google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday. October 19, 2012, Jeff Chen

Advertisements

Oct 19, 2012

Friday. October 19, 2012, Jeff Chen

THEME: Elementary my dear Watson, it goes on the Table, Period.

Wow, another of our many favorite constructors and mentors, who put together an effort filled with so many layers, and no hens in the bunch. For the newbies, here is his INTERVIEW. So the theme has three sets of two natural elements, (two 14 and one 15 letter combination) the atomic symbol for which spells out the first unifier, 39A, FASHION which is then enhanced by 59A, another grid-spanning clue, which clues you to think of the answers to 17A, 22A and 50A as elements. There are some three and four  letter fill to help get the theme going through perps, but all in all another gem. It is hard to believe Jeff has only been doing this for just over three years. For me the puzzle has much of the joy of a Dan Naddor, heavy themeage and lots of tricky word pairs. Some may not enjoy the referential cluing and the proper names, but hey that is what make the world interesting; so let's get to dissecting this one.

17A. Components of 39-across : FLUORINE (symbol F)  ARSENIC (AS). (15)

22A. Components of 39-across : HYDROGEN (H) IODINE.(I). (14)

50A. Components of 39-across : OXYGEN (O) NITROGEN (N). (14)
and the first hint:
39A. Symbolic sum of 17-, 22- and 50-Across : FASHION. (7) Symbolic being your first clue to the periodic table.
followed by:
59A. Classic manual, with "The," and what the starred answers' components are vis-à-vis 39-Across : ELEMENTS OF STYLE. (15). This book was still the BIBLE for authors when I was studying and teaching English at UConn. (Does your paper have the 17A, 22A & 50A starred?)

Across:

1. Kool Moe Dee's genre : RAP. I do not know this early rap ARTIST,(4:17) but I see he was the first to rap at the Grammys.

4. Response to a drought ending : AT LAST. Rain, at last!

10. Spot that many avoid : TV AD. Nice misdirection.

14. Words of attribution : A LA. Our first French of the day, and my recurring clue for three Fridays, though each was different. Literally, from the...

15. Inspiration for jambalaya : PAELLA. When the Spanish came to the new world, they found saffron too rare and too expensive, they used the exciting fruit, the tomato, the rest in gastronomic history.

16. Jaunty greeting : HI HO. A greeting which cannot be used in certain neighborhoods, or you will be beaten.

20. Yao-like : TALL. 7'6" tall, basically a walking tree who played basketball for the Houston Rockets until his body broke down.


21. Gummy : VISCID. from the Latin, like its more popular cousin, viscous; though not to be confused with vicious.

28. Lightsaber wielders : SITH. George Lucas explained to me, this race became so mean because everyone called them SITHIES.

29. Get ready for a drive : TEE UP. (third two word answer).

30. Elem. school staple : PBJ. Peanut Butter & Jelly.

33. Some emoticons : FROWNS. Turn that frown upside down, stand on your head.

37. Barbera d'___: Italian wine : ASTI. A brand new way to avoid Spumante.

38. Sushi topper : ROE. Wants some eggs with your fish?

41. Key for getting out of a jam : ESCape. Nice clue.

42. Humble reply to praise : I TRY. Number 4.

44. Visit : STOP BY. (5)Can people Stop By or do they need to call first?

45. ___ Cabos, Mexico : LOS. The southern most city in the BAJA.

46. Chowderhead : MORON. This is an actual medical term for a level of awareness.

48. Gaseous: Pref. : AERI. Not that kind of gaseous, silly!

56. Signal to try to score : WAVE IN. (6) and the Yankees did not wave in many runs did they. The horse AROD finished last at Belmont yesterday.

57. They're often bruised : EGOS. I also bruise my eggos, but that is just me.

64. Greg's love on "House" : LISA. Mostly known as CUDDY, she left the cast.

65. Hard pieces : ETUDES. I will let our resident maestro JzB discuss this musical concept.

66. Flicks : PIX. Not to be confused with 27D. Books that require a commitment : EPICS.

67. Pup without papers : MUTT. Speaking of which, how did the cat placement go divine miss m? An the semi-clecho 35D. Go after, puppy-style : NIP AT.(8). Not like the 43A. Support for a downward-facing dog : YOGA MAT.(9).

68. Writer de Beauvoir : SIMONE. This unique and powerful woman was the life partner of Jena Paul Sartre, but together they lived a rather debauched LIFE, which you can read about there, or you can consider this LINK. to ponder her contribution to philosophy and feminism.

69. Miss Pym's creator : TEY. Josephine a wonderful mystery and historical mystery author.

Down:

1. Lake floater : RAFT. If you watch CSI, NCIS and BONES you probably thought BODY.

2. Burka wearer's deity : ALLAH. Same one.

3. Comedian Shore : PAULY. Is he FUNNY? (2:03). I really only know him as an early MTV VJ.

4. CPA's busy time : APRil. Tax day the 15th, now. It was March 15 when I first recall my father grumbling.

5. Mai ___ : TAI. The drink.

6. "Dancing With the Stars" judge Goodman : LEN. The dancing prune.

7. Bayer painkiller : ALEVE. If you read the literature, you will never take PILLS.

8. Knocked off : SLAIN. OFF bad, UP bad, on wood, good.

9. Tibia neighbors : TARSI. Speaking of Bones, work your way down.

10. "Why, I never!" : THE IDEA! (7) I can see Aunt Bee, only I think it was always the very idea hmph!

11. "Fast Five" star : VIN DIESEL. Fuel for your tank ladies? Get your motor running?

12. Sushi tuna : AHI, or do you prefer expensive fish?

13. One of a toon septet : DOC. From the Latin for 7, Dwarves of course, or is it Dwarfs?

18. Cutlass maker : OLDS. Not a sword maker but a defunct car manufacturer.

19. Many a St. Andrews golfer : SCOT. They vote next year to be independent of Britain, Steve, Nice Cuppa, anyone?

23. Jazz lick : RIFF.

24. Others, abroad : OTRAS. Our Spanish lesson 1.

25. Spirit : GHOST.

26. Bats : NUTSO. Both colloquial for insane, which is what you have to be to inject your body with 31D. It might make you forget your lines : BOTOX. A portmanteau of Botulinum Toxin, the neurotoxin responsible for many deaths. Worse than taking Aleve. I love the clue, forget your lines...those ones coming from my eyes and my smile and....

30. Tops : PRIMO. From Latin, Italian and  I think Spanish  for "first."

32. Ex-Laker silhouetted in the NBA logo : JERRY WEST. One of the all time great players, with this interesting STORY. The ABA gave us more than the 3 point shot.

34. Detective's pronoun : WHO. From WHO DUNNIT, I guess.

36. Serious : SOBER.

40. "Eli's Coming" songwriter : NYRO. a wonderful SINGER (3:59) song writer who died young of ovarian cancer just like Gilda Radnor. Sad. makes the song more powerful.

47. Campbell of "Wild Things" : NEVE. For those who have not seen the SCENE(1:12), it is very R-rated. Not related to 51D. Tampico tots : NENES, Tampico is also in Mexico, and the NENE is the bebe..

49. "Is this what ___ for...?" : I GET. (10)

52. Gangster Frank : NITTI. I am really enjoying reading Max Allan Collins'  Nate Heller historical mysteries, often featuring Nitti. He was my favorite gangster on the Untouchables.

53. Briefly : IN SUM. (11).

54. Abu Simbel's land : EGYPT. These were dug out by Ramses II's slaves and saved by the Asswan DAM.

55. "Honest!" : NO LIE. (12) Do you ever trust anyone who says this?

58. Steamy : SEXY.

59. Sunblock of a sort : ELM. Under the branches of the old elm tree.

60. Sch. with a Riverhead campus : LIU. Long Island University. LINK.

61. Prefix with meter : ODO. The one that tells yo how many miles you have traveled.

62. Marshland : FEN. A good old English cozy word.

63. Lubbock-to-Laredo dir. : SSE. Well I guess if we are going to go in that direction, I had better get out of here and leave it to you. I love Jeff Chen's work as he always makes me work and think, whether a Monday or a Friday; I hope you had a good time, I know I worked you hard in places as well, so see you next time.

Lemonade





83 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

I floundered about for awhile until I finally got down to the theme reveal at 59A (at first I thought 39A was the theme reveal, which didn't provide any enlightenment at all). I got ELEMENTS OF STYLE with just a little help from the perps, and fortunately I know my Periodic Table pretty well and was able to go back and finish of the other theme answers in short order.

Other than the theme, which remained obscure for awhile, the rest of the puzzle was pretty straightforward. Except for VISCID (which I hope to never see again) and JERRY WEST (who I simply didn't know). And NYRO (again, never heard of her). And ASTI (which I could at least guess with a perp or two in place).

Minor missteps included ADVIL instead of ALEVE and AERO instead of AERI.

Speaking of ALEVE, that used to be my painkiller of choice (1000 milligrams daily) until I "read the literature" and went cold turkey. Now I just deal with the aches and pains as best as I can.

Kevin Ajax On said...

Wow what a great puzzle. I needed lots of perps today. I had Jerry West no problem at all but took forever to come up with PBJ. I then had Prime instead of Primo. Another slowdown. Loved the Botox clue. Hit a bit of a snag when I quickly jotted down Jedi instead of Sith. I had fun with this one. A great Write-up Lemonade. Have a great weekend everyone.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Caught on go the theme early, except for one thing: I thought it was exclusively single-letter atomic symbols, so I kept wondering where to fit Sulfur or Sulphur in order to get the S. It later occurred to me that Arsenic is represented by two letters.

Had no idea that the NBA logo was an image of a real player! Also never heard of Nyro or Nitti, had to rely on perps and even then I wasn't convinced.

Long live Elements of Style! We always called it Strunk & White after its authors. Required reading in college and life. I bet few students bother any more...

TTP said...

Gorged on a pizza while watching the NLCS and 49er - Seahawk game. Then promptly went nighty-night. Didn't know the outcome of either until I woke at 4AM and turned the tube back on. Started this puzzle just after 4:30 AM, and here it is, over an hour and a half later and I just finished.

I only had 3 words across and 10 words down after my first pass ! Started to SWAG in some words just to get moving, and guessed well except 4A Growth instead of AT LAST, then later SMOTE for 8D instead of SLAIN. Then Sticky fit with smote and SCOT. Also guessed at ASTI and PAELLA after ditching smote.

Although it took awhile, I started to get the components one element at a time. ELEMENTS OF STYLE became an easy fill, and I'm sure our illustrious educators will be pleased.

I liked BOTOX and JERRY WEST. 43D Support for a downward facing dog ? What kind of canine would that be ? Then realized it may be an inanimate object like a bench dog, as in a cabinetmakers bench dog. Good thing the perps gave me YOGA MAT.

As fine and challenging as this puzzle was, I may have some nits. Time to read what Lemon said about 10D THE IDEA, and 16A Jaunty greeting = HIHO. Then 26D Bats = NUTSO, maybe batty = nutso...

PK said...

Hi all, Interesting & engrossing puzzle but got stuck and needed Lemonade's help. Thanks. I've found if I do the puzzle before I read my paper, I do better.

I got enough perps to get all of the elements. But I was trying to add up the atomic numbers to get 30A. When Lemon laid out FASHION, it took a long time to understand.

ELEMENTS OF STYLE was my bible for 20 years at the newspapers.

ALEVE/naproxen gives me instant Alzheimers--don't know where I am or what I'm doing. Luckily, the time I took prescription strength pills on a trip, my husband was along. Scared us both silly.

I got none of the names except NEVE, DOC & PAULY.

Three "R's" looked right for 30A so I got nowhere on that block, except for YOGA. WAGd OXYGEN & NITROGEN since I had two -GEN's. At first I had Gotti then Notti. Few other one-letter misses.



Tinbeni said...

Lemon: Wonderful write-up & informative links.
(I always like it when my Ink-Blot is explained. This "new" Red-Ink-Pen is NO help at all!)

Hmmmm, a little PRIMO would sure hit the spot.

I know our Mari got NITTI (she loves her Chicago history). One of my few gimmies.

JERRY WEST another gimmie. NBA won't acknowledge it's him on their LOGO ... now that's lame.

Non-fave of the day, 36-D, SOBER for the obvious reason.

Cheers to all at Sunset!!!

desper-otto said...

This one ran into overtime due to confusion in the southwest. I was certain that "It might make you forget your lines" referred to lines of coke. It had to be DETOX. I kept that far too long. And it didn't help that I'd never heard of JERRY WEST. And "Tampico tots" had to be NINAS or NINOS, not Hawaiian geese!

I don't think I've ever seen VISCID before, but once I got it via perps it made a sort of sense, so it got to stay. STOP BY began life as STOP IN, so the four letter songwriter would be _N__ -- that's gotta be ENYA. Not!

Thanks, Jeff, for a tough and elegant start to a Friday. And thank you, Lemon, for explaining how the elements spelled FASHION. I certainly wouldn't have gotten that on my own.

HeartRx said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.

Thanks for getting my day started with a bunch of chuckles, Lemony. HI HO, and away we go, indeed! I never knew why the SITHs were so mean, so thanks for explaining that one...

I thought this puzzle was a stroke of genius. To find elements that can be arranged symmetrically with atomic symbols that spell out FASHION, then unify them all with ELEMENTS OF STYLE? How good is that, my friends??

Hand up for loving the clues for BOTOX and TV AD. But I found that most of the other clues were pretty straightforward.

TGIF !!

Anonymous said...

Nenes was my big hang up, kept wanting ninos or ninas, but could only fill in the cross with etudes.
Aren't they those Hawaiian geese?

Loved the theme, but I was a science major, could be tough for those not into the periodic table, but all very basic elements except arsenic which got its fame paired with "old lace".

Lucina said...

Good morning! Thank you, Lemonade, for pulling me out of the funk this puzzle put me in as I could not connect FASHION with the elements. Doh!

And thank you, Jeff Chen, for the really clever puzzle and challenge today. The NW, central and bottom filled quickly though I started with ABC at 30A but soon PBJ became obvious.

No idea about JERRY WEST but it emerged.

Laughed when BOTOX became clear and I thought ELM, sunblock of a sort was clever.

PRIMO is strictly Italian. In Spanish it's primero.

Never knew that PAELLA inspired jambalaya. Learning moment for me.

I don't really understand Jazz lick, RIFF.

I'm returning to bed now.

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!

Lucina said...

In Spanish NENE is an expression of loving tenderness to a baby.

TTP said...

Lemonade, great write up. I always enjoy your wit and style. Funny too. Sithies. I guess I will have to watch the Star Wars movies some day. Have never seen a one of them. Thought SITH might be JEDI, but that didn't fit with the S from OLDS. Good thing for perps. As an aside, DW had an 83 Olds Cutlass, and I had an 83 Grand Prix when we met. So similar.

To answer your question, no starred clues at 17,22 and 50. FASHION was filled by perps, and I never reconsidered the clue at 39A until I read your write up. A new found appreciation for this puzzle, and a tip of the hat to Jeff.

I did not know that chowderhead meant moron. Have never had chowder, but know it to be some kind of fish soup. Therefore thinking it might be a specific kind of fish, but had the MOR-N, so O fit and gave me YOGA.

For some reason, I associate jaunt with a boat ride, and thought a jaunty was a type of boat, so jaunty greeting must be AHOY, but Vin Diesel and Ahi told me otherwise. Still not sold on the clue for 10D THE IDEA, but your explanation of Aunt Bea's "The (very) Idea !" captures the 'aghast' feeling I was trying to decode.
Same for Bats = NUTSO. Never heard or read of bats with that meaning. Batty yes. Daft yes. Crazy yes. Bats no. Perps to the rescue though, and since it's Friday, it must be my misunderstanding.

Anonymous said...

Decent puzzle, except for "Spot that many avoid : TV AD" and "'Why, I never!' : THE IDEA," which are both a bit on the weak side.

Anonymous said...

Barry:

you know about turbochargers and superchargers, but not Jerry West?

Hmm...

Anonymous said...

Desper-otto:

"'It might make you forget your lines' referred to lines of coke."

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Tinbeni said...

Lucina:
I thought PRIMO was the Spanish word for cousin.


When I hear the term, PRIMO, I don't think of whether it's Italian or Spanish.

Down on the docks, we wonder whether it's Columbian.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

kazie said...

Since I haven't been near a chemical symbol since 1960, and had no interest in them then, and didn't know any of the names, and thus had no perp help, because of mistakes like SORE/TVAD and JEDI/SITH, ABC/PBJ, I got left in the dust today. DNF.

I have great admiration for those who enjoyed this one.

Either my brain is fried, or the puzzles are much harder now than they were a year ago.

thehondohurricane said...

Howdy folks,

The only clues of five letters or more that I solved today were JERRY WEST & ELEMENTS OF STYLE. Tin has his ink blots, I have one less eraser. I figured out the theme but had no idea what elements were what. Perps never came into the picture either. Just another DNF that was not even close.

Lemon, fun write up ... thank you. Jeff, this is the second time in recent weeks you have cleaned my clock. Would you consider taking a LOA?

HIHO, HIHO, it's off to enjoy the weekend I go. See you Monday.

Mari said...

Wow, this was a brain buster for me. I'm wide awake now!

I'm not up to par with my elements, but with the help of a little correction fluid I made it through.

I loved these:
- 10A: Spot that many avoid: TV AD (except during the Super Bowl)
- 29A: Get ready for a drive: TEE UP (I had GAS UP)
31D: Might make you forget your lines: BOTOX
59D: Sunblock of a sort: ELM

TTP: We're neighbors: I'm also in DuPage County, Illinois. I got my Associates at College of DuPage.

Tin @ 7:09 am: Great memory! I do know my Nitti. I'm also a fan of Max Allan Collins' work. He writes great historical fiction.

This puzzle made me feel NUTSO. Like a MORON. Many learning moments for me (Viscid, Etudes, Paella).

I hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Jeff Chen, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Lemonade for the excellent write-up.

Wow! What a clever puzzle. It was great.

I could not get started up North so I headed South. I hunted and pecked for a while. slowly got some words.

Then the theme words started appearing. Did not get FASHION until I had the other four. Then it was easy.

I do not get YOGA MAT. I know what it is, but do not understand the clue.

Did not know PAULY Shore for 3D. I looked him up. No time to perp him out.

Busy day.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Avg Joe said...

Morning. "Good" remains to be seen.

This was a brute. Had all the mis-steps already mentioned, but kept erasing and finally got it done in about 50 minutes.

It was a masterpiece of complexity, and I had a sense of accomplishment once finished, but also the opposing view that if I'm going to work this hard, I should be getting paid for it.

kazie said...

I suppose I should say that the only answers I got completely correct were RAP, ALLAH, AT LAST, A LA, APR, TAI, SCOT, TEE UP, LOS, YOGA MAT, EGOS, SEXY, MUTT, IN SUM, SIMONE and FEN, with odd letters here and there in the rest. The cross references to things completely unknown meant no perp help in the long ones, which themselves should have been perps for the other unknowns.

I probably got discouraged and gave up too quickly, but I wasn't having any fun.

kazie said...

Abejo,
Hey, I can actually answer your question: "downward dog" is a yoga pose, so the yoga mat supports you while in that pose. It involves standing on all fours with your head hanging down between your arms.

Husker Gary said...

Did this fab puzzle in car on way to chaperone 1st grade field trip. We'll be in Roca today Joe.
Read y'all this afternoon.

Gramma Jean said...

Puzzle way too hard for me, but fun trying! Have to brag! Aleve was first marketed by Syntex Corp. And was named by my husband!

Avg Joe said...

Say Hi to the punkins, Gary. They didn't get any berries this year, so this is it for the Berry Farm in 2012. Glad it's not as windy today.

Ron Worden said...

Good morning to all and happy Friday. Wow I usually am on Jeff Chen's wave length, but had lots of smudges today. Did not see the theme until I read Lemon's write up. Thanks for the learning moments, Jeff and Lemon.
I thought paella was with rice and jambalaya was okra.
Also Nina's And Ninos not nenes, must be some New Mexican geese imported from Oahu.
Oh well must be a Saturday Silkie on the way.
Have a great day to all. RJW

Lemonade714 said...


Gramma Jean, welcome. A pharmacological celebrity in our midst. I loved the use of alleviate to create ALEVE.

Kazie, thank you for linking the yoga position; when I am doing my write up, I often leave matters unlinked, not wanting to overwhelm. If people want more, it can be added. Anyway, if you made a list of all the proper names you do not each puzzle, eventually they will be second nature, as most names are repeated.

Lemonade714 said...

nene , a sm/f
1 (=niño pequeño) baby, small child
2 (uso apelativo) ¡sí, nena! (a mujer) yes dear!, yes darling!
¿vamos al cine, nene? (a hombre) shall we go to the cinema, darling?

kazie said...

Lemon,
Then I'd have to list all the different ways of cluing them as well, and remember where the lists were! LOL

When I have so many gaps in my knowledge, not just of names, but of American history (never studied in Oz), college abbreviations, and all the subjects I never liked or touched, and modern music and pop culture, it's just easier to lament or stay away those days.

CrossEyedDave said...

My usual solving style is across, then downs. However the Sunday puzzle is making me rethink that strategy. Today, i realize that across then down just doesn't work anymore.

28A lightsaber wielder ( i had jedi)
29A get ready for a drive ( i had gas up)
30A elm staple (i had abc)
33A some emoticons ( i had smiles ) my toast always falls butter side down!
56A signal to try to score ( i had come on )

26D bats=nutso, i am a little concerned that this clue /answer was so easy for me!

53D insum, whew! it was in yesterdays cw!

10A TVAD, why, when i got the final "D" did i hit the keyboard so hard!

Anyway, i didn't have a snowballs chance in hell. For me, the midwest was just impossible.

I really want to read the interview, but can't until i do the "fall" puzzle!

When i finally got to the Blog, & saw the theme, my reaction was "OMG!" Jeff Chen, SHAME ON YOU! you have just raised the bar so high that you are going to scare off budding constructors!!!

LM714, re: yr write up = you have outdone yourself! Too much to praise, but i must say yr 47D had me talking like a pirate (AAARrrrr!)

( iwas looking for a clip of Home Improvements HI Ho Neighbor, but never got past this little cutie!)

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Found this one to be daunting at first but then saw HYDROGEN IODINE; then ELEMENTS OF STYLE. Then realized the other theme fill probably involved chemical elements. The unifier at 39a capped it with the FASHION - STYLE link. In spite of the above I still had a Natick with the RIFF SITH cross. Also needed red letter help with NENES (usually clued as Hawaiian geese). LISA and VIN DIESEL were WAGs. Favorite clue was for TV AD.
Lemonade, your comparison to Dan's work is apt.

Enjoy the day.

TTP said...

Mari, I saw that you said your are 30 miles SW of Chicago, and thought that you also might be in DuPage. I think Abejo may also be in DuPage, and close enough we may grocery shop at the same Dominicks. If I ever see either of you around, I will introduce myself. Still to shy to post a pic of myself, so my avatar remains my boy. We rescued him from the DuPage animal shelter across from the county buildings.

CED, I enjoyed you cutie kitty video. I like cats, but my boy doesn't. When your vid ended, there was another:
Innocent until proven guilty dog It is another example of what endears us to pets. Well for me anyway.

Anony-Mouse said...

Thank you Lemonade for your witty, punny explanations. I really learnt a lot - not necessarily on solving crosswords. Your links on Simone' biography alone, was worth a big read. Remarkable woman, but she would have been incarcerated in the US, for her teacher transgressions. The sad thing is, the oppression of women is ingrained in our society, that it continues with abandon, even today - sanctioned by culture, race, religion, the church and everything else.

I was shocked when the answers revealed so many elements - my love, with the Periodic Table. How could I not know ? Then I realized that this has as much to do with chemistry as gridiron has to do with metallurgy.

'Elements of Style' seems like a very good book to read, except that, alas, I'm too old to change my style ... but I'll bet you, Kool Moe Dee never read the book.

I hope your eyes are better or at least stable.

Have a good weekend, and best wishes ...

Anonymous said...

My mother's first language was Spanish, and I can say that she never called me 'nene'. She called me many other things, to be sure, but never
'nene'.

It is likely used in a particular region of the Spanish-speaking world, but not everywhere.

Anony-Mouse said...

The previous blogger has forgotten his elements of style ... and is now in the elements of spam. !!@!

Lucina said...

Tinbeni:
You are right, of course! PRIMO is a male cousin. I was thinking solely in terms of tops or prime.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon everyone.

As it seems to be the thing to complain about not sleeping, I must say that I slept until 9:30 when DH awakened me. Sleep is what I do best.

Bill G. Sorry to read of your loss of online friend + eddy and Clear Ayes. Surely is a downer.

Today's puzzle: not even close to finishing. Had no clue! PERIODIC TABLE? Get real. Got 15 whole correct answers. I do wonder about HIHO as a greeting, even casually. (I had HI YA.)

Have a good Friday you all.

Cheers

Zcarguy said...

@ $ 85 Jeff Chen was way underpaid for this jewel !

Vairnut said...

Wow, major toughie for me, but I did manage to finish. WEES goes for me too. Got fluorine right away, but couldnt for the life of me figure out what it had to do with FASHION. Even when done, I had no clue. Thanks for the explanation, Lemon!

GarlicGal said...

DNF for me.

The whole PBJ (abc), ROE (eel) PRIMO corner had me addled, at sea and adrift. Filled in FASHION and ELEMENTSOF etc., but since I have no science background (high school, 40+ yrs. ago) I couldn't connect the dots!

Thanks to Lemonade for clearing up the mysteries and Jeff for a pretty wonderful puzzle! Good Friday fun.

GarlicGal signing out...

PS- in all my years of taking Spanish I never came across nene either. It very well could be a regional thing.

Anonymous said...

Great puzzle, but I had a huge issue with TV AD (10 Across). This held me up for ages because to my mind both TV and AD are abbreviations, which is a rule-breaker. I lost faith after that, and it made the puzzle less enjoyable. PBJ also feels like a bit of a stretch to me as it's more naturally PBANDJ, but the J was a dead giveaway. All in all nice work Jeff.

Rico

JJM said...

I finished it in normal Fri time. I read the write up. And I still don't get it.

Seldom Seen said...

Jeff Chen, just an awesome puzzle. So many nuances. A favorite in my recent memory. Thanks.

boron, radium, vanadium, oxygen!!

Gunghy said...

The elements came really fast, FLUO above HYD and what else could it be? Then Fashion gave me all of them except that I tried to fill in the last two in 59A. In ink, of course. Then I hit the south. ELEMENT OF STYLE doesn't show up in many science classes and LISA, LIU, ETUDES, SIMONE and TEY didn't help me at all. Neither did NINOS and NITTY.

The cluing for DOC reminds me of my rear ender a couple of years ago. As I got out to survey the damage I had done, a little person climbed out of the car I hit, looked at the damage and said, "I'm not happy." I responded, "Which one are you?" And that's when the fight began.

miss beckley said...

Go to any Target in the LA area and you will hear nene many times. It seems to have no gender, unlike most spanish words. I think it's a vulgarismo (slang) from Mexico.

Lemonade, thank you so much for explaining the fashion theme! I wouldn't have gotten it in a million years.

Anonymous said...

I hope that is just a tasteless joke you heard and have repeated in first-person point of view. I am happy, however, that you did not refer to us as midgets.

Mari said...

TTP @ 10:38 am: I am familiar with that shelter. I was nearby recently for the DuPage County All Night Flea Market. (I get my cats at West Suburban Humane Society.)

Have you dog lovers heard about Dog who lost his snout? This is no joke. You can read about the poor pup online.

Bill G. said...

Good day. It's interesting that some days I have so much trouble with a puzzle that I start to write something negative. But I remember, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" and I erase my post and come here. Then I find out that many others liked the puzzle and didn't have much trouble with it. At that point, I feel glad I didn't post but feel a little inadequate. Today was just the reverse. I finished the whole puzzle and didn't even need to turn on red letters. It didn't hurt that I am a Lakers fan and regularly enjoyed "Mr. Clutch," Jerry West. I remembered most of the chemical symbols and Strunk and White was required reading in Freshman English at Cornell. So, for whatever reason, I often am frustrated by CWs that others find easy and enjoy while today, some others had lots of problems and DNFs while I did fine. Go figure...

CED and TTP, I enjoyed the kitty and dog videos. That German Shepherd sure looks ashamed of itself.

Gunghy said...

Can't Read HIHO without thinking of this.

Damned, just got a notice that I lost an old friend.

Bill G., My soon-to-be-ex is a strong believer in the rule of three. As in:
That's one.
That's two.
That's three, that's one.
She never appreciated my, "No, that's four.

downtonabbey said...

Well, I am one of the ones that had trouble with this one. Once I got a toehold however I moved along but the answers fell slowly. Lemonade, thanks for a thorough writeup of the puzzle.
Let's all have a great weekend.

CrossEyedDave said...

I remember my Junior High School Spanish class quite well. 1st year went well, comparing Spanish/English words & phrases. However in year 2, when i could not keep up with my new teachers non stop Spanish, (English wasn't allowed) i was forced to stand up in front of the class & repeat until i had it memorized,

"No Se Nada."

Anyway, i managed to learn a little Spanish after i got out her class.

One thing i could never get translated was Speedy Gonzalas' "Arriba, Andale!" Whenever i said Andale, no Spanish speaking person understood what i was saying...

Home Improvement neighbor Wilson says "Hi Ho neighbor" @1:30

downtonabbey said...

Cross Eyed Dave,
loved the kitties in the window!

Lemonade714 said...

JJM, what aspect of the puzzle do you not "get"?

Jeff Chen said...

Hi all - thanks for the nice comments! And I have an easier one coming up for the people who this one frustrated (sorry!).

Have a good weekend,
Jeff

Yellowrocks said...

Jeff, fabulous puzzle. I really liked the way the symbols spelled out FASHION. Lemonade, witty and informative.

WEES about their corrections. PBJ and ROE did me in. I needed red letters. I had --RRYWEST, but was thinking Larry, Barry, Harry. At the time I did think of JERRY but rejected it because I had DETOX. I couldn't think of any school subject except PE that begins with P. I am abashed because I was an elementary school teacher and am a lover of sushi, all except the kind with ROE. I find it too VISCID.

But I have heard of these. "The IDEA!" Are you BATS?"

Gunghy said...

Anon @ 1:09 - You are correct in that I have no concept of what your life is like. I'm white, male, over 6 feet, and I've always been financially stable. The closest thing I have had to deal with is that I couldn't play football because there wasn't a helmet made large enough to fit my head. And that's more like another punchline than a problem.

I am really sorry that I offended you, but I got that joke from the friend that taught me the difference between a dwarf and a midget, and why he preferred "little person" over both. And he thought it was hilarious.

Why don't you email me an explanation about why you found it so offensive? I'd like to know. And, please go blue so we can get to know you better.

Bill G. said...

CED, Speedy Gonzoles said "¡Arriba, Arriba!" and "¡Andele!" From what I can find out, 'andele' comes from the verb 'Andar' (to walk) and means Hurry Up! but only in Mexican Spanish. Apparently it has no meaning to other Spanish speakers. I'm guessing Speedy Gonzoles doesn't pass the PC test anymore.

Anonymous said...

Gungy seems like a happy-go-lucky guy that is a joy to be around. I've got friends that are Jewish also.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Wow, what a complex puzzle! I found it difficult but doable, which is what one would expect on a Friday. Hand up for incorrectly filling what many of you also did: JEDI, NINO or NINA, OTROS, ABC, and AERO. Saw RRY at 32D and wanted LARRY BYRD.For all I remember he may not even have played for the Lakers.

At 10A I finally got T_AD, and went through the alphabet in my head to see if I could guess what the missing letter was. THAD? TEAD? TOAD? TRAD? Finally VIN DIESEL forced me to put in V, and I wondered until I came here what the heck a TVAD is. I kept thinking of the TVA letter combination in the word Bodhisattva, and wondered if TVAD was some sort of past tense of TVA, and what either of those had to do with the clue. I WAAY over-thought that one!

Now I'll look at VLAD as some sort of VL AD. haha

I agree Jeff Chen was very underpaid for this one. I hope he got as much pleasure constructing it as I did deconstructing it.

Best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

Thank goodness for that "h" in your name, Gunghy. LOL

Like Dudley, I kept wondering where the element beginning with S was, until I came here. Reading all your writeups and comments sure is much more satisfying than simply looking at an answer grid.

Steve said...

This was tough! Thanks for the great write-up, Lemonade.

Lemonade714 said...

Jeff, thanks for stopping by, any collaborative puzzles in the pipeline?



Lemonade714 said...

Thanks Steve, no thoughts on Scottish freedom?

Irish Miss said...

Good afternoon:

Late to the dance due to doctor's appt., errands, etc. Did the puzzle late last night and found it very challenging but finished w/o help and with no write-overs. However, did not know what those elements had to do with fashion. Lemonade solved that problem very nicely. Kudos, Jeff Chen, for a real treat.

We have had torrential rains all day. If it was snow,
we'd be buried by now.

Marti, any news on the kitty? Speaking of kitties, CED, that clip was adorable. So was the one TTP posted of the guilty dog.

Have a great Friday.

TTP said...

Mari @ 1:13 Isn't that All Night Flea Market fun ? Not that I have ever stayed there all night! It's been probably 8 years since the last time I was at that one. Have you ever been to Kane County Flea Market ? It's big. It's held the first Sunday and preceding Saturday afternoon of every month.

I was a weekend "picker" for my dad and went there 5 or 6 times every year. As well as to auction sales held all over the western burbs and out in the small towns west to Iowa. After he passed, I quit going. I need to go again. I like put-zing around, talking to and joking with the dealers and haggling over prices before I buy things.

Mari said...

TTP: I haven't been to the Kane County Flea Market in years. I probably should put it on my agenda.

I enjoy watching those TV shows about the pawn shops and storage shed wars. You can learn a lot of history watching those shows.

Lucina said...

Re: andale
Yes, anda is the imperative of the verb andar. As with many Spanish verbs, the pronoun is attached at the end for pronunciation.

andale = anda + le (you, hurry)
mirame = mira + me look at me
sientate = sienta + te = you, sit down

NEHE (masc.) NENA (fem,) is a perfectly respectable Spanish word and like many forms of expression is sometimes confined to a certain area of the country.

CED
You might have been mispronouncing "Andale" as often happens. The accent is on the first syllable but many non-native speakers place it on the penultimate syllable.
AN-da- le.

Lucina said...

That first one should be NENE, not nehe. Sorry.

Gunghy said...

Anon @ 2:10 - Thank you.

Jayce - I used to carry the kegs in to the parties at the frat. (Obviously not PBK) The Pres looked up and said, "Look, here comes Gungha Din." It stuck as Gungha, but went to Gunghy because of its resemblance to grunge and gunge. As you seem to have noticed, I get as many Grungy's and Gungy's as I do correct spellings. But, hey, it's all good.

Avg Joe said...

I haven't seen or heard a Speedy Gonzalez cartoon in at least 30 years, but the "Andale!" comment is still around. My son in Palo Alto uses it a lot in traffic. I've even found myself adopting that habit. It's nice to know the actual translation, Lucina.

Didn't Speedy also always add "Banzai!" at the end of that screed? Or am I just mis-remembering?

john28man said...

I am embarrassed. I am a Food Engineer, think Chemical Engineer for food and I din't get the theme, even to think of Chemical Elements.

Bad me!

kazie said...

Jeff,
No need to apologize, at least to me, for my frustration with my own ignorance. The puzzle itself was a work of art, I just become despondent when I fail at anything.

You and others who aced this have my admiration.

PedantTheBrit said...

Excellent puzzle! Got a DNF because I ran out of time. (I do it during breakfast and suspect "the crossword was really tough today" would not go down well with my boss). I had FASHION penciled in but couldn't work out why it would be right. Mr Chen had just one too many layers for me!

The statues at Abu Simbel weren't actually saved by the dam. The dam would have flooded the area where they were built so the Egyptians moved them some distance away. A major engineering feat in itself.

Also, (for the geeks) the Sith aren't actually a race. Like the Jedi, they can be of any race. But, unlike the Jedi, they have turned to the dark side of The Force.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, OOFTA! I only had about 1/4 of the puzzle in by the time I got to the last of the clues. My one saving grace, I did have almost everything I had in correct.

My chemistry is non-existent. This was one course I didn't have to have in my Natural Science Elem. Ed. major. What I've learned has been by the seat of my pants, and in crosswords. LOL.

I knew that the theme had to do with elements, but I could only go that far. I had some of them in, but not all! there were too many other unknowns, Jerry West and Vin Diesel being two.

I thought about Husker Gary as he taught science for all those years. He probably zipped through this one.

Thanks Lemon for a great writeup.

Jeff Chin, Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your "easier" puzzle for those of us who had trouble with this one.

Have a gareat weekend everyone.

HeartRx said...

Lemony, thanks for asking. And Irish Miss @ 2:59, no takers yet. But she continues to endear herself to myself and DH…if not the other two four-footed friends in this house!

Jeff, nice of you to drop by! I absolutely loved this puzzle. What a stroke of genius to include elements with the unifier...

Bill G. said...

I'm back after picking up my older car at the local trustworthy mechanic. Replaced a freeze plug, replaced a hose, replaced the thermostat, replaced a solenoid that's part of the smog equipment, flushed the cooling system, replaced three bulbs. Aargh! $670 for an old car that gets me and my bike back and forth to the beach.

The DVR was malfunctioning too but we fixed it by unplugging it for a minute. Works great now.

Anonymous said...

To Bill G.
Seems like while you were at it you should have changed your mechanic
also :-)

Vairnut said...

To BillG: First, is that a pic of an MG TD?? Second, I think what you paid for the freeze plug etc. wasnt bad at all.

Argyle said...

Location, location, location.

A frost plug can be an easy hour job or a hard day long job.

Bill G. said...

Anon: He's a very good local independent mechanic. I'm guessing if I told him I was in dire straits financially, he would give me a break on his labor costs as I have done with some of my tutoring customers. It's hard to compare prices for mechanics but I'm guessing he's near the median. It's possible I could have found somebody who would have done the repair for less but he does good work and charges what it's worth so far as I can tell. Argyle, apparently, this freeze plug was tough but not 'all day' tough.

Vairnut: It's a 1955 MG TF 1500.

Bill G. said...

Geez, I thought we were under attack there for a minute. Turns out just a fireworks display at the nearby high school's Homecoming football game.

Jordan just cleaned my clock at Monopoly. I landed on his Boardwalk with four houses. Bankrupt city... I let him be the Bank. I don't think he noticed how much math he was practicing with making change, etc.

miss beckley said...

Bill G @ 11:29

That is some beautiful car. I had crushes on MG TDs in high school, and that British Racing Green is a beautiful colour. If it is, indeed, that. Hard to tell sometimes.