google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday December 9, 2011 Robert W. Harris

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Dec 9, 2011

Friday December 9, 2011 Robert W. Harris

Theme: Computer Terms for Dummies - Humorous re-interpretation of computer terms in non-computer sense.

17A. Correspondence between philistines? : YAHOO MAIL. Not a Yahoo Mail user.

25A. Telecommuting congressional aides? : HOME PAGES. The House is ending their page program.

38A. Grand Central waitstaff? : TERMINAL SERVERS. Desper-otto might know this term. Not me. He was an Application Developer.

47A. Drum major's concern during a parade through narrow streets? : BAND WIDTH

59A. Single-cut and rat-tail? : FILE TYPES. I've never heard of either the file type. Not a tool guy, obviously.

C.C. again. Lemonade called me on Wednesday afternoon, but I could not hear clearly what he said other than he was hospitalized. I hope it's nothing serious and he could return to us soon.

Part of today's gimmick delighted me as this is one of my favorite theme types. Part confused me due to my unfamiliarity with the theme answer or the clue.

Across:

1. Goya subject : MAJA. Naked and clothed. Crossing MAYA (1D. Builders of the Tikal temples).

5. Party guy, perhaps : STAG

9. Brought down : RAZED. This puzzle is a pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once.

14. "El __ brujo": de Falla work : AMOR. "Love, the Magician", according to Wiki. Unfamiliar to me.

15. Prefix with foil : AERO. What is aerofoil?

16. Adversary : ENEMY

19. Analogy symbol : COLON. Damn it: English :: Ta Ma De: Chinese

20. Rescinds : ANNULS

21. Poetic time reference : ERE

23. Social conclusion : ITE. Socialite.

24. Chromosome component : DNA

28. Barely got, with "out" : EKED. No other way to clue this little word.

30. Fin. neighbor : NOR (Norway)

31. Off-rd. vehicle : ATV

32. Charge : FEE. Quite pricy to get Geek Squad for a home visit.

33. Currency on which Marconi appeared : LIRA. No idea. Marconi appeared on 2,000 lira note. LIRE is the plural of "lira". (Sorry for the error earlier.)

34. Explore : GO INTO

41. Record holder : SLEEVE. Was thinking of a person.

42. Fleming and others : IANs

43. Ex-NBAer Unseld : WES. Stranger to me. Wiki said he spent his whole career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets.

44. India neighbor, to the IOC : NEP. OK, Nepal.

45. The Tupolev Tu-144, e.g. : SST. The clue means nothing to me.

46. Like Magellan, often : ASEA

51. Dada co-founder : ARP (Jean)

52. Ring cheer : OLE

53. Like Beethoven's Sonata Op. 109 : IN E

54. Count Almaviva's valet, in opera : FIGARO. "The Marriage of Figaro".

57. Bobby __ : SOXER

62. Fall breaker : CHUTE

63. Behan's land : ERIN. Brendan Behan was an Irish poet. Another new name to me.

64. Sister of Rachel : LEAH. Jacob's first wife. And the real name of our dear Chickie.

65. Refuges : OASES

66. Like core courses: Abbr. : REQD (Required)

67. First name in humor : ERMA (Bombeck)

Down:

2. "God is not __ ...": Numbers : A MAN.

3. Baler maker : JOHN DEERE. Great entry.

4. In the area : AROUND

5. Big wholesale club : SAM'S

6. 1773 jetsam : TEA

7. NFL's Cardinals, on scoreboards : ARI

8. Artificial being of Jewish folklore : GOLEM. Inspired Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

9. Molecules that respond to stimuli : RECEPTORS

10. "Wheel of Fortune" purchase : AN O

11. Woody Allen film : ZELIG. Mockumentary (1983).

12. Ham it up : EMOTE

13. Physics class units : DYNEs

18. Rock-__: jukebox brand : OLA. I only know Wurlitzer.

22. Oxalic acid, e.g. : REAGENT. Whatever.

25. Wedding ring? : HORA. Ring dance.

26. Teacher of spoken language to the deaf : ORALIST. Spellchecker does not like this word.

27. Tel __ : AVIV

28. Immature newts : EFTs

29. Balance beam? : KEEL. OK, sailors, explain it to me.

30. Back-row bowling target : NINE PIN

33. Balls of energy : LIVEWIRES. Dennis is one. Don't think he ever had a quiet day.

35. Where many columns are found : NEWSPAPER

36. One with a trunk : TREE

37. Greek peak : OSSA. Mt Ossa.

39. Fix up : MEND

40. Window part : SASH

46. Varicolored pattern : ARGYLE. Look at our Argyle's socks.

47. Milk flavorer since 1928 : BOSCO

48. Hello, to some Americans : ALOHA

49. Link : NEXUS

50. Put off : DEFER

51. River island : AIT. Same as "islet", correct?

54. Ward (off) : FEND

55. Staples purchase : REAM

56. Workplace inspection org. : OSHA

58. Juillet is part of it : ETE. Juillet = July.

60. Glower inducer : IRE

61. Matter state: Abbr. : LIQ (Liquid)

Answer grid.

1) Happy Birthday to our always caring and attentive Hahtool!

2) Please click her (Chicago Tribute's website) if you're not happy with the new LA Times crossword format.

C.C.

71 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

[My old link to the LA Times is nonfunctional, but fortunately the Chicago Times puzzle link worked just fine].

Challenging puzzle today! I think WES Unseld may have been the only complete unknown, but there were plenty of answers that were rendered almost totally unrecognizable from their clues (MAYA, SST, FIGARO, ERIN, REAGENT, ETE, etc.)

And then there was ORALIST...

I am not a sailor, but I understand KEEL to be the beam that runs the length of the ship on the very bottom that somehow provides balance to the ship. I only know it from the expression "keelhaul" which is a form of punishment involving typing somebody to a rope, dropping them over the side in the front of a boat and letting them be dragged along the keel to the back of the boat. I have no idea if this was survivable or not.

And on that cheerful note... Happy Birthday, Hahtool!!! ^_^

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

A pretty good workout with a great deal of reliance on perps and plain old guess work. Somany clues that were ????? to me.

Such as:
17A, YAHOO MAIL/ ....PHILIUSTINES
1A, MAYA/ ...Tikal temples. The last Maya I remember played for the UConn ladies.
45A, The Tupolev/SST

There were several others, but I think you get the idea To add to my confusion I had SUV before ATV; EVE before ERE and COCOA before BOSCO.

Got it done though and without using all of the eraser.

Busy weekend, so I got to run. Probably won't be back until Monday. Enjoy your weekend.

Al Cyone said...

Yeah, my link to the old LA Times format failed too. Thanks for the Chicago link. An interesting puzzle.

thehondohurricane said...

Pardon my omission......... Happy Birthday Hahtool. have fun on your special day.

One other comment, Wes Unseld was a Helluva Basketball player. He was a center and played against Wilt, Russell, et al and more than held his own. Played collegiate ball at Louisville. He was GOOD.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. This was a fun puzzle. After I finished it (from my newspaper version) I felt I should have done the computer version because of its clever theme.

Coincidently, the new Apple store just opened in Grand Central Station, giving the clue and answer to 38-Across a whole new meaning.

My favorite clues were: Balance Beam = KEEL (Which Barry G explained).

I also liked One with a Trunk = TREE.

The most famous GOLEM is probably the GOLEM of Prague. Readers might like to check out Frances Sherwood's novel, The Book of Splendor, which is about the Golem of Prague.

I hope Lemonade is doing well. So sorry to hear he is in the hospital.

Thank you for your kind words, C.C., and the birthday wishes from my blog friends.

QOD: A stockbroker urged me to buy a stock that would triple its value every year. I told him, "At my age, I don't even buy green bananas." ~ Claude Pepper

Hungry Mother said...

Amazed to remember Bobbie soxer.

desper-otto said...

Good morning, and happy b-day Hahtool!

Either I'm getting smarter (extremely doubtful) or the puzzles are getting easier. This was a quick solve. The only over-write in my paper was ERE where I'd put EEN.

Thanx for the shoutout CC, but we didn't use TERMINAL SERVERS where I worked. We did have mail servers, application servers and Oracle servers, though.

I do think a Gen-Xer would have difficulty with BOSCO, SOXER and SLEEVE. They're all basically obsolete terms, as clued.

Just as BOEING 747 immediately conjures up the image of a jumbo jet, I think if we were Russian we would have immediately gotten SST. Aeroflot wasn't known for it's sterling maintenance program, though.

Lucina said...

Good morning, C.C. and cyber friends.

Happiest of birthdays to Hahtool. I look forward to your posts and your QOD. I hope you enjoy your special day.

i struggled through most of this until I realized the theme was computerese. Certainly not my strong suite!

Luckily I knew MAJA, MAYA and AMOR Brujo to start me off then the entire top was filled.

With a few WAGS and guesses i was able to finish though with a few erasures at ETE, ERIN and REAGENT. I hope someone explains that one.

Loved bobby SOXERS and where many columns are found, NEWSPAPERS.

Hi, LEAH! Hi, ARGYLE!

Like Magellan I found myself ASEA at times.

Thank you, Robert W. Harris for the challenge.

Lemonade, I hope you are doing well; my prayers are with you.

Have a terrific Friday, everyone!

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thank you, Bob Harris, for a great puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for an equally great review.

It was a tough start, as always on Friday. My first answer was EFTS. That is an old stand-by. Then I got NOR, HORA, NINE PIN, FEE, KEEL, and LIRA. From there I spread.

Thought JOHN DEERE was a great answer. They build those a little west of here.

For some reason BOSCO for 47D came easily. CHUTE was clever, as well, for a Fall Breaker.

Clever theme. Got all but one.

I missed on HOME PAGES. I put HOME FAXES. The crosswords I did not know, so I guessed it was right, which it was not. Oh well.

Happy birthday, Hahtool, and many happy returns.

Lemonade, hope you are feeling better.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Abejo said...

Almost forgot. Nice to see you in the paper, Argyle.

Abejo

Tinbeni said...

C.C. Another great job PINCH hitting.
Lemon: Get well soon.

Hahtool: Happy Birthday!!!
21 Again? ... I'm not surprised!

Oh yeah, the puzzle.
Well with ORALIST & REAM (again) in the grid,
my mind was somewhere else.
Write-overs:
SUV before ATV
AN-E before AN-O
TARTAN before ARGYLE
PANE was my window part before SASH

WES Unseld was a gimmie. Great player.

BAND WIDTH was my fave theme.
I use YAHOO-MAIL and a few ladies HAVE called
me a philistine at times. So that's OK.

Looking forward to my fave LIQ at Sunset.

Cheers !!!

Mari said...

Happy Friday!

The clues fell into two categories for me: Very easy, or very hard. Some dropped right into place while others needed a little "research".

The formal names are still my biggest hang up. I didn't know de Falla, Unseld, Count Almaviva, etc.

Loved Record Holder and Where Many Columns are Found.

I think I'm a Gen-Xer. I fondly remember record sleeves, and Bosco. My mom used to talk about the Bobby Soxers, but they were before my time.

Best wishes to those who are celebrating and those who are ailing. And a special thanks to everyone here. You make me a smarter every day!

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you, Robert W. Harris, this was a nice puzzle. I almost completed it; since my age is approaching my IQ, that is a miracle. I got all but 4 in the SW corner. 'Argyle' was serendipity itself !!!

Thank you CC for a very nice blog - concise and apt.

Oxalic Acid, as a reagent is not a very good clue. I could think of a thousand other compounds like salt and sugar.... why Oxalic Acid ?? ... on the other hand, ( as Reb Tevye says ), the other clues were very intelligent and charming.

Lets keep Lemonade in our prayers.

Barry G. - I have heard of blood types and race types, but I was fascinated as how one could type somebody to a rope. Does that involve tattoos and 'wite-out' 's ? lol ;-0)

I have heard of driving 'on an even keel'.

Argyle said...

Hi Lucina,

Juillet = July ÉTÉ = summer. French

Erin is a Hiberno-English derivative of the Irish word "Éirinn". ("Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland)

Somebody else can explain REAGENT.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning C.C. and all.

Happy Birthday to Hahtool, and belatedly to JazzB.

Good tough Friday, but the theme words, although not clear what was intended, were reasonable to a computer user. I liked JOHN DEERE too. Our baler was an International Harvester. Lots of New Hollands around. I don't think of oxalic acid as a reagent, but more as the thing to be avoided in the rhubarb plant - stick with the red part of the stems. Unknowns like LEAH and ERIN filled in easily from the perps. No searches needed.

Have a great day.

Anony-Mouse said...

Darn it - computer malfunction ! Boss, please erase previous duplicate entry.


ALT QOD:-

In honor of our BD-girl.

"I'm sorry about your cat and I'd like to replace him."

"OK"' replied the woman, "but how are you at catching mice ?"

-Unattributed.

Anony-Mouse said...

reagent:- (noun) - a substance taking part in a chemical reaction, especially one used to detect, measure or prepare another substance.

It is not a "catalyst" - a substance that assists in a reaction, but does not undergo significant change to itself. ( say, metallic Platinum - ).

Most common reagents are (say) dyes that change color, in a differing Ph ( acidic or Alkaline medium - ).e.g. Litmus paper. ( Blue -Acid/ Pink,purple-Alkaline ).

Other reagents cause a precipitate - some mixed solid to fall out of solution.

Oxalic Acid, a relatively mild organic acid, forms generally soluble salts - oxalates. Ferrous Oxalate, is one of the common salts used to replenish iron in the human body, when necessary. On the other hand, Calcium Oxalate is one of the main culprits of 'Kidney stones'.

The word 'reagent' is far too common, and Oxalic Acid is not one of the noteworthy ones. IMHO.

Argyle said...

Re: Files

Cut types

Rat tail differs from a straight round file because of the tapering end.

I had trouble in the SE corner but that true crosswordese, "AIT", turned out to be my key.

Anony-Mouse said...

Much as I hate to, too much information.

Before somebody corrects me - the colors on the litmus paper should be reversed - Blue-Alkaline, red,Pink - Acidic.

Analytical reagent ('AR')is a grade of purity of any chemical, ( generally used in scientific research - ) , which means it is over 99.9+ % pure.

Over and out.

Anonymous said...

Without, being crude, may I mention that the common, metal (iron) files used in 'metal working' are called the 'flat-bastard' and the 'round bastard'... ?

creature said...

Happy Bday to Hahtool! Belated HB to Jazz.{loved the photos}

Hahtool is 'glue' component of this blog. Thanks for being you.

I did well on everything but the south central section: got FEND and IRE, but couldn't let go of 'delay'.

Liked ARGYLE and LEAH!

A baby-step.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

That was fun. I smiled right out loud at "Drum Major's concern..." as BANDWIDTH.

Had to suss out quite a few answers from perps, such as FIGARO, REAGENT, and ORALIST, but managed to finish with a no-peeky.

The Soviet Tu-144 was a close copy of the Concorde. It's not the only Soviet craft to bear a suspicious similarity to a Western counterpart.

Nice Cuppa said...

Greetings

Tea is a terrible thing to waste. Just pay your taxes like a good citizen.

For the original meaning of YAHOO you need to brush up on your Gulliver's Travels. In one of the lands Gulliver visited, the men were brutish creatures. Pure imagination, of course..

The Tupolev Tu-144 was (in)famous as an (almost) complete rip-off of the Concorde. Some soviet spy must have stolen the plans. It looked like a duck, walked like a duck, but sadly it also flew like a duck.

Terminal server is I believe a newer term for what we used to call "main-frame" computers (which served multiple "terminals", i.e. keyboards and screens), before the PC revolution. Centralized computing is making a comeback now though, certainly in the sciences.

NC

Anonymous said...

thank you for the link to the chicago paper--- the la times format is NOT good......

*David* said...

This puzzle was on my wavelength and moved quickly for a Friday. Hitting MAJA/MAYA right off the bat helped. The themes were also pretty easy to deduce after you understood them. I think of Rat-tails, I think of hair not files and that was my last fill. LIQ crossing REQD, pretty ugly. Overall a solid puzzle with a ho-hum theme.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning CC and all. Seems strange to see a Friday blog without Lemonade. Here's to a speedy recovery.

May I suggest an alternate title for the puzzle. "This does not compute!" since the entries are all computer terms but clued in non computer ways.

At first it seemed that this was going to be tough as there were a lot of fill that just wasn't popping into mind, but after picking off the easy ones, the perps helped dredge up others.

Interesting that no one has thought about BOSCO in years and it shows up twice in an LAT puzzle within a week.

In addition to the afore-mentiond flat and round Bastard files, I've got a few triangular and half-round SOB's in the toolbox, too.

Hahtool, have a really great birthday.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, This one was computer tough, not a good category for me.

The sciency RECEPTORS and DYNES in the NE threw me off too.

At 57A) Bobby MCGEE? Bobby BRADY? Bobby DARIN? Bobby RIGGS? Since I had forgotten all about 47D)BOSCO, all I could thing of was COCOA, SYRUP and (Nestle's) QUICK. I finally remembered that the last one was spelled QUIK.

I'm still not sure about 62A)CHUTE as a "Fall breaker", except for a PARACHUTE. But isn't that an abbreviation?

At least the shout-outs to ARGYLE and LEAH helped me with the SE. Thanks folks!

Best hopes for Lemonade. May he be back with us soon.

Happy Birthday, Hahtool. You are one of the people who keep this blog on an even KEEL.

kerrys said...

Slight correction, surprised no one else caught it, lire is the plural of lira. Singular -a becomes plural -e. Singular -o becomes plural -i.

Lucina said...

ARGYLE:
Thank you. REAGENT is the one I did not know. I'll reread the explanations.

Clear Ayes said...

It isn't so easy to find a poem with ERE when you are really looking for one. This one, by Countee Cullen is just right and inspiring to boot. Cullen was an African-American poet and a leading figure with Langston Hughes in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.

I Have A Rendezvous With Life

I have a rendezvous with Life,
In days I hope will come,
Ere youth has sped, and strength of mind,
Ere voices sweet grow dumb.
I have a rendezvous with Life,
When Spring's first heralds hum.
Sure some would cry it's better far
To crown their days with sleep
Than face the road, the wind and rain,
To heed the calling deep.
Though wet nor blow nor space I fear,
Yet fear I deeply, too,
Lest Death should meet and claim me ere
I keep Life's rendezvous.

desper-otto said...

Argyle said: "Éirinn is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland. Somebody else can explain REAGENT." Yeah, but who's gonna explain dative case?

He also said "AIT, turned out to be my key." Very punny, I thought.

What's the difference between origami and a good number of our bloggers?

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - late to the dance today. The first of the round of Christmas parties was last night, woke up late, waved at the weights as I drifted through the gym, and had just enough time to get to the store.

Took me the first two theme answers to see the theme (Grumpy, yours is outstanding). I made pretty good headway through the top part, although I didn't like the juxtaposition of 'colon' and 'receptors', but certainly perked up when I got to 26D, 'oralist'....um, where, exactly do they learn their craft?

The rest went smoothly with what I though were clever clues. Regarding 59A, as an anon pointed out, I also like the fact that the next time I call someone a rat bastard, I'm also calling them a tool.

A very Happy Birthday to Hahtool, one of our longest-tenured members.

Back to it - store traffic is increasing daily now as people realize Christmas is little more than two weeks away.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Hatool - צופרידן דיין געבורסטאָג
(and a big thank you to Google translate.)

Narrowly voided a DNF. Just turned the lap top on this a.m. ans suddenly sussed FILE TYPES. Was thinking hair do's - DOH!

PANE? - no - SASH. STEREO? - no - SLEEVE.

Good tough puzzle, but I really dislike REAGENT for oxalic acid. A reagent could be - literally - ANYTHING. Oxalic acid has a powerful affinity for calcium, and will pull it right out of your bones. For an interesting experiment, try chewing on rhubarb with a swig of milk. Certain parts of rhubarb are very high in oxalic acid, especially when unripe.

Fav was BAND WIDTH. I've marched in parades - many years ago. Lots to like in this puzzle, but BOSCO is just nasty. Or am I thinking of OVALTINE. It's been a looooong time.

For The BOBBY SOXER in you.

Cheers!
JzB

Misty said...

Great puzzle, Mr. Harris, and neat write-up, C.C. I got the whole thing and I'm pretty much of a Luddite when it comes to computers. This means that the cueing on the theme answers worked just fine! I was only stumped by "ait" which was new to me.

Was hoping to hear Lemonade was out of the ICU. Worrying. But delighted to see Creature back. And the Langston Hughes poem from Clear Ayes makes my day! Finally, have a wonderful birthday, Hahtool.

eddyB said...

Hello.

@CC. It was serious enough to move him to ICU right away.

@Concerned. I wasn't told which it was. Does it matter? If the family
tells me, I'll pass it along unless told not to otherwise.

Total lunar eclipse for West Coasters early Sat morning. Should start about 3:30 AM.

Get my printer working tomorrow
and can do puzzles again.

Take care. eddy

Anonymous said...

A ship is said to be on an even keel when she draws the same amount of water fore and aft and has her center of gravity directly above the keel (except on catamarans). This balance is obtained by the proper loading of cargo and/or ballast.
Aboard ship, most ropes that have a specific purpose are called lines. Exceptions include bell ropes and foot ropes.

DR

ant said...

C.C., AEROfoil is just a British way of saying airfoil, the shaped wing/blade of an AEROplane - which I'll let someone else more mechanically inclined explain (DEFERring seems to be REQ'D today).

However, I can provide a link to AREOsmith singing about items in SLEEVEs, and Steven Tyler showing off his ORALIST skills on the harmonica.

Big Ten Inch Record (3:25)
Caution - innuendo all AROUND.

Bonne Fête, Hahtool! Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Clear Ayes said...

I almost forgot to say that I was specifically thinking of Lemonade with Cullen's poem. But I hope dear creature will appreciate it....baby steps work just fine! For every one of us who has been having physical or emotional difficulties, Ron Worden, fermatprime, eddyB, my dear GAH and those who don't talk about what they have been through, this one is for all of you. Yogi Berra may have said it better, "It ain't over 'til it's over.".

I've vowed to pack two boxes a day, so I'd better get going. Have a great day everyone.

Spitzboov said...

@Desper-otto 1056. The dative case usually is used for the indirect object; ie. Give me the book. Me is the dative case, but in English is not inflected further from the direct object form. In German, many uses of the dative depend on the preposition used.

Thanks Argyle for the Erin etymology. Clear as Mother's milk.

ant said...

Oops!
AEROsmith, of course!

Spitzboov said...

Eddy B: Looks like the West coasters will only see the start of the eclipse. See USNO Map

desper-otto said...

Spitzboov, in school, lo those many years ago, we learned about the indirect object, but I never heard it referred to as "dative." Learning moment. I guess that makes me part of the past imperfect.

Dennis said...

Jazz, thanks for that link, which took me from Danny & the Juniors to Joey Dee and the Starliners (Peppermint Twist), Freddy Boom-Boom Cannon (Palisades Park), Gary U.S. Bonds (Quarter to Three), and more. Great memories.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

Happy birthday Hahtool. Hope you have fun.
Nice shout out Argyle.

Thanks for the write up, C.C. I needed it.

Clear Ayes, you are an inspiration. The poem was lovely and well suited to all you mentioned.

Thinking of you Lemonade.

Cheers

Anony-Mouse said...

PLURALITY IN MOTION ....

Please forgive the length.

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, yet the plural of moose should never be called meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice, yet the plural of house is houses not hice. If the plural of man is always called men, why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen ?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet ?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth ?

Then one may be that, and three would be those, yet hat in the plural would never be hose, and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren, but though we say mother, we never say methren.

-Writing Center of Central Washington University.

Splynter said...

Hi There ~!

Boy, it's a shame this wasn't the Saturday puzzle - it has me written all over it ~!!

I was part of a made-for-TV-movie that was based directly on the Golem story of Prague - great fun making that movie....

Live Wire is one of my favorite Motley Crue songs, and I usually add them to my blog....

Got all those "tough" ones, too -

I knew SOXER, ARP, AERO, ITE, ATV, but the first "S" in SST was my last fill - good way to clue that ~!

I had INCA before MAYA, PANE before SASH, and BETH before LEAH, oh well....

HBTY, Hahtool, get well Lemon ~!

Splynter

Ron Worden said...

Good afternoon to all, Seems that this week got a little tougher towards the end but not as hard as some in the past. Thanks to C.C. for filling in and as always a great write-up. I hope you are ok lemonade we all miss you. I appreciate your thoughts ClearAyes,and wishing you all the best. I also hope things are getting better for you also Creature. I got the file types right away being that I worked as a welder and solderer for about 20 years. I used a rat tail and a flat bastard. Looking forward to tonight going to watch youngest daughter's high school soccer game. Wed. night she scored the game winner. tonight will be the first game I will attend this season hope I don't jinx them as they are undefeated. Have a great Fri to all. RJW.

S04th said...

A client once asked me how to get the most BANDWIDTH possible to his location. He seemed confused when I answered "a tractor-trailer full of hard drives". He didn't say anything about latency after all... and since his business wasn't at a dock or airport container ships and jumbo jets were right out.

A TERMINAL SERVER isn't the mainframe, it's the dumb box hooked to it (or any other server) over a serial interface.

Had to get BOSCO from fill, not sure if that's because I'm an Xer or a southerner... or just because.

Only clue I didn't like was "ball of energy". Balls aren't particularly wiry. Not to say it's wrong, just seemed odd to me.

Dudley said...

Fun with Plurals:

Dr. Seuss had a way of making plurals entertaining. My favorite is a rhyme in which the Grinch cleaned out "the other Whos' Houses, and left not a crumb for the other Whos' Mouses." Love that one.

Bill G. said...

Happy birthday Hahtool! Thanks for the writeup C.C. I'll echo Mari with good health wishes for all who are ailing.

Several people have commented on and explained KEEL. But, unless I overlooked it, nobody has explained why it relates to 'balance' beam. The keel is filled with heavy stuff like cement. Its weight helps to maintain the balance of the sailboat in a mostly upright position in a strong wind. The keel's shape increases friction sideways so the sailboat doesn't 'skid' sideways when the wind is blowing from the side.

A quarter of a billion dollars seems excessive even for somebody who is good at hitting a round ball squarely, doesn't it?

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks for a the kind words and birthday wishes. Today also happened to be my Friday off, too! Like a present from the boss!

Lucina said...

desper-otto:
I have heard dative referred to only for Latin but if Kazie checks in she likely can enlighten us about its use in other languages.

TinoTechie said...

Good Friday puzzle and good blog. Thanks CC and Robert.

I don't get to the puzzle till late, so you posters say everything I could offer before me. Oh well.

I liked 33A LIRA. Guglielmo Marconi is credited with inventing long distance radio telegraph. You can read more here Guglielmo Marconi Anyway, since he was Italian, I figured it had to be the old Italian Lira.

I liked 41A Record Holder/SLEEVE. Made me remember my collection, gathering dust in my cabinet.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, A difficult puzzle today, but I managed to complete it with the help of Mr. G. and some lucky guesses.

I had one mistake--I put in Read for core subj. instead of Reqd. Oh well one wasn't too bad--at least for me.

Barry G. said it all, as usual. so often he has the same experience that I have and says it so much better than I ever could.

A very, very Happy Birthday, Hatool! I hope that you have something super planned for your day.

Thank you for the writeup C.C. It is always great to see your byline at the end of a writeup. I do hope, though, that Lemonade is doing ok. Please, anybody keep us posted if you find our more.

Today was delivery day for the gifts and food for the family that my college organization takes care of at Christmas. I was up and out by 8:30, really, really early for me!

Anonymous said...

For a little Christmas cheer

Chickie said...

Also, Thanks for the shoutout, C.C., Creature and Lucina. It is always fun to see my name in a crossword.

I remember bobby sox very well. We wore them with Saddle shoes or bucs, and the tops has to be turned down just so. Poodle skirts, and crinoline petticoats went with those bobby sox as well as Levi's rolled up to just below the knee. And we think that the fashion today is funky!

A man out of time said...

LIRA anagrams to LIAR - it's the age-old debate of Tesla vs Marconi.
Edison's Medicine w/lyrics (and clouds!)
Edison's Medicine official video w/stills

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

A fun puzzle ... just a couple of trouble spots. I didn't realize that all the theme answers were computer related until coming here. Thanks, C.C. for enlightening me!

~~ A well-deserved shout-out to Argyle ... glad you had a break today.

~~ Thoughts and prayers with Lemonade.

~~ Hope you are having a very Happy Birthday, Hahtool! >^:^<

Enjoy the evening ~~

A man still out of time said...

...and yes, I know that first link isn't the actual song - but I was using it for the lyrics (and clouds!). That's why I included the second link.

Jazzbumpa said...

Dudley -

I always thought it was, " . . .the other Whos' hice . . ."

Dinner soon,then off to the theater. Rebekka is a gnome in "Hansel and Gretel."

Cheers!
JzB not amenable to pluralization

Anoa Bob said...

Barry G.,

I used to think "keelhauling" was as you describe, dragging someone underwater along the length of the ship until I read "Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny." Keelhauling is described as dragging someone underwater from one side of the ship to the other. Survival or not depended on the speed at which the person was dragged, which was at the discretion of the captain.

I have a separate tool bag with nothing but files in it and yet I didn't make the connection to "Single-cut and rat-tail" at 59A. Doh! Dropped in DEtER at 50D "Put off" which gave me tILE TYPES as a theme entry. Embarrassing DNF.

Avg Joe said...

Happy hoppy birthday Hahtool!

Can't let the anon nom de plume pass without A Man Out of Time.

Anonymous said...

For those who don't like the new LA Times crossword format,you can also go to webcrosswords.com for the old format.

Warren said...

Hi C.C. & gang, My wife and I teamed up on today's puzzle and finished it under 10 minutes ( I had to finish setting up a sale sign for tonight's pottery sale).

C.C., Thanks for the new URL to the old version of the LA times puzzle, they've improved the new version a bit but I hate waiting through a 35 second mandatory ad just to get to the puzzle. We record everything on DVD and skip the commercials at least 90% of the time which reduces the amount of time needed to watch a program.

The only ad's we enjoy and look forward to are the ones for the Superbowl.

Here's some diagrams of airfoils.

Jayce said...

Ta ma de, ni ma de ...

Just be careful how you pronouce Monica Bee! hahahahaha.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Jayce said...

Best wishes to you on this your birthday, dear Hahtool.

LA CW ADDICT said...

Wonderful puzzle - I missed solving a Friday puzzle by 1 letter. That stupid party guy. I thought it was Stan, but it was Stag. Looking for a real name, and I didn't know Golem, not being Jewish, but I have heard of Golem Heights! So I felt stupid, but am definitely improving!

C.C. Thanks so much for the link to the Chicago Tribune - but this really has to change. We should all still be able to have our puzzle on this site, and in our original format. Something just has to be done. I also terribly miss my Sudoku game. The LA Times version was the best. I have Googled to find it elsewhere, but to no avail. I am still upset about why LAT had to change the format. It just burns me up.

LA CW ADDICT said...

And furthermore, as long as I'm on a roll, why don't all of us send emails to the Contact Us part of the LA Times requesting that everything be restored to its original status? There is absolutely no reason for this change other than to aggravate, and it is working. We all love our puzzles -so leave us alone!
I am all for change if it improves things - but this has definitely been a change for the worse!

JD said...

Good evening all,

No time to do puzzle today, but I had to drop by to wish Hahtool a very happy birthday...so nice you got the day off.

eddyB, thanks for the heads up about Lemonade. Hope he is better soon. I'm excited to view the eclipse!!

CA, your poem choice today blew me away. For such a short poem, he certainly says a lot.Makes one think seriously about these sunset years. Where did all the time go?

Steve said...

Late to the party but

@desper-otto - wonderful to hear you run an Oracle server, let me know if you need additional licenses (you can guess who I work for).

@Barry and the keel-haulers - it wasn't just being semi (or totally) drowned while you were down there, it was the fact that a large part of your skin would be flayed by the barnacles growing on he timbers. You might survive the drowning, but it was then touch-and-go whether you'd survive having a large part of your body sandpapered down to the dermis.

Nice folks, those naval types.

Oh, and the Tuplelov was nicknamed "Concordski" by the British press.

Happy Birthday, Hahtool, get well soon Lemonade.

Thanks Robert and CC for the excellent puzzle and great write-up.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting a link to the old format. They had the best technology on the web and threw it out for this horrendous, clunky, buggy horror...I was looking for a new puzzle when I found your link.