google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 David W. Cromer

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Nov 3, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: THE OUTER LIMITS (54A: Eerie sci-fi series, and this puzzle's title) - The first word of each two-word phrases indicate "edge".

20A:. Herding dogs: BORDER TERRIERS

25A: Brokerage services for buying stocks on credit: MARGIN ACCOUNTS

48A: Perks on the job: FRINGE BENEFITS

All of the theme answers are in plural form, very consistent.

Argyle, again.

Major malfunction: BORDER TERRIERS are not herding dogs; they are hunting dogs. BORDER COLLIES are herding dogs.

I won't even try to explain MARGIN ACCOUNTS.

A FRINGE BENEFIT of doing this blog, C.C. lets me comment all I want to on the ones I do.

Note the crosses in three of the corners: NW, TITO & TIVO; NE, OPER & OPIE; SW, TOTO & OTTO. Although, the SE has IRMA & TART. ;-)

Across:

1A: RBI or ERA, e.g.: STAT. Go Phillies!

5A: Use up, as money: SPEND.

10A: Shock: JOLT. JOLT Cola

14A: TV show recorder: TIVO. In case you were wondering what TIVO stood for: TV + io (television input/output). Not fond of this clue due to TV repetition.

15A: Pal of Kukla and Fran: OLLIE. A kid's program from long before TiVo.

17A: School near the Mex. border: UTEP. The University of Texas at El Paso. Got gobs of worms for those still missing this. And over at San Antonio, 43A: Memorable mission: ALAMO.

34A: Take it easy: LOLL.

35A: Coastal cities: PORTS.

37A: Day spa garb: ROBE. Remember the deep massage ROLF?

39A: Emulated Bond: SPIED. And EYING (69A: Observing).

42A: Bank takeback, for short: REPO.

45A: Vegan no-no: MEAT. Any vegan in our blog?

52A: Choral syllable: TRA. Part of the chorus: TRA, la, la

53A: Univ. sr.'s exam: GRE. The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) measures verbal reasoning, quantitative and analytical writing skills required for graduate. GMAT is exam for MBA.

62A: Sign up for: JOIN.

64A: French cheese: BRIE. Alas, WM is still waiting for her cheese puzzle. Brie is named after the region Brie in Northern France.

65A: "Beetle Bailey" dog: OTTO. OTTO belongs to Sgt. Snorkel and dresses in uniform.

66A: Area below the abdomen: GROIN.

67A: Eclipse, in olden days: OMEN. Not that the words mean the same, but an eclipse was seen as an OMEN.

68A: Head honcho: BOSS. And 4D: Head honcho: TOP DOG. Nice pair.

70A: Small fruit pie: TART. Can you use frozen blueberries for blueberry tart?

Down:

1D: Theater souvenir: STUB. Ticket STUB.

2D: Jackson 5 brother: TITO.

8D: __ acid: explosive compound: NITRIC.

9D: Cherished by: DEAR TO.

10D: Comedian's bit: JOKE. One J in NE, one J in SW.

11D: Abbr. on a phone's "0" button: OPER.

13D: X, numerically: TEN.

22D: "The jig __!": IS UP.

25D: Former New Orleans Saints coach Jim: MORA. 1986-1996 won 93, lost 74 in regular season; 0-4 in the play-offs. Son is also a coach.

26D: War criminal Eichmann: ADOLF.

27D: Rod used to strengthen concrete: REBAR. Re(inforcing) Bar. "Waiting for the cement truck."

28D: Swiss peak: ALP.

29D: Scale, as a 28-Down: CLIMB. Scale here is a verb, meaning CLIMB, not your map feature.

30D: Snow-rain-heat-gloom connector: NOR. Post office motto.

31D: Roman fountain: TREVI. Literally "three roads" in Italian.

32D: Mar. 17th honoree: ST PAT. Erin Go Bragh. Great to see you back, Irish Jim.

38D: U.K. record label: EMI. Electric & Musical Industries.

41D: Kind of participle found in the sentence "While working on my computer, the dog pestered me for dinner": DANGLING. I bet Dennis/Melissa Be/Lois/Carol all have vivid memories of dangling participle discussions.

46D: Actress Hatcher: TERI. Push-up bra?

49D: Resentment over a prior wrong: GRUDGE.

50D: Diner, for one: EATERY.

51D: Sexy automaton in "Austin Powers": FEMBOT. FEM(ale) (ro)BOT. Designed to seduce and kill Austin Powers.

56D: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS.

57D: Weena's people, in "The Time Machine": ELOI. Weena was portrayed by Yvette Mimieux.

58D: Major German river, to a Frenchman: RHIN. Also, RHIEN. The Rhine (German: Rhein; Dutch: Rijn; French: Rhin; Romansh: Rain; Italian: Reno; Latin: Rhenus)

59D: "__ la Douce": IRMA. Billy Wilder's movie.

62D: Employment agency listing: JOB.

Answer grid.

Here is a great interview of our fellow LA Times solver Deepak Gopinath and his blog "The Hindu Crossword Corner". Thanks for the mentioning of our blog, Col G.

Now go vote!

Argyle

48 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - fun puzzle, fun theme, again just under 4 minutes. I got the basic theme idea after the first two theme answers, but of course needed the last one to see the light.

Really wanted 'border collies' for 'herding dogs', but it was obviously too short unless I slipped in an extra 'l', which is generally frowned upon. I agree with Argyle that border terriers are more of a hunting dog than a herding dog.Not much else to comment on, as everything fell into place pretty quickly and easily, except for 'fembot', which i got from the perps; never saw Austin Powers.

Today is Housewife's Day and National Sandwich Day.

Today's Words of Wisdom: "A friend is one who knows all about you and likes you anyway." -- Christi Mary Warner

And a few words on cats:

"If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat." -- Mark Twain

"The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it." -- Doug Larson
As Argyle said, be sure to vote today; early and often.

Hahtoolah said...

Good morning, CC, Argyle and Friends. Argyle, You said it all. Not much else to add to the puzzle. Nothing complicated today. I realized early that the theme was on the edge, as it were.

QOD: Finding a way to live the simple life today is man's most complicated task. ~ Henry A. Courtney.

Martin said...

Note the crosses in three of the corners: NW, TITO & TIVO; NE, OPER & OPIE; SW, TOTO & OTTO. Although, the SE has IRMA & TART.;-)

Also there's symmetry between the top and bottom: TITO and TOTO, ELSE and ELOI and LIES and TIER.

Martin

Martin said...

Actually I just noticed that

IE
EN

appears in both the NW and SW corners.

Martin

Mainiac said...

Good Morning Argyle, CC and everyone,

I forced Boarder Collie. Hey it worked for a bit!!? I'm not going to look it up but a border terrier isn't a herder. Maybe someone will prove me wrong. The rest filled in fairly easily, Rhin, Eloi and Trevi took a bit of head scratching. I need to read The Time Machine again. Was the movie worth seeing?

HOORAY, HOORAY. VOTE TODAY!!! And then all the politacal ads will go away!!

Have a good one.

Dick said...

Good morning C.C., Argyle and all, a fun puzzle today. Only problems were with Border Terriers and Border Collies. I agree with Argyle and Dennis on their assessment of which is a hunting dog and which is a herding dog. Also, had a little trouble seeing 50D eatery as I kept trying to find some term for aperson eating alone.

Go Phills win two in a row.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Dick said...

Dennis I liked you cat quotes.

Lemonade714 said...

You all are very nice today, it was not much of a puzzle, though I think TART and IRMA are symmetrical based on IRMA's profession/personality. Perhaps we will have an answer from our resident Sweet Tart, when she gets home tonight.

Now I know why we do not see Col. G. anymore, though, since the LAT is available online, why are they doing the old syndicated ones? Ah well, who wants to start a blog with me?

Anonymous said...

Alright New York Lets go on Wednesday! only 1 more win is needed before you can hoist the trophy and uncork the Bollinger RD.

Bollinger RD

Dennis,

Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling) made the Fembots in the style of Nancy Sinatra these boots were made for walking. The theory was the were so hot that no man could resist their beauty. They had as weapons, machine gun jubblies. But when Austin Powers (Mike Myers)encountered them smoke came out as to try to hypnotise Austin did not work though he defeated them with his mojo.

Austin Powers

Jeanne said...

Morning all,
What can I say? The only answer that didn’t come to me right away was fembot, but it filled in easily with the perps. I never time myself, but this puzzle had to be one of the fastest I ever completed. Still working on Merle Reagle’s Sunday puzzle--hopefully will get back to it later today. I am planning to vote today, but it sure is difficult to get excited about the prospect when you have to vote for County Prothonotary or County Coroner. I am really into the State and Federal elections, but local elections leave me cold. I know this is wrong, since local elections can influence my everyday life and yet, I am not as well informed on the people that are running. Shame on me!

I want to add a little something to last night’s discussion on computer use in the workplace; re: Jeannie’s restriction at work. Many schools are giving students and teachers laptops to use during the school year. Sounds wonderful, but very difficult to supervise. I taught a variety of computer software programs for many years, and keeping the students “on task” was a constant battle. Even though the networking restrictions blocked many sites, some students were very creative in their searches. Somehow my teacher training in the sixties didn’t prepare me for this eventuality.

Have a great day.

Col_Gopinath said...

Hi CC and Argyle,
Thanks for putting in the link of the interview here

Anonymous said...

Your answer to 69-A was misspelled. You showed eyeing whereas the answer would only fit as eying. You guys do good work, and plenty of it. I enjoy "interfacing" with your puzzles ever single day.

TNX: Bill Ronald

Dennis said...

Dick, yeah, I thought you and the other cat lovers here would appreciate them.

Col. G., great interview; also good of you to mention C.C.'s influence on your blog.

WFR.woofer, good of you to join us; always good to get fresh perspectives on these puzzles.

So with Thanksgiving only about 3 weeks away, what's everybody's plans for the holiday? We'll hopefully be in sunny Manhattan Beach CA for 5 days, assuming I can get away.

Warren said...

Hi Argyle, C.C. & gang; my wife remembered the outer limits TV show just before she had to leave for work, I remembered it only after seeing it. I finished off the bottom right corner in 2 minutes after she left without cheating this time!

For Argyle: Tivo
"TiVo (pronounced /ˈtiːvoʊ/) is a pioneer of the digital video recorder (DVR).
TiVo was developed by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay through a corporation they named Teleworld which was later renamed to Tivo, Inc. Though they originally intended to create a home network device, it morphed into a device which records digitized video onto a hard disk. They began the first public trials of the TiVo device and service in late 1998 in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Instead of Tivo we have
AT&T Uverse

Argyle said...

Re: EYING: Dictionary says both are OK.

Boy, that EYING does not look right. Google had over 4 million hits for EYEING and only 500 thousand for EYING. That should rate a Variant in the clue, I think.

I must have filled it from the perps and never looked at it!

Thank You, WFR.woofer.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Let me see...I didn't know Jim MORA, EMI, GRE, FEMBOT or RHIN. It didn't make much difference with the perps to the rescue. The theme was nice. Fitting four fourteen letter answers into the grid can't be easy.

Then, there is the just plain wrong BORDER TERRIERS clue. GAH and I showed our Dalmatians a while back and became quite familiar with the AKC Group divisions. The Terrier Group dogs might be used on a farm to help keep track of a farmer's herd, but they were primarily vermin hunters. The smaller breeds went after mice and rats in the house or barns, and the larger breeds saw to badgers, weasels and fox. Herders are the ones that control the movement of other animals. Even though many dogs never see a rat or a sheep, they still retain their basic breed instincts. BTW, in "AKC speak" a "dog" is always a male and a female is always a "bitch", but a bunch of canines is "dogs".

Spitzboov said...

Easy puzzle.

Re: RHIN. Reminded me of "Die Wacht am Rhein" sung at Rick's place near the end of "Casablanca", and then wonderfully drowned out by the "Marseillaise".

Also brought to mind Rembrandt van Rijn.

carol said...

Hi Argyle, C.C. and all -

Hoot of a puzzle and I had to laugh when I say 41D. Yes, Argyle, I do remember the fun we had with that word. In fact, this puzzle had a rather 'steamy' lower half (how appropriate): We have 'fembolt' eying groin...is she a 'tart'?
I'll bet it won't be 'dangling' for long. ;)

IRISH JIM said...

Morning CC Argyle and all.

Thanks for the welcome Argyle.

Was not an Austin Powers fan so Fembot and Gre were unknowns to me.

I thought "perps" were the down clues.

Re late discussion yesterday, I am one who usually reads the blog later in the day and by then all has been disected and discussed at Finally got the Sun back today.

Hope everybody whoe needs to vote does so.

Jimmy S. Carolina

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Great puzzle. I like the ones I can do with minimum help. Did get said help from DH who knew Margin accounts.

We have twice enjoyed border collie competitions. What a marvel they are. So I too was upset with a terrier butting in.

For those of you who are Kappa Delta Pi members, the president of it from 2005-2007 is here after a meeting in Orlando. John Light is DH's brother.
It is always such fun to discuss and argue things educational with him. And he is ardently pro-teacher, even after having been a superintendent of schools.

Cheers

embien said...

5:13 today. Easier than Monday's puzzle (the TIME one), but not nearly as clever, and, as others have noted, a glaring error with BORDER TERRIERS. An error like that really destroys a puzzle as far as I'm concerned.

Even though it was incorrectly clued, it was fun seeing TOP DOG cross BORDER TERRIERS. I'll bet the terriers all think they are the TOP breed.

I'm guessing that anyone with a MARGIN ACCOUNT wasn't very happy the last couple of years. Nothing like a dreaded margin call to give you the night sweats. The rest of us just saw our IRAs and 401Ks tank, but the margin guys, well, they had to come up with cash out of their pockets.

Oregon is entirely vote by mail, so I cast my ballot a couple of weeks ago (no polling places anymore). In my area there was only one thing to vote on--a local fire department bond measure. I don't live inside any jurisdictional limits (except state and county), so no candidates at all to choose from.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

My two comments were that I liked the edgy theme, and the amusing cross of FEMBOT
with TART. But, alas, I got scooped on both.

Another error is NITRIC acid as explosive compound. Not in and of itself. Nitrates of various kinds can be components of explosive mixtures, ans can the acid, if you put it in the wrong place.

In PJB's absence, I'll note TOTO = OTTO, dog gone it!

Is the stack of EYING GROIN crossing DANGLING an OMEN?

That is probably THE OUTER LIMITS of my wit for this Tuesday.

I have more leaves to gather.

Cheers!
JzB the explosive trombonist

Jazzbumpa said...

Oops. Wrong nitric
link.

Cheers!
JzB

eddyB said...

Hello all.

No voting today in our section of San Jose.

I see that MSNBC.com is featureing
today's Universal with the option of selecting yesterday's version.

How nice of the Philly transet workers to wait untill today to strike. The Inquirer is offering
world Championship gear to Philly fans already.

How is KDP different from DKG?

I thought the puzzle was ok. Missed
the previous discussion on 41D. Must have been fun.

eddyB

Clear Ayes said...

I always seem to be reminded of a poem by Dennis' WOW or quotes. This one is about cats, but is also about a "difficult" relationship. Poet Eunice de Souza seems to know first hand about both.

Advice to Women

Keep cats
if you want to learn to cope with
the otherness of lovers.
Otherness is not always neglect --
Cats return to their litter trays
when they need to.
Don't cuss out of the window
at their enemies.
That stare of perpetual surprise
in those great green eyes
will teach you
to die alone.

- Eunice de Souza

Robin said...

Hi, Argyle, CC and all. I found this puzzle way too easy. I was even able to "get" the theme straight away.
I agree that border terriers are not 'hearding dogs'.
Jeannie, have heart about Big Brother. I'm sure all of you saw the photo of the Connecticut legislature caught playing solitare, watching baseball and checking their Facebook,on laptops, while a debate was being waged on the states budget, last September.
Hmmm, maybe those 2 Northwest pilots that got canned, could find a job there!!
Have a great day all.

WM said...

Argyle great job and thank you for the Border issue...I was absolutely sure that it was Border Collie, having known a few excellent ones over my lifetime, but alas, I couldn't make it fit. :oP

At least I feel better now, and I really didn't have to eat worms finally on UTEP(after I put in UTEX, erased quickly and replaced the X with the P). Thank goodness I already had the IE for French cheese and didn't have to run through the over 360 kinds for 4-letter ones...I am sure there are enough cheeses available world wide for a cheese xword but it would probably have to be one of those Stumper puzzles as the info would be pretty arcane.

Like eddyb said, no election responsibilities for us today, and since we always to absentee, we never have to go to the polss. I think Oregon's mail in ballots are a stellar idea...no excuses not to vote.

Easy puzzle, but it's Tuesday. Liked the theme and thought it pretty much stayed away from boring fills and the cluing, as always, was fun with glaring exception of the border issue.

Dennis, being a confirmed cat lover, I enjoyed the quotes...you can't have any ego problems if you own cats. We have had dogs over the years and they are always eager to please and are a great ego boost, a cat gives you time on their terms, but when they do, there is nothing more soothing than a kitten or cat curled up in front of the computer or in your lap purring away...ahhhh

lois said...

Good evening Argyle, CC, et al., Easier than yesterday and agree w/ all points made already.

Never knew that 'rebar' was a real word. That's what we call the 'pub crawl'.

Carol: LMAO! You're 'onto' something 'dear to' my heart! I'm sure on all 'accounts'...even those in the 'margin'...that
'fembot' is a 'tart', that the 'stub' 'is up', and that it won't be 'ova' 'til the 'top dog' is singing with the 'sopranos'.

Loved this puzzle! Enjoy your nite.

Dick said...

Lois, you are absolutely insane, but I really appreciate you and your humor.

kazie said...

I'm late to post today, but did the puzzle early, before leaving for the day. No problems except having to ask DH for MARGIN. He's a financial adviser so of course he knew it. I had the theme early, but just couldn't get the margin without his help, and that was the only help and my last fill.

Otherwise no real gripes. I didn't know what border terriers did, so I won't beef about that, despite wanting collies before I saw that obviously wasn't going to work.

Not much else to say except it's nice to hear from the Colonel again. Thanks for that, Argyle.

Jeannie said...

Easy puzzle for me to complete but I must admit I didn't get the theme. I guess it didn't matter as everything kind of fell into place besides the border terrier. I believe our resident farmer Windhover owns a couple of Border Collies and can set this to rest.

Argyle thanks for the great write up and yes you can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh ones to make your favorite sweet tart.

I guess it's still big brother looming over my head but did anyone else notice the bottom thread...Boss, eying Tart. BUSTED.

Dennis since it's National Sandwich day let's...have an "omen" to "join" an "ova" with a "groin".

Carol, et al...I remember the dangling participle discussion with a big grin on my face. If I remember right it was a witty one.

carol said...

Jeanne, yes that participle discussion was a good one...I can't remember the exact month/day it happened but we should have more of those. I miss those DF times!
Dangling things are always interesting, but it's more fun to uplift them, so to speak.

Jeannie said...

Carol, it would be fun to have a search article here to find past posts of interest. I don't know if that it is possible though.

You don't know how hard it is to wait until nightime to make a comment. Okay, it was hard to get to the puzzle the last couple of months, but I always took a break to read the comments. What I am saying is this site is addictive and I find that I am the kid in the corner being punished while all you play.

Col_Gopinath said...

Clear Ayes,
Thanks for the comments and dropping by at my blog

carol said...

Jeannie - why would you feel like you were "the kid in the corner being punished"? I don't understand that.
We don't treat you like that here. We like your comments and recipes!

Jeannie said...

Carol, I meant not being able to access this site during my work hours. All I meant is you all get to play and I am the "kid left out" so to speak.

I know you all (most) like my posts. I am just glad there are a lot of west coast folks here to "speak" to during the night hours.

Jeannie said...

@Anon 9;37; If you read Carol's post at 11:19am and Jazzs' at 12:29pm, and Lois' at 4:29pm, and Carol's post again at 8:24pm you will find I am not the only DF poster on the blog. Your attacks on me are childish and unwelcomed.

I have been a member of this blog for well over a year...check my profile and you will see that as fact.

I am not sure what your problem is with me, but I really don't give a shit.

Jeannie said...

Anon, I forgot to say this for Windhover, BITE ME.

windhover said...

Speaking for myself, what I would like to do is beat your sorry (rhymes with Khoury) ass to a bloody pulp.

Bill G. said...

Say, being a relative newcomer, remind me what DF means. It sounds like fun.

Jeannie said...

Bill G, DF was an affecionate term put towards a guy/or gal that had a sense of humor towards the man/women species and their obvious reason to connect. If you were a woman with the same sense of humor and goals you became a DF'ette. I am proud to fall in the latter category.

I can't speak for the guys, but here are the following gals in our goup:

C.C.(you know you are), Lois, Carol, Melissabee, BarbBee, Clearayes (you can't hide now), WM, and I think Robin. Kazie, I am throwing you into the bunch too as you have shared with us being naked in front of peeps. Funny what you remember here on this this blog.

Signed Jeannie, the bad seed.

kazie said...

anon @ 10:31pm,
You remind me of the boys getting caned at school, skiting about how many they got. They'd be sent to the "boss" (headmaster) for "6 of the best", and the other kids would always be fawning around them afterwards to ask about it. Seems you want that sort of attention too.

GROW UP!!!

Bill G. said...

Got it. But the letters DF translate how???

honeybee said...

BillG, as I read it it's DF an abbreviation of Dis- Functional (male term)...I am a newbie here too. I am thinking DF'ettes are the women who Jeannie is alluding to having the same sense of humor? Just a thought.

Why would anyone attack Jeannie? I think she's funny and witty as heck.

Crockett1947 said...

@billg DF=DysFunctional.

Cairin said...

Kazie, I am new to this site and I find you a very intellegent woman. I also find it hard to believe that you would stick up for someone that is not on the same wavelength of you.

I personally find Jeannie entertaining and LOVE her recipes. I don't agree with some of the things she posts but overall, I don't find her uneducated. It seems to me she has a pretty important job. Take that in your pipe and smoke it anon.

kazie said...

Cairin,
I'm not sure whose wavelength you think I'm not on. I was sticking up for Jeannie, and telling anon@10:31 to grow up.

I have led a life which includes very diverse experiences, one of which was joining in with friends on a nude beach when I was in my early 20's, hence Jeannie's correct assumption that I am tolerant of the DF remarks here. Everyone with an adult sense of humor enjoys a slightly "blue" comment once in a while, though I wouldn't like the chatter here to descend into little beyond that.

Chickie said...

I just wanted to tell Col. G. how much I enjoyed reading his interview about his Indian Crossword Blog. I hope he doesn't entirely leave our blog as his comments and insights were very enjoyable.

Knowing how hard C.C. and Arglye and the guest bloggers on our site work, Col. G. probably won't have a lot of time to devote to anything but his own blog, but I hope he'll check in once in a while to let us know how he is doing.

I'm late this in posting as I didn't get the puzzle finished until this evening. I worked at our office subbing for the book-keeper today so didn't have much time for anything else.

My comments about the puzzle are much the same as everyone elses. Except for the fact that I didn't know the British Record Label, everything else fell into place pretty easily.