google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday March 17, 2009 Ed Voile

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Mar 17, 2009

Tuesday March 17, 2009 Ed Voile

Theme: The Davey Family

17A: Renowned jazz pianist: DAVE BRUBECK

24A: "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star: LARRY DAVID

48A: "Die Hard" co-star: ROBERT DAVI

57A: English LPGA golfer: LAURA DAVIES

11D: 1997 PGA champion: DAVIS LOVE

32D: Monkees singer: DAVY JONES

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Go to solve LA Times Daily puzzle if you have time. It has a very proper theme for today.

Both DAVIS LOVE and LAURA DAVIES were gimmes to me. I remember vividly the miraculous rainbow at Winged Foot and how emotional DAVIS LOVE was. It's his first and only major. Who else but LAURA DAVIES (next to John Daly) can you fill for "English LPGA golfer"? She is the face of the British/European LPGA.

I was not familiar with the other four theme answers. But I figured out the theme earlier on. So I was able to fill in some blanks with creative guesses.

Must be a headache day for those who have trouble with Roman numerals:

11A: 605: DCV

19A: Sundial seven: VII

30A: 1405: MCDV

30D: Twice DLXXV: MCL

Some of the clues could be reworded to avoid the heaviness in abbreviated answers today. For example. BAS (21A: Some U. degs"), why not just "__ - relif"? Also, I've never liked "SSS word" for SEL (29D). Last time "Poivre companion" stumped lots of people (Poivre is French for "pepper"), but a simple "Salt in France" should be fine. I am still waiting for someone to try "Sand's seasoning?".

Across:

1A: Perpetual traveler: NOMAD. Anyone thought of GYPSY first?

6A: "Le __ du printemps": SACRE. "The Rite of Spring". Ballet by Igor Stravinsky. Unknown to me. All I could think of is the Printemps department store. Printemps is "Spring" in French.

14A: Threatened layer: OZONE

28A: Equal-sided figure: ISOGON. Like square.

29A: Part of a wd.: SYL. Why do I always think of letters instead of syllables?

37A: One-horse carriages: CHAISES. New defintion to me. CHAISE is a kind of carriage with a hood. One-horse and two-wheeled.

41A: Morse unit: DIT. What's difference between DIT and DOT again? (Answer from Barry G: DIT and DOT are synonymous. It's just that DIT is paired with dah, whereas DOT is paired with dash. DIT and dah represent the sound made by typing the characters "." and "-" with a telegraph, whereas DOT and dash represent the names of the characters.)

42A: Med. readings: EEGS. Saw a very clever clue the other day. "Head lines?"

44A: Servile: MENIAL

46A: Goya's "The Naked __": MAJA. Hey, Williams is getting DF. He could have clued MAJA as "The Clothed MAJA". But "The Naked MAJA" does look better. I wish I had her waist, so tiny!

60A: Enzyme: suff.: ASE. And ANE (4D: Chemical suffix). I am curious to see how our new editor Rich Norris clues ANE. I like the separate AN E approach.

61A: Felix or Luther: ADLER. Got it because yesterday's "Felix and Polly" clue. Have never heard of actor Luther ADLER. Barry G's Irene ADLER clue sounds equally obscure to me. And I've never heard of any of the ADLER in Ink's list. It seems that Alfred ADLER is most well-known one. Wikipedia says he coined this concept "Inferiority Complex".

Down:

1D: Of a junction: NODAL

2D: Conductor Seiji: OZAWA. His name escapes me constantly. I could only picture his face. He was actually born in Shenyang, China when it was under Japanese occupation.

5D: Boone and others: DEBBYS. Thought of DANIELS first. Here is DEBBY Boone's "You Light Up My Life".

6D: Wursts: SAUSAGES. Interesting comments from Kazie yesterday: "My son has been experimenting with sausage making recipes, and he specially ordered the intestine casings because he says when the meat dries out, the natural casings shrink with it and there are no air pockets to cause spoilage like with the synthetic casings that won't shrink."

7D: Fugitive letters: APB. I like Harrison Ford's "The Fugitive".

8D: Simpleton: CRETIN. New to me. CRETIN does not look like a stupid word.

9D: Sieved into pellets: RICED. Don't have a ricer in our kitchen.

18D: Protective hemispheres for antennas: RADOMES. Contraction of RA (dar) + DOME. Another new word to me. How can antennas work when they are domed?

23D: Beaver Cleaver's hometown: MAYFIELD. Got it from across fills.

25D: Classic Buicks: RIVIERAS. Also got from across fills.

36D: Ed.'s work pile: MSS. I'd rather the clue be "Editor's work pile, abbr."

38D: His: Fr.: SES. Or her/its.

39D: Mary Roberts of mysteries: RINEHART. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she is often called American Agatha Christie. Is it true?

41D: Cotillion gal: DEB. I did not know the meaning of "Cotillion". It's a formal ball given for debutantes.

44D: Sofa section: MODULE. New to me. Which section is MODULE?

46D: Jim or Gardner: McKAY. Did not know actor/artist Gardner McKAY. He must be very famous to grace a Life Magazine cover. Jim McKAY was the first sportscaster to win an Emmy (He won a total of 12 Emmy Awards).

48D: "The Cloister and the Hearth" writer: READE (Charles). One more google. Interesting bookcover. Is it a good read from READE?

49D: Concorde, e.g.: AVION. "Plane" in French.

C.C.

72 comments:

Dick said...

Good morning Cc and all,...for me a pretty drab puzzle. I am not sure why I did not like this puzzle, maybe because of all the names. I was able to complete the c/w unassisted, but it was not very rewarding. I guess the other problem was all the abbreviations, IE: 59A, 36D, 35D, 42A and all of the Roman numerals. Bah! Looking forward to the new puzzles next week.

Nice day here today. Looks like the second trip to the links.

Dennis I hope your eye is improving.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday.

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

Dick,
Yeah, I noticed the preponderance of abbreviated answer also. See IRIN & EIRE so often, but not today. Kind of disappointed.

Martin,
What is Dr. Manhattan's original quote? Look at 你 again, it's an independently left to right structured character. 我 has a horizontal bar in the middle to connect the two sides.

Lemonade,
Made a mistake on GREENSOBO yesterday. I did not really know the correct spelling. Both you and Dicked saved me a "Sloppy job again" comment from Anonymous. Thanks.

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

Chris,
Thanks for "popcorn hull" example on crevice. Very vivid.

Dr. G,
Re: Chinese Flag: The larger star stands for the Chinese Communist Party. The four smaller ones symbolize the four classes: farmers, workers, intellectual and businessmen.

Calef,
You served in Europe during WWII, right?

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

Sallie,
DIS is the theme of yesterday's LA Times. That's why you found "too many" of them. Happy ORANGE St. Patrick's Day to you!

Kazie,
Thanks for explaining the differences among those 4 places. Had no idea BERG is connected with mountain/hill.

Embien,
I suspect your puzzle is TMS Daily Commuter Crosswords. They don't normally give the constructor's name.

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

Anonymous @ 8:43pm, Larry et al,
Thanks for the very informative "Trail of Tears" posts. I've faintly heard of term, but I was unaware of the Oklahoma connection. As the famous Oklahoma Indian Will Rogers once said: "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects".

Buckeye,
I've lifted 100 post cap. Post any time you want, just limit your comments to 5, that's all. "Passiveness" in Kate Hepburn? Are you kidding? There is not even an iota of "passiveness" in her.

Bob C,
Thank you so much for the support. I vodka and caviar you!

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - a bit late today, since I had 'eye maintenance' to do first thing.

FOUR roman numeral clues?? I know some people that aren't gonna be happy with that. The puzzle itself caused me some problems, but the perps and the theme saved the day yet again.

Funny that we were just talking sausages yesterday and there they are today.

Today is obviously St. Patrick's Day, but it's also Submarine Day - not sure it that refers to the boat or the sandwich. Anybody remember watching submarine races?

Today's Words of Wisdom, and I ascribe to this: "I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy." -- Writer Madeleine L'Engle

And a few more Fun Facts:

- the average life span of a taste bud is 10 days

- side by side, two thousand cells from the human body could cover about one square inch

- an average human loses about 200 head hairs per day

Martin said...

I worked on this puzzle for forty five minutes and gave up because I couldn't get DAVIS LOVE or LAURA DAVIES. Funny, isn't it? If I could have worked with C.C. on this puzzle we could have solved the whole thing without googling. Does anybody out there solve puzzles with a partner? In movies we hear people say "Three letter word meaning 'Man's best friend'?" to a buddy. Anybody do that every day?

I wanted RECALLS for RELIVES, MRIS for EEGS, DOCILE for MENIAL, DOS for RES and DOT for DIT. I also couldn't get REFORM, MAYFIELD, REG, RINEHART, MODULE, READE or ADLER, even though ADLERS was in yesterday's puzzle. For "Luther" I was thinking or either Martin Luther or Lex Luthor. For a while I also had RELAXED for RETIRED and PLANE for AVION. As C.C. said, AVION is French for "plane": CHAISE is also French for "chair".

When asked whether he felt bad about his old friend sying, Dr. Manhattan said "Dead or alive, the number of particles in a human body is the same: to the universe there is no difference." It's a way of saying "Don't cry over spilled milk." Funny though, I think people usually cry when they feel helpless so spilling milk over the floor and being unable to drink it might be a perfectly reasonable time to cry.

C.C., I know 你 and 我 are different characters and I can see that but I also know that some people (not me) are dyslexic and have trouble reading English words. Isn't it reasonable to suppose that some people might similarly have trouble reading Chinese? There's also the question of handwriting or fonts or styles. It's often very difficult to recognize something written or typed and it doesn't help if it isn't your native language. I should have read Dennis' question regarding your birthday before I posted before I posted because then I would have understood the context and realised my error sooner. Mea culpa (my mistake).

Over 100 posts yesterday? Oops.

Martin

Dennis said...

C.C., the sofa clue is a bit misleading - it really pertains to sectionals, which are comprised of modules.

Also, the antennae 'see' right through a radome as if it's not there. They can be made of ceramic, plastic, nylon, etc.

Bill said...

Well, after yesterday, Barry will never want to see another 6d again !!
As for this x word (sorry, Calef) What an absolute waste of space in a newspaper; and another waste of time and ink trying to figure out very obscure abbreviations, names that no one could possibly know (at least someone as untraveled as I) and CC yes, it's a "Davey" family. I think it's more of VEE fest!
CY'All Later

Oh, as an afterthought, I,m going to chime in on yesterdays disagreement. I think anyone having a problem with comments on these pages or ANYONE who is offended by the content and needs to say so should grow a set of balls and IDENTIFY themselves.
Anything can be said anonymously but when your "signature" is attached it becomes more personal!!!
There, I'm DONE!!

Lemonade714 said...

LARRY DAVID was the co-creator of "Seinfeld" as well as playing himself in the myth is reality comedy series on HBO "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Very interesting sense of humor. The puzzle was odd, with all the negatives already mentioned, but some thought provoking clues. I thought CONCORDE as a French creation giving us AVION was good, but then French is in my wheelhouse.

MARY ROBERTS RINEHEART was one of the few American females to write mystery stories in the early 1900's, but I think it was only the publicists who compared her to AGATHA CHRISTIE. Did not like her style of mystery.

GARDNER MCKAY was a really obscure choice, but I do remember him in "Adventures in Paradise" an old TV show about a guy on a boat.

The MONKEES and DAVY JONES were the first television created band, designed to take advantage of the BEATLES popularity. It actually was a successful experiment, and DAVY was the BRITISH member.

Bill, good point about anonymous posts.

C.C. I guess you just have a mental block about GREENSBORO.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Today's puzzle started out easy enough, but by the end I felt pretty brutalized by it. By some miracle I actually managed to finish it -- correctly -- unassisted, but only by virtue of several complete guesses.

I did not know SACRE, DAVIS LOVE, LAURA DAVIES, RADOMES, RINEHART, MAYFIELD, MAJA, MCKAY or READE. I've never heard of a one-horse carriage called a CHAISE before, but I have heard of the "upholstered couch in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs" called a CHAISE longue, so I was able to guess that. And fortunately, I actually knew who ROBERT DAVI is (a great character actor who has appeared in many TV shows, often a a villain), although it took me awhile to remember that he played one of the two FBI agents in "Die Hard."

The lower part of the puzzle was definitely the worst for me today. As I said, I didn't know who LAURA DAVIES was (even if she is "the face of the British/European LPGA") and had no clue as to READE or RINEHART. With the help of the perps and the theme I finally managed to get L____DAVIES. I wanted to guess LAURA, but I couldn't think of MODULES for 44D at first and figured that 58D could have been one of 7 different notes. What saved me was finally realizing that 61A was the same as yesterday, even though only one of the two ADLERS mentioned in the clue was the same. Still no Irene, though... Anyway, that got me RES for 58D, which confirmed LAURA, which got me MODULES and READE.

Another (related) bad spot was the crossing of R_NEHART with D_T. 41A could have been either DOT or DIT, and 39D could have been RONEHART or RINHART. I finally went with the correct "I," but it could have gone either way. Oh, and C. C. -- as far as I'm aware, DIT and dah are synonymous. It's just that DIT is paired with dah, whereas dot is paired with dash. DIT and dah represent the sound made by typing the characters "." and "-" with a telegraph, whereas dot and dash represent the names of the characters.

The last letter I filled in today was the crossing of _AJA with _CRAY. I had earlier filled in YES correctly for 63, but in my haste my "Y" looked awfully like an "X." Therefore, I started at what I thought was "_CRAX for quite awhile before I realized the problem. I still didn't know either of the answers, but at least I could guess MCRAY as being a relatively common name.

Today's WTF moment is hereby awarded to WEEST clued as "Littlest laddie." I understand where they were going with this, but it just doesn't parse. WEEST is synonymous with littlest, to be sure, and they're both adjectives. Once you add "laddie" to the mix, however, you're trying to equate an adjective with a noun and it just doesn't work...

Anonymous said...

In the original Morse telegraphs, the receiver's armature made a clicking noise as it moved into and out of position to mark the tape. Operators soon learned to translate the clicks directly into dots and dashes, making it unnecessary to use the paper tape. When Morse code was adapted to radio, the dots and dashes were sent as short and long pulses. It was later found that people become more proficient at receiving Morse code when it is taught as a language that is heard, instead of one read from a page. To reflect the sound of Morse code, practitioners began to vocalize a dot as "dit", and a dash as "dah".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code

Barry G. said...

Ooops! I meant to say that DIT and dot are synonymous, not that DIT and dah are. Sorry about that...

Mainiac said...

Happy St Patrick's All,

I'm running late. I've got a sick dog now.

Started off cruising through this one. I like the roman numerals but quickly got bored with the abbreviations. I'm not much for golf and have never heard of Robert Davi so I crashed and burned in the SE corner. Sieved into pellets is different. I think of wood pellets that are pressed, not sieved.

I tried my hand at digging blood worms a number of years ago. Good money but hard work. I quickly learned that rubber gloves saved me from the irritation of handling them. I can't imagine having that feeling in my eye. Hope you're recovering well Dennis.

Another good day on tap here. Low teens this morning and warming into the mid thirties.

Have a good one!!

Anonymous said...

Hi-

Bill- Well said.

Anon- Like bill said, if you are going to take a stance then take a stance proudly. Never be ashamed of your opinion and thoughts. If your "higher sense of good" is to point out a wrong or a sense of wrong it may be best to do it with kindness and take the opportunity to teach. Especially when you are familiar with this blog and know the folks to a certain degree and know we all mean well. Humor really bites, sometimes.


Dennis-take care of your eye. you only have 2 of them and you need them. Oh and Please do take care of your thumbs too.

Doing lots to get myself sorted out to go on vacation to AZ. I am so excited.

2 weeks of pure relaxing and fun.

kazie said...

Hi all,
Well it sounds like several have had the same problems as I did. The only names I didn't g'spot or guess were Dave Brubeck and Larry David. I had no trouble with the Roman numerals or the French, though SACRE gave me pause for a while.

Still have no clue about 36D MSS, (looks like a mess to me!)and Dennis is right about MODULE--I wanted MIDDLE, until I g'ed LAURA and found LYDIA was wrong.

Barry G,
Thanks for DIT and DAH--I've never heard of them.

All in all a rather frustrating XW today, especially the middle east and SW. My husband has no patience to solve with me. If I limit my questions to odd words I know he would know, he sometimes obliges, but if he has a puzzle in front of him, he likes to mess it up by just putting in random letters that fit, whether they bear any relationship to the perp clue or not. So I never let him at it.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone!

@barryg Good explanation of the Morse verbalization.

@bill Amen, brother. (You too, kristen)

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

lois said...

Good morning CC et al., Well, another bleeder for me today. Feel like a real 'cretin' or worse...my EEG'S aren't low, they're non existant! But that's ok. My EKG's got 'arise' out of today however. Love the 'V sign'...in body language esp. I'll 'reform' my 'chaises' and 'modules', and score something from (45D) 'a tease' (not 'at ease')who's a 'mover' and shaker teeming with reg. not menial and not retired sausages. What's the 'wurst' that can happen? True optimism!

Dennis: hope your eye is getting better. I do remember the submarine races...no surprise! Down and deep! It's all good!

papajim said...

Tough for me, not a big golf guy, although I do get out on the links several times a year.

Dennis, Submarine races? Absolutely!! Tail light parks also.

Linda, it's a 2002 Corvette coupe with a removalable glass panel. It is not a show car, too stock, actually common. My gear head friends have show cars. They call them street rods (pre 1950). I have one life long buddy who rebuilt a 1969 Road Runner from a pile of junk into a show car winner.
Well off to do the daily 4 miles, finally in shorts the last few days. Have a great day!!
Jim

Anonymous said...

Crokett1947-

You have morphed into a pussy ...cat..MEOW


He/she is sweet :)

Elissa said...

Got the theme pretty quickly, but since the DAV position wasn't obvious for the names I didn't know (R. DAVI, LAURA DAVIES) it didn't help much. I was further stymied by lots of unknown names (READE,RINEHART, MAYFIELD, MAJA) but I remember ADLER after a few fills were revealed. Didn't understand MSS until I got here. Ed. just didn't say Editor to me. RADOME was a gimme because my husband is a satellite communication engineer and I've seen and heard about them before. He is also a HAM radio operator so I know about DIT/DOT, but the I or O is always a guess unless I know the perp, which I didn't today.

Dennis: Hope the eye is feeling better today. I wasn't going to say anything about the missed sale but appreciated your second thought. Hope you are enjoying the book.
About WoW "I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy." This brought to mind another quote - about remarriage "the triumph of optimism over experience". A friend is getting married for the fifth time. Talk about optimism.

windhover said...

Good morning All,
The COCP (countdown of crappy puzzles) continues apace. I had planned to skip today, but as always am inspired by Lois. I got all the names today except Laura Davies, and guessed it from the crosses. My particular gimme was Gardner McKay, as I remember a quote from him which descibed Nancy Reagan (née Davis) as having excelled back in the day at a certain Lewinsky-esque activity. Google has just informed that the quote is from Kitty Kelley's hatchet-job (rhymes with said activity) biography, and the quote is attributed to Peter Lawford, but I distinctly remember McKay. Guess it's all good.
Dennis: Doing my best to draw fire away from you. This may do it.
Windhover

Boomer said...

Top O' the mornin' to ya all. I was expecting to see a puzzle full of Paddy's and Shamrocks with a bit of Irish Stew, but instead we got Roman numerals. Faith and Begorra, I am not Irish, but I did have some Irish Whiskey once so I qualify to wear a green bowling shirt today. So may your pot be full of Corned Beef and Cabbage and may the lucky four leaf clover come to rest on your doorstep. G'day!

kazie said...

Larry,
Nancy Reagan, who would have guessed?

Dennis,
I too meant to say earlier that I hope your eye is doing better. This time of year is bad for allergies in general, so I hope that doesn't slow the healing process at all.

Kristen should enjoy an allergy-free time in AZ--it's drier there, isn't it?

Linda said...

CC: I keep a list with the Roman Numerals and Hebrew names for the months ... really came in handy today!

Dennis: ARRRGH and do you have your landlegs back yet...like the beaded pigtails and goatee, too. BUT we`re gonna dock your pay if you`re late again!

Barry G: To repeat an earlier comment...when you construct puzzles you often create "weird" words...(if you`re fortunate, many of them will be Roman numeral letters) but you can always find a definition/word clue for them if you look hard enough. Just a view from the other side...

papajim: We aren`t gear heads...ours are just antiques...but there are always "muscle cars" and wonderful street rods at our shows...also some reproductions..(kits). That new grandson will love riding in your car...especially in parades (as ours do.) Lots of fun ahead with the little guy!

Kazie: I solve with "probable" letters, too (because words do often follow definite patterns.) It`s a carry-over from "Wheel". I`ve "won" several million bucks from my recliner!

CC: Good Will Rogers quote...and so true. I feel like I`m getting a little less ignorant by following xws and your blog, though.

Dennis said...

Thanks for the kind words about my eye; got steroid drops from the doc and they seem to be taking both the swelling and itching down a notch. Mainiac, these bloodworms are about the thickness of thread and about 1" long; they come frozen in little squares. Is it common knowledge about their potential to cause a reaction? Hope your dog's feeling better.

Bill, Kristen, you guys said it as well as it can be said. Kristen, where in AZ? Golfing?

Kazie, I like your husband's sense of humor; I've given jigsaw puzzles from the store as gifts to friends, after carefully removing a piece or two and resealing the box.

Papajim, I hope someday to own another mid-60s Vette; I had a '64 365hp, and a '66 350hp at various points in my younger days.

Elissa, excellent thus far; you have a very readable style.

Lois, thank you for being......Lois.

Larry, thanks much, but unnecessary; nothing I enjoy more than getting the blood flowing, seeing what people are made of. And I never knew that about Nancy Reagan; no wonder, whenever you see a picture of Ronald sitting behind his desk, he's smiling...

Anne said...

Hi all,
My paper, The Seattle Times, had a different puzzle. Mine did have a green theme and it was by Sally Stein. What gives??? This has never happended before.
Plus, I need help!
Anne

IRISH JIM said...

Good morning C C & all

Beanachtai na Feile Padraig go leir

Blessings of St Patricks day to all

Did this on line today for the !st time. Does make it easier to guess one of 5 vowels in abbreviations and roman numerals.
Golfers names were gimmies for fans like me.
Only other British LPGA golfer is Karen Stuples obviousley not very
well known.
Our local paper has not said what they are doing next week.
May the hand of a friend always be near you. Irish blessing...

Jimmy S. Carolina

Linda said...

BTW: We watched those submarine races in a 58 Impala conv...which we sold (because I had wrecked it...through no fault of my own of course) in the middle 60s for less than a thousand dollars. Today, you can`t touch one for less 80-90 thousand and up! I think that`s why my husband got into old cars...he`s looking for a white with black top and red with silver upholstery 58 Impala for $1.98!( 348 turbo w/ four-barrel engine).
Let me know if you know of one!

Anonymous said...

"over there" is the name of a ww II song. (one of the lines in the song is "the yanks are comin' ") thus the answer is europe, or eur (also clued as across the pond)

each section of a sectional sofa is a "module"

enjoy your blog. keep it up!

RN

Anonymous said...

C.C.
By the time I was drawn into the military of World War 2 things were beginning to get near the end. After my early training I was scheduled to go to the Pacific area, but that was canceled and I worked at a field at Denver, Colorado. Again, I was considered for being sent to the European Theater, but that also started to close down. The last months for me were in a wait mode until I was discharged.
Calef

Lemonade714 said...

Dennis:

Yes, steroid, for all the furor in baseball and football are amazing things. I have had three cornea transplants, and would not be able to see without steroid eye drops. My first transplant was when I was 20, and it was the only successful one. Then, when 20 years later, I woke up and my eye felt funny, so I rushed to my doctor, only to learn my body was rejecting the cornea. I never knew that could happen. Anyway, the steroids saved the day and my vision. As you can imagine, I am pretty paranoid about eyes, and wish you well.

I also appreciated your kind words yesterday, but I ran out of posts before I thanked you.

I went to the Turtleville site last evening (though I could not get your link to work E.) and did the whole test, but it never did give me the answers.

I have often wondered why they do not Theme a puzzle for a holiday as there are many clues from Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Rory McElroy in golf. Shamrocks and Shelalaghs, Leprechauns and Bailey's and Jamesons. Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Steven Rea, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson (I heard on the radio on my way to work today, his wife, Natasha Richardson, suffered a brain injury skiing in Quebec). Corned Beef and Cabbage, Irish Stew, Black Pudding. Anyway, Erin Go Bragh (or braless as it was when I was in college).

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, As usual, the right angles were very "perp-ular" with me today. The only DAV I had a problem with was ROBERT DAVI. I'm not a big Bruce Willis fan, so I haven't seen any of the Die Hard movies. As others have pointed out, there were too many abbreviations and Roman numerals for one puzzle.

What with Golf Addicted Husband's passion, (other passion ;o) I had no trouble with the golfers. They are honored guests in our home on almost a daily basis.

LARRY DAVID is a favorite. He's a very inventive and amusing guy.

Doesitinink, Was Gardner MC KAY another of your teen crushes? He certainly was dark and handsome.

Crockett1947 said...

@kristen Thanks. Leo is a 15 year old eating and sleeping machine. He's a joy, most of the time.

@elissa Try, try, try again, LOL!

@boomer So nice to see you! Have a great green bowling day!!

@anneonbi Looks like the Times has made a switch without notifying their readers! Sorry, don't know which puzzle you have. Try the online version, either online or print in out. I see that the P-I is ceasing publication today and going to strictly online. Wow!

Clear Ayes said...

There have been several references to Over There as a WW II song. It was written by George M. Cohen in 1917 shortly after the United States declared war on Germany. It was a very popular patriotic song during WW I. It remained an often sung "give 'em hell" song during WW II. If you've seen the movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney, you'll get a somewhat romanticized version of when and where the song was written.

Buckeye, You and G.A.H. have flawless taste in women (Here's where I blush modestly.) If you were to ask me who I thought the most beautiful Hollywood actress is/was, my number 1 choice would be Rita Hayworth. She was so gorgeous, even I had a crush on her.

papajim said...

The song "Over There" was written by G.M. Cohen in 1917 for the Doughboys of WW1, but became a popular song in WW2 as well. This I remember from the tales of Great-Great-Grand-PaPaJim, James W., a WW1 Marine who never let you forget that the "Corps" is the best!!
Legend has it that he lost his middle finger at Belleau Wood. That was the story to us little guys. Other family members have a different story on just how he lost "that" particular finger. We didn't hear that version until we were adults. Either way, he was a Marines' Marine, and a Mics' Mic.
Happy St. Pats' Day Grampa!!
Jim

DoesItinInk said...

A V for Victory from me…for finishing this puzzle. This was a difficult one for me because of so many names I did not know….LARRY DAVID, DAVIS LOVE, ROBERT DAVI, LAURA DAVIES and the non-themed MAYFIELD. Fortunately I did know DAVE BRUBECK and DAVY JONES or I would have been in serious trouble. The middle right and middle bottom were the hardest for me. Initially I had “middle” for 44D instead of MODULE which slowed me down a bit, and though I am familiar with Mary Robert RINEHART, I needed the crosses to verify the spelling of her name. I finished the puzzle with three incorrect squares.

@cc…I did not know that Will Rogers was Cherokee-American! Thanks for that.

@Clear Ayes...Until I saw his name in this puzzle, I had never heard of Gardener McKay, so no, he was not one of my teen crushes. In fact, viewing one of his videos, I can honestly say I have never seen him before.

Anonymous said...

My first guess for (1) across was comet. It is the most perpetual traveler in the universe.

carol said...

Hi C.C. and all,
Dick, I congratulate you in thinking this was a drab puzzle! I could not even do half of it and gave up..it is educating to read C.C.'s comments when she solved it and I am glad for that. It just might be a 'slow mental' day for me. I couldn't even remember Beaver Cleaver's hometown!

Dennis (with that first name, you should have a little Irish in your background):) Glad your eye is improving.

Crockett, Leo is a sweetie and don't you love how they can sleep in any position?

Have any of you read "The Cloister & the Hearth"? It sounds intriguing. I love books set in the Middle Ages!

Lemonade714 said...

I just did the LA Times during lunch and it took me 2 minutes less than TMS, but what does green have to with APEEP or ADUEL?

Nice to see fresh clues like champagne Tony, though it was odd that EEG was in both puzzles.

Clear Ayes said...

How to chose a poem for St. Patrick's Day? There are so many wonderful Irish poets, it is almost impossible to choose between Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney or James Joyce. The one I chose conjures visions of one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evenings full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

- William Butler Yeats

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all the Irish and to those of us who might like to be.

WM said...

"May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
In the palm of his hand."

An Irish blessing for you all...

Everyone has pretty much covered this puzzle. Not enjoyable, got most of it w/o help but had to come here to check. The golf names...no clue, but most were filled by perps. I just really don't appreciate doing Roman Numeral math before I have finished my coffee.

Crockett...love your kitty! And from the other day...your Munich trip sounded like so much fun and I think it was terrific that you got to sing. I wouldn't have guessed that Barbershop was popular in Germany...who knew?

Dennis...hope the eye is better very soon. I once had to wear an eye patch for a week while my eye healed and my depth perception was so bad I could hardly get a fork to my mouth, which our daughters thought highly entertaining. But then, I have provided much entertainment for them over the years.

Happy Saint Patrick's day to you all.

Bill said...

OK, I'll bite! What does MSS mean, 'cause I still don't get it.

DoesItinInk said...

@Bill...MMS=manuscripts.

DoesItinInk said...

Oops! I meant MSS.

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

Dennis,
Steroid drops for your eyes? Are they legal? Shocked by the amount of hair people lose every day. How many new ones grow out each day then?

Dick,
Sorry for the "Dicked" word in my response to Lemonade earlier. My brain was warped and foggy from reading Elissa's "clean mind" turtle talk.

Martin,
Sometimes I can't recognize my own Chinese handwriting.

Anonymous said...

Dennis and Kazie - Going to Carefree AZ. My mother lives there 4 months out of the year . It is very dry and HOT. My children and I have been very blessed. Every time we visit we are treated to an extra mini getaway. One of my favorite getaways was seeing Kartchner's Cavern. BEAUTIFUL and overwhelming to the mind.

No I am NOT a golfer. My mother lives in Madison Wi
( the other 8 months ) right on a private course and when I visit I drive the golf cart around and wave to golfers.... and drink .....only the good stuff.

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

Bill,
After the Roman numeral VII and various DAVI/DAVIS and lots of other AVION, VIN, RIVIERAS, your VEE/VI Fest theme guess is not wild. Reading your posts always makes me smile. Don't change!

Barry G,
I've added your DIT/DOT to my main blog entry. Very helpful. Thanks.

Anneonbi,
Your GREEN puzzle is a Newsday Crossword edited by Stan Newman. You can always go to their website for all the answers.

Seattle John,
Wait until Saturday. You will probably encounter the hardest puzzle you've ever solved. I want you to tell me your experience!

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

Lemonade,
In today's LA Times, all the theme clues have a star * mark, A PEEP and A DUEL are not part of the theme answers.

Irish Jim,
Any special meals for St. Patrick's Day?

Linda,
I've weaned myself off the Roman numeral cheat sheet. You should try it too.

Dennis said...

Linda, you might have to scale down the size on the '58 Impala a bit, for that price. They do make some decent models of that year.

Calef, count your blessings on missing out.

Lemonade, thanks, and you're right, the steroids are pretty amazing.
C.C., they are legal in this form, but they do make your eyes much stronger; I'm currently watching the space shuttle go by.

Carol, no Irish that I know of, but my father was raised in foster homes, so who knows? All I know of is German, Welch, and the aforementioned Cherokee.

Wolfmom, I got rid of the patch today, since the swelling is down, but you're right - depth perception is a problem. I almost rear-ended some poor woman today; thank God I wasn't in a car...

kazie said...

Speaking of LAT Sunday, I just gave up on the last one and went online and let it solve itself. I really have a problem with some of the clueing, but can't be bothered elaborating. I printed it out Sunday and looked at it several times until today, but even have a problem reading the numbers on the grid. I think Sundays I might just continue commenting without the puzzle!

IRISH JIM said...

C C.
Re special meals.
Just the usual Corned beef and cabbage..

Re yesterdays poem request regarding orbs. Found the foll.

from a poem called Rosaline by a T. Lodge.
Her neck is like a stately tower
where love himself imprisoned lies
to watch for glances every hour
from her divine and sacred eyes
heigh ho for Rosaline !
her paps are centres of delight
her breasts are orbs of heavenly frame
where nature moulds the dews of light
to feed perfection with the same
Heigh ho, would she were mine !

Jimmy, S Carolina

Linda said...

CC: At this stage of my life, "reference material" aka "cheat sheets", are the best way to go.
As I used to tell my students, "Half of education is in knowing where to look it up." Give yourself 20 years...you`ll know exactly what I mean! :)

Mainiac said...

Dennis,

Everything you might want to know about bloodworms.

Ours are about the thickness of a pencil.

Yes they are very irritating to most peoples skin. That's why one of these guys is wearing gloves. I did know some wormahs that didn't. Their hands were like leather. Stung the hell out of me. Wicked good bait though!!

I did the LA puzzle today also. Let's just say I may be starting anew!

Boiled Dinner and a couple belts tonight to celebrate the day.

Goodnight!

kazie said...

I've had a hunk of corned beef in the slow cooker all day, and I've just made some German Rotkohl (red cabbage), spuds, carrots and a few peas to go with it. I'm looking forward to it!

Clear Ayes said...

Jimmy...LOL, hmmmm, weren't the orbs supposed to be eyes? Never mind, it is a terrific poem.

I wasn't familiar with "T. Lodge", so I looked him up. Thomas Lodge was an English author, poet and playwright who was a contemporary of Shakespeare. Shakespeare was no slouch in recognizing a good story and borrowed Lodge's Rosalynde, Euphue's Golden Legacie for the plot of As You Like It. Later in life, Lodge repented of his earlier "lewd" writing, converted to Catholicism and became a doctor.

WM said...

Dennis: You need to slow up...you are obviously walking too fast and too hard ;0)

The LAT puzzle was fun and not too difficult. I am looking forward to the switch and may, at least, be able to do the ones earlier in the week.

Linda: One of the things that we taught our girls was how to find what you wanted to know. Research is a very large part of learning. It used to always amaze me when I worked retail the dumb questions that people would ask and how they often had no idea where to look for something...I used to wonder who tied their shoes in the morning and balanced their checkbooks.

Clear Ayes said...

Finished today's LAT. No more lazy puzzles. I don't know if I'll be up for it, but I'm looking forward to the challenge

Dennis, Bloodworms sound pretty awful. I'm glad to hear you are recuperating well.

About ten years ago, I had surgery for corneal map-dot-fingerprint dystophy. That's just a fancy name for erosion on the cornea. The treatment is to shave (no fooling!) the surface of the cornea to smooth it out. It worked well, but when you have a doctor coming at your eye with a scalpel, it really makes a person appreciate his or her eyesight.

Have a good evening, everyone.

Anonymous said...

I did more googling on this puzzle than on any other in recent weeks. I hate having so many names. Didn't know most of them and the ones I should have known (i.e.Boone) I didn't think of. Roman numerals are easy for me but one per puzzle is enough!

And I was glad I was not the only one to use'comet'

I called our newspaper - the Wis St. Journal- & the man I talked to said he was not aware of any change coming in the puzzles! But they changed the size and format yesterday. What will happen next? Dot

Dennis said...

Dot, don't worry - if they switch puzzles, we'll all most likely still be doing the same one together.

Anonymous said...

anon @ 7:42 pm

I used to deliver the WI State Journal when I was 12 - 14.

55 daily papers and 75 Sunday. I still have the bag I used to carry them in. Rain or shine, sleet or snow and even ice storms.

Just a memory that popped in and wanted to share :)

IRISH JIM said...

Clear Ayes.
Figured some one would pick up on the "eyes"
Interesting Bio on Mr Lodge. Had never heard of him either. Poem is from a book called Palgraves Golden treasury which I have had for years. It was printed in 1929. The poems are numbered in roman numerals.
Also just finished L A times puzzle. Easy enough. I guess it gets more difficult at the end of the week.
Jimmy, S. Carolina

Lemonade714 said...

C.C.

My question was because the asterisk was with the clues for A PEEP and A DUEL in my puzzle.

In addition to corneal transplants, I had one of my cornea shaved by using heat to burn off the excess tissue. My malady was kerataconus, a degenerative condition that makes your cornea become cone shaped and thin, so you see through a very limited field. While I obviously had local anesthetic for each procedure, I was awake for all of the operations. The sloughing off of cornea tissue was weird, but when they removed the cornea in my first operation, it was surreal. The whole process from having my eyelashes clipped off...anyway, I have a million eye stories, and I sympathize with your shaving experience.

On to happier thoughts, I will have to put the young Bardot in the most stunning actress discussion... Brigitte Bardot . And I will always have FOND memories of the opening credits to "Barbarella" Jane Fonda . It is interesting that most comments on this poll have been from our distaff dabblers.

WM said...

Lemonade: When I printed the puzzle out it had an* on 1A,5A,10A,18A,33A,34A,41A,42A,58A,64A,65A,
66A,35D.

41D A duel & 29D A peep had quotation marks...could you have thought that " was *??? I have difficulty sometimes reading numbers in the boxes and on the clue list when they are small or smeared or I am trying to read in dim light. Just a thought.

Irish Jim: Thought that poem had a Shakesperean quality to it...ClearAyes, thank you so much for the clarification and bit of history...just love that stuff!

ClearAyes: Saffron question...you can answer tomorrow...Costco? I don't think I have seen it down here. What kind of container do I look for...in the spice aisle? Thanks, KW

Lemonade714 said...

WM:

Oops, well I did say I had lots of eye operations and only one was was successful. Drat. My bad, sorry to waste everyone's time. Thanks.

WM said...

Lemonade...Oh my...easy mistake. Just wanted to clear that up for you. When you said you had had a lot of eye surgery...I thought...AHA!...You are always so clever and have such interesting posts that I so enjoy reading...just didn't want you fussing over this. Glad to be of assistance. I have a feeling that starting next week, the discussions will become more lively...especially as the week goes on and we all do more head scratching...80)

Cheers

tobylee said...

Good Evening,
I didn't get to do the puzzles until I got home tonight. We are on the second set of test puzzles for the Oregonian. I don't know where they got these. Crockett, do you know? I got all the way through in a short amount of time and the answers made a lot of sense.. so you know it was easy. If we are going to vote on them at the end it would be better if we could identify them by the source.

Anonymous said...

C.C.: Thanks for the St. Pat's Orange day happy wish.

And thank you you Clearayes and papajim: Thank you for clearing up the date for "Over There". I was pretty sure it was WWI, but had too much to do today to look it up.

I had to do a great deal of filling in today's puzzle by reading CC's answers.

Hope you all had a great day.

Crockett1947 said...

@tobylee Sorry, but I've been unable to identify this week's source.

Thomas said...

Saffron...
My grandma used to make what my grandpa called saffron cake, but we all called saffron bread. Extravagant treat! Made with currents in loaves, the recipe has almost all been lost, because although grandma wrote down her recipes, she always "tweaked" them through tasting. Mom has given a good effort, primarily with saffron cupcakes, but it just isn't quite the real article.

Same with grandma's pastey's. No one in the family has been able to replicate what she put in her boy's & husband's "lunch pails" for lunch after working in the mines of the Iron Ore Range. I was lucky when after grandpa died in '66 she moved in with us in '68, and got to experience her cooking expertise. Her crust was exquisite! That, and watching "Guiding Light" at the foot of her chair. [I was eight]

BTW, they were Cornish pastey's, not Finnish pastey's. The closest I've come to her pastey's came from the Nisswa Methodist Church here in MN. Although they grind together the ingredients, for the sake of mass production, they replicate a respectable pastey. Once a month they have a pastey sale. I was up there on business, lucked into it, and the company car had such a delicious aroma for weeks after I brought home their tasty pastey's!

Yes, my heritage is English. Maternal from Cornwall, tin miners, Paternal from Yorkshire, farmers, [or crofters].

So.. as for the puzzle.. kept looking for David Toms... everything to be said has been said..

Have done the LAT puzzle in the past and I predict that we will be pleasantly surprised in the new challenges to be given to our solvers!

TJ in Osseo

Thomas said...

PS.,
Grandpa would never forgive me for not having orange on [which I did ] for St Patty's Day!

TJ in Osseo

Thomas said...

Missed our Jeannie comment of the day! Too much green beer??

TJ