google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, January 10, 2013 Jennifer Nutt

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Jan 10, 2013

Thursday, January 10, 2013 Jennifer Nutt


Theme: "Snug as a Bug in a Rug"

17-Across. *Design pattern on some Irish crosses : CELTIC KNOT. Beautifully intricate design. This is the only non-phrase theme entry.


23-Across. *Not surprising : TO BE EXPECTED.

53-Across. *Ready to come clean : TIRED OF LYING.

61-Across. *Got some gumption : GREW A SPINE.

3-Down. *Intend when speaking : MEAN TO SAY.

34-Down. Correcting, in a way...or what would need to be done to remove the things hidden in the answers to the starred clues? : DEBUGGING. Debugging computer programs is a tedious process, and sometimes is not complete, even after the software is released.

Cute theme with all the hidden "bugs." I loved how each of the hidden insects spanned at least two different words. WASP spans three. I got a hint to the theme early on when I had CELTICK*** filled in. "TICK" just popped out at me, so I started looking for other bugs in the theme entries. Jennifer Nutt usually offers us Monday-Tuesday puzzles. This one seemed to have really easy fill, with some tricky Thursday clues.

Marti here, to try to explain those things that may have been bugging you!

Across:
1. Jon of "Mad Men" : HAMM. He won a Golden Globe for playing Don Draper.

5. Site of the volcano Olympus Mons : MARS. It kind of resembles something out of Greek myth, don't you think?

9. Mosque official : IMAM. Then we have 33-Across. Church leader : ELDER.

13. Double Stuf treat : OREO.

14. Downwind : ALEE.

15. Hells Canyon is on its western border : IDAHO. Beautiful area!

16. Switch from a bottle to a cup, say : WEAN.

19. "Migrant Mother" photographer Dorothea : LANGE. More about this poignant photograph here.

21. Q7 automaker : AUDI.

22. Mop & ___ : GLO.

27. Carpenter's accessory : TOOLBOX. Shout-out to Splynter!

29. Event in many 30-Across : SALE.
and...
30. Newspaper inserts : ADS. I took advantage of 70-80% off sales last weekend on my annual clothing spree...some of my bargains were from 42-Across. Retailer Strauss : LEVI. I bought a couple pair of LEVIs with sequins on the back pockets - "If ya can't hide it, decorate it!"

31. Tizzy : SNIT.

37. Stray : ROAM.

39. Monetary interest : STAKE. Probably from the practice of miners marking the borders of their claims with stakes.

43. Use a lever on, as a floorboard : PRY UP.

45. Org. with bowls : NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association.

47. Chem cousin : BIO.logy and chemistry.

48. Rainbow goddess : IRIS. Shout-out to Blue Iris!

51. Battery partner : ASSAULT.

56. Place for a ring : EAR.

57. Have on : WEAR.

58. Vague : FOGGY.

65. Bog down : MIRE.

66. Voice of the difficult homeowner in "Up" : ASNER. Ed. Cute animated film.

67. Chief Justice Warren : EARL. The 14th Chief Justice, he died in 1974. Most noted for ending segregation in schools.

68. Told about, as a secret : IN ON.

69. Try to lose : DIET. Are your New Year's resolutions still on track?

70. Apothecary's measure : DRAM. Equal to 1/8 oz.  Also, a wee bit of whiskey.

71. SoufflĂ© essentials : EGGS.

Down:

1. Bay in the woods : HOWL. Unnerving sound, if you are camping in those woods.

2. Zone : AREA.

4. Genghis Khan, notably : MONGOL.

5. Jobs creation : MAC. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple.

6. Sierra Nevada, e.g. : ALE. This one really had me going, since I don't drink beer. The brewer is located in Chico, CA.

7. "Calm down" : RELAX.

8. Frame jobs : SET UPS.

9. Textspeak disclaimer : IDKI don't know what this means...do you?

10. Itchy canine ailment : MANGE. Along with the TICKs in the theme entry?

11. "Get ___ of yourself!" : A HOLD.

12. Fictional detective skilled in judo : MOTOMr. Moto, to you! I did not know that this character was originally created by Marquand for the Saturday Evening Post, because they were looking for an Asian hero to replace Charlie Chan after the death of his creator Earl Der Biggers.

15. Wintry spike : ICICLE. We have plenty of those hanging around here in the northeast.

18. It might just come to you : IDEA.

20. Subsides : EBBS.

24. Geologic times : EONS.

25. Way out : EXIT.

26. Spill the beans : TELL.

27. Protective cover : TARP.

28. Bouquet : ODOR.

32. Salon acquisition : TAN. I just saw a news clip the other night about a HS basketball player with a rare disease called Mucha-Habermannwho must use a tanning bed every day to fight the painful rash.

35. Like some fictional twins : EVIL. The antagonist in the plot, who tries to undo the good deeds of the protagonist.

36. Serious uprising : RIOT.

38. Naturalist John : MUIR. Founder of the Sierra Club, and activist in preserving forests and wilderness areas.

40. Heat energy meas. : KCAL. Defined as the energy needed to raise the temp of 1 Kg. of water by 1 Kelvin.

41. "No problem" : EASY.

44. Like 1930s prices : PRE-WAR.

46. "Yeah, right!" : AS IF.

49. Middle of March : IDES.

50. Lathered (up) : SOAPED.

52. Breakdown of social norms : ANOMIE. From the greek word anomia, meaning "lawlessness."

53. Ankle bones : TARSI.

54. Damaging 2011 East Coast hurricane : IRENE. Some areas are still feeling the effects.

55. Tuck's title : FRIAR.

56. "Zounds!" : EGAD.

59. Pirate's brew : GROG. Do they measure it in DRAMs?

60. Longings : YENS.

62. In the water : WET.

63. Second Amendment backer: Abbr. : NRANational Rifle Association, and the right to bear arms.

64. Slippery ___ : ELM. Hands up for "eel" before ELM?

Until next week!
Marti

93 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clever puzzle Jennifer!

Lou

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Pretty smooth solve today. The clue for the theme reveal was too long and, since I had already filled in most of the theme answers by the time I got there, I just ignored it and moved on. I did finally need to read the clue to actually fill in the theme reveal, however, and it was fun to go back and see all the hidden bugs.

LANGE and ANOMIE were outliers, but the perps took care of them.

Struggled a bit in the NE after putting in IMO for 9D and OMAHA (???) at 15A. I remember thinking that Nebraska isn't known for its canyons, but with the initial O (incorrectly) in place, it was all I could think of. Plus, it fit so well with MANGE and AHOLD. CELTIC KNOT finally convinced me of the error of my ways, fortunately.

I guess I'm just not up on my text-speak...

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Swell puzzle, Jennifer! Swell expo, Marti! No problems; went quickly for a Thursday.

Does anyone know of someone having information on where to get a wheelchair lifter for a truck? I have spent hours and hours looking at ads on the web. I looked at one of them 15 times, I think, as the ad appeared over and over with different tag lines.

Girlfriend still not able to swim. So I am malingering here sans exercise.

Cheers!

Al Cyone said...

A fairly straightforward Thursday puzzle with some very (too?) familiar fills (e.g. OREO, IMAM, ALEE). I wonder if they serve Oreos at crossword competitions. [7:28]

By the way, I finally got around to Googling "Natick". Perhaps it should be added to the Glossary?

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Marti and friends. This was an easy Thursday puzzle. I just flew through it and had some of the answers filled in without reading the clues. I liked the Debugging theme. My first theme answer was TO BE EXPECTED. The BEE jumped out an me, which gave me a hint at what we were looking for.

Although the word Eel popped into my head, I had already filled in the _LM, so knew ELM was the correct answer.

There are still many schools in Louisiana that are still under Desegregation Orders.

More heavy rain today. Lots of roads, schools and businesses closed.

QOD: Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house. ~ Rod Stewart (Jan. 10, 1945)

TTP said...

Thank you Jennifer Nutt and thank you Marti.

Pretty much blew through this one and only went astray a few times. At 9D, I initially had IMO instead of IDK. Hells Kitchen sounded like it should be in the desert southwest but I accepted IDAHO as more probable than IMAHO. At first was FUZZY rather than FOGGY, but GROG sound much better. Never have had GROG, but have had Sierra Nevada, so ALE was no problem. No problem with Slippery ELM. Thought I was going to fail in the SW, but finally tried TARSa as much as I did not want to. Then IRENE came forward, so that area fell.

Did not ace it though. 65A Bog Down = TIRE looked perfectly acceptable, and I wasn't going to amend it. or emend it either. I actually considered MIRE, but since neither ANOtIE nor ANOMIE were in my TOOLBOX, and I didn't have a STAKE in either, I stayed with the prior.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Good theme density today. Super grid symmetry, too! Not a difficult solve, but hand up for needing a pile o' perps to get Anomie and Lange.

Morning Marti - thanks for bringing us up to speed!

Unrelated comment: last night I had the good fortune to attend a presentation by two of the engineers who design the parachute systems used by NASA. The talk centered on the recent Mars rover missions, particularly last August's successful landing of the rover Curiosity. It was the most complex landing of its kind, with the heaviest and most expensive load. There was just one parachute, and it had to work. Fascinating!

Anonymous said...

Pleasant Thursday stroll through the park. Thanks.

"Jon of "Mad Men" : HAMM"

Best show on TV.



"Bay in the woods : HOWL"

Good clue/answer.


"I guess I'm just not up on my text-speak..."

That's something to be proud of.

desper-otto said...

Good morning, group!

I had no problems with this one. As usual, I didn't get the theme until after the reveal.

I remember Earl Warren best as the man in charge of the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President Kennedy.

The KCAL is the standard food calorie. The temperature scale used can be either Kelvin or Celsius -- the degrees are the same; the two scales just have different zero points.

TTP -- IMAHO, too funny!

thehondohurricane said...

Good morning everyone,

Well, thanks to Apples complete lack of service for older computers, I'm still here. Don't know what the next step is because DH is the in house expert. I'll stand by and follow orders.

Nice puzzle today that I got through relatively easy. So many new brews on the market today... Sierra Nevada/ALE ... would never have guessed it. 9D IDK survived only because I was 100% sure of CELTIC KNOT.

HAMM, LANGE, & KCAL, all unknowns and likely soon to be forgotten.

Kept thinking 25D should be Ages, not EONS.

Lovely day forthcoming in the NE. Hahtoolah, stay dry, it will end.

Avg Joe said...

Good morning.

This might have been a bit easier than a typical Thu, but was no speed run for me. But it was enjoyable and like Hahtoolah, the Bee jumped out when it appeared, so I was looking for insects before the reveal made it clear.

My only major nit is that "Pair" wouldn't fit in the space allocated to "Spine". :-)

Mari said...

Good morning everybody. A nice Thursday level puzzle today. I really liked the insect theme. I had a few write overs (56A: I had TOE ring instead of EAR ring, 70A I had DOSE instead of DRAM), but otherwise a smooth experience. Even though I never heard of a slippery ELM.

I had a belated holiday gift exchange with my cousin and his 5 year old daughter last night. It's so nice to see a child get so excited about their gift that they're actually quivering!

My teenage neice and nephew open their gifts and are like "Eh."

"Do you like your gifts?" "Eh."
Later their mom will tell me how much her teenagers loved the gifts. So is "Eh" a positive response? Giving gifts to the 5 year old is much more rewarding.

Anony Mouse said...

Thank you, Ms. Jennifer Nutt, for a very nice but challenging puzzle. Enjoyed it very much - and I really thought I wouldn't go far - after all, its a Thursday - but I did manage to go,'all the way'. ... Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't ....

I too, had problems with Lange and Anomie (?). And after the theme unifier, I kept thinking - how does 'Asp' fit into the 'bugs' ? .... maybe, its a particular type of deadly, wriggling, computer bug .... Oh well.

I think we had 'Mange', a couple of days ago. Tried to fit 'Joule' for 'KCal', had 'Isis' before 'Iris', I had 'Moon' before 'Mars', 'Eras' before 'Eons', 'Phy' before 'Bio' and on and on.

Thank you Marti, for your delightful, sparkly, witty blog - it is always a great pleasure to read you and your charming manner. Thank you for the compliment yesterday .... for a moment I thought, I had gone over the top .... but that was the mood I was in, yesterday.


BTW, I just read about a naturalists group, in Alaska, that has started the 'American Rifle Association', for 'the Right to arm Bears ....'.

Have a good week, and weekend, you guys, and best wishes.

kazie said...

I struggled to DEBUG all the names in this one, but it was a satisfying finish. Only saw the theme with the appearance of the unifier. Seeing Mons in 5A's clue, I started with MOON for MARS. Really wonder how they know what it looks like from the ground.

Also wasn't thinking of babies with bottle to cup--had POUR at first, and IMO/OMAHA before IDK/IDAHO. Of course I'd never heard of MOTO.

Mari said...

I just read Sol Yurick died. He wrote the book that was later made into the film The Warriors. I never knew there was a book, I'll have to check it out.

In other news, "Oakland Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain, was arrested for a signature he wrote on a ticket after being pulled over by police. Police say McClain was pulled over because they suspected the tint on his car was too dark. After they gave the citation to him to sign, he wrote on it, F*** y'all. He was then taken into custody for giving a false name to police.

Anonymous said...

My nit to pick is the IDK seems more like a fact than a discalimer. In my opinion, IMO is a disclaimer but IDK is not.

I enjoy the blog, but I am more of a lurker than a poster.

Chip

Husker Gary said...

My only hold up was IMO before IDK but IMAHO seemed kinda “out there” ;-). Marti’s assessment was right on the money. No surprise!

Musings
-Watching Mad Men is like visiting a museum chronicling the mores of my ute.
-Only the low fat OREOs make it in the door here and they are just fine
-Daughter got a real economics lesson when she unpacked clothes and saw they had been marked up 5X the cost and were still 3X the cost on SALE
-I can’t seem to buy any other jeans but LEVIS. Sorry Brett Favre.
-My I_I_ goddess was ISIS at first and, yes Marti, I EELed before I ELMed. Me too on PAIR, Joe.
-Any thoughts on this Ear RING style?
-4 year old granddaughter told Joann, “Grandma, you’re elderly” because she heard a character say that to Ed ASNER in Up.
-We met a lady in Wal Mart yesterday who cooks EGGS over easy for her sick cat
-MOTO? Where’s Odd Job?
-RIOTs in malls facilitated by social media are getting to be too common
-Al, I’m sure they serve OREOS and drink ice(d) tea from a ewer on the alee side of the lanai.
-Mari, my sister still prompted her children with “What do you say?” after opening gifts until they were 16.

Tinbeni said...

Marti: Hand-up for EEL before EARL made it a Slippery ELM.
Mari: That ELM was new to me also.

Faves today: ALE and GROG for obvious reasons.

LANGE & ANOMIE other learning moments, all "perps" (to be forgotten by noon).

Jennifer: Really enjoyed your theme heavy puzzle. Thank you for a FUN Thursday.

Cheers to all at Sunset.

Lemonade714 said...

Well some days we feel like a Nutt and today was our day. Despite my near pathological distaste for creepy crawlies, this was a fun puzzle. Of course the silver tongue of our marti helps make anything better.

I would add Earl Warren is the most influential jurist of the 20th century, interpreting not only matters relating to equal rights, but prisoner rights, voting rights and so much more. If interested you can read his BIOGRAPHY.
He was however supposedly the biggest mistake Eisenhower (who appointed him) ever made, because he was believed to be more conservative than his rulings would become. Warren had been the Attorney General of California who had spearheaded the program to inter the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Perhaps, Warren's own regrets helped him forge a world of individual rights.

Anony Mouse said...

To Dudley - I just finished reading late yesterday's posts ....

From 22:13 yesterday, I know you are an aviator, and of your noteworthy exploits and fly-bys. But I also remember, an old post, you wrote, when you mentioned, .... 'a screw propeller, and a twisted double axle ... etc.' ( and all those DF references, at least according to Dennis .... ) , when you piloted a ferry boat (?), as a summer job. Hence, my reference to your nautical skills. Warm Regards.


'What do you say ?' .... my 2 yr old grandson accidentally whacked me on the head, with a ping-pong racket, and as I grimaced, his mother told him, 'What do you say ?' .... and he promptly replied, .... ' Thank you very much for a very nice present. I love it. '

Mari, the idol worship, that is heaped on pro-athletes and actors/ actresses, sometimes make them think that they are 'above everyone else'. I remember the incident with Eva Longeria, when she cussed out a Trooper, who was giving her a speeding citation .... about a year (?) ago.

Tinbeni said...

Husker, about that "EAR Ring" ...

Thumper says it best (0:11)

Sfingi said...

Seemed very easy for a Thurs?

HeartRx said...

Tin @ 9:17, I agree with Thumper...

Anony Mouse said...

Lemonade, I was just thinking that Earl Warren may have been the Chief Justice, in the court that decided, Roe v. Wade, about abortion rights. But since he died in 1974, and the decision came out in early 1973 .... the Chief Justice, must have Warren Burger. I remember the case well, because a close classmate of mine, who inadvertently (?) became pregnant, was contemplating having an abortion, in NY State .... where it was still legal.

Needless to say, by 'close' as above, I meant, in a strictly platonic sense ....

It is ironic, that there was not a single woman, Associate Justice, in the Supreme Court, at that point. So .... for those of us who do believe that the legal landmark, was correct and appropriate .... it was 'divine providence', that guided those 'old' men.

To those, of us, here, who oppose abortion - your point is also correct - in any case, the matter is out of our hands - at the blog - so let it rest in peace - for now.

Lemonade714 said...

Tinman, we have had Slippery Elm before, when we discussed the bark was what the old time baseball pitchers used to chew in order to make their spitballs very effective. John Lapkin also use SLIPPERY HELM as one of his pun answers.

You tell your 2 year old how well spoken and polite he is, at 2?

Lemonade714 said...

Oops, I owe John an "M".

Yellowrocks said...

Fun puzzle and interesting expo. This one was solved very quickly. My son was waiting to go to the gym
-TTP @6:23 you accidentally mentioned Hell's Kitchen, instead of Hells Canyon. Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan was pretty gritty until gentrification set in about 30 years age. I, sure IMAHO would have fit right in there.
-HG @8:35, a young man working at our A&P had white earrings larger than that one. UGH!! It made me ill to look at them. He also had lip studs.
-ANOMIE is one of those odd words that somehow resonate with me and stay in my memory.
-I like Sierra Nevada Ale, but was lost in the mountains until I had one perp. Oho!
-Olympus Mons is Mount Olympus, not to be confused with Mon Veneris, Mount of Venus.
-I saw the lovely, ancient Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin, with its exquisite illustrations, including CELTIC KNOTS.

Anonymous said...

After Marti's link to the article about MuchaHabermann, was I the only one that thought John Boehner may also be stricken with the disease?

Anonymous said...

Anon @10:04
Yes

Anony Mouse said...

Lemonade, I'm probably at my limit for posts - but since, you are also a grandfather, I cannot resist but answer you.

BTW, I have an embroidered pillow, in our family room, which states, 'Every time a child is born, so is a grandmother'.

or a grandfather ....

Each child is as unique as the proverbial snowflake.

My grandson, 2, is in the 5th percentile in ht. and wt., - he looks like a one yr. old, but his language skills are fairly advanced. He can respond in 2 other languages. He speaks English in complete sentences, grammar and all, and can recognize the letters of the alphabet, enough to type in 'Gangnam', on an IPhone, to get to his favorite melody(?). He can parrot each letter of the alphabet, and associate it to a classmate or schoolmate .... A is for Adrian, B is for Bill, C is for Colin, etc.

Aside, from the pure luck and chance, I would like to strongly assert the phenomenal advantages of a wonderful daycare program, despite the heartache and relative isolation. Like his mother, it has made him more sociable, more voluble and has given him the courage to give free rein to his thoughts, concepts and ideas - just when his brain is absorbing and reforming at the fastest rate that it ever will, any time, in the rest of his life.

Per many scientific studies, a person will learn, 96% of everything, they will ever know, about life, before he/she is four years old. After that, it's only commentary.

End of rant.

thehondohurricane said...

Mari @8:14 AM

Rolando McClain ... just another Rocket Scientist. It's hard to remain a fan of athletes or entertainers today when you hear about their stupid., selfish acts.

Misty said...

A delightful puzzle for a Thursday--doable but not a runaway, goodness knows, since I got stuck in three places. Had CELTIC KNOB for CELTIC KNOT when I should have remembered MOTO. Didn't get the C in KCAL and NCAA. And never heard of a goddess named IRIS, so I put ERIS. (Lovely picture of her, by the way, Marti!). But I loved the little insects everywhere, so many thanks, Jennifer!

I did get Dorothea LANGE, though, because I lived in Oklahoma for a time, and her Dustbowl photograps are utterly haunting.

Have a great day, everybody!

Lucina said...

Hello, super solvers! Sparkling commentary, Marti, thank you.

Especially thank you for explaining ANOMIE which I don't recall ever seeing before this and one for my crossword dictionary.

Thought this was an exceptionally easy puzzle for Thursday but with some clever misdirections which made me chuckle. Really liked Jobs creation, MAC, in reference to the late Steve.

I wonder if Dorothea LANGE is any relation to Jessica LANGE, a wonderful actress.

Sierra Nevada ALE had me puzzling but thought MARS was correct and then wondered about IDK but like others knew that CELTIC KNOT was right.

Interesting info on EARL Warren; I think I shall read the bio. Thanks, Lemonade.

Thank you, Jennifer, for your entertaining puzzle.

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Montana said...

Greetings, everyone. I have been doing the puzzles, but just caught up reading the posts on the blog for the week. I happily solved this THURSDAY puzzle. That is rare, but great. Same slow-downs as everyone else has commented on. ANOMIE is a new word for me.

We gave a weeklong wilderness, whitewater rafting trip down the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon to three of our sons for a graduation present. It turned out half a dozen of the females on our Olympic Ski team were taking the same vacation. Sons said the excursion was Spectacular! I saw as many bikinied bodies in the pictures as kayaks and rapids.

Radio reports a winter storm is about 40 miles west of here and rapidly heading our way. Off to the grocery store before the brunt of it hits.

Keep warm,

Montana

buckeye bob said...

WEES.

Hand up for IMO before IDK, 64D EEL before ELM, but the perps saved them.

Never heard of 1A HAMM, 19A LANGE, 6D Sierra Nevada ALE, 52D ANOMIE, and will forget them soon!

Couldn’t decide if 5A was MOON or MARS so put in the M and waited for a perp.

Had 58A FUZZY before FOGGY.

Marti and desper-otto at 7:04 AM defined 40D KCAL. To expound further, KCAL is short for kilocalorie. Knew that from somewhere…

@ Al Cyone 6:20 AM: I like the definition of Natick from the Urban Dictionary:

“A word used in crosswordese, coined by blogger Rex Parker, meaning two crossing words/clues that very very few people would know. As an example, one clue would be ‘A town in the eighth mile of the Bostom (sic) marathon’ Answer-Natick”

That would be me typically on a Saturday!

Montana said...

Fermatprime, I usually am commenting on how different rural MT is from where most of you live, but we have a very good county transportation system.

There is a hot spring area with three swimming pools of varying temperatures 17 miles east of here. A small bus, with wheelchair lift, picks up people early in the morning (6:30 am) to go out to swim every week day. Costs them 50 cents to ride the bus and they all have pool memberships so they say they love it. Sounds like quite a group of ladies, a couple fellows and a 4-year old/mother with some condition that exercising in water helps.

Just thought I should say something good, instead of complaining about my area,

Montana

Tinbeni said...

Montana:
I going to try and "Keep warm" down here in the Tampa Bay AREA.

After-all it's only going to be in the low 80's today ...

Also, I didn't know you had "a 4-year old/mother" in your State.

"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" ... soooooo, Cheers !!!

Misty said...

We watched "Beasts of the Southern Wild" on Netflix last night, and were surprised that it's nominated for both best picture and best director for the Oscars. We're a little disappointed that "Moonrise Kingdom," which we loved, isn't on the list. You can tell that I like movies about sweet kids, can't you.

Java Mama said...

Good afternoon, everyone! Thanks for an entertaining puzzle, Jennifer – really liked the “buggy” theme. Swell write-up, Marti, though I’ll have to wait until this evening to enjoy all the links, etc. Writing this on my lunch break at work, where the nanny-ware blocks most of them. Hand up for not knowing ANOMIE (really wanted ANARCHY but the perps shot that one down). Thought the EVIL twins clue was clever. Don’t understand the attraction of a salon-acquired TAN. I think it makes people look like they’ve been microwaved.

Gotta get back to work. Catch up with y’all later.

JJM said...

Never did get the theme until i read the write up. didn't need it though as it felt like a Mon/Tue puzzle. ANOMIE.... good word.

JD.... thanks for the kudos on my son. He has a twin sister just as adorable. Both redheads with tempers to match, now 14 and giving Mom & Dad a run for our money. They are so fair skinned that they can go into a dark room and don't need a light to see.

Melissabee... thnx for the link on VM. Could spend the whole day listening.

River Doc said...

HAPPY Friday Eve everyone!

Hahtooloh @6:22, I’d heard that QOD before, and still get a chuckle every time I hear it!

Husker Gary @8:36, 501s are the ONLY jeans I wear.

IDK ANOMIE

Mad Men, to me, is an acquired taste. Many love it, myself included, but it can be daunting if you don’t know the back story of the characters. Still, a fun look back at the 60s….

Unfortunately, this is what comes to mind when I hear KCAL

john28man said...

Yahoo! This was my first Thursday completed on paper before I went to the Chicago Tribune (my home town newspaper) or here.

Lucina said...

JJM & Montana:
Years ago when I was still teaching fourth grade a family moved to AZ from Montana and one of the girls was in my class. I was almost in shock when I first saw her and her siblings.

They had the whitest skin I had ever seen up until then. It was milk white and I then understood the term some authors use when they say "alabaster skin" so I had to chuckle at JJM's remark that "they don't need to turn on the light to see." It's like white light!

Re: my resolution
It's progressing better than any previous ones because I really want my office cleared of extraneous items and it's about one-third clear. I was surprised at how quickly I discarded my school materials from the file cabinet!

Pookie said...

Enjoyed Ms. Nutt's puzzle.
Like yesterday got the long answers and struggled with the fill.
The explanation had me puzzled, so just trod through.
Debugging was a surprise.
Thanks, Marti for all the great links and humor.
Celtic knot was a gimmee, have some nice silver earrings and pendant in that style.
Have a great day, everyone.

Bill G. said...

TheHondoHurricane mentioned that there are so many new ales on the market. Agreed. I see that as a problem though. A store that carries a lot of variety has got to have less turnover for each brand. Beer is best consumed fresh and a liquor/wine/beer store like that has got to have some old beer sitting around. Age doesn't hurt the wine or liquor but the beer loses something with age. The worst beer I ever had was a long time back at Junior's, a Jewish deli/restaurant. They brought me a can of Bud that was dated over a year old and tasted like you might expect.

I've asked this before but I still don't get it. I would write CC's blog or Marti's exposition. Why does the clue to 5D read Jobs creation instead of Jobs' creation or Jobs's creation? Wouldn't this puzzle be Jennifer's creation?

Marge said...

Hi all,
I was excited I got all but 4 words on a Thursday puzzle until I read where some of you thought it was easy. Ha! Well, I liked it anyway.

I knew Lange but not anomie. I never noticed the bugs. I guess I need a hit on the head with a V8. The only long answer I had a problem was 17A-I had celtic but didn't know knot.

The word I should have had 1st was Elder. My DH is an Ordained Elder in the UMC and they have to have that title before they become an Ordained Pastor.

Earl Warren was a great person and we need some like him in our country today.

Hope you all have a great evening!
Marge

Blue Iris said...

Enjoyed the puzzle even though it was a DNF for me. Thanks Melissa for DEBUGGING my efforts in a very entertaining manner!
Had toe ring before EAR.
Think of a nice smelling bouquet or aroma before ODOR. Wrote ODOR just because it fit. Read that bouquets/posies were carried directly under the nose to mask the smell of others bad body odor in times past. Unfortunately, think about this every time I see lovely painting of little girls with bouquets.
Did you notice the mother in D. LANGE iconic photo is only 32 years old? So sad.

Lucinda, It took me 5 years to throw out my health education materials. I'm very impressed you are cleaning out materials so quickly.

HG, Piercings in the middle school made my life interesting.
(1) Had a girl put a large safety pin through her eyebrow. Her eyelid was very inflamed and swollen. When I told her we needed to get her to the Dr. before the eye socket became infected she thought I was exaggerating.
(2)Girl visited nurse with note saying she couldn't speak in class. She and her mother had gotten their tongues pierced the night before...took several days to relearn to speak clearly.
(3) Boys with nipple ring getting out of class to request the nurse to cleanse them. Told to take care of them at home.

I wasn't able to comment yest. Noticed you talking about watches(SEIKO). Seems like 20+ yr. olds don't wear watches and use cell phones for the exact time.
I finally feel recovered from one small outing Tues. night. Still putting Christmas deco. away a little at a time.

downtonabbey said...

Marti, thank you so much for your write up today. The links you provided were interesting. I love black and white photography. Thanks also to the constructor, Jennifer Nutt. This puzzle seemed quite easy for a Thursday. I was not familiar with Mr. HAMM

Finally a sunny day in Texas. Have a good afternoon everyone!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Terrific puzzles and commentary every day this week; enjoyed them all. Best wishes.

Irish Miss said...

Good afternoon:

Very late to the dance due to busy day full of errands.

Kudos, Jennifer, for a fun theme, even though I share Lemony's distaste for bugs, in general. Great write- up, Marti.

I hope someone can shed some light on the following: Today, I stopped for gas as I was almost on empty. As the reading passed 14 gallons, I stopped pumping because I know my tank holds only 13.2. (It could have even been 15 gals; it pumps so fast.). Well, anyway, I forgot to take the receipt, so I'm not certain about the amount. Then, on the drive home, I noticed the needle stayed on half-full, without ever moving to Full. Is there any reason for me to be concerned, and is having the fuel gauge checked a big deal? Thanks for any advice.

Have a great Thursday. (What's left of it!)

lurker said...

Bill G.
If the clue was "Graham creation" and the answer was "Math puzzle" would that make sense?

downtonabbey said...

May I suggest everyone check out the website www.slooh.com. We had an asteroid pass close to earth last night. The live space camera action is great.

PK said...

Hi Y'all, Really felt like a NUTT today! But it was a bit salty! Great one, Jennifer! I'm always happy to get a Thursday puzzle. Great expo, Marti!

Marti, MuchoHaberman sounds like a promiscuous disease.

IDAHO was a gimmee since I've seen the Snake River.

Hands up for expecting "anarchy" instead of ANOMIE.

Hahtoolah, Thank you for yesterday's ASES DEATH music. I finally linked it at bedtime when I was needing a RELAXant. Listened to several other sidebar pieces too. Made me mellow enough to sleep.

Dudley, I met a young engineer who was working on the Mars exploration project in 2001. We were in adjoining seats on a ferry ride from Charleston to Fort Sumpter and got to talking. Wonder if he's one of those you heard. I regret not getting his name.

PK said...

Irish Miss, maybe next time you should fill up at another station and see what kind of reading you get there. If the reading is more in line with expectations, maybe the station you used yesterday should be reported to your state's agency governing weights and measures. Sounds more like a problem with the pump.

CrossEyedDave said...

Irish Miss,

I can't explain the 14 gallons, but do you have reason to be concerned?

YES!

DO YOU SMELL GAS?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PUDDLES UNDER THE CAR?

!st thing i would do is have the car checked for a gas tank leak.

If all checks out, report a possible gas fraud.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone, I wasn't sure of the location of the Olympus Mons volcano, Jon of the Mad Men or the K in Heat energy measure. Perps took care of all of these, but I still wasn't sure that the K in KCal was correct. Thanks Marti for clearing that up!

Jessica Lange came readily as I had just read a recent article with pictures on her work. She truly caught the faces of the migrant workers. We had workers in our area who lived in appaling conditions in order to have jobs in our farming industry here in the Santa Clara Valley.

I found a GAD(fly) in the puzzle, also. But wait that isn't a true bug, is it? Just had to get that in.

Have a great day everyone.

TTP said...

Irish Miss, unless you have a gaping hole in your tank, it sounds like it may have been pump rigging or "hanging", or a legitimate problem with the pump. I would report it, even without receipt. Did you use a card at the pump or did you pay inside ?

Yellow Rocks @ 9:33. Doh!, and LOL !

Al Cyone said...

Bill G. @ 2:17: That wasn't the worst beer you ever had because it was a year old and it wasn't because it was in a can. It was the worst beer because it was a Bud!

And remember, only brown glass protects beer from the damaging effects of light. Green and clear glass do not. Of course cans solve the problem altogether and are becoming increasingly accepted, even among the micro-brewers.

Yellowrocks said...

I just returned from the A&P. The lad I mentioned this AM now has black disks in his ears, even bigger than the white ones. They seem to be the size of quarter coins. He is a very nice young man, very helpful, cute smile. That is overcoming my antipathy. Too bad about the earrings. When he is 40, how will he recover the natural shape of his ears?

Bill G. very busy stores here are the ones which have the large variety of beer and ale. They have a big turn over and are always restocking. I never bought a bad one.

Michele, I tried www.sloth.com. It looked interesting, but I all I got was ads.

The excellent, but heart breaking photos Marti linked, reminded me of the Grapes of Wrath, which was mentioned in the accompanying article.

I LOVE my Kindle. It truly is addictive. I have read 4 books in the past 2 weeks. No wonder it took me an extra day to put away my Christmas decorations. I am now rereading Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. I think I will reread Grapes of Wrath next.

Chickie said...

Lucina, I'm impressed with your resolution to clear out your office. My husband and I had a very hard time cleaning out years of teaching materials. He still has some of his, but mine have all been purged. I felt really good about doing this, but felt like I was giving up one of my children in the process.

JJM, I loved the comment about your children not needing a light when they went into a dark room. This gave me a real chuckle and a visual of their fair skin.

Lemonade714 said...

A-M
Yes, there was seamless change on the court: Earl Warren - Warren Burger, even if they were not aligned politically. The only dissents on ROE were Byron Wizzer White, the ex-pro football player and Kennedy appointee, and Justice Rehnquist who at the time was a recent Nixon appointee and later replaced Burger after Reagan appointment. Together they later swung the court back to a conservative approach.

Blue Iris said...

Sorry Marti, for not thanking the proper person. Thanks for the shout-out, too. I didn't know that IRIS was a rainbow goddess. I had just planted 2 dozen IRIS bulbs when I choose my avatar.

Did anyone see Jon HAMM host SNL? He was really very funny and did a good James Mason imitation.

My DH and I come from very Irish families. He bought me a diamond CELTIC KNOT Ring for our 25th anniversary. We celebrate our 40th in a couple years.

When I look back over today cwd, it doesn't look that difficult but I didn't pick up on bug theme til coming here.

John said...

Yellowrocks, maybe try 'Slooh.com' as Michelle stated, not 'sloth.com'.

Husker Gary said...

-Irish, I had a problem where I filled up my tank with gas and the gauge read ½ full and after driving about 30 miles, the needle went up to full. I had to replace the fuel gauge sender unit that resides inside the tank and it was not cheap.
-The flu BUG has killed two people here in Nebraska. I’m glad I had it last month.
-ANOMIE stuck with me from Soc. 101
-Chickie, et al, I have purged almost all my old teaching stuff but kept some electronically.

Helpful mechanic said...

Irish Miss - the problem you had on the

(a). gallons filled, amount paid, and price charged are impossible to verify unless you can produce a receipt, even for your own records and analysis.

You should get into the habit of setting your trip odometer to 'zero', each time you fill the gas tank. This way you can calculate the amt. of gas filled, the miles traveled, and your gas 'economy' in miles per gallon.

If you filled in ~15 gallons, and your fuel tank still shows 'half full', maybe your fuel tank indicator is not working right.

I would suggest, getting your own records together, first, before you start suspecting fraud. ( which may be occurring, but you have no records to prove it.)

BTW, the most common fraud at gas stations, is when you zap your credit card, at the pump, and then the attendant comes out and says the CC reader isn't working, and he manually zaps your card (again) in his office, and charges you double. Sometimes, it is purposely off by one cent. I had that happen to me. The credit card company will eliminate a 'duplicate' charge, if you call them, provided the charges are identical. If they are off by even one cent, they are 'off the hook', and you have to go back to the station and argue with the management.

HeartRx said...

Chickie @ 3:51, GADfly really is an annoying fly that bothers cattle and horses. But, I couldn't find it - where did you see it?

There was another bug hidden at 31-Across. When I filled in the answer, I briefly wondered if it was also part of the theme, except that it didn't have an asterisk.

TTP said...

Irish Miss, the point the tipped me off that it might be "hanging" is your statement, "Today, I stopped for gas as I was almost on empty. As the reading passed 14 gallons, I stopped pumping because I know my tank holds only 13.2."

"Hanging a pump" is not so common in states where consumers pump their own gas. But, you can still fall prey to the scam. Rigging is the same. If the pump started with 10.00 or 20.00 already on it, would you have noticed ?

Always make sure there are zeros on the readouts before you start pumping.

Bill G. said...

Irish Miss, I agree with PK. It sounds like a one-time anomaly unless you have other problems with your car or gas gauge.

Lurker (3:21) Yes, that makes sense. Thank you.

Michele, very cool. Thanks for the link.

==========
A drunk walks into the bar and says to the bartender, "If I can prove that I'm Jesus Christ, will you give me a free drink?" The bartender says, "Fella, if you can prove you're Jesus Christ, I'll give you a free bottle!" "Follow me" says the drunk. They go around the corner to another bar, walk in, and the bartender in this joint shouts, "Jesus Christ, are you here again?"

TTP said...

Bill, how could it be a problem with her gas gauge ?

Yellowrocks said...

John @ 4:28 and Michele, thanks for slooh.com. Very interesting. Isn't it amazing how the mind tries to "read" sense into things that don't seem logical? I saw sloth because that made sense to me.That's akin to the way we decipher road sign which we can't quite see.

My gas warning light comes on and the "miles to empty" sign is very low. So I get gas, but only need 3/4 of the amount the tank will take. Way too soon the gas gauge reads 3/4 full. My gas gauge and/or my “miles to empty” sign are certainly inaccurate, but they err on the conservative side, so I fill up regardless and forget about it.

CrossEyedDave said...

Re: Gas Fraud.

I don't mean to sound like Chicken Little, but you should always eliminate serious safety hazards first... I have seen more than one leaking gas tank!

Re: Todays Puzzle.

The only delay i remember was thinking of TSquare before Toolbox.

I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for funny bugs. I found many cute bugs, but in the long run, bugs are just not funny!

I have been chopping firewood from the 3 trees that fell during Hurricane Sandy, & yesterday, i split open a tree trunk & found hundreds of winged ants! I always thought the winged ants were queens, but some research pointed out that carpenter ant males have wings for their spring mating flight. I thought they were dead, until one turned & looked at me, obviously pissed off! luckily the cold temps slowed them down.

Interesting tidbit: Scroll down to item #4 Exploding Ants

"Autothysis" now there is some crossword fodder for you!

Another interesting tidbit was how ants follow a scent trail. This is what happens when a scent trail goes wrong!

CrossEyedDave said...

Oh! I almost forgot, more weird Ant Stuff!

Yellowrocks said...

CED, interesting but gross. Thanks for the brand new word, at least to me: Autothysis.

Bill G. said...

About 10 years ago, we woke up to the smell of gasoline. It turns out that the rubber gas line in our 65 VW had broken and several gallons of gas had leaked onto the garage floor. We called the fire department. They manually lifted the garage door and cleaned up the gas in the garage. Meanwhile, the gas hot water heater was heating away in the corner. They surmised that nothing exploded because the concentration of gasoline vapor was too strong.

==========

A skeleton walks into a bar.
He asks the barman "Can I have a pint of beer and a mop please?"

Lucina said...

Bill G:
I must retract a statement I made to you about El Pollo Loco. Today I had to drive to Phoenix and I saw one there so apparently they only left Scottsdale. I have no idea how many there are but the commercial no longer airs here.

Avg Joe said...

No shortage of opinions on the gas issue. I'll add mine.

As several have pointed it, the first and most likely issue is a broken or leaking fuel line. Been there, done that. Check that before anything else!!!

Beyond that, keep in mind that gas tanks are only "more or less" uniform. Most will have a greater true capacity than specs indicate. Then there's the filler neck, which isn't included. If you're really empty, it's not uncommon to pump a gallon or more than listed capacity.

Then there's the real possibility of fraud. If you've done business with this place for years without incident, that's slim. But if you just stopped at a convenient place that may not be reputable, it's very possible. PK mentioned the Div of Weights and Measures. That's the place to start the complaint, but you must have proof.

But first things first. Make certain that your car isn't spewing fuel onto the garage floor that could ignite and incinerate the entire house!!

TTP said...

Irish Miss, if there is not a leak, go to a different gas station tomorrow and fill up. If you have a ~ 13.2 gallon tank, and get another 5 or 6 or so gallons in it, then you were scammed. I would report it. True you don't have the receipt. But you might be the second, third or fourth person that has reported a concern with that particular gas station.

Warren said...

Hi gang, I haven't much reason to post lately but I saw no one posted this yet for: IDK

Irish Miss said...

An update for all those concerned with the gas situation. My garage floor is perfectly dry and there is no odor of gasoline. I am waiting for Discover Card to post the charge on my account so I can figure out how many gallons I was charged for, as I know the price per gallon.

I have been getting my gas at this station for quite some time but today was the first time I had to pay at the pump. I used to have to go inside to pay. I don't know when this new system went into effect as I go months before I need to gas up. (2002 car with 23,000 miles!)

Maybe it is just a problem with the fuel gauge needle being stuck? Possible? I'll have a better idea when I find out exactly how many gallons I was charged for. I will keep you posted and thanks everyone for your suggestions and concerns.

TTP said...

Not to belabor the point, but I know the scam. My BIL hired me in Erie after he fired the manager that was "hanging" the pumps there. He explained it to me. At the time, he was district manager, and then went on to become regional manager and then a vice president for the chain that some of you may recall as "Highway Oil", "Working Mans Friend" or "Hudson Oil" gas stations.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. The scam goes like this: Cust A, or the scammer doing the setup, buys a relatively small amount of gas, but doesn't shut the pump off. Cust B pulls into the same pump. It doesn't go back to 0.00. Cust B pays for the amount Cust A already paid for. The pump was "hung." Because the gas was paid for twice, the attendant, or perp, pockets that amount.

The trigger point for identifying this scam is when the consumers complain that they are getting more gallons of gas than their car can possibly take.

windhover said...

Fermatprime:
There is a USDA funded program called "Agrability", housed primarily at Purdue University but with active chapters at many Land Grant universities. Among other things, they provide disabled farmers with lifts to assist them in getting on/in tractors, trucks and other farm machines. These utilitities include wheel chair lifts. You might Google them and learn who their suppliers are.

My gas tank offering:
Last week I was filling a 5 gallon can with kerosene for my Alladdin lamps. I looked at the pump gauge and noticed I already had run up $28 plus @$4.99/gal. Not possible, I thought, and stopped. I looked and had less than a gallon in the can. I went into the store and notified the owner (it's a small town). She came out with a can of her own and had the same experience, so didn't charge me. Turns out the pump was defective. Could be the case in your case, too.

windhover said...

"utilitities" - useful mammaries?

Bill G. said...

It is unusually cold and windy here; about 55 degrees with wind gusts about 25 mph. Tonight it will get down near 40 degrees. No bike ride today. We took out our Christmas tree to be picked up and recycled and discovered it had blown out into the street after a few minutes.

Al Cyone said...

windhover @8:10: Just for the record, I get kerosene here in the beautiful mid-Hudson valley for $3.99/gallon. In the next town it's $4.25. My Kero-Sun Omni 85 heater has been heating my house (well, half of it) for nearly thirty years. Here's a link for kerosene prices in New York State. Maybe there's a similar site for where you live.

PK said...

Irish Miss: You drive about as much as I do. I have a 2003 Buick Century with 15,000 miles on it. One year I only bought one tank of gas. I had to go in and have my fuel injectors cleaned because they varnished over.

Fuel tanks that leak sometimes have had a big scrape or bump on something hard. I happens but we rarely saw them when I kept books for a garage. Fuel line leaks are more common. But that wouldn't make a difference in how much you put in the tank only how often.

windhover said...

Tanks, Al. (Freudian typo).
I mean, Thanks, Al.
Yes we are getting ripped off here. Diesel is under $4, and there shouldn't be that much difference in #1 and #2 fuel oil. We have used Aladdin lamps for light for 15 years, and in the winter they supplement the heat from the wood stove. In the summer they make a problem (no AC) worse.
I am in the process of switching to solar (with batteries) and 12V LEDs, so our oil lamp usage will go way down.
We usually can't get kero in the summer (no demand) but the next town south has a sizable Amish community so the stations stock it year around.

Bill G. said...

Guy walks into a bar and asks the the bartender, who happens to own the establishment, "May I run a tab?" The bartender says OK. After about two hours, the guy is feeling high and happy. He stands up and says to the bartender, "I would like to buy everyone in here a drink including you." So the bartender serves everyone and has one for himself. A few minutes later, the guy gets up and starts to leave. The bartender says, "Hold it! You bought everyone in here a drink including me and your tab is $176." The guy replies "I ain't got no money." The bartender gets mad, slaps him around, yells at him and throws him out. A few minutes later the guy comes back in, walks up to the bar and says "I'd like buy everyone in here another drink except you Mr. Bartender, 'cause when you drink. you get mean!"

HeartRx said...

For Bill G.:
E-flat walks into a bar, The bartender says, sorry, we don't serve minors......

JD said...

I don't think I can read thru 88 comments before writing.This was definitely a Thursday. Went around 3 x's and fell short. DNF: Mars, Mac and celtic.

Loved this puzzle AND your write up, Marti. I just got an e-mail with lots of photos taken by Dorothea Lange, but it didn't have her name, and I did not know it either. Thanks for the article.

Would have enjoyed the theme if I had seen it.

JD said...

Warren, thanks for IDK. BTW, Ruth's jam is soooo good. Hope to see you at the next event.

Hahtoolah said...

Good to see you again, Warren. It's been a long time.

downtonabbey said...

Warren, enjoyed your link. Will keep it so that I can understand the "kids" lingo in text messages, etc! Thanks.

Enjoying the jokes tonight. My sweeetie brought me a Greek salad for supper. Yum.

Abejo said...

Good evening, folks. Thank you, Jennifer Nutt, for a swell puzzle. Thank you, Marti, for the swell review.

I especially liked the article on Dorothea Lange. I have seen that picture before, somewhere. I knew it was a representation of Okies in California. Quite a photo.

Got started late today. I was gone most of the day and took my IPad with me. However, I could not get the puzzle on cruciverb.com. After about 25 tries over about 5 hours, I finally got it.

The puzzle was pretty easy for a Thursday. Liked the theme.

Did not know ANOMIE for 52D. Perps helped.

Sierra Nevada ALE was easy. I believe I have had some of that.

It is late and I am hitting the hay. Catch you tomorrow.

Abejo