google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday March 7, 2009 Tom Pruce

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Mar 7, 2009

Saturday March 7, 2009 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 26

Total words: 70

Hard puzzle! I don't think Mr. Tom Pruce and I speak the same language this morning.

Now I start to understand why those ace solvers like themeless grids. It's a true test of the range of your knowledge. For weekday themed puzzles, you can always rely on theme as your sherpa and fill in lots of blanks with your reasoning. No such help is available on Saturdays, except a few gimme affixes like S, ER, EST, ED, etc.

For those who don't have TMS Sunday tomorrow, here is Stan Newman's Newsday puzzle. Click on March 1, 2009 for the "Baloney Sandwich" puzzle. Argyle will blog it here tomorrow morning. I hope by introducing other puzzles on the blog, you can see how they differ from TMS offerings.

Across:

1A: Makeshift: STOPGAP. Is Obama's economic stimulus package a STOPGAP measure?

8A: Some metamorphic rocks: SCHISTS. No idea. See this SCHIST rock. Silvery color. Rich in mica. Easy to split. So close to schism in spelling.

15A: Sicilian wine: MARSALA. Not familiar with this wine. It's named after the city MARSALA where the wine is produced. Used frequently in cooking. Now I want some seafood risotto.

16A: Removal mark: ERASURE

17A: Rigby of the Beatles song: ELEANOR. The tune sounds awfully familiar. I don't remember the song title though.

18A: Tropical malady: MALARIA. Literally ''bad air'' .

19A: Diamond gal: LIL. No idea. Which one is our "Diamond gal" LIL?

22A: Hand tool for holding: PLIERS. "Hand tool for holding" can also be PINCERS, right?

25A: Old English bard: SCOP. New word to me. SCOPS often traveled to various courts to recite their courtly epic poetry. Their Scandinavian counterpart is SKALDS who composed those old Norse Eddas I think.

30A: John Hersey book: HIROSHIMA. Have never heard of this book . It's about the dropping of atomic bomb obviously. Wikipedia says his original article appeared in the August 31, 1946 issue of "The New Yorker". And "the article took up the entire issue of the magazine – something The New Yorker had never done before, nor has it since." Our editor likes to clue ADANO as "Hersey's bell town".

32A: Absorbed in thought: BEMUSED. To me, BEMUSED is confused and perplexed, not "Absorbed in thought". But RAPT is too letter short.

35A: Old draft org.: SSS (Selective Service System).

38A: Tentacled mollusk: OCTOPOD. I was thinking of octopus.

43A: Spanish island: MINORCA. Literally "Minor island", compared with Majorca, the "Larger island" on the left. I've got no idea. All I could think of is the "Girls Gone Wild" island Ibiza.

45A: Anterior flappers: FORE WINGS. The darker colored wings? I surmise the other pairs are called REAR WINGS?

54A: Novelist Kingsley: AMIS. Only know his son Martin, also a novelist, a strongly opinionated one. Tina Brown's old flame.

55A: Some wading birds: STILTS. No idea. Holy cow! Incredible long legs. No wonder it's called STILTS.

57A: Zubenelgenubi or Dubhe: STAR. Zubenelgenubi is the second brightest star in the constellation Libra. And Dubhe is a "pointer star in the constellation Ursa Major and the brightest of the seven stars that form the Big Dipper". Both were unknown to me. Stars have refused to shine for me for a few weeks.

59A: Menlo Park initials: TAE. Edison. ALVA is often clued as "Menlo Park middle name".

60A: Bat stickum: PINE TAR. Baseball players use it to improve grips. Pitchers use it too.

62A: Repeating: ITERANT. I kind of like the ING ending clue. Better than "Repetitive". Novice solvers might be tempted to fill in ING for the last 3 blank squres.

64A: Rest upon: OVERLIE. What kind of image are you picturing?

65A: Electra's brother: ORESTES. The painting of him being pursued by the three Furies jumped into my mind immediately. But I just could not remember his damned name. Anyway, he should not be faulted for killing his mother. She deserved the punishment.

66A: Succinctly: TERSELY

67A: Ilie of tennis: NASTASE. Nice reverse of the clue/answer.

Down:

2D: Eye for an eye: TALION. Another new word for me. With an "I (eye)" inserted in TALON. It's "punishment identical to the offense, as the death penalty for murder". That's exactly what ORESTES' mother got then. She killed her husband and his lover Cassandra. Then she was murdered by her own son.

3D: Vague threat: OR ELSE

4D: O. T. book: PSA (Psalms). Baseball cards collectors are probably all familiar with the grading firm PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator). Notice PSA at the very right end? That's a 1951 Mickey Mantle Bowman rookie card in NM/MT (Near Mint/Mint) condition. It's sold for $22,750.

5D: Novelist Ernest: GANN. I googled his name. Looks like he had a great aviation career as well.

7D: Jumping from a plane: PARACHUTING

9D: Junk: CRAP. Ah ya, bad word.

10D: British greetings: HALLOS. Really? I've never paid attention to that.

11D: Rider and Bowman: ISAIAHS. ISAIAH Bowman was an American geographer, who served as the President of John Hopkins University from 1935 to 1948. ISAIAH Rider is former NBA star. I knew neither of them. Bowman is always the baseball card brand to me. Topps, Bowman and Upper Deck.

12D: Certainties: SURETIES

13D: Some Roman galleys: TRIREMES. See this picture. Dictionary says it derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar. I don't understand it. That's more than 3 rows of oars. Last time BIREMES was clued as "Roman galleys", supposedly "two tiers of oars on each side". Again, that's lots of oars. Maybe I don't even know what OARS are. (Note: Here is a good link explaining those oar positions).

14D: Marine predator: SEA SNAKE. I just learned this morning that SEA SNAKE like eels. I like eels too, unagi, yummy!

21D: Chemical warfare agent: POISON GAS

26D: Part of speech: PREPOSITION

29D: __ volente (God willing): DEO. In Islam, it's Insha' Allah.

33D: 1901: MCMI. And DCV (39D: 605).

35D: Tender regard: SOFT SPOT. Are you OK with this clue?

36D: Playful: SPORTIVE. New word to me. Is it the same as SPORTY?

37D: Sieve: STRAINER. And colander.

42D: Peter of "Being There": SELLERS. Easy guess. Have never heard of the movie "Being There". I don't know why "Being There" brought Julie Christie's "Away From Her" to my mind.

46D: Turkey feature: WATTLE. I was thinking of dewlap. That's ugly. I am glad I am not a turkey.

48D: Capital of Transkei: UMTATA. Nope. I don't know where the heck Transkei is. See this map. Nelson Mandela was born here. Wikipedia says his first 2 wives were both from this area too.

49D: Tropical creepers: LIANES. I keep remembering then forgetting these "Tropical creepers".

53D: Part of the Carpathians: TATRA. The TATRA Mountains are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains, the range in central Europe, extending from N Slovakia to central Romania. Both were unknown to me.

56D: Spinanaker or spanker: SAIL. Thought "spanker" is a person who spank. Did not know it's also a "fore-and-aft" sail.

58D: Jed of "The Chris Isaak Show": REES. Sigh. We've had the same clue several times before, yet his name keeps escaping me. He must be a very small potato. There is not even a Wikipedia entry for him.

61D: Actor Alejandro: REY. Got his name from across fills. He is in Elvis's "Fun in Acapulco". Was he very well-known?

63D: Alphabet trio: RST. "Q-U link" certainly does not sound as cute as yesterday's "RV link" for STU.

C.C.

57 comments:

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

Kazie,
No, I actually meant FLOWN. But I was totally wrong. Should be flied/flew. Thanks for pointing it out. What's the difference between INAPT and UNAPT?

Old Sage in Virginia Beach,
You can always copy and paste your comment to the correct date if it's misplaced.

TJ,
Re: Answer.com says "bluejacket" refers to a sailor.

Calef,
Did you fly planes with the Army Air Corps?

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

Redsmitty & Lemonade,
Thanks for the military nicknames & guitar manufacturers list.

Ski & Mark in BA,
I like your oxymormon & mugnificent, very clever.

Linda,
Hey, you are back! How is your trip? Nice DENSA words.

Dot,
What is an "Egg Lady"?

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

Hayrake,
Perfect post. Every word of it. Exactly the information I was looking for.

Windover,
Thanks for the interesting lambing information.

ArtLvr,
I've never heard of Potter Palmer before. Thought "Putter Palmer" is for alliteration purpose only. Can't picture ARNIE as "an expensive potted palm tree". He is super friendly and accessible.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. & gang - Good God. I thought I'd picked up the wrong paper this morning. First I thought it must be the Times, then I thought it was a foreign-language paper. Zubeneigenubi? Dubhe? And then "Capital of Transkei". Well, I knew what 'capital' meant, but WTF is Transkei? I slid all over this puzzle, trying to find traction. Finally did, in the SW, and once the three big downs in the middle became apparent, I had some forward movement. How many people put 'octopus' instead of 'octopod', and 'liana' instead of 'liane' (an alternate spelling???)? I had WTF? moments all over this one. The 'g' key on my keyboard is starting to show wear. Anyway, I'll stop now, since I'm the one that's always bitching about the puzzles being too easy. As my great-grandmother used to say, this one broke my balls.

Today is National Crown Roast of Pork Day.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "I used to dread getting older because I thought I would not be able to do all the things I wanted to do, but now that I am older, I find that I don't want to do them." -- Politician Lady Nancy Astor

More from the Mensa invitational:

Reintarnation - Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone - The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.

Foreploy - Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

Dennis said...

Oh, and I found the theme for this one. It's 9D.

Argyle said...

Thanks for the rant, Dennis. I can go out for my coffee feeling better now, knowing I wasn't alone on this one.

Barry G. said...

Wow, this was probably the easiest puzzle I've ever done!

OK, so I'm kidding....

Today's puzzle was most definitely a slog. I kinda, sorta managed to finish unassisted thanks to some creative guessing, but one of my guesses was wrong, unfortunately. So I guess I'm eating worms again today.

Unknowns were plentiful and included SCOP, MINORCA (I wanted MAJORCA), FOREWINGS, TALION, GANN, UMTATA, TATRA, SPORTIVE (I wanted SPORTING) and REES. I really thought 49D was LIANAS, but forced myself to put in LIANES after getting ORESTES for 65A. Ditto with OCTOPUS instead of OCTOPOD.

In addition, the clues for STAR, HIROSHIMA and ISAIAHS meant nothing to me.

I have to say I wasn't happy to see CRAP in the puzzle. I actually use the word all the time, so I'm not being a prude, but I just don't think it belongs in the puzzle.

Oh -- and my one mistake was putting ITERENT instead of ITERANT. I figured I had a 50% chance of getting it right, but since it crossed with UMTATA (a complete unknown) I just couldn't tell for sure.

redsmitty said...

bluejacket is also an NHL team in Columbus Ohio

http://bluejackets.nhl.com/index.html

T. Frank said...

Good Morning, C.C.,

I thought I was off to a flying start with amateur and aromas for 1a and 1d, but was brought down quickly. I finally got most of the answers except for schists. Some of the others like umtata and tatra I got only through the cross fills.

It was a hard puzzle, but fun. We have been spoiled the last couple of days with easy ones.

Great links today!

Frank

Chris in LA said...

Blue Jacket was a contemporary of Tecumseh (great outdoor theater show in Chillicothe, OH during the summer if you're ever in the area - guns, horses, etc, probably one of the most exciting theatrical performances I've ever seen). I suspect he's the "root" of the name for the Columbus hockey team. Just thought I'd share.

Same stumbles as others on today's puzzle - it was a real stumper that required several visits to Google and OneAcross this morning. I've only been "solving" for about a year or so, but it made me wonder how anyone ever figured out xwords before the internet (or has that only led to more obscure clues?).

Happy Saturday to all!

greenmill said...

Alejandro Rey was a priest in The Flying Nun.

A Blue Jacket Manual is what we were given in Navy boot camp.

Linda said...

CC: I had more blanks than I`ve ever had when I signed on to the "Corner" today. Hard on the ego! Guess I`m in the "Densa" crowd today.
Good trip...no problems...thought about you when I passed "George Steinbrenner" Stadium. Brought back sacks full of oranges and grapefruit we picked off our trees....noticed in one grocery that oranges are 64 cents and grapefruit are $1.00. We have a fortune in fruit!

What is this about "the stars haven`t shined for me in a while?" Are you alright?

kazie said...

Good Morning all--at least it's weekend, so the working grunts had more time to stew over this one!

I took a long time and a lot of guesses, but got it out except for VAULT, AMIS, STAR, TAE and ORESTES-- I had oedipus--a wrong guess obviously, and so several of the downs in that corner were wrong as well. I didn't google, that would have helped.

What is Menlo Park and what does Edison have to do with it?

My first fills were the NE and SW corners.

c.c.,
Webster says UNAPT is "unsuitable, inappropriate, not accustomed and not likely". INAPT is "not suitable".
IMO, unapt sounds terrible, and I would always prefer to say inapt. I can't see any real difference.

Dennis said...

Kaz, it was his home and one-time lab.

Frey said...

I liked this puzzle... though like most I struggled... but surprisingly got most of it after some thought. So I rate it a very good puzzle. I did have SCHISM for 8A which of course screwed up that whole quad.
Did not know AMIS or the STAR... I had STAN... thought it was jazz player or something :):):) And ORESTES... Tough one but good. Took two cups of coffee to do it...
I like Dennis's call on the theme... :):):)
Edison lived in Menlo Park most of the year near his lab and also wintered in Fort Myers. He was buddies with Henry Ford... they shared a property there. A nice place to visit too.

papajim said...

Got stuck at marsala,shame on me!! One of my favorite Italian dishes..chicken marsala!!
cc... Hiroshima was required reading for us in high school. It's a book you only need to read once, you'll never forget it. There is also a documentary filmed shortly after the bomb was dropped. Again, you'll never forget it.

Happier things...at 1:34am CST, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, our first grandchild was welcomed into our world. Cole James (m.i. after me) weighed in at 21", 8lbs. 15ozs. Full head of blondish- red hair (unlike me). My daughter and her son are both doing great!! We got home about 6am, haven't been to bed yet. Thanks for all the well wishes, they worked!!!! Have a great day, I already have.
Jim

kazie said...

Thanks Dennis and Frey,
i googled it after the fact, but it was all modern references and several different Menlo Parks, or so it looked on short perusal.

I think from memory, schist is the stage of metamorphosis preceding gneiss. In schist, the layers are lined up, but the different elements are not lumped together in alternating patterns.

Anonymous said...

Kazie, I love your comment yesterday about when you do the xword. I do it after I've read the paper, have had breakfast, and am still in robe. Then I check out this marvelous blog. So it's time for lunch and I still need to get dressed, do the breakfast dishes, and make the bed!
This one was a true hammer for me. I had herons for wading birds (we have them in view daily) and thought bat stickum was for mammalian bats. So the whole SW was a mess.
I love today's crossing of schists and crap. Couldn't believe it. (Having been married for 35 years to a geologist, I've heard many schist jokes.)
IMBO to get dressed, make the bed, do the b'fast dishes before my husband gets back from shopping at the local farmers' market. Fresh green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

JD said...

Good morning CC, Dennis and all,

Wayyyy too many unknowns for me to make this enjoyable. I agree with your theme, Dennis.

Felt I should have known 2D as I'm familiar with Hammurabi and his laws. Talion? Who uses that word? It's too early to have that glass of marsala.BTW, kids don't see his laws as being very fair, especially the one that says if a son hits his father, his hand will be cut off.

Dennis, another good quote for wow. I agree with Lady Astor.Can't imagine even wanting to drop out of a heliocopter and ski down a slope now-a-days.

Obscure words today= obcure fun facts:Dueling in Paraguay is legal as long as both parties are registered blood donors. AND, in keeping with the theme, turtles can breathe through their butts.

JD said...

Congratulation Papajim!! Life will be fuller! :)

DoesItinInk said...

This was definitely the most difficult puzzle we have had in some time, but struggling through it to the end was quite satisfying. I had four incorrect squares that would have been only one had I taken just a few more minutes on the puzzle. I refused to believe CRAP would be in the puzzle, so that cost me two incorrect squares, and I did not know that the answer “Zubenelgenubi or Dubhe” was STAR. I knew HIROSHIMA and Kingsley AMIS and have heard of both MINORCA and Majorca.

When connecting to cc’s ELEANOR Rigsby link, I discovered another link to some flying penguins that is worth watching.

It is dark outside, raining, and flash floods warnings have been issued for the greater Chicago area. It is good day to hunker down and stay indoors. I think I will spend the day reading, practicing the piano and starting up my tomato seeds.

@ski…thanks for your explanation. I was so tired last night when I read the final posts I totally missed that you had typed oxyMORMON, not oxymoron!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Wonderful news from Papajim. Congratulations to all.

For today's puzzle, perhaps I should list the words I did know. I think it would be a much shorter post than listing the unknowns. I may be exaggerating, but not by much.

I surprised myself by getting HIROSHIMA on the first go round. I read it as a teenager for a book report and it was the shortest book on the "chose from" list. As Papajim said, it was unforgettable.

I dislike compound words like STOPGAP, OR ELSE, (I couldn't figure out what an orelse was.), SOFT SPOT and POISON GAS. They are always difficult for me. The SE corner was the worst, with TATRA, UMTATA, REES and those pesky STARs.

LOL, Like Sallie, I thought "flying bats" and wondered how I could fit GUANO (GUANOES??) into 60A.

The perps helped, but I needed several "G's" in order to finish it up.

JD, re: Turtles....Talk about a new and fascinating FF!!

carol said...

Wow, what an ego blaster and if I had balls, they really would be broken!!

Dennis, I was guilty of putting in OCTOPUS and LIANA. I did not even know there was such a thing as an Octopod.
I have never seen Liana spelled with an e on the end. All in all, I agree with your 'theme':)
?
Linda, very clever word use yesterday!!

BTW, who thinks up these "Days"?? Nat'l Crown Roast of Pork????? Ahh, perchance(there's a c/w for you) the National Pork Association? Anyway, it would work for me as I love pork.

I will now attempt the Baloney Sandwichs puzzle.

JD, I agree-too bad it's too early for a large helping of Marsala!

kazie said...

Thanks Sallie,
Nice to know I'm not the only one with warped priorities!

Papajim,
Congratulations! I'm jealous, since we are not yet grandparents, and don't look like there's a chance for some time yet. It will be wonderful, sounds like he's got a good grip on the world already.

carol said...

Papajim or should I say Grandpapajim? Congrats on your new grandson! Great name too...your life will never be the same and it's all good!

Linda said...

Carol @11:14 AM: Thanks for the kind words.
Dennis@yesterday: Thank you also...I love words,tinkering with them and REALLY love "talking" them(far too much at times).
Papajim: CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to the S.O.G.W.P.I.P(W) Club!
(Silly old Grandma (Granpa) with pictures in purse (wallet).

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all,

Had to leave this puzzle for awhile and come back, but managed to fill in everything right but Orestes. I had Liana coming down, so ended up with Orestas. I guessed on the "R" in Tatra and the "T" in Orestes, just sounded right, lucky me!

Papajim: Congrats on the new grandson!

WM said...

Well, at least it is a beautiful morning. Today I am Forrest Gump..."Stupid is as stupid does"

I am leaving this alone...have a baby shower for our oldest niece who has flown up from SoCal for the event...I get to be a great Aunt in June.


I printed out the Sunday BALONEY puzzle and will work on that and one of the 1001 NYTimes puzzles I have.

Papjim...Huge Congratulations...have fun being a Granddad! 80)

Linda I like being a member of your club.

Anonymous said...

SLOPPY AGAIN!!! IT IS 35A NOT 36A.

Auntie Naomi said...

Good Afternoon C.C and Co.,

I was too busy to make it yesterday. Much of my day was spent making Shrimp Etoufée. I was inspired by the mention of Crawfish Etoufée earlier in the week.

Yes, C.C., I was in the Navy. !!! SURPRISE !!! The only thing more surprising than my being in the Navy, was my getting out with an honorable discharge. Perhaps Elissa would like to explain the term 'Captain's Mast'.

I was once amazed that a good friend of mine who served as a Field Artillery Forward Observer in the Army and then went on to a become a Lieutenant in Navy had, after all that time, never heard Medical Technicians referred to as 'Pecker Checkers'.

Today's puzzle took me forever and I still got four wrong letters. Argh. I had never heard of Diamond LIL or Transkei. I chose LIN and wound up with TALYON. I chose URTATA and wound up with ARIS Kingsley. I have never read any of Kinsley's books. I also have never watched the Chris Isaak Show, so I did not know REES and, like C.C., could not recall it. I thought the two STARs were probably a couple of guys named STAN. There were a few unknowns that I got from the fills, like SCOP and SCHIST.

The Panthers play the Bluejackets tonight. I hope they do better than they did against the Penguins the other night. :(

JD, Does anybody actually drink Marsala?

This might be an easier to read explanation of how to make a link:

(a href="my.url.here")the word or words you want to appear as a link(/a)

Except, you do not use ( or ). You use < and > instead.
The part in bold is where you put the web address. Be sure to include the 'http://'


CONGRATULATIONS, papajim :)

Buckeye said...

Grandpapajim; Your life will change again, Kids - then Grandkids. They're both great.

I asked my friend, Sledge Hammer, if he'd seen "Zubeneogenubi" lately and he told me he was so tired from the "triremes" that he couldn't look for it. He was rowing to "Umtata" in "Transkei", was bitten by a "seasnake" and had just avoided a "liane" bite. He was going to kick back and watch "Jed Rees" on "The Chris Isaak Show" then go look for "Dubhe". I asked if he'd run into any "stilts" yet and he said he'd "bemuse" that but he was going to drink some "marsala" and forget that "crap".

"As for my single self..." I will use Kazie's words when I say this puzzle was not "gneiss", so "schist" on it.

A man walked into a doctor's office with a banana in one ear, a cucumber in the other and a carrot stuck up his nose. The doctor took one look at him and said, "I can tell you right now - you're not eating properly".

I must be off!!!!

Anonymous said...

C. C.
No, I did not fly planes. I serviced them on the ground, including the loading of bombs.

re. "trireme" I think the photo of a model did not show the sense of it well. As I understand it there were three levels vertically, with oarsmen on each level. Depending on the size of the ship it could have any number of oarsmen from front to back. The men on the top level had to have longer oars than those beneath.
Calef.

Linda said...

"Diamond Lil" was the name of a play written by that erudite and scholarly play-write, Ms. Mae West. It was a flop...most likely because it was heavily censored (and ,no doubt, needed it since it was billed as a "play" and not a "peep show", vernacular for "porn" at that time.) Ms. West was like many performers today, what they lack in actual talent they try to compensate for by showing skin and seeing how far they can "push the envelope" of common decency. I shall now climb down off my soap box.

Auntie Naomi said...

Here is a link to a decent explanation of the layout of a trireme.

Clear Ayes said...

Buckeye dear, I was starting to think we had befuddled (LOST?) you for good.

Linda said...

PromiseMeThis @1:23; Shades of "Ben Hur."

tobylee said...

I am so impressed by the attempts at the Mensa game. They are so clever, and very funny. I guess that explains why some of the rest of us had trouble with today's puzzle. :0)

papajim, congratualtions to your whole family. The best part is that we don't have to do the long nights. We can kiss them and send them home. We get all the good parts.

Buckeye, I really appreciate your humor. Keep it coming.

I had trouble in all the same spots. The schist crossing the crap reminded me of my German father-in- law who used to say schist, but meant crap. I have to admit that we used the English word for it. We had 125 sows and there was a lot of it to shovel. But like Carol, I do love pork especially chops.

Hope you all have a restful weekend.
Toby

Anonymous said...

Soft Spot was a good answer for the clue "Tender Regard".

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Mitzi Gaynor.

ferd 77 said...

Where is the Good Evening from India chappie?

Elissa said...

This puzzle definitely required too much thinking for such a beautiful day after so many gray rainy ones. So many words eluded me, they are too numerous to list. I was definitely BEFUDDLED and BEMUSED, which I think mean the same thing and neither means "absorbed in thought".

Dennis: It might be easier to count the number of folks who didn't first put in OCTOPUS for OCTOPOD. LOL on the suggested theme.

In fact there were lots of LOLs in today's comments. Thanks for the joke, Buckeye. I will definitely be telling that one.

DoesItInInk: I'm not enjoying "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit", but continue to slog through it, since it is for a book group. I really don't like "riches to rags" dysfunctional family stories.

Thomas: I never heard sailors called Bluejackets, but I had heard of the Bluejackets Manual, which is sometimes called the "sailors' bible".

PromiseMeThis: I haven't heard "Pecker Checker" since Jesus was an E-1. As for explaining Captains' Mast - this is also called Non-judicial punishment or NJP. If a sailor commits a minor offense it can be dealt with by the commanding officer (referred to as "Captain" on a ship regardless of actual rank)in a hearing where the witnesses and the accused tell the CO their version of the events and the CO decides who to believe among the "facts" presented. Because it is not a trial, no rules of evidence apply and punishment options are limited. The name originated because in the olden days it would take place with the Captain standing at the main mast. The Marines call this NJP "Office Hours", which indicates the other use of Mast - an opportunity for sailors to put requests or voice concerns to their CO. On ship a sailor can't refuse Mast (because of the need to have a way to enforce good order and discipline while out at sea), but those serving at shore commands can refuse Mast or Officer Hours and request a Summary Court Martial, which is conducted by someone outside of the sailors immediate chain of command. Sailors faced with this choice get to consult with a lawyer first. When I did this kind of counseling, we called it "Duty Dirt Bag", showing the sensitivity for which the military services are so well known.

Linda said...

Don`t forget to run your clocks forward one hour before retiring or you`ll be late to Church/Synagogue/Temple/Mosque/Luby`s!

Auntie Naomi said...

...and replace the batteries in your smoke alarms!

Thomas said...

Hello C.C. and all!

Wow, this puzzle kicked my butt! So many unknown and obscure clues. Even with the gspot I was unable to complete it. Guess the editor wanted to say "so there!" First Sat. in a long time to not solve, but it did make me think, but what I finally wound up thinking was [like Dennis] 9d!

Congrats Gpapajim!

Great word play Linda.

Welcome from another newbie, Fred.

Windover, as a reader of the James Herriot novels, I can envision your work during lambing season.

C.C., great write-up [as always] and links.

TJ in Osseo

embien said...

23:03 today. I guess I should be happy I finished at all (several guessed letters). This is right up there with the longest I've ever spent working a TMS puzzle.

I'm going to have to go look at my bottle of Marsala wine (which I used very often in cooking chicken breasts back when I was cooking).

Saute the salted and peppered chicken breasts until golden brown and not quite cooked through. Remove breasts from skillet and deglaze skillet with Marsala (sherry also works). Reduce. Put the chicken breasts back in, add butter and finish cooking the breasts (they won't dry out because they are "poaching" in the sauce). Snip chives over the dish when you serve it. You can add some chicken stock if you don't have enough liquid to make a plentiful sauce (my wife liked lots of sauce on her chicken before she went vegetarian).

Despite being a wine afficionado and ordering a bottle of wine every night at dinner with my wife, I never realized that Marsala was from Sicily. If pressed, I would have guessed it was from somewhere in Southern Italy. I just checked the bottle and it is, indeed, from Western Sicily. Who knew?

Linda said...

Wolfemom@9:56 Friday: "Aw, pshawl! (a garment worn to cover your embarrassment at such high praise.)

kazie said...

Talking of schist, the milder German term is Mist, and the bigger the pile of it outside a farmhouse, the wealthier the farmer was perceived to be, since he obviously had more cows producing it. So it can't be all bad!

In modern terms does that simply mean the richer you are the more you are full of it?

maria said...

good afternoon c.c. and all

Well, i was dumfounded and befuddled to find out where Marsala came from ! I don't drink it, but i cook with it and i just made an English Trifle and used Marsala ( dry ) came out very good.

Dennis, your take on the whole reflected my sentiments. lol
Buckeye, my goodness you're funny !

I did put Octopod. because it was the only way and i had to StopGap at 9D could not believe my eyes
i had Backwings for Forewings and that NE and SW corners were a mess

One right thing, i finally worked my favorite pic in my Avatar (another word i learned from you guys)
don't really know what it means though.

Argyle, thanks for you efforts, you made me think,
can't wait to click on publish to see if my efforts worked

maria said...

Wow, yeah it worked !

Linda said...

Kazie; One of my late Dad`s favorite sayings was, "They`re as rich as 10 foot (sic) up a bull`s leg!"

JIMBO said...

Holy cr Cow,

Even the ones I thought was right had to be changed when I finally called on C.C.

Congratulations Papajim. It's good to have family.
I have seven of those and four greats. I'm rich!!!!

JD said...

Did I miss the answers to Monster Mash?

Promiseme, I have no idea if anyone drinks marsala; I only use it for cooking like Maria and embien. But then I only use sherry for cooking, and I know people drink it.

gorgeous day in the bay area today! I think we've gotten all the rain we're gonna get. Hope it's enough.

Dennis said...

Congratulations, PapaJim!! Hope everyone's happy and well.

After a week in which we had over a foot of snow, and temperatures in the teens, today it jumped up into the 70s. Spent the whole day running around with the top down, cruising along the coast. Got spring fever now, big-time, and now we're supposed to go back into the 40s next week. Damn strange weather.

Elissa, great explanation of NJP and Office Hours - went through a few of those during my 4 1/2 years.

Linda, are you a member of Mensa?

Papajim, when I was in Japan, I went to zero ground in Hiroshima. Part of a church survived the blast, and the shadow of a wrought iron railing is burned into one wall. Gets your attention.

Linda said...

Dennis: Never joined...enjoyed some of the tests, though...I love any sort of "IQ" tests/testing. There are other "Honor" societies to which I belong...but Mother always taught me not to "toot my own horn" too much...I`m flattered you even thought it possible, though. But then there are all kinds of intelligences. My father-in-law was a child of the Depression and had to leave school to support the family, but he had more innate intelligence and common sense than most of my Master`s level professors!
IMGTBN (I must go to bed now :)

Anonymous said...

Hi CC and all.

Menlo Park is just north of (drum roll please) Edison NJ. T A E had his lab in what is now Edison.

Guilty on the spelljng of liana

Agree on the use of crap, did not believe it was really in there.

As for 10d my vintage Webster's ( circa 1973) says that hallo is a var. of hollo. Defined as 1 used to attract atttention or 2 used as a call of encouragement.

Jimmy, S. Carolina

KittyB said...

Hi, C.C. and all.

Dear Husband and I have been in Florida for the past 10 days, in the Keys for the past five. I'd like to say that it was heavenly, but we spent a lot of time resting, since our youngest granddaughter shared her upper resperitory gunk with us. Having said that....Grandpapajim, grands are a joy!

I had the same response to the rest of the crowd on the puzzle. I completed it, but only with some guessing, and guidance from the on-line puzzle. I've never heard of SCOP, TALION, UMTATA or TATRA, and wanted to spell it LIANA. I had the wrong type of "Bat" in mind for most of the puzzle.

I love the creative definitions. I'll have to read back issues of "the Corner" to catch up.

It was beautiful in Florida, but I was delighted to return to the Chicago area and find it to be in the upper 40's at 1:00 a.m. Not bad at all. I hope the rest of you are high and dry.

JD said...

welcome back Kittyb, you were missed! Lots of new friends have joined us!

Anonymous said...

C.C. Eons ago,when milk was still delivered to your doorstep, farmer's wives would bring fresh eggs to town & deliver them door to door. Hence "egg lady".

We googled and used the dictionary and still could not fill in all the words. But the real 'duh' moment came when I read here, or else. We looked for 'orelse' in the dictionary and it wasn't there!

The biggest problems have already been discussed.

Papajim, Congratulations. The youngest of our ten grandkids will be 20 next week. How time does fly!

I spent the day working as a volunteer at a Free Community Medical and Provision Clinic at which we served over a thousand people - medical, dental, chiropractic, massage, haircuts, acupuncture, financial counseling, social and pastoral counseling, family pictures, food pantry, clothing, & lunch. It was a lot of work but very rewarding.

Dot