google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday January 30, 2011 Mel Rosen

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Jan 30, 2011

Sunday January 30, 2011 Mel Rosen

Theme: How to Read the Personal Ads - Words in Personal Ads are humorously (or rather cynically) interpreted.

23A. "Free spirit" means ... : I LOST EVERY JOB I EVER HAD. A true free spirit!

31A. "Enjoys long conversations" means ... : I DIDN'T PAY MY CABLE BILL

49A. "Likes home cooking" means ... : I'M TOO CHEAP TO EAT OUT. Or you're having food intolerant/sensitive problem.

67A. "Adventurous" means ... : I HAVE BEEN TO THE ZOO ONCE. This answer doesn't click for me.

85A. "Enjoys the beach" means ... : I OWN A METAL DETECTOR. What's the connection between "beach" and "metal detector"?

103A. "Likes to cuddle" means ... : MY APARTMENT HAS NO HEAT.

112A. "Takes long walks" means ... : MY CAR'S BEEN REPOSSESSED. Sad excuse.

Great to see Mel Rosen's by-line. He coined the word cruciverbalist and introduced the term "fingers" into crossword construction. Fingers refer to those 2 or 3 black square blocks along the edges of the grid. They look like fingers poking into the grid.

Very often Sunday puzzles are a challenge for me. The sheer size is daunting. And the pressure of finishing the puzzle & getting the write-up done in time take away some pleasure from me. Today I had lots of fun. Nailed those long theme entries with only a few letters in place. Most of the unknowns were easily obtainable via crossings.

Across:

1. Like electric basses : AMPED

6. Chorister's cover : ROBE. One who sings in a choir is a chorister.

10. One of the Wayans brothers : SHAWN. Got his name via crosses.

15. Story morals, e.g. : TAGS. New meaning of tag to me.

19. Rouen room : SALLE. French for "room". Alliteration.

20. Airline since 1948 : EL AL. Israel was established in 1948.

21. Chevy model : TAHOE

22. Another, in Ávila : OTRA. Also OTRO.

27. Without delay : NOW

28. Outback runner : EMU. Lean meat.

29. Have something : AIL. Wanted EAT.

30. Sarge's boss : LOOIE. Nickname for lieutenant.

39. Spohr's Opus 31 and others : NONETS. Not familiar with Spohr, a German composer who was once as famous as Beethoven, a la Wikipedia.

40. Flying Clouds, e.g. : REOs

41. Came to the rescue : AIDED

42. Fractions of a joule : ERGS. Work units.

43. They don't skip 48-Downs : LOCS. And 48D. Stop: Abbr. : STN. I am at sea. What is LOC? (Added later: It's local.)

44. "Otello" composer : VERDI. And 115D. "__ tu": 44-Across aria : ERI. Literally "are". Tu = You.

46. They may be dirt: Abbr. : RDs

55. Solfeggio syllables : FAs

58. Syr. and Eg., once : UAR (United Arab Republic, 1958-1961)

59. "Wassup," formally : HELLO

60. Big name in vacuums : DYSON. Have never paid attention to our vacuum brand.

61. Word of exhortation : RAH

62. E-mail button : SEND

64. Call's partner : BECK. Beck and call.

66. Writable storage media, briefly : CD-Rs. R stands for "recordable".

74. Daughter of Phoebe : LETO. Mother of Apollo.

75. Seaside cottage asset : VIEW

76. Describe in detail : LIMN. Fancy word.

77. Canon camera named for a goddess : EOS. Goddess of the dawn.

78. Alley "oops" : SPLIT. Bowling alley. Great clue.

80. Common people : PLEBS. Windhover likes to use this word to describe his no-NY Times crossword taste.

83. Rented : LET

84. Must-take coll. course : REQ

91. Slapstick prop : PIE

92. Cuts, say : EDITS

93. Big cut : GASH. Nice "cut" clecho.

94. Terrier of film : ASTA. "The Thin Man" dog.

98. Ring for breakfast : BAGEL

100. Brewery oven : OAST

101. Sans contractual buyers : ON SPEC. On speculation. Not specification.

108. Pesto or aioli : SAUCE. I like neither.

109. Ending for ranch : ERO. Ranchero.

110. British ref. : OED

111. Compass dir. : NNE. Could be any direction.

120. Env. stuffer : ENCL

121. "History of the World: __": Brooks film : PART I. Needed crosses for the I part.

122. "La __ Breve": de Falla opera : VIDA. Literally "life".

123. Tropical palm : ARECA. Source of betel nuts.

124. Handy abbr. : ET AL

125. Liqueur herb : ANISE

126. Struck (out) : EX'ED

127. Small songbirds : LARKS

Down:

1. Just plain silly : ASININE. Silly word.

2. Stink : MALODOR

3. Digging up some dirt : PLOWING

4. 2002 British Open champ : ELS (Ernie). I remember that brilliant bunker shot.

5. Windup toy device : DETENT. New word to me. Looks like it has the same root as détente.

6. Excite : REV UP

7. Opry adjective : OLE

8. Piano or roll follower : BAR

9. Bridge guru Culbertson : ELY. Learned his name from doing Xword.

10. Impassive : STOIC

11. "Aquí se __ español" : HABLA. "Speak" in Spanish. Spanish spoken here. Aquí = Here.

12. Some sushi tuna : AHI. Yellowfin tuna.

13. Distressed state : WOE

14. Ariz. neighbor : NEV

15. Doughnut-shaped : TOROID. Adjective of torus.

16. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL. South African playwright. Sometimes we see ALOES clued as part of his novel title "A Lesson from Aloes".

17. Chalice's cousin : GRAIL

18. "Smooth Operator" singer : SADE. Here is a clip. Beautiful song.

24. Paramedics, briefly : EMTs

25. Rogers Centre team, familiarly : JAYS. Toronto Blue Jays.

26. North Sea feeder : ELBE. You've got to remember your European rivers.

32. Lucie's dad : DESI (Arnaz)

33. Buck suffix : AROO. Buckaroo.

34. "Guh-ross!" : YECCH

35. Six-Day War figure Dayan : MOSHE. With his trademark eyepatch.

36. Milhouse's pal : BART. Have never watched "The Simpsons".

37. Venice Film Festival site : LIDO. Learning moment for me.

38. Warhol "superstar" Sedgwick : EDIE. Such a tragic figure. Died when she's only 28.

43. "SNL" producer Michaels : LORNE

44. Restaurant worker who's rarely in the restaurant : VALET. True.

45. Historic period : EPOCH

46. "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" author : ROSSNER (Judith). No idea. See the book cover.

47. One may be an item : DUO. Oh, like Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal.

50. "La Bohème" waltzer : MUSETTA . Again, needed crosses.

51. Exercise portmanteau : TAE BO. From TAE kwon do and boxing.

52. Jostled : ELBOWED

53. Enlarge, in a way : ADD ONTO

54. Rookie : TYRO. Haven't seen this word for a long time.

55. Calendar col. : FRI

56. "That feels go-o-o-od" : AAH

57. "Let's" evoker : SHALL WE

63. Research assoc.? : DEV (Development). The D in R & D.

65. Kenan's TV pal : KEL

66. Tailed orbiter : COMET

68. Ore source : VEIN

69. Bug like a pup : NIP AT

70. Doesn't hold back : TELLS. Not easy to be Deep Throat.

71. Zip : ZILCH

72. Cedar Rapids college : COE. Coe College. Iowa.

73. Litigator's letters : ESQ

78. Just a taste : SIP

79. Luau dish : POI. Taro dish. Freshly baked taros are tasty.

81. Had, in the Bible : BEGAT

82. Hidden supply : STASH

86. Big opening? : MEGA. Like megabyte.

87. River of central Germany : EDER

88. Arcade foul : TILT

89. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTA

90. Hardly thoughtful : RASH

95. "The Faerie Queene" poet : SPENSER (Edmund)

96. New Jersey town near the George Washington Bridge : TEANECK. Total unknown to me.

97. Substituted for : ACTED AS

98. "Key Largo" co-star : BACALL (Lauren)

99. Me-tooer : APER

100. __ about : ON OR

101. Till bills : ONEs

102. "I won't sign" : NO DEAL

103. Is forbidden to, quaintly : MAYNT. "May not" I suppose.

104. New Mexico state flower : YUCCA. Yucca in bloom, from Gunghy's bike series.

105. Bumps into : MEETS

106. Banks called "Mr. Cub" : ERNIE. Spent his entire career with the Cubs.

107. "Such a pity" : SO SAD

108. Right-hook man in "Peter Pan"? : SMEE. Captain Hook has an iron hook to replace his right hand. Smee is his right-handed man. Somehow this clue doesn't work for me.

113. Mud bath venue : SPA

114. Block : BAN

116. Apple pioneer? : EVE. Because Eve is the first person to eat the apple.

117. Thumbnails, nowadays : PIX

118. Poetic praise : ODE

119. Málaga Mrs. : SRA

Answer grid.

C.C.

47 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - couldnt' sleep, too much on my mind.

As with C.C., I looked forward to the puzzle as soon as I saw Mel Rosen's name at the top. He almost always creates a fun experience and this one was no exception. I particularly liked the theme answers and their length helped make the overall puzzle fairly easy. Had two missteps: I put 'Bogart' for 'Key Largo co-star' and 'Moish' for 'Dayan'; other than those, a pretty smooth solve with occasional perp help. Favorite clues were 'Restaurant worker who's rarely in the restaurant' and 'Right-hook man in Peter Pan'.

C.C., 'loc' is local, as opposed to express. Local trains stop at every station (stop) while Expresses will bypass some.

Abejo, my condolences to you and your family.

fermatprime said...

Good morning all!

Thank you CC!

50D is MUSETTA's waltz.

This one was a real toughie for me. Looked up some things, but still a struggle. Never heard of DETENT but it came from perps. Did not like LOCS for trains (locos would be better). Made just enough mistakes to make the whole thing confusing! I did a lot better yesterday!

I was able to go to sleep but the blinds were not drawn. This caused a problem a few hours later. Tsk. Eventually gobbled up some food (definite no-no) and slept most of the day. A catastrophe!

Does anyone watch "Fringe?" They are trying to kill it by moving it to Friday. But it did better last week. My favorite guilty pleasure!

Have a peaceful Sunday! (I am looking forward to last part of "Downtown Abbey" on PBS.)

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I survived my son's sixth birthday party yesterday. Sixteen screaming kids... Oy!

I really enjoyed today's theme, although some of the cluing and fill left me a bit cold. I understood the clue for and really wanted LOCS for 43A, but knew that couldn't be right since there was no indication of an abbreviation in the clue. *sigh*

The crossing of MUSETTA and LEDO was the last to fall for me, and I had to get it by trying every letter on the keyboard until I got the "TADA!" Of course I didn't GET the TADA! because I had a mistake elsewhere in the grid. I finally had to turn on the red letter help to discover I had misspelled LOOIE as LOUIE. Of course, I probably would have gotten that right had I know who the %^#@! ATHOL Fugard was. We actually have a town here in Massachusetts called ATHOL....

Argyle said...

'Morn all,

I'll try to find some good words to say about today's puzzle but I mayn't. Many Google entries for LOCS but not a one meaning LOCAL.

Splynter said...

Hi All~~!!

ARGH !!! The theme of this puzzle appeared to be so promising, with a little humor, especially since I have a profile up on a dating site, and some of the "descriptions" posted there make me wonder about some people (I see far too many people who like walks on the beach - but remember, I live on an Island...)

But WOE, way too many of the little answers were YECCH - that's one...LOCS, CD-Rs(I had CD-RW) and LOOIE, c'mon, really?

And the proper names MUSETTA, MOSHE, ATHOL, EDIE, ROSSNER, SHAWN, took all the fun out of getting the theme answers - those I came by OK, the first one being "I OWN A METAL DETECTOR" - and I can get a visual of a guy trying to impress a girl on a date...

BTW, I do NOT own a metal detector...

Also, this one gave me fits, because I am a huge Canucks fan, and that wouldn't fit in ROGERS CENTRE.

OH - a toy device - I did not have a DETENT growing up - it was a gyroscope, or a walking dog/robot/chattering teeth, etc. - didn't get the hint in the clue.

Pond hockey today, and then it's on to the laminate floor -

Splynter

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning friends. The puzzle is on hold until I can have a block of uninterrupted time. Happy Sunday.

HeartRx said...

Good morning C.C. et al.

Thanks for the great write-up, C.C. I agree that this puzzle was a bit on the “cynical” side. It reminds me of the of Pina Colada song. What a terrible relationship thy must have had, if they didn’t even talk about things they liked!

I don’t know how many times I read 59A as “Wassup” IN-formally. Duh, real V8 dent when I finally filled HEL—and re-read it once more.

I got a chuckle out of the clue for 78A Alley “oops” for SPLIT.

124A was a gimme – ET AL

I had no idea what a DETENT was, so that was my learning moment for today.

Wanted “cache” instead of STASH for 82D.
Wanted “cain’t” for MAYNT at 103 D because of this song from “Oklahoma!”.

Barry G., yikes! Sixteen kids? I had the same thought about LOCS. But I couldn’t very well argue with Mel because he didn’t happen to be around today when I did the puzzle. ATHOL happens to be where I was born, and I get a lot of wisecracks about it.

Abejo, sorry to hear about your father-in-law. Our thoughts are with you here on the corner.

Everyone, have a wonderful Sunday!

SamIam said...

Good morning, fellow bloggers. I'm posting to say I can't post yet.

Have a magical day.

Anonymous said...

Musings by an Xword challenged ...

This was a Sunday - a DNA - (did not attempt - ).I perused your blog, just to find out what I wouldn't have missed anyway. VERY nice blog, by the way -Thank you.

I often think, what sort of people solve 'Sundays' ? - word and trivia masochists ? The only entry I found interesting was 'detent' - an engineering term, I was not aware of. Something like an escapement wheel, in (mechanical ) watches perhaps - I have to read more. After thinking, a little bit ( I don't do that, that often anymore - ), I find the subject matter, for today, to be with a certain bias - (aside from obscure clues ) foreign words - but Sp and only continental , lots of sports names, and heavy in classical and rock music. Maybe I could construct a puz with MY orientation - hmmm ...

Consider this: Clue: Lop off a finger ---(Answer - 'shear stress'), A run in a nude pantyhose --- ( 'Sheer stress' ), OR A girl in a micro-mini picks up a coin off the sidewalk ---('Bending moment'). These terms are common, if you studied Civil or Mech. Engineering or 'Strength of Materials' - and are used to design girders, cantilevers and 'I' and 'T' beams... and all building construction from skyscrapers to bridges. If you didn't know this you would have no clue. Apropos to nothing in particular.

lois said...

Good morning CC, Excellent write up and again so informative. For once I caught on to the theme but still had to allow the perps to fill it in. Cute smart ass answers. I liked this puzzle.

CC, I did have to LOL at your comment on 70D Tells: not easy to be Deep Throat. Boy, no kidding! It definitely takes practice. Being a whistle (or any sort of) blower requires dedication to the cause and a forthright, upright, staunch back (or some such) bone. And it’s dangerous work. That’s why it’s done under cover. A tongue lashing is the least of the possible things that could happen to one who is caught in that situation. Imagine a whistle blower being Felt! That was the real Deep Throat man’s name, ‘Felt’. Hid for 30 years. Can you imagine? That’s a lot to swallow! But you are so right. It’s sure not easy to be Deep Throat.

60A Dyson? Never heard of it. All I know is that my Oreck really sucks! It would probably suck as much as a Hoover, Sears or Electrolux- it just has to get out of the closet to prove it.

For 59A Wassup being Hello formally? I think not. Formal nowadays, here anyway, is Hey, Yo! or Hey Bro! -with a high five secret handshake. That’s formal! These kids do not say ‘Hello’ They can’t even spell it….keep leaving off that ‘o’.

And 16D? OMG!!! Imagine a kid w/a lithp thaying, “Wathup, My name ith Athol.” Not even addressing Fug-ard. Athol Fugard...that's one for the books....along w/Asshole - pronounced A-SHOW-lee...or La-a pronounced La-dash-a.

Gotta go. Most of the kids will be home next wkend for Equistrian Awards Banquet and Super Bowl. I’ve got to find out if my Oreck still sucks the big one. Need a guinea pig… Dennis? you up?

Enjoy your day.

Abejo: my condolences to you and your families on the loss of your father-in-law.

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning C.C. and Sunday solvers:

Well it seems most of you have not had to use cyber dating, but I found the theme very entertaining. The use of a metal detector while walking the ebach looking for lost ring, watches etc., is very common where I live. In fact, there are late nite tv commercials selling the things, showing people walking the beach.

The theme answers were intended to be absurd examples of how people try to exggerate a trait to appear more attractive, like the adventurous one being an example of a truly sheltered person who believes by going to the zoo once they went on a andventure. They are intended to be "sad excuses" that is where the humor was.

The propper names were obscure in places, but I finished and perhaps learned something. We will see if any stick.

take care all

and best wishes to ABEJO and family

JD said...

Hello C.C.

Thanks for being here on Sundays. If I finish, they take me forever.Not remembering words I know is frustrating, like metal detector..and then I have to perp-perp-perp.BTW, some people go to the beach JUST to find valuables there with their metal detectors.I lost my class ring there, and I read where some actress lost her engagement ring, and never found it.Yikes!(Isn't that an asinine thing to put in the news?!)

I used to do all the vacuming until we got our Dyson. DH LOVES it. Very powerful and you can see the dirt in the cylinder.

Abejo, so sorry about your father-in-law.

Frenchie, loved reading about the X-Ray Specs and sea monkeys.

Hahtool, new avatar? Pretty!!

BTW, we have beautiful rain today. We needed it in our area.

Anonymous said...

Good morning all. I enjoy reading your comments and learning once I've attempted the puzzle. I live in a remote area of northern Canada - minus thirty degrees here right now - and this keeps me in touch with the rest of the world. Keep up the good work CC - you never fail to amaze me with your second language skills and understanding. No pressure tho - this should not become a chore.. Thanks again.

Grumpy 1 said...

Happy Sunday, puzzled people all. This one refused to fall without a few hints from Mr Google.

Detent sure wasn't what I was looking for, but once the perps lead me that way I understood the clue. Windup toys usually have a mechanism that keeps them from running while you're winding them up and getting them ready for action. That mechanism is often a lever with a tab that drops into a notch in a wheel. The notches are called detents. They're usually designed to allow movement in one direction but not the other in spring loaded toys. There are lots of other fun terms sometimes associated with detents such as sprags and pawls. Uhoh, I see a few constructors thinking those would make good fill...

Lois! What a great blog! ROTFLMAO, PMSL and all that stuff!

Abejo, my condolences on the loss of your FIL.

HeartRx said...

Grumpy 1, DIBS ON SPRAGS AND PAWLS !
;-D

Argyle said...

OK, Show of hands...Who's tired of snow?

Dennis said...

I'm raising hands, feet, all appendages.

And we've got another big one coming Tuesday/Wednesday.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I haven't read all of your posts yet, but I will make my comment now anyway.

The only good parts of this puzzle were the long "real" meanings of personal ad entries, and a couple of smile-eliciting clues such as those for VALET, BECK, and SMEE.

The rest of the puzzle was an unpleasant slog of abbr after abbr after abbr and obscure names. Sorry, but I just didn't like it.

More later maybe. Best wishes.

Jayce said...

As for what a detent is, we in engineering always used the word to refer to the little "bump" (actually an indentation) that you sometimes feel as you turn a knob. It's not as strong as the "click click click" you get when you turn a rotary switch; rather, detents just provide a mild tactile feedback as you turn a knob, such as the volume control on some steroes and car radios. I can only surmise that a "detent" as a windup toy device might refer to the pawl in the windup gear that goes click click click as you wind the toy up and that prevents the spring from unwinding right back into the windup key. Dunno ... shrug.

C.C. thank you for taking the effort to not only work the puzzle but to present your writeup. Lemonade and JazzBumpa (and perhaps others) have alluded to the large amount of time and effort it takes, and I'm sure I can speak for us all to give you our thanks.

Bill G. said...

This puzzle seemed harder than usual for me. Since the theme expressions didn't come readily (even after I'd figured out the theme), that seemed to make everything take a little longer. Some tough fill for me too. Oh well, I got 'er done, had some fun and learned a little in the process.

Best wishes for your wife and your family, Abejo.

My neighbor often lets his dog out into the yard. The dog then proceeds to bark constantly until he's brought back inside. Some people! When our dog used to be outside and would start to bark at someone walking by, we would either fuss at her to get her to stop or bring her back inside.

I had scrapple and eggs for breakfast this morning. I'm guessing I'm the only one here who did?

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, As usual, I had to use some red letter help for this Sunday puzzle. And, as usual, it was the shorter fill that stumped me.

I didn't understand 43A LOCS or 48D STN until coming here, although I had filled them in.

9D ELY, 26D JAYS, 40A REOS, 72D COE and 115D ERI were all trouble spots.

I thought 35D was MOISHE. Apparently, so did Al Capp.

I did get 16D ATHOL Fugard. I remember seeing the movie, based on his play, "Master Harold and the Boys". It depicted a set of relationships in apartheid South Africa. It was quite an eye opener.

5D DETENT was totally new. Was that a gimme word for you, Dennis?

After what sounds like non-stop complaints, I really loved the theme phrases. Every one of them made me smile.

HeartRx@8:41, I almost did a spit take at your analysis of the Pina Colada song relationship...cute song, really dysfunctional people.

Anon@9:02, there are quite a few people here who would welcome a crossword puzzle with an engineering theme. Then, there are we who are scientifically challenged. But we all enjoy comparing notes and (once in a while) learning a new word.

Argyle, no snow here, but we are getting a little tired of fog. It is raining today, which has damped down the fog, but it is still misty and now wet out there.

Lois@9:26, we are all in awe of your quick wit. For most of us, it is hit and miss. You hit the nail on the head every time.

Abejo, my sympathy to you and your family.

Jayce said...

Bill G, scrapple? Yay! I love scrapple. Where do you buy it?

Jayce said...

I stand corrected. After reading the Wikipedia entry on DETENT (thanks for linking it, HeartRx) I will concede that the term detent is more generic than how I have always used it, and can also include ratchets and pawls.

We don't watch Fringe, fermatprime, but LW and I are definitely looking forward to watching part 3 of Downton Abbey tonight. (Man, all these "abbeys" and "grainges" in Jolly Olde England confuse me.)

Maybe I'm in a shoulder-shrugging mood this morning anyway, and it's not the puzzle that put me into it. Dunno ... shrug ;p

Bill G. said...

I knew the word DETENT, somewhere in the back of my brain but the clue didn't elicit it for me.

Jayce, the scrapple is made by Jones Dairy Farm and is available frozen at the local Ralphs supermarket.

I just finished watching an interview with Hailee Steinfeld (on Sunday Morning) who plays Mattie Ross in the new "True Grit" movie. She's a good actress all right and her natural personality is so appealing. I really like her.

daffy dill said...

Great blog, C.C. Mornin', all.

Abejo, my condolences to you, your wife and family.

BillG, if I had had scrapple this morning, I would have had it! Love it.

My mind went TILT this morning trying to solve this one. Too many abbr. and the only proper name I knew was MOSHE. Lots of "Gs" for those, especially the ATHOL at 16d. I sat here for the longest time trying to think of the name of our DYSON. I don't know why I drew a blank. The theme was clever and entertaining. Never heard of DETENT; maybe if it appears again I'll remember it. I did eventually finish, but it was a moil.

It is cold but dry here. Send rain - or snow - or even spit in our direction!

Husker Gary said...

Hello C.C. et al, Dennis, kudos to you because fairly easy is not a description I would use for this Sunday exercise. It took me quite a while but got about 99% before not paying the CABLE bill replaced the PHONE bill. I had to get out my big boy cwd pants for this one and several fell from perps.

Alberta (ALTA, ALB, ALBT) clipper on its way. Witches are warned to deploy thermal undergarments. For the first time in my working career I am paying for insurance and TurboTax caught the fact that I had not caught the deduction. An $800 pay in is now a $200 get back.

Musings
-I thought Sarge’s boss was LTFUZZ because General Halftrack wouldn’t’ fit and I had the L to start
-ORECK vacuums?
-Loved Alley Oops
-My daughter’s father-in-law has an expensive metal detector and brags when he finds a quarter. Not much of a return on his investment, but it helps fill his day!
-VE composer? Has to be VERDI although I had never heard of the piece.
-Giuseppe Verdi in English? Joe Green!
-Never wound up a DETENT, wanted SPRING
-LOC’s and STN? Anything to make the puzzle work!
-My oldest daughter sang I’m Just a Girl who Cain’t Say No! very well in 1986!
-Have to run, we are off to Lincoln to be with our girls and their families and then off to The Blue Man Group at the Lied Center!

eddyB said...

Hi all.

FUN, FUN !! Loved the ads. Also a lot of ans from before. (locs and stn)

This and that:

All Star Hockey Game @4 EST on Versus.
Buy scrapple from vermont countrystore.com
Don't like Canucks because they win too often over the Sharks.
DougP did PG's write-up. Also the CrosSynergy puzzle today.
Saving Merl's for later.
Looks like the rain is over.

take care.

Lucina said...

Good day, C.C. and all Sunday solvers.

C.C., if you finished this without any help, my admiration for you just climbed another notch.

Yowza! The theme answers were hilarious and I managed most of them once the perps were filled and almost SPLIT my sides laughing.

DETENT is my new word for today as I neither had it nor knew it so on
23A ILOVEDEVERYBOBIEVERKNEW made good sense to me!

Moreover, I had SALON instead of SALLE but should have thought of SALA and made the connection.

I simply was not on Mel Rosen's wavelength although he threw in enough Spanish that I thought he was channeling me and even clued Ariz. neighbor NEV.

Had to chuckle at OOO in 67A.

C.C. as Lemonade explained many people use METAL DETECTORS on the beach to search for valuable objects and I have seen them on beaches everywhere from Hawaii to both coasts here and in Europe.

Really liked:
apple pioneer: EVE

Abejo: please accept my sympathy on the loss of your father-in-law.

I, too, survived a birthday party; it was at Peter Piper Pizza (for a 3 year old, but also my 68 yr old sister), Talk about organized chaos! After that I declined the last activity of the day and went home to peace and quiet.

Now I have some shopping to do.
I hope your Sunday is terrific!

eddyB said...

Hi.
At the end of one. Feel sorry for the Goalies. Splynter, hope you saw Tank McNamara this morning.

Sunshine and lollypops.

eb

Lucina said...

What is scrapple? Is it good? Presumably it is unrelated to Scrabble.

Thank you.

Jayce said...

Lucina, scrapple is an Amish food, basically corn meal mush (like masa) flavored with pork meat scraps and spices. It is usally molded into a loaf shape, then sliced and fried.

JD said...

I sure hope I didn't sound like a complainer. I loved those phrases! They all made me laugh. I use red letter help on Sundays, so I don't really critique how I did because I have the advantage (or not) of knowing when I put my letter in if the word is OK. Sometimes I go thru 3 or 4 synonyms before I get it.I'm glad it doesn't bleep at me.

oops..Truman wants to check out chameleons again. IMBO

Hahtoolah said...

This was a toughie for me, but I loved the theme and its clues. They really gave me a chuckle!

My favorite non-theme clue was: They May Be Dirt = RDs. I've been on a lot of dirt roads in my time.

I met MOSHE Dayan in the mid-1970s. He was very charming.

Abejo, sorry to hear about your father-in-law. You and your family are in my thoughts.

Dennis: I hope you are feeling better and can catch-up on your sleep.

Bill G. said...

Lucina, Jayce described scrapple well. It's sort of like sausage but with a different texture. Very tasty with eggs.

We just got back from Barefoot in the Park. Enjoyable but nothing special. Seemed a little dated. Sort of like a less-funny Seinfeld. Much ado about very little.

JD, for tough puzzles, I like the red-letter help too. I much prefer it (LAT) to Across Lite in that respect because it doesn't put that annoying little black triangle in the corner when you need a hint.

thehondohurricane said...

Good evening everyone,

No time for the puzzle today and after reading the comments, I doubt i would have got to far.

Abejop, my condolences to you and your family for your loss.

More snow this week, supposedly another foot with sleet, rain, and ice mixed in this time.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Lucina said...

Thank you Jayce and Bill G.

I guess I'll have to try scrapple when I travel in your parts of the world. I imagine it's available in Ohio.

Barry G. said...

*sigh*

I think I am officially ready for this Winter to end. I'm supposed to be flying on business from Boston to Wisconsin early Tuesday morning and return late Wednesday night, and right now it looks like I'll be leaving in the middle of an ice storm and arriving in the middle of a blizzard.

Assuming I even make it both ways without being stuck in an airport somewhere, I'm facing the prospect of arriving home after midnight and being unable to even get into my driveway. Of course, my town has a law against overnight parking on the street...

creature said...

Good Evening C.C. and all,

I think I appreciate you more this AM than ever before. Your good natured remark about today's puzzle touched me. How you do it is remakable to me. Thanks.

I got the theme for the most part- loved the premise of the whole thing,yet I simply was not on Mel Rosen's wave length.

I worked on this puzzle for over an hour; this, plus, some googling and I was so disheartened. Like Jayce, maybe it was just my 'slack-shouldered' frame of mind.

Detent, Locs and on. Too much.

Hahtool,You met Moshe Dyan in mid 70's- was very charming... Wow! I bet you have a good tale to tell on that.

Lemonade, 'Amelia' is lovely and I named a daughter that. It is a beloved name in our family.
Your Amelia is lovely- thanks for sharing.

Dennis, hope you can get some sleep.

Jayce, You described the way I am
today. Thanks.

Abejo, My condolences to your family'

Have a nice evening everybody.

dodo said...

Wassup, folks,

This went together fairly smoothly for me. One lookup: 'Lorne' Michaels. I liked the theme phrases and had a few laughs!

Sorry about your fil, Abejo; my condolences.

Barry G, I feel for you looking forward to a trip like your upcoming one! Good luck for an uneventful journey!

Hasta la vista, everyone!

Splynter said...

Hi Again ~!

eddyB, I did see Tank, but only after you led me to it - and if the puck really was that big, then there's no reason to feel "sorry" for us goalies - 11-10 sounds about right, but they change up goalies, so it's not all one guy's burden.

My game was not so great today, with the temp being above freezing - which makes for slush and snow, not ice.

Oh well...

I didn't have to face a 105.9MPH shot, either !!

Splynter

Dick said...

Good morning CC and all, a not so fun slog today. In my humble opinion there were too many abbreviations, foreign words and just generally obscure words. I have no further comments on the puzzle.

Dennis, you asked the other day “what was coming your way.” Well it will start tomorrow and you will not like it, I am so damn tired of snow and winter in general I can’t wait to get out of her this weekend.

Abejo, my condolences regarding you FIL.

Hope you all had a great Sunday.

Annette said...

Lucina, in response to your email, scrapple is similar to how my mother used to make Italian polenta too. She'd serve the cornmeal mixture either creamy or in slices from a loaf. Then she'd top it with a tomato sauce that had peppers, sausage and onions in it.

The tamale I finally got to taste over Christmas was very reminiscent of her polenta!

She also used to slice up the loaf and fry it in a pan, then we'd eat it with maple syrup.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Let's get this out of the way first: Argyle - I have hired people to put up their hands with me indicating tired-ness of snow! They didn't charge much, just asked for a warm place free of shovels and abundant with hot chocolate.

FermatPrime - We're with you there! We TiVo'd the fourth half of Downton Abbey for later, because we had to watch a Netflix DVD of "Rachel Getting Married" first. I seem to recall recent mention of this film by Lemonade. We found it to be intense and squirmy. The lovely Anne Hathaway was very convincing as the troubled young woman from a dysfunctional home. As for Downton Abbey, well, we'll watch it tomorrow - and then yearn for the 2011 installments thereof, as soon as they are available in the U.S.

HeartRx - My mom was particularly amused by Athol! I recall attending a Bill Cosby performance in Connecticut in which he explained that he had to go as far away as Athol (from his Shelburne estate) in order to buy potato chips. You see, his wife had visited merchants for miles around, forbidding them to sell potato chips to the famous man whose cholesterol had gone too high. She didn't get as far as Athol...

Good Night Puzzlers.

JD said...

Here's a little something to lighten the mood for a few of you.

Have a great week. We're off on a new adventure on Tues.

Annette said...

Thanks for the link, JD. I liked the line about "do the crossword every day"!

Lucina said...

JD:
That link is hilarious. Thanks for posting it. And good luck on your new adventure.

Bill G:
I hope you make it on your trip with safe and timely arrivals and departures.

Annette:
Thanks for the info. I now hope to taste scrapple.

Good night everyone!

Frenchie said...

Good evening C.C., Argyle and folk,
Well, I didn't know much of today's puzzle. I moiled away at it and found so many little enjoyable morsels.
For one, today's favorite: 46. They may be dirt:Abbr.:RDs
@abejo, my deepest sympathy to your family!
@splynter, How'd the floor turn out?
Detent, huh? Interesting.

I'm out.