google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday Dec 9, 2012 Tom Heilman

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Dec 9, 2012

Sunday Dec 9, 2012 Tom Heilman

Theme: "In and Out" - "In" can proceed the first part of each theme entry, "Out" the second part.

 23A. Wolfing down burgers and fries while driving? : A BAD WAY/ TO LUNCH. In a bad way. Out to lunch.

 38A Rocky road from fad to fashion? : FITS AND STARTS /OF STYLE. In fits and starts. Out of style.

 57A. Solidarity among commoners? : UNISON/OF THE ORDINARY. In unison. Out of the ordinary.

 79A. Reenactment of a memorable scene from "The Exorcist"? : FULL SWING/ OF ONE'S HEAD. In full swing. Out of one's head.

 95A. "Dismount" or "settle"? : OTHER WORDS/LIKE ALIGHT. In other words. Out like a light.
 
  117A. Food-fight evidence at the picnic? : A PICKLE/ ON A LIMB. In a pickle. Out on a limb.

When did you get the theme? I was feeling dense this morning and did not grok the gimmick until I was done.

4 of today's 6 theme entries are very long. Personally I found grid spanners or near grid spanners make 21*21 challenging to fill. I do like 1 or 2 grid spanners in a 15*15 grid, but not 4, which immediately take 60 theme squares.
 
Across:
1. Inn option : RAMADA

7. Assigned in spades : PILED ON

14. Sources of some stadium images : BLIMPS

20. Spanish novelist Blasco __ : IBANEZ. Never heard of this guy.



21. Monster with both a lion's and goat's head : CHIMERA

22. Piano brand : YAMAHA

25. Like corn in the kettle : HUSKED

26. Tibetan priest : LAMA

27. Rough talk : RASP

28. Meryl Streep's alma mater : VASSAR. What a talented actress.

30. Pasture parent : EWE

31. Depilatory cream : NAIR

33. Plus-size supermodel : EMME

36. Suffix meaning "living substance" : PLASM. Good to know.

45. "Speed-the-Plow" playwright : MAMET (David). He also wrote the script for "The Untouchables".

46. Many millennia : EONS

47. Kind of bran : OAT

48. Port of Yemen : ADEN

49. "__ Wiedersehen" : AUF

50. Personnel list : ROTA

53. Whomp relative : THUD

55. To-do list item : ERRAND

62. Vents frustration toward : RANTS AT

63. Offscreen friend in "Ernest" films : VERN

64. Professor 'iggins : 'ENRY

65. On the safer side : ALEE

66. Former Indy champ Bobby : RAHAL. 1986 Indy 500 champ. He looks cool, EddyB. Can you hear me?


68. Kid's comeback : CAN SO

70. Jefferson Davis's sch. : USMA

74. Brief court plea : NOLO

75. Actor whose voice is emulated by Snagglepuss the Lion : LAHR (Bert). Very helpful "Lion" in the clue.

77. Put to shame : ABASHED

83. "Reservoir Dogs" actor : KEITEL (Harvey)

85. Polar sheet : FLOE

86. Radio host John : TESH

87. Ironically, he composed the "Microsoft sound" on a Mac : ENO (Brian)

88. Drying oven : OAST

89. Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE. He was born in Korea. Dae = Big. Daewoo = Big Universe. Korean "Dae" is the same as Chinese "Da".


90. Utterly : OH SO

93. Washing station : BASIN

101. Sipped uncertainly : TRIED. I bet our Foodie Steve has tried Jicama before. How about you, Bill G? I tasted a few raw strips yesterday.



102. Contrary current : EDDY

103. __ cava : VENA

104. Gone by : AGO

106. Ripped off : STOLEN

109. City near Anaheim : BREA. Tar city.

111. Daughter of Darth : LEIA

115. What opinions often do : DIFFER

121. Proofer's finds : ERRATA

122. Sing unlike Bing : BELT OUT

123. Golf shoe brand : ETONIC. I'm having difficulty picturing Dennis plays golf. Just weird. He said he's straight in the driving ranges. No matter. I'm certain he is not the kind that slows down the play by looking for the damned ball.

124. Shifty sort : SLY DOG

125. Blows up : SEES RED

126. Hinge (on) : DEPEND

Down:

 1. Iranian currency : RIAL

2. "Dancing Queen" band : ABBA

3. Respectful address : MA'AM

4. Not as slow as adagio : ANDANTE

5. Lawn beads : DEW

6. Hank who voices some "Simpsons" characters : AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period.

7. Chance-of-rain nos. : PCTs

8. Optimistic reply : I HOPE SO

9. Small, aptly? : LIL. "Apt" indeed.

10. Leggy runner : EMU. "Leggy" always makes me smile and think of Splynter. Here's an image for him, leggy & from Australia.


11. John who loved Colorado : DENVER. Boomer likes him.

12. Ocean predator : ORCA

13. Offhand turndowns : NAHs

14. To a large degree : BY HALF

15. Actress Linney et al. : LAURAs

16. Online exchanges, briefly : IMs

17. Memorable Eastwood line : MAKE MY DAY. "Go ahead. Make my day".

18. "Close call!" : PHEW

19. "Marat/__": 1963 play : SADE. Learned this from constructing crosswords.

24. Tale : YARN

29. Tie concern : SPOT

32. Team moving to the American League in 2013 : ASTROs. So now every division has 5 teams now. Inter-league everyday.

34. McKinley, e.g.: Abbr. : MTN

35. Learn all aspects of : MASTER

37. Packer with a strong arm : STARR (Bart). Great clue.

38. Relating to regional animal life : FAUNAL

39. "Don't worry about me" : I'M FINE

40. Unheeding : DEAF

41. Performing trip : TOUR

42. Get down? : SADDEN

43. Seinfeld's Uncle Leo portrayer __ Lesser : LEN. "Hello, Uncle Leo!"



44. Cut off : END

45. Tierney of "NewsRadio" : MAURA. I watched a few episodes.

51. Winning like crazy : ON A ROLL

52. Smashes beyond repair : TOTALS

54. Top dog : HONCHO

55. Dresses : ENROBES

56. Sign of hope : RAY

58. Riesling giant Chateau __ Michelle : STE

59. FDR project : TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). Since 1933.

60. "__, we won't go!": '60s antiwar chant : HELL NO. China also had a "Vietnam War", which happened in 1979.  The border skirmishes continued until 1989.

61. Like some nuts : INSANE

67. To what length : HOW FAR

69. Woofer's sound : ARF

70. Work the aisles, in slang : USH. You can comment with the next answer.

71. "Oh, come on!" : SHEESH

72. Avoid waffling : MEAN IT

73. Accompaniment : ADD ON

74. Marlins' div. : NL E (NL East)

76. Ancient : AGE OLD

78. Cinder receptacle : ASH BIN

79. Issues requiring attention : FISH TO FRY

80. Absolute : UTTER

81. Quebec's __'Orléans : ILE D'

82. Chiwere speaker : OTOE

83. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie __": 1974 hit : KOO

84. Clean off plates? : EAT. As Jayce mentioned before, the most common greeting phrase in China is "Have you eaten yet?" Makes sense if you know that food scarcity was a serious problem in the old days. I did not need to worry about my next meal until 1981.

89. Dimwit : DODO. I miss our witty Dodo.

91. Kept under wraps : HID

92. Color in large Crayola packs : SKY BLUE

94. Running swiftly : AGALLOP. This is a word? OK, then!

96. Equal, as expectations : RISE TO

97. Cleaning basic : WET RAG

98. Declining in later years : SENILE. This should cover men only, since there's an ANILE.

99. Chevy subcompact : AVEO

100. Tilted : LEANED

104. Food truck drinks : ADES

105. Lass : GIRL

107. Report generators : LABS

108. Foil relative : EPEE

110. Pensioned: Abbr. : RET'D. Poor Petraeus, he should have stayed with the military.

112. Berlin article : EINE

113. Participation declaration : I'M IN

114. Preschool song opener : ABCD

116. Short-lived diet, perhaps : FAD

118. Sm. change : CTS

119. Land div. by the 38th parallel : KOR. Did you watch the "60 Minutes" interview about that North Korean prisoner?

120. Absorbed, as a cost : ATE

C.C.

55 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks Tom for a real toughie! It took me a long time to grok the clever theme also, CC. Great write-up!

Won't tell you how long this took! But no cheats. Just many types, untypes and retypes!

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah! And many more!

Am bushed from all of that thinking!

Here's wishing you all a fine Sunday!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all (and Happy Birthday to Hahtoolah)!

Bit on the brutal side this morning. Much tougher than yesterday, in fact. I absolutely could not figure out the theme until I came here and read it...

Like fermatprime, I did eventually get through it, though. Almost gave up halfway through, but perserverence paid off in the end.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Even with the strong hint in the title, I just didn't grasp the theme. Thanks for turning on the light CC!

Sheesh was the last to fall, and it put up a fight. This was a tougher Sunday than I've seen in a while.

desper-otto said...

Good morning, Sunday Soldiers! And before I forget, Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah!

DNF for me today. I didn't get the theme, though I'm not sure it would have helped. I got all tangled up in the southeast and wasn't able to untangle. My ASH BIN was an ASH CAN and A PICKLE became SPECKLED, LEANED was LISTED. There was just too much wrong to see the correct answers peeking through. Maybe I can do better with Marti's offering...

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - it's a very unusual Sunday when the NYT puzzle is easier than ours. This one was really tough, and I had no idea of the theme until C.C. explained it here. Managed to get through eventually, but this was not a typical Sunday offering. Fun though.

I read an article here that shopping is still down a bit relative to past years. I wonder if anyone's waiting to see if the world ends before they buy.

Have a fun day.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C., and friends. Interesting puzzle. I thought the theme was a bit obscure. I looked and looked at the answers after I had completed the puzzle. It took me the longest time to get the gimmick. Also, I thought a lot of clues in the bottom half were a stretch, USH for Working the Aisles? SHEESH!

I initially tried Dolt for the Dimwit. Where is our good friend DODO? I miss her.

The only thing I know about Hank AZARIA is that he was on the Simpsons, and as C.C., noted, he had a very brief marriage to Helen Hunt.

Mt. McKinley is also known as Denali. Or maybe it's the other way around.

I used to frequent a restaurant solely because of the Jicama in a salad. The restaurant no longer serves that salad, and I no longer frequent the restaurant.

Thank you so much, C.C. and Marti for making my day so special. What a nice surprise to find the puzzle!

QOD: It is not good to cross the bridge before you get to it. ~ Dame Judy Dench (December 9, 1934)

Al Cyone said...

A real challenge today (i.e. fun). Had no clue what the theme was (even after finishing) and, as always, got delayed by short, multi-word answers (e.g. PILEDON, RANTSAT, SLYDOG, BELTOUT). SEESRED was (were) the last word(s) filled. [35:39]

Dennis said...

Forgot to mention how much I liked Hank Azaria in Birdcage, one of my all-time favorite movies. He was brilliant as Agador Spartacus, a role that really tested his acting 'chops'.

Anonymous said...

Great Sunday puzzle. Thank you.

Also, the "leggy" girl in the photo needs a steak.

Tinbeni said...

Happy Birthday Hahtoolah !!!

Husked of course made me think of our Husker Gary.

Nice ABBA "shout-out" to our Mari. As she has pointed out (in the past) they named their group after her & her DH.

As for the rest ... a DNF ... as in I just didn't finish (in my self-imposed time limit).

Cheers !!!

Avg Joe said...

Tough offering today. I'm a paper solver, and our paper was late today. So I printed it from here, being careful to not read any answers, then solved thinking that the theme was O-Le.

Even after struggling through it I had no clue how that tied in. By then the paper had arrived and I looked at that for a while, but still couldn't decipher the tie in. So, it got finished, but not with any help from the theme. But it was enjoyable.

To Donald D. from last night. Yup! The corn got roasted. But while I didn't like the outcome, it was a good match. I hope the Ducks win it all. Congratulations.

HeartRx said...

Oops! I deleted my earlier comment because I realized I had inadvertently put in a spoiler to Hahtoolah's puzzle. So, I'll try to be discreet this time!

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah! I am really bummed that your seed idea didn't make it to the LAT. But I had lots of fun making the puzzle, and I hope everyone enjoys sharing it on your special day!!
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.



C.C., it took me the longest time to figure out the theme, too. Matter of fact, I put down the puzzle, did some chores, came back to it, stared at the title, checked all the theme entries again, and it finally dawned on me! Whew - I'm glad I wasn't doing the write-up on this one. SHEESH, is right!



Have a great day, everyone!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Enjoyed your comments, C.C.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah. Enjoy seeing your smiling face here every day.

Not too difficult today. Got the rhythm of the theme part way through, and the IN/OUT helped confirm parts of later fills. Perps were sufficiently ample to get unknowns such as ENO AZARIA, and KOO. Funny how IM IN and BELT OUT were proximate in the SE. No searches were needed.

Here is some EINE Kleine Nachtmusik.

Have a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Good morning:

I was almost finished when the theme finally dawned on me. Didn't use any help and eventually got the TA-DA but didn't really enjoy the solve. Maybe it's me, but I found this much more challenging than a typical Sunday, which is fine, but was just not that appealing to me.

Kudos to Tom for his fine effort and to CC for her great expo.

Happy Birthday, Hatoolah; hope it's a wonderful day. (Today is also my eldest sister's birthday.)

Enjoy your Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Even though I got all the theme answers I didn't get what they meant. Thanks for the explanation.

Husker Gary said...

You know that feeling of satisfaction you get when you finally get that caraway seed out of your tooth after much effort. That was today for me on this charming Sunday exercise. The SW fell last and TRIED of all things unlocked the corner. I got the OUT part of the great theme but IN came when I got here.

Musings
-QOD – Happy Birthday Hahtool!
-PILED ON assignments – competence is often punished
-I hope the RASP of my cold has worn off so I can sing this morning. Today’s advent song, Patience People is ADANTE. Since I’m singing, I won’t USH (SHEESH is right, C.C.)
-If all the EONS of this planet were on a 24 hr time line, man showed up just 2 seconds before midnight
-RANTing AT is not an effective way of communicating when you DIFFER with someone
-Tarred streets now remind me of our time in BREA
-My golf shoes are whatever is on sale
-I sang a Annie’s Song and Follow Me at a lot of weddings
-Some NYT clues are too clever BY HALF
-I remember when the ASTROdome was declared the 8th wonder of the world
-Musical Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me
-There are none so DEAF as those who will not hear
-My neighbor’s daughter TOTALED her car in Minneapolis in October but walked away from it
-Read y’all later, gotta go tune up the 12 string.

LaLaLinda said...

Hi Everyone ~~

Whew ~ this one took my full two mugs of coffee and then some. I somehow figured out the theme after the first two and that helped with some of the others. I'm amazed at how constructors can come up with these ideas - so clever! Thanks for a challenging but enjoyable puzzle, Tom Heilman.

My slowdowns were caused mostly by needing write-overs: Coo/Koo, ASH Can/ASH BIN, and Seethes/SEES RED - this last one really messed up the bottom center and that was the last area to fill.

~ Favorite was 117A - A PICKLE ON A LIMB - I loved picturing that!

~ Maura Tierney was recently on "The Good Wife." I remember her from "ER" ~ a very talented actress.

~ 90A - OH SO reminded me of Marti's recent - 'Really, really.'

~ 89D - DODO - I, too, have wondered where she's been.

~ 71D - SHEESH made me think of Jayce - your word, right? :-)

~ 102A - EDDY - made me think of eddyB - C.C. - your "Can you hear me?" on the RAHAL answer brought tears to my eyes.

A very Happy Birthday to you, Hahtoolah ~ hope your kitties plan a surprise for you! =^..^=

Lucina said...

Good day, group!

I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy this puzzle. As Fermatprime said, too much thinking and about things I'm unfamiliar with: sports, obscurities, etc.

C.C. thank goodness you unraveled some of them in your wonderful write up.

However, I did the top two thirds rather quickly then was stuck at 79A and 95A as I never saw and never intend to see The Exorcist.

But anyway I found the theme answers awkward.

Blasco Ibanez is a wonderful Spanish writer whom I studied in undergrad school, EONS ago. If time permits I'll look up some of his works later as I still have at least one of his books.

Happy, happy birthday, Hahtoolah!! I always look forward to your quote of the day.

Does anyone here have a NOOK? I'm thinking of buying one with the gift cards I received for my birthday. Any reviews would be appreciated. More celebrating today with my family.

You all have a sensational Sunday!

Argyle said...

Not much to add. I would look at some partial answers and think, "That coud be SEESRED" then go back to find out how the clue fit.

CrossEyedDave said...

DNF, didn't get the theme.
I hope to do better with Martis puzzle.

Happy Birthday Hahtoolah!

buckeye bob said...

Like many others, I got all the theme answers, but didn’t get the theme until I came here. Thanks, CC!

It took me a long time today, but I enjoyed the trip! No cheats, but it took a lot of thinking and help from perps.

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah!

Dudley said...

A few details to fix up: First, belated HBTY JazzB, and only slightly delayed Happy Birthday Hahtoolah!

Hello Marti, I hope to have some free time later for the Special Edition puzz.

The whole area around Rockefeller Center and Radio City was beyond crazy last night. I have never experienced such thick crowds! I've been told that Times Square on New Year's Eve is even more packed with people.

Lucina and others from yesterday: I was unaware that the famous Meg Ryan scene was shot at Katz's. We were just a few feet away from her table, which I've learned has a special sign on it. I'll look for it next time. There WILL BE a next time. The sandwiches were that good. MMMMM

The scene has been spoofed plenty of times. I particularly like Miss Piggy's take on it.
Deli Scene

John Denver was featured in a major aviation magazine recently. He was a well-credentialed pilot, and flew his own Lear 35, among other airplanes. He was killed in a Long EZ which had had weird fuel valve modifications. The airplane was well within his abilities, but was new to him; getting to the fuel valve was tricky. It was detemined to be the cause of the accident.

Anonymous said...

This was tough, I got the theme after 2 of the longer answers, but it didn't help that much - biggest groan for "other words for alight". Slowly made it after lots of erasing and changing like ashcan to ashtin to ashbin. BAMA to USMA for Jefferson Davis's school, etc.

creature said...

Yes, its all been said- I s'pose.

Actually, the theme helped me with some fill, after I figured one or two out.

Still DNF. Close but no see-gar.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah! You add so much to this corner in addition to your famous QOD

Jazz, hope you had a great birthday! You work hard for us too. Thank You.

Have a nice day everyone.

Yellowrocks said...

Fun puzzle. My allotted time was up when I had two more words to go. They took a while. My last word was SHEESH. I was thinking of "Oh, come along," instead of the sarcastic "Oh, come on." I liked the theme answers OH SO much.

The first third gave me the theme pattern. "To lunch" could be "out to lunch." How did "in" fit in? Oh, "in a bad way." This helped a lot to get the other theme answers, but as you can see, my time was not stellar. I didn't watch much of "The Exorcist," but I knew the lead was cuckoo, and perps led to "out of one's". It had to be head or mind.

A very happy birthday to you, Hahtoolah. I enjoy your posts. I can't wait til this evening when I have relaxed enough to tackle Marti's puzzle.

Even though I successfully completed the LAT puzzle in close to my normal time, I’ve felt at sixes and sevens all day. Everything seems helter-skelter. My d-i-l would say,” Everything is humpty dumpty”. I started out by “losing” very important documents that I had merely covered with yesterday’s LAT. I discovered them a few hours later. SHEESH. I will take the rest of the day off, put my feet up and toast my wonderful Corner friends. Salut!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I felt pretty neutral about this puzzle today: didn't feel much delight with it but didn't dislike it either. I did eventually figure out the theme gimmick, which helped a lot in solving it. Like LaLaLinda, I loved picturing A PICKLE ON A LIMB. In fact, on the whole, WLLLS (What LaLaLinda Said). No, SHEESH is not my word, but I like saying it. Maybe you were thinking of "Man oh man."

Lucina, I have a Kindle (Fire) and sort of like it. I still prefer a real book with paper pages, perhaps because the Kindle screen, which is backlit like a computer screen, fatigues my eyes. I imagine looking at a "paper white" screen would be more like looking at ink on paper. IMO, don't bother with a color screen unless you want to look at videos or magazines.

Super duper happy birthday greetings to you, Hahtoolah.

Lucina said...

Dudley:
Visiting Katz Deli was the highlight of one trip to NY and am looking forward to a repeat visit. Glad you enjoyed the food, too.

Jayce said...

I just finished your O-Le puzzle, Marti, and liked it a lot. I oh so like your cluing; clever as all getout. How you think this stuff up is beyond me. Olé!

CrossEyedDave said...

Dudley, i never saw the Muppets version of the Deli scene. Very funny!

But i still don't see what is so unusual about a pickle on a limb?

The Christmas Pickle Story...

Bill G. said...

I started this one about 8:30 am local time and just got finished. I never did figure out the theme. SHEESH I liked. I'm thinking USH has seldom seen the light of day outside of a CW puzzle. I like it about as little as ELHI.

Dudley, I enjoyed Miss Piggy's take on the deli scene. Creature, I really enjoy seeing you back.

Happy birthday Hahtoolah! I'll bet you've said in the past but I'm curious where you got your screen name?

Daniel Dae Kim reminded me of Korea and last week's 60 Minutes segment about the huge family prison in North Korea. Just an hateful abomination on the face of the earth. (Ah, I wrote this before finishing C.C.'s writeup.)

C.C., you asked about Jicama. I've tried it. I like its crispness but it doesn't have much taste. And you commented about Meryl Streep being a talented actress. I completely agree. However, so many other TV and movie actresses are successful (I think) not because of their acting ability but because they are good-looking and have an appealing personality so they just act like themselves and we find them fun to watch.

Lucina, yes I have a Nook Color, given to me last Christmas. It will probably do more fancy stuff that I don't know about. All I've done is download books (usually about $9.99) and read them in bed at night. I find it easy to use and easy to read since you can adjust the brightness and font size.

Pookie said...

Hi All, DNF today.
Happy Birthday Hatoolah!
Gotta run. Early gig tonight.

PK said...

SHEESH! says it all for me today. Got up early and tried the puzzle. Got the first two blocks okay then boiled my corn and messed that up. After bits and pieces of the rest of the puzzle, I gave up and went back to bed. Sleep didn't help much when I tried again. I AM NOT ON A ROLL!

C.C. You are my hero! How you bring sense to some of these hard ones is amazing.

I saw some of that N.Korean prisoner interview. Human kindness takes one step forward then two steps back too often. Wonder if he is capable of love in a happier land.

Happy birthday, Hahtoolah!

Dudley, Thanks for including us all on your trip to New York City. I've only passed by there on the way elsewhere. Did you see the show at Radio City?

I thought cleaning basic would be "spit on a hanky".

Loved John Denver and played/sang his songs in a guitar group. Saw him live twice. Once on tennis court in Hershey, PA.

PK said...

The Meryl Streep movie "Hope Springs" finally made it to my cable On Demand. I was disappointed in it. I had trouble believing her and Tommy Lee Jones as such passive characters. They are usually so assertive and strong. The sex scenes were hard to take. He's not my idea of a romantic lead.

HeartRx said...

Dudley, last time we went to NYC at Christmastime, the crowds had me gasping for breath!! I vowed never to do that again. Some bucket list items like the Mardi Gras and Times Square on New Year's Eve have been scratched off since that visit. However, I do enjoy visiting in the summer and going to the museums. Katz's deli is always on the "must go to" list...

Lemonade714 said...

Hello, HBDTY Hahtoolah and happy second night.

You all have sliced and diced the puzzle, but I just wanted to comment on Hank Azaria, who along with Yeardley Smith (who voices Lisa Simpson) were cast in an interesting Fox Comedy, Herman's Head where the different parts of the character's brain were represented by actors interacting. Azaria was the vapid best friend.
He also had his own Cable show HUFF on Showtime and was very funny as the muscular Claude in the Ben Stiller, Jennifer Anniston movie, Along Came Polly.

C.C., is that Miranda Kerr?

LaLaLinda said...

So Jayce ~~ Just so I know I'm not crazy (HAH) ~ I didn't mean that SHEESH was your word in that you invented it, but you do use it a lot, right? I've always liked it in your posts! (what I thought were yours) ;-)

Manac said...

Evening all,
No Pat's game today so did the puzzle.
Got the Out part of the theme but the In part completely escaped me.
Marti, Enjoyed yours today. Favorite clue, What men hate to do with directions.. Soo true. My credo, Step one: Throw away the instructions. Step four: Dig the @#%&ing thing out of the trash.

Yellowrocks said...

I think my world is now sane, instead of "verhoodled," as the PA Germans say. Spitzboov, have you heard that one? It is amazing there are so many words for all messed up. SNAFU has it right, systems normal all f---ed up. It is amazing what happy hour can do to mellow one's perspective.

Our home is all decorated inside and out. It is lovely to bask in the glow of this season. We will have lots of family visiting soon, especially my grandson. I can't wait.

Avg Joe said...

I too liked that clue the most. My LW also got it immediately. 30 maybe 40 years ago, I was installing a garage door. The first instruction was: We know you don't read instructions. Read them anyway. Can't say I've abided by that, but it's a good reminder of fallibility.

Spitzboov said...

YR - We have verrĂĽckt meaning crazy or zany. Dumm also works. The dictionary gives verhudeln as meaning "to botch". It seems to be used in the Frankfurt area, which is where many of the PA Dutch came from.

Here are some Verhoodled English Phrases

Hahtoolah said...

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone. You all truly helped make my day special. I got carded today, which was also an EGO booster. Of course, the person asking for my ID was probably barely 21.

Lucina: I have a nook. I've had it about 2 years now, so it is an older version. I use it mostly to check out books from the library. I can log into my local library at any time of day and get a book. After the lending period is up, the books mysteriously disappear. Some books are not conducive electronic reading, in my opinion. I tried reading Game of Thrones on my nook, but found it difficult, because it is so involved and there are charts in the back of the book explaining characters. I had to get a hard copy of that book. Still, it's convenient for travel.


Yellowrocks said...

Here is how we used verhoodled at home. It also apllied to strewli, describing hair messed up by wind or sleeping. These old PA Dutch words seem to come to the fore more and more.
Link ferhoodled

Manac said...

Today was our tree buying day. I usually wait to the last minute but even at eighteen I can't resist those big brown eyes and that lower pouting lip of Nicole. We go to the local charity organization every year. This year they were trying to close up today. All trees, same price. I got a great looking 9' fir for $40. I guess no one would take it earlier because the base was over 5 1/2" in diameter and as luck would have it... I have a stand that can handle it.
Now I can't see my TV

Lucina said...

Thanks, Bill and Hahtoolah. That is my rationale: convenience especially while traveling. I just don't think I could ever give up books, however.

I appreciate your insights.

fermatprime said...

I read somewhere that DANIEL DAY KIM had to learn Korean for Lost! I like his role on Hawaii Five-0 better.

Bill G. said...

Hi again. We just got back from Manhattan Beach's annual Christmas fireworks display. Since this is MB's 100th anniversary, there is a second display in an hour. We didn't hang around. When I had my Honda motorscooter, I used to drive both of us down to a special motorcycle parking area right next to the pier. But nowadays, we drive somewhere on the hill overlooking the pier, stay in the car and park in front of somebody's driveway. The booms aren't quite as loud but a good view otherwise. When Jordan has been with us, I never miss the opportunity to point out the difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound but he was with Bonnie tonight.

Yellowrocks said...

CC, I've been readin about the MN blizzard. Are you okay?

Anonymous said...

Good night all.

Happy birthday Hahtoolah. Hope it was a very special one.

Didn't even try to do today's puzzle.
Too much going on.

Dudley said...

PK 5:02 -

No, we didn't get to see the show at Radio City. The ticket line stretched all the way to New Jersey.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Tom Heilman, for a good, but tough, Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the swell review.

Lucina: I have a Nook. I really enjoy it. The best thing is, since I have a Nook Account, I downloaded a Nook App to my phone. Now I can read all my Nook books on my telephone. Or, on my Nook. Either way. The last two books I read were read totally on my cell phone. Loved it! So, you can have a Nook account and read electronic books without a Nook devise. However, it is handy.

Happy Birthday, Hahtoolah! I really look forward to your daily quotes. Very enjoyable.

As far as the puzzle, it was tough. I started this morning. Then took the day off due to a lot of things I had to do. Started into it again after I got back from the Elgin Shrine Club Christmas party.

Got the theme without any problems. it really helped with the puzzle. A PICKLE ON A LIMB was my first discovery.

Lots of tough answers. Too many to list.

Liked HUSKED. Thought of Husker Gary.

Thought FAUNAL was clever.

MAKE MY DAY for 17D was excellent. I saw that movie a long time ago. Clint Eastwood is one of my favorite actors. The recent one he did about the baseball scout was outstanding.

Of course, I put in ASH CAN. Took a while to change that to ASH BIN.

Tried WPA for a while, then fixed that to TVA.

1D was the easiest of the day, RIAL. I still have thousand of those.

See you all tomorrow. i am hitting the hay.

Abejo

Abejo said...

I do not recall one french word in this puzzle. Hurray.

Abejo

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Lemonade,
Yes! I know you won't miss any name with high millihelen number.

Yellowrocks,
We're fine. Thanks for asking. Heavy snow all day long. Our yard looks incredibly beautiful. I had fun shoveling the first three rounds, then it became serious work and Boomer took over.

Robin said...

Quick Question,

Why is it that my Sunday Puzzle is always by Regle, and not the one you show in Crossword Corner?

xyz said...

Spots were awkward, but the theme and title helped in my case. Definitely more challenging than NYT.

Argyle said...

Robin, The LA Times doesn't carry their own puzzle on Sunday. If your paper does not carry the puzzle we're blogging on Sundays, click here to solve on line or print out a copy