google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday November 3, 2013 Arthur S. Verdesca

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Nov 3, 2013

Sunday November 3, 2013 Arthur S. Verdesca

Theme: "The Doctor Is In" - MD is embedded in the middle of each theme entry.

23A. Perry Mason story, e.g. : COURTROOM DRAMA. Which is your favorite? I never understood the fun in #23.  I like "A Few Good Men" the most.

45A. Symbol of a bettor's certainty : BOTTOM DOLLAR

54A. Post-hurricane assessment : STORM DAMAGE. Guangzhou is a subtropical city. I always dreaded when we had big typhoons. I lived in the very old part of the town. The water drainage was so bad that I couldn't go home without a raft.

73A. Like some locomotives : STEAM-DRIVEN

81A. Coen or Stone : FILM DIRECTOR. Here is my favorite director: Zhang Yi-Mou. He directed "Red Sorghum" (based on Nobel laureate Mo Yan's novel), "Hero" (Jet Li movie), the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Most importantly, he grew up in my hometown Xi'An.



103A. Made-to-order : CUSTOM-DESIGNED

32D. Winners can be determined by one : RANDOM DRAWING

36D. Coffee break treat : CREAM DOUGHNUT. I always spell it as "Donut".

104D. Puzzle title people hidden in eight long answers : MDS

Look what I found! Today's constructor Arthur S. Verdesca is a MD. One other website shows he's 83 years old, 16 years younger than our other LAT constructor Bernice Gordon.

Simple theme. I grokked the gimmick very early on.

Across:
  
1. Obama attorney general Holder : ERIC. Easy start.

5. Rattle : FAZE

9. Bros : BUDS

13. Online letters : EMAILS

19. Commandment opener : THOU. "Thou shalt not...".

20. One missing roll call, perhaps : AWOL

21. Per person : A POP

22. Deadhead's idol : GARCIA (Jerry)

26. Insatiable : GREEDY

27. Some deer : BUCK 

28. Shorten, as a skirt :RE-HEM. And 60D. Revealing garb : MINIs. Every girl seemed to wear this Zara skirt this past summer. Zara, Zara, please come to Minnesota!



29. Bad acting : SIN

30. Onetime Rus. state : SSR

33. Busy buzzer : BEE

34. Strains : TAXES

35. Restraint usually seen in pairs : MANACLE. Big D'oh!

39. Montana motto metal : PLATA. "Oro y Plata".

41. Yemen's capital : SANA'A

42. Do clerical work : FILE

43. Stimpy's pal : REN. Popular dog in xwords.

44. Zest source : RIND

48. SFO listing : ETD

49. Everyday connectors : ANDs

50. Jesus of baseball : ALOU. 3/4 are vowels, hence its frequent appearances our grids.

51. Durban dough : RAND. Here is what Wiki says: Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa and Africa. Shanghai is the busiest in the world.

52. Bloom holder : VASE

53. Fight stopper : TKO (Technical Knockout)

58. Disney king : SIMBA. "The Lion King"

59. "Fearful" feature of Blake's Tyger : SYMMETRY. Read here.

61. Tasman and a Genesis shepherd : ABELs

62. Sneeze cause : DANDER

63. Took the plunge : DIVED

64. Tapestry behind which Polonius hid : ARRAS

65. Abstain from : FORGO

66. "The Weaver of Raveloe" : MARNER (Silas)

68. Unit or sect suffix : ARIAN. Strange suffix.

69. Surgical tie : LIGATURE. New word to me.

72. Oil well firefighter Red : ADAIR

75. Catch : GET

76. Shooting marbles : TAWS. Has any of you played TAWS before?

77. Stub __ : A TOE

78. Voyaging, say : ASEA

79. Scorch : CHAR

80. Letters seen before Fridays : TGI

85. Where TV's "Charlie's Angels" was set : IN LA

86. A, for Mozart : EIN

87. Riles up : IRES

88. Gets ready to shoot : COCKS

89. Dick Tracy creator Chester : GOULD. Another learning moment for me.


90. Access, in a way : LOG ONTO

92. Cats in Cádiz : GATOS. Los Gatos!

93. Seek redress : SUE

95. Rope on the briny : TYE. For Spitzboov. I was stumped.

96. Classic auto : REO

97. Irish tenor Tynan : RONAN. Gimme for Irish Miss.

98. Brazilian range __ do Mar : SERRA. Never heard of it.

100. Minor league baseball level : CLASS A

108. House minority leader : PELOSI (Nancy)

109. '40s film critic James : AGEE

110. Nihilistic art movement : DADA

111. Follow : OBEY

112. Carl with Emmys : REINER. Bob Reiner's father. (Edited later: Rob Reiner! Thanks, TTP.)

113. Supply in a farm country store : FEED

114. Certain terrier's isle : SKYE

115. Big wind : GALE

Down:

1. And so on: Abbr. : ETC

2. Letter after pi : RHO

3. Signed promise : IOU

4. Restrain : CURB

5. Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," e.g. : FARCE

6. Stirred : AWOKE

7. Madhouses : ZOOS

8. Disease-struck tree : ELM. Hard to find fresh way to clue ELM, or OREO.

9. Legal hurdle : BAR EXAM

10. Toward the front : UP AHEAD

11. Stadium protectors : DOMES

12. Cyberjunk : SPAM

13. Deli sandwich : EGG SALAD. Not for my taste. I do like Potato salad with eggs in it though.

14. Coleridge storyteller : MARINER

15. __ football : ARENA

16. Curling surface : ICE

17. Eye protector : LID

18. Utter : SAY

24. Big wind : TUBA

25. Pipe cleaner : DRANO

30. Jack and the missus of verse : SPRATS

31. Spring toy : SLINKY

34. "The Genius of Keyboard" jazzman : TATUM (Art). I was unaware he's called that.

35. "Toad of Toad Hall" playwright : MILNE

37. Doesn't disturb : LETS BE

38. Make cherished : ENDEAR

40. NFL six-pointers : TDs

41. It may be long : STORY

42. Loses strength : FLAGS

45. Baker's preparation : BATTER. I had never used an oven until I came to the states. We don't bake bread there. We steam.

46. Prayer opener : O LORD

47. Scary tests : ORALS

52. 20, in Toulouse : VINGT. French for Abejo!

54. Lop off : SEVER

55. "Beavis and Butt-head" spin-off : DARIA. Total stranger to me.

56. Milhous : Nixon :: __ : Garfield : ABRAM

57. Lennon's "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except __ My Monkey" : ME AND

58. Kitchen wrap : SARAN

62. Mark for future reference : DOG-EAR. Please Don't! And please don't be so mean and hide behind your anonymous mask and attack regulars on our blog.

64. Thin as __ : A REED. I use A RAIL.

65. McGarrett's outfit, familiarly : FIVE-O. Hawaii Five-O.

66. Hot Wheels maker : MATTEL

67. Slow work : ADAGIO

68. Basic building material : ATOMs

69. Leans : LISTS

70. "No kidding" : REALLY

71. Online financial site : E-TRADE

73. Pope in Attila's time : ST LEO. They met each other, correct?

74. Book displays : RACKS

77. Like a dogfight missile : AIR-TO-AIR

79. AFL partner : CIO

81. Tactful handling : FINESSE

82. Song title words before "for Miles" : I CAN SEE.  No idea. The Who's  "I can see for Miles".

83. Took turns in succession : ROTATED

84. Budget, in brand names : ECONO

89. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI

91. Small-screen Bean : ORSON

92. Overcharge : GOUGE

93. Run-down : SEEDY

94. Bears, to Ovid : URSAE

97. North Amer. WWII fliers : RCAF. OK, Royal Canadian Air Force.

98. The Missouri R. runs through it : S DAK

99. All excited : AGOG

100. ER procedure : CPR

101. Dixie general : LEE

102. Poetic fighter : ALI

105. Bird's org. : NBA. Larry Bird.

106. Slippery one : EEL

107. Salon stock : DYE



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C.C.

45 comments:

  1. In a COURTROOM DRAMA on TV
    What the Medical Examiner could see
    When he opened up the corpse
    Is CUSTOM DESIGNED, of course,
    To not be what's expected to be.

    The FILM DIRECTOR was trying for a rating
    To draw people to what he was creating:
    The forgery was tattooed
    To the tush of a stooge.
    The M.E. found the BOTTOM DOLLAR waiting!

    It looked like a lot of STORM DAMAGE
    Where the robot had gone on the rampage.
    The mad doctor had striven
    To make it STEAM DRIVEN --
    So it whistled while performing this outrage!

    A RANDOM DRAWING caught the med student's eyes.
    A new Torus was touted as grand prize.
    It would be stuffed with accessories,
    Low fuel need was sure to please --
    The winner's CREAM DOUGHNUT was as advertised!

    [Red letters kept me from committing to a few false starts, but otherwise not too difficult a puzzle today. Hope you all made it through as painlessly as I did. I noticed more than usual "product placement" today -- Dran-O, Mattel, E*Trade.]

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  2. CC, I found your write up very interesting. I like when you talk about your life in China.

    The theme, locating MD, helped considerably. I WAGged the R in ARRAS and DARIA.I knew VINGT, but needed the PERPs for the spelling. SERRA do Mar was all PERPs.
    I fell down on naming one of my favorite singers. I knew –ONAN, but was it a D or a C? Neither! I Googled it and found RONAN. I never considered RCAs as types of planes. My cross, my downfall, was SEED instead of FEED. The F would have helped.. Now that I think of it I should have known RONAN. I love to listen to the Irish Tenors, To make it up to him, here he is on YouTube.
    Link Ronan

    59A refers to one of my favorite poems.
    It asks why evil exists in a universe created and ruled by a benevolent God.
    Is it possible that the same God who made the lamb also made the tiger?
    Thanks for posting it, CC.

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  3. Greetings!

    Thanks for interesting puzzle, Dr. Vedesca! Thanks also to CC for swell expo!

    I was underwhelmed by the theme. No cheats, not very time consuming.

    I have ordered a new iPad Retina. (Hard on the budget.) My old one has been worn out by my playing Sudoku Takeout. Sometimes I have to enter a number 4 times before it registers! The new one will not come until Nov. 12 or so. Cannot wait!

    Have a great Sunday, all!

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  4. Morning, all!

    Very serviceable Sunday puzzle. After getting COURTROOMDRAMA at 23A, I thought the theme was a hidden DR in every theme answer. And then I started wondering why none of the other theme answers had DR in them... I did eventually figure out the MD on my own before getting to the theme reveal, so that was nice.

    The majority of the fill was on the easy side, although I had numerous wrong answers throughout that I needed the perps to correct. Most took care of themselves easily enough, such as STEM instead of VASE, ENAMOR instead of ENDEAR, DARED instead of DIVED, TARPS instead of DOMES, FADES instead of FLAGS and TILTS instead of LISTS.

    One mistake, however, killed me in the end. Like Yellowrocks, I had SEED instead of FEED at 123A and just couldn't get RCAF as a result. I wasn't sure if 109A was AGEE or OGEE and had no idea whatsoever about RONAN. In retrospect, RCAF makes perfect sense as Royal Canadian Air Force, but in the heat of the solve it was impenetrable.

    Hope everybody remembered to set their clocks back last night!

    [pedoze]

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  5. Good morning C.C. et al.

    Fun puzzle, and I didn't even look for the theme until I got to 104-Down. Good thing I spotted it finally, because it allowed me to go back and change some goofs and fill in the missing blanks. I had flOod DAMAGE before MD gave me STORM DAMAGE. (Oops!)

    I had sEED before FEED, so ?CAs was just not making sense. Finally remembered RONAN, but RCAs still didn't look quite right. Flying TVs? Really??

    But it was a fun puzzle, and just right for a Sunday morning eye opener.

    Have a great day, everyone!

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  6. YR and BG, I just read all the comments and laughed out loud when I saw that you had the same sEED / FEED fiasco!!

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  7. Good Morning, C.C. and friends. Fun and easy Sunday puzzle. After reading the Theme Title, I thought DR might be found in the theme answers.

    Hand up for Seed before FEED. 93-Down (SEEDY), however, let me know that Seed was wrong.

    My favorite clue was It May be Long = STORY.

    New Orleans is still assessing STORM DAMAGE from Katrina.

    QOD: A tax loophole is something that benefits the other guy. If it benefits you, it is tax reform. ~ Russell B. Long (Nov. 2, 1918 ~ May 9, 2003)

    [machmat]

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  8. Good morning!

    I set my clocks back (the ones that aren't "atomic"), but the cats failed to notice. They expected breakfast at the usual time, and let me know it.

    This was an OK puzzle, right up to the DNF. I, too, missed the "F" word. Royal Canadian Air Service worked for me. Hey, it coulda been!

    Hand up for FLOOD DAMAGE, DARED / DIVED. I wanted GALE for Abejo's TUBA. GALE arrived later. As soon as I read "tapestry" I immediately entered ARRAS -- must've been stuck in my brain from some previous cw.

    Favorite courtroom drama? I've got two: Twelve Angry Men and Inherit The Wind.

    C.C., ARIAN is a common suffix to indicate religious affiliation. When anybody asks, I tell them I'm a Frisbeetarian. It's one of the classic made-up words that the Washington Post lists annually. A Frisbeetarian believes that when you die your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

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  9. fairly easy except that I never heard of
    tye
    Daria
    Arras
    Serra do mar

    Don't know why I knew the John Lennon and The Who lyrics because I usually don't remember the words to most songs.

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  10. Oops! Actually three: To Kill A Mockingbird

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  11. Good morning all.

    Well, fail for me. Had no idea on the two Rs in ARRAS and DARIA and ABRAM were completely unknown. So consecutive naticks.

    Some other errors that perps and a few hours sleep corrected. I had North America pilots as ACES, but that changed to nonsensical RCAS in due time. SEED changed to FEED without much thought. We used to go to the local feed store for avatar's dog food and treats.

    I had fades before FLAGS. Shear before SEVER. Of course I typed in thin as A Rail rather than A REED. Thin as a reed ? Same with "Book displays" = RACKS ? Obviously, cases went in first.

    Had other unknowns that either perped in or wags filled. TATUM, VINGT, GERI and TYE. Wagged letters in MILNE and MARNER, and especially the R in RONAN. Remember the hubbub a week or so ago when Mia Farrow said that her some RONAN might have been fathered by Frank Sinatra rather than Woody Allen ? RONAN famously replied to a reporters request for comment, "“Listen, we’re all *possibly* Frank Sinatra’s son.”

    The capital M in Miles threw me on the first pass. Miles who ? Miles Davis, Miles Austin ? Miles Pergallon ?

    Of course, my personal favorite was the clue for DIVED. Took the plunge. See profile. Thanks Marti ! Wish all of our regulars were Blue and we could stop the nonsense.

    CC, great write up. Glad you found an Arthur S Verdesca. I was thinking it could be an alias for someone from say, Palos Verdes, CA ? Perhaps an alias for David Steinberg ? Maybe a nom de plume for Rich ?

    PK @ 11:38 last night. I thought you probably knew and Rob just happened. I'm sure he has been called a lot of things, and Rob probably doesn't FAZE him. CC, 112 across is Rob, rather than Bob. :>)

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  12. A Few Good Men is on The Sundance Channel right now but I would rather be watching My Cousin Vinny.

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  13. ABELS and ARRAS “came softly through my window today” and finally got me a 100%. Like CC I grokked and sussed the theme early (what’s wrong with my spell-check?)

    Musings
    -Perry Mason was undefeated against poor Hamilton Burger
    -STEAM DRIVEN machinery started the Industrial Revolution
    -JH girls didn’t REHEM their skirts in the 60’s. They just rolled up the waist band on the way to school and rolled them back down on the way home.
    -50 mph BIG WINDS (not TUBAS) are TAXING the prairies today.
    -Dough and Bread here usually don’t get baked
    -Cool Hand Luke was a victim of a TKO but wouldn’t stay down
    -I stay up later than Joann and have STUBbed many a TOE walking through a dark house
    -Ich bin EIN Berliner was correct for “I am a Berliner” and NOT ”I am a jelly doughnut”
    -Chester’s wrist TV’s are now a reality
    -GATO is also a Spanish car jack
    -Pines are now disease-struck trees here
    -A SLINKY is great for teaching waves but in the hands of a 13-year-old…
    -Who played the 1968 movie role based on Red ADAIR’s life?

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  14. Being behind by 3 points with 4 seconds left to play did not FAZE my Cornhuskers yesterday. My voice still hurts after screaming “OH MY GOD HE CAUGHT IT” over and over following this INCREDIBLE play (:34) won a game for them yesterday on the most improbable TD of the day that has the sports world BUZZING. Husker Pride made me keep the TV on in case something miraculous happened and IT DID!

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  15. Good Morning:

    This was a breezy Sunday offering with an easily discernible theme. Had gust before gale and a rail before a reed. Thanks, Dr. Verdesca, and thanks, CC, for a great expo. I, also, like hearing about your life in China and the new ways and customs you encountered here in the US.

    And, yes, CC, Ronan was a gimme as I'm well familiar with him. I didn't know, however, that he is a physician. YR, thank you for the link; Danny Boy is one of my favorite Irish tunes, sad thought it may be.

    Nice shout-out in the puzzle to TTP and to Tin, with the dreaded I C E word!

    HG - I believe John Wayne played Red Adair.

    Have a relaxing Sunday.

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  16. Hello Puzzlers -

    Harumph. Another TDNF today because I got Naticked at the junction of Arras, Daria, and Abram. Just kept plugging in letters until the TaDa.

    Morning, C.C., I vote for Mockingbird, with Twelve right after.

    Daylight Saving Time fascinates me. When examined on a national scale, it's immensely complicated. One thing I've never learned, but wonder about, is how the national air traffic control system compensates. The shift to Summer time must compress quite a few nighttime flights into fewer hours.

    Cheers All

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  17. Greetings, weekenders! Yes, C.C., I also enjoy and am amazed by the bits you tell us about life in China. Have you thought of writing a book?

    Very nice puzzle from Dr. Verdesca. Is this his first on the LA site?

    MD definitely helped to suss the themes and even unknown names fell easily with perps. Count me in on ENAMOR/ENDEAR, STEM/VASE, TILTS/LISTS to give my eraser a workout.

    I'm also in the SEED category and though I noticed SEEDY didn't go back to change it and CONAN seemed reasonable as I'd not heard of RONAN Tynan. I learn something every day here.

    It's very difficult to choose from among those great COURTROOM DRAMAS but I have to go with Inherit the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird. For funniest one, My Cousin Vinny.

    Have a special Sunday, everyone!

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  18. wees/wbs

    While I managed to change Seed to Feed, I am still looking for "DR"s...

    Nuts!

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  19. "Daylight Saving Time fascinates me. When examined on a national scale, it's immensely complicated"

    huh?

    Actual it's fairly simple.

    Btw, flight duration is not affected by time zones or DST. All fights arrive and depart as usual, just 1 hour sooner or later. Think of television schedules. The shows aren't compressed or lengthened.

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  20. Frisbeetarian...love it, Despor-otto.

    Feed/Seed, WEES. Oh well, a fun run for a Sunday morning.

    If you're feeling particularly adventuresome try today's Merl Reagle. HOW DOES HE DO IT? Backwards, sideways, upside down...Yikes.

    A sunny Sunday to all.

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  21. Happy Sunday Everybody!

    DNF today – due to proper names (TATUM, ABRAM) and other unknowns (ARRAS, VINGT, DARIA)….

    Other WEES write-overs, plus EACH for APOP, HAM for SIN, NET for GET, DAZE for FAZE, and FADES for FLAGS….

    Nice shout out to TTP….

    Hands up for detesting EGG SALAD sandwiches….

    Finally, the remake of Hawaii FIVE-O has a neat little twist on Jack Lord’s famous phrase, Book ‘Em, Danno, starting at 0:18….

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  22. GarlicGal, yes. The Reagle puzzle was really challenging, trying to figure out which way to go next. But I had a real Hearti chuckle when I figured out where the NYT puzzle was going…and the final "unifier" was brilliant.

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  23. -Yes, IM, it was John Wayne in this movie
    -Talk about over thinking the theme – I saw the title “The Doctor Is In” and then I saw that DOCTOR could be formed by letters in the first theme answer – CouRTrOmDrama. Oh well, I got over it.
    -Ten Best Courtroom Scenes. I have seen Jimmy Stewart opposing George C. Scott in the movie Anatomy of a Murder at least three times on TCM and am amazed at the subject matter and language for the year 1959. They even said the word, gasp, “panties” in court. No, really!
    -My DR saw me in church today and when I croaked “Hello” he said he immediately knew it was from the finish of yesterday’s football game.
    -The old sun will set mighty early tonight!

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  24. Good afternoon everyone.

    Well, the conversion from Quebec to Romeo time in the 75th W meridian time zone seems to have been executed without a hitch.

    Don't remember having done one of Arthur's puzzles before. Had to criss-cross a few times but it got finished ok. As the MD theme became evident, it was fun to speculate on their placement in the succeeding longer spans.

    TYE - I was somewhat stumped, too, but did write in T_E early. Waited for REALLY to reveal the Y. The word is not in my wheelhouse. I think it is a term used on the old sailing ships. I am not good at marlinspike seamanship terms, having more familiarity with ops, hull and engineering terminology. Also drinking terms like "Splice the mainbrace" and "three sheets to the wind".

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  25. I agree with DO;s choices of court room dramas @ 7:25 and 8:22 with the addition of Witness for the Prosecution.

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  26. Hi Y'all! Hope I have as good a mind as Dr. Verdesca when I'm 83. Great puzzle! The theme entries were easier than some fills. Enjoyed this.

    Thank you, C.C. for doing double duty this week. I haven't used my oven in the past 7 years, except the microwave. I remodeled in 2005 and the oven got full of dust. Such a difficult place for me to clean, I keep putting it off. Good excuse for my kids to do Thanksgivings.

    I fell into the same Conan -seed trap as others. I had "aces" for my flyers at one point.

    VINGT? Surely not, you're kidding!

    What is a CREAM DOUGHNUT? Do they mean CREAM filled? Never heard of one. But then I don't eat them anymore.

    EGG SALAD: did I tell you that the brand of salads I had been eating on for a week were recalled because of listeria bacteria? Not what you want to read in your newspaper. I googled it and it said problems could arise within a few days or up to a few months. AAAAGH! So far, so good, knock on wood.

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  27. At 2:00AM this morning the clocks were set back to 1:00AM so 1:00-1:59:59 repeated itself. In the spring at 2:00AM the clocks are set forward an hour to 3:00AM, so there is no 2:00-2:59:59 time period on that Sunday. This plays havoc with those businesses that operate during that time period. Those that are closed during that time period experience no difference in schedule.
    See Wiki under Complexity.

    Link Wiki
    Link LIRR time change

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  28. Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Arthur Verdesca, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for the fine review.

    Got through this quite easily, just took a while. Took a break to go to church.

    Started with the NW corner easily. ERIC was a gimmie. Not sure I agree with his techniques and statements, but that is not for here.

    Worked my way across. TUBA came slowly. Was not thinking of brass instrument. Good misdirection. Once I had the TB A, the U appeared.

    Had many of the theme answers before I hit the unifier at 104D. Good job, Arthur.

    Yes, C.C., I got VINGT, but it did not come easily. Took all five crosswords. My only hangup with those five was DANDER for 62A. Not sure why DANDER would make someone sneeze. DANDER is anger or ire, as far as I know. If it also refers to Dandruff, then I guess it is logical. However, I am not sure about that.

    Have not had ARRAS for a while. That used to be a more regular word.

    Was going to confidently write in HAM ON RYE for 13D, but held off for a crossword. Glad I did. EGG SALAD appeared. Even though I personally like Ham on Rye much better.

    Liked COCKS for 88A. Good one.

    Easily got GATOS for 92A. I used to work in Los Gatos, CA. As a matter of fact, I will be in Los Gatos this coming weekend. Fraternal Convention.

    Have not finished Saturday's puzzle yet. Was busy most of yesterday. Last night was at a presentation by Clint Hill, last surviving Secret Service Agent on the JFK detail in Dallas in November, 1963. He gave quite a talk.

    See you tomorrow.

    Abejo

    (rerentia)

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  29. Happy Sunday! I don't like The change in time. Either one is OK by me but changing it throws off my internal clock for a couple of days.

    I sailed through the top half of this puzzle and found the bottom half much harder. Otherwise, WEES.

    1000 dolphins

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  30. Viagrarian : if you have a resurrection that lasts more than four hours you are supposed to call your minister.

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  31. ABEJO, on this feline friendly site, I am surprised you are not familiar with CAT DANDER Gezundheit.

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  32. I enjoyed this work and am also impressed with another aged but wise constructor.

    I loved seeing MINOR LEAGUE next ot MINORITY LEADER; VINGT is the 20 part of VINGT ET UN, the Monte Carlo name for 21, or blackjack.

    SEEDY should have advised FEED had to the earlier answer.

    No sheets to the wind, but we felt 68 degrees for the first time in 7 months so all is good in paradise.

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  33. Fun Sunday puzzle. It helped when I remembered there was a title!!

    Hand up for SEEDS. How could I have missed our Royal Canadian Air Force. We also have Royal Canadian Air FARCE, a long running CBC comedy which now only plays on New Year's Eve. Their Chicken Cannon target of the year is hilarious.

    Two BIG WINDS today. I got GALE before the clever TUBA. Also noted MARNER and MARINER.

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  34. Lemonade714:

    Yes, I should have known something about Cats from this site, because I do know there are a lot of Cat owners here. But, alas, I do not. However, I do know now, and I did get the answer right, nonetheless! So, I will remember this for the future (hopefully).

    Abejo

    (antmeda)

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  35. Hello everybody. Good puzzle, but the middle part was all naticks for me. I couldn't get DARIA, ARRAS, ABRAM, and ARIAN. Having ARAIL instead of AREED, and not knowing MEAND really flummoxed me. Other than that I enjoyed the play. I also enjoyed all your comments and C.C.'s writeup. Best wishes to you all.

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  36. Argyle, next year if I'm hard up, I may claim to be a Viagrarian instead.

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  37. HG @ 12:55, thanks for giving me an idea for my next theme…

    Just finished reading "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. Fantastic Sci-Fi novel, and I guarantee, it will be a blockbuster, Oscar award winning film!!

    Barry G., wanted to email you a high five for the Pat's win tonight, but couldn't find an email address…send me an email so I can comm with you offline, 'K??

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  38. Evening everyone,
    Did this while watching the Pats take care of business!
    C.C. If it wasn't for the le in the answer to 35A... That comment could have been an insult ;~)

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  39. desper-otto:
    Shouldn't your assertion be in the negative to be a viagrarian? Just askin'.

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  40. Okay you guys have certainly made me feel welcome so I'm going to give it a go as they say in Aussie land. I'm Anon from late yesterday which was my b-day. Thanks CED for the CAKE! and to everyone else who wished me well. I hope my id shows up as kjinkc and for those who're wondering, yes I'm in the KC area and am proud to say "GO CHIEFS!!!". Haven't read today's posts yet but will and will comment more if I have anything pertinent to add.

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  41. Got side-tracked watching Colts beat Houston as we also cheer for Andrew Luck as my grandson went to school with him at Stanford. I have his #12 jersey from there. Also worked the Reagle puzzle and it was quite enjoyable. HG, was nice to read about 'jelly donut'. I'm old enough to know it but needed someone to jog that memory.

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  42. Pretty simple fill today. Just got hung up on TAWS; not too crazy about proper names but I'll go with the flow.

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