google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday January 13, 2009 Josiah Breward

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Jan 13, 2009

Tuesday January 13, 2009 Josiah Breward

Theme: Double Talk

17A: The true state of things: WHAT'S WHAT

26A: Regular guy: MAN'S MAN

36A: Biographical reference book: WHO'S WHO

48A: Up-and-comer: HOTSHOT

55A: Another chore done!: THAT'S THAT

How does HOTSHOT fit in here? Because it has a letter S in the middle? Too flimsy as a theme answer. Besides, HOTSHOT is an ace, and "Up-and-comer" is a rising star, they are not synonymous to me.

MAN'S MAN is a "Regular guy"? Really? Not a rugged macho type he-man?

I did not enjoy this puzzle at all. Yawned all the way through the solving.

I don't know what the heck is happening inside Tribune, but it's not a good sign when we've been offered so many puzzles from Josiah Breward (our editor himself) in the past 2 months. He seems to have stopped accepting new puzzles from our regular constructors. And I expect more Breward puzzles in the future, if there is actually a future with Tribune.

Enough's enough! Hmm, I wonder why he did not use this phrase as his theme answer.

Across:

9A: Climb: SCALE. SCALE a mountain? I've never heard of this usage. SCALE a fish, yes.

15A: Romaine: COS. The Greek island where Romaine lettuce was first introduced is actually KOS.

19A: Inventer Howe: ELIAS. Why "Inventer" instead of "Inventor"? I used to think that Singer invented the sewing machine.

22A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. The plural can also be AREOLAS, AREOLAE. The singular form is AREOLA. Just had this clue last Sunday.

30A: Hobo's sack: BINDLE. Bundle does not fit. This BINDLE is so small.

31A: Gelling agent: GELATINE. I simply can't stand this 3 letter repetition.

35A: Celtic god of sea: LER. Or Lir. New to me. Only know Roman sea god Neptune. The Greek counterpart is Poseidon, the brother of Zeus/Hades/Hera.

39A: Iranian desert, Dasht-e __: LUT. See this map. Foreign to me. "Dasht" means "desert" in Persian I presume?. Oh by the way, why Iran is not considered an Arab country? What's the difference between an Arab country and an Muslim country?

43A: See through fabric: VOILE. French for "veil".

47A: Apollo 10 astronaut: CERNAN (Eugene). Not a familiar figure to me. Wikipedia says CERNAN is the last man on the moon. Both he and the Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, graduated from Purdue University.

49A: Some postal workers: SORTERS. Does this refer to the people or the machines?

50A: Pugilist's stat: KOS (Knockouts). See TKO more often.

51A: __ En-lai: CHOU. It's Zhou En-Lai to us. Cantonese spelling can be so different. CHOU (Zhou) is also a powerful dynasty in China, with its capital in Xi'An.

62A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. No idea. Easily obtainable though. Wikipedia says it's named after the mother by Zeus of the giant Tityus. Look at this list, Zeus is such a womanizer. And he married his sister Hera. So DF.

64A: Ho or Pardo: DON. Have never heard of the singer DON Ho or TV announcer DON Pardo.

Down:

1D: Partner of hem: HAW. Is teamster here a verb?

2D: Old English letter: EDH. Sometimes the answer is ETH.

9D: "Morning Train" singer Easton: SHEENA. I googled her name. Here is the clip. Also the singer for Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only".

21D: Guitarist Joe: WALSH. Here is his "All Night Long". Saw this clue somewhere before.

27D: Body axis: MIDLINE. Holy moley. I did know know I have a MIDLINE in my body.

28D: Ring-shaped: ANNULAR

41D: Writer Caldwell: ERSKINE. Another google. He is the author of "Tobacco Road".

46D: Certain sandals: THONGS. Or "Certain beachwear". What a perfect body shape!

49D: Snowboarder White: SHAUN. No idea. See this photo cover. Wikipedia says he is known for his shock of red har, for which he has become known as "The Flying Tomato".

53D: Stevedores' grp.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

C.C.

59 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - certainly not a snap today; not a bad puzzle. The perps got me 'bindle' and 'Dasht-e Lut', and I remembered 'annular' and 'Elara' from previous crosswords. Also didn't realize you could have an 'e' on gelatin. And it's always a good puzzle that contains both areoles and thongs.

G8rmomx2, thanks for the late post last night - I do have some questions, but don't want to clutter the blog; if you're comfortable doing so, please email me so I know how to reach you.

Today's words of wisdom: "When you are younger, you get blamed for crimes you never committed, and when you're older, you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out." -- Writer J.F. Stone

Today is Make Your Dream Come True Day, but it's also International Skeptics Day, so good luck with the dream thing.

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

Dennis,
Are you so easily satisfied? THONGS and AREOLES are not even clued the way you'd like. What kind of stuff do you dream now?

Dr. Dad,
Thanks for the detailed information on TORAH/Talmud/Tanakh yesterday. You sure know a lot about lots of thing.

Martin,
I saw FOCI clued as "Centers of activity" in other puzzles before. Chang-E is a myth to me. Not a legend. There is no way she flies to and later lives in the moon.

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

Dawn,
Isn't the name Tutankhamun strange? It has ANKH embedded.

Mark in BA & Embien,
Thanks for POX.

Lois,
Are you planning to see Barry Silk?

Dr. G,
Yeah, the OKD clue is perfectly fine. Do you collect first edition books also?

Martin said...

16 minutes, 16 seconds. It would have been faster but my mouse was acting funny. Unknowns were EDH, ADLAI, COS, CELESTE, AREOLES, BINDLE, LUT, CERNAN, LER, ERSKINE, ELARA and ILA. I wanted DUDES for HE-MEN, AMBUSHES for STARTLES and WAKES TO for RISES TO. As you cans see, the left side gave me a lot of trouble. THONG has been clued before as "type of sandal". Which of today's clues do you think have been OVERUSEd?

As ENOUGH'S ENOUGH was a perfectly good fill that didn't get used (and would have been better than HOTSHOT) how about using it for the theme title?

A MAN'S MAN is a guy who watches TV, drinks beer, plays poker and eats potato chips. A lady's man is a guy who will take a woman out to dinner, drink wine, read poetry and, well, let's not go there. It's not the same as the wimp/macho man dicotomy.

Martin

Dennis said...

C.C., yeah, I suppose I'm pretty easily satisfied nowadays (although my friends would disagree), but in this case, it's more about having an active imagination. And your thong picture certainly helped.

Martin said...

C.C., do you suppose there ever was a woman named Chang E though married to an Emperor Hou Yi?

Martin

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

Martin,
I thought of using "Enough's Enough" as a theme title, but then I decided against it. "French water" for EAU is an overused clue to me. So is "Spaces between leaf veins". Mr. Williams seems so timid to clue it as "Nipple ring". As for Chang E, it's like Greek myth, all made up.

Dennis,
What is MAN'S MAN to you? You have not answered my dreams question earlier.

Linda,
Did we see the same movie? To me, "As you wish" means "I love you".

Dennis said...

I think a better definition of a 'man's man' is a man of character, a guy you can always depend on; someone you want to hang with. I don't think it has anything to do with eating or drinking habits.

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

Dennis,
Is MAN'S MAN really a "Regular guy"? Is Breward's clue accurate?

Geri,
Thanks for sharing the meaning of your family name.

PromiseMe,
I forgot to take the population of Montana into consideration. Thanks.

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

Barry G,
Thanks for the GIBE/JIBE yesterday. I was not aware of the difference at all.

MYTanonimo,
Thanks for taking time bringing those OPERA links yesterday.

Clear Ayes,
From moral and MOREL, you are certainly a maestro at interpreting things.

Dennis said...

C.C., I can only speak for myself, and the friends I'd consider men's men are regular guys. Typically, men's men have qualities other men admire; strength of character, etc.

As to my dreams, no chance. This ain't Penthouse Forum....

Dick said...

Good morning CC and all. Struggled a bit in the center east section. I read 26A as plural and entered MENSMEN. This caused some consternation for awhile. As for "Mans Man" I think that term was also applied to a valet type person serving a very rich man. Over all the puzzle was doable with no trips to Mr. G.

I liked your thong picture reference.

Cold here today with some snow. Can't wait for spring!!

Hope you all have a great Tuesday. It's off to the gym. CYL

Anonymous said...

Good Morning CC, Jeannie & all who blog here.

17:46 toady. I had to google Iranian desert & Chinese communist leader Zhou En-Lai

I couldn't find the spelling Chou. So I thought at first a mistake in spelling had been made. But thanks to CC it all was explained.

As to today's theme I would suggest double talk.



When I see AREOLE in a puzzle I think of AUREOLE a New York City restaurant on E 61st St.

Daily dose of Metallica

Day that never comes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErdJpg1ECg

Just for fun I think this is hilarious! If you need a laugh have fun!

New Metallica Song - Genie in a Bottle, No Scrubs & Slave 4 U (Parody)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOs5uhHWiMk

NYTAnonimo said...

How about REPEATS REPLETE? Finished this one fairly quickly. Last to fall was the A in HAI and ELARA.

Barry G. said...

Morning, folks!

Well, this one ended up being a lot more difficult than it appeared at first glance. Part of that was my fault for putting DISAGREE instead of DISALLOW for 5D, which caused all sorts of problems until I replaced it. The really stupid thing, of course, is that as soon as I put in DISAGREE I mentally chided the constructor for his inexact cluing and tried to think of a better way to clue DISAGREE.

Other thorny bits were definitely inherent in the puzzle, though. The crossing of MIDLINE with CERNAN and LUT was the worst. LUT and CERNAN were complete unknowns, and I really wasn't sure what the clue for 27D was even looking for. At first I put in MIDRIFF for 27D, but I was pretty sure about ANNULAR for 28D and didn't think that 49 would really end with the letters TFRS. So I tried MIDLINE, which was really just a guess since CERNAN and LUT just really didn't mean squat to me.

Other unknowns that were easier to get via the perps were LER, ELARA, SHAUN and ERSKINE. I was a bit dismayed that I didn't know ELARA, since I was a big astronomy buff in my youth and thought I knew the names of all the moons in the solar system (at least enough to recognize them when I saw them). I just Googled it, though, and discovered that ELARA didn't receive its present name until 1975, so I feel a bit better. Old, but better.

And yes, the cluing for GELATINE was inexcusable. Definitely one of those times where I knew what the answer had to be, but still refused to enter it because of the clue. It just didn't jibe with what I've come to expect with regard to proper cluing, so I'm afraid I'll just have to gibe at our constructor today. ^_^

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning.

The thong link has done me in. And then we start with areoles and nipple rings. Dang!

I thought of "Double Talk" for the theme as well. Hotshot doesn't fit as it not a contraction for "is".

It is also Stephen Foster Memorial Day and National Marzipan Day (marzipan = a confection made with sugar and almond meal).

Have a great Tyr's Day.

Dr. Dad said...

Dammit! I made an error (hate when that happens). Yesterday was Marzipan Day. Today we celebrate the invention of the Frisbee and Rubber Duckie's birthday. Stephen Foster Memorial Day is correct for the 13th.

Martin said...

As for Chang E, it's like Greek myth, all made up.

Funny thing about Greek myths: they used to be the Greek religion. It seems to be human nature to make up stories to tell our children and then have them grow up to actually believe it only for them to add their own little bits to the story and then tell their children and so on and so on. Tracing backwards, there's always a grain of truth to the story but the myth ends up bearing no resemblance to that original legend. White lies, over time, add up and the truth gets buried beneath them.

Martin

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
Not a bad puzzle today; but I put Sheila instead of Sheena and that messed me up for awhile. Really did not know bindle and totally forgot annular. I'm definitely getting better at x/words, but still get angry with myself when I forget words I thought I had committed to memory.

Did anyone watch the last two nights of "24"? Love that show even though its unrealistic at times but exciting nonetheless. Seems like it will be a good season and one of the few "must see TV" shows this year. Looking forward to "Lost" also-even though I have no idea what is happening on that show.

Have a good day everyone and I must not be old enough yet as I am not getting credit for virtues I have never possessed.

kazie said...

Hi all. I fouled up in a few areas and didn't google--just came here instead. Mainly because of hurrying, I didn't recheck some of the perps that I had wrong, and misspellings here and there. Like AREOLAS--I couldn't come up with WHEE for some reason, didn't know WALSH, CERNAN (I started with midriff too, then put midrise, which gave RUT--no idea). For 47A I had Gersan, which gave me GOAT instead of COOT (spelled CHAU for CHOU), and I can never remember longshoreman as a stevedore--at home they're called wharf laborers (wharfies for short), so that screwed up the SW corner. I got bindle from perps, but didn't know that word. Our "swagmen" carry swags or "Matildas". There's got to be one per week, hasn't there?

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Little three letter words kept confounding me in today's puzzle. EDH, COS, LER and LUT were all unknowns, or at least "Forgots" . It's a good thing we had a discussion on AREOLES recently, otherwise I might have had more trouble on the west coast. All the people names came pretty easily. SHEENA Easton, Joe WALSH and CELESTE Holm made an interesting ménage à trois, all cuddled up next to each other on the upper east side.

C.C. SORTERS. Does this refer to the people or the machines? I think the clue is meant to refer to an employee, but SORTER is wrong. I worked in a couple of large postal facilities and I never heard of an employee referred to as a SORTER. There are several types of mail sorting machines, that are usually operated by a "mail handler".

PromiseMeThis, So skeptical last night. You should have saved it for today. :o)

We're off to a morning shopping trip. Have a good day.

kazie said...

On the question of SORTERS, I have this comment: My mother was employed as a "Temporary Female Mail Sorter" by the Australian General Post Office (GPO) during WWII. It was previously unheard of to have females doing that job, apparently--hence the "temporary female", but most of the men were gone to the war, so they had no choice. However, after the men returned, the females were all let go. Truth be told, they probably had machines ready to go by then anyway. But she had notebooks filled with place names to remember what mail went to which areas --no zips at that time. either!

Anonymous said...

If I'm not mistaken, Arab is a race or nationality, while a Muslim is a follower of Islam. Indonesia is a Muslim country, but clearly not Arab.

Anonymous said...

C.C.
What's the difference between an Arab country and an Muslim country? Arab is a race of people; Muslim is a theological belief. Most Arabs are also Muslims, but that is not exclusively true.
Calef.

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all,

c.c.: I agree with you concerning Hotshots, definitely doesn't fit and in fact I tried not to put it in, but finally relented. And, why inventer instead of inventor? Not sure. I only googled Rosalind as I was not familiar with her. I only got Cernan because I knew Coot and the other letters I had filled in.

Dennis: I was thinking the same thing, so I shall email you!

Have a wonderful day everyone, off to the gym!

Linda said...

CC: "As you wish" meaning "I love you" is what the narrator said it meant. I just drew my OWN conclusions.

Have you watched "The Yearling?"

Paper said lots of blowing snow your way...stay warm!

(Silly) Quote of the Day; "The early bird gets the worm...but who wants a worm?"
Chou-Ciao-chow to all.

Anonymous said...

I had a hard time with this puzzle today as I had never heard of several of the answers. But that is good for the puzzle maker who likes to make it tough on us.

Anonymous said...

mark - Buenos Aires

Kazee - so matilda is a swagman´s sack. I thought he was singing of his sweetheart when down by the billabong. Thanks. its amazing to me what I thought I knew but never did.
chau

Dr.G said...

How about double dipping as a theme?

kazie said...

Mark,
Yes, in the song it replaces the love he doesn't have, maybe a bit of wishful thinking. Actually, I don't know that swags are ever referred to that way other than in "Waltzing Matilda" but I put it in my post to make that connection for anyone like you who might be interested!

g8rmomx2 said...

Linda, (and other GATOR fans)
BTW Tebow just had surgery on Monday on his right shoulder (his non-throwing arm) from an injury he sustained in 2007 and then reaggravated it earlier this season. Apparently he has been having painkilling injections before each of the final six games of last season. They aren't sure if he received any injections this season. Also, Louis Murphy and Carl Johnson are going to have knee surgery.

Dennis: I emailed you let me know if you get it and the second email has my full email address, duh forgot to include it on the first one.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone. Did not know LER, LUT, ELARA, WALSH, SHAUN, and CHAO. Everything fell into place with the perps, though. C.C., thanks for the thong beach link!

@barryg Loved your last paragraph.

Have a great Tuesday!

Linda said...

Clear Ayes; Your "tra la" sign off made me wonder. Are you familiar with that great, American classic; Captain Underpants?

Jeannie said...

Once my brain thawed out and I got something warm in me, the puzzle came together. I think this puzzle should have been yesterday as it tied into "feast on fabulous wild men day...He men, mans man, hotshot, rises to....and whee/wee!

Minus 23 in my neck of the woods this morning, (it's warmed up to a balmy minus 15 now) but thankfully the wind died down so I might just be able to negotiate my way home tonight through the cut down corn fields. I sure hope so, I missed my own bed last night.

Superfrey said...

I put this puzzle down... came back to it later and managed to fill it in.... I did not like so many of the three letter clues and like most, did not see where HOTSHOT should have fit into the theme. It did make me think more though....

Linda said...

CC:I heard today that FL is considering outlawing thong beachwear (as well as talking on cel-phones while driving, even with an earpiece.).

Any man Louis LaMour wrote about was a man`s man.

Don Ho used to be a "must see" when visiting Hawaii. "Tiny Bubbles" was his theme.

What about "Redux" as a theme? (even "hotshot" repeated "hot")

Anonymous said...

I did not care for today's puzzle, although I did not find it too difficult.

I expect that using Breward's puzzles is cheaper than obtaining the other constrictor's (another sign of the times?).

Calef (Anonymous) provided a good explanation of Arab vs Muslim. Take for example Malaysia, which is a Muslim state but not an Arab State.

Seattle John

Anonymous said...

I agree that GELATINE was awful. A "man's man" to me is someone who has masculine characteristics to the extreem - will all the good and bad that comes with it. Characters played by John Wayne, Tom Selleck, Telly Sevallas and Gene Hackman mostly seem to be mens' men. A "gentleman's gentleman" is a butler or valet. Mr. French on Family Affair. John Hillerman on Magnum PI.

Anonymous said...

I meant constructor's not constrictor's

JD said...

Good morning C.C. and all,

No new information on today's puzzle that hasn't been said. Rises to eluded me as I had bundle and lir; hotshot did not fit the clue as a newcomer. Other than that and 4 googles, it fell into place. Oh, the e on gelatin gave me pause..and I had hoot for whee.

Martin, I like your theme:" enough's enough."

Jeanne, I also am looking forward to LOST, but I haven't a clue as to what is going on. When they went to the future, I stopped watching because it was too depressing. I am also having trouble remembering words that I should know, and am amazed at the words I hardly know that come to me right away, like voile.Memory is a funny thing. I know all the words to Rubber Ducky.LOL

Jeannie, I cannot imagine a minus anything. How can anyone go outside at all? Do you all just get used to it?

Some one please explain: how is ort a table scrap?

clueless blonde in CA

JD said...

never mind, I just looked it up in my dictionary; had never heard of it. Is it used often in c/w's?

Dennis said...

JD, yes, it's used fairly frequently.

bethann said...

Too many unkowns for me today. Although I have decided to let my instincts take the lead because it seems that I will think of a word and decide it is to simple and then that answer ends up being right. You live and learn. I will be going back to school next week and learning even more, so I am trying to enjoy my last week of freedom for the next few months until spring break. Have a great day everyone :)

carol said...

Good morning (for the next 10 mins)
What a fun little puzzle - sort of a "Goldielocks" type, not too hard, not to soft but just right.
I did have a few I didn't know but the crosses took care of them, so no Googling.

I suppose "thongs" could get a "man's man" to "get up for" the occasion and be a "hot shot". The picture C.C. linked would do it for most on this blog.;)

embien said...

10:39 today. I was utterly defeated by the crossing of MIDLINE and LUT (never heard of either term before so the 'L' was ungettable until I dropped out of Master Mode into Regular Mode online--makes it easier to guess at the unknown letter).

I had never heard of Rosalind CHAO before, either, but the crosses saved me.

@jeanne: I've never seen 24 but I know it's a popular program. I don't watch much network TV, actually--I'm more a Food Network/PBS kinda guy.

embien said...

I forgot to mention that Joe WALSH (21d: Guitarist Joe) is quite well-known, and one of my all-time favorite musicians.

His first big hit was Rocky Mountain Way, which I'm sure you've all heard. He is currently a guitarist for The Eagles.

Joe Walsh

Oh, c.c., thanks for the THONG link!

Jeannie said...

JD, no you don't get used to it. What you get used to is looking like an eskimo when you do have to venture outside!

Anonymous said...

Jeanne, my daughter has watched 24 since day one, sooo, thought I'd have a look, liked it. I'm a big fan of both the Sutherland men.

embien, I too had the same problems as you and never heard of Chao.

Fun hearing the interpretations of a man's man.
Have a fun day,
Geri

kazie said...

Regarding TV shows, I can't watch LOST because I always feel more lost than the cast and can never figure out what's going on. Is that the real reason for its title?

24 keeps me too tense for comfort so I avoid that too, though I do like Kiefer and his dad too.

Martin said...

Crockett, Geri, embien,

Rosalind Chao is a fairly well known actress: she appeared in eight episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and nineteen episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (according to the internet movie database). She was also one of the four young actresses in The Joy Luck Club. If you can remember back to 1983, she also played the young Korean woman who married Klinger in the final episode of MASH. She's actually ethnically Chinese though.

C.C., I miss not seeing any more posts by you when I get up in the morning. I am happy to see that you have found other things to do but I would hope you never lose interest in blogging altogether: even if somebody else were to take over this blog it wouldn't be the same without your imput.

Martin

Anonymous said...

Thanks Martin,
Geri

Vern said...

Hi:

Can anyone explain the origin of "pref" as in the clue "bone (pref)."

Why is it preferred and who prefers it? I've never been able to make the connection between the word requested and the "preferred form."
Help!

Martin said...

pref=prefix

Martin

Clear Ayes said...

Linda, I just added "Tra La" as a kind of lightener-upper for my pretty dull (I think) explanation to a C.C. question. I wish I could have made it vivacious, but it just didn't work out that way. So..No, I didn't know about Captain Underpants....at least until now, when I just finished googling. Too bad, now that I've read the Wikipedia piece, it would have added that vivacious touch I was looking for.

Kazie, LOL, I'm very glad the Australian GPO didn't consider your mother to be a temporary female. There were millions of jobs during WWII that were filled by women like Women Ordnance Workers. Both my mother and her sister worked in factories in Chicago.

BTW, many postal clerks still have to learn street names, numbers and their assigned postal route number. Letters that are rejected by the postal machines have to be sorted by hand. I speak from experience. During my first 10 years with the postal service, I had to memorize thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of addresses.

Anonymous said...

J.D., My mother used the term "ort" for leftovers. She was born and raised in Canada; that may account for her use of the term. So it's always a gimme for me.

Linda said...

Clear Ayes: While not even close to great literature (an understatement of epoch proportions), "Captain Underpants" caused hundreds of children who hated reading to become readers, and that was just in MY area!
Tra La La (The Captain`s "Up, up and away!")

GFR said...

Don Ho is a popular entertainer at the Hawaiian Village in Honolulu

Don Pardo was Art Fleming's partner on the TV show "Jeopardy" when Art Fleming was its host-pre Alex T

Anonymous said...

21:30 for me today (14 Jan 2008)

More Later...................

snatchbeast said...

I disliked this one as well, C.C., especially the GEL repeat.

I really wanted insular for annular.

Enough's enough, seriously!