google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 Michael Daems

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Aug 24, 2011

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 Michael Daems

Theme: FACE splitting grins. Each asterisked clue announces a theme entry that splits the word FACE down the middle and uses the halves as BOOK ENDS. They're not really intended to be amusing, but I do have to smile at the cleverness.

20A. *Miss : FAIL TO NOTICE An ineptitude in keen powers of observation.

28A. *Simulated living room feature : FAUX FIRE PLACE. A decorative mantle, perhaps a hearth, a psuedo-fire chamber, but not a place for a fire.
45A. *Feature of many Bee Gees songs : FALSETTO VOICE Description here.

And the unifier 51A. Headline that would shock the Internet community (or put another way, hint to the divided word in each of the answers to starred clues) : FACEBOOK ENDS or FACE BOOKENDS. And a nice word play at no extra charge.

Hi gang, JazzzBumpa here. Let's see what these BOOK ENDS hold for us.

Across:

1. Cellar process : AGING. For wine, cheese, or pickles

6. Incline : TILT. Or slant

10. Shady plan : SCAM. Yesterday this was a con game.

14. Hilo veranda : LANAI. Nice view.

15. Freshly : ANEW

16. Scrabble piece : TILE

17. Panache : FLAIR

18. He caught Don's 1956 World Series perfect game : YOGI. Don Larsen and YOGI Berra. A happy moment.

19. Bickering : AT IT. Be careful how you parse this.

23. Tolkien's Elrond, e.g. : ELF. He was called Elrond Halfelven, though that is not quite accurate either. I believe he had both elven and human lineage from two of his grandparents.

26. One way to pace : FRO. The other is TO.

27. Hold dear : PRIZE

32. Confounds : ADDLES

33. Poem of the countryside : IDYL. Clear Ayes . . .

34. Fort Meade-based govt. org. : NSA. The National Security Agency, a frequent visitor to crosswords.

37. Standards, briefly : REGS REGulations

38. Ottoman officer : AGA

39. Dan Patrick's channel, formerly : ESPN, the all sports cable network. Daniel Patrick Pugh can now be heard on Premier Radio Networks.

40. Portland-to-Boise dir. : ESE.

41. Frosh, next year : SOPH. Freshman and SOPHomore (the wise fool.) I wanted someone who was going to be a Frosh next year, not what this year's Frosh would be next year.

43. Scientific __ : METHOD. You can go through the process here.

48. Respectful address : MADAM

49. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI. Head of France is TETE; King of France is ROI.

50. Some 12-yd. soccer shots : PKS. Penalty Kicks, I assume.

55. Takes steps : ACTS. An actor steps across the stage, but that's not what we're getting at here.

56. Land of Rama I : SIAM. Now Thailand.

57. Poke : ELBOW.

61. Gait slower than a canter : TROT. More specifically, this is gait of a horse in which the diagonal pairs of legs move together, not to be confused with the PACE, in which the two legs on the same side of the horse move together. Racing TROTTERS and PACERS may not break stride.

62. 'Enry's greeting : 'ELLO. 'Enry 'Iggens, I presume.

63. More-than-disappointing crowd? : NO ONE. For some reason, I had a hard time parsing this.

64. Miffed : SORE

65. Textile worker : DYER. I wanted BRIM POUNCER

66. Amarillo's home : TEXAS. Amarillo is yellow in Spanish. The city is likely named for the abundant yellow wild flowers in the area or the yellow soil in the banks of near-by Amarillo creak.

Down:

1. The Tanners' adoptee, on TV : A.L.F. (Alien Life Form) I am only vaguely familiar with this character from yet another show I never watched

2. Lass : GAL A youthful female.

3. Garten of the Food Network : INA. I don't know her.

4. Newbie : NAIF. This word means "a naive or inexperienced person." The correlation with "Newbie" is a bit fanciful, IMHO.

5. Long-necked mammal : GIRAFFE. The LW's favorite critter.

6. Five-time Grammy winner James : TAYLOR. This song is not one of them.

7. Playing a fifth qtr., say : IN O.T. Overtime

8. Kid's building block : LEGO. Dang! I always want to spell this with two "L"'s.

9. Reinforced, as some dust bags : TWIN-PLY. Wow, this was slow to develop.

10. Radio interference : STATIC

11. Immigrant test taker's goal : CITIZENSHIP. A call out to C.C.!

12. Rocker Cooper : ALICE. I won't use a link on him.

13. Dole (out) : METE. Middle English from Latin for "turning post" or "boundary" via Norman French.

21. Pupil's place : IRIS. Class room wouldn't fit, no matter how much I eyeballed it.

22. Uttered : ORAL. Tricky, using a verbal adjective where I was expecting a verb.

23. Online airline deal : E-FARE

24. Fills with cargo : LADES

25. Arbitrary allowance for error : FUDGE FACTOR

29. T-shirt sizes, for short : XLS. Extra-large.

30. Black ball : EIGHT. Here, I was looking for a verb and got a noun. In billiards, the 8 ball is solid black.

31. BlackBerry Bold, e.g. : PDA Personal Data Assistant. Actually, a full-featured smartphone.

35. Logical character : SPOCK. The guy with the pointy ears from Star Trek.

36. Aconcagua is its highest peak : ANDES. South American Geography fact of the day.

38. Mimic : APE. Old crosswordese.

39. Command for DDE : E.T.O. European Theater of Operations. No play acting there.

41. Generous slice : SLAB. Mmmmm -- pie.

42. Diffused through a membrane : OSMOSED. This awkward back-formation actually is a word.

43. Night light : MOON. Thou pale evanescent orb . . .

44. Clear : EVIDENT. Plane to see. On an EVIDENT night, you can planely see the MOON. It is now just short of midnight, and the rain has begun.

46. Carol opening : ADESTE. "O come" in Latin.

47. Aftershock : TREMOR. Any news of tremors from Tuesday's shock?

48. Computer shortcut : MACRO. Yesterday, this was a lens.

51. Domino's nickname : FATS. So much easier than Antoine Dominique, Jr. And deserving of one last link.

52. Slick : OILY

53. Curly cabbage : KALE. A headless, leafy variety.

54. Gin flavoring : SLOE. The SLOE plum. I guess the word "gin" by itself doesn't mean anything specific, hence the need for London Dry Gin.

58. Spar in the ring : BOX

59. Stop __ dime : ON A. A very sudden stop.

60. Filmmaker Craven : WES. Producer, director, writer and actor with a long list of film credits including Nightmare on Elm Street and several Screams.

Answer grid.

Jazzbumpa

Note from C.C.:

Our "Hard to Believe" series continues. Look at these amazing photos & the incredible changes they chronicle. Now, who's he? (Added later: It's Windhover!)

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

12 Down Rocker Cooper : ALICE

From his 1988 CD Trash.

Poison

45 Across Feature of many Bee Gees songs : Falsetto Voice

Bee Gees Tragedy

Tragedy


Fun Facts By Dave Letterman

Not until the year 2027 will North Americans witness a total eclipse of the heart.

In 1994, the NBC Nightly News was the first network news show to add a laugh track.

Lemonade714 said...

JzB, Nice to0 see you back spinning your symphony of words. I thought this was easy for a Wednesday, and we had not had a split word theme in a very long time, so that was nice.

I was confused as there are so many meanings for RAMA, from Arthur Clarke's Book, the Hindu deity to the one I did not know THAI KINGS . Learning moment. Will never forget watching the perfect game and Yogi's leap.

Happy Wednesday all

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

A nice Wednesday offering from Mike with lots of fresh cluing. As usual, I never deciphered the theme until reading Jazz B's explanation.

My only slowdown was self inflicted. For 43D, Night Light, I entered Neon. I refused to back off of it until I realized Falsette Voice s/b Falsetto Voice. Then Nethod became Method and the "skies cleared". An AHA moment if you will.

Can't say I had a favorite clue today, but there
wasn't one that totally turned me off either although Osmosed was close.

Looks like we Nutmeggers are going to meet Irene on Sunday. Can only hope it turns out to sea early.

Happy Hump Day.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Jazzbumpa and friends. This was a fun puzzle for a Wednesday, it gave me enough of a challenge without being frustrating. Also, I needed no look-ups.

I really wanted Said instead of ORAL for Uttered. I never heard of TWIN-PLY and wanted Two-ply for the Dust Bag Reinforcement. I know, I know, not enough letters.

My favorite clue was Pupil's Place = IRIS.

Anyone feeling any TREMORS following yesterday's earthquake?

I'm guessing our mystery lad is Windhover.

QOD: A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years. ~ Rupert Brooke

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Jazzbumpa, C.C. et al.

Fun blog today, Jazzbumpa! I will be hearing “Walkin’ to New Orleans” all day, though.

INA Garten is The Barefoot Contessa. I watch her all the time on the food network channel.

Jeannie, from last night, I found this site after I had started constructing, and it has proven to be one of the best resources. The comments on each day’s puzzles give me insight into what does and doesn’t work, in terms of themes, clues and fill. So for that I owe all of you a big debt of gratitude!

Happy hump day, everyone!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Nice commentary, Jazz.

Nailed it. No strikethroughs. I did have to jump to the different sectors, but each provided an easy anchor. Couldn't fully suss the theme but it was not needed to solve. I thought the clues for IRIS and FRO were clever. Good puzzling, Michael.

ONA - Stop on a dime reminded me of growing up with a Farmall tractor and tricycle front end. By hitting either brake you could 'turn' on a dime. Great for turning around at the end of a row while cultivating corn.

Picture - I'm guessing Dennis. Looks like New Jersey.

Enjoy the day.

Avg Joe said...

G'Morning all. Hope that the shake up wasn't too tough on those affected. And I sincerely hope that Irene fizzles without any serious damage.

I thought most of the cluing in this puzzle was interesting and the fill was fresh. But the theme seemed a little weak to me. But, it was hard enough for a Wednesday while being doable.

I'm also guessing the pics are of WH. Back a few weeks we talked about cars, and the mystery person has both a Cutlass (442?) and a GTO in the pics.

Here's my pick for an Alice Cooper song: I Never Cry

Dennis said...

Nope, not me. And I'm a relative newcomer to NJ.

It's definitely Windhover. And I WANT THAT GOAT!

Anonymous said...

I say that it is jazzbumpa.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Windhover. Same jaw.

Unknown said...

Kudos, Jazz on a Wednesday puzzle!
I liked it and loved the "fudgefactor" answer! Fudge factor at our house has nothing to do with dough.
Ina Garten is great as "The Barefoot Contessa", however, her wardrobe does need an update.
I agree; the pic is of WH.
Xoxoxo today!

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I'll guess WH, as well. I never had such great hair.

Cheers!
JzB

Anony-Mouse said...

The puzzle was VERY nice - and doable (for me - ) - but I could not complete it - but enjoyed it nevertheless. The theme however, was a total mystery - though I completed the line 51 Across. Thank you Michael Daems - a very nice puzzle indeed.

Thank you, Jazz, - my favorite trombonist - (atleast I can recognise the instrument, now - ). Very Nice blog - and enjoyed your links to James Taylor and Fats Domino. Your pic of the LANAI, made me wish I could go to Hawaii.

Smiled at 'Citizenship' for C.C. ( and myself, a decade earlier - ). Wanted 'Safety Factor' for 'Fudge Factor' - as a (previous) engineer.

I actually recognised a uploader of a Youtube video ... how cool is that ? The uploader to the 'My Fair lady' -'enry 'iggens is the Med director at Eli Lilly - and I know him ! Its like hitting a hole in one.

Have a great rest of the week, you'all.

Anony-Mouse said...

Alternate QOD :- True diplomats can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the voyage ~ George F. Will.

kazie said...

What is it about us that we like to be photographed with our vehicles? I don't want to try and guess who it is, but that pose is familiar.

I started really slowly on the CW today, but eventually it all found its way into place. Lots of perp help though, and I never really saw the bookend effect until Jazz's explanation. Probably mainly because I had other things to deal with today and have taken two hours to get back here to post after finishing with it.

carol said...

Hi gang, This was a clever offering and gave me trouble in many areas. I had no idea about NAIF. I had heard of ALF but have never watched it so I didn't know the name Tanner. I DO watch the Food Network shows (not all of them) but never heard of INA GARTEN.

Had to laugh at 63A...I filled it in but wondered what NOONE was....one V-8 can later, I realized in was NO ONE. sigh.

Jazz: good job on the write up :) I always enjoy your work.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I had the middle section filled in first. So 28A)FAUX... and 45A)FALSE... led me down an IDYLlic garden path to think the theme had something to do with "Imitation of Life", or some such ADDLED nonsense. I finally got it with some backing up and then on to the unifier. Made much more sense. Good stuff, Michael Daems.

Are "dust bags" TWIN PLY? Are we talking vacuum cleaners here? My vacuum has been bagless for years. Toilet paper is what comes to mind for me for TWIN PLY.

"The Barefoot Contessa" INA Garten soft smooth voice puts me in a snoozy mood. I can understand why Jeffrey (her much talked about husband) seems to be "out of town" so much.

Not a fan of ALICE Cooper's music, but GAH loves to see him in Pro-Am golf tournaments. His handicap is only 2 or 3.

Nice Cuppa said...

Thanks JB (and Mr. Daems)

JB, I did not share your objection to naif - it is the masculine form of naïve, after all, and generally used as the noun in English.

LOGICAL CHARACTER was clever in the sense that "character" allowed the answer to be fictional, without further ado.

Agree with Anony-mouse. FUDGE FACTOR is not generally an arbitrary allowance, it is is more often a rather precise number that makes an equation work. i.e., The physical basis for the number is arbitrary, not the number itself. A nuance to many, maybe.

We just had MACRO, ELBOW (Don G. and CC yesterday), differently clued. Now you can link POKE to PASTA in one step.

Never much of an Alice Cooper fan, but his almost anthemic "School's Out" was always sung in the playground at the appropriate time of year.

I never STOPPED on a DIME, only turned on one, although I see that both are legit. The Brits have (had?) the almost identical "turn on a sixpence", which was a pre-decimal silver coin slightly smaller than a dime (as I recall), the "equivalent" of 2.5 "new pence". I wonder how much language and idiom is being lost with the creation of the Euro. Who knows, though, maybe its days are numbered, and we will be able to reuse those terrible jokes, such as:

Q: What's a Grecian Urn?
A: About 10 Drachmas a day..


NC

Clear Ayes said...

Here's a short poem depicting an idealized pastoral scene. Whaddya know... an IDYL...

Idyll

In the grey summer garden I shall find you
With day-break and the morning hills behind you.
There will be rain-wet roses; stir of wings;
And down the wood a thrush that wakes and sings.
Not from the past you’ll come, but from that deep
Where beauty murmurs to the soul asleep:
And I shall know the sense of life re-born
From dreams into the mystery of morn
Where gloom and brightness meet. And standing there
Till that calm song is done, at last we’ll share
The league-spread, quiring symphonies that are
Joy in the world, and peace, and dawn’s one star.

- Siegfried Sassoon

Dennis said...

Nice Cuppa, please remember post size.

Tinbeni said...

Jazz: Wonderful write-up.
Yeah, I esp.enjoyed the YOGI link.

Michael, Thank you for a FUN Wednesday.

Is it just me or does the cluing seem a bit more fresh & interesting lately?

Havla for the B-Day cheers yesterday.
("Thank you" in Croatian. It's pronounced 'fa-la' and was the 1st word I learned when I worked/lived in Zagreb).

Hmmmm, How to avoid a morning "hang-over" ... sleep until noon.
Hope the remaining 11 "soldiers" get me past Irene.

A "Toast-to-all" at Sunset.
Cheers !!!

Anony-Mouse said...

Thanks Nice Cuppa for the support - twice in ten days.

Whats a Grecian urn ?

About a Euro-a-day, payable, in installments, over the rest of his/her natural life, in long term Greek bonds ....

Yesterday, Bill G. wrote about "non-rhotic" - an accent in S. and N.E. USA, where the 'r' is not pronounced ( 'Pakhing the cah'), which made me think - what about the proverbial Irish (no, not yours, WH ) - who actually emphasize the vowel by rolling their 'r's ?

Would that be "pro-rhotic" or 'Erse-rhotic', 'Erin-rhotic' or 'Errotic' .... or 'Erotic' (var.) ??

HeartRx said...

Clear Ayes, maybe you can answer a burning question of mine. What is the preferred spelling - IDYLL or IDYL? We see both in almost equal numbers in crosswords, always clued the same as a "Pastoral/bucolic/tranquil poem"

I just realized that I never commented on the puzzle itself today. Hmmm, if memory serves me correctly, I thought it was really easy, more like a Monday-Tuesday.

I liked the "split word" theme, and thought it made clever use of parsing the reveal answer between FACE BOOKENDS and FACEBOOK ENDS. But the theme entries were kind of flat.

I liked some of the fill like FUDGE FACTOR, TREMOR (timely!) and GIRAFFE, but other stuff like OSMOSED was just blechy. There are many other options for that SW corner that could have included some livelier fill, like "astound" instead of osmosed.

But overall, it was an enjoyable solve and I would like to see more from Michael!

Clear Ayes said...

Carol, 63A)"More-than-disappointing crowd?" Could it be the turn-out for a Herman's Hermits concert? (Peter NOONE). Nope, V-8 can for me too.

Kazie, I think one reason for photos with cars is to identify the approximate year. Another is "This is a great toy and I'm having fun." OTOH, for some guys...maybe "I am the man, and this is my phallic symbol". :o) Hey, I'm not the first person who has connected cars with sex. BTW, I have no idea who the "H to B" boy is.

I'm reminded of Gemina, the crooked neck GIRAFFE who lived at the Santa Barbara CA zoo until her death at the age of 21.

Saw "The Help" yesterday. I might have liked it better if I hadn't read the book first.

I hope the hurricane Irene people are safely hunkered down.

creature said...

Hey y’all,

Enjoyed puzzle, though at places was temporarily perplexed. Fake for FAUX- couldn’t find an ‘Fk’ word.
Ah! XLS. 35D- thanks perps. Hmmm, PKS ? Whatever.

Thanks Jazz, always fun; thanks to you also, Michael.I didn’t get your theme until Jazz walked me through it; Creative and brilliant!

Kazie, ‘pose’ was a tip-off for me, too. WH.

Take cover from Irene; she’s sounding worse all the time. Better still, get out of there and camp on our farm. Some amenities. Hurry!

46D: I wanted Hi Gang. Oh well, glad you got some ink, Carol.

Seldom Seen said...

Once upon a time some friends and I were shopping at a farmer's market. Suddenly, in front of us, appeared The Barefoot Contessa(she was wearing shoes).

We struck up a conversation and out of nowhere she invited us to her house for dinner.

Thats right....Ina Garten did feed us!

Avg Joe said...

Oooooooooh Seen!!

Do not quite your day job.

Dos Equis Fan said...

Seen@11:26, you must be The most interesting man in the world, as well as an Iron Butterfly fan.

carol said...

Jeannie: (from last night)...I actually did have a Jr Whopper while on our Tahoe trip WITH a small order of fries and GASP a small chocolate shake!! It was heavenly and I already knew the calorie count from a few years ago, I wasn't worried at all. :)

CA - LOL, clever on the NOONE thing.

Since I really enjoyed the book "The Help", I think I will skip the movie when it comes out on DVD.
It is rare that the movie versions ever are equal to the books.

Denny said...

Nicely challenging puzzle, with cluing that had me sure I'd soon be reaching for the smartphone for help, but just enough easy stuff in the perps to make it possible to suss out the answers, answers that ultimately proved less esoteric than the cluing seemed to indicate. For example, "He caught Don's 1956 World Series perfect game." I'm thinking, who the heck remembers who the catchers were for such achievements? But then, the perps gave enough to make it the very recognizable name of YOGI (Berra).

There's a kind of crossword genius in getting that balance just right, and it makes we solvers feel like geniuses to finish a puzzle without once having to lean on outside help. So, kudos Michael Daems!

Never did get the somewhat contrived and arcane theme, however, until I came here, but then, didn't really need it.

A Pilot said...

JzB,
In regards to your 44D entry for EVIDENT -

While observing the moon from 30,000 feet in the air can be breathtaking, did you actually mean to convey that sentiment? It's not quite plain to me...

Lucina said...

Hello, Jazz and fellow puzzlers.

You have a nice FLAIR for blogging and thank you for unraveling PKS and NSA. Those just emerged and I had to assume their accuracy.

And thank you, Michael, for some fun today.

ALICE Cooper lives here and is well known for his philanthropy to local charities in the form of concerts to assist them.

ADDLES confounded me as did XLS so I came here for solace and relief.

Clever theme though it eluded me.

Yes, I believe Windhover is the mystery boy. It is especially evident in the third photo.

Very nice music links, Jz, thank you.

I hope you are enjoying a super Wednesday out of harm's way!

TinoTechie said...

Anyone else remember the old Bill Cosby routine about sneakers? "Stop on a dime, give you nine cents change!" He also said something about the balls on the sides keeping you pants legs from catching on fire.

TinoTechie said...

Anyone else remember the old Bill Cosby routine about sneakers? "Stop on a dime, give you nine cents change!" And also something about the balls on the ankle keeping your pants legs from catching on fire. Very Funny.

I appreciate the blog and bloggers. It helps me learn how to do crosswords and helps me understand the clues/answers.

Clear Ayes said...

Marti, IDYL or IDYLL? As far as I could tell they are interchangeable. Most online dictionaries give IDYLL first, with IDYL hot on its tail. It is derived from the Greek word 'eidyllion' meaning "little picture". I think that the spellings are just something for which constructors can thank the crossword gods. Use them in good health and with a clear conscience.

She has met him and I think Lucina has called it correctly. Hard to Believe Boy must be Windhover. The stance is still the same after 45 years. LOL, I see the symbol has changed from an automobile to a very sturdy tree.

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

I thought TREMOR was quite a fill for today - I felt the shimmy of the Earth here at the end of Long Island, and knew it was a quake - it has a distinctive "sway" that no heavy truck can generate - I say this only because the neighborhood is getting repaved this month, right down to the grade, so we've been rattling for a month now.

It took a minute to figure out the theme - I FAILED TO NOTICE that FA and CE were at the ends of the answers. Guess I am tired....

and the Barefoot Contessa gets UPS deliveries via the truck I load in the morning - my driver Pete does the route.

Irene is a comin'

Splynter

Husker Gary said...

Horrible day yesterday has been replaced by a very pleasant day with lovely north breeze.

Musings
-I tried Facebook once but had a gazillion kids (and former kids) trying to “friend” me and so my online correspondence is restricted to being a bit player on this wonderful blog.
-We are going to Jersey Boys in September. Talk about FALSETTO!
-I watch Don and Yogi live on B/W TV.
-I taught scientific method for 42 years! I try to have my beliefs driven more by facts than emotion.
-I watched my first full soccer game on Sunday where my 9 year old grandson made his athletic debut. It is a great game for kids as they are always moving. Baseball at that age can be boring if a pitcher can’t throw strikes!
-Professor Harold Hill extols the virtue of “a wholesome trottin’ race” in Ya Got Trouble. Not a race where a stuck-up jockey boys sittin’ on Dan Patch!
-Some middle schools play 5th quarters just so everyone can get to play.
-You ain’t lived until you’ve had a SLAB of my MIL’s apple pie!

Peppermint Patty said...

I have been staring at the pictures of The Hunk, from 'days of yore', for the longest time now, and I am convinced, especially from the jaw-dropping very last picture,

that you cant get such alluring awe inspiring Biceps brachii and Triceps brachii, stationed on megalithic pumped iron Deltoids and streamlined Trapezius,


ooh!, the eye-blinding gorgeous pectorals and copper sculpted chiselled pinelline sidereals ( with deltoids, to match ) with the slightest hint of the cavernous Latissimus dorsii, that must lie hidden beneath,

such massively toned Biceps femoriis supported by sleek sartorium with the aerodynamic semitendonosus',held atop of solid Gastrocnemius bound by the rigidly tense soleus and the Tibialis anterior cusping with the Perionius Pongus,

which only hint at, the colossal gluteus maximuses, slyly hiding in the in the background, and pen-symmetrical abutting pectineus and aligning sartonius,


all without working on a farm, in the state of Kentucky. Cars, What cars ? Plus the straw between his teeth is a dead giveaway.

Jazzbumpa said...

A Pilot -

Though I believe you might be pulling my leg, I'll give you a straight answer. It's a conceit of mine to take a fill word and use it as defined in the clue to yield a nonsensical result, with humorous intent. With MOON as the previous fill, my little jape was irresistible - to me, anyway.

I've never observed the MOON from 30,000 ft. Sounds beauteous, indeed.

Cheers!
JzB who will be playing some trombone tonight

Anonymous said...

Peppermint Patty, even with your red hair, it never occurred to me that you were Irish!

Plane/Plain

Anonymous said...

44. Down. Evident as is plane? to see or plain to see. I plainly do not get the planely explaination.

Anonymous said...

Husker: My hubby got a card from our daughter and she signed it, "You`re the apple of my pie!" :)

Jayce said...

Windhover, guessing from the body language and stance.

Jayce said...

Man oh man, I should read ALL the blog comments before I post mine.

I marked little smiles next to
CITZENSHIP, NOONE, FACEBOOKSENDS, and FUDGEFACTOR. Awesome fill.

I draw a little frowny face adjacent to GAL. Didn't mind the fill itself, just not how it was clued.

Question marks next to INA and PKS.

Immediately filled in GIRAFFE and then overthought it and (erroneously) figured it *couldn't* be that straighforward. So erased it before finally pencilling it in again.

lois said...

Good evening Jazz, CC, et al., This puzzle amazed me. Very ingenius and fun. Well done and excellent write up, Jazz. Another outstanding job!

Had to laugh at the TREMOR entry after yesterday's 'moving' experience. Also loved the entry TEXAS - gave me a whole new dimension to living large - just not in Amarillo.

Getting ready for the next visitor
Irene. This one is predicted to be worse than Isabel. Geeze!

Jeannie: school starts for me tomorrow. Kids always come the day after Labor Day around here, so aptly placed. That's when Labor really starts. You know, school would be so much more fun if those kids just wouldn't show up. Oh well. Good luck w/those ladies.

I am positive that the handsome young mystery man is WH...what a hunk! Yeah baby! Cheers!!!

Bill G. said...

Today is just beautiful around here. The temperature is 71 with blue skies and a gentle sea breeze. However, the Dodgers are playing in St. Louis and the temperature there was 97.

I decided to have lunch with Jeannie today, in spirit anyway. I went to Burger King and ordered a California Whopper (with lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, bacon and guacamole, plus a chocolate shake. I picked it up at the drive-thru window but didn't notice they had forgotten the shake. So it took another trip back there after I finished off the burger. Really good though!

A Pilot said...

JzB,
As others have already noted, I was merely calling out your use of plane vs plain. I did not mean for it to sound so critical.

As far as yielding "non-sensical results" with "humorous intent," please don't stop! I'm sure I speak for quite a few people here when I say your blog entries are the most sparkling of the bunch. You can see the effort you put in to teach, as well as entertain, us all. Your writing always livens up a puzzle, and I look forward to your submissions.

Thanks, as always, for that extra ooomph!

Jane

Chickie said...

HOla Everyone, A little harder for me today than yesterday. It wasn't the CW's fault, but my own. I shot myself in the foot with doubled for Twin Ply, Osmosis for Osmosed and Said for Oral. I finally erased those words completely and started over.

I did have to Google Ina, Yogi, and Elf. Not having read Tolkien, my expertise there runs to Ents, and Orcs.

I did finish today, but with help. Thanks to JazzB, I "got" the theme, but after the fact.

Carol, I had Noone too. Thanks for loaning me the v-8 can. It was really dented today.

I'm making apple butter today, so am tied to the kitchen. I have to stir the "butter" every half hour for 4-5 hours. I don't make this often, now I remember why.

Have a great Wed. everyone.

Abejo said...

Good Afternoon, folks. Thank you Mike for a great Wednesday puzzle. Thank you, as well, Jazzbumpa, an interesting and humorous write-up.

Well, I got the puzzle done this morning, but was sitting in the eye doctor's office when I did. Recently got home.

Puzzle was great. My only write-overs were LANAI. I had LIANA at first. The other was PKS. I had PTS until SPOCK fixed it.

I got the theme answers but did not catch the theme itself until I read this blog. OK.

Thought ELLO was clever. SLOE sure has been a common word lately. NO ONE did not come easily, but I got it. Liked OSMOSED. Good clue/answer.

I vote for Spitzboof in the photo.

Spent most of this morning in my eye doctor's office. He said my glaucoma appears to be under control. Will find out more in two weeks. Surgery tomorrow for a hernia. Wish me luck! I am not a medical person.

See you tomorrow, maybe, if I can get a pen and paper in the hospital.

Abejo

creature said...

Good Luck Abejo,

Hope all goes well. Stay in touch. sounds as if you have been going through the once over and once was not enough.

I know you'll be fine and glad your eyes are under control.

Seen, you are much better looking than the little cartoon I've become accustomed to.

Pls. don't go back. Hmmm Cincinnati Reds...

Lucina said...

Abejo:
Good luck with your surgery and your vision.

Bill G. said...

Good luck Abejo. I'm not a medical person either so I can appreciate what you must be going through. Best wishes that all goes well and that you're up and around quickly. My only advice from my own hernia repair years ago is don't sneeze!

Spitzboov said...

Abejo; the pictures are not of me. Good luck with your hernia repair tomorrow. Usually home the same day?

Maybe the pictures are of Grumpy1.

dodo said...

Greetings,Troops,

What a great puzzle today. Wednesday usually has one that's pretty hard for me, so this was a little surprise. I did have a few hangups, but I didn't have to look anything up; perps were a big help. I tried 'fake' for 'faux' but I coould see it wasn't gonna go. Working out that size thing 29D kept urging me to use and 'x', but I just couldn't believe it. When I finally caved, it all fit nicely and I really deserved a V8 can bop but there wasn't one around so I had to use a wine bottle which of course could be pretty dangerous! Fortunately, I'm still here, if a bit blurry!

Great analysis, JzB. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Abejo,

Good Luck on the surgery I'm not a medical person either I had hernia surgery ( Omentum Incarcerated in Ventral Hernia) July 18 2010 Went in at 6 AM was back home before noon and was under orders not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for 2 weeks after.

kazie said...

Good luck Abejo,
My son had hernia surgery a couple of years ago and the main thing he talked about was not being able to lift very much. It was right when they were amid moving, so it was very ill-timed. I'm sure you'll be careful and take it easy though.

CA,
I'm not sure the purpose of those car photos was to ascertain the year model--I think your other theory holds more water.

Avg Joe said...

Good luck Abejo. As surgeries go, that one's pretty much a walk in the park. Day one is tough, day two, not so much. The worst part is the weight restriction. On day one you can't carry more than a six pack. But by day two you're up to a twelve and by the end of the week you can tote a case. Life's good at that point. :-)

Peppermint Patty said...

I want to make a suggestion. Guys, when you send your pictures in, could you show a little more skin ? I am making a collection of my 'word -world' friends, and I want something more than ole fuddy duddy overdressed, retired english teachers and professorial types in smoking jackets. C'mon, get a lil nekkid !

In any case, if there is anybody here who is below 35, please drop me a line - I want someone to pay strip scrabble with.

Cheerio and tootle too.

lois said...

Anony: by jove, I think you've hit the nail on the head...or something like a nail! I now know why my own verbal 'r's are so dif- ferent,like a tongue lashing! I'm 'erroticly Irish'! Thank you.It's been a subconscious conflict for years.

Peppermint Patty 2:40: That is one of the best descriptions of a hubba hubba hunk of man I have ever read. LMAO! Outstanding and so appropos for our handsome WH. Loved it!

Well, life as I knew it is over. I have to go iron my cape, practice my ebonics, and locate my 'ain't- gonna maim anyone today' pills, and that's just to deal w/the administration. Husker G, I really envy you right now. My time will come.

RSD: Omentum Incarcerated in Ventral Hernia? Geeze! What's the sentence for that?

Abejo: good luck tomorrow.

Bill G. said...

It's a little bit of a sad day around here. We sold the 1965 VW that we bought new. We've been driving it for all those years but not much lately since we bought new cars. Still, it's like saying goodbye to a reliable friend of 46 years.

windhover said...

Oui, c'est moi.
What I can't figure out is how such a cute kid ended up looking like what I see in the mirror every day. Thanks for the compliments, ladies.
Peppermint Patty:
Sorry hon, I'm approaching 35 for the second time and I've never played Scrabble. But thanks for the pump job.

carol said...

Peppermint Patty (2:40) Wow, are you a Dr??? I didn't understand a whole lot of that description but it was very lyrical! Got Lois salivating!! :)

Bill G: I feel your pain on the parting with your beloved Beetle. We sold our '86 Honda in 2009...a very good 23 years but no comparison to your "old friend".

Abejo: all the best for tomorrow, I'm sure you will breeze right through it.

Lois: there should be a spray for classrooms, something that will render the little cretins silent and listening for each class. :)

Jazzbumpa said...

Pilot Jane, God, and all you people -

I must admit to totally blowing the plane/plain issue.

And it wasn't even midnight yet. (sigh)

But it's plane to see that I was on the wrong plain.

EVIDENTLY I was still oblivious in broad daylight.

OTOH, I did wail a very cool solo tonight on Basie's Blues in C.

Cheers!
JzB Evidently a plain trombonist

rc said...

Jzb, They don't get any better than you!! For real.

Anonymous said...

I'm game Peppermint Patty! :-) How Can I drop you a line? do you have a blog?

Seldom Seen said...

Stay thirsty, my friends.