google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday July 17, 2011 John R. Conrad

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Jul 17, 2011

Sunday July 17, 2011 John R. Conrad

Theme: Wi-Fi Interference - Wi is replaced by Fi in each familiar phrase.

24A. Angler's daydream? : (W)FISHFUL THINKING

33A. Participate in a food fight? : FLIP ONE'S (W)FIG. The first letter F shouldn't be bothersome, as the theme is Wi to Fi conversion. Same with the extra Fs in 83A and 82D.

51A. Ophthalmologist's diagnosis? : EYE(W)FITNESS NEWS

83A. Auto design now, vis-à-vis the 1950s? : NO - (W)FIN SITUATION

101A. Offshore WBA venue? : ISLE OF (W)FIGHT

111A. Round up a passel of stoolies? : CATCH FORTY (W)FINKS. I like "a passel of" description.

4D. Bulldozer specification? : (W)FILL POWER

82D. Unrestrained Kentucky Derby entrant? : FREE (W)FILLY

Not familiar with John R Conrad. Cruciverb shows he had 2 puzzles with LA Times in 2006. Welcome back!

I like the theme. Grokked the gimmick earlier on. When I read the title, I thought some Fi's will be changed to Wi's, some Wi's will be changed to Fi's. That would be a little chaotic, but more fun. Yes?

Across:

1. Cram : STUFF. First thought: JAM IN

6. "Forget it, I'm just ranting" : IGNORE ME. Didn't come to me readily.

14. Rub : ABRADE

20. Nobelist Curie : MARIE

21. Finely worked fabrics : BROCADES. Like this. Bill G's wife should know something about that fabric.

22. Daytime TV fare : SOAPER

23. Slant : ANGLE

26. Adler of the stage : STELLA. Not familiar with this name. Would be great if it's clued as "A Streetcar Named Desire" related, since we also have 75A. Kowalski portrayer : BRANDO (Marlon) in the grid. Stanley Kowalski.

28. __ Tomé : SAO

29. Rial spender : OMANI

30. Door fastener : HASP

31. N, in many org. names : NATL

39. Ending with switch : EROO. Switcheroo. And 88A. Ranch ending : ERO. Ranchero.

40. Second: Abbr. : ASST

41. Amount to make do with : LESS. Tricky clue.

42. Have a party, say : HOST

43. Implemented, as an idea : RAN WITH

45. Subatomic particle : MUON. This word just looks so wrong.

46. Hot thing on a horse? : TIP. Oh, horse racing.

49. '90s Indian prime minister : RAO. No idea. I do know Rai though, as in the stunning Aishwarya Rai. It seems that Rai, Rao and Raja are all variants of some royal surname.

50. Jawbreaker rock genre : EMO

55. Guru's residence : ASHRAM

58. Dotted line, at times: Abbr. : PERF

59. Delights : ELATES

60. Pacific Coast, e.g.: Abbr. : HWY

61. Whirl : GYRATE

63. How author Charles Reade is named? : APTLY. We've seen this clue before.

65. Cardinal : MAIN. What did you have in mind when reading the clue?

68. Sneak : SIDLE

70. Yeses, to Yves : OUIs.

71. Corporate identifier : LOGO

72. Bête __ : NOIRE

73. Shrek, e.g. : OGRE

74. Vaughan Williams contemporary : HOLST (Gustave). "The Planets" composer. Nailed it, Jayce?

77. Enforcers, with "the" : LAW

78. Amplified : ON MIKE

80. "The X-Files" org. : SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence)

81. Compensate for : OFFSET

87. "__ the fields ..." : O'ER

89. Verb addition? : OSE. Verbose.

90. Salacious stuff : SMUT

91. It's tapped to make syrup : TREE SAP

95. Natural successor : HEIR

97. Go over hastily : SCAN

98. Kick (out) : DRUM

100. Jennifer of "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) : EHLE. Total stranger. How do you pronounce Ehle?

105. Bit : IOTA

106. Minnesota __ : FATS

107. Way through a fence : STILE

108. Apple for the teacher? : MAC. Why? Teachers mostly use Mac?

109. __ training : TOILET

118. Loud noise : BLARE

119. Dance in 3/4 time : MINUET

120. Aromatic : REDOLENT

121. "__ Nothin'": "Oklahoma!" song : ALL ER

122. Main road : ARTERY

123. Evaluated : ASSESSED

124. Twosomes : DYADs

Down:

1. Lollapalooza : SMASHER. Lollapalooza is a strange word.

2. Clarion blast : TANTARA

3. Pushes : URGES ON

5. React emotionally to : FEEL

6. Pugilists' org. : IBF (International Boxing Federation)

7. Mill inputs : GRISTs

8. Dietary restriction : NO SALT

9. Figura de __: Spanish ice-skater's move : OCHO. Figure eight.

10. Churchill's "so few": Abbr. : RAF

11. End of a dean's address : EDU

12. Brooks of "The Producers" : MEL

13. Bars at the bar : ESTOPS. Do you actually use this in your work, Lemonade/Hahtool?

14. Mongolian, e.g. : ASIAN

15. "__ chance, Monsieur!" : BONNE

16. Debonair : RAKISH

17. Bee: Pref. : API

18. Animal house : DEN. I've never seen "Animal House".

19. 0.0000001 joules : ERG. I bet constructor/Rich and his test-solvers had to check twice to make sure they got the right numbers of 0.

25. Med. care provider : HMO

27. Gray area? : ANATOMY

32. __ Wednesday : ASH

33. Lightweight news story, say : FLUFF

34. First of 13 popes : LEO I

35. "__ It Romantic?" : ISN'T

36. Roman war galley features : FORESAILS

37. Witness's words : I SAW. And 47. Words to an old chap : I SAY

38. Classic Pontiacs : GTOs

44. Candidate's concern : IMAGE

45. Least palpable, as a touch : MEREST

46. Expose : TELL ON

48. L.A. hours : PST

51. Shoulder ornament : EPAULET. I can never spell this word correctly.

52. Nepalese legends : YETIs

53. Bottom line : NET GAIN

54. Fictional captain who is the son of a raja : NEMO. Inferable.

55. "Gotcha!" : AH SO

56. Draft : SWIG

57. Swift watercraft : HYDROFOIL New word to me.

62. Novice : ROOKIE

63. Even though : ALBEIT

64. Brazil's __ Alegre : PORTO

66. "Dies __": hymn : IRAE

67. Small salamander : NEWT

69. Director Riefenstahl : LENI. Always associate her with Hitler.

72. Like some credit cards : NO FEE

74. Blow off steam : HISS

76. Unassertive sort : DOORMAT

79. 6 on a handset : MNO

80. Fall on the set, perhaps : STUNT

83. Dr Pepper Snapple Group brand : NEHI

84. Blast furnace input : OREs

85. Its academy is in New London, Conn. : USCG. Good to know.

86. Asian nursemaid : AMAH

91. "Tsk!" : TUT

92. Clinton cabinet member Donna : SHALALA

93. Didn't leave alone : ALTERED

94. Troubles : PESTERS

96. Get out of trouble : RESCUE

97. Communications word after Romeo : SIERRA. NATO alphabet.

98. Sawyer and Keaton : DIANEs

99. Coach of Notre Dame's "Four Horsemen" : ROCKNE (Knute). Knute is a popular Norwegian name.

102. Additional : OTHER

103. Grant's bill : FIFTY. I don't think I've used a fifty-dollar bill.

104. "Alice" waitress : FLO

108. Wire measures : MILs

110. O.T. book after Amos : OBAD. Stumped me. Obadiah.

111. Nashville-based awards org. : CMA

112. Go public with : AIR

113. Big bang cause : TNT

114. French possessive : TES. Your.

115. Cloth meas. : YDs

116. Them, often : FOE

117. Criterion: Abbr. : STD

Answer grid.

Alright, look at these adorable "Hard to Believe" photos. Tell me who that boy is. He looks so pensive on the first picture. (Added later: It's Splynter.)

C.C.

52 comments:

Lemonade714 said...

This Sunday had many more unknowns for me than most. When we started with SAO and RAO as answers, I kept looking for TAO and HAO, but no such luck. I did enjoy reading and learning about SAO TOME, which coincidentally (?) has its presidential election today. Also, actress Jennifer: EHLE Last name is pronounced "EE-lee, who we have seen in various projects, including Kings Speech has had an interesting career, and is the daughter of actress Rosemary Harris, against whom she once competed for a Tony.
I always hated physics, even if I like Big Bang Theory but I believe MUON comes from a contraction of MU (the Greek letter) MESON, a type of sub-atomic particle.

Thought Gray area: ANATOMY and Amount to make do with: LESS.

We really do use ESTOP, mostly variations of the word, with PROMISSORY ESTOPPEL, and the Affirmative Defense of Estoppel the most frequent usages, though with foreclosures and mortgage confusion, it is also part of Equitable Subrogation, but, hey that’s another story.

Lemonade714 said...

Splynter would be my guess. He was probably calculating some measurement in the first picture.

fermatprime said...

Good morning all!

Nice puzzle. Thanks John R, CC.

Favorites: ...FORTYFINKS, LESS.

No cheating, but what a struggle! (Yesterday was total disaster. Red letters all over the place. Will not live long enough to see PASQUINADE again.)

Loved EHLE and Firth in Pride and Prejudice. Best version ever!

Mammogram OK. (Well, they are only definite a certain amount of time. But I am still happy!)

Nuclear stress test Monday. Anyone ever had one????

Mom SO--Happy belated anniversary!

Cheers!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fun (for the most part) Sunday puzzle with a punny theme. There were only four complete unknowns that I can remember: STELLA, RAO, EHLE (that just looks wrong) and (IBF, which I really wanted to be WBA until WBA showed up in the clue for 101A). As usual, it's primarily proper names that trip me up, but they were all easily gettable via the perps.

Some of the cluing, however, seemed a bit off today. A STILE (107A) is a way over a fence, not through a fence, right? Isn't a SWIG (56) much smaller than a draft? And, while Fox Mulder was certainly searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence in "The X-Files," I don't recall the actual SETI (80A) organization featuring in the show at all.

Ah well, I'm sure I'm just picking nits here.

In other news, I had FANFARE before TANTARA (as always), BLURB before FLUFF and SCRIM before STUNT. That last one made sense at the time, but now I'm not so sure...

Anonymous said...

14. Rub I tried polish.

Can anyone explain why X-Files org is not FBI? What is SETI?


DNF at this point I printed the puzzle out so I may finish later on this afternoon.

Fun Facts By Dave Letterman

Dr. Robert Jarvik invented the world's first artificial heart out of an empty beer can and a corncob pipe.

Applebees is so named because it's founder was stung to death by bees while eating an apple.

Barry G. said...

Red: See my comments, above. SETI stands for Search for ExtraTerrestial Intelligence, and it's an orgnaization that uses radio telescopes to listen for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. While Fox Mulder may have been searching for extraterrestrial intelligence on his own, I don't recall the actual SETI organization playing any sort of role in the show whatsoever.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C., and Friends. I SAY, Old Chap, I rather liked seeing FLUFF and STUFF in the same puzzle.

C.C.: The Apple and teacher reference is a because stereotypically, students give their teachers fresh, ripe apples on the first day of school.

The daughter of a good friend attended the STELLA Adler acting school in New York. She has appeared in some nationally televised adverts.

As Lemonade noted, lawyers do use the term Estop and/or Estoppel in their work.

My favorite clue/answer was Making Do with LESS. That is what my agency is now doing. Basically, it means more work, fewer people.

Sao Tome was a learning experience for me. It's a Portuguese-speaking island nation off the West Coast of Africa.

No idea on the mystery baby.

QOD: Those only are happy who have their mind fixed on some object other than their own happiness. ~ John Stuart Mill

Yellowrocks said...

Fermatprime, congratualtions on your good news.

My puzzle had a misprint at 72A. It read BITE instead of BETE. Huh?? The perps demanded NOIRE so I used it.

108A Most of the schools in the area where we live used MACs, at least while I was teaching.

Barry, I climbed OVER many a STILE hiking in Scotland. A STILE is like two attached ladders. You climb up one ladder to the top and down one ladder on the other side. The purpose is to keep the sheep in while letting walkers out. Scotland also had grates to keep animals from going astray. The slits between the grates would catch their hooves and so they are loathe to cross them.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, C.C. and Sunday solvers. Cute theme, caught on to it early, and managed to get through most of the puzzle without much difficulty. Most of the proper names filled via perps if I didn't know them.

My sticking point was the AHSO,SWIG,SIDLE,LENI area. The exclamation point after the clue 'Gotcha' made me want the stronger 'Ah ha!' or 'Oh Ho!', not the usually rather timid AH SO response. It took forever to cast off 'hID_E' and see SIDLE in spite of having seen it a few times recently.

Agree that we usually think of a STILE as a way over the fence, but then where did the word 'turnSTILE' come from?

Enjoyable solve Mr. Conrad.

Grumpy 1 said...

'Hot on a horse'... Dang! it wasn't Lois!

HeartRx said...

Good Morning C.C. et al.


Thanks for the informative write-up, C.C. I was just reading about MUONs the other day. When I have nothing to do, I browse wiki for articles on particle physics…(If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell.)

Since we just had Holst in yesterday’s clues, I was grateful to have him appear in today’s answers.

I did not remember IBF, so I had filled in wISHFUL THINKING at 24A. When I finally grokked the theme at 33A, I had to go back and slap myself upside the head and change it to FISHFUL…

A fun theme, with a sprinkling of crosswordese, which actually helped in spots. If Mr. Conrad hadn’t given me 39A EROO, 34D LEO I and 86D AMAH, I would have had a harder time getting footholds in those areas.

C.C., those pics are adorable! In the first one, he looks like he is holding a microphone. So are they of Jazzbumpa?

Anonymous said...

Apple makes the "Mac" computer, the "Mackintosh' apple is a favourite in Canada and the apple is traditionally for the teacher.

Lemonade714 said...

The only stile I know is a turnstile, such as are used in subway stations put you through the fence, not over it. The STILE in wikipedia references the Rights of Way in England, and the accomodations made by landowners to protect their land, and still allow local walkers to traverse the property. This was the central plot hook in one of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries

Lemonade714 said...

LINK .

eddy said...

Hi.

Only up for a few hours each day.
So, I have to budget my time.

Mr. Heilman explanes Pasquinade at
the other place. He is an English teacher and teaches The Great
Gatsby.

ferm. You name the test and I've had it. In my case, they injected radioactive Thorium.

It's time to lie down again.

Yellowrocks said...

We spent 2 weeks hiking in Scotland, mostly on public Rights of Way through pastureland. There were many styles of stiles, including those like Lemonade's picture. Some looked like traditional ladders, one going up one side and one going down the other side of the fence. However, they all were basically some form or modification of steps going up and steps going down, even Lemonade's picture. Where we went there were no turnstiles. The grates I spoke of earlier were also accomodations on the public Rights of Way for walkers. and sometimes for vehicles. The purpose of all were to keep the sheep in while letting the hikers pass.

The most memorable stile was the one where we had to stop to don long pants and sweatshirts over our shorts and T-shirts. We started out on a hot August day. In a short time as we went to higher elevations the temperature dropped to 40F and we saw snowflakes in the air. We continued on up in our warmer gear and when we returned to the stile stripped back to shorts and tees.
We spent a delightful 2 weeks in Scotland. The scenery was awesome.

JD said...

Good morning C.C. and all,

Since I am not yet finished with the xwd, it's hard to comment, although there sure are a lot of "huhs?" this morning, like smasher, grist(I had grains)and tantara.I

I can just imagine how long it must have taken to think of all of those words that could be changed and clued into a cute phrase.

Stile was one of the 1st of MANY new words I learned doing the xwd
3 yrs ago.

Dodo, laughed at your "rant" on pasquinade last night!

Ferma, glad your test was clear. I have had a nuclear stress test, and it was not stressful, just took awhile because they test the blood flow to your heart at rest and under stress. They will give you medication instead of making you do the treadmill.

I think that cute little guy is Husker Gary.....

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. This sure was a typical Sunday puzzle: usually easier, IMO, than Saturday, but still challenging. I enjoyed it and was able to solve it without cheating. Enjoyed the theme.

Lemonade, you are right about MUON being a shortened form of Mu Meson; there is also a Pi Meson, shortened to Pion.

C.C., I did nail HOLST, for 2 reasons. (1) I remembered MARS from yesterday, and (2) I had the L and S already filled in from the perps. So maybe I didn't "nail" it in the strictest sense of the word, ie, starting with it blank and filling it in right off the bat.

When reading the clue 'Cardinal' I had in mind the bird or the cleric, as I bet we all did. The Stanford football team entered my mind fleetingly and left it just as quickly.

Loved 'Gray area', and kept trying to squeeze cortex, brain, encephalon, and the like in there.

Husker Gary said...

A hot hello to all! Watching a great golf tournament and doing a fun puzzle – it doesn’t get better than that! It took a while John, but it was a fun trip! Gotta love NOFINSITUATION!

Musings
-Elaine Benes had a coworker that could SIDLE in for credit and SIDLE out of blame!
-If you like SETI, rent Contact for the first half of the movie!
-Jackie Gleason was a great Minnesota Fats in The Hustler
-Most school districts have PC’s and Mac’s but more PC’s because that is what most of the real wordl uses. Macs are great for video, art, etc.
-Radar’s pop makes it again with new cluing
-YR, I had bite too
-JD, in the words of Bob Dylan vis a vis the pix, “It ain’t me babe!” I don’t think color film was invented when I was that age. Thanks for the adjective “cute”! I did get 2nd place in the Washington Co. baby contest in 1947!

Husker Gary said...

For your consideration -

Female data – FEMININEFILES
Blazing fish hook – BARBFIRE
Unearthed crucifixes – CROSSFINDS
Dressed in the dark – DIMFITTED
Discovered Eider – DOWNFIND
Personal mini flute – HOUSEFIFE
Gas station loss leader – FREEFILLOFFERING
Lateral detector – SIDEFINDER
Battle support garment– UNDERFIREBRA

Jayce said...

I think the photos are of Splynter, because of the shape of his cheeks.

Fermatprime, you may not live long enough to see 'pasquinade' again, but based on past experience I suspect I will suddenly start seeing it popping up all over the place now.

Yellowrocks, interesting experiences you had in Scotland. I remember STILE from a nursery rhyme the name of which I have forgotten.

WALTZ wouldn't fit for 'Dance in 3/4 time' so that left only MINUET. A really pretty minuet is the 3rd movement of Haydn's Symphony #94, the "Surprise" symphony.

My favorite song from "Oklahoma" is "Poor Judd Is Dead." Very clever lyrics and wonderful harmonies and progressions.

Speaking of words that just look so wrong, I think ESTOP is one of them.

Yellowrocks said...

JD
I, too, said Huh? when I came up with SMASHER, but now it makes sense. A LOLLAPALOOZA is an outstanding person or thing. To the British a SMASHER is an outstandingly beautiful woman. The closest Americans come to it is, "She looks smashing."

GRIST is grain with the hull removed, so is very similar to the grain you wanted to feed the mill. Isn't it odd that GRIST can refer to the grain put into a mill and also to the final product, the ground grain. Idiomatically my being seen with a tall, dark, hansome stranger would be GRIST for the rumor mill.

Tantara is a fanfare. A clarion is a medeival trumpet. So tantara is a blast on a clarion.

Barry G. said...

Yellowrocks: Yes, I know what a stile is, thank you. My point was simply that you typically use stiles to climb over fences, not pass through them (as per the clue).

windhover said...

BarryG,
There are stiles (I have an antique book on fences, gates, etc. ) that consist of a series of twists and turns that the enclosed animal can not maneuver through but a person can. So with that type of stile one does actually pass through rather than over the fence.
===----
if you could imagine the first dash inserted into the last =, you could visualize a person turning their body sideways to slip through, but a longer bodied critter with four legs could not, although when people ask what type of fence they need to build for goats, I answer "waterproof". They are very agile.

creature said...

Good Day CC and all,

CC, you did a nice write- up and covered so much.

The puzzle has been well reviewed. I’ll just add that I thought the theme was fun and funny. I had problems in the W and NW ; perps were a big help. Thought it was medium hard today; I got sidetracked a lot.
Thanks, John.

The ‘Boy of the Day’ is Boomer. I know I’ve picked him before, but this boy seems to have his mom’s eyes and nose and his Dad’s mouth/smile. The high forehead was the cincher for me. This is a hard one to pick.
Darling little boy, though.
Not much in the clue dept., CC.

Hope to get back later.

Have a nice afternoon and evening everyone.

Husker Gary said...

One more for our Kentucky master of all things ovine -

“Look for the button to make this copter fly in place!!” - FINDHOVER

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I had the puzzle about 2/3 done last night, went to bed and got up to no electricity service and after several hours, when the power was restored, the puzzle was gone. I didn't much feel like starting all over again, so I just came here to get C.C.'s take on what I vaguely remembered filling in.

I thought the theme was enjoyable, but is it really "replacing" an I with another I? The Fs are replaced by Ws, but it looks to me like the Is just stayed right where they were.

6D)IBF. There are too many boxing organizations for me to keep track of. My first thought was WBO. Then came WBC and WBA. IBF was my last choice. GAH understands how they dole out championships, but I don't.

I got a kick out of seeing the lovely Rogers and Harte song 35D) ISN'T It Romantic. This quirky version is from the 1932 movie "Love Me Tonight" and features Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald.

Clear Ayes said...

Judging from Mom's "Flower Power" outfit, this has to be a photo from the 60's. It looks like Dad is decked out in polyester too. I don't know about the car, but it looks like something 60's to me. I'm voting for Splynter.

Sorry I missed the Happy Anniversary, Mom So....

fermatprime, I was glad to hear your mammogram was an OK.

Seldom Seen said...

Good detective work CA. I was going to comment earlier that the Mustang(i think) in the picture is about a '64 or '65.

Lucina said...

Hello, C.C. and all.

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! And not just here, a birthday party for one of my nieces.

I liked this puzzle very much and got the theme early on but much of it was WAGGING, though easy to do so.

After my baby granddaughter left this morning, I RANWITHIT until time to leave and finished on my return.

I love both DIANES, Sawyer and Keaton.

I hope your Sunday is terrific!

Yellowrocks said...

Husker Gary
I love your Fi for Wi substitutions. Clever and funny!

I agree that PCs are most useful for the average student. My last personal computers have been PCs. I am slighty older than you, so I was in at the chaotic start of computer use for elementary schools. We started with TRS 80's (Radio Shack, if I remember). We called them Trash 80's. After that mistake we switched to MACs, which we still had at my early retirement in 2000. I think to the uninitiated MACs are more intuitive than PCs and have more paths to work around issues, but PCs are over-all more useful. Our schools totally misused computers during my tenure. After I retired I saw so many more positive applications. I hope the schools have caught up.

Lemonade714 said...

As was pointed out last evening, Tom H. aid he used pasquinade, because it is used in the Great Gatsby .

I think HG is telling us the baba is he.

Bill G. said...

Hi everybody! My favorite clue was Grey area for ANATOMY. This puzzle was the usual Sunday fun but it sure took me a while. Excellent writeup, C.C.

I enjoyed the World Cup though I would have preferred a different outcome. Still, I admire those gifted athletes who take such pride and joy in what they accomplish and seem untainted in comparison to professional basketball players, etc.

Annette said...

CA, I think it's necessary to distinquish the theme as substituting FI for WI, over just saying it's substituting F for W, since there are some letter Fs in the theme entries that would not be valid substitutions for Ws.

I wonder whether this puzzle had a record number of Fs in it...

I can't believe Jennifer EHLE's name just filled itself in from some deep, dark recess... Wow, what a picture of her though! A very different look than in "P&P". I just saw that the old Greer Garson\Lawrence Olivier version will be on AMC later this week. Both versions are worth watching again & again! The BBC had a decent version in a mini-series years ago too. I didn't care much for the Keira Knightley version though.

Anonymous said...

L714 shouldn't drink and post.

creature said...

Annette,

Your picture is exquisite. Thanks for sharing; great dark eyes!

Also, thanks for the tip on P$P this week on AMC. Hope I get to catch it. If I don't forget, I'll record it.

Who is our boy of the day?

dodo said...

Hi C.C. and all,

Well, I used the LAT dite puzzle today and wanted to print it but it disappeared again! Don't know what I have to do to keep it long enough to print it out.

Anyway, I did finish and had very few hangups that I couldn't work out. A few red letters made me work harder but it all worked out. The last letter was the 'm' in 'moun' and you're right, C.C. it does look wrong. I wonder how it's pronounced, not that I would ever have a reason to use it.

Fermatprime, I have had a 'virtual' stress test. if that is the same thing you're talking about. It really was nothing. Just a shot and lying there until they let me go. However, the doctor came in several times, as though it was important to be there, unlike other tests which usually are done by technologists.
I guess it's used instead of the treadmill, for which I was very glad, since the treadmill gets me out of breath so fast I think I've failed. Anyway, don't worry and good luck!

dodo said...

Sorry C.C. that was 'way too long but I wanted to reassure Ferm and as usual, I'm pretty late.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

Wow ... I really struggled with this puzzle. I worked on it off and on all day. Many unknowns and quite a few look-ups. It seemed tougher than the usual Sunday puzzles. I had an easier time yesterday. Oh well ... I'll get my confidence back tomorrow!

When I first looked at the "cute boy" in the photo, I immediately thought of Splynter. I remember having some clothing similar to the "flower Power" design in the late 60s into the 70s. What an adorable smile our little mystery man has!

JD said...

One more shot at the boy of the day. Mommy's avocado flower outfit screams the mid 60's- early 70's, so the age thing narrows it down a bit...Splynter? (also the car)

Yellowrocks, a big thanks for giving my brain a boost.

Annette, darling picture!

Anonymous said...

Barry,

What was the name of the group that Byers, Langly & Frohike operated? Would that qualify as a SETI?

Just wondering thanks for the explanation.

Unknown said...

yC.C., double thanks today for your blog on a lalapalooza of a puzzle!
I too had a stumble or two (3, 4, whatever) until I finally tripped to the end.
Jennifer Ehle's parents live within a mile of our house. Her father is the author, John Ehle and as noted earlier, her mother is the lovey Rosemary Harris.
Thanks for all the anniversary good wshes! We had a wonderful meal with good friends. Since some of us enjoy foodie talk, I'll tell you what we had. Hubby and I both had a divine concoction of lobster ravioli with shrimp, baby green beans and a whole lobster in a champagne cream. I adore lobster, but hate cracking and pulling to get to the good stuff. This time around, the meat was already out of the shell and the claws so all we had to was enjoy it. Dessert was a raspberry and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for him and a banana-walnut tart with praline ice cream for me. Sublime!
How 'bout that soccer game? Our daughter was a goalie in high school and college, so games ending in kicks upset me. It denegrates the hard work of each team and puts all the pressure on the goalies and kickers. Oh well, the Brazilian Hurricaine is back for three days, so I'll be slow on the draw for puzzling!
"night all!

Lucina said...

Whew! Busy day today with family affairs like nieces 44th birthday.

I just wanted to say that in my newspaper the clue for 72A was also "bite" and NOIRE made sense only with "bete" so I assumed it was an error.

PASQUINADE has been used in a puzzle at least once before as I recalled it after reading that in the 16th century lampoons were pinned on a statue they called "pasquino."

Annette:
Yes, lovely photo of you.

Avg Joe said...

Late to the show, so I'll just snipe at random.

The car in the mystery photo is a Stang, I'm pretty sure it's a '67. That put's Splynter in the spotlight (and takes Gary out of it).

Gary, don't quit your day job.

Fermat, I've done the nuclear stress test. If you're OK with MRI's that's the worst part. But they do put you in the tube several times. Otherwise, it's a walk in the park...or a long hard walk on a treadmill.

Eddy, I hope you feel much better, and very soon. Hang in there!!

The puzzle was a lot of fun. Much better than yesterday's. I had a couple of errors and DNF, but it was a romp that made me feel like it was time well spent. Gotta like that.

Barry G. said...

What was the name of the group that Byers, Langly & Frohike operated? Would that qualify as a SETI?

They were known as the Lone Gunmen, if I recall correctly. But SETI isn't a "type" of organization. It is the official name of a particular organization, just like NASA isn't just a generic name for any sort of agency that launches rockets into space. I can't guarantee that SETI was never mentioned at all in the entire run of the season (I pretty much stopped watching by the last season), but it certainly wasn't a prominent part of the show (if it was even there at all).

Barry G. said...

Oh -- and windhover: Thanks for the extra information about stiles! Learn something new every day...

Bill G. said...

Mom, that meal sounds absolutely delicious. Now I'm hungry!

I agree with Barry about SETI. The original idea was to use radio telescopes to listen to sounds from space and use a computer to look for any pattern in the noise. It is certainly a good approach but hasn't yielded any results so far.

Annette said...

Bill G, I'm still thinking about that crab melt you mentioned the other day!

Thanks ladies for the comments on my avatar. My family says my hair used to be so blonde it was almost white, but I've seen some color photos where my hair looked very Lucille Ball red. Funny, that they all seemed surprised when I used a red rinse for a few years, then switched to ash blonde a few years ago..

Anonymous said...

X-Files fan for years I never heard of SETI mentioned on the show. But I was AWOL for the last season.

Bill G. said...

Annette, that crab-melt sandwich was described this way on the menu: Fresh jumbo lump crab salad, melted pepper jack cheese, cucumber, tomato, red onion (which I skipped), five-grain toast, served open faced.

I got the half sandwich combined with soup and salad. I'd get it again in a heartbeat but there are some other good things to try also.

I am finishing watching the finale of "Friday Night Lights." It is so good that I'm not watching it all in one sitting but trying to draw it out a little more. It will be like missing an old friend. I will probably feel somewhat the same way as "The Closer" draws to an end. I've developed a relationship with the characters and will miss them.

John Sidle said...

Did pretty well with a hole at middle left side; specifically 68 across which was my last clue to fill...can you believe it...look at my name!

John Sidle

Argyle said...

Hey, John, the rest of us are on Friday's puzzle but that's OK, I appreciate your irony.