google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday July 25, 2009 Brad Wilber

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Jul 25, 2009

Saturday July 25, 2009 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 72

I had lost the battle before I even started. As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's name, I froze. His puzzles are all hard.

My grid looked rather empty on the first try. But my sparse fills are mostly correct. The following names are absolutely gimmes to me:

41A: Tommie of the "Miracle Mets": AGEE. God in "Oh, God!" says "The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets". Hilarious.

50A: 2002 British Open champ: ELS (Ernie). David Duval won in 2001.

29D: Bush Supreme Court nominee: ALITO (Samuel). I wonder if anyone considered MIERS (Harriet). John Roberts is a Bush nominee as well.

I misread lots of clues today. All in all, too steep a mountain for me to climb.

Across:

1A: Colt 45, e.g.: MALT LIQUOR. Of course, I thought of baseball's Houston Colt .45's (now Astros).

11A: Shelter protests: ARFS. Animal shelter.

15A: Joy to the max: EXUBERANCE. Recklessly wrote down *EST at the end.

17A: Emmy-winning 1972 TV concert film: LIZA WITH A "Z". No idea. I liked Liza Minnelli's "New York, New York".

18A: Logical start? IDEO. Ideological.

19A: Greet the visitors?: BOO. Nice clue. Fans BOO the visiting team.

20A: Comparison words: AS A. There is nothing as beautiful AS A dewy red rose on a summer morning.

21A: Washington summit: RAINIER. No MT?

25A: Palais du Louvre resident, once: ROI. Oui, c'est vrai. Louvre is once a royal palace.

27A: Hybrid garment: SKORT. Had more fun following Natalie Gulbis than Michelle Wie during last year's US Open. She looks adorable in SKORT.

28A: Brief turndown: 'FRAID NOT

31A: Abbr. in a genealogy volume: DAU. Daughter I suppose. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

32A: Film follower: SEQUEL

39A: Street corner feature: SIGNAGE. I just call it SIGN.

35A: Site of semicircular canals: EAR. Was thinking of the waterway canal.

36A: "__ No Sunshine": 1971 Bill Withers hit: AIN'T. Here is the clip. Not a familiar song to me.

37A: Bismarck's realm: PRUSSIA. Gimme for Kazie.

42A: Logos, e.g.: Abbr.: TMS (Trademarks)

44A: Military brass?: BUGLES. I was in the high-ranking military officer direction.

45A: Knock over: ROB. "Knock over" is a new slang to me.

46A: Olivier's "Rebecca" costar: FONTAINE (Joan). Unknown to me. See the poster.

48A: Filing material: EMERY

51A: Comprehend: GRASP

55A: Best Buy's Geek Squad, e.g.: TECHIES. Best Buy is headquartered here in MN.

57A: New Deal dam-building org.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

59A: Battle of Chancellorsville victor, 1863: LEE. Stumped. Have never heard of Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. LEE's "perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force, according to Wikipedia.

61A: Prescription that might give you shakes?: LIQUID DIET. I was thinking of the trembling shakes rather than the milk/protein shakes.

64A: Head turner, at times: REIN. Sigh, too wicked a clue for me. I would never have thought of a bridle.

65A: 1988 winner of seven Olympic swimming medals: MATT BIONDI. No idea. He looks handsome. All the talk was focused on Mark Spitz when Michael Phelps won 8 golds at the 2008 Olympics.

66A: Celtic language: ERSE

67A: Opportunity for a Hollywood hopeful: SCREEN TEST

Down:

1D: Peach __: MELBA. I've never had this dessert. In Chinese myth, peach is the divine fruit of gods. It symbolizes long life and immortality.

2D: Hypothetical particle: AXION. No idea. But -ON is suffix for subatomic particle.

3D: Manila's island: LUZON. The largest island in the Philippines, where Martin's wife came from.

4D: Not yet filled: Abbr. TBA

5D: "Johnny Belinda" Oscar nominee: LEW AYRES. I forgot. I googled his name before. Wikipedia says Jane Wyman feel in love with him while filming this movie and left Ronald Reagan for LEW AYRES, "albeit unsuccessfully".

6D: Where a pupil sits?: IRIS. Clever clue.

7D: Saudi neighbor: QATARI. People of Qatar. I misinterpreted Saudi as Saudi Arabia the country.

8D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire)

9D: Ovoid wind instruments: OCARINAS. I forgot. Dictionary says this word is diminutive of Italian oca, meaning goose, because its mouthpiece is shaped like a goose's beak.

10D: Exiled Shah Mohammed __ Pahlavi: REZA. Who the heck knows his middle name? Anyone? Anyone?

11D: Didn't sleep __: A WINK. Is this an idiom?

12D: Car tuning aid: RADIO DIAL

13D: Allowed to graze: FREE RANGE

14D: Durango and Sorento: SPORT UTES. I've never heard of Sorento.

22D: Lobby add-on: IST. Lobbyist. Excellent clue.

24D: Helpful: OF USE

26D: Dedicated lines: ODES

30D: Small antelope: ORIBI. Can never remember this antelope name. His horns are rather short, erect though.

32D: You'll need one for your flat: SPARE TIRE. I thought of the apartment "flat".

33D: Indoor rowing machine: ERGOMETER. New machine to me. Ergo is a prefix for "work".

34D: North American Francophone: QUEBECOIS. "-Phone" is a suffix for "speaker of a language". Francophone, Anglophone, etc.

36D: Inflame: ANGER

38D: One having an identity crisis?: AMNESIAC. Another diabolic clue. I struggled of course.

40D: Kipling's "Limpin' lump o' brick-dust": GUNGA DIN. No idea.

43D: Cardinal's insignia: STL. St. Louis Cardinals.

46D: Memo opener: FYI

47D: Perceptive: ASTUTE

49D: Lake Geneva feeder: RHONE

52D: Dress introduced by Dior: A-LINE. Learned this fact while doing some googling on DIOR some time ago.

52D: Navel orange's lack: SEEDS. I wish cherries have no pits.

54D: Word before four or point: PETIT. Know the small cake PETIT four. Not PETIT point.

56D: Colonnade choices: ELMS. The #2 meaning of colonnade in dictionary: a series of trees planted in a long row, as on each side of a driveway or road. New definition to me.

58D: Vague feeling: VIBE. Wanted AURA.

62D: Super Bowl div.: QTR. Thought of AFC/NFC. This puzzle has three letter Q's, two Z's & one X. Quite scrabbly.

63D: Semi-colon?: DOT. Good clue. Colon : has two dots.

Answer grid.

C.C.

50 comments:

windhover said...

Good morning, CC,
Well, your admission that you had serious problems with yesterday and today's puzzles should put some of the "these puzzles are just too hard" critics at ease. I often have the same experience with the more difficult puzzles, but then I don't have to complete them and get up some very pithy blog comments on a tight morning schedule.
As ever, I salute you, for both your high degree of puzzling competence and your refreshing honesty.
I'm sure both inspire a lot of lurkers and regulars.

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

Windhover,
What a surprise to see you up so early. Yeah, I sure have a solid excuse giving up the puzzles easily, facing a "tight morning schedule", as you said. Speaking of Peach MELBA, what's your favorite dessert?

Argyle said...

Good Morning, C.C. and windhover, et al.,


I hope I didn't wake the neighbors this morning; when I filled in my last letter and got "TADA", I actually yelled, "NO SH*T". I did not expect it. Lots of unknowns but no googling.

SW gave me trouble. I had QUEBECOIS alright but had YEAR LEASE for what my flat needed! I struggled to get TECHIES but that opened up the rest of the corner.

Do you think it means anything that I got the NW without any problem? Liza, booze, and happy?

Favorite dessert? I don't think I've met a dessert I didn't like.

tfrank said...

Good morning, C.C. and all,

A real backbreaker this morning. I needed a lot of G. and red letter help. The NW was the last to fall; I never hear of LIZA..and thought Qatari was a little unfair.

My time was almost two hours, if you can believe it. Once you see all the answers, the puzzle does not seem as hard as it was with a lot of blank, long fills staring you in the face.

Have a good weekend!

Argyle said...

It's Liza with a Z

Fred said...

CC
I used to work in a sign shop and we used to say "signage" all the time as in, "We need some signage at this location",etc.

I thought francophone was some type of electrical device.

"Liza with a Z" came easily as I saw it many decades ago. It was great a great Liza Minelli songfest.

This was a hard puzzle. I ended up googling three answers but I didn't know a lot more. Perps usually did the trick.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I really liked this puzzle. The only gripes I had were with SPORT UTS and QATARI. I've never heard of a utility vehicle called a UT and I've only heard of QATAR without the I. But maybe I don't get around enough.

I liked all the nine and ten letter fills. I don't mind it when they are only a couple of words, but four or five word phrases are usually too difficult for me.

I had to start with the Downs because the very clever MALT LIQUOR evaded me for quite a while.

The older show biz fills like LIZA WITH A Z, LEW AYRES and FONTAINE were pretty much gimmees, although I know a lot of you won't like them.

I loved QUEBECOIS and GUNGA DIN... such neat fills.

GUNGA DIN is a narrative poem about a native water bearer who, while serving a British soldier in India, dies himself, but saves the soldier. It is a little long to post here, but if you are interested, here's Gunga Din. BTW, Joan FONTAINE was in the 1939 movie GUNGA DIN, which was based on Kipling's poem.

A.R.E. said...

C.C.

This one kicked my butt too.

Have a great weekend.

A.R.E.

Anonymous said...

This puzzle is beyond hard it was impossible. Instead of easing up as Norris promised he has allowed the puzzles to become more difficult.

Mel

moon said...

Struggle is an understatement to describe my efforts with this puzzle. Had to use Google (for Matt Biondi, Liza with a Z), wordweb and red letters to complete.
Colt 45 seemed like a revolver.
Instead of Gunga Din, I was thinking of 'Ricki Ticki', the mongoose.
I never eat dessert: the only blessing in my otherwise bad eating habits.
On the job hunt, just came to know that I lost out on a position to some one who has more hands-on experience than me. The bright side: I have 2 interviews lined up for Monday and Wednesday.
Off to cram for those now.

Moon said...

Oh! Forgot to thank CC for her explanantions.
I got DOT for semi-colon? from the perps but did not understand it.

Al said...

Needed to use the check feature in across lite for a few letters today (but no reveals). What made this puzzle tough was all the answers you don't usually see in "normal" puzzles, and that was most of it.

I like that I get to use the special character: ™ (46A) in a blog. Who knew that would be useful?

Did not care for the crossing of DAU and SPORT UTES though. I've never heard of SUVs being called UTES.

@Moon, way to keep a positive attitude. I'm not sure I could do so under similar circumstances.

kazie said...

Well, this is the first time I gave up early enough to simply not try. I counted 22 items that would have needed googling, and that was too much! I haven't even read the original post thoroughly yet. But I can say that I had only 13 answers I felt confident in.

UTES are like a station wagon with the back open like a pick-up, and are common in Oz. I had Germany for Bismarck's domain, (sorry, c.c., not even a gimme for me, though more thought should have got me there!) so couldn't get Quebecois, though I knew what the clue wanted.

I really have to try and get my real life back. The Fri/Sat puzzles are proving to be too much of a time waster. Also, I'm hindered on the weekend because my husband thinks it's cute to taunt me for spending time on this, so of course I can't concentrate like it requires.

Clear Ayes said...

Moon, I loved the story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi when I was a little girl. But then I loved all the Kipling Jungle Book stories.

I saw your name in blue and looked at your profile. You should catch up on your blog writing. Your photos are terrific and I know we would all be interested to hear what brought you to the U.S. As you know, it is just as much about people as it is about crossword puzzles here.

C.C. Pie, pie and more pie for dessert. I suppose my very favorite is pecan, but I only get two pieces a year, at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It takes me a whole year to work off the calories from those two pieces. I also love cherry pie and lemon (homemade with Meyer lemons, not the Jello pudding kind) meringue pie too.

Kazie, I limit my time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, since I'm an on-liner, I always use "Regular Skill Level" for red letter help on those days. For some reason themeless Saturdays are easier for me. It must be those multi-word phrases that are so common on Fridays that stop me then. If I don't have it done by two leisurely cups of coffee and a piece of whole grain toast, I let C.C. polish it off for me.

Anonymous said...

Good morning everyone. I was comforted to read that C.C. found it difficult also.
Kazie: what I do on Wed.–Sun. is pick out the ones I'm fairly sure of and then come here. I had 12 correct ones, and with my DH's help had Winchester for 1A, which obviously held me back some. Never heard of a malt liquor called Colt 45.
And I misread 34D as North African. I too knew what a Francophone is, but it didn't help that I was in the wrong continent. What adds to my shame is that my grandmother was born and raised in Quebec.

Favorite dessert is anything chocolate – best is Viennese crepes rolled with nuts covered with hot chocolate sauce.

Have a great Saturday, posters.

Anonymous said...

P.S. That dessert in Vienna is called palatshinken mit nusse und chocolad. ( I am not sure of any of that spelling except mit.)

Anonymous said...

Hi CC and all,

CC said:
10D: Exiled Shah Mohammed __ Pahlavi: REZA. Who the heck knows his middle name? Anyone? Anyone?

Sure, but I never thought of REZA as his middle name! Thought it was his first because that's how he's always referred to: REZA Shah Pahlevi.

Big difference today in the commentary here and in the other blog. I guess over here you guys are still not used to being able to think in phrases, since they weren't much in use in W Williams's puzzles.

Don't worry -- you'll catch on, and use those helpful red letters anytime at all. What a blessing they are!

--Sam

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, everyone.

@clearayes The cluing for 7D is really sneaky. SAUDI is used to designate a resident of Saudi Arabia, so a resident of Qatar becomes a QATARI. I have heard the UTES abbreviated version of Sport Utility Vehicle.

This one kicked by rear as well. Had to G-spot LIZA, and so wanted SIXSHOOTER for 1A. Lots of clever clue/answer combinations today.

Have a great Saturday!

Luxor said...

C.C.,
You just don't get it.

Clear Ayes said...

I just found a neat website to help with accented letters in other languages Typeit.

Thanks Crockett for the clarification of QATARI. It makes sense now. I read C.C.'s note, but it didn't sink in. I don't doubt you, but I still have to go with SUV as the only abbreviation I've heard.

Sam, I think maybe it is just me who can't think in short word phrases, unless it is I DO, and perhaps AS IF, or CAN SO. When it gets to three and four words, I'm flummoxed. I'd much rather have a single nine or ten letter word (How about a nice scrabbly FLUMMOXED?). I'm usually fine Monday through Thursday, but I do love red letters on Friday and the weekends.

MJ said...

Good Morning CC and all!
One look at the grid, and I knew that I was in trouble. Too many long answers. Started with the fill-in-the-blanks. Then the NE corner came easily. The SE corner came fairly easily, though I was thinking MATT BONDI at first, and that wasn't working. The reason Biondi is given less acclaim for all his medals is that not all were gold like Spitz and Phelps.

Knew SPORTUTES--maybe it's a west coast term.

Knew REZA, but unfortunately spelled it with an s, which helped make the NW corner the last to fall. The break came when I guessed at Qatari and got MALT LIQUOR. Had been trying to use the R for beer. Alas, had to google to finish up.

CC--Thanks for all your great explanations. Although I got QUEBECOIS, I had no idea how it related to the clue. Also, 11D is an idiom, generally meaning "I am so tired!"

Argyle--thanks for the link to" It's Liza With a Z." Now I understand the reference.

Elissa--I live in South OC.

Enjoy the weekend, folks! I do the puzzles in the newspaper, and last Sunday I had a different puzzle than the one on-line, We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Jerome said...

We have had some well crafted puzzles all week, but today's was my favorite.

The stacked 10s in the NW corner are an example of not only great words and phrases, but also of exceptional talent. Throw in the letters Q,X,B,W and two Zs and you've got the start of a fabulous puzzle.

Another beautiful part of this puzzle- GUNGA DIN crossing BUGLES.
In the Gunga Din movie Clear Ayes mentions Gunga Din dies while blowing a bugle!

I cannot imagine that anyone who loves puzzles thinking this one less than a real gem.

Anonymous said...

luxor, it's clearly you who does not get it. you don't fit in with normal human beings.

IRISH JIM said...

Good afternoon CC and all.

Triple trouble toil and struggle. That applies to Thu/FRi/Sat puzzles.

Still looking at Sport utes and not believing the answer.

Crockett, thanks for the Qatari explanation was looking for all different ways to spell qatar.

Even with google/dictionary/atlas/crossword book was not ablle to complete this one. Dont do Sun so roll on mon. Next time I see more than one ABBR. I will scream.

Keep your chin up Moon.

Jimmy S. Carolina

PJB-Chicago said...

Good afternoon, everyone! After slippin', swearin' & sulking through 95% of yesterday's puzzle, this one actually seemed to hide fewer "sucker punches" although I never would have got many of the abbrevs without cooperative perps. Remember Econ 101 and Adam Smith? It seemed that the "invisible hand" he wrote about was guiding the pen, allowing me to somehow tune into Mr. Wilber's mindset, at times. A first for me. Still, SPORTUTES and ERSE looked nine kinds of wrong to me; BOO took a doubletake and SKORT just wrote itself when I was taking a break. Hey, isn't OCARINA a dance? If not maybe it should be an ovoid pasta?

C.C.: thanks for clearing up, day to day, the tougher clues & their answers-- I only WISH that I had 5% of your solving logic & knowledge. That you are willing to admit when even you struggle with a clue, a corner or a puzzle is refreshingly honest and admirable; and makes the rest of us feel like it's OK to feel sort of overwhelmed & baffled, too.

Favorite dessert is icecream cake, made with layers of coffee icecream, graham cracker crumbs, caramel and chocolate sauce, with a crust of toasted almonds and more crumbs. (a splash of Kaluha or Bailey's Irish Cream can put some legs under it, too!) I really wonder at times if i get invited to parties just because of the darn cake!

Will check back later, time permitting--enjoy your week-end, puzzlebuddies...

WM said...

Moring(still) to all...Ouch all over the place last night but I was determined finish this bugger!

Jerome, I am with you on the cleverness but REZA, SPORTUTE, ORIBI! Even the perps made those fills difficult. I confidently filled in MALT LIQUOR and MELBA and thought it was a good start...Got GUNGA DIN, SEEDS, ALINE,SPARETIRE, but the whole NW corner was a blank as was most of the center for a long time. I think of ARFS as a pleasant sound...Orphan Annie's dog Sandy always said ARF...Growl, bark, grrr, yip, yap...any of those would be more convincing as a protest...but not ARF.

I tried having an evening latte to perk up my brain, but it was still a struggle. I did have the SPORT part fairly quickly but coulden't figure UTE the rest. Remembered MATT BIONDI and have to thank Rachel Maddow for Alito(Meiers and Roberts) due to the recent hearings. QUEBECOIS was easy because I love Kathy Reichs books and the term is used frequently.
The clues were not so much misdirectional for me as obscure and tough because I refuse to google. Slowly one grudging letter at a time I managed to finish.

C.C. Thank you for BOO...visitors? All I could think of was trick or treaters because I know that boo-ing your visitors would guarantee a nonreturn to your parties and general bad feelings. BTW...we have a Navel orange tree and they do have the occasional seeds...so iffy clue.

I like any kind of French dessert, Viennese style tarts, tortes and pastries. Most American style desserts are way too sweet for me...I do love fresh lemon tart and anything with summer fruit. And I do have a killer pecan pie recipe from New Orleans...and a weakness for the pecan filling for German chocolate cake, but the reality is that we rarely eat baked desserts...gelato or fresh fruit usually does it. If I made it, we'd definitely eat it. My husband is not averse to dessert through the day(and he's very slender :oP)

Well, we made it over to Palo Alto to hang the final show for awhile in the Downtown Library. This one is all food paintings, including the red coffee cups and cream puff painting and other pastry, ice cream and donuts and a Moroccan tea painting with a beautiful silver pot...so I figure with all those yummy sweets that the restaurant business nearby should pick up for the next few months. LOL!

Time to treat myself to painting time.

Cheers.

winfield said...

Didja know that Melba Toast, Melba Sauce, Melba Garniture & Peach Melba were named for one of the world's greatest lyric soprano Dame Nellie Melba? All "invented" by one chef whose name escapes me. I believe she was from Australia around the turn of the 20th century...

eddyB said...

Good morning everyone,
I kept staring at 17A and trying to figure out who Liza Withez was.
If you missed my late night comment, Mr B's and our friendship go back to the many nights at the ENCORE.
This is the perfect weather for sleeping in late.
Have a great day.
eddyB.

kazie said...

Winfield,
in additionn to your info on Melba, wiki: Dame Nellie Melba tells the story of how she was quite the diva, and Caruso played a trick on her to take her down a peg or two:

Some poetic justice occurred when Enrico Caruso, during a performance of La bohème, as a joke, pressed a hot sausage into her hand that he'd hidden in his pocket as he sang "Che gelida manina, se la lasci riscaldar."("What a cold little hand, let me warm it")

I'd heard it was a hot potato, but same idea.

Sallie and Clear Ayes,
Thanks for the suggestions.

Chickie said...

Hello All--I should have stopped last night after getting all the red letter help to get about 1/4 of the puzzle done. I Googled, then Googled some more and I still didn't get everything filled in. Thank you C.C. for your comments and getting up so early to help all of us who have such a hard time on the Friday and Saturday puzzles.

I misspelled Ayres (Ayers)so had a devil of a time in that area. Also put in Rhine for Rhone as a Geneva feeder. Should know better by now as they are both CW rivers used a great deal.

My favorite clues (after I picked myself up from the flogging I took) were Military Brass, Washington summit, and Head turner, at times.

C.C. Petit point is a type of needlework where one works the pattern over a mesh fabric. You can use a yarn or a fine thread depending on the guage of the mesh. You often see it on chair seats and backs.

embien said...

22:13 today. Much easier than Friday's puzzle for me. My last fill was the 'Z' at the crossing of LIZA WITH A Z and REZA, neither of which I had heard before, but inferred from the spelling of LIZA. Tough cross for me!

The SW corner was the easiest for me. Once I had PRUSSIA filled in, I knew QUEBEÇOIS (though not certain how it was spelled, initially) and the rest of the corner was a piece of cake.

Missteps included throwing in SIX SHOOTER for the Colt 45 clue (erased almost immediately when LUZON appeared in the downs). I've no idea if a Colt .45 (note the decimal in the caliber--not in the clue) is actually a six shooter, but it made sense when I first saw the clue.

I also had EAGLES instead of BUGLES for the military brass (I think colonels have an eagle insignia--several military folks on the blog can correct me if I'm wrong).

Couldn't get MARK SPITZ out of my mind for the 1988 Olympic swimmer, even though
1. It didn't fit
2. Spitz was in the 1972 Olympics, I think
Still, you know how it works, once you get an idea in your mind, it's hard to let it go...

Peach MELBA happens to be my favorite dessert, so once I got SIX SHOOTER out of there, MELBA became obvious. The picture that @c.c. posted looks like it is made with raspberries. I thought the traditional peach melba uses cassis (black currant) instead, but perhaps that's just how they do it in Europe (and in my home when I used to make it) .

It was fun having QATARI and QTR in the same puzzle, along with a lot of other juicy fill.

And, for those wondering about DOT for the Semi-colon? clue, a colon is comprised of two DOTs, so DOT is half of a colon (@c.c. noted this in her writeup).

maria said...

Good afternoon, all you literati !
Yes i am back from NC, where i had for the first time Fried Green Tomatoes ! Delish . Oh, but that was in Waynesville, Georgia.
It was good to to get away, but it's good to be back in the comfort of my own home and computer.

c.c. it was a tuffee today or as they say in english a "thoughy" english is such a conundrum at times, yes ?
Thank you for all the explanations.
I did so bad online , i got a "D"
Unheard of !

Argyle, thanks for Liza w/a Z. Allthough she is obviously a very gifted and talented performer, she is not a favorite as a persona, years ago she was coming thru the airport in Miami, we were all waiting to see her, the terminal was empty, she walked right thru like a zombie, not a smile, a wave, nothing.
She was probably high on something, or else she was the snobbiest of all.

Very gray and rainy today and hot!
See you mañana
Arrivederci !

Jerome said...

WM- Today for the first time I went to your website and viewed the paintings. Their beauty made me smile. I swear I was there, could smell the cafe, feel the stone street, see the water move. What a joy to behold!

Along the Seine
La Friterie
The River
L'Escurial Brasserie

WM said...

Auguste Escoffier created the Peach(peche) Melba at the Savoy Hotel in London. He also wrote a memoir about his amazing life as chef...oddly called AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER...

The fruit and meringue dessert called a Pavlova was named after the famous ballerina...Anna Pavlova...but no one seems to know exactly who created it first.

Also...I forgot to mention(not of great importance) that RAINIER was easy as I spent most of my summers up there where my uncle was a ranger...gorgeous country and an absolutely lovely National Park...even skiied there one winter.

Moon...you are amazing...no moss grows under your feet!

WM said...

Jerome...Thank you so much. Paris is one of my favorite places, but I love the beauty of old winding streets and ancient buildings...Thank you so much for your compliments...The River and La Friterie are now in private collections!

You paint with words...also a creative talent... :o)

#3

JimmyB said...

I too wanted SIX SHOOTER for Colt 45 so got nowhere in the NW corner for awhile. Had to Google for Luzon, Reza, Ayres and ocarinas. Once the light bulb went on and MALT LIQUOR appeared things went smoother. Finished in 47 minutes which is really good for me.

Once I had malt liquor, QATARI came easy, but only because that country is noted for buying foreign runners (mostly Kenyans, I think) to enter in the Olympics and World Championships. Kind of a cheesy way to achieve status in the sports world.

MATT BIONDI came easily also since he was a Bay Area boy who starred at Cal. Quite a water polo player as well.

Clear Ayes: I guess my "Sierra Foothills" is a bit north of your Sierra Foothills. We're outside of Grass Valley. Still hot, but probably not like in your neck of the woods.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, an extra tough puzzle today. My wife and team up doing it. I go online in red and she fills in the hard copy. I think that it took ~30 minutes this way?

Here's a picture of a Kia Sorento sport SUV

Luxor said...

Now I know why anonymous posts are not welcome here.
You don't have the b*lls you were born with , unless you were born without any.

g8rmomx2 said...

Hi c.c. and all:

Tough one! I usually always get Monday thru Thursday and I even do pretty well on Sundays, but Fridays and Saturdays are too hard for me. I finished it, but not without a lot of googling and perp help. I was proud that I got Liza with a Z after a couple of down clues were in. I wanted peach cobbler, but of course that didn't fit.

Favorite desserts: Carrot cake, Amaretto Cheese Cake and Chocolate Cheese Cake

Embien: I too could not get Mark Spitz out of my mind even though it didn't fit. I finally googled Matt Biondi which helped out a lot with the other fills.

Favorite clues: Military brass?; Head turner, at times; Semi-colon? and One having an identity crisis?

Moon: Good luck on your next interviews. You sure have a positive attitude and I'm sure that comes out in your interviews as well.

g8rmomx2 said...

Embien: Yes Colonels wear the eagle insignia. I too was thinking of officers like you were.

eddyB said...

#2
Random thoughts.
My ancestors came from what was East Prussia. After WW2, it was given to Poland.
MY colt magazine holds seven rounds but I only load five.
Favorite dessert? Yep,GCC. Love Rainier cheeries but the season is too short.
Meet Mrs B the last time I went back East. She bought me "high test" coffee because of the long drives I made to where HB was playing that night.
Love his old vinyl albums but copied them to CD format.
She was a friend to all. He is a friend to all.
My eyes are getting misty so bye for now.
eddyB.

JD said...

G'd afternoon to all,

Thanks to all who sent good wishes about new grandson, Grady. Truman has been doing a lot of funny show off stuff for his baby brother. Living 3 blks from the hosp. makes it easy to visit often. Am working on a lot less sleep. Thank g-- for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a "free" 25 minutes for me.I'm a pretty lucky/contented grandma!

I scanned today's puzzle while in the b.r. and got only 6 out of the 1st 14 downs; I would have to look up ovoid to get 9D. Bless you CC!!!

Maybe tomorrow....

JD said...

PJB-Chicago, Your dessert sounds super delicious!!! Do you make it or buy it. Got a recipe???

lUXOR said...

"Rebecca" is a GREAT movie.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hey, gang -

Took the long ride across MI to Holland, for the performance at the end of Amanda's 2 wks at dance camp. Seven groups performed: great dancing + terrific choreography = wonderful show!

Worked most of the puzzle in a hour or so riding over, then set it aside until we got home, about 8 hours later. Got MALT LIQUOR and the NE peninsula quickly. Just saw something on TV about the crater lake in Mt. RANIER, and that one was a snap. So I thought it was going to be easy.

Not so.

Never got L with a Z, though I've heard the song at dance comps. Thought the granite state was NORTH DAKOTA. Getting 2 letters right in a three word ans. sent me too far down a wrong path, with no recovery.

Never got SPARE TIRE, though I had most of the perps. Nor SEQUEL, though I've read enough of them. Just couldn't get 'em to click.

Mostly agree with Jerome - quite a virtuoso puzzle. Still, I think 28A ia a very poor clue. FRAID NOT is a denial, not a turndown.

I'm surprised people don't know SPORT UTES. It's common terminology here around MoTown. I, OTOH, never heard of ERGOMETER.

Taking a nap is sometimes called "getting 40 winks." So not sleeping A WINK is a very bad night, indeed!

Luxor - Please lighten up and keep it friendly. OK?

Cheers!

LUXOR said...

ok

KittyB said...

Good evening, all.

I had the same reaction to the clues as most of you. I could simply say "ditto" to most of Clear Ayes' comments.

We had a family activity planned this morning, a trip to the Farmers Market and then lunch out. I set the kitchen timer for 35 minutes so that we wouldn't be late leaving the house, and then I started working the puzzle.

My first thought was that I'd never get through it, but I managed to complete it with red letter help, no googling. The first across trip yielded three small words, and a lot of doubt. I kept working across and down, and as enough letters filled in, made some guesses. Oddly, I managed to guess BIONDI, but couldn't recall his first name. QUEBECOIS, ORIBI and QUATARI came partially from the perps.

I would NEVER have gotten SPORTS UTES without help from the crosses. I've never heard the phrase.

I finished the bottom center last. REIN, MALT LIQUOR, BUGLES and LIQUID DIET were all cleverly clued.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

PJB-Chicago said...

Good evening, all! I forgot to kvetch earlier about the ERGOMETER--a word I got right somehow; even though the entymology seems to be what ed-yew-kate-ed linguists would call "way funky."
As mentioned earlier, somewhere, the two parts would seem to mean something that "measures or tracks work" just like my pedometer keeps count of my steps and/or the number of pedestrians I accidentally mow down during my daily walks. If it's a gizmo for exercise, I usually would be vaguely aware of it because I love to go into sporting goods stores occasionally, especially ones that sell "gently used" equipment (that's code for "ordered after watching an informercial while nursing a hangover on January 2nd."

Since I look (deceptively) like someone who might be interested in regaining the youthful vigor and muscularity I had when I was 45--meaning last year--the gym-bunnies of both genders take pains to explain features & benefits of each device, some of which occupy more square feet than my little loft apartment actually contains.

When they get overly enthusiastic I have been known to ask if the "all-in-one fitness solution" comes with attachments. Mild to severe panic flashes on their faces, and they stammer out "Whaat kkind of attttachments did you have in mind??"

In my smoothest tone of voice, I say: "Well, for starters, what I really need is a place to put my mug of beer, and of course, an ashtray as well!"

OK, OK, I only did that o-n-c-e, and with a former intern of mine who knew I may well say something like that! We still laugh about it & I did buy a yoga mat (with no accoutrements).

@JD: I'd be happy to send you the icecream cake recipe; give me a few days to locate it.

Sorry for the l--o--n--g post--I'm on the train to watch a couple mentees perform @ an open mic night. Will read y'all tomorrow!

JoJo said...

Hey All, This puzzle was abit hard, but I don't think it was harder than Friday's. For Colt 45 I was wanting to put revolvers, but not enough letters. The funny thing is I thought of malt liquor, but dismissed it, couldn't picture that answer in one of these puzzles. I liked 19A, gave me some trouble until I thought of visiting team, hence boo.I managed to get about 60% of the puzzle fairly quick, but had to resort to red letering some clues to finish. Also, I had put some answers that I wasn't totally sure of, which I just hate doing. But they worked out, usually I wont write an answer down unless I am 100% sure. I guess I need to be a little less obsessive. One last thing,
28A "Fraid not" reminded me of a corny joke my wife once told me. I'll try not to butcher it too badly. It seems there was this peice of string that went into a bar and ordered a drink, and the bartender threw him out, telling him we don't serve string in this bar. So the piece of string tried to think of a way to get back in the bar and then it came to him. He bunched himself up and mussed up his hair, and sauntered back into the bar and again ordered a drink. The bartender said "hey you look familiar are you that piece or string I just threw out?" And the string said "frayed knot" Really bad I know, and I am sure I didn't tell it very well, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Good night.

willie said...

good puzzle