: SQUEEZE PLAY

24D: Pedestal with casters?: BASE ON BALLS

A stunner, isn't it? What an ingenious idea to place SODAS (POPS, 39A: Fizzy drinks) at the very center of the grid. This is definitely not a Pop-up, or a Pop foul, it's a dazzling Chase Utley style home run POP!

And BEERS (58A: Brew-skis:), BOW (57A: Respond to applause), WINCE (66A: Cringe), SPEED (69A: Exceed the limit), NINE (56D: Supreme Court count), IRON (65A: Laundry room appliance. Lou Gehrig the "Iron Horse" or, Cal Ripken Jr. the "Iron Man", thank you Drdad and Kim), all baseball related. Gorgeous! Take me out to the ball park please!

It would be perfect if QUAD (16A: Campus heart) were clued as _ Cities River Bandits (Midwest League, class A), and EAST (12A: Vane heading) were clued as American/National League ___.

No need to call Mr. Google this morning. However, I did have about 10 minutes of nervous flirting with our Quest support guy in Idaho earlier. He was literally dreamy. Our DSL light kept blinking and I could not get access to the internet. Somehow I hit the wrong switch button, and the damned modem would not work. So be prepared. I might experience this glitch again and the blog entry might not be always published at the normal time.

ACROSS:

1A: Soggy: MOIST

14A: Kind of tube or ear: INNER

15A: Amo, ams, __: AMAT. I have a question regarding "Veni, vidi, vici". How do you say "I came, I saw and I did not conquer" in Latin?

21A: Those guys in Paris: ILS. Hmm, definitely not my type. Instrument Landing System (ILS) looks more appealing to me now.

22A: For all __ and purpose: INTENTS

24A: Big inits. in camping: BSA (Boy Scouts of America). Also, 28D: Camp shelters (TENTS).

25A: Milk of Managua: LECHE. Spanish for milk. I had no idea, I pieced this word together from down clues.

26A: Health food store purchase: VITAMIN E. I like NUTS for snacks, so no need for Vitamin E supplements. See also PILL (64A: Medicinal tablet).

30A: Source of danger: HAZARD

42A: Dragged behind: IN TOW

44A: Close: NIGH. Do you use this word in your daily conversation?

45A: Fibs: LIES. Oh, how I want a STEAL, Ichiro style!

46A: Mickey Mouse man: DISNEY

48A: Store's gross less expenses: NET SALES

53A: Backslide: RELAPSE. I like the SLIDE in the clue.

56A: A. T. M. maker: N.C.R.

DOWNS:

3D: Printer's purchase: INKS. And Print measure: ENS

5D: Statement of the obvious: TRUISM. I like Colbert's TRUTHINESS.

13D: Hand-held computers: PDAS (Personal Digital Assistant)

18D: Great topography: PLAINS

25D: Introductions: LEAD-INS. (Update: LEAD is a baseball reference too.)

26D: Legitimate: VALID

27D: Qom resident: IRANI. Why not bring out the "Quds Force" in play?

32D: Ms. Zellweger: RENEE. I like her in Cold Mountain only.

40D: Bit of clowning: SHTICK. My favorite clue.

47D: Response to a superior: YES SIR

49D: Threaded nails: SCREWS. NO comment!

51D: So out it's in: RETRO. Like this clue.

55D: Hang loose: LOLL. This is the "LOLL" I am familiar with, not yesterday's "Kicks back" clue.

57D: Mother Hubbard's quest: BONE. I had no idea who Mother Hubbard was, got it from across clues. I don't know anything about nursery rhyme.

59D: Garden crasher: WEED. Great clue.

62D: Singer Stewart: ROD. Have I told You Lately That I Love YOU?

63D: Postal code: ZIP. I like the appearance of both Z and Q in today's puzzle. Very zippy, isn't it? Does ZQ remind you of someone?

C. C.

54 comments:

  1. Good morning, C.C. and gang - I enjoyed this puzzle, with all the baseball references; everything flowed smoothly as well.
    C.C., haven't heard 'nigh' used in probably 30 years.
    I don't know latin well enough to answer your question, but I'm sure one of our more astute members will have it.
    Make it an outstanding hump day!

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  2. Good morning cc Dennis etal. This one was a snap and I think I got it done in Dennis time (which is pretty damn fast). No hang ups and no Googles. cc again I agree with ILS as instrument landing system just like we did the last time it showed up.

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  3. cc like Dennis I do not know Latin and I struggle with Amo, Amas Amat.

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  4. Good morning CC and gang! I got most of this one, I missed a few. CC, have you heard "Have I Told You Lately" by Van Morrison? It's my favorite version of that song. It is so beautiful.
    Have a good day everyone. I'll be back to read all the blogs.

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  5. Dennis,
    I am not surprised that you don't know Latin for "I did not conquer".

    Dick,
    Most of the men have problems with Amo, Amas, Amat.

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  6. C.C., I think you need to explain your response to Dick & me.

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  7. Actually, I think the only problem 'most men' would have with it is that they'd rearrange it...

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  8. Nice puzzle... I had only one foul tip... Omani for Qom resident which of course made me struggle with Vitamin E...but got it on my next swing... other than that a breeze... On the same baseball theme, C.C. Joe Mauer broke up the no hitter last night :-) Of course the Twins still lost... to bad.

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  9. Fourth verse of "Away in a Manger" ends with "and stay by my cradle 'til morning is nigh." Nice intersection for printers measures and inks. Alas for poor Mother Hubbard's dog. He got no bone. Another "Nebraska" reference - it is part of the Great Plains.
    C.C. - 25D "LEAD" Ins. Another baseball term there. Too bad they couldn't have worked 62D some way so they got A-Rod. Would've been a good intersection with 61A. But you do have 65A "Iron" for the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig.
    10 minutes today. Another easy one.
    Occupational Safety & Health Professional Day, School Nurse Day.
    Lusitania sunk on May 7, 1915 (WWI).
    Have a nice day!

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  10. Dennis and Dick - maybe males are more interested in coming, seeing, and conquering than all of that love stuff.

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  11. I found a reference for "Veni, Vidi, NOT Vici."

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  12. Morning, all!

    Fairly straightforward puzzle for me today. Took me a bit longer than usual with a few false starts (SEE was too obvious an answer for "Catch sight of" and so I initially put SPY instead), but I managed to get everything.

    I would assume it's "Veni, Vidi, non Vici," but I could be wrong.

    And is it my imagination, or have we been seeing LOLL a lot recently?

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  13. Did anyone know it is pronounced
    Way-nee, Wee-dee, Wee-kee?

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  14. Katherine,
    Thanks for the email link. It's great. I just love the beautiful lyrics of this song. It suits my mood this morning.

    Dennis,
    "Amo, AmaS, Amat"
    To men, S is the root word, and VICI is all they have in their mind.

    Drdad,
    IRON is a bit of stretch for Lou Gehrig. Nobody calls him as IRON. It has to be IRON Horse. LEAD: Shouldn't it be LEADOFF? Where is the NOT Vici reference? Thanks for pointing out the correct pronunciation.

    Barry,
    This is the second time I saw LOLL/LOLLS in a TMS puzzle since Jan 21.

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  15. I too breezed through this one! Woke up late, but got this done quickly! I too think this one flowed very nicely. Too bad 65A couldn't reference "Iron" Man Cal Ripken. Great ball player and now what an advocate for baseball and kids. Ripken Stadium (for the Iron Birds) in Maryland is one of the best parks for minors.
    Now on with my day. Hope you all have a smooth hump day!

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  16. Only two LOLLs since January? Hmmmmm....

    I've been doing the NYT puzzle online lately, so maybe I'm just conflating the two puzzles in my mind.

    Oh -- and with regard to "nigh," I always think of a cartoon with a bearded man in a robe holding a sign that reads, "REPENT! THE END IS NIGH!" Not sure why, though...

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  17. Superfrey,
    How come you know so much about Twins baseball?

    Kim,
    "Iron Man". I did not even think of Cal Ripken Jr. I've updated the blog entry. Thanks.

    Drdad,
    IRON Horse is in!

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  18. I know it is a stretch for iron and Lou Gehrig - was just pointing out how close it was. It may be referred to as Lead Off but when a runner is getting ready to steal second base he can be off of first and out to a big "lead" before running.

    not vici

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  19. Say Hey, I got through this one. Enough baseball clues to keep me interested. But I had KOA for the campground letters for awhile, so "Base on Balls" was slow to come. I do object to Gross sales less expensive being called Net Sales. You don't have to be Warren Buffet to know that Gross Sales less expenses is Net Profit. Gross Sales less RETURNS is Net Sales. Oh well, I forgive. Hope the Twins get more than one hit tonight. Maybe they can execute a squeeze play with Gomez. We need decent weather in the windy city so there's no need for a make up game. This isn't Paul Harvey -- Good Day!

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  20. Dennis, you are correct with the in coming, seeing, and conquering. Maybe that is why I had so much trouble with Latin as I was trying to learn the wrong phrase.

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  21. Good morning CC et al, Loved this puzzle and loved the theme. Good stuff. I had Latin, so that was easy for me.

    CC that was so funny about men having trouble w/amo, amas, amat...a 'truism' if I ever heard one!

    Katherine, Van Morrison anything is outstanding.

    drdad: I'm w/you on the Great Plains reference. I'll be in OK next month.

    I relate to Mother Hubbard on many different levels.

    Enjoy this gorgeous day!

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  22. Drdad,
    "vinco, vincere, vici, victus" is just different conjugation, isn't it?

    Lois,
    How to say "I did not conquer" in Latin?

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  23. Hi All, Sorry to be so late. Had to take Mom to Dr's this AM.
    Had the puzzle done before I left though. Easy (for me, anyway) All seemed to fall in place EXCEPT.....
    21a; could not fit "Parisites" !!
    so I settled for only 3 letters.
    CYA Later

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  24. Bill,
    I hope everything will be fine with your Mom.

    Lois,
    One more question: How to add NO to "
    Omni Vincit Amor"?

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  25. This is such a fine morning in the Berg that I am going to go out to the golf course and see if I can lower my handicap a point or two. Have a great over the hump day.

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  26. C.C. I like the Twins... I live in Naples, FL and the Twins Spring Training is right up the road in Fort Myers. I see them a lot during Spring Training. Gavin Floyd of the White Sox had a no-hitter going last night for 8 1/3 innings. I used to work for the Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies Single A team) and saw Floyd there. The Phillies traded him 2 years ago. Since he had a no-no going ESPN was cutting in on the game with the Twins last night in case history was made.... but alas, Mauer doubled off of him after one out in the 9th. Go Twins !!

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  27. c.c. - I think so but am not an expert on Latin. While searching for "did not conquer in Latin" several sites came up with vince, vinc, vic, etc. noting that they all have to do with vici for conquer.

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  28. Dick - I hope you "vici" the course. Have fun.

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  29. CC: It was around the time when fire was discovered that I had Latin. I would just add 'non' before vincit. Besides, it's the veni that men have the most interest in.

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  30. Yes! Finished in record time with no outside help. I got a little stuck when I put KOA for 24A. Once I got that resolved it was finished in (as dick put it) Dennis time. I figured CC would love this puzzle with all the baseball references and she even picked up more than I saw.

    I'm also a great fan of Van Morrison and "Brown Eyed Girl" is my favorite of his songs. I also love the Jimmy Buffet cover of this song.

    A great start to the day!

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  31. Lois - your comment on our interests is soooo funny! It cracks me up. Might even be true!

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  32. Having fallen in love with a girl in my freshman Latin class and wishing to convey that sentiment in Latin, I asked the instructor how to change Caesar's famous quote. Here it is.
    Veni, vici, vinci (I came, I saw, I conquered) becomes
    Veni, vici, victus sum (I came, I saw, I was conquered)

    jfm

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  33. This puzzle was a crackerjack! We made it to home in no time!

    For it's veni, vici, venci you're out, at the ol' ball game!

    Lois, you are wicked!) :)

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  34. Superfrey;
    No knee reports lately ! How's it going? Hope you're mobile again.

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  35. Good morning everyone. C.C., you might want to edit 14A to "Kind" instead of "King." I had trouble accepting VITAMINE as the answer for 26A until I realized it was VITAMIN E, LOL! Liked the clue. I also misread 6A as "Butts in" and finally re-read it and said, "Duh." I also enjoyed the clues for 18D and 24D. Was 55D a gimmee for everyone after yesterday? On 45A, how do LIES and STEAL relate to each other in this puzzle's context? Re: 49D: So if someone is "nailed"....(sorry, can't pass up an opening like that). C.C., ZQ, that's YOU!! Drdad, you are a fountain of information. Thank you. Boomer, enjoyed your post about KOA. Now where's the rest of the story? Bill, loved your French comment.

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  36. speedy today as all of you undoubtedly were...liked nigh for close (close is one of those tricky homonyms, no?), but was it vitamin E or vitamine--an acceptable Brit. Eng. variant spelling...and finally a bit of espagnol but too late for the fiesta--but for the french bashers out there: please desist with the amerikanismus, what ho!

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  37. Bill.... my knee is slow to mend... I am mobile but still have a lot of swelling... thanks for asking....It is keeping me off of the golf course which is driving me crazy.... this is prime time for golf down here.

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  38. Jfred,
    What a wonderful QUIP! I like it.

    Crockett1947,
    "Veni, Vici, Victus Sum"! You are incredible! I thought of thief when I saw the LIES, then I connected it to STEAL in baseball. Just my free thinking.

    Bill,
    Yes, I ditto Crockett1947's comment on your ILS. Parfait!!

    Thomas,
    "please desist with the amerikanismus, what ho!" Why is that? I don't get it.

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  39. Anon: I know! And I get no rest!

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  40. See? I'm just so busy adding that HOT spice to life, I can't even spell my own name!

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  41. I don't understand Thomas' comment.

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  42. I came, I saw, I conquered

    I always thought it was veni, vidi, vici. [wikipedia]

    "Vēnī, vīdī, and vīcī are first person perfect tense forms of the three Latin verbs veniō, venīre; videō, vidēre, and vincō, vincere."

    The version cited here (veni, vici, vinci) is more like, "I came, I conquered, he conquers" -- sort of.

    And "Veni, vici, victus sum" is more like, "I came, I conquered, I was conquered."

    C.C.: ""vinco, vincere, vici, victus" is just different conjugation, isn't it?"

    With Latin verbs, it is common to describe it with four parts: first person present (I conquer), infinitive (to conquer), past (I conquered), past participle (conquered). You can check that this is the usual approach. [google].

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  43. Hugh,
    Thank you very much! My response to Crockett1947 should be "Veni, Vidi, Victus Sum", though "Veni, Vici, victus Sum" was pretty good too!!

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  44. RE 27D Qom resident. We could have tried "Mahdi", the 12th imam, who the Shi'ite's believe to hide (reside) in a well near the holy city of Qom. But "Irani" is a better fit.

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  45. Thomas,
    RE: PARISITES et amerikanismus. I did not know that you are a French until today. But can't we s'amuser un peu??? Pourquoi cherches-tu midi à quatorze heures?

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  46. Der katze,
    Is "Mahdi Army" in any way related to this MAHDI you are talking about?

    200

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  47. C.C., Thanks for the LIE/STEAL explanation. Free thought, free spirit.

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  48. Thomas,
    please don't take offense to my comment re; 21a. Refer to Wed, April 30 comments and you'll see that it was meant for DRDAD who simply posed a question.

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  49. Lois I noticed that you misspelled your name and I wondered if it was a Freudian slip as I notice that you are always thinking about being loid.

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  50. Dick: That is so funny! I'm sure my Freudian slip was showing. Freud and I go way back! I always say one thing and mean my mother! Whether it's loid or laid, it's all in the lie.

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  51. Lois, I would have bet you had a Frederick's slip instead of a Freudian slip, LOL!

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  52. 200, I believe so, but could be wrong. Shi'ite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr created the Mahdi Army with a small group of roughly 500 Shi'ite seminary students in the Sadr City district of Baghdad.
    Muqtada has strong ties with Qom and the Irani Mullahs.
    The belief is the Hidden Imam will return shortly before the Final Judgement and the end of history. Imam Mahdi will return at the head of the forces of righteousness and do battle with the forces of evil in one, final, apocalyptic battle. So it's logical to me that Mugtada would name his army after the Mahdi.

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  53. Crockett: You know I do...if that's what you want to call it!

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