google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday June 14, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

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Jun 14, 2008

Saturday June 14, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Themeless

Strange journey to the "Land of Oz" today. Too sudden a landing at the Munchkins' country I suppose. Had no idea who was "Mothers of Invention Inventor", could only think of Plato, who originated this "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"idiom. Did not know Ringo's oldest son ZAK, could only think of Julian, John Lennon's oldest son. ZANZIBAR was simply impossible for me, and ALYDAR was also completely foreign to me.

But I found my yellow brick road quickly, and conquered upper right corner after some mild struggle. Was not familiar with COLONNADE, had never heard of IDENTI-KIT, but ELAINE, INI and OSKAR helped.

The easiest part for me was the ALOE VERA corner. There was absolutely no IMPEDANCE (33D: Electrical resistance) there at all. With all those Blackwater shooting scandal talks last year, HESSIANS (Redux) came to me immediately.

The lower left also crumbled quickly, but I really dislike the clue for KAN (61D: Alternative to KS). Very lazy cluing. Would be very happy if it's reworded as Dorothy and " The Wizard of Oz" related, or simply "Neb. neighbor".

Then I went back to the thorny upper left corner, still could not get much done, and finally succumbed to Google. But hey, I arrived at the "Emerald City" and saw the great "Wizard of Oz".

I really like the below "?" clues today:

15A: Start of a number?: AREA CODE

27A: How much above?: A CUT

31A: Weapon of mass offense?: STINK BOMB. I wish its parallel ARMS (37A: Jacket parts) were clued as weaponry related.

44D: Shrinking flowers?: VIOLETS

Ready to tee off? Let's go!

Front nine:

1A: Island off Tanzania: ZANZIBAR. Here is the map. Wikipedia says the word "ZANZIBAR" probably derives from the Persian word "zangi-bar", meaning "Cost of the Blacks". And its main industries are spices, raffia and tourism. I like this zippy name.

I like country names with letter Z in them: Belize, Brazil, Czech Republic, Kazkhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia & Zimbabwe. Mozambique looks very intriguing, with Z & Q.

9A: Scruples: ETHICS. No "Moral standards" any more?

16A: Fill with false hope: LEAD ON

17A: Glimpsed surreptitiously: PEEKED AT

18A: San ___, Texas: ANGELO. ANGELO is also the villain in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure".

19A: Foot: suff: PED, as in "Biped" and "Moped", according to Dennis. "PEDI"or "PEDO" are prefixes for foot.

20A: Type of scheme: PYRAMID. I am not familiar with this stock scheme. Only know the "Ponzi Scheme". Here is definition from the dictionary: "A fraudulent moneymaking scheme in which people are recruited to make payments to others above them in a hierarchy while expecting to receive payments from people recruited below them. Eventually the number of new recruits fails to sustain the payment structure, and the scheme collapses with most people losing the money they paid in."

22A: Three-time runner-up to Affirmed in 1978 Triple Crown: ALYDAR. Who remembers those runner-ups? Exotic name though. Here is Belmont Stakes ALYDAR vs. Affirmed clip, very exciting finish. ALYDAR is in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame now.

30A: Kamoze of reggae fame: INI. This is his "Here Comes the Hotstepper". I think this constructor Allan E. Parrish loves reggae music also. Last time he clued another reggae singer MAXI Priest ("Close to you") in his puzzle.

36A: Actor Werner: OSKAR. Weren't you here yesterday?

38A: Follow obsessively: STALK

40A: Cover up: HIDE

41A: Like Batman and Robin: CAPED

43A: Tires out: ENERVATES

46A: City st. : AVE. Thought it would be better to clue it as "___, Caesar!" to pair with 62D: Caesar's seven: VII.

48A: Spinnaker, e.g.: SAIL. I forgot what a spinnaker is. Pieced "SAIL" together from down clue.

49A: Clampett patriarch: JED. Ah Uncle JED to to Jethro. Everything I know, I learned from doing crossword.

57A: Braided hairdo: PIGTAIL. Here is Chatty Cathy in PIGGTAIL hairdo. Is she original?

59A: Small deer: ROE. This ROE topped Canapé looks delicious, is it rosemary sprig on the top?

60A: Signaled subtly: WINKED

62A: Soothing plant: ALOE VERA

64A: Box up: ENCASE

67A: Mercenary soldiers: HESSIANS

Back nine:

1D: Mothers of Invention inventor: ZAPPA (Frank). Is this a gimme to you? Here is more information about "The Mothers of Invention" band. Why is "the" omitted in the clue?

2D: Staggering: AREEL

3D: Disadvantaged: NEEDY

4D: Ringo's oldest son: ZAK (Starkey). I am not familiar with him or "The Who" band.

5D: Frozen floating mass: ICE PACK. Does this clue sound OK to you?

6D: Training room offerings: BODY RUBS. Wherever you say!

7D: Hebrew month: ADAR. It's the Purim's month. Here are the 12 months in Jewish calendar: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul. So, there are total three 4-letter months in the calendar, I think I saw ELUL clued in a TMS puzzle before, not Iyar. I bet every one of those names has an unique origin, just like our calendar.

10D: Adjust, as margins: RETAB

9D: "Seinfeld" character: ELAINE. NEWMAN next time!

11D: Old crone: HAG

12D: Composite pic maker: IDENTI- KIT

13D: Portico: COLONNADE. "Colonne" is French for "Column", "Ade" is a simply a noun forming suffix.

14D: Alternative to chains: SNOW TIRES

21D: Talks indistinctly: MUMBLES

24D: Saint-Saëns' "___ Macabre": DANSE. Saw this clue in a Feb TMS puzzle. Here is Matisse's "La DANSE".

28D: Satchel's cousin: TOTE BAG

31D: Lewis and Clark's guide: SACAJAWEA. And 32D: On a tour: TRAVELING. Great parallel.

33D: Electrical resistance: IMPEDANCE. The symbol is Z. Not familiar with this electricity term. But "IMPEDANCE" is easily inferable.

34D: Playing piece: MAN. I don't get this one. What playing piece?

36D: Commandment word: SHALT

39D: WWII word: K RATIONS

42D: Most profound: DEEPEST

47D: Dracula's conquests: BRIDES. Isn't Dracula also CAPED?

51D: Hoard away: STASH

54D: "Two women" Oscar winner: LOREN (Sophie)

55D: Makes tight: SEALS. And Sealed it with a Kiss. Wow, what kind of dance is that?

I am just so sad that Tim Russert is gone. My Sundays will never be the same. I will miss him tomorrow, and next Sunday, and the Sunday after, and every Sunday... I will remember you, Tim Russert, always.

C.C.

37 comments:

Katherine said...

Good morning CC and gang. Whew, I didn't do so good today. I did know who Frank Zappa was, but did not know Ringo's son, or Ini....Good video of him. Now I know who he is.
I think 34D "man" is a chess piece, but I am not sure because I don't play chess. I had the most trouble with the NE corner.
Have a good weekend..........

NYTAnonimo said...

Had trouble in the NW. Had to google ALYDAR to finish the puzzle. I think PED should be clued as a prefix not a suffix. Otherwise a fairly smooth solve.

Katherine said...

I meant to say I had trouble with the NW corner.

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

Katherine,
You need to develop a taste for Reggae :-)

NYTanonimo,
You are right about PED prefix. I've added your input into the blog. Thank you.

Argyle said...

pedi - prefix, ped - suffix

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

Argyle,
Can you give me an example of PED being a suffix?

Jeanne said...

Morning all, That NW corner was very lonely this a.m. Several googles later, it was less lonely but still not happy.
C.C. I,too, will miss Tim Russert. I am somewhat of a news junkie and I loved his style, his kindness, enthusiasm and his objectivity.

Bill said...

1a, 4d, 5d, finally came after I called Mr. Google about ZANZIBAR. Then the others were OK. I dearly wanted 5d to be ICEBERG but it wasn't to be.Read 43a as tRies instead of tIres and even tho the answer was right I asked myself how that could be. Left it alone, came here and read the clue, checked the paper for a misprint and, lo and behold, not only can I not type, I also can't read!!!
Makes me wonder if I should have stayed in school for the lessons instead of the parties!!

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. & DFs - decent puzzle this morning; had to use the perps more than a few times.

C.C., I believe 'ped' is correct as a suffix. Pedi- or pedo- would be a prefix. Think 'biped' or 'moped' for example. Also, katherine's right, chess pieces are referred to as men.

Don't forget today is Flag Day.

Back to beautiful NJ today - hope it's an outstanding weekend for everyone, and an early Happy Father's Day for those of you who are dads.

C.C., congratulations on yet another milestone - 300,000. Simply amazing, and a testimony to your work.

Argyle said...

Don't stampede the centipedes.

NYTAnonimo said...

Noticed this puzzle was a few letters shy of a pangram and found that this constructor does a lot of scrabbly puzzles-see here.

Your right about ped Dennis and argyle.

NYTAnonimo said...

Can't spell in the mornings-should be you're right!

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

Bill,
RE: TRies Out. Too much partying, too many parties...

Dennis,
Thank you. Have a safe trip back home.

Crockett1947 & Lois & Csw,
Bon Voyage, wherever you are going!

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

Bill & Dennis et al,
I just dislike 5D: ICE PACK clue so much!

Jeanne,
I am so happy to find out that you are a news junkie.

Dr. Dad said...

Had a real tough time with the NW. Finally got it. Zanzibar - 1001 Arabian Nights. After a bit remembered Alydar but spelling was off at first. Kept wanting iceberg instead of icepack. And yes, the clue makes sense as a bunch of floating ice that comes together in a large mass is called pack ice or an ice pack. Should've been clued as the bag you put on your sprained ankle. Realized it was "pyramid" to solve that. Zappa was only thing that fit but I didn't know it had anything to do with Mothers of Invention.
San Angelo Texas was the home of a former American Wrestling Association wrestler named Cowboy Bob Ellis.
Wasn't colonnade in a previous puzzle as a clue for "portico?" Maybe not.
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed (Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs).
Oskar was here yesterday.
Impedance is the same as resistance but I think (and might be wrong) is more often used with AC current as opposed to resistance used with DC current.
Did you know that the K-ration was made by the Cracker Jack company?
Ped can be a suffix as in biped or as a prefix as in pedicure. Either is okay. Also ped as a suffix is the origin of centipede and millipede.
Happy Flag Day!
Rest in peace, Tim Russert.

Bill said...

C.C., At my young and tender age parties and partying tIre me , but I live for them.I'm still a party animal although quite domesticated!!!

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

*whew*

All I can say was that this puzzle was easier than today's NYT puzzle, but not my much. I struggled mightily with the NW corner, couldn't get a single clue, and finally abandoned it in despair to work on the rest of the puzzle. Not that the rest of the puzzle was that much easier, but at least I was able to get some of the answers (after too many false starts to mention).

I finally got the rest of the puzzle filled in and returned to that horrid NW corner. Fortunately, I finally managed to pull Frank ZAPPA out of the far recesses of my brain for 1D, which gave me ZANZIBAR for 1A and the rest fell into place relatively quickly after that.

The only outright guess I had to make in the entire puzzle was INI for 30A. Never heard of him. Never heard of IDENTIKIT (12D) either, but it looked like it could be a real word (although I toyed with INDENTAKIT for awhile).

Ah well, all's well that's ends well, I guess....

Anonymous said...

Tough one today - did OK south, but stuggled north - lots of googles & one-acrosses. Frank Zappa's original band was "The Monther's of Invention" - once I gave up on Plato, Zappa fell in, but it was hard to give up. Hope all have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Ever ride a moped?

The roe in the canape are fish eggs, not small deer.

Crockett1947 said...

Here's my original comment posted on yesterday's puzzle at 4:11 AM blog time: "Good morning, everyone. My wife is still packing for the cruise, so I did this one on-line. Hard one for me. I had to use Mr. G for a number of answers. I had Tasmania in mind for 1A. Got ZANZIBAR from our friend. Wanted MORALS for 9A, and had to Google ELAINE before I got ETHICS. I actually did the bottom half of the puzzle before filling in the top. Too many unknown references for me. I actually KNEW that Sophia LOREN won the Oscar for “Two Women.” Never heard of San ANGELO. INI Kamoze is also an unknown for me. As I finish this at 4:04 a.m. blog time, only 31 more to go until 300K. C.C., thank you so much for all of the effort and time you put into this blog. It has made a difference in my life and is a joy daily."

Crockett1947 said...

C.C., in chess, all of the playing pieces spoken of as a whole are chessmen, so an individual piece may be a man, but that is in common usage. Formally, there are pawns and pieces (rook, knight, bishop, king, queen). When our director wants the chorus to do that "dance," he tells us to do a "Rosie step." I don't know if that's common parlance or not. C.C., cruising to Alaska for a week on the Golden Princess, which should have wireless Internet access. We'll see how that works out. Forecast is typical Portland weather -- highs in upper 50s and lower 60s and lots of liquid sunshine! Have a great weekend!!

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

pleasant go of it today. i had to take help from you, c.c., on alydar/bodyrubs .. could not get that R crossing. you'd think a massage therapist would figure that out but i was thinking more along the line of bodyJABS.

i think pigtail was leftover from yesterday. snort.

and speaking of pigs ... Saint-Saëns' again today. i simply cannot think of this composer without remembering this (based on his symphony #3).

a bit of a cloak and dagger flow today: agents, arms, caped, sentinel, hessians, tnt, stinkbomb, stalk, stash, hide, peeked at, k-rations, and seals.

and for lois: man, buns, peeked at, winked, lead on, deepest, enervates, and body rubs.

nice proximity of ebb and sail.

@crockett: looking forward to hearing from you while cruising, have a great time!

@dennis: travel safely.

yes, very sad about tim russert. did not know what a stellar guy he was, such lovely stories emerging from colleagues.

happy father's day to all the dads.

Razz said...

So nice to see my home town in the puzzle, San Angelo 3 lakes and 3 rivers running through town. Yes it is dry here but we are an oasis in west Texas.

C.C. - How about this - I moped because I couldn't pedal my moped.

Oskar wasn't the only repeat from yesterday - seems as if we are infected with the swine flu (Piptails) But don't blame me - Oops that was yesterday too.

Anonymous said...

Razzberry

I have heard that
San Angelo is also the largest city in Texas that is not located on an interstate. Closing in on a 100,000 people.

Proud to call it my home also.

MH said...

Well I did this one without the assistance of Google - although I had to ask my wife about Ringo's oldest. Lots of Z's. Zappa was a gimme for any rock-n-roll fan over 50. I thought that 9D was a great clue since nearly all Seinfeld characters have 6 letter names. Even after I got 29A it could have been George or Elaine. I penciled in ICEBERG for 5D and that messed me up for a while. Didn't know ALYDAR, IDENTIKIT or COLONNADE and had to get them from the surrounding words. Still, I felt proud in the end that I did it without help. The sun is just coming out here in N. Cal. at 9:30AM.

carol said...

Morning C.C. and everyone,
Difficult "top half" today!! NW corner gave me a bad time, I couldn't think of Zappa (shame on me) and did not know 23A. NE corner was filled with problems..9D was not going to happen because I have never watched the show. I did get 18A but it didn't help that corner until much later.

C.C. I also thought 5D was odd, I kept coming up with iceberg or icefloe. Icepack makes sense after the explanation from drdad.

Lower (south) half was much easier.

Dennis, have fun and stay safe..we need your "comments" on your trip.

Crockett 1947, enjoy your cruise! Please let us know if you have any difficulties getting on and off the ship as I hear that is the biggest complaint from cruisers.

Lois, you should have fun with all the references in this puzzle - even the "aloevera" part.

So sorry about Tim Russert..he will be sorely missed!!

Superfrey said...

Nice puzzle.... I too struggled with the NW corner but knew Alydar and Zappa which led to Zanzibar.... finally got it all... took longer than it should have.
Crockett1947... enjoy your cruise. You will enjoy Alaska.

winfield said...

How can you not know Zappa with his 4 kids with God awful names?? Try living as: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen.

Ped as a prefix .. Back to the classics...In Greek the prefix ped is familiar in the words pediatrics, pedagogue, and others having to do with a child or children. In Latin it's from from pedalis meaning foot, from which we get pedal, pedestrian, pedestal, and pedicure.

Anonymous said...

Yes, "man" is a chess piece. Haven't you ever told your opponent to "move your man, already!"?

lois said...

Good evening CC et al, Ditto to all that has been said already. I struggled but liked a lot of the words finally, bump 'icepack'. Altho' drdad, your explanation was good and enjoyed all the info.

Melissa: You and Carol are way ahead of me today. 'Ethics' sure went out the window on this one! man, buns, arms, peeked at, winked, lead on, stalk (noun),deepest, NOW, TNT, enervates, body rubs,aloe vera. What a story! That about sums it up!

Anon 4:33: Yeah, I've said that before, but only under duress and in a different setting.

Had an 8K walk/run/(crawl) this AM for the Childrens hospital at 7AM. There was a 2 yr old who walked it. I beat her!!! A proud moment!

I'm off tomorrow to save a horse and ride a cowboy in OK.

Happy sails Crockett. Hope Dennis has/had a good trip home. As well as Csw wherever you're going.
Happy Father's Day to you dads.
CC: congratulations on the success! Dennis said it just right.

Enjoy this gorgeous evening.

Mr. Corcoran said...

salut les amis! have always wanted to go to zanzibar--and dar es salaam--this xword reminded me of that one...never heard of ice pack either, with the exception of the one that goes on one's head--i'm also annoyed that portico is clewed for colonnade...the famous portico of the Pantheon just doesn't match my understanding of colonnade...ah well, how about allee next time
c.c.: russert was well respected in Europe too unlike many pundits.

carol said...

Lois, where are you going tomorrow? Who are you going to ride? Are you out of school for the summer? We are awaiting the juicy details. Hope you have a wonderful time!

Razz said...

Jimbo: As a single city intity I believe you are correct about our town being the largest with no interstate. The twin cities of Bryan/College Station would have us beat and at the rate that College Station is growing it may soon surpass us anyway.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and to all the children that have (had) dads.

Make me think of this Clapton tune...My Father's Eyes

melissa bee said...

@razzberry: thanks for that link, perfect for father's day weekend.

lois said...

Carol: Going to Okla. Don't have a favorite ride...cowboy or otherwise...yet. School is out as of yesterday. Last night was graduation. I went to make damn good and sure that some of those kids are OUTTA HERE!!!! Others I will miss terribly. And 2 of my favorite coworkers are moving on, so it was a day & night of parties! Still got up at 5 AM and will do likewise tonight/tomorrow AM. Another party is starting now. See why I'm going to miss these guys? Happy times! But it's just going to give us another city to tear up eventually. It's all good.

Razzberry: Ditto to what Melissa said. Outstanding! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Hi, C.C. and gang, Shocked myself by finishing this without help. Took awhile. I was a fan of Zappa so got off to a good start. Didn't remember colonnade but filled in.

300,000 and counting! Grand accomplishment, C.C. Congrats.

Tim Russert will be missed by many. Gone too soon.

No Sunday puzzle for me. Happy Father's Day to the dads.

For all fellow news junkies, I heard that Tom Brokaw will host a special edition of Meet the Press today.

Kit

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

Razzberry,
I like that song too. It's my blog theme song for Sunday (June 15).

Lois,
Have a safe trip!

Kit,
Yes, I heard that too.