google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday June 25, 2008 Doug Peterson

Advertisements

Jun 25, 2008

Wednesday June 25, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Window Covering

17A: Reappearance on stage: CURTAIN CALL

28A: Amateur snapper: SHUTTERBUG

46A: Dead end: BLIND ALLEY

62A: Monitor guardian, of a sort: SCREEN SAVER

And I'LL (40D: Feeling peaked) say that IT IS (18D: Suffix for disease) rather depressing to see AIL (42A: Feel lousy ), REHAB (Post-op program), ILL and ITIS in one grid. The sky feels so GRAY (60D: Like a rainy day). I want "skies of blue... clouds of white...". I want music. Here are the instruments:

1A: Small flutes: FIFES

6A: "Twelfth Night" role: VIOLA. I wonder if the constructor's original clue was "4-stringed musical instrument". Frank VIOLA was the World Series MVP in 1987 (with the Twins of course). He also won Cy Young in 1988.

15A: Blacksmith's block: ANVIL. Percussion instrument.

27D: Rock band equipment: AMPLIFIERS

Very smooth sailing this morning. A few unknown names, but I was able to piece them together from the crossing clues. No real stumper or obscure words to frustrate me.

ACROSS:

14A: Pennsylvania sect: AMISH. They are the same as Mennonites, aren't they?

19A: Tasseled hat: FEZ. Always thought of FEZ as an Arabic word, just learned earlier that it's of Greek origin. "The Ottoman Turks adopted the FEZ from the Greeks".

20A: Indispensable: ESSENTIAL

21A: Slightly ahead: UP ONE. I don't get this one. Why? I am only familiar with ONE UP.

23A: Luau souvenirs: LEIS. And 57D: Hawaii bird: NENE

24A: Fulda tributary: EDER. I got it from the down clues. Had difficulty remembering this Fulda feEDER.

33A: Irish patriot Robert: EMMET. "I hero I lived, a hero I'll die...". Great Irish folksong Bold Robert EMMET.

35A: Hentoff and Hiken: NATS. Know Hentoff. Have no idea who Hiken is.

44A: Funny Jack of Hollywood: OAKIE. Unknown to me. Got it from the crossing clues. Wikepedia says he grew up in OK, hence the nickname. I wanted BENNY.

54A: Hold sway: REIGN. He who originated "Let freedom REIGN".

56A: Removing certain packaging: UNCRATING. And 31D: Release a catch: UNPIN. Is UNCRATING a familiar word to you? I've never used it before.

68A: Honkers: NOSES (68A: Honkers). It would be great if NOSES were clued as "Defeats by a narrow margin" to pair up with UP ONE.

DOWN:

4D: Actress Getty: ESTELLE. No idea. Pieced her name together from the across clues.

6D: Leave no trace: VANISH. "Want to VANISH inside your kiss... Every day I'm loving you more and more. Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings?...". Here is "Come What May" from "Moulin Rouge!".

9D: Dogpatch adjective: LI'L. LI'L Abner. I had no idea that he lived in Dogpatch.

10D: Hints at: ALLUDES TO

11D: Risk it all: GO FOR BROKE

30D: Spiritual way: TAO. Literally "Way" ( 道) in Cantonese. Lao-Tzu wrote "TAO Te Ching". In Mandarin Chinese, TAO is DAO, Lao-Tze is Lao Zi, and "TAO Te Ching" is "DAO De Jing".

34D: "Cheers" star: TED DANSON. Know him. Have never watched "Cheers" before.

45D: Refuse to vote: ABSTAIN. "When you doubt, ABSTAIN".

49D: Sweater-to-be, perhaps: YARN. Perhaps, yes!

58D: Wolfe of whodunits: NERO. Or the evil Roman Emperor (pervert Caligula's nephew). Very interesting, you get "Deplore again cruel Romans" when you anagram "Emperors NERO and Caligula".

C.C.

55 comments:

Dick said...

Good morning Cc and DFs. Another ace this morning but I dont know the time as I had a few interruptions but it was another good one.

Cc Dogpatch was the name of the town Lil Abner hailed from along with Daisy Mae. This was a great comic strip written by Al Capp.

Kim said...

CC,

I was with you today. Dreary Wednesday. I am getting tired of the same old clues. I don't know why the authors can't figure that out from the comments here and come up with some of the suggestions put forth from the gang. Ova, Oval, Opt, Ail & Ill are just getting old. I did like the window theme, that was different.

Still no baby here in Maryland. just waiting.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. & gang - as with Dick, this one was non-stop. I think you need some age behind you to remember the Dogpatch reference.
KittyB, I'll keep your mom in my thoughts. That has to be so tough - it's hard for me to relate sometimes, as I lost both my parents very early in life.
Dick, I read Dave Barry religiously, and enjoyed rereading his colonoscopy bit - thanks, I feel so much better now.
C.C., "when in doubt, abstain"??? - mine is, "when in doubt, what the hell".
Hope it's an outstanding hump day for all.

Bill said...

Another good day, except for 44a.
Had UNPEN. I took RELEASE A CATCH as letting an animal out of a live trap. But, I had no idea who FUNNY JACK was, so it looked good to me!

C.C., Re: 56a Many years ago I worked for United Van Lines and it was common to recieve military household goods (from overseas) in large wooden crates, waterproofed, banded and security sealed against loss. When they reached their destination the goods were UNCRATED and moved to the new home. The crates were returned to the warehouse where they were sanitized and reused.

Anonymous said...

Good morning CC etal,
Staright through this morning (that's 2 so far this week!). Knew Estelle Getty from old sitcom "The Golden Girls" and Ted Danson, of course from "Cheers". Got the rest of the names on the perps.
Hope everyone has a great day!

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning DF's. A fast one as well. 6 minutes.
Amish and Mennonites are both Anabaptist sects but not exactly the same. The Mennonites (named after Menno Simons) outside the state church in Switzerland were divided on whether to remain in communion with their brothers within the state church, and this led to a split. Those against remaining in communion with them became known as the Amish, after their founder Jacob Amman. Those who remained in communion with them retained the name Mennonite.

Up one pretty much means the same as one up. When one states a score you can say "I'm one up" or "I'm up one."

Nice anagram for Nero and Caligula.

L'il Abner and Daisy Mae's marriage was a big thing at one time.

I look at "uncrating" as removing something from its crate, not as removing "packaging" from a crate because, at least to me, the crate is the packaging.

Today is LEON Day - LEON is NOEL spelled backwards. It is now six months until Christmas. Man! Does time fly or what?

Also, the Korean War (sometimes referred to as a "police action") began on this day in 1950.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Today's puzzle was mostly a breeze. The only false starts I had were ODER instead of EDER for 24A and ANGER instead of ANNOY for 69A. But those resolved themselves pretty quickly. Also, the only answer I didn't actually know was Jack OAKIE (44A), but I had no problem getting it with the help of the perps.

Not a particularly exciting puzzle, though. Maybe if the clues had been a bit more witty or peppy. The whole thing just seemed very pedestrian. Mundane, even. What's the word I'm looking for... Oh, yeah -- BORING. ^_^

Oh -- and I wasn't too fond of seeing ILL and AIL in the same puzzle with such similar clues. I would've liked to see 40D clued as "___ be back" or something like that. But that's just me, I suppose.

"The first leon the angels did say..." Nah, doesn't have quite the same ring to it. ^_^

Dr. Dad said...

A couple of other items:

Custer's Last Stand at the Little Bighorn in 1876. Did you know that while he is often referred to as General George Armstrong Custer, in reality he was only a Lieutenant Colonel at his Last Stand? His rank of general was during the Civil War and as was the case with many of the higher ranks, his generalship was only temporary.

Remember the "Berlin Airlift" a few puzzles ago? It began in 1948 on this day. On this day a year earlier, The diary of Anne Frank was published. Finally, France surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940. Just some trivia to brighten your day.

Jeanne said...

Morning all, Yeah for us! Another easy one.
Kim: we are expecting our first grandchild in October and I'm so ready now. I can't imagine how excited you must be.
C.C.: We live near Lancaster county in PA and the Amish homes and farms are absolutely pristine. Their flowers and crops seem to grow bigger and more beautiful than anyone else. They even wallpaper the inside of their roadside produce stands! Driving through the towns of Blue Ball, Intercourse, and Paradise would give Lois a thrill!

Dick said...

Oh my jeanne now we must contend with Lois going direct to eastern Pennsylvania and see all those wonderful towns. It will be another tornado in PA.

Last night the NY Yankees played ball in Pittsburgh. This is eventful because the last time they played in Pittsburgh was on October 13, 1960 and Bill Mazeroski hit a ninth inning home run to win the World Series. Even more memorable is the Pirates are a horrible team this year, again, but they beat the Yankees 12 to 5. Wish I could have gone to the game!

Dick said...

Kittyb I have found a good recipe for asparagus soup but it is in German so I will need to translate it and my German is not that good anymore so it will take awhile. Be patient and I will get it done for you.

Superfrey said...

A breeze this one.... only a half a cup of coffee in coffee time...
Jeanne, I think it is the Menonites who use machinery and the Amish who do not... they still farm with mules and hand plows... Is that right?
I do remember that you have to drive through Blue Ball before you get to Intercourse and then on to Paradise. This definitely is one for Lois to hear. Where is she? Still in OK?

NYTAnonimo said...

Doug Peterson(picture) does quite well at solving as well as constructing puzles. He's done several for the NYT in the past week alone. I do think they get the puzzles with more pizzazz and they are definitely subjected to better editing.

Dr. Dad said...

Dick, go to AltaVista and click on Babel Fish Translation. It brings up a translator for several languages and may aid you in your translation.

Superfrey said...

Dick,
I think I was in 9th grade playing a soccer game against our arch rival when Maz hit that home run. Talk about a clutch hit. It broke my heart as I thought Yogi had given the Yanks the lead they needed but alas, the Pirates won. I can remember that the Yankees creamed the Pirates in three games (16-3,10-0 and 12-0) many more runs than the Pirates... but the Pirates and Maz came through when they needed it. We lost the soccer game too. Bahhumbug !!

flyingears said...

RNA is the sugar that deals with the protein synthesis and DNA gives the hereditary "spot" (the genetic code) to an individual.

Nene in Spanish means a boy, a child, a tot.

The "ANVIL" inside the middle ear is the INCUS (the hammer {malleus}, the anvil {incus} and the stirrup (stapes}).

There were some nice clues in today's X/W puzzle that were nice.

flyingears said...

Oops!!! Forgot...

drdad, I really enjoy your inputs to the historic background of things... Thanks!

Boomer said...

For the first time this year I filled in all the squares and used less than a tenth of an ounce of white out. (I thought "Funny Jack" was Benny, and "honkers" were geese, but I figured it out. Kent Hrbek, (Wonder why his surname is never in a crossword?) held his annual fishing contest on Lake Minnetonka. The largest Bass in a boat was relief pitcher Brian bass, but he didn't catch anything.
But the other Brian (Buscher) landed a 46 inch, 30 pound Muskellunge, Minnesota's favorite game fish. I've never caught a Muskie, but I know people who have. Sometimes you have to chase them around the lake in your boat for an hour to tire them out before you can land them.

dons_mind said...

morning all...nice, relatively easy puzzle this morning..still don't know what 38a is "edituit"? never heard of that one...agree with you all, no idea who jack oakee is....

hot in west texas today, tomorrow, next day, day after, day after that..ad infinitum..... :)

Anonymous said...

Dons mind:
38a is editout (bleep) which makes 30d tao.
Welcome to the group

MH said...

I aced it but it wasn't fast or pretty. Had to get several from the perps and just plain trusting my instincts. The theme made it a little easier.

Yesterday I was in Austin and only had the USA Today Crossword - very difficult. Traveling is messing up my daily crossword routine ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Y'all
even old Jimbo aced this one. Being an old timer, I remembered Jack Oakie and Lil Abner. Easy to fill in others due to "perps" and "Hors".

The article yeterday on "colonoscopy" really had me in tears. (from laughing). Had to print it out and spread it around. I'm sure Dennis enjoyed having something to look forward to.
c.c. did you mind having "ova" and "Oval" in the same grid?
God bless all of you.

Dr. Dad said...

As a chemist I must disagree with flyingears at 7:52 a.m. RNA is not just a sugar just like DNA is not just a sugar. RNA stands for RiboNucleicAcid and has a sugar backbone (ribose)with several amine bases attached to it to give it a helical structure. DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleicAcid and substitutes deoxyribose for the ribose. The DNA helix breaks apart in the cell and imparts the genetic code through the amine bases (Adenine,Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine)to RNA via an enzyme, RNA polymerase. The synthesized messenger RNA then leaves the cell to use the code imparted by the amine bases (RNA substitutes Uracil for Thymine as a base)to begin protein synthesis. Both RNA and DNA are important to the entire genetic code/sequence and the so-called genome. Note that the sugars are only the backbone of RNA and DNA.

Argyle said...

Oh my...Lois did show up in comments yesterday...but very late. (June 24, 2008 11:56 PM)hmm.

Anonymous said...

18D: Suffix for diseases is not "IT IS" but rather "-ITIS" as in Bursitis. ITIS actually means inflammation, the medical terminology suffix for disease is "-PATHY". At least get your clues right . . .

Anonymous said...

drdad:
Flashback to high school chemistry - not good, make it go away!
Just kidding, I guess we all need to learn something, or remember something, everyday ;)

Dennis said...

anonymous @9:13 - I think we all knew what was meant. Get over yourself.

Dick said...

drdad my head hurts!!

Dick said...

Drdad thanks for the link.

lois said...

Good morning CC & DF's: Another easy one. And so exciting too with all the instruments and getting lei'd again. No 'dead ends' here. I'm around the 'bend'.
I think Oakie was Jack's name, otherwise it would be Okie, so it seems to me.

Jeanne & Superfrey: Driving through Blue Ball to Intercourse to reach Paradise!!!! How often has that happened and I'm not even in PA. And here I thought the Amish were stiff! Well, I can see why I was right!

CC & Dennis: 'when in doubt, abstain'? I'm with you Dennis. When I'm in doubt I slow down to 90mph and procede w/caution.

Enjoy this day! It's a travel day I think. I'm going to go to 3 specific Amish towns, figuratively and w/gusto. Wonder how many cowboys I can get to wear black & white...either that or nothing at all! We'll see. Time for a body count!

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

Anonymous @9:13am,
You are right, "Inflammation suffix" would be a better clue. I always thought inflammation is a kind of disease.

RE: ITIS/IT IS. If you follow this blog long enough, you will know I like playing with the answers. So, -ITIS becomes IT IS, ILL becomes I'LL.

lois said...

Boomer: I've had that very same experience w/Muskies...men from Muskogee...had to chase them around until they were tired! Those Muskies are strong and tricky little devils. Great after you catch 'em tho.

Anon 9:13: Whoa boy! Take a moment and breathe deeply, then take the keyboard and slam it on the floor. This is just for fun.

Anonymous said...

Hi folks.. I took a print of the puzzle from the site .. So that i cud enjoy and contribute to the buzz.. Well for me lot of local (USA) clues are always a pain.. But still managed to get half of the theme..but clues were not at all interesting..whats answer for 'hand out hands'.. Abet?

Anonymous said...

Mangesh,
Welcome to the group. "hand out hands" is deal, as in poker or bridge - card games.

lois said...

Argyle: Yeah, I'm burnin' the candle at both ends; have a break this morning...wore 'em out. Pantywastes needed to rest. Times almost up though. Gotta get the horses ready. Another fun day on the gorgeous OK plains.

Jeanne: did your bro get safely back and hidden away in Wmsbg? Is his number unlisted?

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

Jimbo,
Re: OVA/OVAL. They do have the same root, don't they? I failed to notice that. Thank you for pointing it out.

Anonymous said...

Lois, you crack me up!! LOL

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone! Smooth sailing today even though I had TRUE for 25A to begin with. Lots of unknown names that were solved by fill-ins. Drdad, thanks for the Amish/Mennonite education. We learn something new every day here! I also thought that -ITIS indicated just an inflammation, but the dictionary had disease first and inflammation second. Have a great Wednesday!!

Dennis said...

Lois, I'm curious - did anything happen when you used the word "abstain"? I was wondering if the people around you fell down...

Chris in LA said...

test

carol said...

Hi C.C. and everyone, I actually did the puzzle in 13 minutes!! I am pleased.(not proud, mind you but it was fast for me)
I liked 49D for a clue, cute!

Lots of education from the comments today, I feel like I should have some sort of diploma after reading drdad's chemistry "lesson"..this is why I like this blog, always something to learn. :)

Can't believe those city names in Penn. Wow, I have heard of Intercourse before but not the other ones...rather interesting address possibilities huh?? Hope they can tolerate a visit from Lois. Should we warn them??
She could drag some poor unsuspecting sole down a "blind alley" and have him make "curtain calls" all night.

Happy Hump Day!

Razz said...

I'm out in la la land today. Made the strangest connection to a couple of down clues: 11D- Risk it all; 27D- Rock band equipment = Go for broke and amplifiers = Pete Townsend - The Who - Breaking both guitars and amps.

Don't know if this kind of thought process is an ITIS but IT IS definately wierd!

Razz said...

By the way all of the Amish men smile when they get to go to "Dime Box" Texas!

KittyB said...

GOod Morning c.c. and DFs. I managed to finish in ten and a half minutes. Give me a break on it, I have other things on my mind. *S* Mother is hanging in there, and I hope to see more improvement today when I visit.

There are easily 20 things I'd like to respond to, forgive me if I overlook your comment, and thanks for the support. Dennis, there's no easy time to loose your parents. I'm sad for you that you didn't have time to know your parents as an adult. My sis was just 24 or so when Dad died, and I've always felt she got gyped!

Kim, may that baby show up soon, and with ease! We are eagerly waiting for my niece's first baby (at 40, due early Sept. but looking ready NOW!). He will be my mother's 25th greatgrandchild!

c.c. you are truly educating me. I've never really considered the theme of a puzzle before. The discussion you lead here is eye-opening.

An anvil IS a percussion instrument, but not one that every band or orchestra has on hand. Perhaps the most famous piece which has an anvil in the score is (obviously) "The Anvil Chorus."

drdad, a sidebar on the Amish/Mennonite subject. As a quilter, I can tell you that the Amish are more restrictive in their lives. An Amish quilter may only use solid colors in her quilts, and she is restricted in the choice of color. You see a lot of black, dark blue, dark green or dark red, and, surprisingly, yellow, in the quilts. The designs she may use are limited, and chosen by the head of her worship group. A Mennonite quilter has much more freedom of choice. She may use fabric with prints, and has a wider range of designs from which to choose.

Jeanne, I've had the chance to visit Intercourse, and the area is every bit as beautiful as you say it is.

(laughing at Barry and "the first leon")Thanks for the grins!

dick, I have about 20 words of German and none of them have anything to do with cooking. I'll make a note of dr.dad's suggestion about AltaVista, and look forward to your recipe.

dr.dad, my eyes are bleeding! I toughed it out and read your entire 9:10 post. I can see why you breeze though crosswords at SST speed!

boomer, I thought of Benny and honkers, too, but I cheated and did the crossword on-line, so I saved the world from white-out.

Have a good day, all! I really enjoyed my visit with you.

lois said...

Dennis: oddly enough some of those around me thought I said 'obtain' and others thought I said 'octane'...since they would NEVER hear me say 'abstain'. So, we're mounting up (cute!) on our ever vigilant ride to obtain higher octane intake. So,it's all good.

Carol: with names like that, I'm not sure that I'm ready for those towns. Some poor unsuspecting soul is probably going to take me for a ride...and on hump day no less. I guarantee you it won't be 'curtain' calls that we'll be making.

Der Katze said...

Re: the Penn. town names. In Searcy, Arkansas you can drive out W. Pleasure Street to the communities of Joy, Romance and Harmony. Need directions to Searcy, Lois?

Razz said...

Lois - check some of these towns out. Some you will want to check out and others you should go screaming into the night trying to stay away from...

PA has several other interesting town names...
--> Did you grow up in any of these?

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

Razzberry,
Very interesting link. Embarass (MN) is one of the coldest places in America. The motto for Climax (MN) is "Climax - More than just a feeling".

carol said...

Razzberry, thanks for the link to the city names - those could keep us going for weeks! LOL

Lois, I thought you liked "curtain calls" (so to speak).Sometimes encores don't have to be on a stage as you well know. Keep 'em humping in OK today!!

lois said...

Here for a 'touch and go'.
Der Katz: My car is on autopilot for hot spots. AR will have to wait 'til later tho'...pleasure, joy, romance, and harmony are on the program for tonight right here in OK. Now I really understand why they call it a Wildlife Refuge!
Carol: Ahhh, I get it now. Yeah, I think there will be a lot of encores and repeat performances of tonight! Seismic disturbances will be registering on the Richter Scale soon. The Wild Life on the Refuge is about to begin at 'Medicine Park'...very appropriately named!

Superfrey: those PA towns are still my favorite names. What were they thinkin'! No, that's pretty clear...but really, what were they thinkin'??

Razzberry: What a hoot! Thanks for the link on town names...been to a surprising lot of those...Short pump, VA is true to its name. Need to investigate Blowing Rock NC... sounds like a lava bomb to me!

Enjoy your evening.

Anonymous said...

Hello Everyone!
As always, too little time to comment on everything, but, I did have one question.
Is Lois still allowed to be in OK yet? You think they would have passed a couple laws by now !


See Ya every one and special thaks to C.C. for getting us all together here every day!

The Whoo

Dennis said...

whooo, I think anyone in OK who might've been able to pass a law has been, uh, 'compromised' by now...

carol said...

Lois: don't you make those cowboys sore if you are going to (11D) or "go for broke".

Dennis and Whoo, I am sure we have not heard the "end" of the city names or where Lois will travel through on her way home. "Can't hardly wait" !

carol said...

Lois, are you close to Bowlegs in OK - or perhaps Hooker or Cookietown LOL

Mr. Corcoran said...

Kia ora mai tatou or nose-rub equivalent if you prefer...hey i learned a new word from 25 june and i thought peaked was always spelled piqued (in francais it's what bees and mosquitos do)...uncrating sounded really off but i liked the explanation...btw, winter in nz is like summer in sweden fwiw.