google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday January 23, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

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Jan 23, 2010

Saturday January 23, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None

Total blocks: 36

Total words: 70

This puzzle is anchored by three 15-letter grid-spanning colloquial idioms:

17A. Words of consolation: YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL. You win some, you lose some.

36A. "Don't cry over spilt milk": WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. Can't change the past.

54A. Sassy reply to criticism: IT'S A FREE COUNTRY! I'll do what I please!

Excellent entries, aren't they?

Alas, the rest of the fill and clues do not awe me as much. My multi-word woe continued. Some of the answer phrases are just not in my vocabulary and a few clues are simply too vague for my knowledge and enjoyment.

Felt like walking on ice the whole solve. Maybe it's solid ground for Dennis.

Across:

1. Cellbound?: IN PRISON. Bound in prison cell. Thought it might be mobile phone related.

9. Activates: TRIPS. Like "trip a switch". My hats off to you if the answer came to you immediately.

14. Sanctioned: VALIDATED

16. Brownish pigment: SEPIA. The old photo color.

19. Group with PCPs: HMO. PCP: Primary-Care Physician.

20. Día de San Valentín sentiment: TE AMO. "I love you" in Spanish. Día de San Valentín = St. Valentine's day.

21. Carbon compound: ENOL. Carbon is the same as organic, isn't it?

22. Boardroom illustration: CHART

24. Letter-shaped hardware used to strengthen joints: T- PLATE. Like this.

26. Fish also called a blue jack: COHO. Only know it as "Silver salmon". Does have some blue hue.

28. Bravo maker: FIAT. Not familiar with Fiat Bravo.

29. See a pro, say: TAKE LESSONS. Nope, did not come to quickly.

33. __ blue: SKY

38. Vague quantity: ANY. FEW too.

39. Fish tales: TALL STORIES. And LIED (48A. Wasn't true).

40. Chilean bread: PESO. The "bread" in late week puzzles often refer to money.

41. Submit formally: FILE

42. Back on the water: ASTERN. Back of a boat. Opposite bow.

45. Good thing to be up to: SNUFF. Idiom: "up to snuff". Nailed it.

49. __ Peters, author of Brother Cadfael mysteries: ELLIS. No idea. Pseudonym of British author Edith Mary Pargeter. See the book cover.

51. Intercepting device: TAP

58. Big name in falsetto: VALLI (Frankie). Of "The Four Seasons".

59. Street hazard: OPEN SEWER. I just felt so dumb.

60. Take out, in a way: ERASE

61. View for 6-Down: TREE TOPS. And SANTA (6D. Flier over 61-Across).

Down:

1. Creeper: IVY

2. Sodium hydroxide, in chem class: NAOH. Only know the sodium symbol NA.

3. Juicy fruit: PLUM

4. Bounce: RICOCHET

5. State with a panhandle: Abbr.: IDA. So many states with panhandles. The clue typifies the "could be this, could be that" toughness of the whole grid.

7. Web-footed mammal: OTTER

8. Not experienced in: NEW AT

9. Literary monogram: TSE (T.S. Eliot). The first person who popped into my brain.

10. Do a foundry job: REMELT. Did not know the meaning of "foundry".

11. Old toothpaste with a spokesbeaver: IPANA. "Brusha, brusha, brusha".

12. Fly: PILOT

13. Maison room: SALLE. French for "room". Maison is "house". I misread as "Mason room".

15. Not too smart: DIM

18. Out of the running: NOT IN IT. Not fond of any "Not ..." answer. Opens doors for NOT FULL, NOT UGLY, NOT SEXY, anything not. Arbitrary-prone.

23. Arm holder?: HOLSTER. Firearm. Loved the clue.

25. Falsely present (as): PASS OFF

26. Four-time Oscar-winning lyricist: CAHN (Sammy)

27. Fine: OKAY

28. Antagonists: FOES

29. Defunct carrier: TWA. Howard Hughes's airline.

30. "Roots" Emmy winner: ED ASNER. He played Captain Davies on "Roots". I need "Lou Grant" to make the fill a gimme.

31. Helpless?: SOLO. Nice clue.

32. NBC hit since '75: SNL

33. Land: SOIL

34. Joint with a cap: KNEE

35. "Works for me": YES

37. Fisherman's aid that floats with the current: DRIFT NET. New to me.

40. Rides on a path, perhaps: PEDALS. Perhaps, yes.

42. Full of energy: ALIVE

43. Indian strings: SITAR

44. Magnetic induction unit: TESLA. Named after Nikola Tesla.

45. Nodded: SLEPT

46. More pleasant: NICER

47. Rte. through six Eastern state capitals: US ONE. US. Route 1 runs from Maine to Florida.

50. Fifth sign: LEO. Zodiac sign.

52. Welk's upbeat: A TWO. Lawrence Welk trademark count-off: "A one and a two". Beat me.

53. __ school: PREP

55. Old-fashioned word of disapproval: FIE

56. Deploy: USE

57. Vintage nos.: YRS. On wine bottle.

Answer grid.

See you tomorrow, Crucigangsters! Thanks for the word yesterday, Jerome. FYI, cruciverbalist is a person who loves crosswords. From Latin crux/cruc "cross" + verbum "word", a modern back translation of English "crossword".

C.C.

75 comments:

Dick said...

Good morning C.C. and All, a bit of a struggle this morning. Maybe it is because I am back in the cold northeast again after a few days in Florida. But, I can’t use that as an excuse as it was cold in Florida also.

I had to get to the bottom half of the puzzle before I could get a foot hold and then slowly worked my way to the top. The NW corner was the last to fall with imprison being my Doh moment. “Back on the water”/”astern” was my favorite clue/answer.

I hope you all have a great Saturday and a better weekend.

Anonymous said...

No duck soup.

Barry G. said...

I struggled all over the place with this one, but finally sputtered to a dead halt in the NE corner. I had TRIPS, SEPIA and YOUCANTWINEMALL, so you'd think that last little bit would have been easy, right? Sadly, I had SALON instead of SALLE for some reason that made sense to me when I out it in and just couldn't get ENOL, TPLATE or PILOT. I guessed at REMELT, but I couldn't commit to it. So, I'll have to put this one into the "fail" column on my personal Hall Of Shame...

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - wow, did this puzzle ever kick my ass! I swear, I think I had more answers I didn't know right away than ones I did. Perfect example was 'Dia de San Valentin sentiment'. Even when the perps gave me 'teamo', I kept going "teamo?? Is that Spanish for team??" -- took a couple minutes for me to see 'te amo'.

I confidently wrote in 'Fla' for 'State with a panhandle' only to have that go up in smoke. Outsmarted myself and wrote 'levy' for 'Fine', thinking how clever I was for seeing past the obvious. I did nail 'Toothpaste with a spokesbeaver'/'Ipana' for some strange reason. Beavers tend to stick in my mind. Favorite clues, same as C.C.: 'Arm holder?' and 'Helpless'.

A very enjoyable experience, even though I struggled mightily to get through unassisted. As with Barry, a most humbling solve.

Today is National Pie Day, and.....ready for this one? National Measure Your Feet Day.

Make it a fun, full weekend

Argyle said...

Good Morning to you all,

An example of my trouble today: the Big name in falsetto was right on the tip of my tongue. It just would not come to me. I went on to other words but still it was almost there. Finally! Lou Christie! I go back to 58A.

Nope, not Lou Christie. It was so bad that my last fill was 6D; Santa! Who woulda thunk it.

Anonymous said...

@Annette (11:47pm), my sentiments exactly. Thanks for expressing them so well.

MJ said...

Good morning, C.C. and all,
Somehow this puzzle did not seem as difficult to me as a typical Saturday. Had enough perp help just about everywhere to get the unknowns and obscure fill. Most challenging was the NW. Had most of the corner with surety, but it took awhile to get TRIPS, ENOL, REMELT, and PILOT to mesh. Favorite clues same as others, especially "arm holder?".

Thanks for the write-up, C.C. Enjoy the day, all!

Dot said...

Good morning, all.

To Robin and the others with the comments about Haiti, I've been quite taken up with the situation, just hadn't known whether it was appropriate to say what we're involved in.

Our son was scheduled to go to Haiti on Feb. 8, prior to the earthquake. They have a medical team and construction team to work with some schools and I believe an orphanage. They still plan to go but obviously their focus has changed. The team is only taking their personal items in their carry-on bags and filling their checked baggage with medical supplies. They also are getting a shipping crate. Some of us are assembling personal care packages in ziploc bags for them to distribute - toothbrushes, toothpaste, wash cloth, wipes, etc. Not much compared to the need but we're each just required to "do what we can."

Re: helping those around us. I think people who are inclined to respond to a disaster are the same people who respond to a need near by. It's a matter of having compassion for our fellow man.

Dot

Dot said...

I didn't want to make my last comment any longer but did want to tell this story because I think it is so neat. In the fall, the group my son works with had purchased a bus for the work in Haiti, filled it with school supplies, bicycles, and a lot of other necessities. They shipped it down there in December. However, the cargo ship had engine trouble and had to go into some other port for repairs. And so the bus did not get delivered. Now as soon as they can off load it, they will have all those supplies, too plus the bus to use for much needed transportation for the teams going in to work.

Dot

Dennis said...

Dot, very eloquently stated. The only comment I would add is that I wish Americans would put as much effort and impetus into helping the truly indigent here as they do when something like this occurs abroad. And by truly indigent, I don't mean people milking (or rather, bilking) the welfare system.

Anonymous said...

Clues are way tangential.

Entropy said...

Dennis I concur.

Now as to this puzzle, well YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL.

Now this truly looks like a Rorschach Ink Blot Test. but WHATS DONE IS DONE.

When I think of juicy fruit, the PLUM is a bit far down on the list.
Welk's upbeat had 'A ONE'
Ran the gambit of auto makers to get the Bravo, FIAT. I'm suppose to know cars not sold here?

HOLSTER, arm holder was very cleaver.

NEW AT was final entry, which is how I felt.
Obviously, I was not up to SNUFF today.

As a point of order, just curious, is it really to difficult for commenters to add a name?

Click on "Name/URL" and make up one.
It would be great if they were just deleted.

Diane said...

Is "anonymous" one person or several? Very confusing! Anyway, this was a hard one...never did understand te amo and had "alert" for 42D--wanted "tries" for 9A and "salon" for salle--couldn't fool around with it anymore as we are expecting week end guests and I have to get some things done. Hope everyone does something fun this weekend!

Anonymous said...

Good morning C.C. Very tough. Reason I could not get Bravo Maker is because Fiat made Brava with an "a". In Europe it was known by its numericl designation "131." I used to have one. Also, dia de san valentin. I was trying to shoehorn "catorce" for fourteen.
Enjoy your weekend and see you on Monday.

Bob said...

First one to defeat me in a long while. I pulled the plug after an hour, which is my usual time limit. If I can't get by then, it's time to work on something else. Got stuck in the NE corner with 12D, 13D, 21A, and 24A. I wanted to put SALON in 13D and didn't even think of SALLE (limited experience with French but I knew the word after I saw it). I should probably have gotten PILOT but didn't think of it. I knew ENOL after I saw it, and I got the TPL in TPLATE but couldn't finish it. As several of you have noted, YOUCANTWINEMALL.

Dennis said...

Diane, there's literally an infinite number of 'anons'. Anybody can be one, and we're certainly blessed with many. Ideally, everyone would 'go blue' by giving themselves a name, but the ones who like to hide and snipe are too cowardly to do so.

Anon@9:23, actually, both 'Bravo' and 'Brava' are correct for Fiat names.

Lemonade714 said...

Interesting puzzle, I found it quite challenging. especially all the words with "F" but when I got up to SNUFF, everything fell in place. Each of the 15 leter fill were well done, and only CELLBOUND: IN PRISON seemed too easy.

Actually, anon., you are right and wrong, as there were both made by FIAT .

We are a diverse group, and overall probably more aware of the sufferng all over the world and on our own shores, so I agree with you Dennis, it is a shame a rich country has so many homeless, and it is admirable how Robin and others have rallied to help in Haiti. Good deeds are always welcome.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning to the intrepid band of solvers. A real grinder today. 2 cups of coffee to get 'er done. Finally got through with more than usual strikethroughs, but no look ups needed. NE corner was a bear. At first had henna for SEPIA, salon for SALLE, and reshoe, remold for REMELT. (Foundry clue made me think of ferrier, although they use forges moreso than foundries). Wife helped with TE AMO:-); early for Valentine's and late for SANTA in the TREETOPS. Loved clues for INPRISON, HOLSTER, ASTERN, and SNUFF.

IDA - had Fla at first also. Took awhile for US ONE to crystallize into the right format.

Thought clue for TESLA was arcane, although he is a relatively well known inventor. SOIL's clue, land, was vague.

Another sunny day here.

Tschüß

ipo said...

Aloha all: Arm Holder-HOLSTER was my favorite- as a matter of fact I am looking into purchasing Paladin holsters for my husband in the near future. I did not get SALLE and French was spoken in my home by both parents, so as they said today YOUCANTWINEMALL. My husband assisted me with DRIFTNET, fortunately he was here! I would have been a bad Floridian and not gotten it without him.

Dennis said...

ipo and other Florida residents, didn't you immediately think 'FLA' for 'Statewith a panhandle'?

melissa bee said...

good morning c.c. and all,

absolutely loved the puzzles yesterday and today, delightful workout. really makes me appreciate skillful cluing. today's three grid-spanners were just great. i did not remember that ED ASNER was in roots, and never did parse TE AMO correctly. foundry is a great xword word, i'd like to see it in the grid. agree that holster was clever .. i wear one every day, but mine holds oil and lotion. favorite aha moment came with activates/trips.

happy belated bday to the c.c. and the corner, vodka to you.

Argyle said...

"J'entre dans la salle de classe. Je regarde autour de moi. Je vois les eleves et les professeurs. Je dis 'bonjour' au professeur."

And that was about as far as I got in French but it did give me SALLE for room.

melissa bee said...

dennis, i've never lived on the east coast, but having lived in both texas and oklahoma, i tried those first. never would have come up with idaho without perps.

tfrank said...

Good morning, All,

I must be on the constructor's wave length this morning, as I found this CW very doable for a Saturday. My only "not remembered" was sodium hydroxide; my last chemistry class was in 1948. Being a former naval person, my favorite clue was back on the water. 9D could be anybody, but the perps took care of it. My time was 27.

All things considered, it was a pleasant experience.

Have a great weekend.

Dennis said...

Melissa, yeah, I've got Florida on the brain, I guess.

Off to the casinos w/friends. Have a great day.

Anonymous said...

Now, this is the way a Saturday puzzle should be done--fair and hard! I counted only two crossed proper nouns; unlike the other day, when it was sixteen! Excellent work!!!

Anonymous said...

58a: If you get the chance to see "Jersey Boys", (and you`re of a certain age) you`ll probably enjoy it. It`s full of the songs which made Valli famous.

Spitzboov said...

Anon @11:13 said "..I counted only two crossed proper nouns..". I count 2 sets: Asner x Ellis and Tesla x Valli. Don't quite know that it matters.

@ tfrank: ASTERN - see the left side of avatar:-)

Robin said...

Good Morning all.

First of all please let me apologize to anyone I may have offended, especially Annette. I am so frustrated that I am not able to be in Haiti to help at this time. So many of my friends are there and say it really is much worse that the press is telling us. I get too darn carried away and I am sorry! :(
Dot, thank you for sharing. You must be very proud of your son. Could you e-mail me his organization and I can add it to my FB blog?

Puzzle wise, I moved in with Mr. Google. I had no idea about 'ipana' toothpaste, open sewer, back on the water and Welks upbeat. Fogeddda aboutit!

The weather is much better here in Az. The quail are on the patio, waiting for their breakfast. Have a great weekend.

Jack said...

Toughest puzzle in a long time. It took me nearly two hours to finish.

ipo said...

Dennis- I had INPRISON as one of my first solves and that immediately excluded FLA. otherwise I would have thought of FLA. without a doubt.

Robin- depending upon your age, IPANA may or may not be a give me. I remember using IPANA toothpaste.

Annette said...

Robin, thank you. And I do commend your compassion and the efforts of people like Dot's son that are able to go over and help. My niece had spent a week there almost a year ago and was sorry to hear that the school she'd help build had fallen in the quake... I was just relieved to hear she (or her futuer m-i-l who regularly brings her medical expertise down) hadn't been there when this happened.

As far as the puzzle: I guess I was on the right wavelength at 3 am when I did the puzzle. It came very easy to me with the perps, guesses, and just a little red letter nudging to let me know when I was on the wrong track. I never even saw some of the Down clues until I came here.

I liked the use of the idioms! And 23A Arms holder? HOLSTER

30D ED ASNER used to be such an overused c/x staple. Good to see him again.

My biggest 'duh' was probably 20A. It didn't occur to me that it was looking for Spanish at first, and I LOVE YOU just didn't fit. I don't remember the FIAT Bravo at all!

Sorry, I don't remember if I put in FLA for panhandle state or if one of the letters was already filled in my perps, preventing it.

And I always love any Lawrence Welk reference! I still watch his show every week if I'm home.

Annette said...

The only way I knew IPANA was from the movie "Grease". One of the girls imitates the beaver with the commercial on TV in the background. It's during the sleepover where they try to pierce "Sandy's" ears. I think someone explained the reference to me when the movie first came out.

Anonymous said...

The first two fills I got were in Spanish--te amo--and French--salle. After that a few other words fell in place, but only a few.

I would prefer all anonymous contributors sign their names. As for the comment yesterday that anons were young males, this anon is 70, female, MA degree, retired English and French teacher. But then, I sign my name.

Doreen

Anonymous said...

Spitzboov @12:01 said "...I count two sets..." Thanks. I am wrong; there is only one 'set' (your term--better than mine) of crossed proper nouns. I had originally included 'Coho' and 'Cahn'; but Coho is a 'dictionary' word. So is 'tesla', even though 'Tesla' is the famous engineer/inventor (who didn't get credit for the radio).

The reason it matters to me is that I, too, am a retired engineer and dictionary freak. When creators resort to lots of crossed proper nouns--a sign of laziness to me-- it defeats the emphasis on the dictionary! I said once before in this column—this is my second and, maybe, last time to ever comment--that in such cases I might as well (throw away my dictionary) and get a subscription to 'People' magazine.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box!

JD said...

You can't win 'em all."snuff said..
sigh.....

JimmyB said...

This was a very humbling puzzle for me. About the only answers I was sure of on the first pass were IPANA and NAOH. After that most of my first guesses were wrong so I had to Google to get answers like CAHN, ELLIS, EDASNER, COHO etc. to make any inroads. Even taking a break in the middle didn't seem to help. Everything made sense after it was filled in correctly, so I'd agree with whoever it was that said the puzzle was hard but fair. I guess I didn't win this battle, but at least I survived it.

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

Annette,
Thanks for the BL?? list last night. Awesome! Maybe some will go to certain constructor's theme idea notebook.

Spitzboov,
Were you in any war during your Navy service?

PJB,
Your B(L)ANK HOLIDAY clue made me laugh.

Robin,
Many quiet doers/givers on this blog.

eddyB said...

Hello.

It was a good Sat puzzle and fun to solve.

Never understood BZ. Whiskey Delta
made more sense to me. But, that is/was the Navy.

Son's rare Fender will be featured
in their 60th anniversity issue.

Rained this morning and Monday's
storm is coming on Sunday. That will make it 10 for 10. I'm ready to hoist the Alpha flag.

Stay dry.

eddyB

Robin said...

I am watching ladies figure skating and thinking of clearayes, where is she?

I know CC, thanks!

Lemonade714 said...

Paladin holsters, now there is a reference that many of our group may not understand, but if you want to go back and see HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and the holster, enjoy.

Interesting how some actually fund this easier, as I slogged for a long while.

Lemonade714 said...

The musical Jersey Boys is a wonderful night of entertainment with such great songs as CANT TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU and so many more hits Sherrie and all the rest . It also was fun to see Joe Pesci as an influence on this band which basically began with a bunch of jersey street hoods, who could sing.

carol said...

Hi C.C. and gang -

Sore butt today!!! After the wreckage of yesterday, I am a mess!!

Never found anything I could actually write in until the lower 1/3 of this. I did well on the long solves (17,29 and 54) but it didn't help much on the other (very clever) clues. Loved 23D (ARM HOLDER).

Idaho has a panhandle???????? I feel stupid, especially living in the adjoining state. I put in TEX. See how it went from there? LOL.

Annette, to respond to your remark about our cats looking alike - I thought so the very first time I saw your avatar. Mine was (he died of cancer in 2000 at the tender age of 12 1/2) so sweet. (Big boy at 17#). His sister is also an avatar I sometimes use...she died in 2008 at 20 1/2) I miss them both.

Dennis - glad (in a nice way) that you had so much trouble with the puzzle...somehow that makes me feel better :) You might feel better after measuring your feet - remember the 'rule of thumb' from several months ago!? LOL.

Also on the subject of giving to charities : I agree with Dennis about the Red Cross but while his reasons stem from his experience in 'Nam, ours stem from Joe's 2 uncles who served in WWII, they said after seeing what the Red Cross did (and mostly didn't do) and charged the soldiers for, he would never give them anything.

Robin(12:09) LOL on your moving in with Mr. G. I'll be joining you, maybe we can split the rent.

Ipana (11D) brought back memories of that terrible 'soapy' tasting toothpaste - Yuk!

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

Robin,
The bad weather might have disconnected her internet.

Frenchie,
I am amazed by the strictness of your diet. I don't tolerate gluten either. Wish I could just give up meat too.

Ipo, Entropy et al,
Welcome! I've been enjoying your posts.

Jerome said...

I also hate it when constructors cross proper nouns. I, too, think it's a sign of laziness. What's next... crossing adverbs, adjectives, place names, and phrases?

Anonymous said...

Following up on Lmade714: I got a laugh out of the Jersey Boys singing "Walk Like A man" in that anything but masculine falsetto!

Anon@11:16

Chickie said...

Hello All--My first run through the clues only gave me about a half-dozen answers. I put the puzzle aside and then went back to it about two hours later. Bit by bit and with help from Mr. G. I finally had most of the puzzle filled in. I didn't win the battle, but at least if was a fair fight.

I thought Arm holder and Good thing to be up to were both great clues. Once I filled them in my ego soared a bit.

I got my atlas out to look at a US map to see what other states besides Texas and Oklahoma had panhandles. Idaho would have been my last guess.

The NE corner was the last to fall, and I tried The Earth, and Roof Tops for Santa's view before tree tops fell into place. I spent way too much time today on the puzzle, but did enjoy it.

I commend the people who help others, but hope that some of their time and money is spent on needs here at home as well. There is so much that can be done.

Chickie said...

An aside about our storms. Our kitchen barometer goes to 29 lbs. of pressure for its lowest mark.
The storm two days ago sent the barometer off the scale. It was about 28.8, the lowest that has been recorded since records have been kept in this area. We didn't have a numerical number for the 28.8, but our news weatherman mentioned this during his report.
We have sun today after some morning showers. Hooray.

Bob said...

@Chickie: You mean 29 inches (of mercury), not pounds. Atmospheric pressure is measured in inches or millimeters--the height of a column of mercury. High atmospheric pressures make the column rise, low pressures make it fall.

Lemonade714 said...

Wow, 28.8, you are heading for Hurricane like low pressure. We hit 26.05 inHg during Wilma . It will not get sunny nor rain today; it is like waiting for my ex-wife to finish getting ready to go to a party....

Yes Robin, puzzles are among the few things in life where being young is not helpful; you probably do not "Wonder Where the Yellow Went." either.

As to the proper name debate, I do not think the issue is the use of names, but the use of really obscure names, of course we all have our prejudices whether it be tv, geography, sports. I am surprised we have little complaining about foreign phrases. I also recall when I first did puzzles 50 years ago, the clue would tell you if the fill were 2 or 3 words. Ultimately it is impossible for the constuctors, today being a perfect example where some very experienced solvers had trouble and others went quickly. I look at crossword puzzles like golf, I will never be perfect, but I do enjpy when it goes well, and am not too shocked when it is difficult.

Robin said...

Lemon, I do know, don't eat yellow snow.........

Spitzboov said...

C. C. re: war. No, just the 'cold war'. Thankfully, our guns were not fired in anger.

Dot said...

This puzzle was an impossibility for us. I came here to get a couple of the long fills and will now see if that helps any.

The Brother Cadfael books are among our favorites. Just wish there were more.

The toothpaste clue reminded me of one of my many jobs when I worked my way through college. I worked in the Listerine factory in St. Louis one summer. The building had been a millionaire's mansion. Seemed odd to see rooms with beautiful woodwork & spiral staircases amid the clanking conveyor belts.

One of my duties was to run toothpaste tubes through a washing machine wringer if the printing on the tube was not centered properly. Then the toothpaste was taken back to the vats where it was run through again. When I wasn't doing that, I worked on the conveyor line putting the indiv. cartons into a shipping carton. I think they were packed 24 to a box & each worker put four in the box as the tubes passed in front of us. Because it was so noisy you couldn't possibly talk to your co-workers & because it was such a mindless job, I tried to figure out how many miles of conveyor belts there were in the factory & a few things like that. However, when I told some of the ladies when we were on break what I had come up with, they thought I was nuts. So I never shared anymore of my mental gymnastics.
From there I went to Swift's Meatpacking plant and that's another story!

Dot

Dot said...

This puzzle was an impossibility for us. I came here to get a couple of the long fills and will now see if that helps any.

The Brother Cadfael books are among our favorites. Just wish there were more.

The toothpaste clue reminded me of one of my many jobs when I worked my way through college. I worked in the Listerine factory in St. Louis one summer. The building had been a millionaire's mansion. Seemed odd to see rooms with beautiful woodwork & spiral staircases amid the clanking conveyor belts.

One of my duties was to run toothpaste tubes through a washing machine wringer if the printing on the tube was not centered properly. Then the toothpaste was taken back to the vats where it was run through again. When I wasn't doing that, I worked on the conveyor line putting the indiv. cartons into a shipping carton. I think they were packed 24 to a box & each worker put four in the box as the tubes passed in front of us. Because it was so noisy you couldn't possibly talk to your co-workers & because it was such a mindless job, I tried to figure out how many miles of conveyor belts there were in the factory & a few things like that. However, when I told some of the ladies when we were on break what I had come up with, they thought I was nuts. So I never shared anymore of my mental gymnastics.
From there I went to Swift's Meatpacking plant and that's another story!

Dot

Dot said...

My apologies for the double entry. I accidently clicked submit before I put in my password & got the message that it was a required field so I didn't think the comment had gone through & I resubmitted it with all the proper info. Apparently, that was unnecessary. This modern technology is far removed from the washing machine wringer technology! And it is somewhat intimidating for an oldtimer like me! Dot

ipo said...

oops

Spitzboov said...

IPO you can test your link in PREVIEW mode before posting. HTH

ipo said...

Thank you I really enjoyed the Paladin link, especially the holster with the knight.

Dennis and C.C., thank you for the comments; it is a little intimidating joining your 2 year old blog where you all know each other well, especially since i am new to solving, but I am making progress.

Robin, LMAO, yes I think L714 was referring to another fifties toothpaste, which used the jingle, "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent."

Dot, I cannot believe you worked in a Listerine toothpaste factory, as I was just going to write about how I HATED the taste of that toothpaste; Ipana was a joy in comparison. My first attempt to hyperlink, Listerine Toothpaste .

Spitzboov, I am trying, but do not know how to preview...

Stockman said...

If there is one thing I really like it is an IPO ... Initial Public Offering.

@ipo - to preview, just click the button next to "publish your comment" that is BLUE and marked "preview."

Clear Ayes said...

Good Evening All, In case anybody thought that I fell off our California foothill into a passing flood, the answer is "No".

Almost as bad, we have been without electricity from 12 noon on Wednesday until 2:20 PM on Saturday. No rainstorm damage or injuries around here, just downed power lines. Since we are so far out in the country. it takes a while for the electric company to zero in on the exact place...on a mountain top, or in a gully. 2300+ homes were without power and our little community was the last 133 homes to have electricity restored. Thank goodness, we have a phone landline, so we could call for power company updates and compare notes with neighbors.

Windhover...HOW DO YOU DO IT?? We were going totally bonkers. No lights, no computer, no TV, no refrigerator/freezer (we lost about $200 worth of food). On the other hand, we each read two books by flashlight....and we got a lot more sleep than usual. We were buried under blankets with no heat (electric switch on furnace) and were wearing multi-layers and robes most of the rest of the time.

So, I did the Thursday and Friday puzzles in the paper, although I couldn't check the blog to see how I did. I'll be back for Sunday's puzzle online, as long as the power holds out. The paper says that we are due for more rain next week.

See you all tomorrow. I'm very glad to be back and hope it stays that way!

IRISH JIM said...

Good evening CC and all.

Lemonade, your golf analogy fit perfectly.
I would have shot 156, and on the back nine, well thats enough of that.

Idaho has a panhandle?. Who knew.

Speaking of Fla, Dick, we were there early Jan. Actually had sleet one day.

Good W/E to all.

Chickie said...

Thank you ,Bob, for the correction on the Barometric pressure. I should have looked it up before I published. Sounded right.

Lemonade 741, We didn't have a hurricane, but just lots of wind and lots of rain. Could have been worse!!!

Also, good to see you back CA. No power for that long in the cold is awful. There is just no way you can get really warm.

We were without power for 50 plus hours two summers ago in over 100 degree heat. We lost our entire freezer full of food. If you are with PG&E they will reimburse you for the loss. Just call and ask for the paperwork. It wasn't too much to do and we did get some money back. Worth a try.

Robin said...

I'm so glad Clearayes that you are OK!

carol said...

CA - I am soooo relieved that you are back!!! I truly was thinking of all your floods and landslides and trying not to visualize the worst scenario. Thanks for setting all our minds at ease. Be glad of the fairly moderate temps in your area (I know you are higher in altitude that the valley)...could be in Minnesota.

IPO - you are one of the few that I ever heard that liked the taste of Ipana. I must be in the minority, but I really thought the stuff tasted like soap...but I was a kid and finicky at that. :)

PJB-Chicago said...

"You can't win 'em all."
"You can't take it with you"
"Your mileage may vary"

All are wise expressions, words of consolation, and phrases that describe the experience of this solver. The northeast quadrant of the grid was a humbling experience, but the puzzle itself was way "up to snuff." HOLSTER and DRIFT NET, plus the 15 letter answers made this fun.

ENOL, T-PLATE and IPANA may well have been in a foreign tongue for all I know. SALLE and TE AMO were gimmes. I would have thought Santa would fly at higher altitude than TREETOPS, and that "tall" might refer to "tales" rather than stories, but, ahem, alas, I was wrong. And, I still enjoyed 97% of being "NOT IN IT" because I do love such clever -- and even devious -- word play!

P.S. I overheard someone at the local Whole Foods store ask an employee which breads were "GLUTTON-free," and I almost burst into half-laughter, half-tears. I am SO using that line next chance I get!

Dot said...

Cleareyes, So glad that your power is back on. I hope it stays. I was working for a Utility back in '75 when we had an icestorm that left some of our customers without power for weeks. Not fun! Its too late now but if this ever happens again, cover your freezer with blankets and do not open the door. After you have power, the food may have started defrosting but should still be cold enough that you can do a major cooking job and save your food.

Dot

Annette said...

Thanks, C.C.! I had fun brainstorming those B(L) phrases last night.

Carol, I'm sorry your cats are both gone. My avatar's brother was put down about 5 years ago due to cancer too. He was all black, instead of white like this one. I've changed my avatar to one of the 2 of them, shortly before we lost him.

Lemonade714: I haven't seen "Jersey Boys", but a friend gave me the soundtrack. I already had the Four Seasons Anthology on my playlist, but was impressed how well the characters replicate the sound of the originals. Also, I loved your golf analogy!

ClearAyes: I'm sorry to hear what you went through this week, but glad to hear you're okay - and back!

windhover said...

Here's my 4Seasons memory.
In the Summer of '62 I was a 16 year old recent HS graduate. I lived 12 miles from " town ", and on full moon Friday or Saturday nights I liked to see how far and how fast I could drive with the headlights off. I remember very clearly rocketing down one of the few straight sections of that road at 80, no headlights, and Frankie Valli screaming out of the speakers, "Sherrie, Sherrie Ba-a-by". I'd like to do that again.

Robin said...

What a great visual WH.....

Annette said...

Windhover: Yay - You got your new avatar up!

Annette said...

And that's my favorite Four Seasons sing-along song. I was seeing a guy named Terry and would sing "Terry, won't you come out tonight?"

They're coming to town next month, but can't find anyone who wants to go... I did see them while in high school though, at a small local supper club. At different times, I also saw The Lettermen, James Darren, and Sandler and Young.

windhover said...

Annette:
Yep, I can sit at the grownup table now.

I'm off to bed. These damn goats are wearing me out midwifing them. If I hear one in labor I may post in the wee hours. If not, see you tomorrow.

67

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Had a terrible time with this puzzle. Oh course, I was trying to do it in the car and at my M-I-L's with no Mr G.

OK - some days the bear gets you. But I want it to be a fair fight.

Yes, there was some inventive clueing and cleverness today: "Back on the water" frex. Though "back" is a noun, and "STERN" is a noun, and "ASTERN" in an adverb. Doesn't match.

So, on balance, I'm annoyed, not humbled by this one. TE AMO is not the sentiment. Amor is the sentiment - a noun - and TE AMO is an expression of it. Clue and fill again do not match.

6D and 61A - two fills with about half a clue between them.

TAP, except as part of the compound noun WIRETAP, is generally used as a verb. The clue calls for a noun, like BUG. (Which can also be a verb.)

"Wasn't true" is an abstract condition, functionally, an adjective. LIED is a verb. If you force fit "Wasn't true" into a verbal phrase, then the answer has to be CHEATED, or STRAYED.

A TWO is a downbeat. Welk's upbeat was AND. Trust me on this one.

Jerome - I get your point, but look at it as a solver. The problems with crossing proper names is 1) they're 2nd class fill, but more importantly 2) they can be obscure. To a very large extent, either you know them or you don't.

Can you really expect anyone other than a retired engineer to get the crossing of TESLA and VALLI? Crossed or stacked obscurities make regions intractable, and drain the puzzle of fun.

I don't think you really can say that about adverbs, adjective and phrases.

Today's puzzle was drained, and draining.

Rather a fitting end to the week, though.

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, because I wanted to have a beer at the shopping center and was told, "YOU CAN"T - WINE MALL."

I tried again to get one of the waiters to pop cold one for me, and found out he only OPENS EWERS.

I'm sure tomorrow will be better, so I will still say -

Cheers!
JzB

Anonymous said...

Talk about picking at nits.

Anonymous said...

Cocktail moment:

The Drowsy Chaperone

1/2 ounce Blue Curaçao, more or less to taste and for color

3/4 ounce pineapple juice

Splash of Red Bull energy drink (for an ironic nod to the drowsy chaperone)

Champagne

Orange twist, for garnish

Pour curaçao, juice and Red Bull in champagne flute. Top with champagne. Garnish with orange twist.

Makes 1 drink.

The designated driver