google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 Jeff Chen

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Dec 27, 2011

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 Jeff Chen

Theme: Things Are Looking Up - Four types of skies sit atop the four tallest column entries with the unifier in the center.

4D. Bogeyman deterrent, so it's said : NIGHT LIGHT

8D. Organization leader, in slang : BIG ENCHILADA

21D. Unobstructed progress : CLEAR SAILING

32D. Chatterbox's output : BLUE STREAK

26D. Airport handlers, and in a way, what the first words of 4-, 8-, 21- and 32-Down are : SKYCAPS

Argyle here. I am a bit confused by the unifier. In what way are NIGHT, BIG, CLEAR, AND BLUE considered to be SKYCAPS? Because they are in capital letters? I was feeling this was meh at the start, until I saw 8-Down and then things perked up. I should have noticed from the grid that the themes were in the vertical. Although 42-Across(plural HE) sets my teeth on edge, Jeff has given us decent Tuesday fare.

Across:

1. Prayer ender : AMEN

5. Plant used as flavoring : HERB

9. Galaxy downloads : APPs. Ares Galaxy is a popular P2P file sharing application. Now if somebody can explain what that is, we're all set. Alternate explanation: Galaxy refers to the popular Samsung smartphone. (Thank you, John.)

13. Underworld figure : DEVIL

15. Jai __ : ALAI

16. Hilarious thing : RIOT

17. All the world, to Shakespeare : STAGE. And we are but players.

18. Building extension : WING

19. Wild about : INTO

20. Farm peeper : CHICK. I know a few of us can remember getting those little peepers through the mail. My goodness, you still can! Site.

22. Unintended radio broadcast silence : DEAD AIR

24. Merciless : BRUTAL

26. Squeal like a stoolie : SING

27. Little piggy : TOE. And squealed, "Wee, wee wee, all the way home". Not considered singing.

28. Authentic : REAL

29. "A mouse!" : "EEK!". Another squeal.

31. Castro's smokes : CUBANS. He gets them at the source.

33. Against : ANTI

34. Etiquette guru Vanderbilt : AMY

35. "2001" computer : HAL. (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, was produced in 1968.

36. B.S., e.g. : DEGree

37. Christina of "The Addams Family" : RICCI. Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams.

39. Salt Lake City collegian : UTE

42. Guys : HEs

44. 2011 Huffington Post acquirer : AOL

45. "It follows that ?" : ERGO. Why the question mark?

47. Prayer incantation : MANTRA

50. Swingers' gp.? : PGA. Pro golfers.

51. Sound of relief : "SIGH". Not to be confused with the huffy sigh or the sigh of resignation.

52. Commotion : ADO

53. Fail to hit : MISS

55. High-tech business : DOT-COM

57. Kook : ODDBALL

59. Get hitched : MARRY

60. "Aha!" : "I SEE!"

61. Tiny bit : IOTA

63. Insurance spokeslizard : GECKO. If the Geico gecko fought the Aflac duck, who would win?

66. Jazz great Getz : STAN. Stan Getz & John Coltrane live in Dusseldorf, Germany(1960) A longer clip than I usually link but hey man .... (9:01)

67. Polish target : NAIL

68. Greek or Caesar follower : SALAD

69. Ratted (on) : TOLD

70. Tiny biter : GNAT

71. Data entry aids : KEYS

Down:

1. Commercials : ADs and 41D. Fought-over food in old 1-Down : EGGO

2. Congregated : MET

3. Remove from, as a storm-threatened area : EVACUATE

5. Warmonger : HAWK

6. Inventor Whitney : ELI

7. "Amazing" magician : RANDI

9. Lacking water : ARID

10. Whacked gift holder : PINATA. And the provider of many clips on America's Funniest Home Videos.

11. "Love" concoction : POTION. It took some time but I found the Clovers version with the alternate ending(#10). Clip(1:52)

12. Puts away for later : STORES

14. "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee" speaker : LEIA. Star Wars.

23. Liquid in un lago : AGUA. Over in Lago di Como, Italia.

24. "Push-up" garment : BRA. Gotta think of Dennis! Image.

25. Rip apart : REND

30. U.K. record label : EMI. A list of their artists. There is a lot of them, too.

38. Gear part : COG

40. Tot's wheels : TRICYCLE

43. Author Bombeck : ERMA. "The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank" and she's right you know.

46. Resistance measurement : OHM

47. Follower of a Chinese "Chairman" : MAOIST

48. Builds a deck for, say : ADDS TO. Clue/answer seem a little off.

49. Negotiator's turndown : NO DEAL

54. Longtime Utah Jazz coach Jerry : SLOAN


56. FDA and NFL, e.g. : ORGs

58. Give a little : BEND

59. Beer base : MALT

62. Carrere of "Wayne's World" : TIA. Bra? What bra? Image.

64. Mary __ cosmetics : KAY

65. Pigs out (on), briefly : OD's


Argyle

From C.C.:

Belated Happy Birthday to Andrea & Steve (???). I've added you to our blog birthday list. Won't miss it next year.

And Happy Birthday to our dashing pilot Dudley. Here are a few beautiful photos from our blog photo archive.

83 comments:

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I think that the unifier of Sky Cap was that the other four theme answers could "cap" (as in be placed atop/before) the word sky. Interesting to have the theme go down instead of across.

Cigars popped into my head for Castro's smokes, but since I had already filled in the _U_ _ NS, I knew I was looking for something else.

I liked seeing Ratted On = TOLD and Squeal Like a Stoolie = SING in the same puzzle.

Happy Birthday, Dudley.

Steve, sorry I missed your birthday yesterday. Hope it was a good one.

Back to work today after several days off. But, it's only a 3-day work week, since Friday and next Monday are also holidays.

QOD: If I could remember the names of all these particles, I'd be a botanist. ~ Enrico Fermi

fermatprime said...

Good morning, all!

Caught up on my sleep and am now wide awake at 3:40 AM. Just cannot win!

Happy belated birthday Andrea and Steve. Happy timely birthday wishes, Dudley!

Not a speed run; not difficult either. Favorite answer: PGA.

Watched the season finale of The Closer. Can't wait for summer for final six episodes. (Am confused by the ending.)

Argyle said...

Normally, skycap is one word. That is why I question it.

Hahtoolah said...

According to this job site, Sky Cap is a two word customer service position. I just "went with the flow" on this puzzle and didn't question whether Sky Cap was one or two words.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Another very smooth solve today. I had no idea what the theme was about even after solving, but that's mostly because I forgot there was a theme resolve somewhere in the puzzle. I blew through it so quickly I just failed to notice it.

Only minor hangup was BIG ENCHILADA. I've heard the expression "the whole enchilada" before, but I've never heard of somebody referred to as the BIG ENCHILADA before. Live and learn...

desper-otto said...

Good morning, all.

No major hiccups, though my DEMON turned into a DEVIL. Didn't know RANDI or SLOAN, but they both perped out OK. Argyle, I also wonder why the question mark in the clue for 45A.

I seem to remember reading that HAL was chosen as the computer's name because it was just one letter removed from IBM. That was the first movie I saw in a 70mm theater with full surround sound. Most of the sound came from up front, but Hal's voice came from **everywhere**.

HBD to Dudley and slightly late ones to Steve and Andrea.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, all. Thanks for the write up, Argyle. No hangups on this one, but I did make sure to read all of the clues to make sure I hadn't messed up somewhere like I did yesterday.

Those 'Galaxy downloads' are APPS for the Galaxy Smartphones by Samsung.

Happy Birthday, Dudley.

Dennis said...

Not one, but TWO bra references!! A masterpiece of a puzzle/writeup!

Oh yeah, the rest was good too...

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff, for a great Tuesday puzzle. Enjoyed it! Thank you, Argyle, for your tireless efforts.

Got through this quite easily. Not straight through, but bounced around some.

My 45A has "It follows that. " Following the 'that' is a small square. I printed mine from the Chicago Tibune site. I expect the site did not have the icon or whatever was there. I got the answer, however. ERGO. It crosses with EGGO. Interesting.

Theme answers came easily.

Happy Birthday, Dudley

My first task in Johnsonburg is to replace the pressure relief valve on my hot water heater. Then I can turn the water back on.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

HeartRx said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C> et al.

Happy birthday, neighbor! I hope you get to fly high today, one way or another!

And late HBD wishes to Andrea and Steve - sorry I didn't see it yesterday.

Argyle, loved that Love Potion clip from the Clovers. I didn't realize there was an alternate version - thanks for digging it up. I was more familiar with the version done by the Searchers.

I did "get" the theme and thought it was really clever. But HES as fill is pretty ugly. No reason that couldn't be changed to HIS, crossing IRMA instead of ERMA. But Jeff Chen always makes me feel like a better solver than I am, and this was no exception.

have a fun Tuesday, everyone!

Husker Gary said...

I filled it in so fast, I did not even see the unifier although I figured out it was “sky” related. Ergo, I got ‘er done.

Musings
-HBD Andrea, Steve and Dudley!
-My iPhone Apps are incredible
-In grade school we had chicks and other assorted fauna in the classroom. Can’t do that now.
-Cosmo Kramer’s Cubans were people (1:05)
-Dotcom boom/bust investment reinforce the credo, “If it seems too good to be true, it is!”
-Argyle, that was a very illustrative push up and Tia does fine without one! How do nerds like Wayne Campbell get hot girls like that in the movies?
-The Deal Or No Deal show made for some very intriguing TV. Can you believe this clip? (1:06)
-2001 is a fabulous movie but a lazy colleague of mine took 3 days off to show it to 7th graders who were bored to tears

Husker Gary said...

p.s. No golf today but check out this surreal Omaha Weather Forecast for the next few days. It ain’t much for Tin and the rest of you below the Mason Dixon line but it’s amazing here. Yesterday’s players “auto” be done by now, Yellowrocks!

Mari said...

Thanks Hahtool for explaining the unifier. I didn't understand it either.

Desper-otto: Very interesing about HAL!

I'm curious about 63A: Insurance spokeslizard. Is the Geiko gecko's name Geiko?

My favorite clue was 10D: Whacked gift holder: PINATA. But 20A Farm Peeper was pretty cute too.

Happy birthdays and hoidays to all!

len said...

Argyle

It dawned on me, actually it's almost dawn here, that Greek mythology might offer a clue to your dilemma: ("I am a bit confused by the unifier. In what way are NIGHT, BIG, CLEAR, AND BLUE considered to be SKYCAPS?")

All this emphasis on creating themed puzzles has turned the crossword into a kind of Procrustean bed and the crossword constructor into Procrustes. Actually, perhaps Procrustes should be the patron of crossword constructors. I am posting a link; tell me what you think.

It's Greek to me

xyz said...

Super Tuesday, who need politics? Down theme answers, and long ones. Nice to see WING instead of the tired ELL for that clue, always like JAI ALAI, "frontons" make great concert venues.

My money's on the Duck.

desper-otto said...

Len, I think I'm Anticrustes!

len said...

desper-otto

Good one! LOL!

the Pope said...

It was St. Stephen's Day yesterday. Not our Steve's day. So box up those wishes and save them for later...

fermatprime said...

Was going to check up on Steve's birthday comment, but forgot. As I recall, he never said it was his birthday! Just St. Stephen's.

I have managed to lose the url for the decent LAT Sudoku! Can someone re-send it, please?

carol said...

Hi all:

Wild little offering today..did have a few stumbles but perps took care of most. Never heard of Galaxy but knew it had to be APPS. (never downloaded one of those either).

I dislike magicians (and clowns, eeew).

36A - 'DEG' was not the first thing that popped into my evil little mind.

Desper-otto: please explain how HAL is one letter removed from IBM. I don't understand that at all.

Barry G: I agree with you on the BIG ENCILADA...I have only heard BIG CHEESE used as a 'leader'.

Happy birthday(s) to: Andrea and Dudley. I missed that yesterday. Hope you both enjoyed your day!!

len said...

Well then, if you're not into Procrustean beds, how about picturing the constructor as a kind of mental gymnast/acrobat/contortionist bending over backwards to squeeze that theme into the puzzle?

Sort of like this:

Yuletide yogabatics

Hahtoolah said...

Carol: HAL and IBM - in the alphabetical sequence, H immediately precedes I; A immediately precedes B; and L immediately precedes M.

HeartRx said...

Haha Len, funny analogy between crossword constructors and Procrustes. But I think the Three Bears also deserve consideration…you have to throw out the theme entries that are too small/big, hot/cold, hard/soft – and only keep the ones that are “just right”.

Yellowrocks said...

Quick little Tuesday puzzle. I needed the perps for RICCI, otherwise very straight forward clues.

I commonly hear BIG ENCHILADA and see it in newspapers. The Internet has dozens of quotes using it. BIG ENCHILADA can also mean a big, important thing, such as in this funny quote from Dan Rather.
Texas: 32 electoral votes, another of the so-called big enchiladas or if not an enchilada at least a huge taco.“

carol said...

Hahtool, thanks for that....I was thinking of a typewriter or computer keyboard as far as the letters go.
I'll get my V-8 can out now :)

Andrea said...

Morning, all. Happy Birthday, Dudley!

I zipped through today's puzzle, but got hung up at the crossing of Herb/Randi. Never heard of the Amazing Randi. And couldn't figure out what he_b plant is used for flavoring. The word flavoring had my mind was stuck on a liquid, so herb never occured to me... Total V8 moment when I came here for the answer. Considering I own a restaurant and love to cook, you'd think that would've been a gimme! I briefly considered Hemp/Mandi, but knew that Pig Enchilada was not correct.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes. I did indeed have a fabulous birthday. Never did get the Bday Skype going with Mom and Dad - they're having some issues getting their iPad up and running. So we talked on the phone 3 or 4 times. Next best thing to being together.

Enjoy the day.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, folks! We're still deciding what to do for fun today, and the new Dragon Tattoo movie is high on the list. Special thanks to C.C. - I had forgotten about those photos!

No trouble with the puzzle, zoomed through without speed bumps. Didn't know Galaxy downloads. Was a tad slow remembering "All the World's a STAGE" but hey, I'm older now :-) !

Argyle, I'm still amazed that chicks can go through the mail. Even more amazing is the mailing of bees. There are usually a few stragglers clinging to the outside of the box. A local beekeeper got a frantic sounding phone call early one Sunday morning from the nearest bulk mail sorting facility. It seems his replacement colony had arrived, but the large number of cling-on bees on the boxes were pestering the postal workers who wondered whether he could see his way clear to come and get them a day early...

Anonymous said...

Those "Santa Baby" contortions are illegal in Texas! :)

Anonymous said...

1991 called - they want their puzzle back.
Other than DOTCOM and the GECKO, this crossword had the feel of a 20 year old grid.

Jeff Chen said...

Happy holidays everyone!

I originally had a bunch of long across answers (4 answers of 9+ letters each) as "fill", but Rich asked me to redo it with shorter acrosses so the down-oriented theme wouldn't be lost. I was hesitant because I like more interesting fill, but looking back on it now, he was totally right - glad he asked for that!

@HeartRx: thanks so much for your comment! Creating a Monday puzzle that people can zip through is a lot harder for me to do than make a Sunday or a late-week puzzle. Avoiding esoteric fill is very tough (for me at least). Glad it hit the spot for you.

I think HES might have been better clued as the contraction HE'S? I appreciate the feedback!

Hope the rest of everyone's holidays are happy and fulfilling!

Jeff

Tinbeni said...

Jeff: Thanks for FUN Tuesday.

Liked how that HAWK was swoopin' down on the CHICK.
Followed by DEAD-AIR.

In my paper, 45-A "It follow that!" ERGO
(no question "?" mark)

Cheers to all at Sunset.

Lucina said...

Hello, Argyle, C.C. and all.

Happy Birthday, Dudley!

Belated birthday wishes to Steve and Andrea.

Jeff, I'm sorry I missed you as you posted just as I came on; I really enjoy your puzzles and saw the theme. That rarely happens for me.

This was a Tuesday sashay and I enjoyed the long fill, NIGHTLIGHT, BLUESTREAK, CLEARSAILING, etc.

I am familiar with BIGENCHILADA as a leader but I prefer the eating kind. mmmm, so good.

I didn't know RANDI but didn't need to as it all filled nicely.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, especially the birthday people!

Lucina said...

My newspaper also had ! following "it follows that!"

ARBAON: said...

I have a friend who grew up in Texas where you can drive for hours and never see a tree. She always says she misses the "big sky" and that she felt "hemmed in" when she first moved here (my "sometimes" home) because you could only see the sky looking straight up due to the forrest.

Anony-Mouse said...

Mr. Jeff Chen, you were right on the money !! Thank you for a lovely, lovely puzzle. God bless you ( and Tuesdays ) - I may not be a Procrustes-ain or a crustacean, or whatever, but I knows what I likes.

Len, you amaze me. First Greek classics and then a wonderful dance routine by April Dawson. Just incredible - especially her moves. I could not believe a lady her age (atleast 25 ? ) could have such a supple body, - what you might expect of a 10 yr old ! Thank you.

Its just amazing the erudition and wisdom, and varied interests of the bloggers.

Argyle, your commentary was wonderful. Thank you, for everything.

Until I went to Montana, on the way to Yellowstone, I though 'Big Sky' was just hyperbole. Now I am a believer.

Seasons greetings to all.

Tinbeni said...

oops! I forgot ...

Dudley, I hope you have a wonderful and Happy Birthday.

Husker: I checked your Omaha weather site.
I'm guessing by your "Amazing" comment that you consider the next few days ... as warm????
(geez, I'd freeze to death).

Husker Gary said...

Tin, there will guys in shorts playing golf this week here in Huskerville. The water hazards are mostly frozen and so that makes it easy to retrieve bad shots – for those other guys who have bad shots. We golfers are playing with house money on days like this!

One winter when I had 100 kids in Orlando, it got down to 28°F at night but was sunny in the morning on its way to the upper 50’s low 60’s. The Disney guides waiting for us were in parkas, gloves and earmuffs and our kids piled off the bus in shorts and sandals. Oh ye of thin blood!

HES alternative cluing (skip ad by clicking).

eddyB said...

Hello.

Will gladly accept $5 gift cards
from Amazon.com and see that Lorrie gets a Kindle. G-mail them.
Unless someone else wants to do it.

Thanks Tom.

88 days and counting.

Brian brought back Cubans when he went down to Cabo to play golf.

Glad to learn that I wasn't the only one that had trouble with Book 1. Switched to Gravity by Tess. Thanks JD.

eddy

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.
Happy birthday Dudley, and belated happy birthday Andrea. Glad the latter had a nice one, and I hope the former has a memorable one.

Needed help from DH to get this puzzle done. I didn't know CUBANS referred to cigars. I was sure UTE was wrong, but when we figured out STREAK, the U had to be there. Last to fall was PINATA because we both had trouble figuring out what a whacked present holder could be. But the perps nearly filled it in.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

I think Fermat has plenty of her own money for a Kindle.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody, and happy birthday wishes.

I liked this puzzle a lot! Some really great fill, such as PINATA, CUBANS, EVACUATE, MAOIST, and POTION. How good is that? Not to speak of the theme fill, which are outstanding.

Some of the cluing was spot on today too. For example, I especially liked Farm peeper, B.S., Swingers' gp, and Bogeyman deterrent.

Gimmes include STAGE, RICCI, ALAI (of course), GECKO, and MAOIST.

I don't think the name of that Geico gecko has ever been spoken.

P2P stands for "peer to peer," meaning that the participants in the file sharing are treated by the system as equals, peers, on the same level, as opposed to "master/slave" in which one end of the line of communication controls everything, such as an ISP or web page, and the other end of the line of communication, namely you, acts only as a user of the service.

Best wishes to you all.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

Hi Jeff.

HBD Dudley. Oldest grandson, Danny, is 15 today. He's driving. Yikes!

I think Hahtool nailed the theme in the very first post.

CIGARS for CUBANS caused me a lot of trouble.

Fought-over food in old 1 down

Wow - thanks for Stan Getz with Trane. More Stan Getz.

It's only Tuesday, but we can keep abreast of Christina Ricci without doing push-ups. (The DEVIL made me do it.)

One can make more than beer from MALT.

Snowing here today, ERGO Winter is arrived.

Cheers!
JzB

Steve said...

Golly! I'm not sure my old heart can take Argyle's link to Tia Carrere! I think I'm going to have to go and lie down!

Oh, and @CC and @Hahtool - it's not my birthday - not sure how that rumor started! I've got until September before someone has to risk life and limb lighting all the candles on the cake!

Nice puzzle, I liked the "down" theme entries for a change - I sometimes have a problem parsing a down partial entry (if parsing is the right word). The theme was pretty tight, so applause from me.

Howard Hughes put his aeronautical engineering skills to better use before he went totally loco and designed the first underwired support bra for Jane Russell. Good chap!

@Mari - I think the name of the gecko is "Bleedin' annoying and about time he was retired". The same goes for Flo in the Progressive commercials. And the caveman for Geico. And the Aflac duck. Oh - and the State Farm suddenly-appearing agent. Oh oh oh - and the very lame "Double Discount" ad with Aaron Rodgers. What is it about insurance company ad agencies?

an agent appeared and said...

Steve-
The fact that you can name all those commercials, and tie them to their respective spokespeople/animals, just shows "what it is" about those ads.

Lemonade714 said...

Jeff and Argyle, another great year end combination. As the year winds down, it seems right to have our theme point down.

Speaking of pointing, Wednesday's child is all growed out. I guess PanAm gets to shut down again; if she needs consoling I am sure we have many volunteers.

Where is Tia Carrere?, she does lots o TV that I never see. She is another delicious product of Hawaii.

Misty said...

We're back from our little Christmas "staycation" in nearby Newport Beach. It was lovely to spend hours sitting on a balcony watching sailboats and yachts and canoes glide silently over the water. Missed family--but that was our Thanksgiving treat. Christmas travel from the East Coast is just too much for them.

Did do the LA Times puzzle every morning, but missed my blog and my community of bloggers. So it's also great to be back! Hope you all had a perfect Christmas, and happy birthday to all the remaining December babies!

Yellowrocks said...

Dudley, Happy Birthday. I hope you are enjoying your day.
Steve, I was the font of the misinformation about your B-Day. I misread your blog about it being St. Stephen's Day and thought it was also your day. Happy unbirthday anyway.

Desper-otto, I can'rt contain my curiosity any longer. Why is your avatar a an upside down (dead?) pig?

JEFF CHEN thanks for the fun puzzle. Yes, my holidays have been fulfilling and continue to be very filling with all the visiting and parties.

I like the Gecko. I think he's cute. Some of the other, not so much.

Gifts are about TLC, not $.

HeartRx said...

Jeff, yes -- when I saw HES clued as a plural, I immediately thought “Why couldn’t it have been clued as a FITB, using a popular song title?” Husker Gary beat me to linking one, though. I still thought it was a stellar puzzle – thanks!

Steve…OK, so just tuck my birthday greeting into your back pocket until next September. That way, if I forget it in nine months, you can’t be upset with me!

Yellowrocks, can I get you to start dropping hints that it’s my anniversary this weekend? Maybe DH will pick up on it…

creature said...

Happy Birthday, Dudley and Andrea!

Really liked the puzzle, Jeff. I was trying to remember if I always love your puzzles. I think the answer is yes. I got Sky Cap and thought it was sooo clever.

Thanks.

Carol, your posts are so 'cool'. You've fallen back into the old groove. Love your 'headbone'.
Plus, you keep 'Big D' on his toes or is it fingers.

" Girl with.." not for me either.

Spitting snow here, so I'm sitting tight. Driving in snow is a no-no.

Have a cozy evening everyone.

Jayce said...

Hi creature. Nice to see you. I was thinking the same thing, that I seem to like Jeff Chen's puzzles. Rich, keep 'im!

Hahtool, you're cool.

Best wishes to you all.

Steve said...

@An agent - yes, goshdarnit, you're right. Zounds.

@Yellowrocks - I'll take the unbirthday greetings! Thanks!

@Hahtool - in case you didn't see my late post yesterday, I received the "Freedom at Midnight" book you recommended and I'm deep into it. Fascinating and horrific in equal proportions.

Jayce said...

Well darn, "Freedom at Midnight" doesn't seem to be available for the Kindle.

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks, Jayce.

Steve: you must have confused me with someone else. I wasn't the one who recommended Freedom at Midnight. If it is anything like Is Paris Burning? or O, Jerusalem, also written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, then I can imagine that it is a good and interesting read.

Avg Joe said...

Help!

Since the topic of great Sax players has been brought up, I've spent WAY too long trying to find a tune featuring Clarence Clemons and the Tower of Power horn section (among others) that I heard on a smooth jazz station last fall while driving through Iowa. It was stunning! It primarily highlighted saxes, but also had plenty of trombones, trumpets and other horns. Does anyone have any idea what the name of this song might be and where I might find it?

LaLaLinda said...

Hi All ~~

I really enjoyed this puzzle, especially some of the same fill/cluing Jayce already mentioned. It went quickly with just one spot that slowed me down. In my newspaper 45A was written "It follows that !" The space after 'that' and then the exclamation point confused me for a bit ... I thought there was a missing word. ERGO eventually filled in. It was fun to have a vertical theme for a change!

~~ Jazz ~ Thanks for the Stan Getz link. I had forgotten how much I liked his sound!

~~ Nice to see you, Creature ~~

~~ Happy Birthday, Dudley!

Joe Blob said...

Avg Joe-
Any chance this is it?

Saxman

Anony-Mouse said...

Steve, it was I who recommended,'Freedom at midnight'. Being an Indian and interested in British Indian colonial history, I also read their (oral) interview of Lord Mountbatten ( before he was assassinated -) - the last Viceroy of India. That is another interesting book.

Mr. Lapierre, alone, also wrote a book about HIV/AIDS - and the identification of the virus by a Louis Pastr. researcher, and the apparent usurpation of the data by Robert Gallo - then director of the US Natl Inst of Health. ( BTW, they are now considered co-discoverers. )

That you thought of Hahtool, is a compliment since she is very much a bibliophile. See her blog.

You should also read 'The reason why' - about the Crimean War, by Dame Cecil Woodham Smith, (died 1977 ?). Fascinating.

Anonymous said...

Saxman
Dave Koz, Clarence Clemons, Maceo Parker and, from Tower of Power, Doc Kupka.

JD said...

Good afternoon Argyle, C.C. et al,

Lots of fun fill today. Thanks Jeff, and always a thanks to you Argyle for the necessary details. I did a zig zag approach today which seemed to work, which filled in Sloan and Randi, unknowns to me.

Herb brought me to a halt, and thought of hemp, but just laughed and went on.Didn't know Galaxy, so apps was a WAG. Carol, if you are going to beat Dick at Scrabble, you'll need to download a cheater app.

Eggo was my fav today, but big enchilada was a close second.

HBTY Dudley.. enjoyed the pictures.

Fermatprime, agree with you about The Closer.She wants her name cleared. Seems that the chief is only concerned about being sued. Who do you think is the leak?

Anonymous said...

That song, btw, features men whose job is to blow sax.
Why the initial delete, Santa?

Bill G. said...

Happy birthday and unbirthday wishes for all!

My bike-riding friend sent me this car quiz. You will enjoy it if you can remember the cars back when they had their own distinctive styles. I managed a 90 percent.

Old car quiz

Anony-Mouse said...

Steve, further to my post above-

The Dominique Lapierre (solo) book about HIV/AIDS is called 'Beyond Love', and the French researcher was Luc Montagnier of the France's Pasteur Inst. IMHO, the book is good but not great - unlike his collab. efforts with Larry Collins -" O' Jerusalem" and 'Is Paris burning'- which are much more thrilling. The AIDS book would be of interest to somebody who would be into medical or scientific research.

His book 'City of Joy', about a leper colony/Ghetto in Calcutta, India, is thoroughly and utterly depressing. Just a warning.

Avg Joe said...

Anon@5:13, That's not the tune I was looking for, but it's a very good tune. I especially liked the bari in the background. I'd also not heard Dave Koz in a number of years and had forgotten how unique his sound is. Thanks!

Bill G. said...

I've always enjoyed Stan Getz. I used to take tennis lessons from his son, Nick, a local tennis pro. He didn't have much good to say about his father.

Nick took a better-paying job at a prestigious country club. I asked him what it was like. He replied, "It's a bunch of really old guys...and their fathers."

eddyB said...

Hello.

Nobody ever has enough money.
$5 or $10 or whatever you can spare.

It is nice to wish someone a HBD.
But, something else to do something
for them.

Thus endth the lesson for today.

Since I have received several gift cards, I am committed to doing this
for her.

eddy

Dudley said...

Just got let loose from seeing Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. It was by no means a disappointment! In fact, I mean it as a compliment when I say it looked European.

Argyle said...

Anon, what delete are you talking about?

Bill G. said...

My son and daughter gave me a Nook for Christmas. It looks very clever. I just bought a couple of hard-cover books before Christmas so I haven't used it to buy another new book yet. I'm sure some of you have one. What are your favorite things to do with it? It will probably do a lot of stuff I don't even know about yet.

Steve said...

@Anony-mouse - apologies for the mis-attribution! Thanks for the recommendation!

Argyle said...

Anon/Joe Blob, I found the 4:55 PM post in the spam filter; is that the one you meant? If so, it is posted now @4:55.

Joe Blob said...

Santa-
I originally posted the Saxman link with the above name. It showed up in the blog, then disappeared.
I certainly didn't think the name was that DF.

Sorry, Avg Joe, that it wasn't the right song. I'll keep my ears open...

len said...

Hey, Bill G

Thanks for the Old Car Quiz. You beat me. I only got 81% so I'm furious with myself and, as they say: Hell hath no Fury like a Plymouth!

HeartRx said...

Dudley, we went to see "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo" yesterday, and I was curious to see what you would have to say about it. I thought it was an incredible movie, but very difficult to watch. Hahtool, I don't know if I could recommend it to you. Matter of fact, if it hadn't been for the excellent reviews, I probably would never even attempt to watch it. DH and I spent half of the movie with our heads buried in each other's shoulders...

HeartRx said...

Continued: "TGWTDT" Filmography and music were fantastic, and I thought Rooney Mara should win a "Best Actress" Oscar for her performance as Lisbeth. David Fincher deserves a "Best Director" award to complete the picture.

Lucina said...

OMG! I can't wait to see that movie. Like some of you I thought Lisbeth was a fascinating character and could not get enough of her. It will be the weekend before I go to the theater as too much is happening this week.

Tomorrow I'll go to a birthday lunch and Thursday I'll host lunch, Friday our family has a progressive dinner followed by a White Elephant party. All that requires preparation so no free time.

Argyle said...

Joe Blob, I have no idea what triggered the spam filter. It's not the first time it has happened.

Avg Joe said...

Appreciate the effort, Joe Blob. I'll keep trying myself. I might even try to track down the station and see if I can get a play list from that morning. The problem is, I was in foreign territory and really have no clue what station I was listening to. But I do know the date, approximate time and location.

Either way, it was incredible. I felt like the guy in the old Maxell ads while this song blew over me. And had no idea who it even was until it was over and the announcer chimed in. My wife has less hearing loss than I do and prolly didn't appreciate the volume, but I think she'll get over it...eventually.

JD said...

This is not a quiz, but it's a fun watch. Bill, I didn't even try but did send it on to those who love old cars.DICK-leave your Scrabble games for 5 minutes to say hi.

Bill G. said...

JD, that WAS fun. My dog liked playing the same way with water squirting from a hose. Dunno if I'm right but it seems as though the dogs' reflexes are quicker than a human's.

Anonymous said...

eddyb

still don't get it.

thanks jim

fermatprime said...

Hello again!

Managed to get in some sleep!

Eddy B, really appreciate your thoughtfulness! However, when the time comes and I get out from under the financial mess I'm in, I will buy the Kindle myself! No big rush. I can order NOOK books on my computer! (However, getting them to play on a Mac is a rather daunting process, but, with enough patience, doable!) Thank you so much again!

Forgot to thank Jeff and Argyle before. Swell puzzle and write-up!

It would be nice if all of us would at least skim the blog before making a comment that indicates a lack of such effort!!!

LaLaLinda said...

Just finished watching the Kennedy Center Honors. WOW! All of the tributes were awe-inspiring, but the last one, for Yo-Yo Ma, was brilliant!

Bill G. said...

I really enjoyed the Kennedy Center Honors show too.