google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, May 5, 2011, Julian Lim

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May 5, 2011

Thursday, May 5, 2011, Julian Lim

Theme: Gone with the wind. The main answers all have had their "hat" blown away.

17. "Don't tell a soul!": KEEP IT UNDER YOUR. It is likely that there's no direct link to hats at all and that 'keep it under your hat' just meant 'keep it in your head'. "The man whose estate lies under his hat need never tremble before the frowns of fortune."--Anthony Trollope

31. Spout nonsense: TALK THROUGH ONE'S. This has quite a few speculative explanations.  My favorites are a reference to the emptiness of the hat atop one's head, as if one were thinking and speaking with an empty head, and Joseph Smith (the book of Mormon) reading a stone that nobody can see with his face buried in his hat.

41. Moonlight, say: WEAR MORE THAN ONE. To hold multiple jobs. This one is fairly direct. Back when almost everyone wore hats, if a man who was an admiral, a Lord Lieutenant of a county and Chancellor of a university - each of which has an impressive ceremonial hat - was going to an official function, the question "which hat will you be wearing?" would mean "in which capacity will you be attending?".

60. Instantly ... or how this puzzle's other three longest answers came about?: AT THE DROP OF A HAT. In the 19th century it was occasionally the practice in the United States to signal the start of a fight or a race by dropping a hat or sweeping it downward while holding it in the hand. The quick response to the signal found its way into the language for any action that begins quickly without much need for prompting.

Hi all, if it's Thursday, it must be me...

ACROSS:

1. Some graphic works: EROTICA. I wanted to fill this with "ESCHERS".

8. It often involves x's: ALGEBRA. Solve this equation for "X". Tricky putting this immediately following the preceeding clue to misdirect your thinking.

15. Of words: LEXICAL. From Greek "Lexikos", pertaining to words. A Lexicon is a dictionary of words.

16. One doing a lot of riding: NEEDLER. Riding in the sense of "giving a hard time". To needle is to goad or provoke a response.

19. Phishing targets: Abbr.: SSNS. An insidious form of Spam emails that can do damage if they bait you to bite at the lure. Legitimate companies don't email you for personal information. They only request it if you initiated a transaction with them. Never give out your identity in respnse to an unsolicited email or phone call, even if it looks legit.

20. Handbill: FLYER. Meaning of "small handbill or fly-sheet" is from U.S. slang (originally especially of police bulletins), on notion of "made to be scattered broadcast."

21. Nothing special: SO-SO. Every puzzle has some of these fillers.

22. Wroclaw's region: SILESIA. Today's geography lesson. An ancent region, now part of Poland and the Czech Republic.

24. Refillable candy: PEZ. The name Pez was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first Pez flavor. Pez was originally introduced in Austria.

25. Equilibrium: STASIS. The Greek word, meaning "a standing still".

29. 34-Down degree: NTH. A mathematical term indicating indefinite number, in which n is an abbreviation for number.

38. Carl's sweetheart, in "Up": ELLIE. Pixar movies are for everyone, and this one tugs at your heartstrings while still being funny. If you haven't seen it, don't let the fact that it is a "cartoon" keep you from renting it.

39. Double-slash container: URL. Internet locators that web browsers understand start several different ways, the most prevalent is:  http://  This is so common that you don't even have to type it in when you manually enter one in the address bar, all modern browsers will assume you meant to do it.

40. Deteriorate slowly: ERODE. I think I did this before... Latin erosionem "a gnawing away", from rodere, to gnaw, related to rodent.

44. Black and __: two-beer drink: TAN. Bass Pale Ale and Guinness (yes, the ones who produce the record book), usually, layered carefully, not mixed together.

45. Pugilism venues: ARENAS. Boxing.

46. "The Island of the Day Before" author: ECO. Umberto. Wiki has a fairly succinct plot synopsis.

49. Event with a queen: PAGEANT. First thoughts were of the recent Royal Wedding, a planned distraction, I'm sure.

53. Entre __: NOUS. French. Between us. A movie of that name was subtitled Coup de Foudre, which means "love at first sight".

55. Tanager homes: NESTS.  Colorful birds.

56. Impatient sounds: TSKS.

63. Cape user: MATADOR. Spanish, literally "killer," from matar "to kill or wound," probably from Arabic mata "he died."

64. Ex claim: ALIMONY. From Latin alimonia "food, support, nourishment, sustenance". "I won't pay," he said.  "Oh, yes you will," she Ex claimed.

65. Suffering terribly: IN AGONY. From Greek agonia "a (mental) struggle for victory," originally "a struggle for victory in the games.

66. "Listen to Your Heart" pop duo: ROXETTE. Official video.

DOWN:.

1. Horned game: ELKS. Other choices, both singular and plural, DEER,  BUCK.

2. "Cheers" actor Roger: REES. Character: Robin Colcord.  Didn't really remember him at first.

3. Paddy animals: OXEN. Rice paddies.

4. Inside information: TIPS.

5. Here, in Haiti: ICI. More French.

6. Cajun entrée: CATFISH. Not a big fan of "blackened" foods, I have a midwest "bland" taste palate.

7. __ in the conversation: A LULL. Related to lullaby, as in a "sleep".

8. Range along the Ring of Fire: ANDES.

9. Wolf's activity: LEERING. Howling, anyone? Wolves as a symbol of lust are ancient, e.g. Roman slang lupa "whore," literally "she-wolf". The equation of "wolf" and "prostitute, sexually voracious female" persisted into 12c., but by Elizabethan times wolves had become primarily symbolic of male lust.

10. Lux. neighbor: GER. Luxembourg and Germany.

11. Breyers alternative: EDYS.

12. It barely gets beyond the infield: BLOOP. Baseball.

13. Conserve, in a way: REUSE. Reclaim, recycle.

14. __ con pollo: ARROZ. Spanish, rice with chicken.

18. Science educator Bill: NYE. Bow ties are cool. Oh wait, that's a different character, Who knows Who I mean?

22. Display of links: SITE MAP. Usually created by the site webmaster for search engine crawlers to catalog, but regular users can also save time searching for something if they know it is on specific site.

23. Really: AT HEART.

25. Worry: STEW. Fret. To simmer in one's own juices.

26. "The Handmaid's __": Atwood novel: TALE. "Speculative" fiction. Beginning with a staged terrorist attack (blamed on Islamic extremist terrorists) that kills the President, a movement calling itself the "Sons of Jacob" launches a revolution, ousted Congress, and suspended the U.S. Constitution under the pretext of restoring order. Taking advantage of electronic banking, they were quickly able to freeze the assets of all  "undesirables" in the country, stripping their rights away.

27. __ puttanesca: with a spicy tomato sauce: ALLA. Literally "whore's style spaghetti" in Italian.

28. Avoid: SKIRT. Outskirts are the border or edges of a city or the hem of a skirt.

30. Mezzo Marilyn: HORNE. In keeping with the plethora of foreign language today, here's Habenera.

32. Capek play: RUR. Rossum's Universal Robots. More like androids, but this introduced the word "robot" to the English language (and science fiction).

33. Refinable rock: ORE.

34. Like z: Abbr.: ULT. Latin "ultimo", meaning last.

35. When two hands meet?: NOON. Probably the cleverest clue in the puzzle, clock hands. Imagine how boring the world will be if everything becomes digital-only instead of analog.

36. Author Buchanan: EDNA. Mysteries.

37. Dates: SEES.

42. With no end in sight: ON AND ON. Or, facing forward...

43. His co-pilot was a Wookiee: HAN SOLO. Star Wars.

46. As a friend, in Marseilles: EN AMI. French.

47. Trig function: COTAN. I think math counts as a foreign language, too...

48. "__ sight!": OUTTA. Uptight and all right. Little Stevie Wonder.

50. Elbridge __, governor famous for redistricting: GERRY. A portmanteau word Gerrymander came about because a district in MA looked like a salamander after political machinations were enacted to redistribute voting blocs to favor the party in power for future elections.

51. Peruvian pronoun: ESO. Spanish for "that".

52. How some stocks are sold: AT PAR. At the original price, no discounts or premiums.

54. Woolly rug: SHAG.

56. Far from titillating: TAME. Not graphic (1A).

57. Recorded on film: SHOT.

58. Key figure in epistemology: KANT. Immanuel.  Philosophy, the study of knowledge and justified belief. If you want to immerse yourself...

59. Eyelid nuisance: STYE.

61. Japanese capital of yore: EDO. Tokyo today.

62. Quandary: FIX. With "in a".


Al

85 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - Wow. This was one tough puzzle for me - I think I had more unknowns than knowns. For example, seriously, did anyone know that 'Silesia' was in 'Wroclaw's region'? And theme answers that just stop - very tricky.

I did enjoy the difficulty of today's puzzle and it took me a while to complete it because I needed lots of help. Too many stumbling blocks to mention, but I do question 'tsk' as meaning impatience -- to me it's a sound someone makes when they see something wrong. And I loved the 'when two hands meet' clue; there were very clever clues throughout.

Al, just a great, educational write-up today - in particular, I never knew the derivation of 'gerrymandering'.

Today in addition to Cinco de Mayo, is Oyster Day and National Hoagie Day.

Did You Know?:

- The avocado is indigenous to Central America and, because of its shape, derives its name from the Aztec word ahuacatl -- meaning "testicle".

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

This one started out extremely difficult for me, due primarily to the large number of wrong answers I initially put into the grid. Some of those wrong answers were perfectly understandable (POPUP instead of BLOOP at 12D, for example), but others really came OUTTA left field, let me tell you! Like putting IBIS for 1D. Yes, IBIS is a bird with no horns, obviously, but I got it confused with IBEX, which does have horns. Of course, it should have been ELKS...

Anyway, I did that throughout the puzzle until I finally got to the theme reveal at 60A. I figured that out pretty quickly, and was then able to go back and fill in the long theme answers very easily once I figured out we were looking for phrases ending with HAT. And that took care of most of my mistakes in short order and allowed me to sprint to the finish. There were some unknowns, like SILESIA, ELLIE and ROXETTE, but the perps took care of those.

Hahtoolah said...

Good morning friends. Ouch! This was really tough for me. The theme clues (or most others, for that matter) didn't come Instantly to me!

I initially wanted Clap for When Two Hands Meet, but NOON is a much better answer.

The only book by ECO that I have read was The Name of the Rose. I am familiar with his other works, so knew to put his name in 46-A.

QOD: Marriage is nature's way of keeping us from fighting with strangers. ~ Alan King

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - Hand up for 'tsk' meaning something wrong, rather than impatience. Had a lot of trouble in that section of the puzzle anyway, having known neither KANT nor ROXETTE.

I studied a lot of advanced math as a Physics major, but at this great remove, I'll be darned if I can remember a cotangent - a tangent, sure, but not a cotangent. Getting rusty!

Never heard of Wroclaw or SILESIA. Luckily, I caught on to the theme early, and benefitted from those long solid fills. Had TALK THROUGH YOUR for a while, paralyzing the east. Feeling grateful to Al for shining a light on all the dark spots!

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning. Ditto to Dennis' comment. Man, oh, man. This was tough!!!!!!

Got the theme before some of the other not well known clues/answers.

I think I'm just going to go and have a hoagie (a sub or grinder for Barry and me) smothered in oyster sauce.

Umberto Eco and Foucault's Pendulum.

Have a great Thursday.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

This was not a DNF, it was a never got started. This puzzle instantly kicked me from one side of the room to the other.

I'll place the blame on too much else going on around here these days.

I'm not big on Cinco de Mayo, don't like oysters, Dennis took avocado's out of my food court, so I'll have a Hoagie for lunch.

Happy Thursday

Tinbeni said...

Al, Very informative write-up.

First off, 1-D looked to me like "Homed Game" in my paper. Ergo, my first WTH (WTF!) moment.

Never saw the movie "Up" or heard of the Atwood novel.

Fave was "Ex claim" ALIMONY.
Figured "When two hands meet?" was NOON since 'midnight' wouldn't fit. (Actually, that was one of my few gimmies).

I do these in "Paper and Pen" (therefore no "red-letter" help) and since I never caught on to the 'themes' ... jeez what a mess.
The Rorschact people tell me my "Ink-Blot Test" does look like EROTICA.

Yup, Dennis, I knew SILESIA from studies of European history.

But all-in-all ... another DNF.

Tears ...

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.

Wonderful, informative write-up today, Al! Thanks for all the hard work.

This puzzle was difficult, but doable for me, because I got lucky and guessed at KEEP IT UNDER YOUR via perps. So I knew the other theme answers would also be missing a hat.

I did have many of the same stumbling blocks as others:
Didn’t know Roger REES, even though I was an avid “Cheers” fan.

Like many songs for me, I knew the tune and lyrics, but had no idea that “Listen to your Heart” was performed by ROXETTE.

Didn’t know Marilyn HORNE – why not Lena? (Oh yeah, it’s Thursday!)

I am more familiar with ECO’s “The Name of the Rose” and “Foucault’s Pendulum”. His latest book, “The Prague Cemetary”, is on my reading list.

I read 58D as “episiotomy” at first. DUH.

Have a great day, everyone!

Jacel said...

This was a very difficult puzzle due to having lots of unknown names & places. I caught on to the puzzle's theme. I figured out that the word "hat" was missing by the time I got to "wear more than one ___".

I had no trouble with the math terms or foreign words, but I had to turn on the red letters for the names.

My favorites were "when two hands meet" & "one doing a lot of riding." Very tricky. Also, I liked "algebra" following "erotica".

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those of us in the Southwest.

Husker Gary said...

Al, Julian, C.C., et al. Wow! A helpful theme that took a while to find (worked puzzle from bottom up) and 4 grid spanners! Coupled with an informative write-up - I am not worthy, I am not worthy! Once I got hooked, the first tee had to wait and I got a hard earned “got ‘er done!”

Musings
-Didn’t know I knew but got – KANT, ROXETTE, ALLA, SILESIA, ARROZ, LEXICAL, ECO, ICI, REES – part of the elegance of this puzzle!
-Idiot Atlanta Brave Roger McDowell gave in to a NEEDLER in Dodger game last week! It’ll cost him dearly!
-I taught homeoSTASIS for years. Our bodies would be in a world of hurt without it.
-Granddaughter quoted this line from UP to my wife, “Go ahead grandma, you’re elderly!”
-I initially balked at plural of elkS
-That use of WOLF seems dated but came easily
-I don’t know the record for showing Bill Nye videos, but I have to have made the top 10. They are great!
-Speaking of atPAR…

Husker Gary said...

Tinman, a funny Rorschach joke –

A man goes to a psychiatrist. To start things off, the psychiatrist suggests they start with a Rorschach test. He holds up the first picture and asks the man what he sees.

"A man and a woman making love in a park," the man replies.

The psychiatrist holds up the second picture and asks the man what he sees. "A man and a woman making love in a boat."

He holds up the third picture. "A man and a woman making love at the beach." This goes on for the rest of the set of pictures; the man says he sees a man and a woman making love in every one of the pictures.

At the end of the test, the psychiatrist looks over his notes and says, "It looks like you have a preoccupation with sex."

And the man replies, "Well, you're the one with the dirty pictures."

Anonymous said...

Put Armenia in for Silesia; should have looked it up. Missed
all the fun and DNF. Appreciate
having this blog to refer to very much. Thanks all.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I had to take a DNF on this one. My excuse? I have that dentist appointment at 8:10, so I have to be on the road by 7:10. It's a good excuse and true, but I might have been in the same FIX anyway. The STASIS and SILESIA pile, along with ELLIE were my undoing.

Al, thanks for the HAT explanations. I did finish the theme phrases, and (Finally!!) figured out what Julian Lim was going for.

I've been reading The Paris Wife, a novel about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley. The author always speaks of the TORERO, never a MATADOR. It seems that MATADOR is used only in English.

That's it for now. See you all later.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Al, a terrific write-up with lots of good information. Thanks.

A tough one for me but I resolved to try real hard not to use Mr. G. I thought SILESIA was a good guess because I somehow remembered the German word 'Breslau' for Wroclaw and the campaigns of Frederick the Great as Al's Wiki reference mentions. The bottom filled in first, then the NE. Finally KEEP IT UNDER YOUR hat fell and the NW came home. At first I had 'avert' and 'shot' for SKIRT and SHOT, but the perps squared that away - the only two Wite® Outs needed. The rest was patience, coffee and a high fiber English muffin. I like the Elbridge GERRY (gerrymandering) clue. Other unknowns like RUR were gotten from the perps. No searches needed.

Have a good day.

Tinbeni said...

Husker Gary;
Thanks for a Great Joke !!!

It is an "oldie but a goody."

Lately I think "my mind must be somewhere else" (obviously not on the constructor's wave-length) as I've had more DNF's in the last month than the previous whole year.

Thought about trying them on the computer.
But the "Red-letter help" would take away from MY solving experience.

(And I know I would fall into that temptation ... and then think I was getting better doing these grids).

Grumpy 1 said...

Ouch!!! This one kicked me hard! I finally got enough perps to see the unifier and then the partials that I had for the theme entries made sense. Do I get partial credit for getting the theme? I had Vous instead of Nous and Meddler instead of Needler, didn't know Silesia, Roxette or Kant and just couldn't straighten out the mess. Had a total of nine wrong or missing letters when I finally cried UNCA!

NOON, GERRY, and ARROZ were givens, but I just couldn't spot ANDES, which should have been obvious.

Anyone else notice how nicely Siberia fits into 22a? I was sure it was wrong because of A LULL so kept looking for something else.

J Hill said...

Quite difficult for me - one misnomer on the clues. Elk and other deer have antlers, not horns.

Argyle said...

Incredible! Another Thursday full of WAG's and I still got "Congratulations" on the last fill. It is probably more due to the prowess of the constructor than the solver.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Julian Lim for an interesting, yet difficult puzzle. After all, it is Thursday.

Thank you Al, for the very comprehensive and learned explanations - I learned a lot today - and isn't that what this blog is really for ? Your curiosity and deep desire to ferret out the facts and pursue the truth are much appreciated.

Re: Silesia - I read the Wiki article and feel sorry for the ancient peoples who lived in a land with no natural obstacles - no mountains, no seas or oceans or rivers etc. They were frequently conquered and reconquered and every new regime brought about mass slaughter, forced displacements and untold misery. They were probably God's 'unchosen' people.

kazie said...

Glad to see you all found this difficult too. After three weeks away, I thought I must just be rusty, but as I'm not alone, I feel better. Bad idea to start on a Thursday, I guess.

Al, my HAT's off to you--my impression is reconfirmed: you're a genius!

I won't make detailed puzzle comments, since I really only got the bottom completed properly. But what is interesting to me is that we've recently discovered my husband's family has connections in the Wroclaw area of Silesia, whence our branch had moved to the area where my son and d-i-l now reside, and thence some went north and eventually made it here some time in the 1860's.

Have a nice day everyone. I'm still regaining my equilibrium here.

Anonymous said...

... to say that he was unarmed, is not correct. After all, he had perfect use of his two strong, natural arms - and when he saw the intruders, he instinctively used his two arms to reach for his deadliest weapon - which was at that time, unfortunately ( for him ), a dead weapon, because he had carelessly forgotten to take his double dose of Viagra, that morning ...

- briefing notes, according to The Manchester Guardian.( ibid. 4/4/2011)

Argyle said...

How many of you have analog watches? Let's see a show of hands.

JD said...

Good morning Al, C.C. and all,

Wow! Al, what a fabulous write up.I could not make heads or tails (or hats) out of Julian's expert xwd.It's a sad day when all of my WAGS were wrong even with red letter help. Sigh.

I agree with Al, do see Up; have tissues ready.

Dennis, mmm,avocados ...always a favorite.

Treading water said...

Dennis: I`ll never see guacamole in quite the same light, again!

"Speculative" fiction in deed. I would have used the term "probable!"

Great job and informative,Al.

While we genuinely sympathize with the mid-west, let us not forget that Kaintuck had all this first.

Spitzboov said...

Argyle: Analog; 56 yrs old. Recently bought an analog ship's clock. Sic transit gloria.

Zcarguy said...

I've always wondered why my wife looks at me with dreamy eyes when she's eating Avocados...!!

eddyB said...

Hello.

Great write-up.
Paper and pencil guy here. If I really get stuck, I'll peek at the answer sheet.
Would be very surprised if most people didn't have an analog watch around. They were easier to reset when flying through different time zones.
SJ doing it the hard way. Another
come from behind OT win. How can someone not love hockey?
Tampa Bay must be tired of playing.
Took 4 in a row.
Take care.

Hahtoolah said...

Argyle: my watch actualy has 3 hands - hour, minute, and second.

Dennis said...

Not quite as long as Spitzboov, but the same watch for 23 years -- my wedding gift, a Rolex Oyster Perpetual.

Kaz, welcome back.

anon@9:47, what part of the crossword are you referring to?

Watchman said...

My Mickey Mouse analog watch ( knock off, Made in China ) also has three hands, two - both of Mickey's arms, and the third one - ?

kazie said...

Thanks Dennis. It's good to be home, despite the joy of being with my kids.

After taking the time to thoroughly read comments, I'll add that I have never owned a digital watch, though most of our clocks are of that persuasion. My analog watch is only a youngster though-- about 15 years old, bought in Mainz, with the day part of the date alternating English and German. When I get a new battery, the local jewelers always squint at the German, expecting Spanish, I suppose.

Jeannie said...

I was in the same boat as Hondo, except I did manage to suss out the theme when I skipped to the unifer clue, and got keep it under your hat. Also learned some more French with Ici and nous. Let’s see if I can retain it though. Unknowns were Silesia, lexical, and Kant. It also didn’t help that I have never heard of the Roxette’s. I finally have a baseball term that I like….bloop! To me this seemed more like a Saturday puzzle than a Thursday.
The best part of my puzzle experience was reading your blog Al. I always learn something new from you. I especially like the information on how Pez was named.

I broke a tooth last weekend and found out it is unsavable….off to the oral surgeon next Tuesday.

I knew there was a reason I loved guacamole! In honor of Cinco de Mayo I think I’ll have some!

Treading water: said...

Dennis: Point taken. I had not
done the puzzle...was referring to your info on the avocado.

Lucina said...

Greetings, Al, C.C. and all! Thank you, AL, for your always thorough explanations.

Julian, I love you and I want to marry you! This was a wonderful puzzle, slow but steady, had to hop around and SKIRT but gradually had enough pickets to complete the fence.

Luckily, there were enough knowns like ARROZ, NYE, EDYS, KANT, ANDES, TALE, GERRY etc., etc. to then WAG my way THROUGH the long fill. One glitch was FIX; I originally had RONETTE and never went back to change FIN.

I must say I gasped audibly at ELKS because that is on the same in plural and singular list.

I agree, UP is a lovely movie.

Before I go ONANDON and exceed 20, I'll just say when two hands meet, NOON was my fav, too.

Hand up for analog watch bought seven years ago in Portugal.

Eddy: don't digital watches change automatically by satellite as do cell phones?

Happy Thursday and Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

Lucina said...

Kazie:
Welcome back! You have been missed.

Al:
I, too, thank you for the PEZ explanation; had not known that nor about wolf's historic evolution in meaning.

There is so much learning here!

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

Kazie & Marti,
Welcome home!

Lucina,
Marriage? Wow, the power of dropping the hat!

Hungry Mother said...

Had to leave this one for a while and go out and run and ride my bike. When I came back in, it started to make sense and I was able to finally finish it after lunch. Very nice theme.

Husker Gary said...

Argyle, I’ve had a digital watch for over 25 years. I use the stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm and calculator on it as often as would befit a geek like I (how ‘bout that grammar?). Telling kids in my physics lab to position a device “at ten o’clock” sometimes got me very quizzical looks!

C.C., I appreciate your answer to my nostalgia question but the second part of the question was inquiring whether TV is as prevalent in China as it is here and did your childhood have any Howdy Doody, Captain Kangaroo or Sesame Street equivalents?

HeartRx said...

Welcome back, Kazie! I'm with you - it is always nice to return home, no matter how much fun the vacation was.

Dennis, my favorite watch is a Ladies Rolex Oyster, given to me as an anniversary gift by my late husband on our 20th.

WIth all this talk about avocados, I am positively salivating....

Jayce said...

Argyle, my hand is up; I wear an analog watch.

Lucina said...

C.C.:
LOL! Actually, I love all our constructors (think bigamy) especially when I have a good time solving a puzzle without looking up anything. This one was a romp.

fermatprime said...

Good afternoon all,

Quite a challenging puzzle! Cheated and looked up SILESIA. Entertaining puzzle, Julian; very interesting and intelligent write-up, Al.

Favorite answers: ALGEBRA and KANT. ROXETTE was filled in by perps.

Kazie--Welcome home!

Douglas Adams was not a fan of digital watches! Neither am I!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Well I actually was able to solve this one without having to look anything up, but it was a fun challenge! Loved the clever cluing and the misdirection, which were Thursday-difficult and emminently fair. Well played, Messrs. Lim and Norris!

Once again Barry G has eloquently expressed his experiences with the puzzle, and because mine are substantially the same I won't repeat.

I have fond memories of our family sometimes working as a team to make hoagies in my unca's kitchen. I would slather mine with lots and lots of olive oil. Apparently it was not de rigeur to use mayonnaise or butter, only olive oil to moisten the roll.

More later maybe.

fermatprime said...

Wow! It's a good thing that I always hit command A and then command C (non-Mac user's use control key instead?) before previewing last effort! In preview, the name of my friend Harvey came up instead of fermat! I gather that was because I was checking out his gmail for him last night! When I went to change the name it naturally wiped out everything!

Jeannie said...

I meant to tell you welcome back Kazie! It’s nice to have my solving partner back as we generally are on the same wavelength when it comes to the puzzles.

Bill G. said...

This might have been a DNF for me except for switching to red letters about halfway through. Fun puzzle though.

Hey Husker Gary, I was wondering why I hadn't heard of the Roger McDowell incident. So I Googled it. Turns out it was the Giants, not the Dodgers.

Yes I have an electronic analog watch. It keeps fantastic time, accurate to about one second a month. My son got it years ago as an award from FedEx for safe driving. He didn't want it (not cool enough?) so I fogied it up with an expansion band from my late father. The analog display makes much more sense to my brain than a digital display. I doubt that anybody has a more accurate timekeeper unless it's a digital watch that sets itself once a day from a radio signal.

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

Late in the day for me, but I had to stop by and say that this one seemed to go ON AND ON for me, staring at empty squares....

HAN SOLO was easy for me, and I am glad it was - that's what helped me WAG the unifier, and tHAT gave me something to work with on the other theme answers.

Should have gone with my instincts, too - I had STASIS, ANDES, SO-SO (I had pop-up, too), and GERRY, but took them out.

That's two days in a row with a brain-bender - it's good for me.



Splynter

Grumpy 1 said...

Zcarguy said...
I've always wondered why my wife looks at me with dreamy eyes when she's eating Avocados...!!

That's certainly better than seeing her with a look of glee in her eyes as she drops a couple of them into the blender...

I wear a watch with hands.. lot's of them.. since it has stopwatch and calendar functions built in. I also have a large analog clock on the patio. The second hand jumps one second at a time like our old school clocks did. This one self synchronizes to the National Bureau of Standards atomic clock so I never worry about setting it.

Mainiac said...

Afternoon All,

My butt got kicked by this one. I was pecking away for quite awhile this AM filling in the themes. But Talk Trough Ones Ass is the phrase I'm more familiar with rather than Hat. Threw me off but finally the themes all fell with outside help. Have to agree with JHill, Elk wear antlers. Tough but fun.

Rainy and grey again here but its really greening the lawns up. Buds have just started to pop. Hope to see some clearing tomorrow.

Going to sign up my oldest for driver's ed tonight. Egads!!! Wicked scary!

Jayce said...

fermatprime, absolutely! Good idea to copy all of what you have typed before clicking on Preview, just in case something like what happened to you happens. It has become a habit with me.

Welcome back, kazie. May you regain your equilibrium soon.

Husker Gary said...

Bill G, oops you are right! The Dodgers had a man severely beaten in their parking lot last month and it was in San Francisco where McDowell made his ill-advised remarks. When you get paid the big money, you keep your mouth shut!

Rashard Mendenhall not only made a costly fumble in the Super Bowl, he “tweeted” something that was probably not that well-advised and he might be on the hot seat. You can say whatever you want, but there might be consequences.

kazie said...

Thank you to all who made me feel good to be back. Jeannie, I think you did considerably better than I did on today's xw, but I'll work on getting back into it.

My equilibrium is further unbalanced by the amount of newsletter editoring stuff I received during my absence and simply parked in my email folders awaiting my return. They all have a special file to go to, I just have to get them there. Also by the housework which I need to do--I can't blame DH for not keeping up, since he works long hours and I procrastinate with it at the best of times.

I'm presenting a Powerpoint this evening on my Oz trip last year, and now I have over 700 more pix of Germany to go through next, some of which my d-i-l took. Give her a camera and she goes wild!

Dudley said...

My daily watch is analog, my trusty 1984 Seiko.

As a sideline, I maintain the clock systems in a few elementary schools. A librarian at one such school wondered aloud why I even bothered to fine tune the analog clock in her room; she said the kids nowadays have no idea how to read it. I was stunned.

kazie said...

Dudley,
My response would have been: "Why don't you teach them as part of the library orientation each year?"

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, when I do a lot of riding, I'm a Peddler. I didn't get Needler so Apdes for Andes was a "Huh"? I knew that Germany was next door to Luxomburg, but put in GDR. Looked right. Right?

With my trusty Crossword Dictionary I did get almost all of the other answers to some very clever clues. I especially liked, When two hands meet--Noon not clap!

I didn't know the Author for "The Island of the Day Before"/Eco, or Cheers actor Roger Rees. Those I had to Google.

With persistence I finally did finish everything, but it took me part of my morning time during breakfast and again at my lunch hour. I always feel especially rightous, though, when I do complete a puzzle that presented a challenge. This one certainly did.

Anonymous said...

Chickie, when you do a lot of riding, you're a 'pedaler'.

creature said...

Hey all,

Lost my post for today. Don’t know why. It wanted to paste in yesterday’s post.

Welcome back, Kazie. It feels good to ‘see’ you. Sounds as if you need a break from your break.
We’ve all been there.

Al, thanks for gerrymander and for ALIMONY banter-funny and all the rest.

Julian, thanks for your challenging puzzle. Theme was creative and very original.

I’ll try this out.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Chickie said...

My watch is an analog.

My MIL gave me my FIL's pocket watch which he received for HS graduation. I was to have it repaired and give it to my husband for Christmas. A thief broke into the watch repair shop and took many watches, ours among them. The watch shop owner visited local Pawn shops, found most of the watches, and ours was returned. This all happened before Christmas so my husband recieved his gift with a long story attached.

Trying to teach time to children is a chore. Our math book had both analog and digital pictures to show the same time. This helped some, but many children had only digital clocks at home. Does anyone remember those big yellow, red and blue Judy clocks that were in almost every classroom? Ours got a LOT of use.

Kazie, Welcome back. You were missed.

Chickie said...

Anonymous, I know that pedaler is correct, but peddler fit, so I left it. I did finally put in Needler, but not before that mistake was made. Thanks for the reminder.

Lucina said...

Dudley:
There was a time when clock reading was diligently taught in the primary grades but now I suspect, with most clocks being digital, it might be deemed unnecessary along with cursive writing.

I'll have to check with friends on that.

Dennis said...

Lucina, Dudley et al, my friend who owns a couple restaurants in the area tells me that he's had more than one high school graduate waitress who couldn't read an analog clock. Absolutely amazing.

eddyB said...

Hi.

Lucina. The early digital watches
(60s-70s) had to be reset by hand.
East to West was the big problem.
Digits had to be reset up to 21 hours.
The analog clock on my desk is a replica of an aircraft altimeter.
Got it at the Nut Tree Rest. a long time ago.
I just set the digital clock to AZ time untill a new signal comes from Ft Collins,CO.(RE: PST vs PDT).
You are correct about the computer and cell phone. They have a GPS chip.

Grumpy 1 said...

Tell today's kids that the time is a quarter 'til seven and many will have no idea what time it is.

thehondohurricane said...

Since we are talking about reading, a few years back I enrolled in a Creative Writing Class at a local Community College. The Prof would break us into groups of four or five and we would critique each others work. In one of my groups a young student wrote "it wasn't worth ten sense...". I corrected the error and pointed it out, explaining the proper spelling was cents. The student, who was by no means a dope, wasn't aware of the word cents.

My question.... is the emphasis on computer usage doing this much damage to today's youth in their basic education? That moment was a real eye opener for me.

Anonymous said...

thought the puzzle sucked especially for a thursday!

Clear Ayes said...

Jeannie@11:58, sorry about your tooth problem. I hope your dental procedure goes as well as my root canal today. My jaw is sore from two hours of having it propped open, but no pain in the tooth at all.

Welcome back, Kazie. I'm glad to hear you had a wonderful visit.

For "everyday", I've had a $20 Timex analog for about 10 years. I've also got a 25 year old Seiko that still runs just fine.

fermatprime, have you read Eion Colfer's "And Another Thing", the authorized sixth installment of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series?

to Jaycee too, I always highlight and copy before I preview. I finally learned after losing posts more than once.

Grumpy@2:46 LOL! re; avocados.

California does have the advantage of being avocado country. We won't have a salad without them....delish!

Anonymous said...

1Down should have said antlered game as they are not horns on an Elk lol

windhover said...

Re: watches
I own three watches; one Waltham I got for high school graduation, which is in a drawer somewhere, but I haven't seen it for 25 years, the second a pocket watch I got from my Dad, I don't carry it because it's a family heirloom (from his dad) and I'd lose it. Third one is a cheap pocket watch I bought to save the first. Don't have any idea where it is.
Long story short: most of the time I have no idea what time it is, sometimes, what day. We run on sun time at Windhover, and haven't set an alarm more than half a dozen times in 15 years.
I can check the time on the iPhone, most of the time I either don't need to know or I ask the Irish. But she doesn't own a watch as far as I know, and never has.
"Does anybody know what time it is, does anybody really care?" Chicago, I think.

Dennis said...

eddyB, I have the same aircraft altimeter clock hanging in my office at home.

WH, what a refreshing way to live. How many hours of sleep do you average?

windhover said...

Dennis:
This time of year I get around 7 hours, later in the summer that will be 61/2. In the winter I get 8-8 1/2. We really do live by the sun. The bedroom window faces East, and first light wakes us both up, year around.
For 30 years, roughly 20-50, I equated less sleep with more living, and got by on 5-5 1/2 hours, and sometimes as little as 4. At about age 50, I decided that I really would like to be an old man, and changed my lifestyle accordingly. I'm still waiting for "the wisdom that comes with age" to kick in, but I have learned a couple of things.

For all of you that have asked or expressed concern, although we live 2 miles from the Kentucky River, our farm is about 300 feet higher in elevation than the river valley, so we've had no problem. We did have some close calls with wind recently; a tornado passed within a few miles. After a close call soon after moving here, we dug and poured a concrete storm cellar. It's 8' x 16', 8" thick walls and roof, over 1000' of rebar. We don't hesitate to go there.

Joseph Smith said...

Are there no Mormons on this blog?

Dennis said...

Joseph, why do you ask?

Joseph Smith said...

Thought Al's comment about Book of Mormon was funny, thought others wouldn't.

Joseph Smith said...

Thought Al's comment about Book of Mormon was funny, thought others wouldn't.

windhover said...

Looks like you thought it was double funny!

lois said...

Good evening? Al, CC, et al., This puzzle was an outstanding, magnificent, stupendous exercise in futility. It makes me really appreciate the relatively painless days when I merely get my fingernails ripped off one by one and boil implants in sensitive areas. I'm surprised my eyes aren't bleeding, but maybe Mr. Lim is saving those effects for another fun puzzle. I hope he includes a spanking as well. Now THAT should be fun!

Al, a most outstanding write up. Thank you. Really enjoyed it. I agree, you are a genius!

LOL at the history of avocados. Thanks, Dennis. No wonder I find them delicious, succulent, and pure ambrosia, esp w/a good hard squirt of lime. Oh my!!! I have to resort to controlled breathing techniques when those great testicles come as guacamole. Makes my breasticles shimmy and shake like holy moly!

Argyle: I have several analog watches, none of which work, so I wear nothing. Like WH, I use my cell phone for everything. Plus I love how it vibrates.

WH: I'm so glad to know you have a storm cellar. I want one here now.

Welcome back, Kazie. It's good to see you again.

Enjoy your night.

kazie said...

More thanks for the welcomes that came later.

Funny thing about time. I had to teach analog time in German and French to kids who couldn't do it in English. One class I had helped make a lot of analog clockfaces out of paper plates and cut out hands we attached with those push-pins that have the spreadable legs to push through--I don't know what they're called. Anyway I used them for years afterwards.

Germans have a habit of making things even more complex: 10:30 is 'halb elf' (half eleven), so if they want to say 10:40 in Saxony, they'll say 'zehn nach halb elf' (ten after half eleven), or 'zehn vor halb elf' for 10:20. Try teaching that to American kids!

Grumpy 1 said...

@ Kazie, are those "Lois pins"??

JD said...

Kazie, welcome back! I just love all the extra tid bits you add to the blog.BTW, those things are called brads, I think. I did the same thing, except I was teaching 6th graders how to open their lockers, using paper plates. It is such a big deal and very frustrating for most of them.

Jeannie said...

I am not happy with the tooth fairy. I have decided that the procedure they want me to go through is bogus and just want a bunch of money I don't have. I just made an appointment with a endodonitist that specializes in root canals. It seems that my WAY back molar (that has been filled and re-filled) has a cavity that can't be filled again. I say take that tooth, do a root canal on the other and save roughly $2000.00. They see me coming at the dentist, mainly because I hate them, are deafly afraid of them, and am not a regular customer. I know, I know. They are right up there with June Bugs (any bugs), spiders and SNAKES.

I am not sure how I can thread a worm or a leech on a hook, but those I can do. Maybe I like the water and eating fresh caught fish.

Kazie...I was a DNF today.

Watch...2002 Seiko; 40th birthday present complete w/hands from my parents.....still tickin' away. I've only had to change the battery recently in all these years.

Dennis....enjoyed some guac tonight. It was great!

Jeannie said...

That wasn't a typo folks...I wished I could be deafly afraid of them...hate the drill sound...you know I meant deathly. Give me a break you anons...it's been a tramatic day for me. I hate to admit it, but I actually cried in the chair today :( I feel really stupid admitting it after what CA went through with her broken tooth and everything else in the last year or two, but there it is.

Thanks for listening.

Lucina said...

Frenchie:
From last night: neither one. Flotation device comes to mind.

lois said...

Grumpy 1: LOL - your charm is making my knees weak.

curtjester1 said...

I go with the Dud, on 56 across. Impatient sounds are not TSKS as they are something of a concerning address and has nothing to do with time. I had PSTS, which, well isn't exactly right either, but thought it could be time-related as it might be an interruption of sorts. CJ

Treading water: said...

When I was fifteen, I had my first job. I bought a Seiko (21 jewel, I think) anolog watch with numbers only at 12, 3, 6 and 9. It had three diamonds at the top and one at the bottom, tear drop shaped face and crystal. I put it in a drawer when it stopped running but later I let a jeweler put a quartz movement in it...took my old tennis bracelet (remember those?)and put a jacket on it had it made into a band. Now I have a watch I have to list on my insurance! I also have to mail it to another town in Kentucky to have repairs done because hardly anyone works on that type watch anymore!