google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday April 17, 2010 Barry Silk

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Apr 17, 2010

Saturday April 17, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 33

No three-letter entry. A pair of stacked ten-letter entries in each of four quadrants. 34 Across answers and 34 Downs. Very similar to Barry's Sept 26, 2009 themeless Dennis blogged. Same number of blocks/words too.

A good opportunity for us to see variations of a grid with several identical answers, including the seed entry COLE HAMELS (10D. Pitcher who was a 2008 post-season standout for the Phillies), B-CUP, T-TOP & SLEDS. The previous puzzle has a scrabbly JAZZ in today's BRED slot.

My favorite clue today is POTATO CHIP (48A. It's hard to eat one). Deliciously clued. Wish LULU (25D. Pip) were clued differently to tie in with TO SIR (46D. "__, With Love": 1967 hit).

Across:

1. Stood for: MEANT

6. Lingerie spec: B-CUP. Jennifer Anison's bra size.

10. Collectible frames: CELS

14. Within legal provisions: AT LAW. Attorney-at-law is the only phrase I know that contain this phrase.

15. Quite: OH SO. Didn't come to me easily. Quite/OH SO tough. OK.

16. German auto: OPEL. Crockett's first car.

17. "I Fall to Pieces" singer: PATSY CLINE. Here is a clip. Always nice to see a full name.

19. Court zero: LOVE. Tennis court.

20. Silently activated signal: STILL ALARM. Defined as "A fire alarm transmitted silently, as by telephone, rather than by sounding the conventional signal apparatus". New to me.

21. Crossed (out): EX'ED

22. Left __: rewarded: A TIP

23. Words before "I remember it well," in a "Gigi" song: AH YES. Too bad, I don't remember it. Gimme for Clear Ayes, I am sure.

24. Hardly thrilling: BLAH

28. Model: EXEMPLAR

31. Gernreich of fashion: RUDI. Learned his name from doing Xword.

32. Party occasion: RETIREMENT. Nice clue.

35. Passed by: ELAPSED

37. Goes ballistic: LOSES IT. Made me think of Lois again. I imagine she has a hot, hot temper.

38. Gravel transports: DUMP TRUCKS. Great entry, good use of letter U.

40. Start to type?: LINO. Linotype. Can't get stereo out of my mind. At least, I was in the right direction.

41. Doesn't get hung up on: SEES PAST

42. Center's job: SNAP. Football.

43. Authoritative orders: FIATS

45. Excellent, in recent slang: PHAT. How recent?

47. Glimpse: ESPY

54. River of Xanadu: ALPH. Stumped me. From Coleridge "Kubla Khan".

55. Factory outlet: SMOKESTACK. Oh, always thought it's just called chimney.

56. Bit of Realtor lingo: RELO

57. Not at all pleased: SORE

58. Destined for markdown: Abbr.: IRREG

59. Choreographer's unit: STEP

60. Get rid of: TOSS

61. Like non-oyster months, traditionally: R-LESS. Like May/June/July/August. Nailed it.

Down:

1. Some are genetic: MAPS. Have never heard of this gene term.

2. Division politique: ETAT. French state.

3. Some choir singers: ALTI. Plural of ALTO, which is in Barry's old puzzle.

4. Org. that included the New York Cosmos: NASL (North American Soccer League)

5. Choreographer Tharp: TWYLA. Can never remember her name.

6. Made a mess of: BOLLIXED UP. Got me again. For a while I actually used bollixed in the blog write-up.

7. Collectible involving seeds: CHIA PET

8. Seagoing mil. readiness force: USNR (United States Naval Reserve). Was unaware of this abbr..

9. Work with feet: POEM. Poetic feet. Barry's previous puzzles have POETS, clued as "Meter experts". Poetic meter.

11. Strong adhesive: EPOXY RESIN. See EPOXY alone more often.

12. It holds water: LEVEE. Of course I was thinking of the idiom "hold water".

13. They have runners: SLEDS. Was picturing baseball runners rather than skating blades.

18. Reception staff: CATERERS

23. They may be brown or cream: ALES. I just loved the "It", "They" & "They" words in the clues I highlighted in green.

24. Gave rise to: BRED

26. Lump in one's throat: ADAM'S APPLE

27. 51-Down's pace: HIPPETY HOP. And HARE (51. Leveret, e.g.). Leveret is a young hare. I was stumped.

29. Offerings at some parlors: MILKSHAKES

30. Male gland: PROSTATE

33. Historic Atlantic crosser: NINA. Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria.

34. Sporty sunroof: T-TOP

36. Bernadette et al.: Abbr.: STES. Have never heard of this Sainte Bernadette. French, obviously.

39. Takers of prisoners: CAPTORS

43. Chill causes: FEARS. Alliteration. Did you think of fever also?

44. Key: ISLET. Clues are just tricky today.

48. "Hey, you!": PSST

49. Novel with the chapter "Farming in Polynesia": OMOO. Sequel to "Typee". Melville novel.

50. PC key: CTRL

52. Summer coolers: ICES. Fell into ADES trap, Barry G.

53. FedEx truck filler: Abbr.: PKGS (Packages).

42 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

How fun, a Barry Silk themeless, with great clues like Court Zero: LOVE, It’s hard To Eat One: POTATO CHIPS; Factory Outlet: SMOKE STACK; Lump in one’s throat: ADAM’S APPLE; offerings at some parlors : MILK SHAKES. Of course, I was thrown because I thought it was HIPPITY-HOP, but the “I” did not work, and the thesaurus backs Mr. Silk. A wonderful time was had by all (except the non-baseball fans) but COLE HAMELS and who can forget the full performance of PATSY CLINE ?

Finally, you have to love a puzzle with BOLLIXED in it.

it is raining in the sunshine state so I will rearrance

ciao chow and I hopelife is better for all today

tfrank said...

Good morning, hostess and all,

This was quite a workout this morning - 54 minutes with lots of perp and red letter help, but no lookups. Some outstanding clues already cited by L714.

Great fun, but I have to run. My church is having a work day today.

Have a great weekend.

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - Naddor, followed by a Silky. Life is good. I had a great time with this one, and not just because we had yet another reference to cup size. (Why is it always 'B cups'?) Lois, I'd sue for discrimination. Matter of fact, send me proof of the double-Ds and I'll be happy to file on your behalf. Eventually.

I always thought 'bollixed' was spelled 'bolloxed', but just realized I'm confusing it with 'flummoxed'. I don't think I've ever heard of a 'still alarm'. Some very clever clues, including 'Reception staff', 'Factory outlet and 'Collectible involving seeds.' Didn't like seeing prostate, given what my friend's going through. I read that if we men lived long enough, eventually all of us would get prostate cancer.

All in all, a most enjoyable puzzle, though. Phat.



Today is National Cheeseball Day and Pet Owners Independence Day.
More Fun Facts:

- 111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

- If you tried to count off a billion seconds, it would take you 31.7 years.

- The Chinese were the first to use the decimal system, in the 6th century B.C.

Do something fun this weekend; the clock's ticking.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

We get a Silkie today. I printed it off, and will have something to do in the long intervals when somebody else's kids are dancing.

In honor of the recently passed tax day, here are a few tax facts that might be surprising.

47% of the population pays NO income tax.

The income tax liability of a married couple with two dependent children, making $50,000 per year is ---- ZERO!!!

Almost all American tax-payers are paying less in federal income tax than they were two years ago.

Income Tax rates (marginal and effective) have been slashed many times over the last 50 years, and are now at a historical low.

GDP growth has (more or less) steadily declined over that period.

Income tax rates were raised in the early 90's. The next few years demonstrated a balanced budget, a soaring stock market, and a general business boom.

The Laffer curve has a maximum. Tax rates on the left side of the curve are sub-optimal. So far as I know, the exact value of the optimum top marginal tax rate has never been pinpointed. Fair estimates based on existing data suggests it is somewhere in the 50 to 70% range.

Cheers!
JzB the lightly taxed trombonist

Dudley said...

Hippety hop? Grrrrr. And "gave rise to" feels like a stretch. But yes, you do have to love BOLLIXED UP!

Thanks for the Jennifer Anniston study on B-cups...I for one have great respect for celebrity women who don't cave to pressure to get big fake Hollywood busts.

mariposa said...

Good morning all

I don't comment often by the time I get the puzzle done what ever I was thinking has all ready been said. I still stop by to read the comments and to see how all are doing.

C.C. I enjoy reading your interviews with the constructors. It nice to hear from them and to see what makes them tick.

Frenchie I am so sorry to hear of the passing of your uncle. My you find peace in the coming days, and always remember the good times. Nothing can take the memories away from you.

Have a great day all

Bob said...

Not too hard for a Saturday. Took 45 minutes (no help or errors). Last part to be solved was North and Northwest. Trickiest clue, I thought, was "work with feet."

Crockett1947 said...

Frenchie, so sad to hear the news of your uncle's passing. I hope you can heal from this loss quickly.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Off to a seminar...

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. A Silky today. Had much the experience cited by tfrank. Liked SMOKESTACK and POTATOCHIP. Thought USNR was clumsily clued but maybe I'm too close to it. Had trouble spelling BOLLIX, too.

Dennis, let not your heart be overly troubled by PROSTATE. There are many positive outcomes. I was diagnosed w/ prostate cancer 6 years ago, and took the option of brachytherapy (seeds). So far so good. You are right that most men will get prostate cancer if they live long enough. I hope for a good outcome for your friend.

C.C., Jeannie and all you Minnesotans out there. Congratulations on your new Target Stadium. There is a wonderful article describing it in the April issue of "Civil Engineering" pgs 12 - 16.

Enjoy the weekend.

Dennis said...

Spitzboov, thanks for the good thoughts. The prostate stuff doesn't really bother me, as I'm one of those optimists that truly believes I'll never get anything serious.

My friend had a choice between the seeds and robotic surgery, and has chosen the latter on the recommendation of his surgeon.

JD said...

Good morning CC and all,

This silkie was not a smooth ride for me this morning. I will not list all of my unknowns. I did have to go G-ing for Rudi,Alph, Twyla and Cole Hamels. Not getting etat and putting in alto,still was a partial blank. Not familiar with bollixed up, NASL, but loved "left a tip". All Barry's clues were marvelous, just not in my league. It's good I left the v-8 can in the fiat or opel, because my head would be a mess.

@ phat: In 1951, teens used it to mean attractive, up to date, cool, dope or rad.
In the 1980's, students used it to mean sexy. It is an acronym for
"pretty hips and thighs."

Frenchie, so sorry about your uncle.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Thanks for all the kind wishes yesterday. At this point, I'm guessing that we will need to cancel our plans, since the volcano is still spewing ash. I'm not going to actually cancel the reservations until the last minute, however, just in case.

Nice puzzle, but if I saw COLE HAMELS before I certainly forgot him again. And, like Lemonade, I got a bit mixed up with HIPPETY-HOP (except that I actually had HOPPETY-HOP). Such is life. The only real problem area for me was the SW corner, where I couldn't remember ALPH at first, couldn't think of FIATS to save my life, and was thinking of the wrong sort of "key" which made ISLET invisible to me. I did finally manage to work through it all unassisted, though. It just took me a bit longer than usual..

Anonymous said...

From wordorigins.org :
Phat is another word that frequently is given an acronymic origin. The exact acronym varies with the telling, Pretty Hot And Tempting, Pretty Hips And Thighs, and Pussy Hips Ass Tits have all been suggested. There is no evidence supporting any acronymic origin.
Rather, phat is most likely simply a slang respelling of fat. Such respellings are common in slang. And fat has a long history of meaning rich, abundant, or desirable. Fat has been used this way in English since the early 17th century, and in other languages for far longer. The specific sexual connotation of phat is likely just a specialization of the general meaning. Some suggest it may be a clipping of emphatic. Again, there is no evidence for this last, but at least it's more plausible than any of the acronymic origins.
Phat is also older than you might think. It has been a staple of African American slang since at least 1963.

Tinbeni said...

Anon 11:33
Thank for the PHAT info.
I'm now going to forget it. TMI
I'll stick with the fat spelling.

Isn't hipp'I'ty hop mis-spelled?
Throw in a baseball player I can't (don't want to) remember, Cole Hamels. Gigi song that "Ay yes" I (don't) remember it well. Xanadu's river, ALPH. And a few others.
Well I BOLLIXED UP this grid and got my Ink Blot test.

But at least I had FUN.

Anonymous said...

Dear C. C.
Your photo on the blog does not appear to look like a female. Am I misreading the 'gender' comment?

Alice

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

I could do only a few on this one. It surely had me bollixed also.

Today's Naples News had a photo and story about a retired Marine who wore his full dress uniform to a tea party demonstration. The reporter got as many comments as possible from recruiters, officers, etc., all of whom thought it was against Marine policy. The young man said anyone who objected should leave the country he fought for.
I'm interested in comments from my Marine friends on this blog.

Cheers

Lucina said...

Dear C.C. and all:

I agree, a Naddor followed by a Silky: life is good. This flumoxed me for a while, but I love Twylia Tharp in there; my daughter actually had a ballet teacher named Twila (her spelling).

Really enjoyed the full phrases and even managed Cole Hamel_ wasn't sure if it should be an s, so waited. Bollixed got me since I don't recall having seen it, but since Bcup is xwd fav, thought it might be right.

Hand up for "hippity" instead of "hippety" which tripped me for a while. Today should have been eraser day.

Really liked:
work with feet: poem
it's hard to eat one: potato chip

All great fun.

Frenchie, you have my sympathy on the passing of your uncle. More prayers going out to you and your family.

Have a nice reunion with your husband.

I'm out. Have a super, super Saturday, everyone

Lucina said...

One more thing. I have a great niece who has tried out for the biggest loser and it looks promising for her. They have asked her for a second DVD and a physical. Please keep her in your thoughts. If she makes it, I'll post it.

Gunghy said...

So glad to see that others had to struggle too. As a typical thoughtless male, I hate going for the g-spot, but I hit it several times today. Names are my downfall, although I did know Rudi.

Parlors belong to little old ladies that serve tea and CAKES. So even with milks filled in, I didn't see that one. More embarrassing, PHAT has had a recent revival in the hip-hop/rap arena, with a clothing line emblazoned in huge letters. My students wore a ton of it.

Resin wouldn't come, and I used some this week.

CC - There was recently a project to MAP the human genomes. They identified the location of every human gene on all 23 of our chromosomes.

Annette said...

Wow...what a puzzle! Lots of unknowns and tricky clues, but all filled by perps or guesses except the seed entry! I needed help with where it crossed LINO. The SW and NE were my most difficult areas.

C.C., how did you know that was the seed entry...? And by that, you mean that it was the constructor's original idea for the puzzle that grew around it, like a lynchpin?

I had trouble spelling BOLLIXED; I was thinking of FLUMMOXED too.

I think some places like banks, museums, wealthier homes, etc. use still alarms so the burglars aren't aware that they've tripped the alarm and will continue their work, unaware that the police are on the way to catch them in the act. Most people just count on the sound of the alarm scaring off the intruders.

Barry G.: When are you supposed to fly? My bil is a pilot and scheduled to fly oversea tomorrow. We're wondering if he'll be canceled or not.

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

Alice,
Here are a few photos of me. The blog photo is Justin Morneau, Twins first baseman and my favorite player.

Annette,
Yes, the seed entry is like the lynch pin. If you look at the 2009 puzzle I linked at the beginning of the write-up, the grid design is identical and several entries are the same too. I believe today's puzzle is just a variation of the last one. Barry told me last time that his seed entry is COLE HAMELS.

dodo said...

Hi, C.C. etal, Very tricky clues today! 'Poem' was my very last fill! When I got the 'p' I figured it had to be ped-- something but it was too short! Knew Rudi and Twyla (but spelled it with an 'i'). Got 'epoxy' but I've never seen it with 'resin'. I knew about the'r' in months for the oyster thing but couldn't find the right way to put it..thank goodness for perks.
Must admit lots of googling.

Don't trust WIKI for word forms: I tried to find 'alti' on a hunch, but WIKI didn't have it.

Gunghe, now will we get a map telling us where the chromosomes are? As if we need to know.

C.C., I'd like to know about the'seed entry', and how you can tell what it is, too

Another hand up for 'hippity'.

JimmyB said...

I just couldn't get on the same wavelength with Mr. Silk. Had to Google a lot too: LEVERET, OMOO, ALPH, etc. So fewer smiles than yesterday, but more learning, I guess. Although I am quite fond of any crossword that includes CHIA PET!

Clear Ayes and Jeannie - Thanks for the quiche recipes yesterday. I knew you ladies would come through. You gave us not only an OH SO traditional version but also a PHAT version with all the extras. Enough to make a pirate want to go R-LESS.

Lucina said...

Interesting that the dictionary has "testicles" as the origin of bollix or bollox from middle English.

Gunghy said...

Dodo- If one is concerned with any genetic disease, the genome map is an important tool in the search for a clue. Admittedly, much is less useful. My favorite is that they found a gene that increases sensitivity to nicotine with a gene that predisposes one to alcoholism. Explains all those smokey bars I spent my youth in.

Gunghy said...

Oops, x-words on my mind. let's try 'search for a cure.'

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, an enjoyable if tough puzzle today, we did it our way again teaming up and finished under 30 minutes. I got the Poem answer for feet because I remembered it from another puzzle. Great Pictures C.C.!

For Jeannie: Today we're making your Turkey Tetrazzini, I'll let you know how everyone likes it at our pot luck this PM.

dodo said...

Gunghe, That's amazing. I didn't mean to take your info lightly. When I'm completely ignorant about something (usually scientific or economic) I tend to cover up by joking! It really is useful to be able to pinpoint these things and, as you say, search for a cure.

lois said...

Good afternoon, CC, et al., Fun puzzle but took a while. Great clues. Had the same favs as Lemonade but wish 48A had included the word 'just' in the clue as "It's hard to eat just one". I would've seen that one sooner. 'Love' Patsy Cline who lived in Va and who inspired K.D. Lang - my all time fav singer. Had to laugh seeing 'dump truck'. Back to Tonka.

Anon: thanks for the Phat explanation. I still hear it but not as often these days.

CC: Good catch on 'Lulu' and 'To Sir'. You made me LOL again w/the ref to 'hot hot temper'. Temper is not the usual ref I get with those words, thank goodness. In truth I have a long fuse and pick my battles carefully. When I do 'snap', I make the 'smoke stack' eruptions in Iceland
'exemplar'y of gnats' farts in comparison. There's no guessing as to what I 'meant', but I make sure I'm right. Would much rather make 'love' than war any day.

Dennis: You are absolutely the most magnanimous man I have never met. However, since pix can be misleading, I think you should examine the evidence first hand (or with both hands) before any suit be considered. Don't want a 'bollixed up' case. Your call.

Dennis said...

Sallie, the official answer, as I recall, is that you can't attend any political demonstrations wearing the uniform. The purpose, I believe, is to avoid the assumption that the Marines endorse whatever cause is being promoted. I think it's universal across all branches.

Bottom line, as long as you belong to a branch of the service, you can't just select those regulations you choose to follow.

Personally, I think it's disrespectul to the uniform to do something like that, whatever the cause. Hell, I fought too, but it didn't give me the right to disobey regs or represent the Marine Corps.

On a more upbeat note, Lois, you're absolutely correct about determining proof. Jeez, I haven't played 'operator' in years...

ARBAON said...

CC: What lovely pictures!

Confession: On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I read the blog and then do the puzzle. And I still can`t get them all! I don`t do much with Sunday`s puzzle...one pass down and across and that`s about it. I do the downs first, always.
Finally finished today`s this PM after taking care of some business. "Factory outlet" was my pick for most clever clue.

I sincerely hope everyone`s loved ones are better and those with loses have found a measure of comfort...

Hoping Rose`s roses bloom next week in her yard and in her cheeks!

Bill G. said...

I've been having a hard time getting online to Crossword Corner. We have been having connectivity issues for several months; pokey and slow. Sometimes I have to try twice to load a page. Sometimes it will tell me 'they' can't find a page. Barbara's laptop is even slower. When I disconnect the NetGear router and plug my iMac into the cable modem directly, everything works great. Bad router somehow. I'm probably going to call the cable company and order a new router from them.

I vote for Hippity too though the Google spellchecker doesn't like either one of them.

The Dodgers look like a second-division team so far. For CCs sake, I hope the twins are doing better.

lois said...

CC: I forgot to tell you how much I loved all your pictures! You are beautiful!...inside and out.

Dennis: Funny about playing
'operator'. You made me think of Lily Tomlin and her Ernestine? operator character always adjusting her blouse or bra (B cup?) and snorting. If you want to play 'operator', we'd have to revise snorting to somethng like Grey Goose? Your expertise, I'm sure, is incomparable.

Update: our young friend is 3rd on the waiting list for a new heart and has pulled through so far. She'll stay in the hospital until this is resolved. Your thoughts and prayers are working. Thank you. Her name is Brooke.

dodo said...

Great pix, C.C. Thank you for sending them and again thanks for doing such a wonderful job on the blog. You've gathered together a very interesting and nice bunch of people. Smart, too!

kazie said...

Count me among the bollixed for today. I was only able to get about a third of it done without help and I really hadn't heard of any of the names and quotes except Patsy Cline, and I couldn't spell that.

Also have never heard of PHAT or BOLLIXED -I wanted buggered there, but knew that was too aussie to be right. I had stop lights for STILL ALARM, which I've also never heard of. Also didn't know what leveret was but from the answer, I assume it's related to the French lièvre = HARE.

I was having a busy day trying to catch up on some things that have to get done by the end of the month, so didn't take the time to hit the g'spot.

Sorry to hear of your loss Frenchie. Healing takes time, but we do get over these losses. I hope for you it's not too hard.

C.C.,
Thanks too for the photos, some of which I hadn't seen. Very nice!

Lucina said...

C.C., love your pix! You are a beautiful lady.

Annette said...

C.C. - It was nice to see more photos of you and Boomer. Pink is definitely your color!

Jazzbumpa said...

Wow. Great puzzle today.

NW corner bollixed me fer sure. STILL ALARM? Sounds like something a moonshiner might need. Took me forever to come up with Patsy Cline, and she wasn't able to help me much. So that section went to pieces.

Couldn't PRO STATE be clued as "condition of having lost amateur status?"

If anyone doubts that were are living in a deflationary environment, just consider that we went from a D-CUP to B in a single day!

Gordon Goodwin, an L.A. musician, leads a big band called the PHAT BAND. I've played some of his music. Top notch stuff, and really difficult.

Saline H.S. is a beautiful building with a fabulous auditorium in the middle of nowhere, southeast of Ann Arbor, where we spent 10 long hours to see the girls six dances. They did great. Amanda got a high gold for her lyrical solo. Best is seeing the joy on their faces when they dance.

Two more dances tomorrow.

All I did was sit, and I'm worn out.

Cheers!
JzB the can't dance trombonist

Lemonade714 said...

Kazie reminds me of the special humor which comes when you live in a town where more people spoke French than English.

Newlywed take his wife to the fancy French restaurant; he orders frog legs, she a rabbitt stew.

After a few moments the frog legs are served but nothing for the lady.

The maitre d' sees this unfold, as she sits with her plate empty; he walks over and asks the woman,

"Oh, Madam, do you have no Hare on your Assiette? "

Bearing in mind how youy say PLATE and say it out loud, and it was damn funny when I was 6.

Jerome said...

Though I'm a highly political person I rarely, if ever, have made a political statement at this forum. But I'm going to say that active soldiers participating in public political events scares the hell out of me. I'm sure that kind of activism is outlawed in military code because there are constitutional questions involved. There is not a fine line, but a clear line in this nation between military and civilian power. A singular soldier attending a political rally seems not too significant. But if that is allowed where does it end? Generals with enormous military might creating political parties? Generals in open defiance of their commander in chief? The congress? The courts?

Perhaps through fear mongering and cunning and arms... military rule?

dodo said...

Jerome, Hear! Hear!

sgt hulka said...

lighten up francis