google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday November 10, 2013 Gail Grabowski

Gary's Blog Map

Nov 10, 2013

Sunday November 10, 2013 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "Working Overtime" - OT spans across each theme entry.

 27A. Chocolate source : CACAO TREE


29A. One working with hammers : PIANO TUNER. Don G is one.

49A. Pest-snaring device : MOSQUITO TRAP. Summer in MN is lovely, except the mosquitoes. Ferocious.

64A. Classroom reminder : NO TALKING

83A. Cold War concept advanced by Eisenhower : DOMINO THEORY

101A. Outdoor furniture piece : PATIO TABLE. The Amish guy at our Annadale flea market makes beautiful patio furniture.

104A. Martial arts maneuver : JUDO THROW

36D. "That Girl" actress : MARLO THOMAS. Wife of Dr. Phil. (Edited later: She's married to Phil Donahue. Not Dr. Phil. Thanks for pointing out my mistake, D-Otto and others.)

40D. Naval weapons launcher : TORPEDO TUBE. Argyle can tell you more about it.

Reveal entry:

109D. NFL tiebreakers hidden in this puzzle's nine longest answers : OTs

You probably noticed that nearly all theme entries start in Row 3. Gail started this one in Row 4, similar to her "Tee Time" puzzle here.



Many of Gail's weekday 15*15 grids feature the classic pinwheel design, two theme entries Across, two entries Down. And you'll always find two theme answers in Down in her Sunday grids.

Across:

1. Tournament exemptions : BYEs

5. Sourpuss : PILL

9. Evaluate : JUDGE

14. Leaves at the last minute, in a way : JILTS

19. Fly, at times : LURE. Fishing.

20. Trendy berry : ACAI. I love Organix. They have a shampoo with Acai berry ingredient.


21. Australian exports : OPALs

22. Cat Nation people : ERIES. Did not know Cat Nation. Carrie Nation, Yes.

23. Overlook : OMIT

24. Registered, with "in" : SANK

25. __ Bell: Emily Brontë pen name : ELLIS. Here is the first edition of "Wuthering Heights". Ellis Bell. Never knew this trivia.



26. Up to this point : SO FAR

31. Bold move : DARE. Love Spitzboov's Mark Twain quote last week: Explore. Dream. Discover.

32. Suit : BEFIT

33. Enthusiasm : VIM

34. Cath. church eponym : ST. MARY

37. Heart container : CHEST

39. Probate concerns : ESTATES

43. Qualifying races : HEATS

44. Scored 75, say : HAD A "C". This kind of HAD A B/C answer is always hard for me.

45. Stretched to the max : TAUT

47. "Don't think so" : NOPE

48. Spread unit : ACRE

52. Cartoon dog : REN

53. Flyers' org. : NHL. I had this in my LAT on Tuesday. Barry G did not like it as it's an Abbr. It's a perfectly fine entry to me,  and I won't hesitate to use any time. Same with MLB, NBA, NFL, PGA, etc.

54. Sealing supplies : TAPES

55. Museum opening? : ART. Art museum.

56. Gathered : REAPED

58. Anka song with the phrase "kiss me mucho" : ESO BESO

60. Shot with lots of English : MASSE. Here, English is the spin.

62. Underline, say : STRESS

63. Work on an arm, maybe : TAT (Tattoo)

68. Flaky fish : COD

69. African hot spot : SAHARA

72. APB targets : PERPS

73. Galena, for one : LEAD ORE

77. Big name in food safety : ECOLAB. Based here in MN. Huge.

78. P.I. : TEC (Detective)

79. Captain's reference : CHART. Sea captain.

81. Daly of "Wings" : TIM. Tyne Daly's brother.



82. CD-__ : ROM

87. Starkers, across the pond : NUDE. Dictionary says British use "Starkers" for "naked". Learning moment for me, Steve! I actually read the clue as "Stalkers".

88. Snap up : GRAB

90. Vessels at banquets : URNS

91. Golfer's choice : WEDGE. DRIVER, PUTTER, IRON, that's all.

92. Cotton thread : FIBER

93. Like attached baths, in Bordeaux : EN SUITE

95. Ends of the earth : POLES

96. Sunday best : FINERY

97. Retired boomer : SST. This clue always makes me smile.

98. Image Awards org. : NAACP

100. "What __ could I do?" : ELSE

109. Ripley's closing words : OR NOT

110. Cousteau's realm : OCEAN

111. Rush job letters : ASAP

112. O'Neill's daughter : OONA
 
113. O'Neal's daughter : TATUM. Nice pair of clues.

114. "I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands" speaker : RHETT

115. Lowers : DIMS

116. Created fiction? : LIED

117. Whack, biblically : SMITE

118. Rainy day brand : TOTES. Umbrella.

119. Not a challenge : EASY

120. Fraternal group : ELKS. For Abejo. He's very active in volunteer work.

Down:

1. Voting coalition : BLOC

2. Arizona county or its seat : YUMA

3. Stonestreet of "Modern Family" : ERIC. Gimme for Bill G, who's a fan of the show, or maybe just the lady in red.


4. Begin wedding plans : SET A DATE

5. Baklava, e.g. : PASTRY. Its texture seems to be similar to that of moon cakes.


6. Comforting comment : I CARE

7. Roped-off pool area : LANE

8. Facebook option : LIKE

9. "Casino" co-star : JOE PESCI

10. Elevate : UPLIFT.  Terry Gross had a great interview with Chris Hadfield last week. Very uplifting. He lives what Mark Twain preached (Great quote last week, Spitzboov): Explore. Dream. Discover.


11. __ Lama : DALAI. Good guy, though I do strongly believe Tibet is part of China.

12. Sun-on-ocean effect : GLINT

13. Canadian pump sign : ESSO

14. Like Boston College, say : JESUIT

15. Certain triathlete : IRONMAN

16. "... a tale / Told by an idiot": Macbeth : LIFE. How sad!

17. Forgo scissors : TEAR

18. Outdated geopolitical letters : SSR

28. They're secured in locks : OARS. Great clue!

30. Emmy winners, often : TV STARS

32. Inamorato : BEAU

34. Western classic : SHANE

35. Geek Squad pros : TECHS. Costly.

37. Discounted buy : CASE

38. Command posts: Abbr. : HDQS. I just use HQ.

39. Where to leave Port. : EUR. OK, I saw the . after Port, so does Port. here refer to Portugal?

41. Duel tools : EPEES

42. Ships : SENDS

44. Biker's welcome : HOP ON

45. Many sculptures : TORSI

46. When some folks retire : AT TEN. To bed!

49. Postgrad degrees : MAs

50. They may be assigned : TASKS

51. Family adoptee : PET CAT

54. The classical elements, e.g. : TETRAD. Chinese had 5: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water  & Wood.

57. Yankee slugger, familiarly : A-ROD. Here are just 3 of his ex-girlfriends. He dumped Cameron Diaz.


59. False god : BAAL

60. Florida's __ Island, near Naples : MARCO

61. Wildspitze, for one : ALP. We had the same clue earlier this year.

65. Agree to join : OPT IN

66. Typical Nome winter highs : TEENS

67. Driving hazard : GLARE

69. Twilled fabric : SERGE. Left, not the fabric on the right.


70. Squash variety : ACORN

71. On the verge of doing it : ABOUT TO

74. Hatch back? : ERY. Hatchery. Did you read the story about that New Hampshire farmer who feeds beer to his turkeys? 

75. Subway patron : RIDER

76. Rough stuff : EMERY

79. Turn over : CEDE

80. Fails to share : HOGS

84. One of a G.I.'s three squares : MRE

85. Unsolicited opinion : TWO CENTS

86. Toolbar offering : HELP

87. Like a short golf round : NINE HOLE. Gail plays golf. So does Rich, who used to be a scratch golfer. 

89. Escape, as a con : BUST OUT

92. Ring weapon : FIST. OK, boxing.

94. "Am I the problem?" : IS IT ME

95. It's a matter of taste : PALATE

96. Sister of Peter : FLOPSY. Peter Rabbit.

 98. Chip with cheese : NACHO

99. Red as __ : A BEET

100. Coated cheeses : EDAMS

101. Bath buggy : PRAM

102. Foe : ANTI

103. Civil wrong : TORT

104. Shade of green : JADE. Cantonese girls like to wear jade on a red string.  Jade is supposed to bring you good luck.



105. Old Voice of America org. : USIA (United States Information Agency, 1953 to 1999)

106. Muddy up : ROIL

107. .62 mi., in a race : ONE K. It's clued as "Short run, for short" yesterday. You won't find identical clues for the same entry for at least a month in LAT puzzles.

108. Rolls of notes : WADS

C.C.


36 comments:

  1. Nine unrelated theme entries! I'll cut down my bandwidth by using quatrains instead of limericks today.

    Chocolate comes from the cacao bean,
    Which grows on the CACAO TREE.
    The cacao bean is a vegetable,
    So chocolate is good for me!
    -----
    The PIANO TUNER comes to our house
    To tune our Steinway Gran'
    The albacore tuna comes to our house
    In spring water in a can.
    -----
    Admiral Akbar, of the Rebel Alliance
    Is attacking the Imperial Zapper.
    Too late, he calls, "it's a MOSQUITO TRAP!"
    Still the Death Star ends in the crapper!
    -----
    The scene is quiet, with fluffy flakes
    Quilting the town with flocking.
    The only sounds are the squeaks of my boots,
    Which is fine, because that's the sNOw TALKING!
    -----
    Superheros have secret identities,
    So they can rest when they're weary.
    Is the mask enough that just covers their eyes?
    Well, that is the DOMINO THEORY!
    -----
    Paddy O'Tabel was a son of a bench
    From Erin over the sea,
    Now he spends some nights on the PATIO TABLE
    'Cause his wife locks him out after three!
    -----
    He took his daughter to the local dojo,
    Where she learned a JUDO THROW.
    Now he can't get the girl to clean up her room,
    When he tries, it's, "Look out, below!"
    -----
    Make Room For Daddy was a fine old show,
    A showcase for Danny THOMAS.
    His daughter MARLO is an actor, too,
    That Girl showed a lot of promise!
    -----
    It's the glass teat, the boob tube, the idiot box,
    The doom of our civilization.
    Sometimes I pretend the remote is a boat,
    And TORPEDO the TUBE's every station!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning, all!

    Pretty smooth solve today with a few speed bumps along the way. I struggled a bit right out of the gate with PILL, since I simply do not equate that with "sourpuss" and had a sinking feeling the answer was somehow going to be DILL. The perps finally rammed PILL down my throat (so to speak).

    The other, more significant bump, was at the crossing of CHEST/HADAC/CASE/HOPON/MOSQUITOTRAP/HDQS. Nothing seemed to fit there for me. I've seen HQS before, but never HDQS. GOT A C sounds much more natural than HAD A C. Had SALE instead of CASE and just didn't want to let it go. Had HOPON originally, but changed it to GET ON when nothing else worked. And, since I confidently had LANES instead of TASKS at 50D, MOSQUITO remained impenetrable for quite awhile.

    I did finally manage to sort everything out in that section, but it wasn't pretty. I really didn't want to enter HDQS or HAD A C, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, eh?

    [Tuneem]

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good morning!

    I thought this was a tough one, and it took the full time allotment to finish. Part of my problem was being unable to let go of CACAO BEAN, so Idaho was mostly snow-covered for the duration.

    GALENA was a gimme. It's a little town on the Illinois/Wisconsin border and was named after the ore. Now it's mostly antique shops and boarded up stores.

    EN SUITE was another gimme? Do you ever watch Love It Or List It? Hilary always promises the couple that she'll address all of their home issues, and always fails to provide the most important one. Her partner, meanwhile, tries to get the couple to move to new digs with an EN SUITE.

    And 75% = C? That was a D- or F back in the day.

    C.C., there was fabric on the left? Who knew? BTW, Marlo is married to former talk show host Phil Donahue, not to Dr. Phil.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ C.C.,

    39D: Yes, Port. is an abbreviation for Portugal, so the answer Eur. is Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Did you read the story about that New Hampshire farmer who feeds beer to his turkeys?"

    Misery loves company.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I guess I am lacking education,
    never hearing of Cat Nation.
    I also did not know Galena.

    O T was easy to look for once things began to fill.

    A fun Sunday, thanks Gail and C.C.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Marlo Thomas is married to Phil Donahue, not Dr. Phil.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good morning, everyone. There were too many unknowns for me to enjoy this puzzle, today. Loved CC's expo, though.

    In the school I taught in, if you earned a 75 you HAD A D.

    Have a good day. Who gets a work holiday tomorrow?

    Montana

    ReplyDelete
  9. I learned all about STARKERS from reading Martha Crimes' Richard Jury novels and Asley and White Elmo s Cripps and their family predilection for nudity.

    I heard the first new book in 4 years is due in the spring.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello Puzzlers -

    Had to chip away at this one. Forgot that galena was an ore, even though I handled some at an old lead mine just a few miles away. That was a few years ago.

    About torpedo tubes: I was never in the Navy, but a buddy of mine was. He served on the old diesel-powered submarines of the 50's. Those boats were small, and space could not be wasted anywhere. Now, officially, there is no alcohol on a U.S. submarine; unofficially, well, that's another matter. He told me that the tradition on his boat was to designate one torpedo tube as the hootch locker, where the enlisted men could stash whatever they smuggled aboard. The officers somehow knew never to inspect that particular tube at sea. Pretty good system, really.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 11. __ Lama : DALAI. Good guy, though I do strongly believe Tibet is part of China.

    Thanks for my guffaw for the day. I spit coffee all over my monitor and fell out of my chair all at the same time after reading that one liner. Good one C.C.!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good Morning:

    Alas, this was a DNF for me due to Natick of 58A Eso Beso and 54D Tetrad. Although the theme was quite evident and there were only a few stumbles, it wasn't a fun solve.

    Thanks, Gail, for your fine effort and thanks, CC for a detailed expo. Thought of CED at Cat Nation and pet cat, and Abejo at Eries.

    Have a relaxing Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 38 minutes later I was finished. Somewhat simple solve--not too many stumbles. I remember back in the day clues often mentioned when the solve was 2 words; when did that end? :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was at 60a on Friday, there are only 2 public beaches.

    The north beach is about a mile from parking, (but you can rent a kayak there), the south beach is closer to parking, but the beach is less sand than just broken shells. (very uncomfortable).

    Other than the luxury hotels, can anyone give me a reason to go back there?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I had big fun with this tiny theme. HAD A C/HOP ON/NO TALKING section took awhile but in the words of Nebraska’s own Larry The Cable Guy, I “got ‘er done”. DW Joann joins me in the “I’m 67” club today and she loved the new laptop desk for her iPad and the online card I composed and printed for her.

    Musings
    -Huskers scored a TD with 2 minutes left to avoid OT yesterday
    -I had a PIANO TUNER on my paper route who tipped me a dime every Saturday
    -Two women I taught with got JILTED days before their wedding
    -Some can be assigned? Every teacher thought seats, didn’t you?
    -My _ A _ _ S sealers were first WAXES
    -Any TATS (regretted or not) among our crossword coterie? My wife’s twin sister (it’s her birthday today too ;-) got one on her ankle at 64 years old
    -Early sea CHARTS showing the edge of the world might have given you pause
    -I love a GIR hole where I don’t need a WEDGE
    -Cornhusker Fishing Camp in central Saskatchewan is not the ENDS OF THE EARTH but it’s a local call
    -CC, you live with an SST, don’t you?
    -OONA, ONO, ARTE, ESAI, et al (and et al) live here
    -Lady in red, Sofie Vergara with and without makeup. Brace yourself!
    -The Baklava I had was waaaay too rich for me
    -Most anon’s, I’m sorry, you thought I CARED

    ReplyDelete
  16. I did not like this puzzle but, for some reason, I persisted beyond my usual cut-off time. The last words to drop were HADAC and ERY. I never did get LEADORE (except by perps) and saw it as rhyming with "Isadore" until I read the analysis. Doh!

    (Have I mentioned I don't like multiple-short-words answers?)

    [33:05]

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good morning everyone. Nice breezy comments, C.C.

    For some reason this solve proceeded more easily around the periphery; the center finished up last. No searches were needed. Didn't know MASSE or ELLIS, but PERPS took care of that.
    40d-TORPEDO TUBES - Avatar had several - deck (enclosed) mounted.
    68a-COD - The plane that brings mail, personnel, and urgent supplies to an aircraft carrier is called a COD flight (carrier onboard delivery). When Pres. Bush flew out to the Abraham Lincoln, it was on a COD aircraft.
    60d-MARCO Island. 3 winters ago, we were lucky enough to spend a month in Marco Island, and and enjoyed a couple lunches with fellow Cornerites Sally and Grumpy and their spouses.

    "It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better." Sir Francis Drake

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Y'all! I didn't seem to be on Gail's wavelength or was just plain dense doing this puzzle. Lot's of red-letter alphabet runs. But it was a good workout.

    Thanks, C.C. Until you explained, a few of the fills for the clues never SANK in, such as fly is a LURE. Oh, sure!

    MASSE? In what? Pool? Cat Nation? ERIES, Indians?

    It gets more and more difficult to schedule Thanksgiving family gatherings with everyone's work schedule and other family committments. No one was making any plans, so I proposed taking everyone to a restaurant. That motivated my daughter-in-law to say she would host the gathering if we can all come on Wed. night. Haven't heard whether that turkey flew or not. I'm flexible if I can stay healthy enough to eat goodies.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hello, friends! Thanks, C.C., for your ever dedicated attention. I really needed it today.

    It just seemed that I could not get into Gail's wave length. For a while, proceeding along the West Coast, all fell in place, all the way to ESO BESO. Then jumping around found some I could safely write in and so it went all the way through.

    Finally, I had to leave and on returning, I finished but had a Natick at MASSE/MARCO so researched it and was done! In more ways than one.

    I felt like a lump of LEAD at the end but was glad to complete this challenge.

    Now I must go shopping with my daughter who is now a size 2 and cannot find clothes to fit her other than jeans.

    Have a fine day, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello everybody. Things seem a little slow around the corner today.

    I still don't quite get 39 D. I knew Port. was Portugal and I guessed EUR was the answer but why leaving? Why is Europe where to leave Portugal? It's not so much that it seems wrong but that it doesn't connect or make sense in my brain. There must be twenty other good ways to clue EUR. Why leaving Portugal of all places? Why leaving? Why Portugal?

    I bought Barbara several nice pieces of jewelry made of Jade early on. We both liked the color. Lapis too.

    Sunday Morning had a nice piece about a park in China. CC, are you familiar with it? Another fun piece on cat videos. I'd seen almost all of them here. :>)

    Gary, I prefer Sofia with makeup but, under different circumstances, if I woke up with her natural face on the pillow next to me, I'd be OK with that too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the fine review.

    Got started this morning, then went with my group for breakfast at the hotel, then worked a little more on the puzzle, then headed to the airport in San Jose. Finished the puzzle after I got through Security. This is the first time I have not had to remove my shoes. I guess I am special. ???????

    The puzzle was fairly easy, just a few tough spots.

    I agree with Bill G. EUR and the clue "Where to leave Port." was a sticky one. Not really sure what it means.

    Irish Miss, caught your ERIES comment. The answer was easy for me once I had a few letters, but I must admit I had not heard that term "Cat People" before. Learning moment. Heard all about the ERIES/ERIEZ Indians as a youth.

    Garlic Gal: caught your note yesterday. Maybe another time I can get together with the California Coven. I had a good time in Los Gatos. Worked there years ago. Also worked in Gilroy. Gilroy was memorable. I remember getting a couple beers at the Garlic Room.

    GALENA was easy. I believe closer to Iowa than Wisconsin. Where U S Grant retired, I believe. Have been there several times. Lots of hills in the town.

    Caught the theme early, by dumb luck. Just happened to check that bottom corner early. That helped me with a lot of answers, with the OT.

    The last (and only) time we had our piano tuned, it cost me $700.

    I put my TWO CENTS in lots of times. I never thought of it as unsolicited comments, but OK with me nobody seems to mind. My two cents.

    I still have to finish Saturday's puzzle. Almost done.

    Flying back to Chicago shortly.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (astepbo)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Google maps has a walkthrough of HMS Ocelot, a British diesel-electric sub in service from the early 60' to early 90's. Click on the arrows or the spotlight to proceed through the vessel, and/or to go topside.

    ReplyDelete
  23. CED I hope you were at 60D, not 60A. Marco remains very popular and next time let the locals like Sallie or Grumpy know you will be there and show you around. I also believe our missing marine has had some good times there. I know Captiva better, so I have no personal expertise.

    The time lapse was very interesting, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Spitz, that looks really cool but I think I would have enjoyed it much more with a narrated, guided tour. I really didn't know what I was looking at most of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Gail also has the daily puzzle at Newsday!

    Cat nation is indeed the Erie Indian tribe, now defunct.

    Masse is a billiards shot with a lot of English on the ball.

    Here's the tasty story on ERY.

    Why Portugal would leave Europe I'm not sure, although Portugal is unique for having its capital moved out of Europe.

    Special thanks to Dudley for the torpedo tube story & Gary for the photo of Sofie (BTW my wife is also a twin).

    ReplyDelete
  26. Spitz, thank you for the tour of Guangzhou. I had never heard of the city until "meeting" C. C. Some stunning architecture there.

    Thanks Owen for answering some of my questions.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Owen K; If you can do that before 6 in the AM, what could you do middle of the day?!

    ReplyDelete
  28. It looks like the 'China should keep dominating Tibet' comment went over very well.

    29 comments 8:38p

    ReplyDelete
  29. I had this in my LAT on Tuesday. Barry G did not like it as it's an Abbr. It's a perfectly fine entry to me, and I won't hesitate to use any time. Same with MLB, NBA, NFL, PGA, etc.

    Just noticed this, sorry.

    I have no problem with NHL as an abbreviation or the use of it in a puzzle. I was just commenting on the sheer number of abbreviations that were in that particular puzzle, which I found to be a bit annoying...

    ReplyDelete
  30. I know what you mean about Person of Interest going downhill. The same with Suits I was thinking. (I don't like the long-term story arcs like HR. I like it better when the case is finished at the end of one hour. I wonder if HR will ever be dealt with before the series is concluded? Still, I can't give up on POI because I would be missing my fix of Taraji P. Henson...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Never Heard of Cat Nation...
    But I am a fan of Dog Nation

    ReplyDelete
  32. Marlo Thomas is married to Phil Donahue, Dr Phil!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Those 120-year-old-guys were damned clever. Bird machine

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thank you, BV. It was noted this morning. C.C. will change it when she reads the comments.

    ReplyDelete

For custom-made birthday, anniversary or special occasion puzzles from C.C., please email crosswordc@gmail.com

Her book "Sip & Solve Easy Mini Crosswords" is available on Amazon.

Please click on Comments Section Abbrs for some blog-specific terms.

Please limit your posts to 5 per day and cap each post length at about 20 lines in Preview mode.

No politics, no religion and no personal attacks.