google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Friday, August 9, 2013, Matt Skoczen

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Aug 9, 2013

Friday, August 9, 2013, Matt Skoczen

Theme: Clecho Echo

The second Friday in recent memory where we have a single clue for five theme answers; this is a very ambitious offering with three grid spanners and 2 14s. This is my first time blogging one of Matt's works, though he is a regular contributor, with a number of Sunday puzzles, and a few collaborations, such as the recent one with Patti Varol which marti presented. Whenever you have such long fill and only the single, simple clue, you need the perps to get going. I found the theme well thought out, and the rest pretty straightforward, this is one time everyone knows the theme, so let's get to it.


17A. Crash : COMPUTER FAILURE.(15). Nothing more discouraging while writing the blog.

23A. Crash : MARKET COLLAPSE.(14). I was not around for the October 1929 crash, but I was in 1987.

38A. Crash : SHATTERING NOISE.(15). NOISE came easily, the rest did not.

46A. Crash : ENTER UNINVITED.(14). If you want an INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO. (1:25).

57A. Crash : BUNK FOR THE NIGHT.(15). Has to work hard for the BUNK, had the B and Bed at first.

On the the rest of the pieces....

Across:

1. Beachgoer's download : E-BOOK. It is Déjà vu all over again; can you believe we start with two (2) pf marti's LFBAW fill?

6. "Saving Private Ryan" setting : D-DAY.

10. Oz. sextet : TSPS. I was tempted to parse this as T-sps, to keep the game alive.

14. Does a Photoshop task : CROPS.

15. Became frayed : WORE.

16. Heaps : A LOT. An acceptable A word?

20. Cut off : LOP. What you have to do when alot becomes too much.

21. "The Book of ___": Denzel Washington film : ELI.


22. Cook's aid : TIMER. So many choices.

28. Garden tools : HOES. Do we still need Don Imus jokes here?

29. Modern joke response : LOL. Lots of Ls with LOP and

30. Eagerly accept, as praise : LAP UP. Good fill for this feline following.

32. ___ flakes : BRAN. Corn vs. bran.

34. Angle iron : L-BAR. Here we go again, LFBAW.

41. Some code tones : DAHS. Everyone knows this, duh!

42. A line may be drawn in it : SAND.

43. Gift ___ : OF GAB. Nice simple but fun fill.

44. Handle clumsily : PAW.

45. Bibliog. term : ET AL.

53. Reagan's second attorney general : MEESE. Not related to Bullwinkle. LINK.

54. ___ gratia : DEI.

55. Road service org. : AAA.

62. Acronymic French artist : ERTE.

63. Caboose : REAR.

64. One never seen in "Peanuts" : ADULT.

65. French ___ : DOOR. Kiss?

66. Its Old World Style label has a gondola on it : RAGU.


67. Art of verse : POESY. Not really a word I know, kept looking for the "T."
Noun
Poetry: "they were enamored of poesy and the fine arts".
The art or composition of poetry.

Down:

1. "To every thing there is a season" Bible bk. : ECCLesiastes 3:1. I like this VERSION..(3:56).

2. Cleaning tool : BROOM. Brush also fit.

3. Rhythmic song from "Oliver!" : OOM PAH PAH. What FUN. (2:17).

4. Something for nothing?: Abbr. : OPP. Something is the OPPosite of Nothing. (thank you).

5. Sch. near Topeka : KSU. Kansas State University.

6. Resided : DWELT.

7. Greek column style : DORIC. I could write a column on how often we have this fill.

8. Sound from a shelter : ARF. Animal shelter; I have many friends involved in rescue missions.

9. Pro vote : YEA.

10. She was Adrian in "Rocky" : TALIA. First name - first name. Yo!

11. Batter's rough patch : SLUMP. Sadly the Marlins manage to share theirs.

12. Skin features : PORES.

13. Cordwood measure : STERE. This was once a very common fill.

18. Casual shirts : TEES.

19. "___ take a miracle!" : IT'LL.

24. Big wins : ROUTS.

25. Continued, with "up" : KEPT.

26. Chan portrayer : OLAND. All of the Charlie Chan movies are available on You Tube. This oddly cast Swedish gentleman made a bunch of THEM.

27. Like most Michener novels : LONG. Funny way to clue a simple word; but if you read Hawaii or some of the others....

30. '60s hallucinogen : LSD. Speaking of Joe Cocker and Woodstock....

31. "Caught ya!" : AHA.

32. Strength : BRAWN. Loved it crossing BRAN.

33. ___ Tin Tin : RIN. My childhood was more Rin than Lassie.

34. Lite : LO-FAT. No-fat seemed so nice.

35. Foremost : BIG LEAGUE.

36. Mad-hatter connection : AS A.

37. Hardly a Yankee fan? : REBel. Johnny was his name.

39. Old Testament twin : ESAU.

40. "You've got the wrong person" : NOT I. I am grammatically correct and would never have split that infinitive.

44. Bk. intro : PREFace.

45. Songwriter Sands : EVIE. I cannot imagine how I missed this entertainer; I know some of the music. LINK.

46. Add to a website, as a video clip : EMBED. Or to a blog.

47. Prefix with ophthalmology : NEURO. So many choices, again.

48. A bit before the hour : TEN TO. This popped out as TEN OF until I saw our old friend RT.

49. Glacial ridge : ESKER. Every time we see this one, we all say, oh yeah, Last used by John Lampkin on a Sunday. LINK.

50. Conference attendee's wear : ID TAG. I wanted badge.

51. Indian independence leader : NEHRU. And he made cute jackets.

52. Writer Roald and others : DAHLS. If I were a nit picker, I would say gratuitous plural could have been avoided by saying Roald and Arlene.

56. Court fig. : ATTY.

58. "Catch-22" pilot : ORR.

59. Belfast-born actor Stephen : REA. First saw him in the Crying Game.


60. Day break? : NAP. Long fill also means short fill, and this one I find elegant.

61. Words often said in front of a priest : I DO. Or I did,  and I am sorry.

Well we are deep into summer and schools are getting ready in Florida; where does it all go. Hope you enjoyed the journey, look forward to your take.

Lemonade out.


Notes from C.C.:

1) Will Shortz is visiting Minnesota next month. Click here for details. I hope to see some of you there.

2) Regular posters know that CrossEyedDave has been making pizzas in the woods for over 40 years and he's in constant search for a perfect pizza crust. Click here to read his recipe and musings. Please chime in in the Comments section if you have any secret trick to make the crust chewy & fluffy (Papa John's style).

70 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Mostly easy (for a Friday). Except for the part where I totally turfed it at the crossing of EVIE and DEI. Had ARS at first and then went with DEO. EVOE looked odd, but it was somebody's name I didn't know, so I didn't question it. Oops.

I was really hoping 34A wasn't going to be LBAR, but it was. Ah well.

OMMPAHPAH was a complete unknown, but I was able to guess at it with enough help from the perps.

OLAND has finally moved from "complete unknown" to "vaguely remembered" in my brain. Ditto ORR (as clued).

[dunersi]

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Swell puzzle, Matt, but took me quite a while! No cheats. Thanks, Lemonade for write-up!

I had Badge first also, Lemon. Could have been snow flakes, too. Took the longest time to get the BUNK.

I wrote late last night about the disaster with the expensive medicine for Charlie. Am truly depressed. Some people...

Finished the latest by Donna Andrews (The Hen of the Baskervilles). Great read, as usual. Having had perhaps 30 different kinds of animal here over the years, I really love her books. (Also love her books concerning an A. I. However, she has not written one of these in quite a while.)

Cheers!

Martin said...

Just finished. I needed to google to get DORIC, TALIA, STERE, LBAR, NEURO and ESKER. I originally had WWII for DDAY, KISS for DOOR and FRY for REA.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! This was a workout, but fun. Thanks Matt & Lemony. Such great links. I'll be singing "turn, turn" all day. But I haven't slept yet so will CRASH first.

1A Beach goers download: I was stuck on "goers" & tried to figure out some type of GPS. I can't imagine taking an EBOOK to the beach. I'd think SAND would be bad for electronics. But then I never go to the beach anymore anyway. My EBOOK goes best in air conditioning.

1D Forgot ECCL had two "c's" but soon perped.

KSU-where a lot of my money went- isn't that close to Topeka. At least 70 miles away. Topeka has Washburn University but that got red-lettered.

EVIE & OLAND were unknowns. Tried GHANDI before NEHRU. The latter was better dressed. MEESE came nicely without much thought.

OOMPAHPAH? Okay, if you say so. It isn't rattling around between my ears.

Martin said...

I also wrote GANDI for NEHRU but then I realized that his name was spelt GANDHI.

Speaking of Roald DAHL, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on HBO.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Hand up for Dei before Deo. It just looked right at the time. Otherwise, zoomed right through. I like these repeated clue themes. Today's seems well crafted.

Oom Pah Pah only needed a few perps. I was in Oliver as a kid and remember it well. Haven't seen a Charlie Chan since the 60's; had no idea the actor was Swedish!

KSU has a large aviation program, apparently. They have a big presence at the Oshkosh air show each year, and they generally bring at least one of their biz jets with "K State" proudly painted across the fuselage.

I'm with PK, I'm not about to bring an ebook reader onto a sandy beach. Besides, they're harder to read in bright sunlight.

thehondohurricane said...

Good morning,

Not a lot of difficulty today until I reached the SW corner. Started with Prol instead of PREF, Arete instead of ESKER, & ???????? for 47D. Once I got ESKER, the rest came around, albeit begrudgingly.

Favorites were : 35D Foremost/BIG LEAGUE & 60D Day Break/REST.

I began with Toler for Mr Chan's portrayer, then OLAND appeared. I'm pretty sure both actors played the part at one time.

I agree with PK, why would anyone bring an EBOOK to the beach.

Nice end to the week, now onto there weekend and Saturday. UGH!

TTP said...

Thank you Matt and thank you Lemonade.

Utter failure came in the SW. Everything left of PREF was blank in that 4x5 area. Didn't have a clue to get me started. Didn't see ENTER even with the R, and couldn't work anything around DONE or DOWN FOR THE NIGHT. Gave up and opened the write up.

BUNK FOR THE NIGHT ??? Maybe DONE FOR THE NIGHT. Maybe DOWN FOR THE NIGHT. BUNK seems forced.

Lemonade714 said...

I reverse the screen on my kindle so the letters are white against a black background, reduces the glare problem. With the cases they have, the beach is safe.

Yes Sidney Toler also played Chan when Oland died. Another crossword puzzle answer from the series is number 1 son played by Keye Luke.

Abejo said...

Good morning, folks. Thank you, Matt Skoczen, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Lemoade, for the fine review.

Confidently wrote in EDITS for 14A. That screwed up the NW for most of the puzzle. Also confidently wrote in ARETE for 49D. That screwed up the SW corner for most of the puzzle.

The themes came slowly but got them all with some unfocused stares, allowing my brain to imagine all sorts of things.

Liked BIG LEAGUE (after I got it). Took a while.

STERE was unfamiliar for cordwood measure. I will look that up later.

Had my head screwed on wrong for 10A, Oz. sextet. I was looking for POUND or some abbreviation. Finally I saw the light. TSPS.

OLAND was easy. We have had that many times in prior years. Also remember the movies.

Off to my day. The wife and I are going to see the tall ships in Chicago. The Niagara, from Erie, PA, is there. Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship (the second one). The British destroyed his first one, the Lawrence, he rowed over to the Niagara and made that his flagship. He then proceeded to capture the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie. "We have met the enemy and they are ours, two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

(gerpove)

Mari said...

Good morning everybody. Ahhhh! Finally Friday!

This puzzle gave me a few hiccups, but that's what Friday's are all about.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out Oz. sextet. Oh! Ounces! I never saw it coming.

I wanted CLUMP for Batter's rough patch, as in cake batter not mixed well enough.

I got hung up with: MEESE, EVIE, ESKER, OLAND and STERE. Names always give me trouble.

While I have a quiet moment I'm going to go back and read last night's posts. Enjoy your day...and your weekend!

Mari said...

FERM @ last night: Sorry to hear about the mix up with Charlie's meds. Poor pup :(

Keith Fowler @ 3:38 pm yesterday: Glad the surgery went well. You need that hand to pet your cute pups!

Irish Miiss @ 1:31 pm yesterday: Interesting discussion about hand washing. There was a special on TV years ago about how dirty bathroom doors are. Afterwards everybody at work would wash their hands and then open the door with a paper towel and throw the paper towel on the floor. There was a huge pile of towels on the floor until the scare wore off.

Last night I picked up some factory sealed produce. I needed a prescription so I asked the pharmacist if he could ring up the groceries too. He had an absolute fit and said they are not allowed to have produce on the counter because of bacteria. New to me! I always did this in the past with no trouble. The veggies were sealed in plastic at the factory, and my purse probably has more bacteria on it than the veggies and I always set my purse on the pharmacy counter.

Is this a new law?

Montana said...

What an enjoyable FRIDAY puzzle! I used very little red-letter help.

I have an original Kindle. It is easy to read outside. I have an iPad with the Kindle app, which I use for reading inside. Over the past six months, I have become accustomed to the page turning and am now a fan of e-books. I am left handed and tapping the right side of the screen was awkward at first.

Weather has been and continues to be beautiful in Montana.
Have a good weekend,

Montana

HeartRx said...

Good morning Lemonade, C.C. et al.

Funny that you should get two LFBAW (or LBLOW?) entries right off the bat today, Lemony!

I had OPP filled in but stared at the clue for the longest time before the V-8 can came flying. The rest of the puzzle seemed pretty smooth.

I think it is difficult to do a really good "definition" type puzzle. Whenever I try to construct one, I'll come up with two or three really solid theme entries, but then struggle to find symmetrical entries to go with them. In this puzzle, I liked the first three theme entries, but the last two seemed a bit forced, and didn't really do it for me. Sorry, Matt!

TGIF...

desper-otto said...

Good morning! Late again...

Here's another hand up for ARETE which kept California snow-covered for the longest time. Only after I remembered MEESE (which made ARETE impossible) did the thaw begin.

I loved the explanation of where OLAND called home in that link..."Bjurholm is situated about 60 kilometers outside the town of Umea." I can just picture it. That reminds me, welcome to SuperSwenglishMom, our first poster from Sweden.

Montana, I agree about the Kindle. I have an original also, and the brighter the light, the easier it is to read. And I only have to recharge it about once a month. It's just the opposite with the back-lit tablets.

This is a stay-at-home weekend. It's tax-free weekend in Texas, so the stores will be filled with maniacal shopaholics. That's not my cup of meat.

Ventage ahead. I arranged a service call on our smooth-top cooktop. The left-rear element had gone out. I supplied the model, serial number and the part number of the failed element in my service request. The service rep arrived yesterday, crawled under the counter to check the model and serial number, and then looked up the part number on his computer. Told me he'd have to order the part and that he'd be back next week to fix it. $91.16 for service call #1. Arrrgh!

Dudley said...

D Otto, I'd vent too! That sort of bullshit is just unacceptable. I say GRRR on your behalf.

About CED's pizza crust effort: I don't quite get the meaning behind making crust "in the woods". Maybe I missed the posts that day. Are we talking about making pizza while camping? Or just making pizza at home in a rural place where good pizzerias are scarce? Or something else?

Mari said...

I've seen people grilling pizza on TV. Has anybody tried that?

River Doc said...

Happy Friday everybody!

Took a while, but then again, it's late in the week. WEES about BUNK....

Write-overs were CORN for BRAN, IONIC for DORIC, AYE for YEA, ST LO for D-DAY.... D-DAY was one of the better characters in Animal House....

I was sure there were more than a sextet of Munchkins in the Wizard of OZ....

Wasn't it a COMPUTER FAILURE that led to the MARKET COLLAPSE of 1987...?

The Giants have been in a BIG LEAGUE SLUMP since the beginning of June....

LBLOW wannabes: WORE, BRAN, REAR, BROOM, DWELT, OLAND, ROUTS and, um, SAND....

Qli said...

What a ride! But I did "crash" and burn on this one; a DNF due to ESKER. Hand up for DEO and EDIT and SNOW flakes, but those were fixed with perps, EVIE was EVOE for me too. I'm stubborn, and would rather get answers here than Google things like songwriters and movie stars. Your comments about names is always fun to read!

Speaking of reading, I have taken my Sony Reader to the beach. The e-Ink on it and my Kindle Paperwhite makes them ideal for reading outside. Thanks for the tip on Donna Andrews, fermatprime. I'm always on the lookout for an author who plays with words in the book titles. Usually means a fun read.



Vidwan827 said...

Thank you Lemonade for all the explanations and the songs. I loved turn, turn, turn. Never knew it was biblical. Other that, all I can add is that I found the puzzle very rough going.

They had a Swede playing the role of an obvious chinaman ? I was hoping that they would have at least hired a token Chinese guy. Now, thats a bias for you, all right. Well, I learnt something.

Mari, In my experience most pharmacy registers in grocery stores are special coded / electronically linked to insurance co- pays, and special notification lists for state narcotic registries etc., so they generally don't handle non- drug merch. Maybe they just don't like the electronic 'noise' in the system by ringing up things other than prescriptions etc. . and over- the - counter drugs.

What I don't understand is why the drug manufacturers don't sell their drugs in hard plastic bubble, Aluminum foil , sealed strips. - as they do in most other countries around the world.. They are tamper proof, convinient to dispense and open, and all the data is printed on top, and they are individually sealed. Hmm.

Have a nice day, you all.

desper-otto said...

Mari, interesting idea, but my TV just doesn't get hot enough. I'll bet the hood of my truck would work, though.

[fkingsb] -- I think captcha is trying to tell me something...

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

I'm with PK on the E-BOOK beachgoer thing. Fine puzzle, though. Liked the crash⁵ theme. All 5 spanners are in the everyday vernacular. Glad to see ESKER again after a short absence. (Although what is clued as a glacial ridge is actually a post-glacial [outwash] ridge.) Interesting seeing NEHRU and NEURO near each other. Good job, Matt. Thank you.

Welcome aboard to SuperSwenglishMom. You must be special to get that approbation from your daughter. Is your job associated with one of the Baltic Sea ferries; say Stena, Silja or Viking?

Have a great day.

Anonymous said...

Mari, I think it would be very difficult to grill pizza on the tv.

TTP said...

Abejo,
Going down to Navy Pier to see the Tall Ships sounds like fun. Maybe I can talk DW into it for Sunday. That's if she'll play hooky from church.

Mari,
DW made pizza on the grill when I tore out the kitchen. They always make those remodels look so quick on TV. I'd moved our gas double oven to the basement and hooked it up, so she could have made it inside, but she wanted the challenge after seeing it on TV.

D-O,
I don't know about pizza made on the hood, but I have heard of "radiator" chicken.

And as far as your captcha "[fkingsb]", yes, that looks like a reduction of, well, never mind.

Appliance Repairman's local 420 said...

Cardinal set of rules for Appliance Repairman.

1. You will instinctively know what is wrong with the appliance after you get the initial telephone call, from the home owner / owner. If you volunteer any information on the phone, you will be fired. Understood ?

2. Once you arrive, on your service call, you will be able to confirm the problem in the first five minutes. Make sure, you spend at least thirty minutes checking the rest of the system out. Use all your fancy multimeters and do- dads that you are required to carry around with you.. Especially if the homeowner is watching. This makes the service call look very professional.
Carry a rag and polish up the motor casing, if you have to. That looks impressive.

2A. Sympathize with the owner, all the time, and be sure to tell her that they sure don't make reliable machines, like they used to. Sympathy does not cost money, but generates a lot of goodwill. You'll need to get the owners confidence, and get it good.

3. Try Very Hard to sell the owner, a new appliance. We have a special bonus incentive programs, for you, for that. Call your boss, at the office, multiple times, if you have to. We will offer special incentives for owners who are sitting on the fence. Even a fifty percent discount. Little old ladies have even more special deals and generous pay-as-you-go programs. And there is a Big little something innit for you too.

4. If 3 does not work, ( you sorry little salesman ) then you have to reluctantly tell the owner what is really wrong. See if you can change at least the whole sub-assembly. That's where the money is. Stick the voltmeter into a place of no potential, and show the lil ole lady, that there is no current flowing.

Remember, remember, remember, you're strictly on commission.

5. Unfortunately, you will never have the part in stock, in your toolbox or your van. (make a couple of trips to the van, to make sure). Fiddle around with your computer, call the company headquarters, and talk to the boss. Anything, to wrangle another service call to replace the part. If you cannot get another service call in through the deal, you can look for another place to work. Sorry, we've gotta cover our overhead.

Enough words for the wise. Good Luck.

CrossEyedDave said...

I did exceptionally well on this Friday puzzle, until,, well to quote TTP, the SW was an utter failure.

Crash

When yr finished reading the sign, note that pick up lower left...

More on Evie Sands

This brings back memories Rin Tin Tin

& Finally, a daily dose of cat cuteness.

P.S. Dudley@9:01, It all started 40 years ago on a camping trip where I made pizza in a cheap aluminium mess kit. There is something about being in the woods that just makes food taste better, & I have been trying to capture that essence ever since.

Tinbeni said...

Lemon: Wonderful write-up & links.
I really do appreciate the time and effort 'OUR' bloggers put in daily to explain the puzzles and make this such an enjoyable site.

Hmmm, here at Villa Incognito a 'Beach download' would be BEERS into the cooler.
And YES, a bag of ICE would be added ...

Like Marti (and Lemon, ET AL) I thought the BUNK FOR THE NIGHT theme was lame.
But the rest of the puzzle (and themes) were a very enjoyable solving experience.

CED: Thank you for the 'equal-time' dog links yesterday.

Well, it's TEN-TO "Five O'clock Somewhere!"
Cheers!!!

Misty said...

Almost got the whole thing, except for WBS (what Barry said) about DEO and EVOE. But I thought this puzzle was a lot of fun for a Friday, so many thanks, Matt!

My biggest hang-up was trying to insist on SHATTERING GLASS instead of SHATTERING NOISE. That held me up for a while. I also didn't remember OOMPAHPAH from "Oliver." They didn't dance any polkas in that musical, did they? BUNK gave me a little trouble too, for a while, and ESKER is totally new to me--I'm guessing because I've never lived near a gracial ridge, thank goodness.

Great expo, as always, Lemonade.

Just read in the local paper that we've had two coyote attacks on Yorkies on our very own street. Very scary for our two dachshunds. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on them when they go out on the patio to do their duty before bedtime.

Have a great Friday, everybody!

Irish Miss said...

Hi Everyone:

The puzzle was a challenge but I finished w/o help, although it took awhile. Had romps before routs and Dada before Erte but everything else was pretty straightforward.

Thanks, Matt, for a Friday "crash" course, and thanks, Lemony, for your usual witty expo.

CED @ 10:40 - Cat and dolphins video = precious!

Enjoy the day.

Tinbeni said...

Equal time ...
Dog and Dolphin (2:06)

Mari said...

Silly solvers! I meant this!

CED: I couldn't open all of your links (some are blocked at work). Oddly, I couldn't open the cute kitties, but I could open the headlight alignment ad. The pick-up truck is halarious!

JD said...

Good morning all,

Lots to like in this puzzle.Had fun figuring out the crashes, and like others, had trouble with bunk.If I hadn't filled enter, I would not have gotten imbed.Abbreviations still are my bugaboos, so atty/poesy took longer than it should have.

Never remember hearing Oom Pah Pah, so when I had oompa filled in, all I could think of were those oompa loompas in Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Loved day break = nap and a gift of gab.

Thanks for the write up Lemon, and all the links CE Dave.

Feels like Fall here.

Yellowrocks said...

I liked the theme, especially BUNK FOR THE NIGHT,
Both BUNK and CRASH can mean sleep over.
Dictionary.com:
BUNK
v. bunked, bunk•ing, bunks
v.intr.
1.
a. To sleep in a bunk or bed.
b. To stay the night; sleep: bunk over at a friend's house.

crash 1 (kr sh)
v. crashed, crash•ing, crash•es
v.intr.
7. Slang
a. To find temporary lodging or shelter, as for the night.
b. To go to sleep.

I missed the letter T in 10 across and down. I never thought of ounces for OZ. But even so, how are teaspoons a sextet? Who can explain it? Who can tell me why?
A disappointing DNF after an easy romp through the rest.

I would take my Kindle to the beach.

About yesterday's comments: We Penna. Germans call a potato, grummbeer, ground berry, I think.

I learned ESKER, often spelled ESKAR, from crosswords.
D.O. Isn't it maddening that service people never believe us?

My life is almost back to normal. My last issue is that my car was making a terrible noise, but not when the mechanic was around. I was freaking about being stranded in the wilds on vacation with no cell service and no towns anywhere nearby. I think they found the cause today.

Tinbeni said...

YR
There are 6 teaspoons in 1 liquid ounce.

Anonymous said...

This puzzle wasn’t for me. JUNK FILL.

Lucina said...

Hello, Super Solvers.

Yowza! I can't believe this was a Friday challenge; it seemed too easy. With only a few perps, I was on Matt's wavelength and sussed the themes.

Hand up, though, for DEO/DEI. In my mind, I knew it was DEI but my hand still wrote DEO and EVOE looked okay to me.

One of my cousins was married in Lawrence, KS, where he attended the university. I'm not sure if that is the one near Topeka.

I had a delightful time; thank you, Matt Skoczen and thank you, Lemonade, for always adding the zest.

Have a fantastic Friday, you all!

SwenglishMom said...

Hi xwordians,

Thanks for a nice poser today, Mr.Skoczen! And much appreciated as well the clear and elucidating help, Lemonade! Man tackar!

What a shock to me to read of this Swedish actor. Not on my radar at all, not even seen old Chan films here, and the state television loves showing American movies that have any connection to Sweden. Sometimes just a line of dialogue containing the word "Sweden" will suffice.

@desper-otto, our house is located in the village of Hannäs in the parish of Hannäs in the county of Åtvidaberg. Sadly we can only stay here on vacation, in 12 days school starts and we are back in our apt. in Bollmora in the county of Tyresö which is part of the Stockholm metropolitan area.

Another popular song
with lyrics straight from the Bible (Psalms 137 and 19). Thanks to crosswords I am able to maintain familiarity with my mother tongue "in a strange land".

@Spitzboov: hubby worked for Viking as pres of their old shipyard on the Aland Islands (a Swedish-speaking territory of Finland) and we have much experience as passengers, especially the Tallinn-Stckholm route. Business involves installation of environmental compliance equipment. Hubby aboard a Wallenius auto-transport ship docked in Bremerhaven today.
Here's some footage of her arriving in NYC 5 years ago.

My wonderful girls are a huge boost to my self-esteem most days, but heaven knows mistakes have been made!

Happy fredagsmys, everyone!

SSM


Anonymous said...

Female to car mechanic;

My car makes this awful growling noise, on the highway, when you're not around. What do you think causes it?

Honest mechanic; ... A coupla hundred dollar bills.

Lemonade, do you have to be so very kind to vicious trolls ?

CED - great embeds - do you carry humor insurance.? I I'll have to refer your headlight alignment ad to my auto insurance company. Too bad you can't sue the advertiser.


Your honor, I was just driving down the road, minding my in business, and these two big b---s came crashing down ..


Tinbeni's link on dogs and dolphins, makes my program crash - twice. I think I've been pinched.

desper-otto said...

My former MIL took her Mercedes to the mechanic because it made a weird noise whenever she would brake. Mechanic took the car for a spin, returned, and presented MIL with two Coke bottles and a coat hanger from under the driver's seat. True story.

Matt Skoczen said...

Thanks to everyone for commentary! FWIW: This theme got going because of BUNK FOR THE NIGHT...sorry that one disappointed some! ~Matt

Anonymous T said...

G'Afternoon All:

Well, with a smattering of fill, I was done to soon and had to hit the Google. Looked up 10d and saw it was Talia Shire - doh! both 5 letters... However, it was the lynchpin that helped with the north (45d was lynchpin for the south - another Google) and ended up making Matt's puzzle do-able fun.

Hands up for Corn, Poesy (WTF?), and Brush. Too, I thought BUNK was BUNK, but EMBED only allowed BedsFORTHENIGHT in my head. My biggest hang-up was reading 36d as conncoction. Tea was inked in for a longggg time. LEM thanks for pointing out is was "connection," I went nuts wondering what ASA was....

Overall a DNF in the SW.

Mari - Are you telling me Ken Hoffman didn't come up with that. Letter to the editor ETAL today :-)

CED - I commend your cullinary stick-to-it-ivness... Keep us updated.

D-O -- I will not leave the house this tax-free-weekend either. 8.5% savings is not worth it (and gets eaten up with those "deals" we don't need anyway). You're in my neck of the woods, with the African Dust, it's finally HHH here.

JL @106 - Please find another forum for this...

Cheers,

-T

Anonymous T said...

JL @106 must have been mod-ed out... For the curious it looked like the Friday Snarker is back... -T

Lemonade714 said...

SSM,
I know a number of Swedish golfers who are or did play on the LPGA; is ladies golf popular there? They keep producing some fine female players. There are many Chan movies with Mr. Oland, I will list soon. He got his start as an Asian hero playing Fu Manchu. I loved the movies.

Sidney Toler was an American of Scottish descent, and in the 30's and 40's there was no attempt at ethnic diversity in the movies, with even some distinctive characters like Othello portrayed by whites.

Lemonade714 said...


Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan in London (1934) .... Inspector Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Courage (1934) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) .... Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan's Chance (1932) .... Charlie Chan
Inspector Charlie Chan
... aka "Charlie Chan in the Black Camel" - USA (informal title)
Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) .... Charlie Chan

Lemonade714 said...

Matt thanks for stopping by, you can always get a complete and varied look at the solving experience from a group which loves puzzles. As you can see the final verdict was muc enjoyment.

Anonymous T said...

Matt - Yes, thanks for stopping by. Sometimes its just the part of the country we live in where phrases are not common (makes NYT really hard for me in TX) - I think of BUNK as "rubbish" or "Army bed". As YR pointed out, it is perfectly fine vernacular.

Cheers,

-T

Bill G. said...

Happy Friday! I started this one late last night and finished it this morning. WEES. I liked it for sure.

Another absolutely beautiful day here, a precursor of the hot, dry weather that always comes later in the year.

I enjoyed the cat/dolphin video. What headlight alignment ad?

We went out to a nice local restaurant for Barbara's birthday lunch. I always enjoy this place but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as usual. The French onion soup was a little sweet I thought; maybe sweet onions? I like grilled cheese sandwiches so I tried their lunch special with a half-sandwich, cup of soup and Caesar salad (with anchovies). I think they over-thought the sandwich 'cause all the fanciness detracted from the basic goodness. I was whelmed. We split a free chocolate mousse for the restaurant's birthday present.

Anonymous said...

Bill G. re: headlighr alignment ad

See: CED @10:40 Second link, "note the pick-up lower left"

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks to Mari, HeartRx, T, Irish Miss and ALL who wished me well after my hand surgery. The healing is going well. I may never get to snap my fingers again, but, yes, my three four-legged companions are getting their full quota of daily strokes and scratches!

Today's puzzle was a real pleasure. It was happily quite easy-peasy, except when it was not. Mainly, it was rewarding, for the theme variations, clever clues ("Hardly a Yankee fan") and unlikely answers ( DAHLS )!

Hardest for me--last to fall-- was BUNK FOR THE NIGHT.

Maverick said...

Tough SW corner for me today, between the keys of ERTE and ESKER which I'd never heard of. I had MEESE swagged early but with low confidence with BAKER and REGAN playing musical chairs in the cabinet. I had ARETE or EIGER for the ridge. My brain didn't see the connection between opthamology and NEURO; I had NEO??. French HORN/CUFF/ROLL/KISS? DOWN/DONE/GONE/ABED for the night? By the time I finally figured the web post must be EMBED by brain became too frayed to come up with DOOR and BUNK! I was too WORE out to even double check 34A/D. I had either LO-CAL or NO-FAT went with the latter even though I couldn't picture an N-BAR! LOL!

Matt Skoczen said...

That wasn't me at 1:09

Lemonade714 said...

Well, now we have the full blown enigma caused by the non-blue posters. Which Matt Skoczen post is true the 1:09, or the 4:14 disclaimer? Or neither? Or both?

Oh Matt, Matt, what do we do now? Where were you born?

Matt the Knife said...

Lemonade, accept the arithmetic mean or the geometrical average of BOTH of them.

The next putative, so-called, reputed- to- be, crossword constructor will be required to hand in his passport or a valid drivers license to our Blog in Chief, for the day, before his post will be allowed to stand. He or She may also be liable to be strip searched for dangerous weapons or puns or acronyms or whatever.

Anons, on the other hand, can still get away, by merely showing their finger. That's one of the freedoms to bitch.

Well the real Matt please stand up ?

Lemonade714 said...

Funny MTK.

Manac said...

Theme was ok but I'm with wee about bunk for the night. Never heard it put that way.

AARGH!! Dave posted a canine friendly comment last night! I missed it somehow. Must be getting a little rusty. Oh well.

So for 46A anyone remember these
Party Crashers ?

Fired Secret Service Agent said...


They are Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

PK said...

Like Bill, I couldn't conjure up any headlight adjustment ad or pickup from CED's second or any link. I often can't come up with anything on links.

Manac, as to your question the other day asking if it was the real me who thought Misty might have a screw loose. Yes, it was. All those things have happened to me. (Well, in more ways than one.) For instance, I had a ceiling fan/light for which the light quit working. The ceiling joists in the house at that place are not standard 2X4, but more like 1X4 that didn't support the weight of the big fan. Vibrations caused the screws to work almost out. Light quit working. Strange noise, wobbly fan. Now have only the least heavy light fixture available.

Matt Skoczen (Constructor) said...

I, the constructor Matt Skoczen, did not write anything after the original post. This>>>Matt Skoczen said...
That wasn't me at 1:09<<<<<is of unknown origin.

Someone else using my name, I guess. &FWIW, that person would not want to use my name if he/she knew certain things about me!! LOL

~the real Matt Skoczen behind the puzzle

Bill G. said...

I still can't find it. I see a bunch of stuff called Found Shi% starting with Ramen burger, etc.

Whee! We just had an earthquake; a little one centered a couple of miles north of here.

Now why didn't I think of this? Kissing in the rain.

Matt Skoczen (Constructor) said...

To Lemonade:

I was born in Philadelphia, and I presently live in a Philadelphia suburb

Yellowrocks said...

Anonymous @12:51 said,
"My car makes this awful growling noise, on the highway, when you're not around. What do you think causes it?
Honest mechanic; ... A coupla hundred dollar bills."

Yeah! You're right, six of them to be exact. But, they bought me peace of mind. So it's all good.

Pookie said...

"My car makes this awful growling noise, on the highway, when you're not around. What do you think causes it?
Honest mechanic; ... A coupla hundred dollar bills."
I may be completely dense, but I don't get the above joke.
CRASHed in the SW today, but I had fun trying to solve Matt's offering today.

Lanne said...

Usually I zip right through these daily puzzles, but today's had me puzzled. I am new to these blog venues. I am an avid reader, a lover of crosswords and have been known to dream (literally) about creating my own first crossword. Yet, in my dreams, I never get out of the upper left quadrant!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Anonymous T may have put his finger on it. There might be geographic variations in the use of "bunk" as a temporary bedding-down--or even as a synonym for "cot." I'm from the CA Bay Area, spent summers in a Boy Scout bunk at Camp Royaneh, and wasn't at all surprised by the word. It's not one I commonly use, but it fits easily into the context of crashing overnight.

Lemonade714 said...

Thanks Matt S. and welcome Lanne. If you have read for long you know C.C. and Marti both had that dream and are now prolific.

Good luck.

Marge said...

Hi all,

Kansas University in Lawrence (KU)is different from KSU. KU has a hugh medical school and hospitals in Kansas City,Kansas. Kansas State U is in Manhattan,Ks. is also a great University.

SwenglishMom-that song 'Rivers of Babylon'is beautiful. Thanks. I Marked it so I can hear it again. Welcome to Crossword Corner!

Good evening all!
Marge

Blue Iris said...

Lucinda, KU is 40 minutes east of Topeka, in Lawrence. KSU is 40 minutes to the west of Topeka, in Manhattan.
Dudley, my son is a senior at KSU @ Salina, about 1 hr 40 minutes from Topeka. The college is located on the old Schilling Air Force Base. My son is getting his degree in airframe mechanics. We attended Oshkosh fly-in for 3 yrs and stayed at the aviation explorer post. My son was in air scouts as a teenager and served 4+ yrs in the Air Force.

CED, we tent camped for many ,many years until I became too disabled. I sincerely miss hiking the trails.
I would make a pot of chili the first night. We would have soft tacos the next night. We would then combine the taco meat and chili to have chili dogs the 3rd night. Usually had trout to cook by then. We made Pizzas with English muffins for the crust. Anything taste good cooked outside! We could feed a family of 5 for a week and a half for about one hundred dollars. It made for a cheap vacation and good family memories.

Manac said...

White Mountain National Forest along the Kancamagus Highway was our preferred camping area in the the year BC. Before Children. Very easy to go astray (I know, an A word) of the trails. Was always a great "get away from it all". Now the feds are charging to even use a rest stop there.
I do miss camping though. Good times.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Cheers for "Rivers of Babylon"! Thanks for posting it.

It put me in mind of this version of the "Waters of Babylon," a favorite of old.

SwenglishMom said...

Thanks Lemonade, amazing list, will keep my eyes open!

Glad you liked the tune Marge! I have greatly enjoyed your posts in the past by the way :-) And thanks Keith, I had never heard that, what a wonderful round.

SSM off to wake up the kiddies