google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday December 15, 2010 Julian Lim

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Dec 15, 2010

Wednesday December 15, 2010 Julian Lim

Theme: PURPLE HAZE ALL IN MY BRAIN! (This will become clear later.) 16A. Words of protest : WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? Sarcasm - the idea isn't big at all. I heard this so many times when I was kid! 21A. King's memorable words : I HAVE A DREAM. One of the most famous quotes of the 20th century, from a speech on August 28, 1963 by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, who really did have big ideas. 33A. Lennon's last album released before his death : DOUBLE FANTASY. Not familiar with it. Three weeks after it's release in 1980, John Lennon was killed on my birthday. 49A. Pensive state : DEEP THOUGHT. Also, the mega computer in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. At the time, it was a play on "Deep Throat." And, of course, the unifier: 55. Sports psychologist's mantra ... or what can be said about the last word of 16-, 21-, 33- or 49-Across : IT'S ALL IN THE MIND. Like a purple haze. Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, able to spend some quality time at The Corner and devote what's between my ears to puzzledom, now that the December performances are in the past tense. Rather a rich musical sub-theme to this puzzle, too as we'll see and hear. Is it in tune? Let's find out. ACROSS 1. 2007 Oscar winner (Best Original Screenplay) about a pregnant teenager : JUNO. Didn't see it. 5. Greenish-blue : AQUA 9. Astronaut's thumbs-ups : A-OKS 13. "Gimme __": "Be right with you" : A SEC. Short for a second, of course. Someone who wants to take a little longer might say, "Gimme some secs." 14. Turn one's nose up at : SPURN. Hell hath no fury like a woman who has been turned down, or whose nose has been turned up. Yes, I know that's SCORNED not SPURNED, but - hey - close enough. 15. __ the fat : CHEW. To CHEW the fat is to engage in idle chatter. Does anyone know the origin of this interesting expression? 19. High nest : AERIE. I never know how to spell this word, so it always gives me an eerie feeling. 20. Very capable : ADEPT. Like some left handed guitarists. 26. Sound during a massage : AAH. Or, perhaps, "OOF!" That depends on how deeply she's digging into my levator scapula. 27. Do a goalkeeper's job : DEFEND. In soccer or hockey. Get the puck out of here! If you combined soccer with hockey, would it be sockey or hocker? 28. Island in the French West Indies, familiarly : ST. BART'S According to Wikipedia, "officially the Collectivity of Saint Barthelemy (French: Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy), is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the collectivity is one of the four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Martin." And, to complete our Caribbean holiday 42. Island nation west of Haiti : JAMAICA. JAMAICA is due south of Cuba, ST. BART'S is in the island chain due east of Puerto Rico. 30. Hockey great : ORR. Bobby ORR was a Boston Bruin for many years. He was a defense man, but not a goalkeeper. If it's hockey and 3 letters, fill in ORR and move on. I wonder why we never see Borje Salming in X-words? 31. Elect : VOTE IN. You can be disappointed right away if your candidate loses, or later on if (s)he wins. 39. Uses a LaserJet : PRINTS. Sadly, mine went kablooey last week, after 14 years of faithful service. 40. "Oh, what a tangled __ we weave": Scott : WEB. " . . .When first we practise to deceive!" From Canto VI, XVII of Sir Walter Scott's epic poem, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. I can't wait to see "XVII" so clued! 45. Mineral used in glassmaking : SILICA, better known as sand. Common window glass is called soda-lime-silica glass, after it's major components. Attempts to substitute lemon for the lime have never been successful. Soda - lime- gin in a glass is almost, but not quite, a gimlet. 48. "... man __ mouse?" : OR A. The first of two really awkward partials. A sour note, in my opinion. 52. Nairobi is its capital : KENYA. A country in East-central Africa. 54. Kingdom : REALM. Literally, the dominion of a king, from the old French reaume. 61. Time for lunch : NOON. Synonymous, more or less. 62. Machu Picchu's range : ANDES. The mountain range forming the backbone of South America. 63. Theater honor : OBIE. Off-Broadway theater awards. 64. Instrument in a Chinese temple : GONG. I wanted to link to a YouTube vid, but they all seem to be several minutes long. More long GONGing than I'm wanting. 65. Makes slick, in a way : OILS. Lubricates with oil. 66. Letters at the end of a love letter : XOXO. Hugs and kisses - retro textese. Sok Csok in Hungarian. DOWN 1. Boxer's target : JAW. Occasionally, they seem to be made of soda-lime-silica. 2. Escort to a seat, in slang : USH. Ish - a back formation: to this way of thinking, an USHER is one who USHES; until the house falls, I suppose. 3. Cultural funding gp. : NEA. The National Endowment for the Arts. 4. C to C, e.g. : OCTAVE. Sadly, your resident trombonist need perp help for this one. And I just improvised 16 measures against a C7 chord Monday night - using the G diminished scale. Sounded weird, even to me. 5. Nuisance to gardeners : APHID. Yesterday we had ant lions, today we have ant cows. 6. Kooky : QUEER. Strange, odd, outre, out of the ordinary. "This is the rather old-fashioned and only slightly pejorative sense of the word," Tom said, gaily. 7. Suffix with sub : URB. According to Wikipedia a SUBURB can be a residential area within a city. I have never heard it used that way. In my experience, a SUBURB is a residential area within commuting distance of a city. Also, the best place for a dressmaker's shop: on the outskirts of town. 8. Singer/songwriter DiFranco : ANI. I guess this song is about Howard Johnson. 9. Low-pH substance : ACID. If you must know, pH is the negative log of hydrated hydrogen ion concentration. The scale runs from 0 to 14, with smaller number indicating higher acidity. The neutral point is 7, and numbers between 7 and 14 are alkaline. I'll let Al decide if there's going to be a quiz. 10. "Goodness!" : OH, DEAR, what can the matter be? 11. Try and try again : KEEP AT. My motto is, If at first you don't succeed, the hell with it! 12. Mowed strips : SWATHS 14. Pricey strings, for short : STRAD. A Stradivarius violin. These instruments made by members of the Stradivari family in the late 1600's are valued in the millions. You can get a decent used trombone for a few hundred bucks. 17. Witnessed : SEEN. "I was witnessed," not "I witnessed.' Passive voice is used in a tricky way here. 18. Chess sacrifice : GAMBIT. Not exactly. A GAMBIT might involve a sacrifice, or just be a tricky move that presents your opponent with a bewildering array of alternatives. 21. Altar words : I DO. The LW and I spoke these words at the Court House in Dearborn. Not the best decision we ever made. The venue, I mean. The decision to get married was one of our best. 22. Gnus' group : HERD. Heard of Gnus? Could there be a wilder beast? That is one tough mama! 23. Hairstyle for Hendrix : AFRO. "Excuse me while I kiss this guy," and the explanation for today's theme. 24. These, in Juarez : ESTAS. I wanted ESSOS. Another spelling conundrum. 25. "... two fives for __?" : A TEN. You decide if this is a good trade. 29. Prefix with gram : ANA. Aha! - An Anagram! Jerome, we need you . . . 31. __ cavae: large blood vessels : VENAE. Collectively, these are the superior VENA cava and inferior VENA cava, large veins that carry deoxygenated blood into the right auricle of the heart. 32. Frequently, to a bard : OFT. "Often" is OFT thusly truncated - or so they would have us believe. 34. Dance-storm link : UP A. The second awkward partial. Which do think is superior or inferior? 35. Like some showers : BRIDAL. The BRIDE-to-be is showered with gifts. This is neither a rain storm not a wet t-shirt contest. 36. Wingless parasites : LICE. I will not link. The ant lion was bad enough. 37. Gulp from a flask : SWIG. "Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle." 38. "Gross!" : YECH. You might want to wipe it off before taking a SWIG. 41. Creature that "sees" using echolocation : BAT. The "blind as a BAT" creature uses it's own natural sonar to navigate. 42. Pulling one's leg : JOKING. Another curious expression. 43. Schoolyard argument retort : ARE TOO. You are one. You and I are too! 44. Controversial rocker Marilyn : MANSON. Not his real name, and not worthy of link. 45. Old Persian rulers : SHAHS. 46. Heracles' beloved : IOLE. No idea. 47. Klutz : LUMMOX. The origin of this clumsy word is unknown. But it did lead me here. Has anyone used this site? 50. Gearshift letters : PRNDL. Acronym of Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Low, pronouced "prindle," almost like ersatz potato chips. 51. Heads, to Henri : TETES. Alliteration suggests a foreign word, Henri suggests that it's French. And inside those TETES is another possible connection to the theme. 53. Partner of yin : YANG. Each completes the other. "Within their closed circumference one can find/ Two curves in perfect fit, his YANG, her yin/ That in each cycle once again begin/ To cluster into love's sweet spiral bind." AHH - poetry! 56. __-tzu : LAO. A mystic philosopher of ancient China, author of the Tao Te Ching, who also exists in many variant spellings. 57. Pasta ending : INI. An interesting non-self-referential affix clue. An example would be ROTINI, since we were speaking of spirals. 58. Native of Nigeria : IBO. The IBO, IGBO or IBOE are largest ethnic group in Nigeria. 59. Prohibit : NIX. This comes to us from the German word "Nichts" meaning "nothing." It is also a treatment for 36D (the answer, not a lingerie reference.) Ixnay on the icelay! 60. "Gloria in Excelsis __" : DEO. Glory to God in the highest. "And peace to his people on earth," the words continue. A prayerful and joyous end to today's puzzle. Answer grid. There you have it folks, a nice Wednesday puzzle, fun to solve and fun to write up. Hope you enjoyed it. Cheers! JzB (who really does know it's "kiss the sky.") Notes from C.C.: Congratulations to John Lampkin on his NY Times debut today. Please click here for the Wordplay interview. John also has a LAT tomorrow and a Chronicle of Higher Learning on Friday. Quite a remarkable feat!

81 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Jazz, C.C. and gang - it's a rare week when the Wednesday puzzle is easier than the Tuesday one, but that's what I found today. The theme answers came relatively easy, and that helped fill in big chunks.

Had one unknown in 'Ibo'. I thought getting the gearshift letters (PRNDL) into the puzzle was pretty clever, even though today there's usually more selections. And I liked the homophone, 'C to C'. Fun puzzle.

'Sound during a massage', 'oils' and one other clue reminded me of Melissa Bee.

For those of you still struggling with Christmas ideas, Dave Barry has some interesting ideas for you.

Thanks for all the 'welcome back's yesterday; I've missed getting morning time with the puzzle/blog. I'll probably still be hit or miss for the next week and a half.

Abejo, a belated welcome to our ever-expanding world - seems like you're fitting right in. One word of caution: be careful about putting personal information, especially phone number, on the blog; there's a lot of, uh, loosely-wrapped people out there.

Today is Bill of Rights Day and National Lemon Cupcake Day.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - What Dennis said.

JzB, you really outdid yourself today. Loved the almost gimlet recipe!

Keep warm out there...

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, JazzBumpa and friends. This was a much easier puzzle than yesterday's. You said it all, JazzB, so there isn't much to add.

The Sir Walter Scott quote is often attributed to Willie the Shakes, but it is actually found deeply hidden in a Scott poem.

The SHAHS ruled from the Peacock Throne.

I didn't like USH. Generally, if I am ushered to my seat, it is because I am at a formal event. USH just sounds too informal. Who wants to be USHED?

QOD: A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong. ~ Thomas Szasz.

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

Dennis et al,
I just added to Jazzbumpa's write up that John Lampkin has his NY Times debut today. Click here for the Wordplay interview.

John also has a LAT tomorrow and an Chronicle of Higher Learning on Friday. A rare trifecta.

Huge congratulations, John!

Dennis said...

John, I second the congratulations - what a fantastic accomplishment! I'm looking forward to doing the Times puzzle this afternoon.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

JzB... nice write up. Not a heck of a lot to add. Today was a joy after yesterday. Juno was new to me as was Ush. Maybe the usher will ush you to the spot where you sit your tush? My other goof was love letter sign off. I entered SWAK, but perps got me to the XOXO.

Dennis, nice gift ideas from Dave Barry. But, I don't have the testosterone. I'm getting to enjoy our life of peace and quiet.

Is anyone out there enjoying temps 60 degrees or higher? We are in the single digits after factoring in wind chill. Could the Tinman be warmer in Moscow?

Well, stay warm and keep the Hot Toddy nearby.

Lemonade714 said...

Julian Lim always provides fun grids, but today I take my cyber hat off to JzB for his excellent write up. It is the mind that slips in a comment like: Boxer's target : JAW. Occasionally, they seem to be made of soda-lime-silica, adding the earlier clued GLASS in a truly witty way. Then the throw away follow up, Also, the best place for a dressmaker's shop: on the outskirts of town. Finally, using the rather innocuous, two fives for a TEN to feature Bo in her bouncing best, true genius.

On to the puzzle and other thoughts, I really enjoyed the movie, JUNO and recommend it; I was not upset by "... man __ mouse?" : OR A, because it reminded me of this hilarious MOVIE .

And, my personal comment for the day, which is both the anniversary of my first cornea transplant, graduating law school and the day I go back for another follow up on my post-op progress(?), the puzzle included my nickname from high school (before any operations when I was known as the Creature that "sees" using echolocation : BAT

John L., I am very pleased for you and very impressed and fully understand why we have not seen as much of you lately. I look forward to solving them all. Dennis keep selling

Well it has been fun sitting around and CHEWING THE FAT but I must get going and get ready.

Abejo said...

Well. I hope I figured out the key to get into this blog. It appears I have to sign in first. Imagine that! I did the Wednesday puzzle on the bus coming to work. I finished it after arriving at work. It was challenging in spots. GAMBIT caused me to think a bit. I do play chess, but not at the level of knowing all the secret words. IHAVEADREAM did not come easy. I was thinking of a king of a country. Anyhow, it appears I can get into this thing now, so no one has to call me from my message of last night at 10:00 PM. Hope to see you all Thursday morning. Abejo

Mainiac said...

Morning Jazz, CC and All,

Excellent write-up Jazz, you had me worried for ASEC until I finished reading the blog.

Definitely easier than yesterday but I also had a really good nights sleep. Beat everyone to bed at 8:30.
Took three tries via perps to spell Aerie right. I kept trying to put a Y in there. Nailed I Have a Dream and Double Fantasy. Needed a bit of perp help for 55A.

Best song on Double Fantasy. Loosin You

Happy Hump Day!

Nice Cuppa said...

Jazz

Never mind the crossword, that was truly a virtuoso performance. I woke up in a haze, not purple, this morning, but your gaiety snapped me out of it.

• Had not connected Deep Thought with Deep Throat before.

• A (very) early video of Hendrix, not stoned... RIP

• I was enjoying Arlo, when I wondered who the superannuated Gandalf-looking guy was on the side-bar. Yikes. Time to take a quick look in the mirror...

• I'd take 2 Julies for 1 Bo any day, any age, any time.

Oh, the crossword. My gear changer has 1-2-3-4-5-R written on it. Automatics are too dull and hard to control - overtaking (passing) is dangerous - you just don't know when the gear is going to change down for you. And far too much time spent tapping on the brake pedal - the car doesn't know when to stop either. Oh, and I have no hands left to phone/text with.

And yes, the forecast for today is for the low 60s here in Southern California - warming up next week though.

NC

MH said...

The puzzle was very enjoyable and I found it to be a bit easier than yesterday. But what I really enjoyed was JzB's write-up. We must have similar background and sense of humor because I found myself laughing out loud a couple of times.

For other misheard lyrics checkout kissthisguy.com.

Barry G. said...

Oh -- hey, guys!

I stopped by a few hours ago, but the blog hadn't been updated yet. And I just realized that I closed the browser window with the completed puzzle, so now I have no idea what I wanted to say about it. Oh well, I'm sure it was a great puzzle. I think it took me slightly longer than yesterday, but I'm not sure...

Have a great one!

Husker Gary said...

Good Morning Jazz and fellow humpers (day that is), yes someone flipped puzzles this week but this easier offering was greatly enhanced by Jazz’s write-up effort. I am curious about the congrats for John. Is being published in the NY Times like going from Toledo Mud Hens to the Yankees? I think our puzzles and solvers are top notch. I know you have to pay to do the NY puzzle and I don’t choose to do so but “WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?”

Musings-
-Juno is a wonderful, bittersweet movie about teen pregnancy
-USH? Really?
-After my Flaming remark yesterday, I’ll not say anything about Queer. I will ask if anyone knows what number is associated with Edd “Kookie” Byrnes.
-I don’t there is a better speech in content or delivery than MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It still makes the hair on the back of my head stand up. We went to the Lorraine Motel in September and his leadership is sorely missed today.
-What sound does a massage generate if it has a “happy ending”?
-ORR has made more trips to cwd puzzles than Lindsay Lohan has to rehab!
-Remember the Gong Show?
-Neither Christ in Urine nor homo erotic art bother (or interest) me but the NEA’s taking tax money to exhibit them bothers a lot of peeps. “Shut up you Philistine, we’ll tell you what art is!” The NEA is like a puppy that gives so much joy but pees on the carpet every once in a while.
-Loved C to C and it reminded me of…
-Bo Derek was a ten and Dudley Moore was the luckiest SOB in the filmdom
-I loved PRNDLR, it occurred to me while driving one day that the only word I can think of that can be formed by those letters in that order is PeRpeNDdicuLar (too long behind the wheel?)

It’s time to go put on the carrot suit you see in my avatar and make a NASA presentation to a grade school today! I know I’ll have to deal with a lot of hugging! My fee is a Snicker's Bar. If you can afford me, you know my email!

Barry G. said...

Oh, yeah -- I remember one thing. I loved seeing DEEP THOUGHT in the grid and was wondering whether anybody else would make the "Hitchhiker's Guide" connection. I grew up on Douglas Adams, listening to the original radio plays when they first came out and then reading the books, watching the TV miniseries, seeing the movie, etc. What a shame he passed away at such an early age!

HeartRx said...

Good Morning JzB, C.C. et al.

What a great write-up, JzB - you had me snorting coffee out my nose more than once. Now that my keyboard is all cleaned up, maybe I can put in my 2 cents worth.

I am going to have a 26A today, and hope I utter more AAHS then OOPHS!!

Agree that 48A was strained - would ORA pro nobis be better? Does anyone have something better than either of these options?

Didn't like 2D either - is USH really a word?

5D If the ANT LION and the ant cow run off to get married, would that be an ANT - ELOPE?

OK, I'll stop here.

Have a great day, everyone!

kazie said...

Minus 21 here this morning.

I found the CW much easier than yesterday. My only stumble was misreading 'slick' as 'sick', while not knowing LAO or being able to come up with INI, so left the OILS spot blank. I thought of AILS, but didn't think LAA made sense.

I think the SUBURB discussion depends on your definition of city. When you look up populations of the world's cities, they mostly give two figures--one for metropolitan areas and one for the CBDs (Central Business Districts). The origin of the word suburb has to do with the old walled cities outgrowing their walls and extra space being built up in front of, or below (=sub-) the city walls. 'Below' because the towns were usually built on hills for further fortification. This also accounts for the German names that end in '-berg', meaning mountain.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Thanks for all the kind words - that's what keeps me coming back.

Heart - you got an LOL out of me!

Ant -elope -- priceless!

We're off to T-town. Back this evening.

Cheers!
JzB

Grumpy 1 said...

Goodmorning JzB, CC and solvers all. Seldom is the writeup that follows a puzzle even more entertaining than the puzzle, but Jazz, you pulled it off in fine style. Thanks for a really great job.

Thanks to all who passed on good wishes for my appointment with the doc yesterday. She never said a word about my tipping her scale at 205, up from 195 six months ago and 185 a year ago. But then I'm still svelt compared to her...

Unlike the advice given to our prez to drink less, she suggested I drink more. Well, red wine at least. That and a little more exercise should help to get my good cholesterol numbers up and the exercise part might even get my weight back down.

Fun puzzle today, in spite of my best efforts to mess it up. A SEC was pretty obvious, as was JAW. Off of that 'W' I had a brilliant flash of inspiration, counted the letters and put WE SHALL OVERCOME for the 'words of protest'. That and TEAL instead of AQUA and SWAK instead of XOXO slowed things down a bit. Perps straigtened out the mess and I finished with no outside help. Great puzzle and just a 'Z' away from a pangram.

VENAE was a gimme, as I had a temporary filter installed in the inferior vena cava before my hip replacement surgery. I had a pulmonary embolism a few days after the first hip surgery and the doc didn't want to take a chance on a repeat of that.

Dennis, good to see you back at the top of the heap again.

Congratulations to John Lampkin on his triple play.

thehondohurricane said...

Husker Gary,
The number I would think of with Edd Byrnes is 77 (Sunset Strip). I was going to open with "I'll bite", but that might suggest a very incorrect impression about me.

Incidentally, Edd's son, Logan, is the morning news anchor for the Fox station in the Hartford area.

The sound from a happy ending to a massage is tempting to answer, but I think I'll pass!

carol said...

Hi all -

Jazz, great write up! Thanks for explaining some of these clues.

I thought (as lots of others did) this was much easier than yesterday's.

I have never heard of 1A so that was not a good start but it improved from there.

Kazie (9:03) had to chuckle at your first paragraph...I could have written it. The EXACT same thing happened to me. I too read SLICK as SICK and ended up wondering what the heck LAA was. Since we have seen AILS and ILLS for SICK in the past I didn't catch on to my mistake at first. sigh.

I put MITE in for 36D - arrgh

What is up with USH??? Are we really getting that lazy in our speech that we have to shorten up so many words?
I am guilty of it too but saying "May I ush you to your seat" is just wrong!

kazie said...

How could I forget? Jazz, that was some fine blogging today, very entertaining and informative.

And John L.,
You are indeed to be congratulated on your achievements--a great triple crown!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Hands up for JzB's great write-up. BZ

I agree with most of you - this was somewhat easier than yesterday's. Got the theme near the end, but it wasn't needed fopr the solve. I liked the clecho? of 7d 'sub'URB, and 29d ANA'gram' - suffix ⇔ prefix mirroring. IBO was a gimme - 3 letter fill for a Nigerian. (They have been in the news in the past.) Kind of liked the connection between 45a, SILICA glassmaking mineral and 1d, boxer's target JAW. GLASS JAW. Nice to see TÊTES again.

Congratulations to John Lampkin on his NYT achievement. Another BZ

Enjoy the day.

Lucina said...

Hello, Jazz, C.C. et al.

Jz, outstanding blogging. Thanks!

For a Wednesday, this was quick and easy. Ditto on JUNO. It's a very good movie.

My stumbling point was KEEPON instead of KEEPAT and not until finished did I realize it was STBARTS.

Jz, esos means those, so ESTAS clued as these makes sense, not always to my ESL students, though.

INI as pasta ending just emerged with the crosses, but it took a few seconds to register then I thought of linguini.

I'm also going for 26A today after yoga and hope to iterate many aaaahs.

John Lampkin, congratulations on your triple achievement!

75 degrees is the expected high in the Phoenix area today; that's slightly lower than yesterday's 78.

Have a delightful Wednesday, everyone!

Bob said...

About the same level of difficulty as yesterday for me (14 minutes).

This little bit seems relevant (25D):

TWO TENS FOR A FIVE

Splynter said...

Hi All~~!!

Today moved a lot quicker than yesterday for me, too. The theme answers did not come to me right away.

As a goalie, I suppose I 'defend' the net, but I would rather have my defense do it - I'll make the saves.

I'm a lefty guitarist, but never really liked Hendrix - not saying he wasn't remarkable, it's just that I only really cared for this tune...I started out with an upside-down Stratocaster, too.

Lots of three-letter "Eh" today - ANI, ANA, USH, URB, INI, IBO, I DO, OR A, UP A and ORR - but I like hockey, so that one's OK (he-he-he)...Also sounds like this old 'toon (pun inTENded).

I also smiled at QUEER and LUMMOX. Don't see them too OFT.

Splynter

Seldom Seen said...

Back in grade school we had a bus driver whose first name was Urban(like the Univ. of Florida's football coach).

Whenever he had a tough turn to negotiate and ran the rear tires up on the curb all of us kids would shout "you hit the curb, URB!".

carol said...

Dennis: laughed out loud (seriously) at the Dave Barry gift offerings!!
Made my morning!

Bob: your clip on 'Two Tens for a Five" was a hoot!!

John Lampkin: congratulations on your triple score!!

Abejo: Welcome aboard, hope you stay and play a long time. (we play nice most of the time :0)

JD said...

Good morning C.C., JzB et al,

a fun run today, and sooo much easier than yesterday's.Juno was a great start, but upon seeing 16 A, I started down which corrected teal to aqua and wait a min to wait a sec.

Perps helped solve PRNDL,LAO-tzu, ANI,INI,IBO and never thought of URB as a suffix.Oh, and USH..I can see why every so often we get these strange 3 letter oddities.Putting puzzles together doesn't look easy.KUDOS to John Lampkin...impressive!

Jzb, enjoyable write up. You gave me an a-ha moment with DANCE up a STORM. Guess perps filled in that one too.Loved the synonyms for lummox!
I am also waiting for our fabulous anagrammatist, Jerome.The Earthquakes= That queer shake.He can shake us up better than that.

HeartRx, LOL-5D !!

Kenya- as a kid this is how I learned about Africa.

HeartRx said...

BTW, congrats to John Lampkin on his "Hat trick" - Bingo!

Loved the interview, too. Thanks for the link, C.C.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Enjoyed this after a breakfast at a restaurant! DH's great idea.

Made same error as Kazi & Carol: read slick as sick and therefore couldn't get that bottom part right. Was thinking the dog for -tsu.

Nice Cuppa, my gearshift on my 1996 Honda Civic (with all of 46,000 miles) also reads 1-2-3-4-5 R. But I love our year-old Ford Focus Hybrid that does everything but steer for us and does talk to us.

Cheers

Jeannie said...

Even though I got “I have a dream”, double fantasy, and deep thought, my brain didn’t pick up the theme until coming here. BTW Jazz, I immensely enjoyed your blogging effort today! How many trombones do you own? Anyone that hasn’t seen Juno really should. It was a great movie. I had a little bit of trouble with Nea, Ani, Venae, Iole, and Ibo but perps came to the rescue. I had yuck for yech and that slowed me down a little bit. Here’s a funny story. A male vendor of mine called me a couple of months ago and said, “Hi Jeannie, gotta sec?” My retort: “Jim, you can have all the secs you want.” We both almost busted a gut laughing!

These gals are the inventors of Body Perks nipple enhancers. They came up with the idea while in Vegas when they put pop bottle caps under their shirts to see what kind of reaction they got. Evidently it was a good reaction! Here in Minnesota we don’t need any “enhancement”!

WikWak said...

Add me to the list of those who felt this puzzle was easier than yesterdays. Can't help but wonder if they got switched in that great editorial bin in the sky. Other than that, a lot of "Me, too"'s from here, except for USH, with which I seem to be the only one without a problem; at church we have been saying to each other for years things such as "Is it your turn to ush this week?" or "Who's ush-ing this week?". It's just so much less clumsy than anything with the full word "usher" in it. Naturally, we don't use it to our ushees, but we don't use the word "usher" either... "May I show you to a seat?" works just fine. :)

elli said...

Delurking. Good day :-) I found this blog a couple of weeks ago and am enjoying both the write-ups and the comment box camaraderie.

I've only been doing crosswords for a few weeks, having found it to be an efficacious assist in relearning how to write by hand (post brain surgery to remove a tumor), as well as being an enjoyable mental exercise. Today's was unexpectedly easy, with a couple of exceptions: I grew up spelling aerie 'eyrie' so had to change that with the advent of 'octave'. Also, had 'what's the big deal' at first before realizing I needed to change it to be in keeping with 'dream', 'fantasy', and 'thought'. I do not like 'ush' at all: smacks of lazy lingual use. Ah, well. An enjoyable puzzle overall.

Robin said...

Great blog JzB, and I enjoyed this puzzle much more than Tuesday.

Jeannie, I am trying that recipe tonight, it sounds delish. Thanks for posting.

BillG thanks for the voiceovers on Tuesday, 2 2 funny!

Love Dave Barry! Did he retire?

C.C. do you have a favorite Christmas dish that you prepare every year? Mine (not a dish) is the gingerbread cookies, yummy and FUn!!

xoxo

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I thought I'd better check in before you all thought I'd dropped off the edge of the earth. I haven't been doing the puzzles, but I expect to get back to them in the next few days (I hope).

I caught myself a doozy of a cold that got complicated by a bout of low blood platelets. I'm feeling a litte better every day, but it is taking its own sweet time.

In the meantime, here's a little snowy poem for those of you who are afflicted. (I hear it is pretty rough in the mid-west.)

The Faun Sees Snow for the First Time

Zeus,
Brazen-thunder-hurler,
Cloud-whirler, son-of-Kronos,
Send vengeance on these Oreads
Who strew
White frozen flecks of mist and cloud
Over the brown trees and the tufted grass
Of the meadows, where the stream
Runs black through shining banks
Of bluish white.

Zeus,
Are the halls of heaven broken up
That you flake down upon me
Feather-strips of marble?

Dis and Styx!
When I stamp my hoof
The frozen-cloud-specks jam into the cleft
So that I reel upon two slippery points ...

Fool, to stand here cursing
When I might be running!

- Richard Aldington

Grumpy 1 said...

@seen, would a temporary sudstitute for that bus driver be a... Suburban?

Marge said...

Hi all,

This was easier than yesterday, I did it on line today. My one problem with doing it that way, I don't have it in front of me and can't see some answers I can't remember. Oh well!

JD-Those stamps from Kenya were beautiful. They have so much character. I have a friend who lived in Kenya for awhile, after she retired from teaching nursing at a university. She helped start a nursing school and taught O. B. at a Methodist Mission Hospital there.

Hatool-the picture of the Shah's family was interesting. Our country supported him and never really knew he didn't sometimes treat the citizens well. But then, neither did the leaders that followed him.

I was amused at the word ush. I have used it sometimes but didn't really know it was a real word.

Enjoyed the blog today and your comments Jazz!

Marge

JD said...

Woo Hoo! CA, so glad you are on the mend. Not only did we miss your poetry, we missed you!!

Dennis, Dave Barry's gift guide was a hoot!

Bill G. said...

Husker Gary has taken 'musings' so I'll use a crossword word, olio.

Olio:

Hands up for not liking USH

Juno is an excellent little movie. I didn't care for the first five or 10 minutes but then I got captivated. I loved the Canadian newcomer (then), Ellen Paige.

Robin: Glad you enjoyed the voiceovers from yesterday.

Naturally I had to go to Google Images to check out Bo Derek again. I also went to Google to check out Jeannie's reference to nipple enhancers. (I've got to get a life!)

NC, Where in Southern California? We are looking forward to some rain over the next few days. I too have always enjoyed shifting for myself but as I've gotten older, an automatic suits me fine. Barbara enjoys the automatic in her new Yaris (compared to shifting the 1965 VW. She feels she has more control, especially on hills.

windhover said...

Sallie:
How much for that Civic?

Grumpy1 @12:16:
You win today, hands down.

ClearAyes:
Yes, we've missed you. I read somewhere that Guinness gives you strength. I recommend a pint, repeat as needed. Thanks for the poem. Winter is all over us here.

HeartRx said...

Everyone is in rare form today . Grumpy, you are too much: "Suburban"!! HA

Then we have nipple enhancers - Jeannie, you say Minnesotans don't need enhancing. I can imagine that would be true for the gals, but how about the poor guys in that freezing weather?

CA great to "see" you back. Get well soon!

And may I welcome L.E. Cove? It's always good to "de-lurk". You are a source of inspiration, with all you have been through. I hope our little corner helps you make a full recovery!

Lemonade - this is a red letter day for you, too! Are you still going back to Mass Eye and Ear for follow-ups? That would be quite a hike from "down there". Or did I miss something, and the follow-ups are for a DIFFERENT surgery? Anyway, good luck, "Bat".

WikWak said...

@Marge (12:27):
A way around that problem using most browsers is to leave your puzzle open when you finish it; then open the blog in a new tab. That way you can switch back and forth between the puzzle and the blog quickly and easily. This is what I do almost all the time.

carol said...

CA: Yay, you're baaaccckkk!! Love it and so glad you are on the mend. We missed you and I know I was beginning to worry a bit. Colds can and do go into something worse so I'm glad you nipped it. Speaking of nipping, WH's advice is good.
(be glad Jack Frost is not nipping at your nose, or anyplace else - oh wait, that could be fun).

eddyB said...

Hi all.

21 and pc in Moscow.

There are patches of blue sky and
this strange light that is casting
shadows.

More rain predicted for the week-end. Mid 50s.

See APOD for wonderful photos of sun activity.

Take care.

Mainiac said...

Grumpy 1, your doctor sounds like my kind of girl!

I'll add my congrats to John as well. Superb!

Oldest is at a wrestling meet tonight. Its away so I can't spectate. Went to my first one last weekend and really, really enjoyed it.

I am going to the Christmas concert for the youngest tonight. He's got a drum solo. He also told me his social status had changed after a dance last week. 12 at the end of the month and he's got a girlfriend.

Toasting sunset at 3:57 tonight!

Mainiac (the taxicab)

Lemonade714 said...

HRx, thanks for asking, but I have had a So. Fla. doctor since 1988; he trained at Bascom Palmer, which has probably surpassed Mass Eye and Ear for up to date work on corneas. A very nice and competent man, who saved my transplant when it began rejecting after 20 years.

Nipple enhancers, really and not even a clue to go with the comment and no pics; Lo-li-ta, still naughty.

And fishy, so sweet, so naughty; you know why nurses wear white; love the way you slipped in the FUn. I am watching, and waiting for my munchies.


CA, good to see you; LE, welcome, Abejo, you are getting the hang of it. Nice one Grumpy, and WH, always a pleasure. Crockett? Buckeye? Embien?

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I started the puzzle at breakfast and finished it while eating lunch. Never having played chess I had Gammit instead of Gambit, and St. Marts looked okay. Thinking (St. Martin).

I also had to look up Lennon's last album so the mid section was the last to fall. I also felt that this was a much easier puzzle than yesterday.

Jazz, Hands up for some great laughs over your writeup today. Super job.

John Lampkin, what an impressive accomplishment. Congratulations.

I'm so glad that you are feeling better CA. We were worried, knowing that a cold is the last thing you needed. Also thanks for the poem. You were missed.

Welcome LE Cove. I hope you'll enjoy the banter. We certainly do.

Seldom Seen said...

Grumpy1: I loved your Freudian Slip, sudstitute.

Is that where you could earn a degree in beer making?

Or is it an alternative beverage? Say a Guiness instead of water...

Husker Gary said...

Finished my NASA program with the carrot suit today and when I came out of the school, there was a cold rain and it is 27F. Driving on streets where you can see your reflection? Not good! Luckily I have 4W drive and put $700 worth of tires on my Dakota this fall!

GRRRRREAT:

Bob - Abbot and Costello link
Dennis - Dave Barry
Bill G - Voiceovers

Fun times!

kazie said...

Welcome to L. E. Cove! I'm joining in in wishing you a full and speedy recovery!

CA,
Good to see you back as well. Thanks for the poem--I'm contemplating a grocery shopping trip and need to think about the weather before I leave. We're expecting more of the white stuff any time.

Jeannie,
I loved your 'secs' story!

Jayce said...

Yep, yep, yep! I dearly love your sense of humor, JazzBumpa. Thanks for giving it free head in your writeup today and other days.

Be verrrry careful in saying that Hungarian phrase! I confess I read it "wrong" at first glance.

Agreed with all of you who thought today's puzzle was easier than yesterday's. I also think it is more satisfying than yesterday's.

Dennis, which "other clue"? I'm glad business is good.

Congratulations to you, John Lampkin.

HeartRx: Antelope! *groan* :)

Grumpy_1: Suburban! *aaaargh* :)

I have also noticed that it seems all of the nurses in the clinic where my doctor "primary care provider" works are huge.

DW and I are going to my company Christmas party tonight. If nothing else, the food has always been good. No drinking for me, the designated driver, though.

JazzB, I'd love to hear your experiment with the G diminished scale, if you have or will play it.

C.C.: "Don't we all long for forbidden things?" Yes.

Best wishes to you all.

Dennis said...

Er......did someone say 'free head'????

Lemonade, Jeannie's comment about the nipple enhancers was tied into the Dave Barry link I had regarding Christmas presents.

L.E., welcome; glad you 'came out' to visit. Stay with us.

Jayce said...

Dennis: someone did!

LaLaLinda said...

Hello everyone ~~

I enjoyed today's puzzle and had no problems finishing it. I did get stuck at 56D __ tzu. I thought I was the only one who was thinking Shih-tzu until I saw Sallie's comment. After filling in some of the perps, the LAO fell into place.

JzB's write-up was most entertaining. I also liked many of the other comments and links! It's always such fun to check in here, which I do often throughout each day.

It's been quite cold in CT the past few days -- today's high was 23. But we've had only a dusting of snow and haven't had to deal with the heavy snow and ice that some of you have had. Stay warm!

Hahtoolah said...

LE Cove, Welcome. Do stop by often and join in the conversation.

Jeannie, your "secs" story was hilarious!

Since Machu Picchu was one of our clues today, I thought someone out there might be interested in this story that ran on NPR this afternoon.

carol said...

Jeannie: funny about 'SECS' :)

Please explain how a pop bottle cap could be a nipple enhancer..aren't they flat???

LE Cove: welcome to our humble home away from home. We are all friends here (except for a few mouth-breathing anons).

LaLaLinda: welcome to you too, your name is new to me so if you joined us a while ago, forgive the late greeting.

Jayce said...

OMG, I just now got your "secs" story, Jeannie. LOL!

MR ED said...

Well, according to 4D in this puzzle, CC is an OCTAVE. LOL

Lemonade714 said...

Heart :

I just noticed your ANT–ELOPE comment, A1, and I am not LION. When I was very little and sitting in the backseat with the shift on the column, I thought PRNDL was a word.

For all the beer drinkers out there,
shameless plugs for my kids, Son Aaron, and nephew James have created a new BEER BLOG and son Devin, received a promotion at ORLANDO BREWING while still being a full time student at UCF.

It is so gorgeous here today

creature said...

Good Evening C.C.,Jazz,and all,

I worked the puzzle in the wee hours, but no entrance to the corner, til ?

Had a Drs appt[derma.] when it was still dark this A.M.,

The weather says we will be with ice for about 24 hrs, starting this evening . I went out to my car after getting home and it was dead. AAA sent Jumper people and I found myself driving on the road and the electricity turned off. I coasted to the side of the road.Got the Jumper back. He jumped and followed me to repair place. now new battery and home. But I do hear a static noise behind the dashboard on the ride home. Will address this after the ice storm that's coming in.

Haven't been completely in touch with the 'goings on' of our corner, but it sounds as if things are a poppin'.

Love the John Lampkin to-do. Yeah! John.

Jazz, you have won a prize.

Ca, glad you're in print. Hope you keep getting better; and loved the dear poem.

Jeannie, I copied your recipe 'ca use it sounds so great; and your 'secs' story is a classic. I'll be telling it forever.

Jayce, I've missed you, glad you're back.

By the way, I loved the puzzle. Thanks Julian.

Hahtool, Nice link to Bingham and Machu Picchu- I'm glad the objects are being returned to where they belong.

May be back after I go over stuff again.

Have a nice evening everyone.

John Lampkin said...

Hi all,
Congratulations to Julian for a solid idea, well executed! Thanks Jazz for an entertaining write-up.

Thank you all for the congratulatory words about my NYT debut, and thank you C.C. for posting the announcement about the trifecta. That's one of those things that you can't plan for. I just toss seeds to the wind and sometimes they sprout all at once. :-)

Husker Gary asked a great question that can be paraphrased, "What's so great about the NY Times? Isn't the LA Times puzzle just as good?" Here's my short answer:

The LA Times puzzle IMO is every bit as good as the NYT, just a notch easier. That is because both Rich and WIll are superb editors and both have a camp of regular constructors who are top-notch. In fact, you see that many constructors have contributed to both publications including Rich himself.

The difference is that the NYT has the weight and heft of a long history of quality puzzle publishing that the LA Times doesn't yet have. Many of the standards of crosswords that we take for granted developed under the editorial guidance of early NYT editors. As a result, the NYT carries an element of prestige and that, coupled with the fact that the NYT pays four times as much for a Sunday, means that the competition for Will's acceptance is very fierce. So yes, it's a big deal.

Saying that in no way lessens my joy and pride in being a regular LA Times contributor. This is a great paper, a great puzzle editor and a great blog!

I hope you tune in tomorrow to solve my Beethoven Birthday Bash. All of you with naughty minds, and you know who you are, will have a lot of fun, I assure you!

So, thanks again, and looking forward to another day, another puzzle!

LaLaLinda said...

Carol ~~ Thank you for the welcome. I've posted only once before--on Lemonade's Thanksgiving get-together day. I've been somewhat of a timid lurker. But I'm sure that can change.

I'm looking forward to John Lampkin's puzzle tomorrow--I so love the "naughty minds" on this blog! :-)

Jayce said...

Congratulations to your two sons, Lemonade714. And to yours, Mainiac.

Thanks for contributing, LaLaLinda and L.E.Cove.

Creature, thanks.

Lemonade714 said...

John L., You are such multi-talented guy. We are proud to have you as part of the corner.

I do love my boys

Grumpy 1 said...

Free head?

Happy endings?

Enhanced nipples?

All the secs you want?

And John promises that tomorrow will be even naughtier?

Dayum, cant wait for daybreak!

Lucina said...

Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie, how you made me laugh!

LaLaLinda and L. E. Cove: Welcome! You can see how much fun it is here at the Corner.

CA: I'm glad you are feeling better and thanks for the poem. I worry about you when I don't see your post.

Lemonade: You must be very proud of your sons. I'm sorry I don't care for beer, but I'll pass on the word to those who do.

Gunghy said...

It's so late, I can't add much.
However, several years ago I negotiated and purchased a new car for my then wife.
When I brought it home, we went for her first drive. As she pulled out of the drive, she demanded to know who had been driving it so much.
I replied that the only driving was a short test drive and the trip home, but she insisted that it had been driven a lot.

"Look, its got 321 miles on it!!

PRHDL?? No, PRND321

Lucina said...

Hahtool:
Thank you for the link to Machu Picchu. Fascinating how they worked out the return of those artifacts.

Dennis:
Loved the Dave Barry list. Unfortunately it doesn't solve my dilemma for a 73 year old friend and a 13 year old grandnephew. LOL

Husker Gary said...

John, Thanks for the excellent response about the puzzle comparisons. I love the LA Times puzzles because they are fun, clever and in my daily paper. Perhaps I should pony up the money to do the NY Times puzzles too or are they online somewhere?

Thanks!

Mainiac said...

Easy Grumpy, It'll be here soon enough.

Thanks Jayce, Awaiting the final taxi call.

John L, Thanks for your insight. It's always great to get some info on where the constructors are coming from.

Nite all.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi again -

Welcome to all the newcomers.

Everyone is in great form today. Lots of fun at The Corner!

John L - Congrats on your many successes, and thanks for your insights, and perspective from the other side of the grid. Nice interview, too!

Jeannie - besides these guys , I have a valve trombone that seldom sees the light of day, and an ancient euphonium that I bought on Ebay several years ago for about $200.

We spent a little extra time in T-town doing some shopping. The LW wanted to pick up some Buckeye-themed items for the boys. For some reason, you can't find that kind of stuff here in MI. What's up with that?

Wow - I'm tired.

Cheers!
JzB

JD said...

Great blogging today..some very funny stories: Grumpy @12:16, Gunghy @ 7:53 and Jeannie with your quick wit. I'm so envious. I think of a good reply an hour later, and then, maybe never.

Bob, I'm not a fan of slap stick but that link is such a great classic.Thanks for remembering and sharing.

Lemonade, love that you share that genuine pride you have for your boys. I sent the Beer Frontier link to DH and SIL's. How did your dr. appt go?????

Hahtool, you always share so many interesting things with us. When I finished reading, I was wondering about all the artifacts that were stolen in Iraq at the beginning of the war.Here's an update.
700 pieces have been returned!A big unit in 6th grade is Mesopotamia, and we always visit the Egyptian Museum in San Jose upon completion. It has so many cylinder seals that are exquisite works of art.Sometimes they are called signature seals as they rolled them on clay to sign for goods bought or sold. Most people could not write, so artists were hired to make them.

WELCOME L.E. and LaLa Linda!!We do have some naughty minds here, but that makes this blog most enjoyable. Speaking of Naughty minds, where is Lois??????

Dennis said...

JD, after John's comment about tomorrow's puzzle, we really need Lois to show up. Sounds like it's gonna be right up her alley. So to speak.

Jazzbumpa said...

Lois can bowl us over, if she's not pinned down. Or, should I strike that, and spare you my slice of humor?

Cheers!
JzB who really needs to go to bed

Jeannie said...

LaLaLinda, please show up more often. Here is a hearty welcome to you and to L.E.Cove. I don't think I welcomed you either Abejo! The more the merrier.

Chickie, I forgot to answer you on the amount of cream cheese to use, but I think you surmised it was about 12oz. and you were correct. Robin, you mentioned you were going to try that one today...how did it turn out?

Gunghy, did she not know there was a gauge called an "odometer"?

I am glad that everyone got a chuckle out of the "secs" story. It was true and now every time Jim and I converse whether by e-mail or phone "it" is "brought up". Just in a FUn way...no "secs usual" harrassment involved.

Lucina, I would think buying a gift for a dear old friend would be easy. I know my good friend Mary inside and out and she's the easiest person I buy for!! I am pretty sure that you know her very well and know her likes and dislikes. The 13 yr old grand nephyew...follow Dennis' advice and I would buy him that rocket thingy. I have hit that cross in the road with my neices and nephews and refuse to go the gift card route.

When the time arises, I will tell the story of being a customer service rep in the food business many years ago repeating back an order.

It's snowing here again, so off to bed to make sure I can get myself off tomorrow.

Jeannie said...

Okay, I just re-read my post. Tomorrow is just in a matter of 1 1/2 hours.

Anonymous said...

Good night all.

Windhover: sorry, the Civic's not for sale. We've gotten word that it's a much wanted car for some reason. We just need to have a 2nd one available when we both need one. But thanks for asking.

Hahtool; thanks for the Machu Picchu link. We enjoyed so much our few days there and reading the book mentioned.

Lemonade714 said...

Wow, did no one else do JL's NYT puzzle? I loved it, very funny and witty and not any harder than a wednesday puzzle here.
Tomorrow's LAT is great in a different way, comlpetely exotic theme

sleep time


cookie!!!

Dudley said...

Hello Again Puzzlers - Just did the Thursday LAT puzzle. There is much I don't understand, looking forward to the official write-up to clarify it all. I think you'll enjoy the challenge!

Good Night.

Chickie said...

Thanks you Jeannie for getting back to me on the amounts in your recipe. Also, my hand is up for a real laugh at your secs story. So funny.

Hahtool, thank you for the link to Machu Picchu. I'm so glad that the items will be in their rightful home. This was a very interesting turn of events.

JD my thoughts were the same about Iraq's treasures. Hopefully more will be found and returned. Thanks for the update article.

Wally said...

58 Down - High Ranking NCO
NCO Ranks (Army) Coporal (CPL/2 Stripes, Sergeant (SGT / Three Stripes), Staff Sergeant SSG(T)/ 4Stripes (all lower ranking)
Top 5 High Ranking NCOs are Sergeant First Class(SFC / 5 Stripes), Master Sergeant(MSG/ 6 Stripes) First Sergeant (1SG / 6 stripes with a Diamon in the middle and Sergeant Major (SGM /6 stripes with a Star in the Middle, Command Sergeant Major (CSM / 6 tripes with a star surronded by a Wreath and finaly Command Sergeant Major of the Army (CMA / six stripes with two stars in the middle