google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Aug 17th, 2013, Brad Wilber

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Aug 17, 2013

Saturday, Aug 17th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q)

Blocks: 37

   I do believe Mr. Wilber took it easy on us this week - at least it seemed so for me; I worked harder on yesterday's "Buzz" puzzle than I did today - and today had just as many "Z"s, too~!  A rather odd-looking grid, a scattering of blocks ( and a high count for a Saturday ).  Just two 11-letter climbers, and two 9-letter entries in the across:

4. Familiar slogan : CATCH-PHRASE - what's your favorite "catch-phrase"? I'll tell you mine....

25. Beginner : ABECEDARIAN - Literally, someone learning the "ABCDs" of their milieu, from the Latin for someone learning the, well, a,b,c,d's

24. Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things," e.g. : JAZZ WALTZ - I have added music links elsewhere in the puzzle, so feel free to find yours

47. Triple : THREEFOLD

Ooooooooonward~!--------->

ACROSS:

1. Pretentious fop : COXCOMB - Filled this in on the second pass; derived from the hat worn by court jesters, as it resembled the 'cock's comb'; i.e., the crest of a gallinaceous (ooh, big word) male bird

8. Ring of Fire country : JAPAN - nailed it, but then again....Ring of Fire story

13. Some brotherhoods : FRIARIES - new word for me, but I knew about friars; see 62A

15. Slow-tempo Spanish dance : BOLERO

16. "Who's on First?" comic : COSTELLO - I started typing BUD ABBOT, but was short a letter

17. Britt of "The Wicker Man" : EKLAND - Spelled it wrong; I had "U" in for the "A"

18. Resource in Montana/Wyoming's Powder River Basin : COAL MINE - a shout-out to our Montana

20. Antique auto : REO - too easy for Saturday

21. Peacock Throne leaders : SHAHS - more 'cocks'....

26. Grandeur : POMP - To go along with your coxcomb....

27. Majestic quality : HALO - and still more; a glow about the 'head'?

28. Launder money for, e.g. : ABET - is this really abetting, or more like racketeering?

29. "This could get ugly!" : "UH-OH~!"

30. Diner cooker : GRIDDLE - The appliance, not the person

32. Dickens's "Little __" : DORRIT

34. Creator of Marryin' Sam and Joe Btfsplk : AL CAPP - Some etymology on the name Btfsplk

38. Was a mentor to : ADVISED

42. Earth tone : ECRU

43. Amount to take : DOSE

45. Edgar-winning mystery writer Stabenow : DANA

46. "__: The Wanderer Talks Truth": singer's memoir : DION - musical interlude

49. Flooded field : PADDY

50. Unsavory paper : RAG

51. Brad, for one : FASTENER - the small nail, not the actor Pitt

53. One of six official U.N. languages : ARABIC

55. They're often mixed : EMOTIONS - my first thought, and so I did NOT fill it in; I thought it was too easy for Saturday

59. Waiter's observation : I'M NEXT - The person in line, not the server

60. Fertilizer compounds : NITRATES - Great WAG for me

61. Try : TASTE

62. Plainsong singer : CHANTER - reminds me of this movie:



DOWN:

1. Phased-out refrigerant compound : CFC - Chlorofluorocarbon, and if you care to continue our chemistry lesson from last week....

2. Conquistador's treasure : ORO - Spanish man, Spanish gold

3. They follow the nus : XIs - cute use of homonym ("Late Night following your local news")

5. Creme-filled snacks : OREOs - well, there's a lot to get DF about on this Saturday~!

6. Actress Kunis : MILA

7. Lab vessel connected to a vacuum pump : BELL JAR

8. Regular "Laugh-In" feature : JOKE WALL - starring that crossword staple ARTE Johnson

9. Up, in scores : ALL - tied, that is; I used to hear this in soccer recaps - "Manchester and Arsenal 1-all in the second half"

10. LensCrafters rival : PEARLE - eyewear professionals

11. Journalist Peter : ARNETT

12. Crammer's tablet : Nō-DōZ - pill popping tablets, not the i-thingy
 
14. Horn of Africa native : SOMALI

15. Automotive pioneer Karl : BENZ - Half of the Mercedes-Benz company's origins

19. Maker of PerformX sportswear : IZOD

21. Tater : SPUD

22. Seasonal chuckle : HO-HO - short a Ho~?

23. Spanish soap staple? : AMOR - Spanish soap opera, that is, and love; threefold love makes for much more drama

27. "Design on a Dime" network : HGTV

31. Art movement born during WWI : DADA - some history here; funny, but this article uses 4D in the 4th paragraph

33. Obsession with an accent : IDÉE FIXE - I was thinking this was a clue about perfume at first; idée fixe is Frawnch for fixed idea, so that kind of obsession, with the 'accent' on the "E"

35. __ test : ACID - seemed a little too easy for a Saturday

36. Nudge : PROD

37. Weak : PUNY - we just had this earlier in the week, I believe

39. Altar assurances : I DOs - until you DON'T for some ( including me )

40. "Bambi" creator Felix : SALTEN

41. Peculiar to a locale : ENDEMIC - I like "indigenous" better; sounds less 'plague-like'

43. Greg's TV partner : DHARMA - ABC sitcom I never watched; I like this Dharma better

44. They have stops and keys : ORGANS - LOVE the pipe organ; more music - what incredible skill

47. Attribute : TRAIT

48. Really, after "in" : FACT

49. Historic Jordanian city : PETRA - the city built into the canyon wall, and featured in "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade"

52. "Sex and the City" actor Chris : NOTH - I never watched this, either, but I was a huge fan of "Mike Logan" on Law & Order

54. Get into the pool : BET - the gambling pool

56. Third Major Leaguer to reach 500 home runs : OTT - now this is more like Saturday cluing; total WAG for me, but then again, how many three-letter baseball players can you name, C.C.~? (From C.C.: Derrek Lee came to mind.)

57. Alumna identifier : NÉE - more Frawnch. more accent.

58. Lith., once : SSR - for BarryG, before he goes away~!

Splynter

PS.

 I would like to know if anyone here has any idea about how to go about getting a novel copyrighted, and then published.  Thanks for your responses.

 Oh, and here's the missing "Q"


44 comments:

PK said...

Mornin' Splynter, C.C., and all ye who follow: This puzzle was challenging, but not frustrating. Had to red-letter to get started in the NW. Good one, Brad! Thanks for the expo & links, Splynter.

With cox & organ, this couldn't be all bad. Nudge wasn't push or poke, but PROD.

I was proud to get ABECEDARIAN with half the perps and WAG. This is a stock spelling bee word that I pronounced to my spellers.

Gimmee: DANA Stabenow. I've read all her books since Fermatprime recommended her.

For the Laugh-In clue, I wanted "Sock it to me". Then remembered the JOKE WALL with all the doors.

DORRIT & IDEEFIXE floated around in my mind, but I thot it was lil DORseT. Got BENZ & DADA.

Didn't remember ever hearing SALTEN. Can't believe I didn't know who wrote such a classic as "Bambi".

I knew Coltrane played JAZZ but took perps to get WALTZ -- seemed incompatible at first.

I saw COAL MINE apparatus in the Powder River Basin.

Splynter, try googling novel copyright & publication.
Been too long since I tried that. They used to tell us to first find an agent which should be easy as close as you are to NYC. Usually have to submit a few chapters to get one interested.



fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Hooray! No cheats on a Saturday! Thanks Brad! Fun write-up, Splinter!

Glad you enjoy Dana, PK! Can't wait for another!

Am watching Airplane again. Lots of great actors who have passed. (Not exactly PC.)

Cheers!

fermatprime said...

Oops! That's Splynter!

Argyle said...

Good Morning everybody,

Three personal Naticks but the intersections were all vowels and I guessed correctly. Yea!

desper-otto said...

Good morning, Saturday soldiers!

Brad lobbed us a softy today. My only unknown was ABECEDARIAN, but the perps were solid, so it had to be. My first thought for the Ring of Fire country was CHILE, but JAPAN'll do. I was thinking that the JAR was LEYDEN, but that was too long, plus I think it has to do with electricity rather than a vacuum.

Sun's coming up. Time to prep for that bike ride...

Lemonade714 said...

D-O,
I also had Chile my first pass through but worked my way from the bottom back to the top and it got easier. Could not remember Salten and do not care for chanter but it was fine. Thanks Splynter and Brad. Time to enjoy the sunshine

River Doc said...

Happy Saturday everybody!

UH-OH, done in by the NW again, never having heard of COXCOMB....

Then again, it is Saturday, so I'm happy to have gotten as far as I did before going red to finish....

Several unknowns were solved by perps, which made this a fun puzzle to me....

I remember watching Laugh-In as a kid - talk about a series of CATCH PHRASES, like Sock It To Me, You Bet Your Sweet Bippie, Look That Up In Your Funk & Wagnalls, Very Interesting, and on and on....

Dubai Dweller said...

I read yesterday's comments by Doha Doc and thought about it all night and all day today.. Although it is too late for yesterday's mail, maybe I should comment anyway,.

This is about the note by Doha Doc on TAIF - Thank Allah, it's Friday. Like TGIF - Thank God it's Friday. Except that the weekend here, in the Middle Eastern . Islamic countries runs on Friday and Saturday - Not as in the west. Sunday is a normal working day. So, we should be saying, Thank God, it's Thursday. TGIT.

Which brings into question that where in the world is Doha Doc really working in. Just funny.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Splynter commented on the layout. I count 6 cheater squares.

Easy for a Saturday. I got hung up on some names, DORRIT, MILA, DANA,SALTEN, and the ABC thing, but the perps offered good guesses. For 55a, I first thought of metaphors, but it has too many letters. Overall, a nice fresh puzzle with some solid fill.

Have a great day

Husker Gary said...

ABECEDARIAN (I thought the first A might be separate) and sAlten crossing dAna were the only holdups on this pretty easy Saturday.

Musings
-Fav CATCH PHRASE – “Ya gotta play it where it lies” (for golf and life)
-JAZZ WALTZ? How ‘bout Disco Happy Birthday for Doc
-JAPAN, if you’re sitting on top of 4 tectonic plates, hang on!
-Big Bang Theory homage to “Who’s on First (starting at 1:43)
-I remember a TV show where a Hispanic woman died because the DOSE said “once” per day and she mistook it for the Spanish word for 11 which is also spelled “once” and, well, you get the idea
-I first thought Mixed MESSAGES, Splynter
-I was NEXT in a line where a woman came in and ordered 43 Happy Meals in front of me. Hello Arby’s.
-I amazed kids by removing air from a BELL JAR which made water boil at room temp and a marshmallow expand
-Is Nudge, PROD, Nag, Demand a logical progression?
-A lotta those I DO’S have an inferred “until”
-She chased him around the church and caught him by the ORGAN or grabbed him in the apse
-Jermaine DYE was a KC Royal in the late 90’s

Anonymous said...

Thanks Husker Gary for that great bell jar experiment. I was thinking the marshmallow would explode from the inside, because if the air bubbles trying to escape from the inner core.

Maybe the air bubbles in the water beaker, coming out just in time, prevented that from happening.

desper-otto said...

Ten-mile bike ride. Check!

HG, don't know if that's a logical progression. Sounds more like a marriage progression.

AvgJoe, enjoyed the Nebraska video you posted last evening.

Husker Gary said...

-Anon – I used that bell jar and boiling water demo to show that all your body fluids would boil away if your spacesuit ripped in the vacuum of outer space and there would be no air pressure to keep the liquids from flying away from each other. Also, we drew an astronaut face on the marshmallow that greatly expanded when the air was removed and then looked very puckered up when the air was let back in and the marshmallow shriveled up because so much of the air had been removed. If science can’t be hands on it should at least be visual.
-A pressure cooker is the reverse process where the water is much hotter that boiling water in an open pan (can’t go above 212°F) because the trapped air pressure keeps the water from boiling at 212°F
-11 Worst CATCH PHRASES? Yours?

Anonymous said...

Three letter baseball names?

Remember "The Penguin"?

Ron Cey

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Overall, a smooth, satisfying Saturday solve. Any tricky areas were overcome by perps. So, thanks, Brad Wilbur, for a nice end to the week and thanks, Splynter, for your witty expo.

We're enjoying a long stretch of beautiful summer weather which is supposed to be with us until late next week. Great for the vacationers.

Does anyone know why we haven't heard from LaLaLinda in awhile? I miss her posts.

Have a relaxing day.

Avg Joe said...

I didn't find this one bit easier than a Silkie. But, like a Silkie, it was ultimately doable. So it was an enjoyable win when all was said and done.

Friaries? Really? "Get thee to a Frairy."

Harvest day today. LW and I have been freezing 12 dozen ears of corn. I did the picking, lugging and shucking. She did the parboiling, cutting and bagging. Not a pleasant task, but there's nothing that matches home grown corn.

Lucina said...

Hello, Weekend Warriors!
Thanks, Splynter, for continuing our valuable Saturday lessons.

I, too, thought this a bit easy for Saturday but who am I to nit about a good thing? Nice job, Brad Wilber, thank you.

My start was in the middle where I misspelled SHAW until CATCHPHRASE showed me the error of it and knew Little DORRIT. GRILLE, GRILLER preceded GRIDDLE in the diner and then HGTV which helped to form HALO and so it went.

The crossing of DANA and SALTEN created a temporary Natick until EMOTIONS and NITRATES filled it.

FRIARIES seems like a strange description for monasteries though CHANTER fits because Friars, Monks and Nuns chant the plainsong, that is Gregorian chant. It's quite lovely especially if the acoustics are good.

However, COXCOMB got me and since I couldn't recall CFC had to look that up.

Husker:
I've heard the joke about the dosage and I think you mean DOCE, 12, which is often misspelled as DOSE, pronounced doe-seh.

Must be off to a funeral followed by a movie. Later.

Have a stupendous Saturday, everyone!

River Doc said...

HG, thx for the Disco HBD song. Now, where did I put that white polyester 3-piece suit....

Also loved the Worst Catch Phrases link. A buddy of mine has no more hair because he pulled it all out every time he heard someone call themself a Happy Camper. The other phrase he can't stand is when someone says they are "surfing" the web. Surfing to him involves a large body of water, not a personal computer....

Science Teacher, said...

Husker Gary, thanks for the reply - I didn't expect one.

You are too valuable to be a sub, you should be taking courses at the ASM - the American Society of Metals, or Material Sciences. And the ACS. the American Chemical Society have programs for teachers to give them materials and lessons on how to make the sciences both interestingAND visual. These courses are generally free, and they even provide grants to enable you to go to a nearby city to attend one.

Did you know that if you take a bowl of TOTAL cereal, and put a little water, and grind it with a wooden spoon, that you will find a precipitate of iron filings, at the bottom of the bowl. That is the iron , that was added to the cereal. The iron was probably added as a ferrous sulphate or a formate, but will precipitate after being ground in water.

Also the presence of a solute, like NaCl. Common salt in large enough quantities will increase the boiling point of the solvent water beyond 212*F. - Just like dissolving salt in water will lower the freezing point of water below 0*C. Unfortunately the effect is not significant, and requires sophisticated instruments.

Tinbeni said...

Avg.Joe
Thank you (yesterday) for the "Above Nebraska" link.

Science Teacher
If I take a Bowl of Wheaties, and pour BEER over it ... ALL I get is a "proper" Villa Incognito breakfast.

Did Feliz SALTEN create Thumper's Review (0:11)

Just another Saturday Ink Blot ...

Cheers to ALL at Sunset!

JD said...

Good morning all,

Great links Splynter, and nice write up.Enjoyed the map, and the Al Capp article; never heard of Joe Btfsplk.Seeing the joke wall wa fun.. forgot just how silly it was, but at the time everyone loved it.I'm not so sure it would go over in today's world.

I usually don't do Saturdays, but gave Brad a try.Did mucho wagging. Funny that Brad clued his own name ...could have been prig.

Chris Noth is on one of my favorite shows, The Good Wife.

Gary, enjoyed your science "class" and the catch phrases.

"May the force be with you"

Misty said...

Well, my triumphant week ended this morning, as it usually does on a Saturday, but at least I got everything but the NE corner. Couldn't let go of thinking of a tablet as something to hold NOTES. Got ARNETT but not EKLAND. And so on and so forth. Got XIS but still don't understand it. But it was still fun, Brad--many thanks. And you too, Splynter.

Splynter, my husband and I published two mystery novels with an on-demand publisher (not a vanity press, you don't pay anything, but the book is not advertised or reviewed). We learned it's pretty much impossible to get published without an agent, and getting an agent to even look at a few chapters was almost impossible. You might want to think of attending a writer's conference where you can get advice and arrange to talk to agents. Good luck!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Anonymous said...

here's a catch phrase for you....WEES

Zcarguy said...

We just brokered a new Porsche to Bambi who lives in the San Diego area .

Can you guess his name ?

Hint , class of 78 HOF

Avg Joe said...

Whoa!! Z Car Guy, on a different topic. Did you know Ben Keaton?

Ol' Man Keith said...

Happy Saturday, all! This is my first morning feeling nearly 100% after that nasty stomach bug. How wonderful to shower! And eat real food!

I agree, Splynter. This seemed easy for a Saturday pzl-- except, for me, in the NE quadrant. I just wasn't sure enough of some fills, so checked them before entering.

My favorite clue was "Crammer's tablet," a neat misdirection. And it brought back memories of collegiate NO DOZ nights. Even better was when I was an undergrad and my mom would slip me the odd illegal dexedrine. It was worth staying up the following night or two.

COSTELLO was my first entry. I knew ABCEDARIAN from prior Xwords. Don't know why BOLERO was very slow to come.

I spent a wonderful night listening up close to Coltrane in San Francisco years ago. I don't remember whether he did "Favorite Things" that evening, but the man could make that sax do ANYthing he wanted.

Pookie said...

Sheesh! Some of you thought this was EASY???
The only answer I confidently put in was JAZZ WALTZ.
ABECEDARIAN ???

Zcarguy said...

Avg Joe ,

Diane and Michael but not Ben

Avg Joe said...

Ha! Ben was hardly in those circles. But he did have a serious passion for Porsches, in fact he was killed driving the Carrera GT that he'd waited almost a year to have built. He lived in La Jolla and was killed on June 2,2005. I knew him quite well from a yahoo bulletin board.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Let me share this.

Here's a link for those who like to hear jazz genius. I think he surprises in all the right ways, challenging conventional expectations. For any who find modern or free jazz too discordant, he serves a lesson in sweetness at the end.
Please enjoy FAVORITE THINGS by John Coltrane.

Anonymous T said...

G'Afternoon All...

This must have been an "easy" Saturday offering by Brad becuase I got about 60% of it. Too many names of too many people I have no clue about. After a few googles, I got Bambi creator and Dorrit which helped with a bit more, but YADNF. Even with all but one letter I'd never know 25 down (I even penciled it wrong reading Splyner's fun expo).

Keith - Glad you are feeling better. A stomach bug after having your hand worked on.... Double-whammy

Fun BELLJAR video HG. Annoying phrases was interesting too, though a little snooty. I can agree with #8 - any Python reference is good in my book... "Good in my book" Anoying phrase #183. ;-)

Cheers, -T

The pretentious Science Teacher said...

This just in .....


HUSKER GARY YOU MUST SEE this .....

Never mind the youtube title 'The World's Roundest Object!'

This ~ 12 minutes video is about the definition of a kilogram, and, with a little humor, some fascinating stuff. (. Kept me on the edge of my seat. ..., ;-D. )

World's Roundest Object!


Enjoy.

Anonymous T said...

PST - That was cool - and something I hadn't seen before. The redefinition of Kg to a real constant beats the heck out of the HALO'd king's shoe size :-)

The Si sphere also brought back memories of perfectly reflective objects that we'd model in computer graphics ray-tracing graphic pipe-lines. BTW, I actually have a disk of polished Si that is the most odd mirror to look into. I pulled it out a few weeks ago to show the kids how computer chips in their iThings are made. Like HG said - touch and visualize is the best way to learn. Cheers, -T

Science go bragh said...

AnonT - you must really see the video !!!!

Making SOLID Nitrogen

Bill G. said...

This has been a good week of puzzles for me. Enjoyable puzzles with fun themes. I've been able to complete them all (with an occasional red letter), even today. Yeah!

I watched the video about solid Nitrogen. Interesting. The narrators talked about suction several times. A science teacher I taught with had a pet peeve about suction. She claimed there was no such thing. Air molecules, she said, could only push, not pull. She was absolutely correct though suction is a handy word to describe what you observe, much like centrifugal force.

Time for lunch. Toasted poppy seed bagels with cream cheese, lox and a slice of tomato. Growing up in Virginia, I don't think I had ever met a Jewish person. Some of the Jewish boys on my dorm corridor game me my first taste of bagels and lox when their moms sent them a 'care' package. It must have had a significant influence on me because I married a Jewish girl. :>)

Anonymous T said...

SGB - PV=nrT (all, if that's all you know about thermodynamics, that's all you need for most applications: Pressure and/or Volume is directly proportional to Temp depending on material properties (nr)).

That was video was "cool" too. I've booked marked that site for other fun stuff that I can show the kids. Mythbusters has nothing on this....

OK, we better go away before the cool word kids come back an beat up us science nerds. Cheers, -T

PK said...

Keith: Thanks for the Coltrane link. Perfectly suited a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Splynter, I enjoyed the Bach organ music. My mom, sis and aunt were all organists. They never wore shoes to play the lower bass register (foot pedals to us untalented). They said stiff soled shoes impeded the action. My sis could do a barefoot heel-toe staccato thing on one complicated piece that was hilarious to watch but magnificent to hear. I noticed the organist in the link played with stiff-soled street shoes with heels.

Chad said...

Thanks Keith Fowler. You video and introduction thereof reminded me of this scene. There are plenty of links available after vid plays.

Spitzboov said...

Splynter - re copyright.
I asked my son who has gotten some copyrights and he says in part: "if you want the Federal Government backing, you send a registration package and some money to the Library of Congress, and some weeks later, they send you a certificate, which is the gold standard for defending your copyright. …… it's pretty easy to do if the book is entirely in electronic format. It's a little trickier for print books." Hope this helps.

The discourse on steam and pressure got me to reflect on our destroyer's steam plant. Main steam was 600 psi. giving saturated steam at 489ºF. We had superheat capability to 850ºF. Then it would all expand through the HP and LP turbines to a 29 inch Hg vacuum exhausting from the LP turbine to the main condenser. 4 boilers, 60000 shaft horsepower.

JD said...

Bill, love your new avatar! Is it humid down your way too?

Ferma, how's your dog doing?

Anonymous said...

Hello folks. Been reading your blog for a while and finally felt I might have something to contribute. The clue about they follow nus, answer is xis relates to Greek letters. Nu is the 13th and Xi is the 14th (and this was news to me).

Bill G. said...

I just came across a Merl Reagle puzzle from about a year ago. The clue was "All'S antonym." The expected answer was NONE. That doesn't seem right to me. I think the correct answer would be not all or SOME. At least that what I kinda remember from my Logic class.

JD, that photo was taken at breakfast for Barbara's birthday last weekend. It's maybe a little more humid than normal but not too bad.

Anonymous said...

Fun puzzle. Enjoyed your write-up Splynter.

You might contact Jeff Chen (jeffchen1972@gmail.com) about getting a novel copyrighted and published. He is an author as well as a crossword constructor:
http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Crosswords-Jeff-Chen/dp/1554947707/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376787403&sr=1-1
(and a very nice guy).

Anonymous T said...

Splynter - Spitzboov may be on to something. After reading his post, I recall my wife's dissertation came back with a Library of Congress certificate (it was through the University's service). We've never seen a royalty check though. :-)

Also, my mom started her own publishing co years ago to get ISBN #'s for her works. She's unknown outside of central IL, but there's that route. See if Jeff Chen (love his puzzles!), as recommended by Anon @8:04, can be a better ADVISor. -T