google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday June 29, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

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Jun 29, 2008

Sunday June 29, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: YOUNG ADULTS

24A: Start of Cleveland Amory quip: THERE ARE

36A: Part 2 of quip: THREE TERRIBLE AGES

62A: Part 3 of quip: OF CHILDHOOD

68A: Part 4 of quip: ONE TO TEN, TEN

92A: Part 5 of quip: TO TWENTY, AND TWENTY

111A: End of quip: TO THIRTY

Oh dear, 22 QUIP/QUOTE puzzles later, only now do I realize that they all have distinctive theme titles.

Besides CHILDHOOD, there is also a BOYHOOD (87D: Green years). ELDEST (14A: Superlatively senior) is related to the theme as well, though tangentially.

Nothing exciting about this puzzle, or any of Olschwang's QUIP puzzles. Blah, blah, BLAHS (47D: Doldrums). Quite a few entertainment names, some of them are very obscure to me:

84A: Brown with a big band: LES

120A: Old-time actress Ada: REHAN. She died long long time ago (1916), who the heck has heard of her?

1D: Garr of "Tootsie": TERI. Know her. Had no idea that she was nominated for Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, 1982) for her role in "Tootsie" (Jessica Lange won it eventually).

19D: Actress Daly: TYNE. She is in "Judging Amy".

93D: "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. I forgot. It's clued as "Tabitha's TV grandmother" on a TMS puzzle before. Played by Agnes Moorhead, an unfamiliar name to me also.

95D: Dan of "Peyton Place": DURYEA. Foreign to me. He appeared in many movies, so prolific a career.

97D: Actress Phoebe: CATES. Another new name to me. I've actually watched "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" before, but I can only remember Sean Penn & Jennifer Jason Leigh from the movie. Wikipedia says CATES is also known for her role in "Gremlins". Have you seen it?

109D: Singer Dee: KIKI. No, nope. Here is KIKI Dee's duet with Elton John “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. Just learned this morning that there is a KIKI Cuyler in baseball's HOF.

I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle. I did not. I did not have a good attitude to begin with. What a yawn-inducing QUIP! With this Wimbledon madness, you would think the editor could clue DEUCE (98A: Low card) as "Tennis tie".

ACROSS:

1A: Ancient Roman garb: TOGAS. The plural form can also be TOGAE.

21A: Windflowers: ANEMONES. Various colors. Dictionary explains the root of ANEMONES as Greek word anemos (wind), "perhaps because the petals are lost easily in wind".

22A: Capital of Niger: NIAMEY. They must have real good pearl millet couscous in the region.

25A: Viennese tongue: GERMAN. Wikipedia says Viennese GERMAN is "the city dialect spoken in Vienna" and "rather different from the Austrian form of Standard German as well as other dialects spoken in Austria". I suppose it's kind of like our Xi'An dialect, which is quite different from Mandarin Chinese.

28A: Salinger title character: ESME. Heroine from Salinger's "For ESME with Love and Squalor".

29A: Big wheel: MAGNATE

30A: Valletta's island: MALTA. I always confuse MALTA with YALTA. Didn't the big Three meet in both places?

47A: Like Mother Hubbard's cupboard: BARE. Or "like Lady Godiva".

54A: "St. ___ Fire": ELMOS . I am not familiar with this film, are you?

55A: November electees: INS. And 74D: Put in office: ELECT. A simple "Officeholders" clue should be just fine for INS.

57A: Converse competition: AVIA. Know AVIA (To fly, in Latin), not familiar with the Converse shoe brand.

58A: Shape up: SNAP TO. New phrase to me. Can you give me an example?

67A: Slayer of the Minotaur: THESEUS. Would not have got it without the perps. You can see this THESEUS Slaying the Minotaur bronze at Louvre. Minotaur is the "half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth".

73A: Type of theater comp. REP (Repertory). I am not familiar with theater stuff at all.

81A: Affix firmly: RIVET. Here is Rosie the RIVETer.

88A: K-12, in education: ELHI (Elementary & High school). I think this is a special American education term, isn't it?

97A: Chili pepper: CAYENNE. Hot!

99A: Atmospheric inhalations: BREATHS. Beautiful Baby's BREATHS.

105A: Eliminate: RULE OUT. And 110A: Was vanquished by: LOST TO. I like prepositions in answers.

115A: Birthplace of Elvis Presley: TUPELO (MS). New to me. I only know he was not born in Memphis.

116A: Loss/damage word: BREAKAGE

119A: Neighbor of Corsica: SARDINIA. I simply forgot. Here is the map again.

DOWN:

2D: Span of a cart: OXEN. Span or Brace is "a pair, usually used in reference to yoked animals pulling something." Learned this from Dennis long time ago.

5D: Hot under the collar: STEAMED And 90D: Suffer in the summer: SWELTER.

7D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire). The Wildcats. And 96D: Fort Worth sch.: TCU (Texas Christian University). The Horned Frogs.

9D: Nary of Hungary: IMRE. I forgot. It appeared on TMS May 23 puzzle.

15D: Feudal lords: LIEGES

27D: Styron's Turner: NAT. Learned NAT Turner's name from doing Xword, but this is the first time I heard of William Styron, who wrote and won 1967 Pulitzer for "The Confessions of NAT Turner".

29D: Wizardry: MAGIC. Here is MAGIC.

31D: Used a car as a down payment: TRADED IN

41D: Field in Italian: CAMPO. Dictionary shows that it's also "field" in Spanish and Portuguese.

42D: First: pref.: PROTO. As in PROTOTYPE. And a PROTOTYPE TV tryouts (54D): PILOTS.

53D: Manly in Madrid: MACHO. In Madrid only? I thought MACHO is a well accepted English word now.

56D: Pantomime: ACT OUT

63D: Newspaper screamer: HEADLINE

69D: Nicker: NEIGH. I did not know that "nicker" also means "To NEIGH softly". Whinny. And 87A: Ewe's call: BAA

71D: Composition for nine: NONET. Raphael's Apollo and the Muses (9).

73D: Synthetic fabric: RAYON

82D: "Bellefleur" writer: OATES. Is "Bellefleur" the only book Joyce Carol OATES has written? Why keep cluing the same book again and again?

100D: Profligate: ROUE. It's him, Casanova, "the World's Greatest Lover".

106A: Sea bird: ERNE. And 109A: Sea bird: TERN. OK, this is a ERNE (the white-tailed sea eagle). This is a TERN (gull's cousin). Is she suffering from hangover?

108D: Eye part: UVEA. Would not have got the crossing TRAVE (114A: Crossbeam) without UVEA. Here are some crossbeams.

113A: Friday's lead-in?: TGI. The restaurant is part of the Carlson, a privately held company based here in MN. Lots of troubles are going on inside that Carlson house.

C.C.

37 comments:

gvi>>> said...

Good morning c.c., et al ["list ender"],

Have been following your blog for a couple months quasi-regularly and echo many prev. comments -- your research and "elan" are the "acme" of c/w puzzledom!

One thing I can't figure out though: what's a "DF"?

Still waiting for my paper so will CUWYL--

Chris in LA said...

Good morning CC etal,
gvi - DF is short for dysfunctional - we all are as you know if you follow this blog for any length of time.
Spent a great deal of time googling and oneacross-ing this morning - really got hung up center-west (49, 50, &56D as well as 60 & 65A). Also, badly wanted "brace" for 114A (Crossbeam), but gave it up eventually.
Lame quip, I agree.
CC - Italy surrendered at Malta in 1943. Big 3 did meet at Yalta.
Hope all have a great Sunday!

Anonymous said...

just finished the sunday crossword. I especially like any crossword by Alan Olschwang. This one was unusual becaue i solved the quote before I worked out all the other words. i did not know the capital of Niger, but worked it out and it was right or the actress named daly or nagy of Hungary. I tok a guess, and it turned out correct. good puzzle. thanks to Alan. mww

Chris in LA said...

CC,
I didn't like two "seabirds" in the same corner, I liked the clue "newspaper screamer" for headlines.
Did you notice the nod for "American Idol" TV show at 49 & 50D?

Anonymous said...

csw

58A Shape up - have heard of shape up or ship out, which means to do something better, but answer "snap to" means hurry up so not sure how the clue fits. Stretch of the imagination, I guess.

Just returned from Hawaii and got the crossword in "The Honolulu Advertiser" while at the Sheraton in Waikiki.
At the Marriott on Waikoloa Beach, we got a different Tribune Media crossword edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis.
I prefer working them in pencil rather than online, so I have a week's worth of papers to read and then crosswords to solve - can't just throw them away!

Anonymous said...

you asked for an example for the term "snap to".
It is a phrase used in the army by your sargeant to get your cooperation just as 'shape-up' is.

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

Gvi,
Thank you for leaving a comment. Most of the DFs either do not get TMS Sunday puzzle or on vacation, so it's pretty quiet here today, but the storm is coming. What is CUWYL?

Chris,
I breezed through the STORIED CLODS area. I think the HEADLINES clue is great too. Why 49D & 50D is a nod to "American Idol"? I rather like ERNE & TERN being cooped in the same corner.

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

Abogato,
How long have you been doing TMS puzzle?

Chris,
Malta Conference: Churchill & Roosevelt, Jan 30-Feb 2, 1945.

Csw,
Welcome back. What puzzle does "The Honolulu Advertiser" carry? The Rich Norris one also? FYI, Norris is the crossword editor of LA Times, part of TMS.

Anonymous @ 1:59pm,
Thank you.

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

Chris,
Forgot to ask you earlier. Are 67A: THESEUS, 73A: REP, 119A: SARDINIA & 120A: REHAN gimmes to you or you worked them out from the perps?

Chris in LA said...

CC:
Re: Erne/Tern - I guess to each his/her own. Just felt like they were too close.
Re: 49 & 50D not to American Idol - was referring to the clues, not the answers - TV tryouts & Idolize.
"Theseus" was a gimme (4 years of Latin & 3 years of Homeric Greek from the Jesuits will do that to you - is also why greek letters and roman numerals don't bother me), knew "Sardinia" from personal study of WWII (the National WWII museum is here in New Orleans), got "rep" from the perps, and googled "Rehan".
Malta was prep for Yalta - Stalin wasn't there, so no big 3.
Hope your Sunday has been good!

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

Chris,
Thanks for the quick response. Now I see your points on "American Idol" reference & Big Three meeting. That REP clue was very weird. I wonder if it's a gimme to Dennis and Dr. Dad.

Jeanne & KittyB,
Is it true that Amish men only wear black clothes?

Anonymous said...

I believe the origin of "snap to" is from the US military, and is short for "snap to attention". A drill Sergeant will tell his troops to "snap to" when he wants them to come to order.

Dennis said...

Good afternoon, C.C. and DFs - just thought I'd check in.
Anon@3:42 is correct; 'snap to' is indeed an old military term, although our Marine Drill Instructors never used anythng quite so civil.
C.C., 'rep' wouldn't have been a gimme without perp help.
Just started my procedure prep - all quiet on the southern front so far.
Hope it's a better Sunday for everybody else.

Chris in LA said...

CC:
Rep made sense after the perps filled it out - "rep" is short for "repertory" - it's like community theatre - the same group of actors performs different plays for the local community. In some circles it's referred to as "stock" theatre.

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

Dennis,
Thank you for swinging by. If you cannot get REP, it has to be an obscure clue. How about REHAN (120A: Old-time actress Ada)?

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

Chris,
I just thought REP is often an abbreviation of "Representative" or "Republican".

Anonymous said...

csw

The Honolulu Advertiser carried only this puzzle. It can be added to the growing list of newspapers carrying this puzzle. ;)

Dennis said...

C.C., never saw the name Ada Rehan before, not even as a crossword clue.

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

Csw,
Thank you. I've added it to the list. What did you think of Rich Norris' puzzle? Did you enjoy them?

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

Dennis,
Luckily REHAN was gettable from the perps today. Otherwise, the volcano would have exploded.

Dennis said...

C.C., bad choice of words...

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

Dennis,
Why?

Dennis said...

C.C., think about what I'm doing today.

Chris in LA said...

Goodness CC, poor Dennis' "volcano" is probably exploding all over the place by now!
Dennis - good luck. Try not to be anxious, it really is painless - anxiety will only make it worse. They typically give you a mild sedative to relax you somewhat. Remember to push a little. It'll be over before you know it.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else notice the spelling mistake in this puzzle?

21A - anenomes gives 11D emamel for tooth covering rather than enamel.

KW

Chris in LA said...

Anon @ 6:07,
You mispelled anemones.

gvi>>> said...

C.C.,

"CUWYL" is "Catch up with you later"... which I'm doing now after finishing the c/w and my rounds about towne! Instant message shorthand...

Dennis,
Good luck and soft landings...I'm not planning on one for another 5 yrs or so [I hope]...

Dennis said...

chris in la, fortunately, anxiety's never been a problem. And I'm told that they put you out completely for the procedure. Thanks for the thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Just starting to do crosswords again after about a decade break. Still don't know what 65a "famous" turned out to be...
thanks!

Chris in LA said...

Dennis,
Been through 2 - have been semi-conscious for both (watched video first time - passed on video second time - advise pass if you get option as you really don't want to know what the inside of you looks like - especially there).
If it's outpatient, you'll hang around for a couple hours afterward (I'm sure you already know that) staring at the ceiling, so enjoy the buzz!
Seriously, though, I'll have good thoughts for you tomorrow & anticipate you'll check in with the CC & the DFs to let us all know how things "came out"
;)

Chris in LA said...

Anon @ 6:39
65A is "storied"

KittyB said...

Good evening, CC & DFs. I taught for 11 years, and I don't ever recall seeing or hearing "ELHI." That's really obscure.

I needed Google help with the capital of Niger (which I can NEVER remember), and a half a dozen others, including the Slayer of the Mintaur.

The quip wasn't worth it. Dull, dull, dull.

I hope you all have a good start to the coming week. (Good luck, Dennis).

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

KittyB,
If you don't know ELHI, it has to be obscure. What's your response to my 3:37pm question?

KittyB said...

cc, I gave an answer to the question of Amish men wearing black on the Monday, June 30th comments. The short response is...

Yes, I think all Amish men wear black.

Dick said...

Hello Cc and DFs.
I was able to find a computer with access so I will chime in on the Sunday comments.


This was a surprise today in that the Xword was so easy. I had a 100% fill without any help until the SE corner. I did not know Ada Rehan but was able to fill with the perps and a guess of the correct vowel but neither did I know OVEA for 108D. Otherwise a great puzzle for me.

Dick said...

Welcome gvi! I hope you can contribute to some of the dysfunctional comments on this site.

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